History Of New York City (1784–1854)
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New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
(1784–1854) started with the creation of the city as the capital of the United States under the
Congress of the Confederation The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States from March 1, 1781, until March 3, 1789, during the Confederation ...
from January 11, 1785, to Autumn 1788, and then under the United States Constitution from its ratification in 1789 until moving to
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
in 1790. The city grew as an economic center with the opening of the
Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...
in 1825; the growth of its railroads added to its dominance.
Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...
began to grow in influence with the support of many Irish immigrants, culminating in the election of the first Tammany mayor, Fernando Wood, in 1854. The city had become the nation's most important port and financial center and competed with Boston as the center of high culture.


Status


As a capital city

With the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 and the resulting withdrawal of British troops from the city, the
Congress of the Confederation The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States from March 1, 1781, until March 3, 1789, during the Confederation ...
moved to
Federal Hall Federal Hall was the first capitol building of the United States under the Constitution. Serving as the meeting place of the First United States Congress and the site of George Washington's first presidential inauguration, the building existe ...
on
Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...
in 1785. The first
government of the United States The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, execut ...
, operating under the
Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union The Articles of Confederation, officially the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement and early body of law in the Thirteen Colonies, which served as the nation's first frame of government during the American Revolutio ...
since its ratification in 1781, was soon found inadequate for the needs of the new nation. However, certain successes were achieved while in New York, including the passage of the
Northwest Ordinance The Northwest Ordinance (formally An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio and also known as the Ordinance of 1787), enacted July 13, 1787, was an organic act of the Congress of the Co ...
, which laid the framework for the addition of new states into the Union. A call for revision to the Articles was led by New Yorker
Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...
, and the Annapolis Convention was convened with representatives from the states to discuss the necessary changes. Lacking representation from all of the states, the convention made no suggestions for changing the Articles but instead drafted a report that led to the creation of a Constitutional Convention in 1787 to create an entirely new governing document.


As a federal city

The city's and state's status within the new union under the
United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...
written in 1787 was under question when Governor George Clinton proved reluctant to submit state power to a strong national government and was opposed to ratification. Some New York City businessmen proposed
New York City secession There are and have been several movements regarding secession from the U.S. state of New York. Only one of them – the state of Vermont – succeeded. Among the unsuccessful ones, the most prominent included the proposed state of Long Island, us ...
as an alternative to joining the union separately, but Alexander Hamilton and others argued persuasively in the
Federalist Papers ''The Federalist Papers'' is a collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. The col ...
, published in city newspapers, for state ratification, which after much dispute finally passed in 1788.
George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
was inaugurated as the first
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
on the balcony of
Federal Hall Federal Hall was the first capitol building of the United States under the Constitution. Serving as the meeting place of the First United States Congress and the site of George Washington's first presidential inauguration, the building existe ...
in 1789, and the
United States Bill of Rights The United States Bill of Rights comprises the first ten list of amendments to the United States Constitution, amendments to the United States Constitution. It was proposed following the often bitter 1787–88 debate over the Timeline of dr ...
was drafted in the city. The
Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
sat for the first time in New York. After 1790, Congress left for Philadelphia.


