In 1524 the Italian navigator Giovanni Verrazano and his crew in the caravel Dauphine, cruising along the North America coast, turned into the outer reaches of New York Harbor, the section called the Lower Bay.
They were the first European s to visit this particular region. Verrazano was employed by Francois I, the French monarch who was also Leonardo da Vinci’s patron.
In 1598, a few Hollanders in the employ of Greenland Company, were in the habit of resorting to New Netherlands with a design of effecting a settlement, but merely to secure a shelter during the winter months.
They built two new forts, to protect themselves against the Indians.
The history of New York City began the arrival of Henry Hudson and his eighteen crew in De Halve Maen in September 2, 1609. He pushing on through the Narrows, sailed into the harbor. Hudson carefully tacked the De Halve Maen toward what was later called Manhattan.
Hudson had been sent out by the Dutch East India Company to look for the legendary ‘Northwest Passage’ to China and India. Like his Italian and Portuguese predecessors. Hudson was part of Europe’s quest for an all water route to the Far East.
Upon Hudson’s return to Amsterdam in 1610, a group of enterprising Dutch merchants sent a ship to the newly explored rover to establish a profitable fur trade.
In April 22, 1625, a settlement know as New Amsterdam had been established on the southern tip of Manhattan Island. Dutch New York was being created.
The settlement was founded by the Dutch West India Company developed from a trading post in the wilderness into an important seaport and center of commerce under English rule.
History of New York City: First arrivals
