Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land area. The island extends from New York Harbor eastward into the ocean with a maximum north–south width of. With a land area of, it is the largest island in the contiguous United States and the 11th largest island in the U.S.
Long Island is divided among four counties with Kings, Queens, and Nassau counties occupying its western third and Suffolk County its eastern two-thirds. The relationship of Brooklyn and Queens to the rest of Long Island is a matter of debate. Geographically, both Kings and Queens county are located on the Island, but some argue they represent a culturally distinct area which should be considered as separate from the rest of Long Island. Long Island may refer both to the main island and the surrounding outer barrier islands. Long Island is separated from Manhattan Island and the Bronx by the East River tidal estuary in the west part of the island. North of the island is Long Island Sound, across which lie Westchester County, New York, and the state of Connecticut. Across the Block Island Sound to the northeast is the state of Rhode Island. Block Island, which is part of Rhode Island, and numerous smaller islands extend farther into the Atlantic Ocean. To the extreme southwest, Long Island, at Brooklyn, is separated from Staten Island and the state of New Jersey by Upper New York Bay, The Narrows, and Lower New York Bay.
With a population of 8,063,232 residents as of the 2020 U.S. census, Long Island constitutes 40% of the state's population. Long Island is the most populous island in any U.S. state or territory, the third-most populous island in the Americas after Hispaniola and Cuba, and the 18th-most populous island in the world ahead of Ireland, Jamaica, and Hokkaidō. Its population density is. Long Island is culturally and ethnically diverse, featuring some of the wealthiest and most expensive neighborhoods in the world near the shorelines, as well as a variety of working-class areas in all four counties.
As of 2022, Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties collectively had a gross domestic product of approximately $600 billion. Median household income on the island significantly exceeds $100,000, and the median home price is approximately $600,000, with Nassau County approximating $700,000. Among residents over the age of 25, 42.6% hold a college degree or higher educational degree. Unemployment on Long Island stays consistently below 4%. Biotechnology companies, engineering, and scientific research play a significant role in Long Island's economy, including research facilities at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Stony Brook University, New York Institute of Technology, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, the New York University Tandon School of Engineering, the Zucker School of Medicine, and the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research.
As a hub of commercial aviation, Long Island is home to two of the nation's and New York metropolitan area's busiest airports, JFK International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. Also located on Long Island are Long Island MacArthur Airport and two major air traffic control radar facilities, New York TRACON and New York ARTCC. Long Island has nine major bridges and thirteen traffic tunnels, which connect Brooklyn and Queens to the three other boroughs of New York City. Ferries connect Suffolk County northward across Long Island Sound to Connecticut. Long Island Rail Road is the busiest commuter railroad in North America and operates continuously.
History
Early history
As the last Ice Age waned with Wisconsin glaciation, early Paleo-Indians ventured into the evolving landscapes of present-day Long Island, marking a significant environmental shift and laying the groundwork for the region's rich ecosystems. The nomadic hunter-gatherers, equipped with stone tools, navigated the newly emerging landscapes, hunting large game and gathering from the abundant natural resources.After the Paleo-Indian period, the Archaic Period marked a broadening of subsistence strategies. The inhabitants of Long Island diversified their diet, exploiting the rich marine and terrestrial environments. The main source of protein came from the sea, consisting of fish and shellfish, with oysters being of particular importance. Deer and other wild game and various plant foods also became part of their regular diet.
The archaeological record also reveals a shift towards a more settled lifestyle, with small bands forming seasonal settlements.
The indigenous peoples in the Early and Middle Woodland period began developing horticulture as well as more efficient strategies for hunting and gathering. They established year-round settlements. Pottery emerged as a widespread technological innovation during this era, serving not only practical storage and cooking purposes but also functioning as a medium for cultural expression. The stylistic variations in pottery across different sites on Long Island suggest a rich diversity of cultural identities and the exchange of ideas among various groups. Additionally, this period was marked by participation in trade networks with other Northeastern Indigenous communities.
During the Late Woodland Period, there was a noticeable intensification of agriculture, with maize becoming a staple crop alongside beans and squash. This agricultural advancement supported larger populations and led to the establishment of more permanent villages characterized by substantial dwellings, mostly wigwams and longhouses. The increased reliance on farming did not eliminate hunting and gathering, which continued to play a crucial role in the subsistence economy.
