PROVINCE OF NEW YORK

(Redirected from Colony 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 inland portions of Massachusetts and Maine. The province was named for James, Duke of York and brother to Charles II in 1664, when the colony was won from the Dutch.
The British province was established within portions of the former territory of New Netherlands after the Dutch colony's capital, New Amsterdam, was captured by British forces in 1664. The new masters introduced English constitutional forms, including county government and a Provincial Assembly, and continued the Dutch policy of welcoming dissenting Christian sects, including the founders of New Rochelle. The British replaced the Dutch in their alliance with the Iroquois against New France. This alliance fought the French and Indian Wars and, under Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet, succeeded in conquering Canada.
In 1776, the Assembly refusing to join the American Revolution, Rebels formed a new Provincial Congress in Kingston. They declared the independent state of New York, replaced New York's colonial charter with the Constitution of New York, 1777 and fought for independence from Britain in cooperation with the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies. In 1788, New York State voted to ratify the new U.S. Constitution and join the United States of America.

Contents

The twelve original counties

List of provincial governors

See also

References

Further reading

External links

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 Duchess 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)

★ Anthony 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 (1765-1769)

★ Lord Dunmore (1770-1771)

★ William Tryon (1771-1780)

★ John Earlson (1780-1782)

See also

★ History of New York

★ List of extinct U.S. counties

References

Further reading

★ Bonomi, Patricia U. ''A Factious People: Politics and Society in Colonial New York.'' New York: Columbia University Press, 1971.

★ Kammen, Michael. ''Colonial New York: A History.'' New York: Oxford University Press, 1975.

External links

★ 1776 map of Province of New York