Albany is the oldest surviving European settlement from the original Thirteen Colonies and the second oldest city in the United States . The Dongan Charter incorporated Albany 3 months after New York City but New York City forfeited its charter during Leisler’s Rebellion so Albany’s is the oldest effective charter in the United States. Albany was originally inhabited by Algonquian Indian tribes and had been given different names by the various peoples . The Mohican called it Pempotowwuthut-Muhhcanneuw, meaning “the fireplace of the Mohican nation” and the Iroqouis called it Sche-negh-ta-da, or “through the pine woods”. A primitave fort had been built on Castle Island in 1540, but it was soon abandoned due to flooding . Permanent European claims began when Englishman Henry Hudson, exploring for the Dutch East India Company on the Half Moon (Dutch: Halve Maen), reached the area in 1609, claiming it for the Dutch crown. In 1614, Hendrick Christiaensen rebuilt the French fort as Fort Nassau , the first Dutch fur trading post in present-day Albany Commencement of the fur trade provoked hostility from the French colony in Canada and amongst the native tribes, who vied to control the trade. In 1618, flooding again ruined the fort on Castle Island , but was rebuilt in 1624 as Fort Orange . Both forts were named in honor of the Dutch House of Orange-Nassau. Fort Orange and the surrounding area were incorporated as the village of Beverwyck in 1652.
When the land was taken by the English in 1664 , the name was changed to Albany, in honor of the Duke of York and Duke of Albany (later James II of England Duke of Albany was a Scottish title given since 1398, generally to a younger son of the King of Scots. The name is ultimately derived from Alba, the Gaelic name for Scotland. The Dutch briefly regained Albany in 1673 until November 1674, during which time Albany was referred to as Willemstadt. In 1686 Albany was formally chartered as a municipally by Governor Thomas Dongan The Dongan Charter was virtually identical in content to the charter awarded to the city of New York three months earlier. Pieter Schuyler was appointed first mayor of Albany the day the charter was signed.
In 1754, representatives of seven British North American colonies met in the Stadt Huys, Albany’s first city hall for the Albany Congress; Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania presented the Albany Plan of Union there, which was the first formal proposal to unite the colonies. though? it was never adopted by Parliament, it was an important precursor to the United States Constitution. During the French and Indian Wars, George Howe, 3rd Viscount Howe was killed while leading British Army troops at the Battle of Carillon (the 1758 Battle of Ticonderoga) and subsequently buried in Albany, now under the front vestibule of St. Peter’s Church on State Street. Albany native Philip Livingston was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. William Alexander, a general in the American Revolutionary War, died in Albany in 1783. Shortly after the Revolutionary War Aaron Burr, who had a law office in Albany at 24 South Pearl Street, came into conflict with Alexander Hamilton, who had gotten married in Albany at the Schuyler Mansion to Philip Schuyler’s daughter. At 50 State Street, the home of John Tayler (later Lt. Governor and acting-Governor of the state), Hamilton made disparaging remarks about Burr and these were published in a local newspaper. Several United
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