Population growth and economic leadership

New York remained a cosmopolitan enclave within America. The new French consul gave a report in 1810: :''"its inhabitants, who are for the most part foreigners and made up of every nation except Americans so to speak, have in general no mind for anything but business. New York might be described as a permanent fair in which two-thirds of the population is always being replaced; where huge business deals are being made, almost always with fictitious capital, and where luxury has reached alarming heights... It is in the countryside and in the inland towns that one must look for the American population of New York State."'' (quoted by
Fernand Braudel Fernand Paul Achille Braudel (; 24 August 1902 – 27 November 1985) was a French historian. His scholarship focused on three main projects: ''The Mediterranean'' (1923–49, then 1949–66), ''Civilization and Capitalism'' (1955–79), and the un ...
, ''The Perspective of the World'', 1984 p 406). The French consul's "fictitious capital" betokens the world of credit, on which New Yorkers' confidence has been based. The
Commissioners' Plan of 1811 The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 was the original design for the streets of Manhattan above Houston Street and below 155th Street, which put in place the rectangular grid plan of streets and lots that has defined Manhattan on its march upto ...
imposed a surveyed grid upon all of Manhattan's varied terrain, in a far-reaching though perhaps topographically insensitive vision. New York, with a population of 96,000 in 1810, surged far beyond its rivals, reaching a population of 1,080,000 in 1860, compared to 566,000 in Philadelphia, 212,000 in
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
and 178,000 in Boston. Historian Robert Albion identifies four aggressive moves by New York entrepreneurs and politicians that helped it jump to the top of American cities. Of greatest importance, it sponsored the
Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...
, which began operations in 1825, forming a continuous water route from New York north to Albany via the
Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...
, then west to
Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...
using the new canal to reach the
Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...
. It opened a large new market in
upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...
and the Old Northwest. New York set up an auction system that efficiently and rapidly sold imported cargoes to the highest bidder. Exporters from Britain discovered New York offered the best prices for their goods, and they increasingly ignored Boston and Philadelphia, where the local merchants tried to impose higher markups by avoiding auctions. New York began the world's first regular packet service to England with the Black Ball Line in 1818. By 1830, it dominated the nation's merchant marine. Ambitious shippers reached beyond the natural hinterland to open large-scale coastal trade, especially one that brought Southern cotton to New York for export to textile mills in the Northeast and in Europe, and carried manufactured products to the South. By 1830, 40 cents of every dollar the mills paid for cotton went to New York brokers to cover the cost of shipping. The main rivals, Boston Philadelphia and Baltimore, tried to compete with the Erie Canal by opening their own networks of canals and railroads; they never caught up. Manufacturing was not a major factor in the city's growth in the 19th century—factories were chiefly being built in towns and smaller cities with waterfalls and fast rivers that were harnessed to generate the power, or were closer to coal supplies. In 1792, a group of merchants made the "
Buttonwood Agreement The Buttonwood Agreement is the founding document of what is now the New York Stock Exchange and is one of the most important financial documents in U.S. history. The agreement organized securities trading in New York City and was signed on May ...
" and began meeting under a buttonwood tree on
Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...
, beginning the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
, while a yellow fever epidemic that summer sent New Yorkers fleeing north to nearby healthful
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
. In 1797,
Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician, businessman, lawyer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805 d ...
took control of Tammany Hall and used it to win the state's electoral vote in the
1800 presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States from October 31 to December 3, 1800. In what is sometimes called the "Revolution of 1800", the Democratic-Republican Party candidate, Vice President of t ...
. In 1807,
Robert Fulton Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steamboat ...
initiated a
steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...
line from New York City to Albany, which accelerated the movement of cargo and passengers upriver. Lumber and coal were the main products brought into New York. The establishment of regular steam ferries spurred the growth of
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, which was established as a city in 1834. On September 3, 1821, the Norfolk and Long Island Hurricane caused a storm surge of 13 ft in one hour, leading to widespread flooding south of
Canal Street Canal Street may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Canal Street (Manchester), Manchester, England * Canal Street, Oxford, Jericho, Oxford, England United States * Canal Street (Buffalo), a street and district at the western terminus of the Er ...
, but few deaths were reported. The hurricane is estimated to have been a Category 3 event and to have made landfall at
