CHAPTER 1 A NEW YORK STATE OF MIND New York is a land of mountains beaches big cities farms and more Whatever the attraction New York has it That is true of sports as well New York is a hotbed of sports teams and sports fans The state is home to 10 teams in the four major North American sports plus many more college and high school teams And New Yorkers are some of the most passionate sports fans in the country The Big Apple of New York City is home to some of the most popular teams in the United States 5
The first settlers in what is now New York were American Indians Many different tribes lived in the area Some of these tribes were the Delaware Mohawk Oneida and Seneca Several tribes came together as one nation to form the mighty Iroquois Confederacy The island of Manhattan which is now part of New York City was originally the home of the Lenape tribe Manhattan comes from the Lenape word mannahatta which means land of many hills Dutch merchants bought the land in 1626 and called it New Amsterdam England took over in 1664 and added surrounding areas to create a larger British colony The colony was named New York in honor of the Duke of York a member of the English royal family As immigration from Europe increased white settlers pushed the natives out In many cases 6
The settlement of New Amsterdam looked quite different from the New York City of today this was done violently In the mid-1700s the French and Indian War claimed many native lives New York played a major role in the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783 And after the US victory New York was one of the original 13 states It became a state on July 26 1788 Today New York is 54,475 square miles 141,090 square km in size That makes it the 27th-largest state in the country in terms of area The state can be divided into several regions 7
