Dutch New York

Overview

Historian Barry Lewis takes us back in time to rediscover the first European settlers in New York — the Dutch. The year 2009 marked the 400th anniversary of explorer Henry Hudson’s voyage to New York State and the river that bears his name. This 56-minute documentary describes the 17th century history of New Amsterdam. New Netherland began as a forested island occupied only by a small number of Indigenous people who were soon forced out by the Dutch as they claimed the southern portion of the Island below today’s Wall Street. Thomas Willett, who is buried in the Ancient Little Neck Cemetery in East Providence, RI, served twice as Mayor when it became New York City in 1665.