Jamaica Bay Jamaica Bay (also known as Grassy Bay) is an estuary on the southern portion of the western tip of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The estuary is partially man-made, and partially natural. The bay connects with Lo ...
, making it the only hurricane in recorded history to directly strike New York City. In 1824, a riot occurred in
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
between Irish Protestants and Catholics, after a parade by members of the
Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants. It also has lodges in England, Grand Orange Lodge of ...
. This was a precursor of the
Orange Riots The Orange Riots took place in Manhattan, New York City, in 1870 and 1871, and they involved violent conflict between Irish Protestants who were members of the Orange Order and hence called "Orangemen", and Irish Catholics, along with the Ne ...
of the 1870s. Immigrants provided a ready resource for those opposing
abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...
. These were often led by gangsters from
the Bowery The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City, New York. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenn ...
and Five Points. On July 7, 1834, a series of riots started, terminating in the destruction of St. Phillip's Negro Church on Center Street and generally terrorizing the Five Points area. In 1831, as the city continued to expand, the University of the City of New York, now
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
, was founded at Washington Square in Greenwich Village. The first of a series of
cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
epidemics began in 1832.Charles E. Rosenberg, ''The cholera years: The United States in 1832, 1849, and 1866'' (1962). By 1835, with the epidemic past, Manhattan was in the throes of the first of its building booms. Late on December 16, 1835, the
Great Fire of New York The 1835 Great Fire of New York was one of three fires that rendered extensive damage to New York City in the 18th and 19th centuries. The fire occurred in the middle of an economic boom, covering 17 city blocks, killing two people, and destroyi ...
broke out. The temperature was below zero (F), and
gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface wind moving at a speed between .
-force winds were blowing. Firemen, some called from as far away as Philadelphia, were at first helpless to battle the wind-driven fire because of icing lines and pumps. The fire leveled 50 acres (200,000 square meters) in the Financial District. Some merchandise was carried to churches that were thought to be fireproof, but several of these burned anyway. Eventually, the fire was controlled by blowing up buildings in the fire's path. Many of the merchants who lost their stores thought they would be covered by insurance, but the tremendous losses, and, in many cases, the destruction of the insurance company headquarters in the financial district, bankrupted the insurance firms, and much of the loss was not covered. The fires of the period and the increased need for water for industry led to the construction of the
Croton Aqueduct The Croton Aqueduct or Old Croton Aqueduct was a large and complex water supply network, water distribution system constructed for New York City between 1837 and 1842. The great aqueduct (water supply), aqueducts, which were among the first in t ...
water system A water supply network or water supply system is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components that provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes the following: # A drainage basin (see water purification – sourc ...
between 1837 and 1842. The aqueduct brought fresh water from the Croton Dam in northern
Westchester County Westchester County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The county is the seventh most populous cou ...
over the High Bridge to the Receiving Reservoir between 79th Street and 86th Street and Sixth and Seventh Avenues. From the Receiving Reservoir water flowed into the Distributing Reservoir, better known as the Croton Reservoir. The aqueduct opened on October 14, 1842, with great celebration. President
John Tyler John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president of the United States, vice president in 1841. He was elected ...
, former presidents
John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diploma ...
and
Martin van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...
, and New York Governor
William H. Seward William Henry Seward (; May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States senator. A determined opp ...
were among those in attendance. The city's rapid development was again interrupted by the
Panic of 1837 The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that began a major depression (economics), depression which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages dropped, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment rose, and pes ...
. The city recovered and by mid-century established itself as the financial and mercantile capital of the western hemisphere. The
Great New York City Fire of 1845 Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...
destroyed 345 wooden buildings in the Financial District. The
Hudson River Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
(which grew into the
New York Central The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
) opened October 3, 1851; it extended the
Mohawk and Hudson Railroad Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans *Mohawk people (Kanien’kehá:ka), an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language (Kanien’kéha), the language spoken by the Mohawk people *Mohawk hairstyle, from a ...
, the first railroad built in the state, south to New York City.


