New York Paid Heaviest Price
In Death
And Human Suffering For Liberty
While the war for American independence was started in New England, declared in
Philadelphia and ultimately won in Virginia, the greatest price in terms of death and
human suffering was paid in New York. <
Three-times
as many patriots died in jails in New York and on prison ships in the harbor as the number
killed in all the battles of the eight-year war. In
addition, New Yorks revolutionary heritage includes the first bloodshed of the
struggle for liberty, the earliest Congress of the colonies, the largest battle of the
revolution and its most famous martyr, Nathan Hale. New York witnessed the establishment
of the Constitution, the inauguration of Washington and the adoption of the Bill of
Rights.
While
the image and identity of Boston and Philadelphia are thoroughly steeped in revolutionary
history, New Yorks contribution to the cause is, as Lincoln said in the context of
another battle, little noted. There are
some reasons for this. As the most prosperous city of the new republic, many of the
buildings of old New York were cleared for new construction in the early 19th
century, before anyone realized the historic value of the old structures. This was the
fate of the original Federal Hall. Also, the
history of the struggle in New York was less picturesque. Hanging lanterns in a church
steeple or galloping through the night is a warmer image than thousands dying on festering
prison ships. Humiliating the British as they retreated from Concord to Boston is a more
positive memory than the Maryland 400 fighting nearly to the last at the Old Stone House
in Brooklyn. In the mid to late 1800s, when the horror of the revolution was long enough
past that the struggle could be romanticized, the poets and painters looked to Boston and
Philadelphia. Many of
the most important revolutionary sites in New York did not become part of the city until
the five boroughs were united nearly 120 years after the war. The course
of the war in New York didnt lend itself to fond memory, even by the participants.
The patriots were driven from the city in 1776, and much of the town burned shortly after.
The 40,000 Tories who occupied the city until 1783, fled to Canada or the Caribbean before
the patriots returned to find their property in ruins. While New
York may never have a Longfellow to enshrine its role in the Revolution, it is well worth
looking back at what happened in this city to make self-government possible. With dozens
of miles of coast line along one of the worlds greatest harbors, it was impossible
for the Americans to defend the city against a great naval power without hundreds of
thousands of troops. When the British showed up in the harbor with the greatest assault
force ever assembled, the Americans did not abandon the cause of Independence, but fought
on. Having won
the city, the British found they needed to keep thousands of troops in New York to defend
it against the encircling Americans. This limited their operations elsewhere on the
continent to relatively small forces that could be kept in the field for only limited
periods of time. As shocked
as the British were by the loss of one army at Saratoga and another at Yorktown, the cost
of holding New York did as much to wear down their resolve and end the war. The New
York Freedom Trail is a tour of 19 of the most important revolutionary sites in New York.
The comparison to Boston's Freedom Trail is deliberately invited, both to show how rich
New York is in revolutionary history and to show how much more the city could do to honor
its past. The cyber
tour will take only a few minutes. A physical journey is quite a trip, and all but the
most active or time-constrained should consider dividing it into two or three outings. New
York is among the safest of major cities in the United States. Nonetheless, some of the
sites are outside the usual circuit of tourists and you will feel more comfortable if you
are back in familiar surroundings by dark. In
addition to the pages on the New York locations, the
web site offers essays about women in the revolution, blacks in the revolution and the
great fire that swept New York shortly after the British seized control. Finally, there is
a bibliography and a listing of some of the organizations in New York that are involved in
revolutionary history. In New
York, which draws the leading authorities on many forms of human endeavor, a work like
this will obviously face scrutiny on its selections and the quality of its scholarship. It
is intended as a popular work rather than an effort at original research. Nonetheless, all
criticism, comments, suggestions and debate are very much appreciated. Please send comments or suggestions to info@nyfreedom.com Copyright 2013 Eric Kramer & Carol Sletten Published by Wolf Water Press Designed and produced by Oak Hill Studio