ABSTRACT
Only New York State borders on both the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. On the one hand, this is just a physical description. On the other hand, it holds the key to the state’s history and explains why the area was so important to Native Americans, the Dutch, the French, the British and the colonists. Later, geography enabled New York to become a bridge to the west, an immigrant gateway, an escape route to Canada, a leader in agriculture, commerce and industry as well as the center of American and world capitalism. It was geographically strategic, economically prominent, socially diverse, culturally innovative and politically powerful.
