Province of New York
Encyclopedia : P : PR : PRO : Province of New York
The Province of New York (Dutch: Provincie Nieuw-Nederland or Provincie New York) was a British colony that existed roughly where the U.S. state of New York does now. The province originally claimed the current states of New Jersey and Vermont, along with coastal portions of Massachusetts and Maine. The economy of the Province of New York was based on manufacturing and agriculture. The citizens made iron and built ships. Farmers grew rice and wheat while raising cattle.
The province ceased to exist after the colonial charter was replaced by the Constitution of New York, 1777 and gave way to the creation of the independent state of New York and later as New York State (within the United States of America) in 1788.
Conquest of New Netherlands
The province was granted to James, Duke of York, before the capture of the New Netherland colony from the Dutch on September 12,1664. The Duke had already granted the Province of New Jersey to his friends Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. The loss of New Amsterdam partly precipitated the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1665.
The Dutch retook part of New York in 1673 during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, but soon lost it permanently as part of the treaty in 1674. When the Duke succeeded to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland as James II, in 1685, New York became a Crown Colony. During the Glorious Revolution, Jacob Leisler led a rebellion in favor of William of Orange.
In principle, the form of government was absolute rule by the Duke of York, or later the King; but in practice, he delegated his authority to a provincial governor whom he had appointed and instructed, and a provincial legislature elected by freeholders.
The twelve original counties
The Province of New York was divided into twelve counties on November 1, 1683:
- Albany County: All of the region that is now northern and western New York. Also claimed the area, later disputed, that is now Vermont. In addition as there was no fixed western border to the colony (sea-to-sea grant), Albany County theoretically extended to the Pacific Ocean. Most of this land has now been ceded to other states and most of the land within New York has been divided into new counties.
- Cornwall County: An area in what is now Maine. Ceded to Massachusetts Colony in 1692.
- Dukes County: The Elizabeth Islands, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island east of Long Island. Ceded to Massachusetts Colony in 1691.
- Dutchess County: Now Dutchess and Putnam counties.
- Kings County: The current Kings County; Brooklyn.
- New York County: The current New York County; Manhattan .
- Orange County: Now Orange and Rockland counties.
- Queens County: Now Queens and Nassau counties.
- Richmond County: Richmond County; Staten Island.
- Suffolk County: The current Suffolk County.
- Ulster County: Now Ulster and Sullivan counties and part of what is now Delaware and Greene counties.
- Westchester County: Now Bronx and Westchester counties, which includes Rye, Scarsdale, Harrison, Larchmont, and other towns.
List of provincial governors
- Richard Nicolls (1664-1668)
- Francis Lovelace (1668-1673)
- Cornelis Evertsen (1673)
- Anthonie Colve (1673-1674)
- Edmund Andros (1674-1681 & 1688)
- Anthony Brockholls (acting: 1681-1683)
- Thomas Dongan (1683-1688)
- Francis Nicholson (acting: 1688-1691)
- Jacob Leisler (1689-1691)
- Henry Sloughter (1691)
- Richard Ingoldsby (acting: 1691-1692 & 1709-1710)
- Benjamin Fletcher (1692-1698)
- Richard Coote (1698-1701)
- John Nanfan (1701-1702)
- Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury (1702-1708)
- John Lovelace (1708-1709)
- Peter Schuyler (1709 & 1719-1720)
- Gerardus Beekman (acting: 1710)
- Robert Hunter (1710-1719)
- William Burnet (1720-1728)
- John Montgomerie (1728-1731)
- Rip Van Dam (acting: 1731-1732)
- William Cosby (1732-1736)
- George Clarke (1736-1743)
- George Clinton (1743-1753)
- Sir Danvers Osborn (1753)
- James de Lancey (1753-1755, 1757-1760)
- Sir Charles Hardy (1755-1757)
- Cadwallader Colden (acting: 1760-1761, 1763-1765 & 1769-1770)
- Robert Monckton (1761-1763)
- Sir Henry Moore (1764-1769)
- Lord Dunmore (1770-1771)
- William Tryon (1771-1780)
See also
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.