Prior to European settlement, Manhattan was inhabited by the Munsee, Lenape, and Wappinger tribes. In April 1524, Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano became the first documented European to visit the area, naming it New Angoulême. In 1624, Dutch colonists established a trading post on Manhattan Island, naming it New Amsterdam in 1626. The territory came under English control in 1664 and was renamed New York after the Duke of York. New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790.
The establishment of Fort Amsterdam in 1625 marked the beginning of a permanent European presence in what would become New York City. In 1653, New Amsterdam was formally incorporated as a city. After English conquest in 1664, the city grew as an economic center, particularly following the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, which reduced transportation costs by 90%.
The 19th century saw Manhattan grow as a commercial hub, with the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 laying out the island’s now-familiar grid plan. The city experienced large arrivals of African-Americans during the 1920s, becoming the center of the Harlem Renaissance. In the 1920s, Manhattan also experienced a boom in skyscraper construction, with the Woolworth Building, Chrysler Building, and Empire State Building competing for the title of world’s tallest building. Despite the Great Depression, construction continued, and by the 1980s, Wall Street had regained prominence, fueled by a resurgence in the financial industry. The 1990s saw a decline in crime rates and a renewed influx of immigrants, contributing to growth in the real estate market.
The city was at the heart of the New York Campaign during the American Revolutionary War, and was forced to be abandoned by the Continental Army after the Battle of Fort Washington in 1776. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911, which killed 146 garment workers, led to overhauls of the city’s fire department, building codes, and workplace safety regulations. On September 11, 2001, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were destroyed in terrorist attacks, resulting in the deaths of over 2,600 people. The attacks led to extensive damage to surrounding buildings and prompted a rebuilding effort, including the construction of One World Trade Center, which became the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere in 2014.
[unverified] The article does not cover a "death" of Manhattan as a place, but rather its evolution. A comprehensive study of Manhattan's long-term demographic and economic trends would be required to fully assess its future.
As of 2020, Manhattan had a population of 1,694,250, representing 19.2% of New York City’s population. It has a population density of 70,450.8 inhabitants per square mile, the highest of any U.S. county. Manhattan produces the highest U.S. county GDP, both in absolute terms and per capita. The borough hosts Billionaires’ Row and Wall Street, and is home to the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, the two largest stock exchanges by total market capitalization.
Manhattan is a global center for media, with the headquarters of major networks like ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox located within its borders. It is also a leading center for the arts, hosting Broadway theater, numerous museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, and a vibrant gallery scene. The borough is also home to the headquarters of the United Nations.
Manhattan is considered the cultural, financial, media, and entertainment capital of the world. The Statue of Liberty, located on Liberty Island within the borough, is a world symbol of the United States and its ideals. The Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, part of the Stonewall National Monument, is considered the birthplace of the modern gay-rights movement.
[unverified] A full accounting of the cultural and economic impact of Manhattan requires a scope beyond this article’s corpus.
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