While tourist attention in Lower Manhattan often fixates on the Charging Bull sculpture at Bowling Green, the area is steeped in American Revolutionary history. Many sites, often overlooked, played pivotal roles in the events that shaped the early United States.
New York served as a crucial port during the Colonial era. In 1774, John Adams described the city's "Opulence and Splendor," noting its fast-paced, vocal inhabitants. The spring and summer of 1776 saw Manhattan become the headquarters for the Continental Army, with the city abuzz over the imminent arrival of British forces. Following the significant Battle of Brooklyn on August 27, 1776, British troops landed at Kip's Bay on September 15 and occupied New York for the remainder of the war.
Reading the Declaration of Independence
In the summer of 1776, news of the Declaration of Independence was disseminated through newspapers, broadsides, and public readings. On July 9, 1776, George Washington ordered the Declaration to be read aloud to Continental troops and civilians gathered in what was then known as the Commons, located in front of the present-day City Hall. Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Blachley Webb reported that the troops responded with "three Huzzas," expressing pleasure at their separation from the King.
The Commons was a central hub for Colonial life, serving as a site for military parades, citizen protests, and the erection of Liberty Poles by the Sons of Liberty. After the British evacuation, a flag was raised here in celebration. Today, the park features a statue of Nathan Hale and a plaque commemorating the 1776 reading of the Declaration of Independence.
The Downfall of King George III's Statue
As the Declaration of Independence was read at the Commons, crowds grew, and patriotic enthusiasm escalated into anger. Mobs then moved south towards Bowling Green. The park, established in 1733 as New York City's first public park, was home to a 15-foot-tall gilded-lead statue of King George III, erected in 1770. Fueled by revolutionary fervor, rioters pulled the statue from its pedestal. The lead was melted down, with some pieces sent to Connecticut and fashioned into over 40,000 bullets used at the Battle of Saratoga.
Fraunces Tavern: A Revolutionary Hub
Fraunces Tavern on Pearl Street, established in 1762 by Samuel Fraunces, became a gathering place for those supporting independence. The building itself experienced action during the war when a cannonball from the HMS Asia struck its roof in 1775. Today, the tavern operates as a restaurant, and its upstairs museum displays artifacts from the Colonial era. The Long Room within Fraunces Tavern served as a meeting place for New York's Provincial Congress and was where George Washington bid farewell to his troops in 1783.
Tracing Indigenous and African American Histories
Adjacent to Bowling Green, the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian is housed in the Alexander Hamilton US Custom House. This location offers a deeper dive into the history of "Manahatta" and the significant, often overlooked, role of Native Americans in the Revolutionary War, with tribes fighting on both sides. Many Manhattan street names, such as Broadway and Beaver Street, have origins in Native American trade routes and settlements that predate European arrival.
Further north on Broadway lies the African Burial Ground National Monument, the largest known cemetery in the United States, with an estimated 15,000 burials of free and enslaved Black residents. From the mid-18th century, Black citizens, comprising nearly 20% of the population, were instrumental in New York's development, building structures like the "wall" that gave Wall Street its name and contributing to the maritime industry and the Revolutionary War effort.
Seat of Early Government
Following the Revolutionary War, Lower Manhattan became the nexus of the new U.S. government. It served as the first capital of the United States under the Constitution. Federal Hall hosted George Washington's presidential inauguration on April 30, 1789. Although the original Federal Hall was demolished, the current structure stands on the same site and now serves as a national memorial dedicated to early U.S. government history, housing Washington's inauguration bible among its exhibits.
Enduring Structures and Legacies
The year 1776 brought devastation to New York City, including a fire that destroyed a significant portion of Lower Manhattan. St. Paul's Chapel, built in 1766, miraculously survived and stands today as the city's oldest church building. It hosted services attended by British leaders during the occupation and by George Washington and Congress after his inauguration. Trinity Church, destroyed in the 1776 fire, was reconstructed in 1790. It is the resting place for Alexander Hamilton, his wife Elizabeth, Declaration of Independence signer Francis Lewis, Revolutionary War hero Horatio Gates, and tailor-spy Hercules Mulligan.