In September 1609, Henry Hudson and his crew, sailing for the Dutch East India Company, entered what is now New York Harbor and began traveling up the river that would later bear his name. The company had asked Hudson to find a northern route between Europe and Asia to give them an advantage over competitors. While the river did not provide a route to Asia, Hudson took notice of the region’s riches: lush natural resources, a protected harbor on the Atlantic, and an abundance of beavers, whose fur was valuable in Europe.
Hudson’s report of his discovery inspired settlement of the colony New Netherland. Over the next six decades, New Netherland grew to include parts of present-day New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The colony started as a series of fur trading forts along the Hudson River (then called the North River), specializing in trade with Native Americans for beaver furs. The fur trade served the interests of Dutch merchants, who ultimately unified as the West India Company (founded 1621).
Between the 1620s and 1660s, the colony grew as a result of a number of influential leaders and initiatives. In 1626, colony director Peter Minuit purchased the island of Manhattan from Native Americans and built Fort Amsterdam, later surrounded by the city of New Amsterdam, on its southern tip. In 1629, the West India Company established a system of land distribution to encourage settlement in the colony. In the 1640s, director Willem Kieft expanded the southern and eastern boundaries of the colony, but came into conflict with neighboring Europeans, Native American allies, and the residents of the colony. The last director of New Netherland was Peter Stuyvesant. Under Stuyvesant, the colony’s multicultural population—diverse European ethnic and religious groups, Africans, and Native Americans—grew. The colony flourished between 1647 and 1664. After years of tension between New Netherlanders and New England settlers, however, British forces sailed to New Amsterdam in 1664 and demanded surrender. With no military resources to defend the colony, Stuyvesant was forced to hand it over and it was renamed New York.
Mnamo Septemba 1609, Henry Hudson na wafanyakazi wake walipokuwa wakisafiri kwa meli kwa ajili ya Kampuni ya India Mashariki ya Uholanzi, waliingia katika bandari ya New York na kuanza kusafiri juu ya mto ambao baadaye ulipewa jina lake. Kampuni hiyo ilikuwa imemwomba Hudson apate njia ya kaskazini kati ya Ulaya na Asia ili kuwapa faida juu ya washindani. Ingawa mto huo haukuwa njia ya kwenda Asia, Hudson aliona utajiri wa eneo hilo: maliasili nyingi, bandari iliyohifadhiwa kwenye Bahari ya Atlantiki, na wingi wa nyangumi, ambao manyoya yao yalikuwa yenye thamani huko Ulaya. Ripoti ya Hudson kuhusu ugunduzi wake ilichochea kuanzishwa kwa koloni ya New Netherland. Katika miongo sita iliyofuata, New Netherland ilikua na kujumuisha sehemu za New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, na Delaware za leo. Jiji hilo lilianzishwa kama ngome za biashara ya manyoya kwenye Mto Hudson (wakati huo uliitwa Mto wa Kaskazini), na lilikuwa na biashara ya manyoya ya nyangumi na Wenyeji wa Asili wa Amerika. Biashara ya manyoya iliwawezesha wafanyabiashara wa Uholanzi kuanzisha Kampuni ya West India (iliyoanzishwa mwaka 1621). Kati ya 1620 na 1660, koloni ilikua kama matokeo ya viongozi kadhaa wenye ushawishi na mipango. Mnamo mwaka wa 1626 Peter Minuit, aliyekuwa mkurugenzi wa koloni hiyo, alinunua kisiwa cha Manhattan kutoka kwa Wenyeji wa Asili wa Amerika na kujenga Fort Amsterdam, ambayo baadaye ilizungukwa na mji wa New Amsterdam, kwenye ncha yake ya kusini. Mwaka 1629 Kampuni ya West India ilianzisha mfumo wa kugawa ardhi ili kuchochea makazi katika koloni hiyo. Katika miaka ya 1640, Willem Kieft, mkurugenzi wa koloni hiyo, aliongeza mipaka ya kusini na mashariki ya koloni hiyo, lakini akaingia katika mgogoro na Wazungu jirani, washirika wa Wenyeji wa Asili wa Amerika, na wakazi wa koloni hiyo. Mkurugenzi wa mwisho wa New Netherland alikuwa Peter Stuyvesant. Chini ya Stuyvesant, idadi ya wakazi wa makoloni ya kitamaduni mbalimbali - makundi mbalimbali ya kikabila na kidini ya Ulaya, Waafrika, na Wenyeji wa Amerika - ilikua. Jiji hilo lilijengwa kati ya mwaka wa 1647 na 1664. Baada ya miaka mingi ya mvurugo kati ya New Netherlanders na New England, vikosi vya Uingereza vilisafiri hadi New Amsterdam mnamo 1664 na kudai kujisalimisha. Kwa kuwa hakukuwa na silaha za kulinda koloni hiyo, Stuyvesant alilazimika kuikabidhi na ikaitwa New York.