Rise of the immigrant city

The city and its nearby suburbs grew rapidly for several reasons. The natural harbor at the base of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
ports at Newark and
Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...
provided almost unlimited capacity for trading ships and protection from storms. Not until 1985 did New York lose its place as the busiest port in the world. Other cities, like Boston, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, had good natural harbors, but New York's advantage over other cities of the Eastern Seaboard was that the Hudson River and the Erie Canal formed the only water route through the
Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...
. The city's cosmopolitan attitude and tolerance of many different cultures encouraged many different types of immigrant groups to settle in the city. Starting in the late 1840s, the city saw increased Irish immigration with the
Great Irish Famine The Great Famine, also known as the Great Hunger ( ), the Famine and the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of mass starvation and disease in Ireland lasting from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a historical social crisis and had a major impact o ...
and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
immigration with the
Revolutions of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...
. People who came from Ireland were poor, without knowledge of their new world; once arrived on the docks, unscrupulous landlords offered them squalid tenements that were once houses for middle-class New Yorkers. They crowded into dirty rooms, and the
slum A slum is a highly populated Urban area, urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are p ...
s of the city became known for high rates of disease. Immigrants were skilled laborers and craftsmen; Germans settled in a new neighborhood named "Kleindeutschland" (Little Germany) and opened many shops where they worked as artisans. Many Irish immigrants were responsible for building the subway and sky-scrapers. Raw unregulated capitalism created large middle, upper-middle and upper classes, but its need for manpower encouraged immigration into the city on an unprecedented scale, with mixed results. The famed "
melting pot A melting pot is a Monoculturalism, monocultural metaphor for a wiktionary:heterogeneous, heterogeneous society becoming more wiktionary:homogeneous, homogeneous, the different elements "melting together" with a common culture; an alternative bei ...
" was brought into being, from which multitudes have since arisen in the successful pursuit of
the American Dream The "American Dream" is a phrase referring to a purported national ethos of the United States: that every person has the freedom and opportunity to succeed and attain a better life. The phrase was popularized by James Truslow Adams during the ...
. In the mid-to-late 19th century, areas of poverty could be found in contrast between rich stretches of lower
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
, Washington Square,
Gramercy Park Gramercy ParkSometimes misspelled as Grammercy () is the name of both a small, fenced-in private park, and the surrounding neighborhood (which is also referred to as Gramercy), in Manhattan in New York City. The approximately park, located ...
and Lafayette Street (wealth that would later take up more extravagant residence on Fifth Avenue) and the squalid enclave of Five Points (abject poverty that was later to occupy the
Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...
). Tammany Hall's influence increased with its courting of the immigrant Irish vote, leading to the election of the first Tammany mayor,
Fernando Wood Fernando Wood (June 14, 1812 – February 13, 1881) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician, merchant, and real estate investor who served as the 73rd and 75th Mayor of New York, Mayor of New York City. ...
, in 1854, and a trend of consolidation was beginning in the region with the three-year-old City of Williamsburgh joining Brooklyn in 1855, establishing it as America's third largest city.


See also

* American urban history * Timeline of New York City, 19th century


Notes


References

* Adelman, Melvin Leonard. ''A sporting time: New York City and the rise of modern athletics, 1820-70'' (1990). * Anbinder, Tyler. "From Famine to Five Points: Lord Lansdowne's Irish Tenants Encounter North America's Most Notorious Slum." ''American Historical Review'' 107.2 (2002): 351–387
in JSTOR
* Anbinder, Tyler. ''Five Points: the 19th-century New York City neighborhood that invented tap dance, stole elections, and became the world's most notorious slum'' (2001) * Binder, Frederick M., and David M. Reimers. ''All the nations under heaven: an ethnic and racial history of New York City'' (1995) * Burns, Ric, and James Sanders. ''New York: An Illustrated History'' (2003), large-scale book version of Burns PBS documentary, New York: A Documentary Film an eight part, 17½ hour documentary film directed by
Ric Burns Ric Burns (Eric Burns, born 1955) is an American documentary filmmaker and writer. He has written, directed and produced historical documentaries since the 1990s, beginning with his collaboration on the celebrated PBS series '' The Civil War'' (1 ...
for
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
. It originally aired in 1999–2003. * Bulthuis. Kyle T. ''Four Steeples over the City Streets: Religion and Society in New York's Early Republic Congregations'' (NYU Press, 2014
online review
* Burrows, Edwin G., and Mike Wallace. ''Gotham: a history of New York City to 1898'' (Oxford University Press, 1998), The standard scholarly survey; 1390 pages * Crouthamel, James L. "The Newspaper Revolution in New York 1830-1860," ''New York History'' (1964) 45#2 pp. 91–11
in JSTOR
* Gilfoyle, Timothy J. ''City of eros: New York City, prostitution, and the commercialization of sex, 1790-1920'' (1994) * Gorn, Elliott J. "" Good-Bye Boys, I Die a True American": Homicide, Nativism, and Working-Class Culture in Antebellum New York City." ''Journal of American History'' (1987): 388-410
in JSTOR
* Gronowicz, Anthony. ''Race and class politics in New York City before the Civil War'' (. Northeastern Univ Press, 1998) * Haeger, John D. ''John Jacob Astor: Business and Finance in the Early Republic'' (1991) * Harris, Leslie M.. "Slavery, Emancipation, and Class Formation in Colonial and Early National New York City," ''Journal of Urban History,'' March 2004, Vol. 30 Issue 3, pp 339–359, * ' 2nd ed. 2010. * Pessen, Edward. ''Riches, class, and power before the Civil War'' (1973) * Scherzer, Kenneth A. ''The unbounded community: Neighborhood life and social structure in New York City, 1830-1875'' (1992). * Scobey, David. "Anatomy of the promenade: The politics of bourgeois sociability in nineteenth‐century New York." ''Social History'' 17.2 (1992): 203–227. * Stansell, Christine. ''City of women: Sex and class in New York, 1789-1860'' (1987). * Stott, Richard Briggs. ''Workers in the metropolis: Class, ethnicity, and youth in antebellum New York City'' (1990) * Spann, Edward K. ''The New Metropolis: New York City, 1840-1857'' (Columbia University Press, 1983) * * Wilentz, Sean. ''Chants Democratic: New York City and the rise of the American working class, 1788-1850'' (1984)


