Editing Rotterdam (section)

===Early history===
[[File:Rotterdam Map by Frederick De Wit c1690.jpg|thumb|left|Map of Rotterdam by [[Frederick de Wit]] ({{Circa|1690}})]]

The settlement at the lower end of the [[fen]] stream ''[[Rotte (river)|Rotte]]'' (or ''Rotta'', as it was then known, from ''rot'', "muddy" and ''a'', "water", thus "muddy water") dates from at least the year 950.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vredenbregt |first1=A.H.L. |last2=Van Trierum |first2=M. C. |title=Rotterdam Markthal, Archeological Research |date=2012 |publisher=Bureau Oudheidkundig Onderzoek Rotterdam |location=Rotterdam |page=81 |edition=1 |url=https://archisarchief.cultureelerfgoed.nl/Archis2/Archeorapporten/32/AR30071/BOORrapporten%20469-1.pdf |access-date=3 January 2021 |language=Dutch |chapter=7.6: Dating of the occupation and the different occupation phases |quote=The habitation phase [...] starts in the middle of the 10th century (circa 950) and continues until [...] around the middle of the 11th century (circa 1050-1060). (translated) |archive-date=4 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210904133310/https://archisarchief.cultureelerfgoed.nl/Archis2/Archeorapporten/32/AR30071/BOORrapporten%20469-1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Around 1150, large [[flood]]s in the area ended development, leading to the construction of protective [[Levee|dikes]] and dams, including ''Schielands Hoge Zeedijk'' ("Schieland's High Sea Dike") along the northern banks of the present-day [[Nieuwe Maas]] river. A dam on the Rotte was built in the 1260s and was located at the present-day ''Hoogstraat'' ("High Street").

On 7 July 1340, Count [[William II, Count of Hainaut|Willem IV of Holland]] granted [[City rights in the Low Countries|city rights]] to Rotterdam, which then had a population of only a few thousand.<ref>{{cite web |date=9 March 2015 |title=Geschiedenis van Rotterdam |url=http://www.rotterdam.nl/tekst:bescheiden_begin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305123510/https://www.rotterdam.nl/tekst:bescheiden_begin |archive-date=5 March 2016 |publisher=Gemeente Rotterdam}}</ref> Around the year 1350, a shipping canal (the ''[[Schie|Rotterdamse Schie]]'') was completed, which provided Rotterdam access to the larger towns in the north, allowing it to become a local trans-shipment centre between the Netherlands, [[England]] and [[Germany]], and to [[Urbanization|urbanize]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Rotterdam - City, Port, History, & Facts |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Rotterdam-Netherlands |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310035028/https://www.britannica.com/place/Rotterdam-Netherlands |archive-date=10 March 2018 |access-date=1 March 2018 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref>

Beginning in the 1600's, Rotterdam was involved in the [[Atlantic slave trade]]. According to historian Gerhard de Kok, "Rotterdam merchants were the pioneers of the [[History of Dutch slavery|Dutch slave trade]]". From the 17th century until 1814, when the [[Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands|United Netherlands]] abolished the Netherland's involvement in the slave trade at the request of the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]], Dutch [[slave ship]]s from Rotterdam sailed to [[Africa]] and the [[Americas]] as part of the [[triangular trade]]. Rotterdam merchants also sold significant quantities of [[gunpowder]] to [[Zeeland]]-based slave ships.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.erasmusmagazine.nl/en/2020/08/27/why-the-netherlands-slavery-past-is-rotterdams-past-too/ | title=How Rotterdam, too, was involved in the slave trade | date=27 August 2020 }}</ref>

[[File:Detroit Publishing Company - Rotterdam - Delftsevaart, c. 1895.jpg|thumb|left|The Delftsevaart, c. 1890–1905]]
[[File:Standbeeld_Maagd_van_Nederland,_Nieuwe_Markt,_Rotterdam,_1915.jpg|thumb|Nieuwe Markt, 1915]]

The port of Rotterdam grew slowly but steadily into a port of importance, becoming the seat of one of the six "chambers" of the ''Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie'' (VOC), the [[Dutch East India Company]] and one of the five "chambers" of the '' West-Indische Compagnie'' (WIC), the [[Dutch West India Company]].

The greatest spurt of growth, both in port activity and population, followed the completion of the [[Nieuwe Waterweg]] in 1872. The city and harbour started to expand on the south bank of the river. The ''[[Witte Huis]]'' or ''White House'' skyscraper,<ref>{{cite web |title=The ''Witte Huis'' or ''White House'' |url=http://glasssteelandstone.com/BuildingDetail/229.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041220211137/http://glasssteelandstone.com/BuildingDetail/229.php |archive-date=20 December 2004 |url-status=usurped |access-date=15 May 2008}}</ref> inspired by American office buildings and built in 1898 in the French [[Art Nouveau|Art Nouveau style]], is evidence of Rotterdam's rapid growth and success. When completed, it was the tallest office building in Europe, with a height of {{cvt|45|m|2}}.