New York acknowledged the Declaration on July 9, 1776—a delay befitting its cautious Revolutionary sentiment. By order of General Washington, it was read aloud to assembled crowds, who then marched to Bowling Green and tore down the gilded equestrian statue of King George III, melting it down for ammunition. The symbolic power of that moment—the most reluctant colony destroying its monument to the King—captures New York's dramatic transformation. What followed was a brutal reckoning: the British directed their entire naval fleet to New York, recognizing its value as the finest deepwater port on the coast and the gateway to the interior through the Hudson. The Battle of Brooklyn ended in near-disaster for the Continental Army, but Washington's silent midnight evacuation across the East River preserved his army and his own irreplaceable person. By year's end, much of the city lay in ruins from the Great Fire of 1776, and New York had become British Army headquarters, which it would remain for the next seven years. More Americans died in British prisons, including prison ships moored in the East River, than in all the battles of the Revolutionary War combined.
Interviewees
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Julie Golia
- Linda May Uris Director, Humanities and Social Sciences Research Library, New York Public Library
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Meredith Mann
- Interim Charles J. Liebman Curator of Manuscripts, New York Public Library
