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This Web site is based upon the exhibition “Independence
and its Enemies in New York,” which ran at The New-York Historical
Society from June 19- September 19, 2001. more
info>>
In the spring of 1765, news of the passage of the
Stamp Act reached a city that was already reeling from a depression
that had accompanied the end of the French and Indian War two years
earlier. But the ten years of dissent and protest that led up to
the Revolution was also fueled by the available means of communication-in
particular, the broadside.
On July 9, 1776 the Declaration of
Independence reached a city nearly depopulated by civilians. Some
10,000 Continental Army soldiers had made themselves at home on
the island and had set to work chopping up fences and orchards for
batteries and barricades. The Royal Governor had taken refuge on
a British ship... |
With the final withdrawal of British troops on November
25, 1783, New Yorkers settled into the postwar period of rebuilding,
hosting the nation's capital, and getting back to business. Distinctions
between Tory and patriot began to fade. Samuel Loudon returned to
publish newspapers; James Rivington and Hugh Gaine continued to
sell books but no longer put out theirs... |
New York's printers shifted between
the conflicting demands of patriot mobs and British occupation,
between their own political beliefs and their need to transact business.
To make a proper living, a printer was simultaneously a newspaper
printer and editor, book and almanac publisher, bookseller, and
competitor for government commissions for printing laws and currency.
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This Web site was made possible with public funds from the United States Department of Education, and from the New York Council for the Humanities. Programs are also funded from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.In addition, a generous seed grant was awarded from Citigroup.
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