USA > New York > A short history of New York State > Part 11
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The British government retaliated against the Boston Tea Party early in 1774 by passing a series of laws which have come to be known as the Intolerable Acts. Two of these laws greatly disturbed New Yorkers: one provided for the closing of Boston Harbor until the tea was paid for, and the other reconstructed the government of Massachusetts along lines which reduced the power of local citizens to control their own affairs. Even the dullest New Yorker realized that similar steps could be taken against his own province. Colonial sentiment was exemplified by such men as the conservative William Smith, who deplored these measures: "I fear we shall lose all that attachment we once had in so great a degree for the mother country."
New York was by no means inexperienced in the techniques of political self-defense. For many years the province had enjoyed a large measure
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of home rule, and for over 150 years prior to the Revolution New Yorkers had used committees to win concessions from their rulers. Even Dutch burghers had used them successfully against their governors and the Dutch West India Company, and later, in the time of William and Mary, the committee type of organization had been employed during Leisler's Rebellion. The New York Assembly conducted much of its business through committees in which the leading citizens were trained in the intricacies of committee work. Thus the colonists were familiar with the machinery of political action. Two types of committees were widely used in the struggle against the authority of Parliament. The members of the first were appointed by governmental authorities and enjoyed legal status; the members of the second were selected by the people-by economic groups such as the merchants or by the Sons of Liberty and similar organ- izations.
As early as 1755 the Assembly had appointed a Committee of Corre- spondence to communicate with other colonies concerning common problems, with colonial agents in Britain, and even with members of Parliament. In January 1774 the Assembly established a new Committee of Correspondence to exchange views with the sister colonies concerning the acts of the British government. In May of that year word reached New York City that Boston harbor would be closed. Soon thereafter the local citizens created a Committee of Fifty-one to deal with the situation. Wealthy merchants, alarmed by the banning of Boston's seaborne trade, actively supported the resistance movement.
The Bostonians proposed that the colonies should adopt a policy of complete nonintercourse with Great Britain. The Sons of Liberty in New York City endorsed this suggestion, but the Committee of Fifty-one, which was controlled by more moderate elements, looked upon it with disfavor. On May 15, 1774, the New York Committee of Correspondence recommended that a congress of all the colonies should meet in New York City for the purpose of deciding on a common course of action. The movement for a continental congress gained headway when the Virginia House of Burgesses called for a September meeting in Philadel- phia. Ultimately the Virginia proposal won out, and the congress was held at the Pennsylvania seaport.
For the most part the New York delegates to the First Continental Congress were elected or appointed by local committees of citizens, but the method of selection varied widely. The delegates were Isaac Low, chairman of the Committee of Fifty-one; John Alsop, vice-chairman of the Committee; and James Duane, John Jay, Philip Livingston, William Floyd, Henry Wisner, John Haring, and Simon Boerum. While it seems likely that an active and radical minority chose the delegation without much opposition from the more conservative elements, who refused to
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take part in so revolutionary an action, the representatives were generally conservative. Jay and Duane particularly were active in seeking the re- dress of grievances while trying to hold extreme measures in check. In October 1774 the First Continental Congress adopted the "Continental Association" ( often called merely the "Association"), which was an agree- ment not to import from or export to Britain until American rights were restored. It called on each town, city, and county to have its qualified voters elect a local committee to enforce the Association. In New York City the Committee of Fifty-one had been advocating the creation of local organizations. Under this double-barreled stimulation local commit- tees rapidly came into being. By 1776 every county in the province, with the possible exception of Kings, had a committee and subcommittees. Again the conservative majority hung back, allowing a radical minority to seize control of the committee organization throughout the state.
In New York City the Committee of Fifty-one gave way to the more radical Committee of Sixty in November 1774. When the Assembly re- fused to appoint delegates to the Second Continental Congress, the Com- mittee of Sixty asked the county committees to send representatives to a provincial convention which would select congressional delegates. This provincial convention (usually called the First Provincial Congress ) met on April 20, 1775, and adjourned two days later after having appointed a delegation to the Second Continental Congress. The composition of the new delegation was similar to the original one. All the former members except Low and Haring were retained, and Philip Schuyler, George Clin- ton, Lewis Morris, Francis Lewis, and Robert R. Livingston were added. It is interesting to note that the Assembly's refusal to select delegates for the Continental Congress resulted in the creation of the First Provincial Congress, which was the first extralegal body in New York to represent the entire province. With the formation of this body, the foundations for the revolutionary government were firmly laid on the local, state, and national level.
