The historic importance of
- The Declaration of Independence was publicly read to George Washington’s troops and the public in New York City on July 9, 1776 at what is now City Hall Park in downtown Manhattan.
- Revolutionary War battles were fought on Staten Island, in Brooklyn Heights, Long Island (August 27 - 29, 1776) and Harlem Heights (September 16, 1776)
- In the summer of 1776 a British fleet of 30 battleships with 1,200 cannons, 30,000 soldiers, 10,000 sailors and 300 supply ships occupied New York Harbor. (The number of ships and soldiers vary in different accounts)
- George Washington planned an astonishing retreat of Continental Army troops from Brooklyn Heights across the East River. The British still captured New York City and held it for seven years.
- During the war, prisoners of war would be held aboard prison ships in New York harbor and a large number would die there.
- General George Washington set up another war-time headquarters at Morris-Jumel Mansion in Harlem Heights and eventually, at the Battle of Harlem Heights, American troops forced the British to retreat from Manhattan.
- At a Harlem tavern on November 25, 1783, George Washington waited for word that the British troops had finally left New York City. The British had occupied New York City for over seven years.
- At Fraunces Tavern in downtown Manhattan, Washington said an emotional goodbye to his troops on December 4, 1783. The Tavern would become offices of the new U.S. government's Departments of War, Treasury and Foreign Affairs.
- New York City became the country's capital on January 11, 1785 and U. S. Congress met here for the first time.
- The country's first President, George Washington, was sworn into office by the first Vice President, John Adams, at Federal Hall (on Wall Street) on April 30, 1789. Washington would enter New York City and New York harbor by crossing the Hudson River from Elizabethtown, New Jersey on a 55 foot barge navigated by 13 rowing sailors in white uniforms. He was then driven to the inauguration ceremony in a canary-yellow carriage pulled by six white horses and accompanied by the New York State militia. Cannons roared, church bells rang and crowds gathered and shouted from the streets and rooftops.
- The first presidential mansion was at 3 Cherry Street in downtown Manhattan.
- The City has always been a home to those seeking a new life without oppression and bigotry and a beacon to artists, musicians, jazz pioneers, and progressive thinkers, and
- Many of our ancestors entered this country as immigrants with their hopes of a new life through New York Harbor and Ellis Island.
Lower Manhattan is a rich textbook of American history. The photo above is of New York Harbor and its bridges (as seen from the South Street Seaport Museum): the Brooklyn Bridge (1883), the Manhattan Bridge (1909) and the Williamsburgh Bridge (1896) in the far distance. New York City was a bridge from the Old World to the New World, a bridge to endless possibilities and new hopes and new lives.
There are many wonderful websites on New York City and one might ask why another one? This website is my own personal celebration of the City and its exciting and diverse history. It is also an opportunity to share photos of historic and favorite City landmarks, and to suggest places you may wish to photograph when visiting here (some which may not be in your tour guide).
Ads are by Google. Some will be helpful when planning a visit to the Big Apple, the City that Never Sleeps, the Big Oyster, Gotham, the Empire City, the Melting Pot, Absolute Heaven, A Hell of a Town, or whatever you wish to call it.
Links on many pages here are to places in or near that neighborhood.
PHOTOS BY AND THE PROPERTY
OF RONALD SPAINHOUR