Manhattan was first visited by Giovanni da Verrazzano; at the time it was inhabited by the Lenape tribe. European settled in Manhattan by the beginning of the 17th century, when Dutch fur commerce was established. Manhattan was named New Amsterdam in 1613 for the reason that the Dutch expanded their trade and that Europeans kept settling down. As early as 1626, Peter Minuit bought Staten Island from Indians for only 24$ at the time. The purchase of Manhattan is proclaimed the most successful real estate transaction in the world.
The British conquered the city in 1664 and gave it the name it bears today, New York. The name New York was given to honour Duke of York. In the 19th century, slowly but steadily, immigrants settled in, and thus transformed New York in a big city. New York became the biggest city in the USA in 1835, surpassing Philadelphia.
In hope of freedom and better life, the number of European citizens grew. The growth of population led to the merging of five boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens and Bronx) into one – New York City.
Borough settlers often caused conflicts among each other, mostly due to national differences and thesense of belonging to a certain part of the town – all that is present today as well. Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Manhattan differ greatly from each other, and every single citizen is proud of their origins.
In the 20th century, New York became the center of international trade and industry. Surge on the stock market ended with a huge crash, on the so-called “Black Friday”, 24 October, 1929. It was then when famous New York skyscrapers, the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building, were built. In the present day, New York has almost 9 million citizens making it the most populated city in the USA, while Manhattan itself has around 1.5 million citizens.
Author of the article:
Marijana Niković tourist guide for Montenegro
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