THE history of New York, the wealthiest and, from its happy geographical position, the most important of all the confederated States, has hitherto been but imperfectly known even to its own citizens. This defective knowledge cannot be said to have originated from any want of interest on the subject, but rather from the difficulty of obtaining the requisite information within a moderate compass, and in a connected form; the narrative of events being scattered through numerous volumes, all of which are in their nature fragmentary.
To supply this want-to place before the general reader a clear, succinct, and impartial history of the State, from its earliest settlement to the present day, is the object of this volume,