HIST 3480: The History of NYCTHE REVOLUTIONARY ERA

A view of "Representation du Feu terrible a Nouvelle Yorck." [The terrible fire in New York.]. This print purportedly shows the burning of New York as the British moved in behind the retreating Americans on September 19, 1776.

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KEY EVENTS OF THE PRE-REVOLUTIONARY ERA 1732 – First theater opens in Manhattan 1735 – Libel trial of John Peter Zenger 1741 – “Negro Plot” 1754 – Founding of King’s College (later Columbia) 1754 - 1763 – French and Indian War 1764 – Sugar Act imposed on colonies 1765 – The Stamp Act 1765 – A branch of the Sons of Liberty created in Manhattan 1767 – Townshend Acts imposed 1770: “Battle of Golden Hill” – Sons of Liberty scuffle with British soldiers

over a “liberty poll” erected in what is now City Hall Park. 1773 – Tea Act imposed May 1774 – Committee of Fifty-One formed in New York; responds to

Intolerable Acts shutting down the Port of Boston by advocating inter-colonial meeting; First Continental Congress meets late summer in Philadelphia.

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THE PRE-REVOLUTIONARY ERA The role of taxation and Parliament’s repressive legislation in firing up

revolutionary fervor is well known. But how did the issue of religion fan the flames in the late 1760s and early 1770s in New York according to Burrows and Wallace? What do they mean by “religious orthodoxy” versus “denominationalism”?

What was the Stamp Act and why was it so offensive? What tactics were used to protest it? What was the longer-term significance of these protests?

The Stamp Act was repealed I 1766 to much celebration; the Sons of Liberty even temporarily disbanded when the news came. The Townshend Acts passed in 1767 were designed to replace that loss revenue in a way that would be less obnoxious to the colonists. Why did they fail on this score?

What was the “non-importation agreement” and the “Committee of Inspection?

What was the “Battle of Golden Hill” that took place on Jan. 19, 1770? What was its bigger significance? And why was tension between British soldiers and the city’s working classes so high?

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Teapot made in England in 1766 for American market

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THE PRE-REVOLUTIONARY ERA Why were waterfront workers, “mechanicks,” and other craftsmen so

important to the patriotic movement? When most of the Townshend Acts were repealed in 1770, the one tax that

was left in place was on tea. What was the Tea Act of 1773 and what was the patriot response to it in New York? Why did it annoy the colonists so much?

What were the Coercive Acts or “Intolerable Acts” of 1774? What effect did they have on New York? How did they energize the patriot movement?

What was the “Committee of Fifty-One” formed in 1774? What was the key debate about its composition? How did it choose delegates to attend the “convention in Philadelphia in September 1774?

What did the convention’s creation of the “Continental Association” entail in October 1774?

What did “homespun” mean? What was its significance? Why do you think that loyalists were a relatively small percent of the

population by 1773 or 1774 (some estimates say 15 percent)?

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THE PRE-REVOLUTIONARY ERA Why do you think that loyalists were a relatively small percent of the

population by 1773 or 1774 (some estimates say 15 percent)? Why were Kings, Queens, and Richmond counties relatively cool to the

patriot cause? James Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer was the single most important

loyalist journal during this period. What were his and other Tories’ main arguments for rejecting revolution?

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REVOLUTIONARY NEW YORK Late April 1775 – News of Lexington and Concord leads to the

radical “Committee of One-Hundred” seizing power of the city on May 1

May 1775 – Provisional Congress meets in New York and agrees to muster an army; but loyalist sentiment still strong among the city’s conservative merchants. Governor Tryon evacuates troops to New York Harbor to avoid violence.

Summer of 1775 – Attempts at reconciliation made as both sides meet on Staten Island, but don’t lead anywhere.

Jan. 1776 – Loyalists try to seize control but fail; city elections on Feb. 1 drives Loyalists from power. Loyalists begin to flee the city.

March 1776 – British forces evacuate from Boston to Canada; George Washington arrives in April and begins preparing to defend the city.

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REVOLUTIONARY NEW YORK July 2, 1776 – Lord William Howe’s massive army lands (roughly

20,000) on Staten Island. July 9, 1776 – Washington has the Declaration of Independence

read to the troops; statue of King George III is pulled dow. Aug. 22, 1776 – Lord Howe’s army lands near roughly near what is

now Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn Aug. 26, 1776 - “Battle of Long Island” commences as Howe’s forces

advance north to face a far smaller contingent of Continental Army troops. Devastating loss for the patriots: 2,000 troops loss. But Howe does not press his advantage and allows Washington and the remnants of his army to escape across the East River by Aug. 30.

Sept. 15, 1776 – British troops land in Manhattan and start pushing patriot forces north, through northern Manhattan and into Westchester.

New York becomes British headquarters for the rest of the war.

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The Prison Hulks: With the jails in the city full, British forces began keeping patriot prisoners in the hulks of old ships anchored in Wallabout Bay (the body of water next to the site of the Brooklyn Navy Yard).

Mass Deaths: Roughly 11,000 patriot soldiers and prisoners died of diseases like smallpox, yellow fever, and dysentery.

H.M.S. Jersey,

known as“Hell” by

those who were

imprisoned on it.

Monument to “Prison Ship Martyrs” in Fort Green Park

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Revolutionary soldier, poet, and sea captain Philip Freneau (1752-1832) wrote the following lines about his experience:

Conveyed to York we found, at length, too late,That Death was better than the prisoner's fate

There doomed to famine, shackles, and despair,Condemned to breathe a foul, infected air,

In sickly hulks, devoted while we lay,--Successive funerals gloomed each dismal day

The various horrors of these hulks to tell--These prison ships where Pain and Penance dwell,Where Death in ten-fold vengeance holds his reign,

And injured ghosts, yet unavenged, complain:This be my task--ungenerous Britons, you

Conspire to murder whom you can't subdue.