LONG ISLAND AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.   Term Paper ID:29412 Click to get this paper

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Paper Abstract: Patriot sentiment in the New York area. Long Island under Dutch rule of New Amsterdam. Annexation to New England. British rule. The Grenville Acts (Sugar Act, Stamp tax, Quartering Act). Townshend Acts and Colonial boycott. The Battle of Long Island, first major one of the Revolutionary War. Paper Introduction: This research examines conditions on Long Island, New York, on the eve of the American Revolution. The research will discuss how the currents of rebellion against England achieved importance in Long Island over the course of the 18th century. As well, reference will be made to the impact that the Revolution had on historical developments in the area. From the time revolutionary sentiment began to overtake the British colonies, New York and the area of Long Island were at the center of the debate about going through with rebellion. Even before the time that Charles II authorized Richard Nicolls of the Royal Navy to recruit English militia and settlers from Connecticut and Long Island to appropriate New Amsterdam and New Netherland from the rather rigid administration of the Dutch East India Company under Peter Stuyvesant, the main preoccupations of area Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Works CitedElson, Henry William. Further, New York wasto prove a bastion of Loyalist strength--as well as the site of animportant early Loyalist victory. By 1683, theNew York Assembly had been organized and was meeting in the city inManhattan, and by 1688, the whole colony was formally annexed to NewEngland. In 1767, with the accession of CharlesTownshend to prime minister, came the first of the Townshend Acts, theRestraining Act, which "suspended the New York Assembly until it shouldhave made provision for the troops according to the terms of the MutinyAct" (Becker 226). From the time revolutionary sentiment began to overtake the Britishcolonies, New York and the area of Long Island were at the center of thedebate about going through with rebellion. The StampAct was repealed in 1766, mainly in response to protests from New Yorkcolony, but was immediately replaced by the Declaratory Act, which providedthat "Parliament had the power to bind or legislate the colonies 'in allcases whatsoever'" ("History"). New York: New York Historical Society, 2 1 .McNamara, Patrick J. The Quartering Act did its worst(Vincitorio 7 ff), since British troops overtook and depleted the island'sagricultural base, as well as timber for fortifications. McNamara (179 et passim) describes theexperience of one Thomas Jones, an Oyster Bay, Long Island, Loyalist whosesharpest memory of the war was being socially isolated. Thusthe most important challenge facing Long Island in the wake of theRevolution, therefore, seems to have been to relearn the lessons of civilsociety in a meaningful way. This was followed by several acts levying duties on awhole range of imports. Imposition of financial hardship from Parliament continued, despitethe pattern of enactment and repeal of colonial taxation initiatives. The March of Folly. Parliament levieda series of taxes on the American colonies. At thewestern edge of Long Island, with its proximity to New Amsterdam, Dutchfarmers had settled, and Dutch rule prevailed. "By the Rude Storms of Faction Blown: Thomas Jones, a Long Island Loyalist." Long Island Historical Journal 7 (1995): 178-19 .Tuchman, Barbara. However, it could notprevent Howe from occupying New York and Long Island. As itturned out, the same was true of Long Island Loyalists. The British occupied Long Island, where there was still much Patriotsentiment, for the duration of the war. As a practical matter, therefore, by 1776 Britishtroops were a rather crucial presence on Long Island. In that regard,Becker notes (272) that "a great company of Loyalist exiles"--a good manyof them from what is today metropolitan New York--sailed away from Americawith the British troops departing thence, "never to return." Becker notesthat many Loyalists had been people of learning and ability and that manyremaining Patriots still had much to learn about civil organization. History of the United States of America. In American history, revolutionary rumblings can be traced to theGrenville Acts, which were put through Parliament beginning with theaccession of George Grenville to Prime Minister in 1763. The Battle of Long Island, indeed, was the first major battle afterthe Declaration of Independence was formally read out and an importantearly strategic defeat of Washington and the Continental Army. Becker repeatedly returns to the fact that economic development in thegreater New York City area was its most striking feature. New York: Ballantine, 1984.Vincitorio, Gaetano L. During the warcivil society on Long Island almost entirely dissolved; bandits, bothLoyalist and Patriot, "plundered the inhabitants indiscriminately" (Becker268) and divided the spoils accordingly. There were other costs as well. It was followed in 1765 bythe Stamp Act (Stamp Tax in England), which directly taxed "all colonialcommercial and legal papers, newspapers, pamphlets, cards, almanacs, anddice" ("History"). That is why the attempts of the English crown torealize from its colonies economic benefits that could help England repairdamage to its own economy growing out of the French and Indian War (SevenYears' War in Europe, 1756-1763) were so deeply felt in New York in generaland Long Island in particular. As well, reference will be made to the impactthat the Revolution had on historical developments in the area. The first of the so-called Grenville Acts was the Sugar Act of1764, whereby the crown enforced a duty of three shillings per gallon ofmolasses. Even before the time thatCharles II authorized Richard Nicolls of the Royal Navy to recruit Englishmilitia and settlers from Connecticut and Long Island to appropriate NewAmsterdam and New Netherland from the rather rigid administration of theDutch East India Company under Peter Stuyvesant, the main preoccupations ofarea settlers were unimpeded commerce and trade (Elson 14 ff; Becker 132).New Amsterdam, which became York Island, which became Manhattan, togetherwith Long Island, was not yet the largest but was nevertheless an importantcommercial center of the New World. Beckerexplains