The City of Great American Dreams Dutch colonial Director-General Peter Minuit cannot believe his luck that 24 th day of May, 1626. He had ust closed the real estate deal, or rather the steal of the !illenniu!" He had #urchased the $hole island of Manhattan fro! a $anderin% band of &ena#e 'ative (!ericans $ho do not o$n it any$ay, for only 6) %uilders *about +24 then, about +1,))) today$orth of echan%ed trinkets and other trade %oods *Peter Minuit, 2)). /ver a century a%o in 1024, 'e$ ork ay and the Hudson 3iver $ere discovered by Giovanni da erra55ano, an talian e#lorer in the service of the 7rench cro$n. He called the site of the future 'e$ ork 8ity, 9 Nouvelle Angoulême 9 *'e$ (n%oul:!ein honor of ;in% 7rancis of 7rance and 8ount of (n%oul:!e in the 8harente re%ion in 7rance *Giovanni da erra55ano, 2)). He $as also the first <uro#ean to enter the sheltered, dee#$ater anchora%e of Manhattan $hich offers easy access to the (tlantic /cean. He na!ed the harbor =anta Mar%arita. =oon, the Dutch built a colonial fur tradin% settle!ent in the area, na!ed 9 Nieuw Amsterdam9 *'e$ (!sterda!, on the southern ti# of Manhattan in 1614 *'8, 2)). elden said the settle!ent is easy to defend since the narro$ a##roaches to the harbor fro! the ocean and fro! &on% sland =ound can be fortified easily *1>4. et in 1664, it $as con?uered by the ritish and rena!ed 'e$ ork after the <n%lish Duke of ork and (lbany, $ho later beca!e @a!es of <n%land *@ackson, 2)). n du e ti!e, the settle!ent %re$ and #ros#ered as a #ri!e tradin% city in the northeastern seaboard of the A.=. Bhe success of 'e$ ork 8ity is both a #roduct of %eo%ra#hy and %eolo%y. 7irst, the city is strate%ically located at the !outh of the Hudson 3iver, $hich e!#ty into 'e$ ork ay and then, into the (tlantic /cean. n 1>1, the <rie 8anal o#ened connectin%
