Big Apple History . Early New York . Henry Hudson


	Henry Hudson

Around 1600, European trading companies began wondering if there was a way to sail to India and Asia that might be faster than the one they already knew. The companies knew that if they could find a northeastern shortcut, they could beat the competition, and also cut out the middlemen who controlled most of the trade on the existing route.

In 1607 and 1608, British explorer Henry Hudson led voyages to find a "northeast passage" across the Arctic Ocean. Blocked by icebergs, both voyages failed. Since no English company would fund a two-time failure, Hudson persuaded the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) to back his third voyage.

In 1609, Hudson left Amsterdam onboard the ship Halve Maen (Half Moon) to try again to find the northeast passage. The combination of the extreme cold and other excruciating conditions were so horrible that the crew threatened mutiny unless Hudson agreed to sail southward.


Henry Hudson lands in New York Harbor.

The Half Moon crossed the Atlantic and arrived in Newfoundland, Canada. Hudson then sailed down the coast searching for a northwest passage across the North American continent. When he arrived in what is now New York Harbor, he sailed up the Hudson River, hoping it would lead to the Pacific Ocean. But he soon realized that, yet again, he had failed to find the northeast passage he sought, and he turned back.

In 1610, Hudson made another trans-Atlantic voyage for the British. Once again, Hudson managed to make his crew miserable. In 1611, the crew put him and his son on a small boat near Newfoundland and cast them off. They were never seen again.

Top illustration: Portrait of Henry Hudson, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Bottom illustration: "Landing of Hendrick Hudson," print after the painting by Robert Weir, courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York.