New Amsterdam

New Amsterdam Nieuw Amsterdam
City and Municipality of New Amsterdam
First settlement	1624
Named for	Amsterdam

New Amsterdam (Amerikaens: Nieuw Amsterdam, Lenappi: Mannahata), abbreviated as NAMS, affectionately nicknamed Knickerbock, and often going by the moniker the Green City (De Grüne Metropöl), is the capital and largest city of New Netherland. One of the oldest cities in America, it is considered as a pre-eminent world city. It is recognised as a cultural melting pot, incorporating traits derieved from its large Dutch, Palatine, French, Arab, and African populations. Organisations such as Jonkman Corporation and the OVL are headquartered in the city. New Amsterdam is a financial hub as well as one of fashion, philosophy, music, and cuisine.

It was founded by the West India Company in 1624 and became a municipal city in 1656. It defended itself against British aggression in the War of 1664. In the 18th century, the patroonship system produced the city's characteristic gentry. Immigration expanded the population rapidly. In the 1790s, civil and foreign conflict brought independence. During the First Statholderate, the city underwent land reclamation projects, urbanisation, and economic reform. After the Constitution of 1870, political instability plagued New Amsterdam until the Republican Revolution, when democracy allowed the city to enter a new era of prosperity. Knickerbockers (New Amsterdam's denizens) were instrumental in civil rights reform in the 1910s and suffered during the Great Economic Crisis.

Etymology

The city was named after the Dutch capital Amsterdam. It was previously dubbed New Angoulême by Estoban Gomez before being dubbed New Amsterdam by the first Dutch colonists around 1614.

History

Folks' Tenure (1911-1931)

Government relocation to Northpoint, Staeten Eiland

Overhead panorama view of New Amsterdam in the year 2000 (leaving out much of Staten Island).