On the day after the First Provincial Congress closed, news of the Battle of Lexington reached New York City. The radical leaders were ready for action. The Sons of Liberty, under the able leadership of Isaac Sears, John Lamb, and Marinus Willett, served as a cadre around which the excited citizens rallied. A voluntary corps was formed and armed with about six hundred muskets seized from a government arsenal. The colo- nials told Acting Governor Colden not to expect aid from the militia. Under the persistent prodding of the Sons of Liberty, on April 28 the Committee of Sixty called for the establishment of a permanent govern- ment of the state. While plans were going ahead to select a group to serve this purpose, the Committee of Sixty was replaced by the still more radi-
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cal Committee of One Hundred, which governed both city and colony until the Second Provincial Congress met on May 22, 1775. By this time many citizens had become more extreme in their thinking, and John Morin Scott, whose viewpoint long had been too radical for most of his contemporaries, was named to both bodies and served each with distinc- tion.
Meanwhile, in the north, Ethan Allen, accompanied by Benedict Arnold, led a group of Green Mountain Boys to capture Fort Ticonderoga in a surprise attack on May 10. Two days later Seth Warner, at the head of a band of New Englanders, took Crown Point. Thus armed action had reached New York soil even before the Second Provincial Congress assembled. When British troops were withdrawn from New York City on June 6 to aid the royal garrison in Boston, the entire province was left under the control of the extralegal Provincial Congress and the local committees. In October, Acting Governor William Tryon fled from New York City to establish headquarters on a British warship.
This Revolutionary committee system, controlled by a radical minority, bridged the gap between the colonial government and the constitutional government of the state. At the apex of the radical organization stood the Continental Congress. Under it was the Provincial Congress which passed down orders to the county, town, city, district, and precinct committees for enforcement. In all, New York probably had about 150 committees.
The most pressing problem facing the Second Provincial Congress was defense. By midsummer local committees under the direction of the Provincial Congress were busily collecting arms and organizing militia companies. This activity provoked a serious incident on August 23, when the royal warship Asia opened fire as New York troops began to remove the cannon from Fort George at the tip of Manhattan Island. The colo- nials returned the fire, killing one British soldier and wounding others. The incident strengthened the resolution of the citizens to defend them- selves.
In the latter part of August General Richard Montgomery left Fort Ticonderoga with about twelve hundred men to invade Canada. This small force included one New York regiment under Colonel Alexander McDougall and three regiments from Connecticut. Fort St. Johns was captured after a bitter siege lasting fifty days. On November 12 Montreal was taken without great effort. Montgomery now advanced to Quebec, where he met General Benedict Arnold, who had led a band of about five hundred Patriots through the Maine wilderness. They launched a joint attack on the city in a violent snowstorm at two o'clock on the morn- ing of December 31. The assault was unsuccessful, and it was also costly, since Montgomery, one of the most promising colonial officers, was killed.
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New Yorkers were grateful to Montgomery and afterward named a county after him. Arnold wintered near Quebec, but in the spring British attacks forced him to retreat to Crown Point.
While the soldiers fought, the question of independence from Britain began to occupy the political scene. Ironically, although war reached New York soil at an early date, it was among the last of the colonies to endorse the Declaration of Independence. On December 14, 1775, the Provincial Congress stated that resistance was the result of oppression by Parliament and that independence was not an objective. As late as January 12, 1776, this position was reaffirmed in a letter to the merchants of Quebec. Nevertheless, the sentiment for independence was slowly gaining headway in the latter part of 1775 and in the early months of 1776. The Sons of Liberty, whose most prominent leaders at this time were the ultraradical Isaac Sears, John Morin Scott, John Lamb, and Alexander McDougall, were among the first to advocate it. The continu- ous growth of this organization reflected the changing temper of the people. In January, Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense appeared and converted many New Yorkers to the cause. By July 4, 1775, or shortly thereafter many distinguished citizens, including John Jay, Gouverneur Morris, Robert R. Livingston, Philip Schuyler, Alexander Hamilton, George Clinton, and James Duane, had urged independence, but no action could be taken until the political organization of the colony was structured to do so.
