The decade opened with the unveiling of a gilded statue of King George III in Bowling Green. It was a symbol of gratitude and a pledge of loyalty to the crown after the repeal of the Stamp Act. A year later, in 1771, a wrought iron fence was assembled around Bowling Green to protect the statue from the portion of the populace who preferred not to pledge. The fence (at least large parts of it) still surrounds Bowling Green--a link to the pre-Revolutionary New York. The statue it was supposed to keep safe, however, was torn down after the Declaration of Independence was first read in New York in July of 1776.
For more on the statue and the fence:
The British moved the bulk of their forces to the troublesome city of Boston in 1774. During the next couple of years, Paul Revere served the important role of keeping radical New Yorkers informed of the events in Boston. It was Paul Revere who brought news (on 12/20/1776) that Boston had held a tea party a few days earlier. New Yorkers dressed like Mohawks and dumped English tea into their harbor the following April.
In the spring of 1776, Washington pressured the Brits to evacuate Boston Harbor whereupon they resupplied in Nova Scotia. Washington knew that if the British were to capture New York and gain control of the Hudson River, they could cut the colonies in half. (Nearly a third of all Revolutionary War battles were fought on the shores of the Hudson.) He marched his army south to fortify the city, but despite their best efforts, the Americans would lose New York in November.
For a quick chronology of the Battle for New York and the Alamo of the Revolution:
No other city was occupied by the British for so long (from 1776 until 1783) and no other city suffered as much physical damage. The Fire of 1776 destroyed much of the city, including the first Trinity Church. There was also large scale looting and vandalism of abandoned property and the deforestation of the island itself. Washington was shocked at the absence of trees when he returned to the city the following decade.
Finally, during the occupation, New York became a place of death--11,500 American captives died on the prison ships. Their bodies were hastily buried or thrown overboard. Bones washed up on the beaches for years after the war.
Sources: Gotham by Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace; Manhattan in Maps by Robert T. Augustyn and Paul E. Cohen; The Historical Atlas of New York City by Eric Homberger; New York: An Illustrated History by Ric Burns and James Sanders, with Lisa Ades; The Encyclopedia of New York City, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson .
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