In the New Netherland colony , Frisian people from North Frisia , East Frisia and West Friesland were the largest ethnic group in the city of New Amsterdam which later became New York City . The New Amsterdam area was chiefly explored by one Jonas Bronk who led a group of settlers from North Frisia , and the region was later named The Bronx after him . Bronk ( also known as Bronck ) himself is said to have been either Danish or Swedish . Many North-Frisian settlers were refugees of the Burchardi flood of 1634 which had destroyed the wealthy island of Strand . According to Paulsen , " they introduced their old democratic traditions into the patrician Dutch society of that time . " Because there is no modern united Frisian state , Frisian Americans are often included within Dutch Americans , German Americans or Scandinavian Americans
Burchardi flood
Burchardi flood
Frisian Americans