In April the Third Provincial Congress had been chosen, and it met for the first time on May 14. Ten days later a committee was appointed to make recommendations concerning the proposal by the Continental Con- gress that each of the colonies establish a state government. The report of this committee was presented to the Provincial Congress on May 27 and approved on the same day. Acting Governor Tryon's flight, declared the committee, had been a voluntary abdication, and, coupled with the armed assault on the colonials, it automatically dissolved the old form of government. The report went on to state: "It hath become absolutely necessary for the good people of this Colony to institute a new and regu- lar form of internal government and police." There was some doubt, how- ever, that the Third Provincial Congress had the authority to establish such a government. For this reason the county committees were asked. to hold elections for a Fourth Provincial Congress which would meet on July 9 and establish the new government. It can be maintained that this action of the Third Provincial Congress was tantamount to a declaration of independence, although the Fourth Provincial Congress conceivably could have rejected the proposal to establish a state government.
Meanwhile, the issue of independence had been raised in the Second Continental Congress, and the New York delegates asked for instructions.
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The Third Provincial Congress replied on June 11 that the delegates were not empowered to commit New York to independence. When the Decla- ration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the representatives from New York refrained from voting.
The election of members of the Fourth Provincial Congress was con- trolled by the county committees. The radicals easily triumphed, and the new Provincial Congress was a thoroughly revolutionary body. It met in the courthouse at White Plains on July 9, 1776, and, assured of its power and authority, immediately approved the Declaration of Inde- pendence. The next day it changed its name to the Convention of the Representatives of the State of New York. The metamorphosis was now complete. The ties of empire had been severed. A new and independent state was born.
Few New Yorkers were surprised at the outcome. After the French and Indian War had eradicated the fear of conquest from Canada, events had moved with ever-increasing momentum, until the announcement of independence came almost as an anticlimax. The scenes of this drama were played against a background of economic depression. It is evident that resistance to the authority of Parliament was stimulated by the fact that the acts of that body frequently aggravated poor economic condi- tions. Nearly all New Yorkers, including the great majority of those who opposed independence, felt that Parliament had overstepped its authority. Many men who desired to retain the imperial ties served on the early committees which were organized to regain the rights of the colonists. As the committees became more radical in their actions, persons of moder- ate inclinations withdrew from them. Thus the committee system which took over the province after the collapse of the colonial government fell into the grasp of the radicals.
It is fruitless to try to estimate how many New Yorkers were Loyalists and opposed to the Declaration of Independence. Certainly there were many thousands of them. In any case, most of these people objected to parliamentary domination and favored resistance short of a struggle for independence. When the ties of empire were severed, they were forced to choose between the empire and the state. It was a hard choice.
PART TWO
Rise of the Empire State, 1775-1825
Chapter 10
New York in the Revolutionary War, 1776-1783
Most of the houses are thoroughly and indiscriminately plun- dered, the beds cut up, the furniture and windows broke to pieces, the men rob'd of their watches, shoe buckles and money, whilst their wives and daughters have their pockets and clothes torn from their bodies, and the father or husband who does not survey all this with a placid countenance is beat or branded with the name of traitor and rebel.
-CAPTAIN PATRICK FERGUSON, British Army, 1779
THOSE who travel the Hudson and Mohawk valleys and those who survey the quiet charm of Lake George and Lake Champlain cannot help but be impressed by the beauty of the scenery and the peaceful industry of the countryside. Except for a few quaint old forts defended by ancient and useless cannon, no hint remains of the terror, carnage, and destruction strewn along these picturesque waterways by the warfare of the eight- eenth century. Unfortunately, these streams and lakes, which in years of peace served splendidly as channels of commerce, were enticing avenues of invasion in time of war. For ages Indian warriors had advanced and retreated in battle along the valleys. European gunpowder and military science increased the savagery of later contests. During the Revolution the slaughter and wreckage reached their dreadful climax.