The Long Island natives lived in villages of differing sizes, and their governing style, because of a lack of evidence, can only be guessed. However, anthropological models suggest that the leaders did not have overarching authority over the rest of the village. Rather, the leaders often sought advice from the elders. The early settlers of Long Island were likely tied by kinship and did not identify themselves as distinct tribes. These tribes were designated by the Europeans as a method of identifying borders. However, there seems to be two overlapping but different cultures. Western Long Island natives probably spoke the Delaware-Munsee dialect. The eastern group's language is less well-founded, but it is most likely related to the southern New England Algonquian dialect. The kinship system likely kept Long Island natives together with clans in present-day New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
Giovanni da Verrazzano was the first European to record an encounter with the Lenape people, after entering what is now New York Bay in 1524; however, it is unclear whether he encountered Native Americans from Long Island.
17th century
In 1609, the English navigator Henry Hudson explored the harbor and purportedly landed at present-day Coney Island. Dutch explorer Adriaen Block followed in 1615 and is credited as the first European to determine that both Manhattan and Long Island are islands.The first recorded encounters between the Algonquian peoples of Long Island and Europeans occurred with the arrival of explorers in the early 17th century, first contacted by Henry Hudson and his crew. These interactions were initially characterized by curiosity and tentative exchanges, but conflicts later emerged between them. Despite this, mutually beneficial trade ensued, with the Algonquian trading fur for clothing, metal, guns, and alcohol.
The Dutch, recognizing the value of New England's fur market, forged long-term alliances with the Algonquians in 1613, ushering in permanent settlements. By 1621, the Dutch West India Company established itself in the Northeast. The Dutch West India Company established a foothold in the Northeast, initiating a lucrative trade in wampum—beads of significant cultural and economic importance to Native tribes across the Northeast. The wampum was primarily made by Long Island Native Americans. The Dutch would thus engage in a triangular trade: purchasing large quantities of wampum from Long Island, exchanging wampum for fur with inland tribes, and shipping the fur back to Europe. This triangular trade created peace amongst the Europeans and the Native Americans for decades.
In 1636, Charles I of England, a Stuart, rewarded Scottish courtier, diplomat, and colonial governor William Alexander's service to the Crown by creating him Lord Alexander of Tullibody and Viscount of Stirling. On April 22 of that year Charles told the Plymouth Colony, which had laid claim to Long Island but had not settled it, to cede it to Alexander. When his agent James Farret arrived in New Amsterdam in 1637 to present his claim of English sovereignty, he was arrested and imprisoned in Holland, but later escaped from prison.
The Pequot War, a struggle over between the Pequot tribe of Connecticut, who exerted control over eastern Long Island, and the English New England Colonies, reshaped alliances and power dynamics in the region. The defeat of the Pequots left a void in eastern Long Island's political landscape, who were historically under the influence of the Connecticut Pequots for trade and protection. Indigenous leaders such as Uncas and Ninigret, alongside the New England Colonies, vied to fill this vacuum, with the colonists eventually prevailing over their indigenous rivals. In 1639, Lion Gardiner secured the first purchase of eastern Long Island land, an islet off of present-day East Hampton.
The period between 1636 and 1648 marked a time of land acquisition in Long Island by Dutch and English colonists. The Dutch occupied a small portion of western Long Island while the English settled on the eastern side, buying land from any sachems who were willing to sell to them. The perspectives on these land purchases likely varied significantly between Native Americans and Europeans. Europeans viewed land transactions as opportunities for exclusive ownership and permanent settlement, while the Algonquian peoples viewed the transaction as temporary and communal. Additionally, the Native Americans governance style of weak leadership and undefined hunting grounds, did not align with the European's need for strict boundaries. This confusion resulted in conflict and boundary disputes for many years after.
In 1640, English colonists attempted to settle Cow Bay in what is present-day Port Washington. After an alert by Native leader Penhawitz, the colonists were arrested by the Dutch but released after saying they were mistaken about the title.
Through Farret, who received Shelter Island and Robins Island, Alexander in turn sold most of the eastern island to the New Haven and Connecticut colonies.
