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OF THE

STATE OF NEW YORK.

BY

JOHN ROMEYN BRODHEAD.

FIRST PERIOD.

1609-16 6 4.

NEW YORK:

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,

329 & 331 PEARL STREET,

FRANKLIN SQUARE.

1853.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1853, by

JOHN ROMEYN BROD HEAD,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York.

PREFACE.

THERE are four marked periods in the history of the State of New York. The first, opening with its discovery by the Dutch in 1609, and closing with its seizure by the English in 1664, comprises also the early history of New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, and, to some extent, that of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The second begins with the ascendency of the English in 1664, and ends with the cession of Canada to England in 1763, by which all the Northern colonies in America became subject to the British crown. The third reaches from the treaty of Paris. in 1763, to the inauguration of Washington as President of the United States in 1789. The fourth embraces the annals of the state from the organization of the Federal government.

This volume contains a history of the first of these periods. In that period many of the political, religious, and social elements of New York had their origin. It offers varied themes which in vite attention; the savage grandeur of nature; the early adven ture of discovery and settlement; the struggle with barbarism and the subjugation of a rude soil; the contrast and blending of European with American life; the transfer of old institutions; th

intermingling of races; the progress of commerce; the establishment of churches and schools; the triumph of freedom of conscience over bigotry; the development of principles of self-government within, and the action of encroachment and conquest from without.

The preparation of this book has not been without much care and labor. Many of its materials are now employed for the first time; the numerous references to others show the extended resources which, under the recent impulse to American historical investigation, have been brought within reach. It is submitted to the judgment of the public in partial execution of a purpose contemplated for many years; with a desire to aid in the vindication of truth; and with a full consciousness of the importance of the subject and of the fidelity due to the fit performance of the work.

JOHN ROMEYN BRODHEAD.

New York, November, 1852.

CONTENT S.

New Netherland Company, 66; Death of Christiaensen, 66, 67; Champlain discov-
ers Lake Huron and Lake Ontario, 68; At Onondaga Lake, 69; Onondaga Fort

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