History of Albany, New York (1664–1784) state capital in the United States. In the period leading up to the Second Anglo-Dutch War, King Charles II of England granted the land from Maine to Delaware, which included all of New Netherland, to his brother James, Duke of York. In April 1664 four ships with a combined 450-men fighting force set sail for New Amsterdam. Fort Orange was surrendered to the English 16 days after New Amsterdam (the city of New York). Surrender terms at New Amsterdam were quite generous. Fort Orange was renamed Fort Albany, and the village of Beverswyck was renamed Albany, in honor of the
Seal of New York City the English documents on September 8, 1664, whereupon it was renamed New York. The 300th Anniversary of New York was celebrated with the World's Fair in New York in 1964 in Flushing Meadows, within the borough of Queens, where religious freedom was first recognized with the Flushing Remonstrance in 1657. A laurel wreath encircles the seal. The city clerk is the custodian of the City Seal. Prior to 1915, New York City's contemporary seal lacked an official standard, and was often subject to variations featuring a number of different arrangements of the eagle, and the two figures at either side