New York History Reading Comprehension Table of Contents The Peacemaker ................................................1 Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and the Hendrik Hudson ................................................5 Constitution ................................................164 Trading at Manhattan ......................................8 Benjamin Lattimore, 1761–1838 ..................166 The Dutch West India Company ....................10 Life in New York City....................................169 Albany, New York ............................................12 Aaron Burr and the Democrats ....................172 Peter Minuit and the Patroons ......................15 The Election of 1800 ......................................177 Territorial Disputes, 1632–1637 ....................18 Burr-Hamilton Duel ......................................179 Wilhelm Kieft, 1637–1639 ..............................21 Robert Fulton ................................................181 Indian Wars......................................................25 DeWitt Clinton ..............................................184 Peter Stuyvesant..............................................28 The Mohawk & Hudson Rail Road ..............187 New Amsterdam’s Population ........................31 Early History of African Americans in New Amsterdam’s Buildings ..........................34 Buffalo, New York ......................................189 New Amsterdam Life ......................................36 Nineteenth-Century Albany, New York........191 Fort Neck, Long Island....................................39 Clipper Ships..................................................193 Peter Stuyvesant’s Rule ..................................40 Riots................................................................195 Fall of New Amsterdam ..................................43 Immigration ..................................................197 England Takes Over, 1664 ..............................46 The Invention of the Telegraph ....................199 The Dutch Win New York Back ......................49 Martin Van Buren..........................................203 The British Rule under Sir Harriet Powell’s Escape from Slavery..........206 Edmund Andros ............................................52 Elizabeth Cady Stanton ................................210 A Charter of Liberties and Privileges ............55 Why a Women’s Rights Convention? ............212 Governments Overthrown ..............................57 Susan B. Anthony ..........................................214 Frontenac ........................................................59 The Rescue of Jerry ......................................216 Jacob Leisler ....................................................63 Wealthy Men of New York, 1855 ..................220 Pirates ..............................................................68 Harriet Tubman ............................................221 Earl of Bellomont and Captain Kidd..............71 Millard Fillmore ............................................223 Lord Cornbury, 1702–1708..............................75 Cornelius Vanderbilt......................................225 Slave Revolt ....................................................78 William H. Seward ........................................230 John Peter Zenger, 1735..................................82 from Matilda Joslyn Gage: New York City, 1741 ........................................84 Forgotten Feminist ....................................234 After the 1741 Fires ........................................86 New York Central Railroad ..........................241 Stamp Act Riots ..............................................94 The West Shore Railroad ..............................245 Lake Champlain Battle ................................102 The Tammany Society ..................................249 Battle of Brooklyn Heights ..........................105 Samuel Tilden ................................................253 Captain Nathan Hale ....................................108 Roscoe Conkling ............................................255 The Fall of Most of Manhattan ....................113 Chester A. Arthur ..........................................257 The Fall of Fort Washington ........................116 Grover Cleveland ..........................................259 The Fall of Fort Ticonderoga ........................119 Theodore Roosevelt........................................262 Battle of Bennington ....................................122 The General Slocum Disaster ......................266 Growing Tensions in Central New York ......125 The Fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Choosing Sides ..............................................130 Company ....................................................273 Preparations for the Battle of Oriskany ......136 David Sarnoff ................................................279 The Battle of Oriskany..................................139 Alfred E. Smith ..............................................283 The Effects of the Battle of Oriskany ..........144 Walker and La Guardia ................................284 Victory at Saratoga........................................150 Franklin D. Roosevelt....................................286 West Point Defenses ......................................154 Eleanor Roosevelt ..........................................288 The Treason of Benedict Arnold....................157 Ralph Bunche ................................................290 Occupation of New York ................................161 Hillary Rodham Clinton................................295 Answer Key .................................................................298 THE PEACEMAKER Onondaga Lake is in central New York. Over a thousand years ago on those shores, democracy was born. The Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and the Mohawk people had been warring against each other. There was great bloodshed. The five nations had forgotten their ways. Their actions saddened the Creator. The Creator sent a messenger to the people. He wanted the five nations to live in peace. The messenger is known as “the Peacemaker.” The Peacemaker carried powerful words of peace to the five nations. The Peacemaker traveled in a stone canoe. He did that to show to these troubled people that his words are true. In order for the Creator’s message to spread, the Peacemaker sought out the most evil people of the five nations. The Peacemaker named the most evil people as leaders. The most evil person of all was an Onondaga named “Tadadaho.” Tadadaho was said to be so evil that his body was twisted and snakes grew from his head. The Peacemaker’s message spread. It changed all of the people. Hiawatha was one of the people who had accepted the good words of the Creator. He decided to help the Peacemaker. Tadadaho was determined to stop this message and its messengers. Tadadaho killed Hiawatha’s daughters. Griefstricken, Hiawatha was no longer able to spread the Creator’s words. While grieving, Hiawatha found words that would help console others who had lost loved ones. He devised a method to remember these words. He strung purple and white freshwater clamshells together on strings. Hence, the first “wampum” was made. Once Hiawatha’s mind was clear, he and the Peacemaker were able to confront Tadadaho again. This time they had the support of forty-nine other leaders from all of the five nations. The leaders combed the snakes from Tadadaho’s hair. He accepted Creator’s message. Tadadaho became the fiftieth chief. The chiefs symbolized this union of peace by uprooting a great white pine tree. They threw their weapons of war into the hole left by the uprooted tree. Then they replanted the tree. The five tribes were called the “Haudenosaunee,” or “People of the Longhouse.” The Peacemaker placed an eagle on top of the great white pine tree. It was to warn the People of the Longhouse of any dangers to this great peace. Wampum belts were made to record the event. The Peacemaker then set in place a method for leaders to be chosen. He selected women to be the leaders of their clans. The leader will be called “Clan Mother.” The Clan Mother will then select their spokesman and leader for their clan called a “Chief.” When either leader passes away, the clan then selects another to sit in that leader’s place. This process has continued at Onondaga for countless centuries. 1 The Chiefs and Clan Mothers at Onondaga still sit and meet today in the Longhouse. The names and titles of the men and women that the Peacemaker set in place are still used to identify leaders. At Onondaga, Tadadaho and the other Onondaga chiefs still sit and discuss and make decisions for the benefit of the Onondaga people. Onondaga and the other Indian nations have a unique position with the United States of America. The Onondagas and the Haudenosaunee made agreements with other Native Nations, the Dutch, English, and the French long before the formation of the thirteen colonies into the United States. Then when the United States was first formed, President George Washington made an agreement of peace and friendship as nation to nation. A wampum belt was made. From that day in the late eighteenth century, the Onondaga Chiefs, Clan Mothers, and people have maintained this relationship of an equal and separate nation from the United States. 1. The Peacemaker was a messenger sent to a. the Creator. b. Tadadaho. c. Hiawatha. d. the Five Nations. 2. The ally of the Peacemaker was a. an Onondaga. b. Tadadaho. c. Hiawatha.