City Beautiful BLOG

The colony was renamed New York in honor of Duke of York, the future King James II, the brother of Charles II, the King of England.

• New York (Manhattan),
• Kings (Brooklyn),
• Staten Island (Richmond) and
• Queens.

During French/British wars for the control of Canada, a battery of cannons – 94 in total – were mounted on the lower tip of the island to protect the entrance to the Hudson River from the French. The cannons were never fired, but the name stuck.

His majesty King William III granted the Trinity Church a royal charter for the price of 1 peppercorn a year so that the Trinity could function as the virtual Church of England in the British colony of New York.

Trinity Church was the tallest structure in the city – ships could see its spire from the sea. A lot of people contributed to its construction, including the infamous captain-turned-privateer-turned-pirate, William Kidd.

In 1705 Queen Ann granted Trinity Church 2 parcels of land for farming, stretching from Fulton Street to Hudson River. That sealed Trinity’s fate as one of the wealthiest churches in the world. Later, Trinity was to become a landlord to rival ‘the Landlord’ of New York – John Jacob Astor.

The first Trinity building perished in the Great Fire of 1776 during the American Revolution.

Bowling Green had been a cattle market, parade ground, and a field for an early Dutch version of bowling before it became the first city park.  In 1733, the Common Council leased a portion of the parade grounds to prominent neighboring landlords for a peppercorn a year, upon their promise to create a park that would be “the delight of the Inhabitants of the City” and would add to its “Beauty and Ornament”.

Peter Zenger, publisher of one of the early New York papers, accurately but harshly criticized the corrupt governor of New York. At the time, any critique of any British official was considered ‘seditious libel’ and was punishable by law. Peter Zenger was put on trial where he was brilliantly defended by Andrew Hamilton, who argued that if it’s true, it’s not libel. Zenger was found not guilty. Press was granted the right to freely report truth.

King’s College, the 6th college in the colonies, was chartered by King George II. It was located on Broadway near Church Street, on the land belonging to the Trinity Church. King’s College was to become one of the highest regarded universities in the world, known today as Columbia University.

British Parliament (and King George III) passes the Stamp Act, which was a tax on all legal documents. The tax was supposed to fund the army of 10,000 Red Coats stationed in the colonies.

A prelude to organized colonial opposition to British rule, the Stamp Act Congress, with representatives from nine of the thirteen colonies, was held in New York City in 1765.

It was decided that British goods would be boycotted until the Stamp Act was repealed. “BETTER TO WEAR HOMESPUN COAT THEN LOSE OUR LIBERTY”. It was, in fact, repealed, but substituted by other taxes on English goods. Since the British economy suffered, those taxes were also lifted, except for the tax on tea.

The Stamp Act Congress which took place in New York resulted in the Declaration of Rights and Grievances – “no taxation without representation”.

On July 4th, 1776, the Continental Congress announced that the thirteen American colonies, already at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as 13 newly independent sovereign states, and not a part of the British Empire.  The formal declaration, which came to be known as the Declaration of Independence, is drafted in Philadelphia by Thomas Jefferson.

Thousands of menacing British troops on ships were already amassing in the New York harbor in order to suppress the revolt. On July 9th, George Washington reads the newly written Declaration of Independence to his troops. After hearing the Declaration, the inspired crowds rush down Broadway to Bowling Green and pull down the equestrian statue of King George. The American Revolution has started; the lead from the king’s statue is to be used to make musket balls to fight the king’s soldiers.

By 1776, the population of New York had reached 20,000, and the city extended for about a mile.

In order to put down the rebellion, King George III puts together an army of 32,000 soldiers – the largest force the British had ever sent outside of Europe.

The American army is headed by General Washington; the English, much superior army and navy, are led by the brothers Howe.

General Howe, the commander of British forces, focuses on capturing New York City. Howe’s forces arrive at Staten Island on June 30, 1776, and capture it without resistance.

In the Battle of Brooklyn, the first major battle of the American Revolutionary War, the Continental Army led by Washington is badly defeated. Washington realizes that his army has no chance against the British on the battlefield, and decides that it’s more important to save the rest of his army rather than try to defend Manhattan.

During the night Washington secretly evacuates the entire army across the East River to Manhattan without loss of a single life. The army retreats all the way north, giving up New York to the British who occupy all of present day New York until the end of the war.

It is not clear if it was done by the patriots or by accident, but in September 1776 Manhattan suffered a devastating fire which burned down almost a quarter of the city.

After the Continental Army, with help from the French and the Dutch, defeats the British, England is forced to recognize the independence of the 13 colonies. American War for Independence ends with the Peace Treaty of 1783, also known as The Paris Peace Treaty.

After 7 years of war, George Washington returns to New York, triumphantly leading the Continental Army through the city.

He bids farewell to the troops in Fraunces Tavern, declares himself a private citizen and leaves the city for Mount Vernon.

Washington had the wisdom to give up power when he could have been crowned a king. His intention was never again to serve in public life. This one act, without precedent in modern history, made him an international hero.

In 1785, the assembly of the Congress of the Confederation made New York the national capital. New York remains the capital for 5 years. 

​The Constitution of the United States went into effect in 1789 which means that New York was the capital of the U.S. under the Articles of Confederation, and the first  of the US under the Constitution of the United States.

George Washington, the commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, is unanimously elected the first President of the United States.

The Congress sends a word to George Washington that he had unanimously won the presidency. On April 30, he comes across the Hudson River in a specially built and decorated barge.

The inaugural ceremony is performed on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street to the cheers of a large crowd. The president then retires indoors to read Congress his inaugural address, a quiet speech in which he spoke of “the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”

In 1792, George Washington was unanimously reelected, but four years later refused a third term.

New York was the capital of the United States from 1785 to 1790. In 1790 the capital is temporarily moved to Philadelphia.

Southerners, Thomas Jefferson among them, insisted that the Nation’s Capital should be built a new and should be located on the Potomac.

The New York Stock Exchange is established in 1792.  When faced with cut rate competition from a group of powerful government bond merchants, 24 brokers sign the document known as the Buttonwood Tree Agreement. The agreement states that members would trade only with each other and would charge a fixed 0.25% commission rate.

The brokers gathered to trade in front of 68 Wall Street under the huge Sycamore (known in the vernacular as a Buttonwood Tree), which gave the document its name.

A year later the organization moved indoors, to the Tontine Coffee House, but unless the weather was particularly vile, trading itself still took place outdoors.