NEW YORK 



4193 



NEW YORK 



J. ll EW YORK, one of the Middle At- 

 lantic states of the American Union and one of 

 the original thirteen states. It was named in 

 honor of the Duke of York, to whom it was 

 granted in 1664 by Charles II of England. Be- 

 fore that time it had been called New Nether- 

 land. New York has been nicknamed the EM- 

 PIRE STATE not that it is the largest of the 

 states, for twenty-eight of them are larger, but 

 for other elements which give it imposing rank. 

 It is bountifully supplied with natural resources, 

 and it is first among the states in population, 

 manufactures, commerce and wealth; it has 

 held this rank for nearly a century. 



Its principal city, which possesses one of the 

 most magnificent natural harbors in the world, 

 is situated practically on the Atlantic Ocean. 

 It has become the country's chief gateway on 

 eastern coast, through which the tide of 

 immigration has flowed into the United States 

 and through which a great amount of the 

 produce exchanged between the United States 

 and the rest of the world passes. It is small 

 wonder that New York City has grown into the 

 greatest city on the American continent. 



In the days of colonization the town of New 

 York, first settled by the Dutch as New Am- 

 sterdam, was the center of influence in the 

 northern zone. Coming into the possession of 

 Knjrli.-h in the year named above, the town 

 and colony assumed additional prestige. The 

 was the first capital of the country under 

 new Constitution, and thereafter Philadel- 

 i ceased to occupy the political place of first 

 Contributing to the supremacy of 

 New York City and state was the Erie Canal, 

 completed in 1825. New York then became 

 the greatest gateway in America for incoming 

 and outgoing commerce. For many year- 

 state was pivotal in Presidential elections, but 

 it is no longer true that "as New York goes so 

 > the nation." As the nation's financial cen- 

 New York City eclipsed Philadelphia b. 4 

 1840, and this distinction it has never surrrn- 

 1: rather has it grown stronger, with the 



:nent of the great industrial east. 

 263 



Size and Location. The state has the shape 

 of a rude triangle, with the apex formed by 

 New York City on the south and the base 

 formed roughly by Lake Erie, Niagara River, 

 Lake Ontario and Saint Lawrence River. With 

 an area of 49,204 square miles, of which 1,550 

 square miles are water, New York is about one- 

 fifth the size of Texas and one-fifteenth as 

 large as the province of Ontario on the north. 

 The state nearest to it in size is Louisiana, 

 which is 698 square miles smaller. New York 

 occupies about the same area as England. The 

 extreme length of the state from north to south 

 is 312 miles ; the greatest breadth is 326 miles. 



Its People. New York is the most populous 

 state in the Union, and has ranked first in 

 population since 1820. It had in 1910 a popu- 

 lation of 9,113,614 inhabitants, showing an in- 

 crease of 1344,720, or 25.4 per cent, during the 

 first decade of the twentieth century. Accord- 

 ing to the state census it had 9,687,744 inhabit- 

 ants in 1915. On January 1, 1917, the Census 

 Bureau estimated the number as 10,366,778. 

 The European country nearest to New York 

 in point of population in 1912 was Bel- 

 gium, which had 7,571,387 inhabitants. With 

 an average number of 191.2 persons to the 

 square mile, the state ranks fifth in density of 

 population, Being surpassed by Rhode Island, 

 Massachusetts, New Jersey and Connecticut. 

 Nearly four-fifths of the whole population li\ .1 

 in towns in 1910, as compared with an urban 

 population of less than Hirer-fourths of the 

 whole in 1900. Of its total population, 35.4 

 per cent were native whites of native parent- 

 age; 33 per cent were native whites of foreign 

 or mixed parentage; 29.9 per cent \\ero foreign- 

 born whites, and 1.5 per cent were negroes. 

 The fon inn-born population of the state num- 

 bered 2,729,272 persons in 1910. 



Religion. About sixty per cent of the people 

 of New York are Roman Catholics. Of the 

 Protestant denominations the Methodists are 

 the most numerous, followed by the Presby- 

 (M, Episcopalians. Baptists. Lutherans and 

 Congregational IMS. There are in the state a 



