Dutch Manhattan - Pirates and Prostitutes | 3

Dutch Manhattan - Pirates and Prostitutes | 3

New Amsterdam was a desperate place. For the first decade of its existence, the Dutch city on the tip of Manhattan Island served as a haven for pirates, prostitutes and smugglers. That was because the West India Company, which ran New Amsterdam, insisted on controlling all trade — something it simply couldn't manage effectively. Finally, in 1640, the Company gave up its monopoly, and what had been a rag-tag, Wild West kind of town quickly took on the hallmarks of Dutch capitalism.

Trading firms in Amsterdam opened branch offices on Manhattan, and business boomed. Merchants traded in everything from furs to tobacco to Caribbean sugar and salt. Soon, Manhattan became a brash, free-wheeling pioneer settlement where visitors could hear some 18 different languages — at a time when the city’s population numbered only about 500. The ingredients were in place for an American success story utterly unlike the English colonies to the north.


Support us by supporting our sponsors!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jaksot(466)

St. Valentines Day Massacre: Closing In On Capone  | 3

St. Valentines Day Massacre: Closing In On Capone | 3

In the aftermath of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, authorities faced mounting pressure to clean up Chicago and take down the violent mobsters who overran the city – most notoriously, Al Capone. The...

18 Helmi 36min

St. Valentines Day Massacre | Public Enemy No. 1 | 2

St. Valentines Day Massacre | Public Enemy No. 1 | 2

On Valentine’s Day 1929, seven men were gunned down in a Chicago garage in an attack that stunned the nation. Photographs of the bloody scene appeared on front pages across the country, and the public...

11 Helmi 38min

St. Valentines Day Massacre | The Land of Bilk and Money | 1

St. Valentines Day Massacre | The Land of Bilk and Money | 1

In 1920, a young Al Capone arrived in Chicago looking for a fresh start, and his timing couldn’t have been better. That same year, Prohibition outlawed the manufacture and sale of alcohol, turning Ame...

4 Helmi 39min

Conquering Polio | There Is No Patent | 4

Conquering Polio | There Is No Patent | 4

In the early 1950s, Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin were in a race to develop a vaccine against polio. While Salk’s killed-virus vaccine was the first to be distributed, Sabin continued working to perfect...

28 Tammi 36min

Conquering Polio | The Cutter Fiasco | 3

Conquering Polio | The Cutter Fiasco | 3

In April 1954, a group of first graders lined up in the gymnasium of an elementary school in McLean, Virginia for the start of the Salk polio vaccine trials. In an era before widespread federal govern...

21 Tammi 36min

Conquering Polio | Beyond the Microscope | 2

Conquering Polio | Beyond the Microscope | 2

By the late 1940s, the National Institute of Infantile Paralysis had raised millions of dollars to pay for patient care and laboratory research. But polio cases were reaching record levels, and scient...

14 Tammi 39min

The Ice King | Indian Summer | 4

The Ice King | Indian Summer | 4

After two turbulent decades in the ice trade, Frederic Tudor had finally made it. Expanding into the American South had paid off, with cities like New Orleans delivering steady profit. But Tudor’s ins...

7 Tammi 36min

Conquering Polio | The March of Dimes | 1

Conquering Polio | The March of Dimes | 1

In the summer of 1921, 39-year-old Franklin Delano Roosevelt was on vacation with his family when he developed a fever, muscle aches, and chills. Pain spread to his legs, and soon, he was paralyzed fr...

7 Tammi 40min

Suosittua kategoriassa Yhteiskunta

olipa-kerran-otsikko
siita-on-vaikea-puhua
kaksi-aitia
i-dont-like-mondays
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
poks
kolme-kaannekohtaa
antin-palautepalvelu
aikalisa
sita
yopuolen-tarinoita-2
mamma-mia
rss-murhan-anatomia
meidan-pitais-puhua
rss-nikotellen
loukussa
terapeuttiville-qa
rss-palmujen-varjoissa
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
mystista