It is interesting to note the later career of Peter Stuyvesant．After a journey to the fatherland（祖国）to vindicate（证明……正确）his course，he returned to New York and made it the home of his old age．Here on his farm，or“bowery（有亭子的，树阴的），”now bounded by Fourth Avenue and the East River，by Sixth and Seventeenth streets，New York City，amid the scenes of his former strife（斗争，冲突）and turmoil（骚动，混乱），he spent a few quiet，happy years．A venerable（庄严的，古老的）figure was the aged Dutchman，and many who had hated him before now learned to love him．
He and Governor Nicolls became warm friends，and many a time they met and drank wine and told stories at each other’s tables．In 1672this last of the Dutch governors died at the ripe age of eighty years，and his body was laid to rest at the little country church near his home—at a spot now in the heart of the vast metropolis，whose population is ten times greater than that of all the North American colonies of that day．
A short war between England and Holland followed the conquest of Nicolls，and the Dutch sailed up the Thames River and visited fearful（可怕的，吓人的）punishment on the English，though they did not win back New York．But nine years after the Nicolls victory，we may say by anticipation，the two nations were again at war，and a Dutch fleet reconquered（再征服，夺回）New York and took possession of the Hudson Valley；but by the treaty of peace the next year the country was ceded（放弃）back to the English，and Dutch rule ceased（停止，终了）forever in North America．
At the time of the Nichols conquest the little city at the southern point of Manhattan［曼哈顿岛（美国纽约一区）］contained some fifteen hundred people，and the whole province about ten thousand，one third of whom were English．The colony now became a proprietary（所有的，私人拥有的）colony，but as the proprietor afterward became king of England，it was transferred to the list of royal colonies．Nicolls became the first governor．He was able and conscientious（尽责的）．The rights of property，of citizenship，and of religious liberty had been guaranteed in the terms of capitulation［（有条件的）投降，投降条约］．To these were added at a later date equal taxation and trial by jury．In one year the tact and energy of Nicolls had transformed the province practically into an English colony．After four years of successful rule Nicolls returned to England—and a few years later，as he stood by the side of his mater，the Duke of York，at the battle of Solebay，his body was torn to pieces by a cannon（大炮，加农炮）ball．
The English inhabitants of New York had gladly welcomed the change of government，and even the Dutch had made little resistance，as they were tired of the tyrannical（残暴的）rule of the company．If there was any bitterness（辛酸，苦难）against English rule remaining，it was wholly removed in 1677by an event of great importance to both hemispheres—the marriage of the leading Hollander of his times，the Prince of Orange，to the daughter of the Duke of York，the two afterward to become joint sovereigns of England as William and Mary．
It is interesting to note here the transition in this colony from Dutch to English rule．It has been claimed by a few writers that our institutions are derived from Dutch more than from English sources；but a little study into this subject will easily prove the contrary．The people over whom Nicolls became governor in 1664were composed of three separate communities，each different from the others in its government；the Dutch settlers on the Hudson，the settlements on the Delaware，and the English towns that had grown up under Dutch rule on Long Island．Now these English towns during the period of the Dutch supremacy（地位最高的人，霸权）enjoyed far more liberal local government than did the Dutch towns on the Hudson．And in this one respect Kieft，who encouraged popular government among the English towns，was wiser than Stuyvesant，who opposed it．
What might have been the fate of this charter under normal conditions we know not，as the conditions were suddenly changed．The duke’s royal brother was suddenly carried off by a stroke of apoplexy（［医］中风），and the duke became king of England as James II．New York now became a royal colony，and the new king，who at heart despised（轻视）popular government，refused to sign the Charter of Liberties，abolished［废止，废除（法律、制度、习俗等）］the New York assembly（立法机构），and sent Andros to govern the colony as consolidated with New England and New Jersey．Andros，with a council of seven men，was to govern nine colonies as a conquered province．We have noticed his career in Boston and need not repeat it here．The fall of his master from the British throne occasioned the immediate fall of Andros；but this did not bring immediate peace to New York．The colony was now about to pass through another exciting experience．
New York City was a busy mart indeed，containing some twelve thousand people in 1750，and more than five hundred vessels，great and small，plowed the waters that half surrounded it．The city was the political，social，and business center of the province．Among its leading figures in winter were great landholders（地主，土地拥有者）of the Hudson Valley and Long Island，who spent their summers on their estates．But the great middle class，composed chiefly of tradesmen of every grade，made up the majority of the population．
Governor州长
George E．Pataki是纽约第53任州长，他有很强的领导能力，自1994年以来，他已经连任两任州长，并且确立纽约为帝国之州。他是美国目前任期最长的州长。自上任以来，他就降低税收，提高就业率，减少犯罪率等，对政府内外进行改革。在他的领导下，本州经济迅速回升，并且一跃成为帝国之州。
George E．Pataki，the 53rd Governor of New York State，has shown that strong leadership and commitment（委托事项，承担义务）to core principles can position the Empire State to lead America well into the 21st century．New York State’s first RepublicanConservative chief executive（执行者，经理主管人员），George Pataki was elected Governor on November 8，1994．On November 3，1998，he was reelected by a margin of twenty percent，the largest landslide（压倒多数的选票）for a Republican governor in New York history．He then won reelection to a third term in November 2002by a margin of over 725，000votes，and he is now the longest serving governor in the United States．