We have all been taught a lot about the birth of our
nation. And although I learned a small amount in school, and then later a large
amount in graduate school about that period, I found some really interesting
facts while curating two exhibits for the 200th anniversary of the inauguration
of Geo. Washington - which is how he was often referred to. Below are some of
my favorite facts the first few of which do appear in my July Historic Notes,
but there are more!
July 4, 1776 - The Continental Congress, meeting in
what came to be called Independence Hall, adopted the Declaration of Independence.
July 4, 1826 - On the 50th anniversary of the
Declaration of Independence, former Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
died. They had both contributed to the writing of the
Declaration.
July 4, 1900 - Jazz legend Louis Armstrong,
nicked-name "Satchmo," was born.
July 6, 1775 - Congress issued the "Declaration
of the Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms" against the British.
July 8, 1776 - The first public reading of the
Declaration of Independence was given at the State House in Philadelphia.
The Liberty Bell was rung for the first time.
July 9, 1776 - The Declaration of Independence
was read aloud in Manhattan on Bowling Green. Afterwards, some of the
colonists tore down the statue of King George III.
Parts of it were sent to a foundry in Connecticut to be made into bullets to
use against the British. And today we are allies!
AND NOW...
From September of that year and for seven years, the
British occupied New York City which at that point consisted only of Manhattan.
It wasn't until 1898 that the five separate cities joined to become boroughs of
the City.
Shortly after the occupation, on September 21st,
"The Great Fire of 1776" as it was called decimated lower Manhattan.
Above the fire area were farms and undeveloped areas. The British blamed the
Patriots and the Patriots blamed the British. No one was ever sure. It could
have been an accident. Among the buildings destroyed was the first Trinity
Church at the head of Wall Street. It was left in ruins. St. Paul's Chapel,
The first chapel built by the Parish survived. Why: it had a flat room
and men could stand on it and battle the flames. Fortunately,
many early records were stored there, including baptism, marriage and burial
and minutes.
During the occupation, the British soldiers and
their friends strolled around the ruined church among the grave stones and even
attended concerts held there. Services continued to be held at St. Paul's. The
Parish was part of the Anglican church in England and the official church
receiving money from the government.
When the British left, there was a celebration in France’s
Tavern led by George Washington.
Some left to go to England and others to Canada,
including some of the members of Trinity Parish.
All had been Loyalists.
The city had a lot to do to rebuild and deal with a
new situation as it wasn't until 1787 that there finally was a constitution and
the creation of a new nation. The earlier Articles of Confederation
simply had not worked.
For many weeks the Founding Fathers met in what is
now called Independence Hall where they had also written and passed the
Declaration of Independence.
With the new nation came the office of President,
the first being Geo. Washington who did not want to be President, but all the
Founding Fathers felt he was the only one who could form the new government.
He wrote to a friend that he was going to face
"an ocean of difficulties" and clearly wasn't happy about it.
When he arrived in Manhattan, people gathered to see
him along the waterfront. Some women screamed and fainted! And there were
fireworks which we had learned about from those who traded with China.
Globalization is not as new as we think and goes
back to Marco Polo and beyond! One burst of fireworks depicted his face.
On that historic day on the steps of Federal Hall,
Washington took the oath of office with his hand on his family bible. The oath
was administered by Robert Livingston, a prominent member of his family. His
Vice President, John Adams, had taken the oath weeks before and presided
over the Senate. Adams was later the second president and his son John Quincy,
the 6th.
After the swearing in the dignitaries led by Washington
went to St. Paul's Chapel of Trinity Parish, Wall Street, for a service.
There was a pew set aside for him and one for other dignitaries. In his
diary he writes about going to St. Paul's as well as Trinity and how he once
fell asleep during a sermon.
St. Paul's was built on Fulton
Street in 1766 and survived "The Great Fire of
1776" as it had a flat roof.
Men with buckets of water doused the flames. Thanks
to their efforts not only did the Chapel survive, but a lot of records
which made up part of the archives I established in 1978. St.
Paul's is modeled on St. Martins-in-the Field in London.
On the 200th anniversary of that historic day, there
was a special service in St. Paul's.
Oddly I had an intern who was a descendent of Livingston, Alexander Hamilton,
the first Secretary of the Treasury, and John Jay the first Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court. I decided to see if I could find more descendants and thanks
to the Colonial Dames and the Sons of the Revolution I found a few. And it
turned out that a member of Trinity was a Livingston
too. So on that day distant cousins met for the first time.
What did we forget? Would love to hear from you.
Phyllis Barr
President Corporate
Culture & Heritage Marketing
New York, NY
212-765-6968
ladyhistory@earthlink.net
www.PhyllisBarr.LinktoEXPERT.com