New York State’s His.doc

New York State’s History: A Brief Overview And Views of Historiography By Ronald R. Grube, Ph.D. New York’s History: A Brief Overview An Unpublished work Copyright 2001 by Ronald R. Grube Views of Historiography An Unpublished work Copyright 2004 by Ronald R. Grube Table of Contents Native New Yorkers 3 European Exploration and Colonization 26 England’s Colony 45 The American Revolution in New York 67 The Post-Revolutionary Growth of New York State 98 A Transportation Revolution 128 New York’s Greatest Revolution and Other Reforms 167 Contemporary Views of New York’s History 243 Historiography 325 Interpretative History 367 Chapter 1 Native New Yorkers INTRODUCTION: Four-fifths of New York prior to the adoption of the United States Constitution (and perhaps even to this date) was legally the property of the natives who had lived on the land for thousands years. Any historical consideration of New York’s History that slights the native contributions would be quite irresponsible. Without doubt, Henry, Pete, and Suzy (characters of the PDE) frequently imagined the presence of the Iroquois on Cayuga Lake. What they probably did not know was that the native presence in New York’s history had a profound impact on life in Central New York. This learning module respected the people who lived longest on this soil and water. LEARNING GOALS: To gain a familiarity with “Native” New York. To examine the history of the Haudenosaunee. To understand some of the differences between “Native” perspectives and “White” perspectives. To consider the extent and kind of “Native” contributions to the development of New York State. TOPICS EXAMINED: The Earliest Americans and their migration to New York The Haudenosaunee legend of the formation of the Confederacy The Haudenosaunee Confederacy European Intruders The Beaver Wars Examples of European understandings of the Haudenosaunee THE SOCIAL MEANING: The Native New Yorkers have