New Amsterdam

New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch settlement at the southern tip of Manhattan Island. It started as a small trading place near Fort Amsterdam and grew into an important city. The Dutch West India Company set up the settlement to protect their fur trade along the Hudson River.

By 1653, New Amsterdam became an official city. Over time, more people moved there. By 1664, thousands of people lived in and around the area. That year, English forces took control and renamed the city New York after the Duke of York. Today, the place where New Amsterdam once stood is known as Lower Manhattan.

Etymology

The local Munsee people called the southern tip of the island Manhattoe. When the Dutch built Fort Amsterdam, the growing settlement was known as "Amsterdam" and "New Amsterdam." At that time, New Amsterdam's borders ended at what is now the wall of Wall Street. It did not include the rest of the island of Manhattan or the larger area called New Netherland.

History

See also: Dutch colonization of the Americas and History of New York City

In 1524, long before the Dutch arrived, the place that would become New Amsterdam was named Nouvelle Angoulême by explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano. He did this to honor his patron, King Francis I of France.

In 1609, the Dutch explored the area around what is now New York Bay with a ship called Halve Maen. It was led by Henry Hudson. Hudson worked for the Dutch Republic.

Beaver pelts were very valuable in Europe because they could be used to make hats. The Dutch set up trading places and mapped the land. In 1624, the Dutch West India Company sent people to live there permanently. They built Fort Amsterdam on Manhattan Island to protect their settlement.

The settlement grew into a small city with people from many places. It became an important place for trading. Later, the English took it over in 1664 and named it New York City. The Dutch took it back briefly in 1673 but gave it back to England in 1674.

Cartography

The early days of New Amsterdam were well recorded through maps. The Dutch made excellent maps. The Dutch West India Company, which oversaw New Netherland, needed to track the colony's growth, trade, and population. This led to many accurate maps and plans.

One important map is called the Castello Plan, made in 1660. It shows nearly every building in New Amsterdam. When compared with a list of citizens from that year, it helps us know who lived where. Another map, the Duke's Plan, also comes from around 1660 and shows areas beyond the main town. These maps have been very helpful for learning about New York City's history, such as finding the exact spot where the Stadthuys (City Hall) once stood.

Layout

These maps allow us to reconstruct the town's layout exactly. Fort Amsterdam was at the very southern tip of Manhattan Island, near today's The Battery. Broadway was the main road leading north. The town had a wall along its northern edge, which today is where Wall Street is located. A canal that ran from the harbor inland was filled in 1676 and is now Broad Street. The streets in the town were winding, like those in European cities. The area's street layout, especially in the Financial District, still reflects this old design.

Legacy

The founding of New Amsterdam in 1625 is remembered today on the official Seal of New York City. Over time, historians have found that New Amsterdam shaped many parts of modern New York and the United States.

Although most of the original buildings from New Amsterdam are gone, some ideas and plans from that time are still seen in the city today. The street layout in parts of Manhattan still follows the old design from when it was New Amsterdam. Some houses and farms, like the Wyckoff Farm in Brooklyn, still show parts from the Dutch period. Today, some buildings in New York are built in a style called Dutch Colonial Revival, reminding people of New Amsterdam’s history.