Until the end of the 16th century, the Dutch belonged to the Habsburg dynasty, which had forbidden the sending of ships to overseas colonies. In 1566, a rebellion broke out against the Habsburg King of Spain, Philip II. As a result, the Netherlands was divided into northern provinces, which were largely independent, and southern provinces, which remained under Habsburg control.
The merchants now began trading with the colonies. Especially in Asia, where they had to compete with native merchants and Europeans of various nations. They began to focus on the North American regions and explored the land around Albany in the early 17th century, when Henry Hudson was commissioned by the Dutch East India Company to discover a route westward to China, bypassing Africa. He arrived at a large river (the Hudson River) and followed it about 150 miles inland until he realized that the river did not provide access to the Pacific Ocean.
After Henry Hudson's return, Dutch merchants founded the New Netherland Company to enter the fur trade with Indians. New Netherland was founded as a Dutch colony in 1614. The first building was Fort Nassau, which was destroyed by a flood in 1617 and abandoned in 1618. Fort Orange was built in 1624. In 1624, New Amsterdam was founded at the southern tip of Manhattan.
Conflicts with natives destabilized the colony. People began to leave their homes and return to the United Provinces (Netherlands). At the same time, English colonization came closer and made the future more uncertain. English ships approached the colonial center in New Amsterdam, and Peter Stuyvesant (governor, but also called director-general) surrendered to the English troops in 1664. New Amserdam became New York.
In 1673, a second Anglo-Dutch war began. The navy of the United Provinces took possession of New York and renamed it New Orange, and the colony was conquered again. England and the Netherlands, however, wanted an end to the hostilities and negotiated a peace. Just one year later, on November 10, 1674, New Orange was returned to the English and became New York again.