The British controlled the Atlantic, and if their forces had seized the Hudson-Lake Champlain-Richelieu waterway they would have cut off New England, the citadel of patriotism, from the other colonies. Strangely enough, the British apparently did not perceive the full implications of
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A SHORT HISTORY OF NEW YORK STATE
this strategy. They looked upon the Mohawk Valley and the Richelieu- Lake Champlain watercourse merely as paths of invasion over which troops could advance from Canada. New York City with its excellent harbor was regarded simply as an important base for British seapower and a central location from which offensive forces could be dispatched in various directions.
New Yorkers recognized the strategic position of their state and saw that they were seriously threatened in the spring of 1776. The defeat of the Montgomery-Arnold expedition left the way open for an attack from Canada. In the interior, Indians and Loyalists led by Sir John Johnson, Guy Johnson, John Butler, and Walter Butler were raiding the frontier. A seaborne assault on New York City was expected at any time.
On April 13, George Washington, escorted by the Philadelphia light horse, arrived in New York City, where he was met by nine militia com- panies, members of the Provincial Congress, cheering crowds, and ringing bells. On June 28 Sir William Howe reached Sandy Hook with 130 sail and 10,000 men. Two days later, while the Declaration of Independence was debated in the Continental Congress, British forces landed on Staten Island. During the next few weeks each side prepared for battle. Into the imperial camp poured reinforcements from the West Indies, Gibraltar, and the British Isles. By August 1, Howe had over 31,000 troops, includ- ing 8,000 seasoned Germans. This force was well trained, well officered, fully equipped, experienced, and supported by a fleet. Against this formi- dable array Washington was able to muster 28,000 poorly trained and inadequately supplied Patriots, many of whom were physically unfit for duty. The Americans had the advantage of fixed fortifications, but this was more than offset by the British fleet, which afforded Howe mobility and easily concentrated fire power. Nor was Washington able to focus his full attention on Howe, because in the north Sir Guy Carleton was mobi- lizing an army to march up the Richelieu-Lake Champlain waterway and seize the upper Hudson Valley.
After a fruitless effort to negotiate a peaceful settlement with Wash- ington, Howe landed 15,000 men on Long Island near the Narrows. The defenses of the island were entrusted to General Israel Putnam, who was entrenched at Brooklyn Heights with 7,000 soldiers. Outside this well- fortified position were advanced lines held by some 5,000 Americans. The right wing of the outlying force was commanded by Stirling and Parsons, the center by Sullivan, and on the left was a weak detachment under Miles. On the night of August 26 the British offensive began. British troops under Grant and Hessian soldiers under Von Heister feigned an assault on the American right and center, holding Stirling, Parsons, and Sullivan in position, while Clinton, Cornwallis, and Percy launched a surprise attack which penetrated Miles's weak detachment on the left.
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
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So effective was this maneuver that by ten o'clock on the morning of the twenty-seventh the advance lines were overrun and the Patriots were driven back to the entrenchments on Brooklyn Heights. Only valiant ac- tion by a small group under Alexander Stirling prevented a rout.
When Washington arrived on the scene in the afternoon, he found that Stirling and Sullivan had been captured along with 1,100 officers and men. The morale of the troops on Brooklyn Heights was at a low ebb. Fortunately, Howe declined to follow up his victory, and on the night of August 29 Washington in a brilliant maneuver screened by rain and fog withdrew his forces and his supplies to Manhattan Island. Howe, in spite
WHITE PLAINS
DOBBS FERRY
Washington's withdrawal starting October 23
RYE
MAMARONECK
YONKERS
NEW ROCHELLE
HACKENSACKO
EAST
CHESTER
KINGSBRIDGE
American lines at Harlem Heights
FT.LEE&FT. WASHINGTON
PELL'S IPOINT
WEST CHESTER
THROGS NECK
PASSAIC R.
