The colorful history of the New York colony began in 1609 with the arrival of Henry Hudson's ship the Half Moon at the mouth of the Hudson River.

Friendly Indians, a protected harbor, and fertile land encouraged settlement, and by 1626 there was a thriving community of Dutch colonists on Manhattan Island. Here is the exciting story of these early settlers—their customs, dress, religious practices, their relations with the local Indians. Here, too, are the dramatic details of the strife between Holland and England that resulted in the Dutch colony of New Netherland becoming the British colony of New York.

From earliest times the colony was a seedbed for religious and political activity. Any high-handed act of authority met with immediate and intense opposition from the citizenry. It was in colonial New York that Peter Zenger fought to secure freedom of the press. It was in the northern reaches of the New York colony that the major battles of the French and Indian Wars were fought. And it was in New York, on July 9, 1776, that General George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, read to his troops and the assembled citizens the stirring text of the Declaration of Independece.

From the dust jacket