New York was discovered by Giovanni da Verrazzano, an italian explorer who serivced the French crown, in 1524. Even though the French discovered New York they did not purchase the land, the Dutch claimed the land in 1609. The new colony was important in the fur trade and later became an agricultural resource. The Dutch bought Manhattan from the Native Americans in 1626. England renamed the colony New York, after the Duke of York (later James II and VII) in 1664. New York was widely known as a major trading port in the Thirteen Colonies during the eighteenth century. New York had a big involvment with the American Revolution. The Stamp Act Congressin 1765 brought representitves from across the Thirteen Colonies to form a response to
