NEW YORK 



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NEW YORK 



prison is at Comstock. The prison for women is 

 also at Auburn. The reformatories at Elmira 

 and Napanoch are for boys, and that at Bed- 

 ford for girls; there is a training school for 

 girls at Hudson and an industrial school for 

 boys at Industry, near Rochester. 



The asylums for the insane are located at 

 Utica, Willard, Poughkeepsie, Middletown, 

 Buffalo, Binghamton, Ogdensburg, Rochester, 

 King's Park, Central Islip and Gowanda. 

 There are two asylums for insane criminals, 

 located at Matteawan and Dannemora. The 

 asylum for feeble-minded children is at Syra- 

 cuse, and that for feeble-minded women is at 

 Newark. A state custodial asylum is main- 

 tained at Rome. Craig Colony for Epileptics 

 is maintained at Sonyea, and a second institu- 

 tion is maintained at Letch worth Village for 

 epileptics and feeble-minded persons. 



The school for the blind is at Batavia. There 

 is also an institution in New York City known 

 as "The New York Institution for the Blind," 

 which, though private, receives state pupils. 

 An asylum for destitute and orphan Indian 

 children is at Iroquois. The state hospital for 

 the care of crippled and deformed children is 

 at West- Haverstraw ; the state hospital for the 

 treatment of incipient tuberculosis is at Ray- 

 brook. A soldiers' and sailors' home is at Bath. 



The Dutch Period of History. In the names 

 of its rivers, lakes, towns and counties New 

 York state has many memorials of its eventful 

 history. Thus the many Dutch names remind 

 us that the Dutch were the first settlers of this 

 region. In 1609 the Englishman, Henry Hud- 

 son, who was in the service of a Dutch com- 

 pany, entered the harbor which is now named 

 New York and sailed up the river which now 

 bears his name. The Dutch soon established 

 temporary trading posts and prosperous settle- 

 ments, and they maintained a profitable fur 

 trade for years. The first settlements were 

 made on Manhattan Island in 1623 and at 

 Albany in 1624. Two years later the Dutch gov- 

 ernor, Peter Minuit, bought from the Indians 

 Manhattan Island, now the heart of New York 

 City, giving in return goods valued at twenty- 

 four dollars. 



The English Period. The Dutch came in 

 constant collision with the English on the east 

 and south, and finally were forced to relinquish 

 their hold on the territory in 1664, when this 

 region, New Jersey and Delaware were occu- 

 pied by England and granted to the Duke of 

 York, brother of Charles II. The name of 

 New Netherland was now changed to that 



of New York. For a time the colony pros- 

 pered under liberal rule, but it was later made 

 the victim of worthless and unscrupulous gov- 

 ernors. It suffered severely by the invasions 

 of French and Indians during the wars of the 

 eighteenth century. In the early days of the 

 pre-Revolutionary struggle the colony con- 

 tained many Tories, but the patriots were 

 largely in the majority, and some of the most 

 defiant actions of the whole struggle were taken 

 by New York. A popular convention met at 

 White Plains in 1776 and organized an inde- 

 pendent government. It adopted in the fol- 

 lowing year a constitution which remained the 

 state constitution for the next forty-five years. 



Early History as a State. During the War 

 of Independence the state was the scene of 

 many important military operations. Worthy 

 of special mention are the Battle of Oriskany 

 (August, 1777) and the surrender of Burgoyne 

 at Saratoga (October, 1777), two of the most 

 decisive military events of the war. New York 

 was among the first to ratify the Articles of 

 Confederation (1778), but it opposed a strong 

 Federal government, two of its three delegates 

 withdrawing from the Constitutional Conven- 

 tion of 1787. It was the eleventh state to ratify 

 the Constitution (July, 1788). The Continental 

 Congress met at New York from 1785 to 1790, 

 and it was here that Washington was inaugu- 

 rated President in 1789. The Federalists were 

 at first dominant in the state, but after 1800 

 the Republicans were in power for more than 

 twenty years, chiefly under the leadership of 

 De Witt Clinton, one of the most able of the 

 governors who have occupied the executive chair 

 of New York. A second constitution was 

 adopted in 1821, and a third, which abolished 

 feudal tenure of land, in 1846. This constitu- 

 tion remained in force until 1894, when the 

 present constitution, amended several times, 

 was adopted. 



Recent History. Though a free state, New 

 York was divided in the slavery struggle; and 

 during the early years of the War of Secession 

 the Democrats, or antiadministration party, 

 were in power. Nevertheless, the state was 

 one of the strongest supporters of the Union 

 cause and furnished 467,000 troops to the Fed- 

 eral army. Since the War of Secession its de- 

 velopment has been rapid and continuous. In 

 state politics as well as in Presidential elec- 

 tions New York is an uncertain state. In the 

 election of 1912 Woodrow Wilson carried the 

 state for the Democratic party; in 1916 the Re- 

 publican candidate, Hughes, won the state. In 