Further reading

* Jackson, Kenneth A. ed. ''Encyclopedia of New York City'' (2nd Edition, 2010
online and can be downloaded
* Jackson, Kenneth T. and David S. Dunbar, eds. ''Empire City: New York Through the Centuries'' (2005), 1015 pages of excerpt
excerpt
* Still, Bayrd, ed. ''Mirror for Gotham: New York as Seen by Contemporaries from Dutch Days to the Present'' (New York University Press, 1956
online edition
* Stokes, I.N. Phelps. ''The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909 compiled from original sources and illustrated by photo-intaglio reproductions of important maps plans views and documents in public and private collections '' (6 vols., 1915–28). A highly detailed, heavily illustrated chronology of Manhattan and New York City. see
The Iconography of Manhattan Island ''The Iconography of Manhattan Island'' is a six volume study of the history of New York City by Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes, published between 1915 and 1928 by R. H. Dodd in New York. The work comprehensively records and documents key events of ...
All volumes are on line free at: *
I.N. Phelps Stokes; The Iconography of Manhattan Island Vol 1. 1915
v. 1. The period of discovery (1524-1609); the Dutch period (1609-1664). The English period (1664-1763). The Revolutionary period (1763-1783). Period of adjustment and reconstruction; New York as the state and federal capital (1783-1811) *
I.N. Phelps Stokes; The Iconography of Manhattan Island Vol 2. 1916
v. 2. Cartography: an essay on the development of knowledge regarding the geography of the east coast of North America; Manhattan Island and its environs on early maps and charts / by F.C. Wieder and I.N. Phelps Stokes. The Manatus maps. The Castello plan. The Dutch grants. Early New York newspapers (1725-1811). Plan of Manhattan Island in 1908 *
I.N. Phelps Stokes; The Iconography of Manhattan Island Vol 3. 1918
v. 3. The War of 1812 (1812-1815). Period of invention, prosperity, and progress (1815-1841). Period of industrial and educational development (1842-1860). The Civil War (1861-1865); period of political and social development (1865-1876). The modern city and island (1876-1909) *
I.N. Phelps Stokes; The Iconography of Manhattan Island Vol 4. 1922
v. 4. The period of discovery (565-1626); the Dutch period (1626-1664). The English period (1664-1763). The Revolutionary period, part I (1763-1776) *
I.N. Phelps Stokes; The Iconography of Manhattan Island Vol 5. 1926
v. 5. The Revolutionary period, part II (1776-1783). Period of adjustment and reconstruction New York as the state and federal capital (1783-1811). The War of 1812 (1812-1815); period of invention, prosperity, and progress (1815-1841). Period of industrial and educational development (1842-1860). The Civil War (1861-1865); Period of political and social development (1865-1876). The modern city and island (1876-1909) *
I.N. Phelps Stokes; The Iconography of Manhattan Island Vol 6. 1928
v. 6. Chronology: addenda. Original grants and farms. Bibliography. Index. * Wilentz, Sean. ''Chants democratic: New York City & the rise of the American working class, 1788-1850'' (1984
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Published in the 18th century

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Published in the 19th century


1800s-1820s

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1830s-1890s

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Parkhurst, Charles Henry
Our fight with Tammany
1895 *
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Chronology

{{DEFAULTSORT:History of New York City (1784-1854) *04