New York City

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s its object was to enforce the Episcopal service upon the Puritans of New England, and so unsuspecting was he, that he went up the river, to Fort Orange to control an Indian disturbance. Here he was informed that Nicolls as moving towards New Amsterdam. Stuyvestant rushed down the river with all speed, arriving at New Amsterdam but one day before the English fleet moved into view. Nicolls demanded the surrender of the fort. Stuyvestant refused. He gathered his forces for defense. But the people were not with him, they were weary of his cruel government in which they had no part, weary of enriching a company at their own expense, and the choleric old government had to yield. The fort was surrendered in 1664 without mayhem. New Amsterdam became New York, after the Duke of York, the upper Hudson also yielded, and Fort Orange became Albany.
Queen Elizabeth had laid down the postulate that mere discovery, without occupation, did not constitute a right to new lands. This was a good rule when applied to Spain to refute her claims to North America; it was another story when applied to the English concerning the Hudson Vall...