<P> In 1524 , nearly a century before the arrival of the Dutch , the site that later became New Amsterdam was named New Angoulême by the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano , to commemorate his patron King Francis I of France , former Count of Angoulême . The first recorded exploration by the Dutch of the area around what is now called New York Bay was in 1609 with the voyage of the ship Halve Maen ( English : `` Half Moon '' ) , captained by Henry Hudson in the service of the Dutch Republic , as the emissary of Maurice of Nassau , Prince of Orange , Holland 's stadholder . Hudson named the river the Mauritius River . He was covertly attempting to find the Northwest Passage for the Dutch East India Company . Instead , he brought back news about the possibility of exploitation of beaver by the Dutch who sent commercial , private missions to the area the following years . </P>
<P> In 1524 , nearly a century before the arrival of the Dutch , the site that later became New Amsterdam was named New Angoulême by the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano , to commemorate his patron King Francis I of France , former Count of Angoulême . The first recorded exploration by the Dutch of the area around what is now called New York Bay was in 1609 with the voyage of the ship Halve Maen ( English : `` Half Moon '' ) , captained by Henry Hudson in the service of the Dutch Republic , as the emissary of Maurice of Nassau , Prince of Orange , Holland 's stadholder . Hudson named the river the Mauritius River . He was covertly attempting to find the Northwest Passage for the Dutch East India Company . Instead , he brought back news about the possibility of exploitation of beaver by the Dutch who sent commercial , private missions to the area the following years . </P>
who controlled new york before it became an english colony
who controlled new york before it became an english colony
the Dutch
the Dutch