that Washington was burdened by "undisciplined farmers andfrontier riflemen" who constituted the bulk of his army. TheIntolerable Acts of 1774 were a response to the famous Boston Tea Party of1773, closing Boston Harbor, imposing martial law on Massachusetts,dissolving the legislature, forbidding free assembly, and reinvigoratingthe Quartering Act. Having routed theBritish from Boston in June 1776 (armed hostilities began on April 18,1775), Washington led his men to Brooklyn Heights on Long Island. "The Revolutionary War and Its aftermath in Suffolk County, Long Island." Long Island Historical Journal 7 (1994): 68-85. The research will discuss how the currents ofrebellion against England achieved importance in Long Island over thecourse of the 18th century. He explains thatthe population of the island in 1674 was 7, , which grew to 25, by17 ; by 1695 New York City alone had a population of 5, (Becker 132).The entire area was actively engaged in foreign trade, both legal andillegal. Long Island itself was distinctive evenunder Dutch rule for having a population more English than Dutch. The colonial response to the Townshend Acts,especially in New York and New England, was the creation of the Sons ofLiberty, merchants and others in commerce who organized Non-ImportationAgreements around the concept of boycotting English and Dutch imports. As for colonial government, it would be handledfrom London. The whole matter was aggravated by Grenville's Quartering(Munitions/Mutiny) Act of 1765, which as the name implies authorizedBritish forces to exact from colonial resources "food, drink, quarters,fuel, and transportation" at their sole discretion ("History"). 2 .McDougall, Alexander [attrib.]. Howe was pushing Washington intothe East River; however, he halted short of driving them into the water.That delay enabled Washington to retreat across the river to Manhattan andmake his way to New Jersey, then Pennsylvania. The New York Assembly petitioned the king andParliament to "leave it to the legislative power of the Colony to imposeall other Burthens upon its own people which the publick Exigenciesrequire" (Tuchman 152). Better observed in New York than elsewhere, it was so far maintained as o reduce the English importations into the Middle and Northern colonies from £1,333, in 1768 to £48 , in 1769 (Becker 229).The scale of the boycott is suggested by Tuchman, who says that New Yorkcut by 6/7 English imports between 1764 and 1769. The familiar phrase "taxation without representation"presents itself, but Tuchman notes that the Stamp Act Congress sidesteppedpetitioning Parliament to add colonial representatives because it wouldhave "invalidated American resistance"; instead, such representation wasdeemed "impractical" (Tuchman 155). Attackedand enormously outnumbered (3:1) by British troops commanded by General SirWilliam Howe, who was determined to take New York City and cut it off fromthe rest of the colonies ("History"), Washington's 6, -plus force battledHowe's 2 , at Gravesend, Long Island. "To the Betrayed Inhabitants of the City and Colony of New-York, December 16, 1769." Broadside. In the context ofmartial law, Patriots were bound to suffer hunger and deprivation. New York City becameLoyalist headquarters, and Loyalist sentiment dominated the city. What was significant about the New England character of most of LongIsland was that its government was more liberal, involving religioustoleration and adherence to English legal custom and practice. Thefact that the Assembly acquiesced, pursuant to control thereof exerted byof the aristocratic DeLancey family in New York--and so fomented widerrebellious sentiment in that colony--may be inferred from a broadside datedDecember 16, 1769, that declared inhabitants of the City and Colony of NewYork to have been "betrayed" by the New York Assembly by "taking money outof our Pockets, without our Consent" to fund enforcement and implementationof the Quartering Act (McDougall). The 1764 Currency Act outlawed the printing of colonial money,and disposed of colonial courts and the local juries their existenceimplied in favor of an admiralty (crown) court. This was to have repercussions lasting nearly 1 years; the factthat New England's royal governor, Andros, was based in Boston and not LongIsland fueled local resentment that can be indirectly linked with whatevolved into revolutionary sentiment: One consequence of collapsing LongIsland into New England was that the popular assembly was dissolved (Becker132). Parliament seems to haveconsidered these acts perfectly ordinary, a matter of administrative courseto be pursued in the wake of the British victory over the French in NorthAmerica; the reasoning was that the colonies ought to pay for their defenseand upkeep (Tuchman 146). New York: Macmillan, 19 4."History of the United States." Encyclopaedia Britannica 2 1 Deluxe CD- ROM. The protection of the prerogatives of an active and healthyeconomy became a major theme of political and social discourse throughoutthe Revolutionary period. However, in the central andeastern parts of the island, the population was mainly English, and localgovernment was organized much as it had been in New England (Becker 131-2). The withdrawal of paper money from general circulation, followed bynew taxes that colonists without currency could hardly pay, hit commercialinterests in New York colony especially hard--harder than the Sugar Act.Tuchman (153) distinguishes between the "external" taxation of dutiestypical of the Sugar Act, and the "internal" taxation on domestic(colonial) economic activity. The Townshend acts were repealed by 177 , but that did not deterrevolutionary sentiment, owing to enforcement of the Quartering Act. By1772, in the wake of repeal of the Townshend Acts, New York had completelyreopened its port, as had Boston and Philadelphia. When that was ignored, nine colonies convened aStamp Act Congress in New York, which eliminated the distinction betweeninternal and external taxation and protested against any royal taxes oncolonial entities. The subtext of the broadside is that NewYork's important commercial interests were being undermined by Britishauthority, and Parliament allowed the Quartering Act to expire in 177 . This research examines conditions on Long Island, New York, on the eveof the American Revolution. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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