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The first European to see what is now New York State was Giovanni da Verrazano in 1524, when he sailed into New York Bay. It is said that many Native Americans came to the shore to look at these "newcomers". No trading occurred with Verrazano, but he was impressed with the abundance of natural resources found here, and returned to France and told them about those resources.
The next European to see this area was Jacques Cartier in 1536. He sailed on the St. Lawrence River and was interested in trading for furs with the Native Americans, as furs were very popular in Europe for making hats and coats. It was in 1603, that the Frenchman Samuel de Champlain came to northern New York to actually set up a fur trade with the Native Americans. He became friendly with the Algonquians there and later sided with them against the Iroquois in an attack. He gave the Algonquians guns. After that battle, the Iroquois always thought of the French as the enemy. This will prove to be very costly to the French at later dates.
The Europeans wanted furs, especially beaver pelts (skins), from the Native Americans here.
What did the Native Americans want from the Europeans? They wanted metal pots and copper kettles to replace the gourd bowls and clay pots they had always used. They also wanted metal ax heads that would cut better than their stone ones. They also wanted glass beads, decorative jewelry, woolen blankets, and guns. They became more and more dependent on the European goods and even welcomed the setting up of trading posts.
Guns dramatically changed the Natives' way of life. Hunting with a gun allowed the Natives to kill more animals for food and fur, which upset the natural balance. In some areas, the beaver population was nearly wiped out by the fur trade. Beavers were near extinction in New York. The first permanent Dutch trading post was in Fort Orange (now Albany) around 1625. The next settlement was in New Amsterdam (now New York City). The island of Manhattan was sold by the Lenni Lenape Native Americans for tools, beads, and clothing worth $24. Actually it is thought that the Native Americans misunderstood the idea of "ownership", and thought they were being paid for some resources being used by the settlers there. The Native Americans did not believe in anyone "owning" the land.
Another area of a major European impact on the Native Americans was the introduction of diseases such as smallpox and cholera. The Natives' immune system was not prepared to fight those new diseases. The traditional Native medicines did not work well against those diseases and some tribes were totally wiped out by the sicknesses. Soon there were many European settlers here, and the Native Americans were forced to change their way of life and to move to more isolated areas. DEFINITIONS natural resources: things that come from nature which people used to produce goods and provide services (e.g. water, trees, oil, metals, fish, etc.) trade: an exchange of goods and services
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