The first official recorded visitor to New York Harbor was in 1524, by an Italian named Giovanni da Verrazano, during a French-sponsored expedition on the ship, Dauphine (named after the eldest son of King Francis I of France). ... Hudson went north to trade furs and other goods to Indians to were willing to trade. ... The thirty French-speaking Protestant families, called Walloons, were to set up a base for privateering and fur trading. ... The fur trade and piracy, Indian raids, and bad management kept the city down. ... When the war was over, it was signed back over to the English becau...

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• Grade Level: High School