ABSTRACT
The Hudson Valley, with its fertile soil and easy access to the Hudson River and New York City, was a popular destination that became home to a population as diverse as any in America. Stephen Van Rensselaer's will bequeathed the manorial lands east of the Hudson River to Stephen Van Rensselaer IV and the western lands to William P. When a flood of New Englanders and southern New Yorker's infiltrated the Hudson Valley during the 18th century, new settlers and squatters, along with existing tenants, began to challenge the landlords' claims to the land. Thus began the infamous New York Anti-Rent War, a tenant revolt that would endure until well into the late 19th century. The intensity of the renewed violence mixed with the complexity of partisan politics and social reform was such that most modern discussions of the New York Anti-Rent War concern this 19th-century episode.
