A brief history of the Empire state ...

Front matter

C. W. BAKDEEN, PUBLISHER, SYRACUSE, N. Y.

OeGraff (E. V.) Practical Phonics. Cloth, 16mo, pp. 108 75

Pocket Proniiiiciatioii Book. Manilla, IBiiio, pp.47 15

Chapter I. Introductory

Three men, Columbus, Cabot, and Hudson introduce the history of New York State. One found the West Indies; another discovered the mainUmd and coasting southward may liave seen the loAV'-lying land of Long Island; while Henry Hudson, one hundred and seventeen years after the first voyage of Columbus, sailed into the bay of New York. It is possible that an Italian in the service of France, nearly a century before, found this bay and looked upon the river; it is certain that the Frenchman, Champlain, two months before the arrival of Hudson's Dutch crew, stood on the soil of the State; but the fame of Hudson is none the less. He may well be called the discoverer of New York ; he first made known to the world the advantages of the ample harbor, — the harbor that makes New York city the commercial capital of America.

The Land and the People. — But it is not upon this harbor alone that the importance of the State rests; its soil and its geographical position fit it for an empire. Within its boundaries the white man found the Iroquois, the conquering Indians of America . These red men were superior to other Indians; they lived in houses, had fields of corn, beans and tobacco, made earthenware, baskets and ropes, and the five tribes, ^lohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas were joined in a rude republic. These people were

INTRODUCTORY.

[Introductoryknown and feared all east of the Mississippi; but they chose a place for their corn fields and log houses in central Xew York, and near the present site of Syracuse they had their council-fire or capitol. From this advantageous centre they could go north by Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence, east by tlie Mohawk, south to the Atlantic by the Susquehanna, south to the inland by the Allegany and Ohio, west by the great lakes. '^Xew York," says Bancroft, '^^ united richest lands with the highest adaptation to foreign and domestic commerce."

The L'oquois occupied the Mohawk valley and central and western !N"ew York, while they left the eastern and south-eastern jDarts to weaker Algonquin tribes, among whom were the Mohegans on the east bank of the Hudson and the Delawares along the river of that name. To the north and in Canada were other bands of Algonquins who long waged unsuccessful warfare with the Iroquois. These weaker Indians implored the help of the French; for French adventurers and traders had built forts along the St. Lawrence seventy years before Hudson^s ship anchored off Sandy Hook.

Cliamplain^ the "Father of New France," was finally persuaded by the neighboring friendly Indians to join in an expedition against the Iroquois. He went up the Sorel, found the lake to which he gave his name, and on its banks in Essex county met the Iroquois.

Here on a July morning of 1609 the Indians of New York first saw the white man and heard the noise of his gun. They ran. For Champlain it was an easy victory; but it was a samuei. champi^^in. f fital blunder. Without knowing it

he had made lasting enemies of the fiercest warriors of the conti-

Chap. I] DIVISION INTO PERIODS. 11

nent. Again Champlain tried to penetrate the State from Lake Ontario, and getting as far as Madison county went back defeated. Again other Frenchmen tried to gain a foot hold in New York State and failed because of the enmity of the Iroquois. Thus on the north the French were kept from New York while on the south the feeble colonies of the Dutch and English grew strong and held the land.

Periods. — The recorded history of New York, which begins with Champlain's battle on the shore of the lake, easily separates into five periods.

Period First. — The Rule of the Dutch, — extending from the discovery by Hudson in 1609 to the surrender to the English in 1664. In this period the Dutch discover and settle the land about the Hudson and on Long Island.

Period Second. — The Rule of the English, — extending from the surrender to the English in 1664 to the flight of the English governor in 1775. In this period the colonists increase rapidly; they drive back the French and find English rule unbearable.

Period Tliird. — New York as a Sovereign State, — extending from the fiight of the English governor in 1775 to the inauguration of AYashington in 1789. In this period the State joins with twelve other States in a war of independence, is one of a weak confederacy, and finally becomes part of a strong nation.

Period Fourth. — The Development of the State, — extending from the inauguration of Washington in 1789 to the completion of the Erie canal in 1825. In this period the State builds a waterway of national importance and advances from the rank of fifth to the rank of first in wealth and population.

Period Fifth. — The Era of Progress, — extending from the completion of the Erie canal in 1825 to the latter part of the nineteenth century. In this period the State maintains its right to the name of the Empire State.

EIBIOID I,