In 1638, Peter Minuit, formerly of New Netherland, led Swedish settlers to the South River, claiming it as New Sweden. At Minquas Kill, they founded Fort Christina, challenging Dutch authority.

Killian K. Van Rensselaer (1763–1845) was a New York lawyer and Federalist politician who served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives between 1801 and 1811, representing several New York congressional districts during the early years of the republic.

Before choosing Manhattan, the Dutch planned their capital on Burlington Island. Later, Fort Nassau became their fur-trading post, but the Swedes outmaneuvered them until Fort Nassau was relocated in 1651.

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Isaac Roosevelt (1726–1794) was an American merchant, industrialist, and politician in colonial New York. A sugar refiner and cofounder of the Bank of New York, he also served in the New York Provincial Congress and State Senate and was an ancestor of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Philadelphia was founded during the English period in 1681 by William Penn, but European presence dated back to 1646, when Dutch, Swedish, and English groups competed for land and fur trade.

Henry Kiliaen Van Rensselaer (1744–1816), also known as Hendrick Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, was a Revolutionary War officer who served as a colonel in the New York militia and played a key role in the 1777 fighting near Fort Anne during the Saratoga campaign.

Today’s Delaware River—once the Dutch “South River”—was a key trade route. Cities like Wilmington and Trenton emerged here, and Delaware’s origins trace to the short-lived Dutch settlement of Swaanendael.

Jeremiah Van Rensselaer (1738–1810) was an early American politician, merchant, and banker who served in the First U.S. Congress and later as Lieutenant Governor of New York. A member of the prominent Van Rensselaer family, he was also active in Revolutionary War service and Albany civic life.

Wall Street takes its name from the wooden wall the Dutch erected in the 1650s to protect New Amsterdam from potential British or Native attacks. The wall stood near today's Wall Street.

Stephen Van Rensselaer III (1765–1839) was the eighth patroon of Rensselaerswyck, a prominent New York politician, militia general in the War of 1812, and a leading supporter of education and infrastructure, including the Erie Canal and the founding of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.