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7th grade · Social Studies · Unit 10 of 18

New Netherland to New York

Explorers, the Dutch and colonial New York

What your child practices

The Age of Exploration, Hudson and Champlain, Dutch New Netherland and its lasting contributions, the English takeover in 1664, slavery and resistance in colonial New York, and the Zenger trial.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 7.2a; 7.2c; 7.2d; 7.2e · the Age of Exploration, Dutch and French settlement in New York, colonial economies and the growth of slavery

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Henry Hudson explored for the Dutch, who founded New Netherland and New Amsterdam.
  2. New York City’s large natural harbor made it a busy port. Wall Street is named for a Dutch wall.
  3. England took over in 1664 and renamed it New York. Slavery grew because colonists wanted cheap labor; enslaved people resisted.

Example: Where did Wall Street get its name? The Dutch protected New Amsterdam’s north edge. They built a wall there; the street kept the name. Answer: from a wall the Dutch built at the north edge of New Amsterdam

New Netherland to New York in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 10 of 18 in 7th grade Social Studies, after Native Nations of New York and before The Revolution in New York.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Slavery grew in the colonies during the 1600s and 1700s mainly because…

    • there was no work to do
    • colonists wanted cheap labor for farms, ports and plantations
    • enslaved people chose to come
    • Britain banned all servants

  2. Question 2

    New Amsterdam, the Dutch town at the tip of Manhattan, later became…

    • Philadelphia
    • New York City
    • Boston
    • Baltimore

  3. Question 3

    In 1735, John Peter Zenger, a New York printer, was found not guilty in a case remembered for…

    • founding a university
    • supporting freedom of the press
    • starting the Revolution
    • ending slavery

  4. Question 4

    Some enslaved Africans in New Netherland were granted "half-freedom," which meant…

    • they could vote
    • they were free every other day
    • they were freed but owed yearly payments and labor to the company
    • they owned the colony

  5. Question 5

    Which tools helped Europeans launch the Age of Exploration?

    • the telephone and the railroad
    • the compass, the astrolabe and better ships
    • the steam engine and the telegraph
    • the printing press and the airplane

  6. Question 6

    Why did the different colonies develop different economies?

    • differences in climate, soil, water access and sources of labor
    • they had no trade
    • the king chose at random
    • they all had the same land

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