British Conquer New Nether

New Amsterdam before being captured

The British arrived in New Amsterdam with overwhelming firepower. They were able to convince the Dutch to surrender without firing a single shot. They soon renamed the colony "New York."

In 1652, the British fought the Dutch in a two-year war, known as the "First Anglo-Dutch War." The British, however, were anxious to renew the war, as the Dutch were tough trading competitors.
In 1664, King Charles II granted his brother James a charter to the areas claimed by the Dutch. Later that year, an English fleet arrived at New York, forcing the Dutch to surrender without firing a shot.
Ruling the Colony
The Duke of York intended to run his new colony as a money-making venture. He issued his own set of laws known as "the Dukes Law". The laws were largely based on English common law and similar to the laws in other colonies. The major problems with these laws were the inability to change them. In addition, under terms of the laws, there was no local assembly.
The Duke of York awarded large estates to wealthy landowners along the Hudson River. They then charged local farmers high rents to farm their lands.
Friction continued between the inhabitants of New York and their English Lord for the next twenty years. The lack of a local assembly and the taxes that the Duke of York tried to collect continued to be points of disagreement between them. Finally, in 1691, New York was granted the right to elect its own assembly and make its own laws and collect its own taxes.

.