EXPLORATIONS -June 12, 2002: The Hudson River
By Oliver Chanler
VOICE ONE:
This is Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Shirley Griffith with the VOA Special English program,
EXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about a famous river on the east coast of the
United States, the Hudson.
((THEME))
VOICE ONE:
The first European explorer of the New World to see the mouth of the Hudson River
was Englishman John Cabot in Fourteen Ninety -Eight. Yet it was not until Sixteen-
Oh-Nine that a European explorer entered the river. He sailed north from the
Atlantic Ocean as far as his ship could go, about two-hundred-fifty kilometers. That
explorer was Henry Hudson.
Captain Hudson and his sailors
–
English and Dutch
–
were working for the Dutch East India Company. Like
the other explorers, they were looking for the northwest passage, a way to China and India that did not exist.
VOICE TWO:
At first, Captain Hudson did not know that the water he entered was a river. After
all, the water flowed from the ocean in the south toward the north. The water was
very salty, like the ocean. On both sides of the river, Captain Hudson saw great hills
and mountains. After sailing for two-hundred-fifty-kilometers, the ship reached the
point on the river where the city of Albany, New York stands today. From that point
to the north, the river was not deep enough for his ship to sail.
Hudson saw that the river did not provide a way to India and China. He had failed. He turned his ship around and
sailed back to the Atlantic Ocean and then home to Holland.
When he returned to Holland, Henry Hudson told about the friendly natives and how
good the land was along the river.
VOICE ONE:
No one knows how long native Americans lived along the great river. The first people
to settle along the Hudson were called the Algonkin Indians. They called the Hudson
“the river that runs two ways,
”
because it flows both north and south at its southern
end. This is because the ocean tides push water up the river as it flows down to the
south.
There were many different tribes among the Algonkins. Some of the names of these tribes were Raritan,
Hackensack, Tappan, and Haverstraw. Another tribe was called Manhattan. Today, that is the name of the most
important part of New York City. Manhattan is a long, thin island, with its southern end pointing into New York
Bay.
When the Indians lived there, and when the Europeans first saw it, the island was green and covered with forests.
They would not recognize it today. Trees and forests have been replaced by tall buildings and busy streets
(Picture -Al Poelzl)
(Picture -Joe Deutsch)
(Picture -Ted Spiegel)
(Picture -Rich Schiafo)
crowded with cars, trucks, buses, and millions of people.
VOICE TWO:
For twelve years after Henry Hudson explored the river named after him, there was little interest in his discovery.
Just a few ships came to Manhattan Island to trade with the Indians. In Sixteen-Twenty-One, the government of
Holland created the Dutch West India Company to govern this new land. Three years later, thirty Dutch families
sailed on a ship from Holland to North America. They were seeking religious freedom in the New World.
Some of these people settled on Manhattan Island. They named their settlement Fort Amsterdam. The ship they
sailed on continued up the Hudson River, stopping where the city of Albany is today. Eighteen families settled
there. They called this place Fort Orange. Now there were two communities on the river
–
both of them Dutch.
VOICE ONE:
The religious freedom promised by the Dutch West India Company brought other people to the Hudson River.
Among them were Huguenots from France, Presbyterians from Scotland, Jews and Quakers. However, for almost
fifty years
–
until Sixteen-Hundred-Sixty-Four
–
the Hudson River country was Dutch. The official language
of the area was Dutch, as were the government, the politics and the customs.
Even today, many places along the Hudson River still have Dutch names, such as Yonkers, Peekskill, Catskill,
and Rensselaer (Renn-sa-LEER).
VOICE TWO:
The most famous leader of the Dutch colony in the New World was Peter Stuyvesant. The Dutch West India
Company sent him to be the governor of the colony. Mister Stuyvesant was a strong man who very quickly made
the settlers understand that they must obey the laws of the colony.
Peter Stuyvesant’s government did not last long. In Sixteen-Sixty-Four, five English warships stopped at Fort
Amsterdam, which was now called New Amsterdam. The commander of the ships ordered Governor Stuyvesant
to surrender the colony to the king of England.
The English said the land was theirs because Manhattan Island had been discovered by Englishmen such as John
Cabot. They also said that since Henry Hudson was an Englishman, everything he discovered belonged to the
king of England. Peter Stuyvesant and the other Dutch officials returned to Holland.
VOICE ONE:
The English period now began on the river. The official language became English, instead of Dutch. Also, the
names of many places on the Hudson were changed. The colony of New Netherland became New York, in honor
of James, the duke of York. He was the brother of England’s King Charles, the Second. To honor him further,
the settlement of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island was also called New York.
For more than one-hundred years, the English ruled the colony of New York. During this time thousands of
people came from Europe to live along the river. Many were English. However, settlers came from across Europe
–Germany, France, and Holland. Even then, it seemed that New York and the Hudson River country were places
where people of all nations were welcomed.
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE TWO:
When the American Revolution began in Seventeen-Seventy-Six, British troops quickly seized control of New
York. They wanted it because of its military, political, and economic importance. During the seven years of
fighting, no part of the thirteen American colonies saw as much military action as the Hudson River area. Both
the American Revolutionary Army under George Washington, and the British Army understood that control of
the Hudson River meant victory.
Some of the most famous battles of the American Revolutionary War were fought along the Hudson River. The
British had more soldiers, more guns, and more bullets than the Americans did. But the Americans fought
fiercely and won.
After the treaty of peace was signed in Paris in Seventeen-Eighty-Three, General Washington moved with the
new government to New York City. The Hudson River now belonged to a new and free nation
–
the United
States of America.
VOICE ONE:
One of the greatest signs of progress in the newly established United States was a new kind of ship that traveled
up and down the Hudson River. In Eighteen-Hundred -Seven, a steam boat called the Clermont sailed north up the
river from New York to Albany. An engineer named Robert Fulton built the boat. Soon there were many such
boats traveling up and down the river, helping industry and trade to grow along the Hudson.
For many years, Americans dreamed that it would be possible to travel by water between the East and the West
of the United States. In Eighteen-Twenty-Five, the Erie Canal opened. It was a river built by men. It went from
the Hudson River near Albany west for more than four-hundred kilometers to the city of Buffalo, on Lake Erie,
one of the Great Lakes. Now, ships could carry people and products from New York City west to the central part
of the country, opening a way to the West.
VOICE TWO:
As Hudson River transportation grew, the population along the river grew, especially in New York City. There,
business and industry developed with great speed. New York became the industrial and political center of the
United States. It also became one of the great cities of the world.
The real beginning of the Hudson River is near Mount Marcy, the highest of the Adirondack Mountains in New
York State. Close to Mount Marcy, melting snow feeds a little lake named Lake Tear of the Clouds. From the
lake, a small stream runs down the mountain. As it continues to flow south, other streams join it. The stream
becomes the Hudson River near the town of Newcombe.
The Hudson is wild and fast for those first two -hundred-fifty kilometers from Lake Tear of the Clouds to Albany.
Then, near Albany, the fresh water of the river meets the salt water of the Atlantic Ocean. The ocean water has
been carried up the river for two -hundred-fifty kilometers. At this point, the Hudson becomes a wide river, the
same quiet river that Henry Hudson sailed on in the year Sixteen-Oh -Nine.
((THEME))
VOICE ONE:
This Special English program was written by Oliver Chanler. It was directed by Paul Thompson. This is Steve
Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of
America.
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