History of New York City

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This article traces the history of New York City, part of present day New York State. For the history of the State of New York, see the article History of New York.

Lenape and New Netherland: Prehistory:1613-1664

Prehistory in the area began with the geological formation of the peculiar territory of what is today New York City. The area was long inhabited by the Lenape; after initial European exploration, the Dutch established New Amsterdam and New Netherland in 1613. In 1640, Peter Stuyvesant was appointed governor, and was very, very strict. He forced citizens to go to church, and closed all the taverns, for example. The colony was granted self-government in 1652. In 1664, the British conquered the area and renamed it New York. In 1640, Peter Stuyvesant was appointed governor, and was very, very strict. He forced citizens to go to church, and closed all the taverns, for example. The colony was granted self-government in 1652. The Dutch regained it in August 1673, renaming the city "New Orange", then ceded New Netherland permanently to the English in November 1674.

British and Revolution: 1665-1783

This period began with the establishment of British rule over formerly Dutch New Amsterdam and New Netherland. As the newly renamed City of New York and surrounding areas developed, there was a growing independent feeling among some, but the area was decidedly split in its loyalties. The site of modern New York City was the theatre of the New York Campaign, a series of major battles in the early American Revolutionary War. After that, the city was under British occupation until the end of the war, and was the last port British ships evacuated in 1783.

Federal and early American: 1784-1854

New York City became the temporary capital of the newly formed United States on September 13, 1788 under the U.S. Constitutional Convention. New York City remained the capital of the U.S. until 1790. The city grew as an economic center with the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, and Tammany Hall began to grow in influence with the support of many of the immigrant Irish, culminated in the election of the first Tammany mayor, Fernando Wood, in 1854.

Tammany and Consolidation: 1855-1897

This period started with the inauguration in 1855 of Fernando Wood as the first mayor from Tammany Hall, an institution that would dominate the city throughout this period. There was chaos during the American Civil War, with major rioting in the New York Draft Riots. Later years saw the rise of the Gilded Age which saw prosperity for the city's upper classes amid the further growth of a poor immigrant working class, and an increasing consolidation, both economic and municipal, of what would become the five boroughs in 1898.

Image:Benton Thomas Hart The History of New York 1927 (New York To-Day), 1927.jpg

Early 20th century: 1898-1945

This period began with the formation of the consolidated city of the five boroughs in 1898. A series of new transportation links, most notably the New York City Subway, first opened 1904, helped bind the new city together. The height of European immigration brought social upheaval. Later, in the 1920s, the city saw the influx of African Americans as part of the Great Migration from the American South, and the Harlem Renaissance, part of a larger boom time in the Prohibition era that saw dueling skyscrapers in the skyline. The city suffered during the Great Depression, which saw the election of Republican reformer Fiorello LaGuardia and the fall of Tammany Hall after eighty years of political dominance. The city also played a significant part in World War II.

Post-World War II: 1946-1977

This period saw the emergence of New York immediately after World War II as the unquestioned leading city of the world. However, after peaking in population in 1950, the city slowly declined with changes in industry and commerce, urban sprawl outside the city and crime, reaching something of a crisis period in the 1970s.

Modern and post-9/11: 1978-present

This period has seen a modest boom and a bust in the 1980s, followed by a major boom in the 1990s, with mixed prospects since then. This period has seen serious racial tension with more calm in very recent years, the dramatic rise and fall of crime rates and a major reinvigoration of immigration and growth taking the city population for the first time past the eight million mark. The September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center had a huge impact on the city, from which it is only now recovering.

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 bar:events width:20 shift:($dx,-4)  
 
 from:1898 till:2010 color:red    
 from:1600 till:1664 color:blue   
 from:1664 till:1783 color:green  
 from:1783 till:1898 color:yellow 
 
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 at:1609 text:"1609 Henry Hudson explores"  
 at:1624 text:"1624-5 Dutch settle, incorporate"
 at:1658 text:"1658 Nieuw Haarlem settled" shift:($dx,-7)
 at:1664 text:"1664 British capture"       shift:($dx,-2)
 at:1735 text:"1735 Zenger trial"  
 at:1756 text:"1756 First St Patrick's Day"  
 at:1776 text:"1776-83 British occupation" 
 mark:(line,gray) 
 at:1789 text:"1789 Washington inauguration" shift:($dx,-8)
 at:1795 text:"1792 Stock Exchange founded"  
 at:1811 text:"1811 Commissioners' grid plan"
 at:1825 text:"1825 Erie Canal"
 at:1835 text:"1835 Great Fire" 
 at:1863 text:"1863 Draft riots"
 at:1883 text:"1883 Brooklyn Bridge"   shift:($dx,-2)  
 at:1898 text:"1898 Unification of the boroughs"       shift:($dx,-9)  
 mark:(line,white) 
 at:1904 text:"1904 IRT Subway"
 at:1929 text:"1929 Stock market crash"
 at:1939 text:"1939 World's Fair"
 at:1964 text:"1964 New York World's Fair"
 at:1975 text:"1975 Near-bankruptcy"
 at:2001 text:"2001 WTC disaster "

See also

Histories of New York City neighborhoods, such as Harlem, San Juan Hill, Upper West Side, Lower East Side, Chinatown, the Financial District (which includes the South Street Seaport) and others. New York has many famous thoroughfares, including Fifth Avenue, Madison Avenue, Broadway and others. The city also has numerous smaller streets with rich histories, including Wall Street.

Some of the islands of the city have surprisingly rich local histories: Liberty Island, Governors Island, City Island, Roosevelt Island and others.

There is also a Timeline of New York City crimes and disasters.

Compare history of Brooklyn, New York.

Kenneth T. Jackson, a preeminent authority on the history of New York City.

Sources

• The Encyclopedia of New York City, ed. by Kenneth T. Jackson, 1350 pages, Yale University Press 1995
• Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898, Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, Oxford University Press, 1998, hardcover, 1416 pages, ISBN 0195116348, trade paperback, 2000, 1424 pages, ISBN 0195140494he:היסטוריה של העיר ניו יורק

nl:Geschiedenis van New York City