New York - A Concise History - Precolonial

New York - A Concise History - Precolonial

AIt may be a far cry from Perth, where, as a window cleaner, I am used to seeing cities which are...well, less awesome. However, New York would eclips most Western Cities, for a couple of very good reasons. Firstly, the history. In Australia, aside from perhaps, Sydney and Melbourne, the major population areas are still juvenile in historical records. Secondly, New York is different in it's influence over Fashion, Banking and Commerce, and the Arts. Whilst other cities, such as London, can rival 'The Big Apple' in some of those areas, New York is arguably 'standing alone' as the complete package

To recount the whole history of this great city, with it’s intricacies of personalities, construction and social interaction would likely fill a whole library. Therefore, we aim to present here just a snapshot of New York a concise history to show that history, like a building, has it’s own supporting pillars, events that have held up the character of what it is that makes New York one of the world’s great cities. So, with that in mind, let’s consider firstly, some early history.

New York – A Concise History: Early Beginnings

The area that would eventually become New York received its first input during the Wisconsinan glaciation. It was at this point that a vast ice sheet, with a depth of around 1000 feet, removed alot of the regolith, leaving a foundation of bed rock. This bed rock would eventually form the base upon which this city would become established. The ice sheet also contributed to something that New Yorkers take for granted today, the separation of Long Island and Staten Island. Whilst residents of the Big Apple are undoubtedly glad that an ice sheet doesn’t cover the city today, the way of life and character that exists now would never have been the same without that destructive, if beautiful, event had never occurred.
If we forward wind now to the precolonial era, the Algonquian Native Americans became the inhabitants of the region, This group featured the Lenape, a people whose region was known as Lenapehoking. The Leanpehoking region encompassed Staten Island, and, the western part of Long Island which would now have included the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Lower Hudson Valley.

An early type of wigwam

It would be remiss, at this point, not to provide more information regarding the Algonquian peoples.....(read more)