The original habitants of New York City were Lenape. These Native Americans were a group of people who had similar culture and language. They spoke in a language known as Algonquian which is now referred to as Unami. Lanape are usually referred to as Unami place name like ‘Raritan’. The modern day Brooklyn and New Jersey were known as ‘Canarsee’ and ‘Hackenscak’ in the prehistory. This band of people made an efficient usage of the waterways in New York City by fishing, trading, going for hunting trips and having wars at times. Names of many places in New York City keep the presence of Lenape alive like Raritan Bay, Canarsia and Brooklyn.

When the Europeans had arrived, Lanape’s had already learned how to make refined ways of managing their resources and hunting, and they even learned how to cultivate vegetation through Slash and Burn Technique. They would even gather large quantities of fish and shellfish from the bay. By the time the Europeans settled there were nearly 15,000 Lanape in 80 settlement sites in total.

In 1638 Willem Kieft was designated as the Director General. But five years later the peace of the Native American were disturbed with the Kieft’s War. There was a sad end for eighty natives who were victimised in the Pavonia Massacre. The privilege of being self-government was given to the colony in 1652 after Peter Stuyvesant was made the Director General in May 27th, 1647.

The history of New York City had begun with the voyage of the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano. In the honor of Francis I of France, King of France and count of Angouleme in the Charente region in France, Giovanni had named the present-day New York City as New Angouleme. New Angouleme had acquired its name from the French word Nouvelle-Angouleme in 1524. After 1625, this place was referred to as New Amsterdam as it had become a Dutch colonial settlement. In 1664 the English conquered it and renamed it New York.

New York City area had faced numerous battles of the American Revolutionary War in which one of the largest battles was the Battle of Brooklyn. The American Revolutionary War, also known as American War of Independence (1775-1783), was the war between Great Britain and 13 British colonies in North America, but it ended up as the Global War between many European powers. The Battle of Brooklyn or Battle of Brooklyn Heights was one of the largest battles of the American Revolutionary War. After the battle was fought, on August 27, 1776, the United States was declared as an independent nation.

After the British won the battle they resided in the city from September 1776 to late 1783. In front of the Federal Halls, George Washington was introduced at the first President of United States on April 30, 1789. New York City was the capital of United of States until 1790.