HACKENSACK
MANHATTAN ISLAND
WHITESTONE
Washington's withdrawal,
EFLUSHING
HOBOKEN
Howe's advance
NEWARK
BERGEN
Brooklyn Heights
FT+
EASY
·BUSHWICK
GEORGE
BROOKLYN
JAMAICA PASS
LONG JSLAND
Won Heister
FLAT-
UPPER
BUSH
NEW YORK
BAY
FLATLANDS
Grant
Cornwallis
THE
JAMAICA BAY
Non Heister
NEW
1
UTRECHT
GRAVESEND
LOWER NEW YORK BAY
ATLANTIC OCEAN
. Kip's Bay-Sept. 14
XIPS
NEWTOWN
BA
EWTOW
CREEK
starting October 12
RIVER
CITY.M
· JAMAICA
NEWARK BAY
BEDFORD
BROOKLYN
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Clinton- Cornwallis- Percy
STATEN JSLAND
NARROWS
KR.
HUDSON RIVER-
HARLEM R.
LONG ISLAND SOUND
Map 4. George Washington's retreat from the Battle of Long Island, 1776.
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of the advantages of superior discipline and a powerful fleet, allowed the American Army to slip through his fingers.
Having used the sword with considerable success, Howe again extended the olive branch. The captured General John Sullivan was dispatched to Philadelphia to invite the Continental Congress to send a delegation to Staten Island for a conference on the peaceful solution of the difficulties between the mother country and the colonies. John Adams, who referred to this proposal as a "decoy duck," attended the meeting with Benjamin Franklin and Edward Rutledge. The colonials proved intractable and, as the conference ended, Admiral Sir Richard Howe (Sir William's brother ) stated he regretted being unable to recognize the congressional delegates as public officials. Adams retorted, "Your Lordship may consider me in what light you please . .. except that of a British subject."
Diplomacy having failed, General Howe again took up arms. On Sep- tember 15 New York City was taken with little effort. The ill-equipped and poorly trained American troops fled in disorder, abandoning a con- siderable quantity of supplies. Only the skill and steely determination of Washington prevented the disintegration of the Patriot army, which was plagued with large-scale desertion. The new colonial line stretched from the mouth of the Harlem River across Manhattan Island. On September 16 British forces attacked the American center but were driven off in a brisk skirmish which is known today as the Battle of Harlem Heights. This success did much to restore American morale.
A few days later Captain Nathan Hale, who had been sent by Washing- ton to spy on the British, was captured. Hale confessed his espionage and bravely met his death on the gallows near the present corner of Sixty- sixth Street and Third Avenue in New York City.
About the time of Hale's execution a fire broke out in the city, to the south, and burned approximately one-sixth of the houses. The next year a second conflagration destroyed more buildings and added to the dis- comfort of the inhabitants. Some of the Patriot leaders, including John Jay and General Nathanael Greene, advocated burning the city so that it could not afford shelter for the British troops. It is impossible to say whether Patriots set the fires, but, if they did, it was without official sanc- tion, for the Continental Congress had forbidden the burning of the city.
On October 12, Howe began moving his army up the East River in an obvious effort to cut off the Americans' avenue of retreat. Realizing the danger, the Patriots withdrew northward to the Bronx River and later to White Plains, leaving a garrison of about 3,000 in Fort Washington on the upper end of Manhattan Island. The British attacked White Plains on October 28 and drove the Americans from the field, but they suffered much heavier losses than the defenders. By this time Fort Washington was deep in enemy held territory, and prudence dictated the immediate
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evacuation of the garrison. Unfortunately orders for a withdrawal were not issued, and on November 16 Colonel Robert Magaw, the commander of the fortress, was compelled to surrender in the face of overwhelming odds. About 2,800 men were captured together with a large quantity of ammunition and stores.
The struggle between Washington and Howe now shifted to New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where the American general was to seize victory from the very jaws of defeat. The battle for New York City had lasted three months. The British sustained about 1,000 casualties and lost a few supplies and prisoners. The Americans were driven from the city, aban- doned most of their artillery, and suffered the loss of 4,000 soldiers cap- tured, 600 killed, and a large number of wounded. The bitterness of this defeat was somewhat mitigated by a successful defense in the north.
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