New York

The colony of New York was first claimed by the Dutch in 1609 as New Netherland, after Englishman Henry Hudson was sent to find a passage to Asia by employ of the Dutch East India Company. This resulted in him setting up the fur trade with local Native American tribes, and consequently the first Dutch settlement, Fort Nassau, was constructed near what is now Albany, New York. 

Hudson reported the Native Americans to be "amicable" people, and Dutch settlers relied on this relationship with surrounding tribes as their interest in the area was primarily for trade purposes. 

In 1664, the British Army conquered the colony of New Netherland. The transfer between Dutch and English possession of the colony was done without the need for war, with the English offering the Dutch "life, estate, and liberty to all who would submit to the king's authority". Peter Stuyvesant, General of the colony of New Netherland, accepted and the colony was surrendered to Colonel Richard Nicholls and renamed New York after James II, the Duke of York.