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 372 NEW YORK (STATE) but the greater part of the invaders perished with cold before reaching Canada. The peace of Ryswick in 1697 concluded the hostilities between England and France, and Count Fron- tenac, then governor of Canada, turned his whole force against the Five Nations. His plans were frustrated by the earl of Bellamont, then royal governor of New York, who de- clared he would make common cause with the Indians in case any attack was made upon them. During the continuance of Queen Anne's war, from 1702 to 1713, hostilities in New York were confined to skirmishes upon the frontiers, and to the preparation for expeditions which failed for want of promised aid from England, but which involved the colony largely in debt. In 1731 the French built Fort Frederick at Crown Point on Lake Champlain, commanding the natural pass between the Hudson and the St. Lawrence. The final conflict between Eng- land and France to determine the sovereignty of North America began in 1754. Along the frontiers of New York the French had erect- ed fortresses on Lake Champlain, at Frontenac (now Kingston) on the St. Lawrence, and at Niagara. The English advanced posts were at Fort Edward on the Hudson, and at Oswego on Lake Ontario. In 1755 a large force under Sir William Johnson marched against Crown Point. At the head of Lake George he was attacked by the French under Dieskau, but the victory was finally obtained by the English, and the French force was nearly annihilated. In 1756 Oswego was taken by the French and destroyed. In 1757 Fort William Henry, at the head of Lake George, was taken by the French, and the garrison, after capitulation, were nearly all massacred by the Indians. In 1758 Abercrombie at the head of 15,000 men, the largest and best appointed army ever raised in America, was defeated in an attack upon Ticonderoga; and during the same year Col. Bradstreet marched through the wilderness and took Fort Frontenac. In 1759 Niagara was taken by Gen. Prideaux and Sir William Johnson, and Ticonderoga and Crown Point were abandoned on the approach of an English army under Gen. Amherst, leaving no French force within the limits of the colony. During the last years of the war, under the adminis- tration of Pitt, the English pursued a liberal policy toward the colonies ; but in 1760 they recommenced aggressions, which provoked op- position. New York entered zealously into the measures for common defence. In October, 1775, Tryon, the last royal governor, took refuge on board a British man-of-war. In May of that year Ticonderoga and Crown Point had been surprised and taken by a party of "Green Mountain Boys" under Ethan Allen. In Feb- ruary, 1776, an American force took possession of New York city; after the battle of Long Island (Aug. 27), the city and its environs fell into the hands of the British. In the sum- mer of 1777 Burgoyne invaded the province from Canada, and a British force from New York passed up the Hudson to cooperate with him. Several fortresses on Lake Champlain and the Hudson were taken by the enemy, but, after a series of reverses, Burgoyne's army on Oct. 17 was obliged to surrender at Saratoga. In the winter of 1777-'8 West Point was for- tified, and soon became the most important fortress in America. Under the lead of Sir John Johnson, the Six Nations espoused the English cause, and continually harassed the defenceless frontier settlements. In 1779 Gen. Sullivan marched through the Indian country in western New York, and destroyed their villages. During the next two years the In- dians made frequent attacks upon the Scho- harie and Mohawk settlements, until the whole of that flourishing region was laid waste. On Nov. 25, 1783, New York was evacuated by the British. The original grant of New York included all lands between the Delaware and Hudson rivers, conflicting with patents pre- viously granted to Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. In 1664, soon after the date of the first patent, the proprietor sold the territory included in the present state of New Jersey. The Connecticut boundary was estab- lished in 1731. The claims of Massachusetts were finally settled in 1786, by a compromise which gave New York the sovereignty of the whole territory, but yielded to Massachusetts the right of soil to that portion of the state which lies west of a meridian line passing through the 82d milestone of the Pennsylvania boundary. This line, known as the "preemp- tion line," begins at the S. E. corner of Steuben co., extends along the W. shore of Seneca lake, and terminates in Sodus bay on Lake Ontario. The conflicting claims of New York and New Hampshire led to violent collisions and almost .to civil war. The threatened hostilities were averted in 1790 by the erection of the disputed territory into the state of Vermont, and the payment to New York of $30,000. The seat of government was originally in New York city. The first constitution, adopted in March, 1777, was published at Kingston. In October of that year the public records were removed to Rochester, Ulster co., soon after to Pough- keepsie, and in 1784 to New York city. In 1797 Albany was made the capital. The con- stitution was revised in 1801, 1821, and 1846. Slavery, which had been much restricted since the formation of the first constitution, was abolished in 1817, though under the provisions of the act a few aged persons continued in nominal slavery many years later. At the close of the revolution a treaty was concluded with the Six Nations, by which a large amount of the Indian lands was ceded to the state. Settlements rapidly spread in the fertile re- gions of central New York, and by subsequent treaties all the lands of the Indians except a few "reservations" passed into the hands of the whites. During the war of 1812 the fron- tier settlements were constantly exposed to attacks of the British, and several serious en-