As European settlers proliferated on Long Island, the ecosystem underwent significant transformation, and the dynamics between Native Americans and Europeans shifted. The Europeans cleared vast areas of traditional hunting grounds and introduced livestock that damaged Native crops. Europeans also began to encroach on Native land, and this growing proximity heightened tensions. This culminated in Kieft's War, initiated by a devastating attack that killed 80 Native Americans.
Despite shifting claims to title and absentee land sales, European settlers continued to purchase land directly from indigenous people. In 1655, they split the acquired land amongst themselves and continued to search the island for more land for settlement. On June 10, 1664, other parts of indigenous land were bought, including present-day Brookhaven, Bellport, and South Haven, in exchange for four coats and 6 pounds 10 shillings - a value that, accounting for monetary inflation through 2017, is currently worth approximately $840.
During King Philip's War in 1675, the governor of New York, Edmund Andros, ordered that all canoes east of Hell Gate be confiscated. This was done to prevent local indigenous people from helping their Native allies on the mainland, who were attacking New England settlers there. Notable sachems, such as Tackapousha of the Massapequa, saw their influence wane post-King Philip's War in 1675. In the face of escalating tensions between French and English settlers, these Indigenous figures endeavored to mediate and protect their communities. However efforts to maintain land rights were undermined by disease, deceit, infringements of land patents, and cultural misunderstandings.
After the Dutch began to colonize Manhattan, many indigenous people moved to Pennsylvania and Delaware. Many of those who stayed behind died from smallpox, which spread to North America via European colonists and resulted in large scale deaths due to lack of antibodies and natural resistance which Eurasian peoples had gained with their exposure to the disease.
Native American land deeds recorded by the Dutch from 1636 state that the Indians referred to Long Island as Sewanhaka. Sewanhacky and Sewanhacking were other spellings in the transliteration of the Lenape. Sewan was one of the terms for wampum, commemorative stringed shell beads, for a while also used as currency by colonists in trades with the Lenape, and is also translated as "loose" or "scattered", which may refer either to the wampum or to Long Island. The name "'t Lange Eylandt alias Matouwacs" appears in Dutch maps from the 1650s, with t Lange Eylandt translating it to "Long Island" from Old Dutch. The English referred to Long Island as "Nassau Island", after the House of Nassau of the Dutch Prince William of Nassau, Prince of Orange. It is unclear when the name "Nassau Island" was discontinued. Another indigenous name from colonial time, Paumanok, comes from the Native American name for Long Island and means "the island that pays tribute."
The very first European settlements on Long Island were by settlers from England and its colonies in present-day New England. Lion Gardiner settled nearby Gardiners Island. The first settlement on the geographic Long Island itself was on October 21, 1640, when Southold was established by the Rev. John Youngs and settlers from New Haven, Connecticut. Peter Hallock, one of the settlers, drew the long straw and was granted the honor to step ashore first. He is considered the first New World settler on Long Island. Southampton was settled in the same year. Hempstead followed in 1644, East Hampton in 1648, Huntington in 1653, Brookhaven in 1655, and Smithtown in 1665.
While the eastern region of Long Island was first settled by the English, the western portion of Long Island was settled by the Dutch; until 1664, the jurisdiction of Long Island was split between the Dutch and English, roughly at the present border between Nassau County and Suffolk County. The Dutch founded six towns in present-day Brooklyn beginning in 1645. These included: Brooklyn, Gravesend, Flatlands, Flatbush, New Utrecht, and Bushwick. The Dutch had granted an English settlement in Hempstead, New York in 1644, but after a boundary dispute, they drove out English settlers from the Oyster Bay area. However, in 1664, the English returned to take over the Dutch colony of New Netherland, including Long Island.
The 1664 land patent granted to the Duke of York included all islands in Long Island Sound. The Duke of York held a grudge against Connecticut, as New Haven had hidden three of the judges who sentenced the Duke's father, King Charles I, to death in 1649. Settlers throughout Suffolk County pressed to stay part of Connecticut, but Governor Sir Edmund Andros threatened to eliminate the settlers' rights to land if they did not yield, which they did by 1676.
All of Long Island along with islands between Long Island and Connecticut became part of the Province of New York within the Shire of York. Present-day Suffolk County was designated as the East Riding, present-day Brooklyn was part of the West Riding, and present-day Queens and Nassau were part of the larger North Riding. In 1683, Yorkshire was dissolved and the three original counties on Long Island were established: Kings, Queens, and Suffolk.