A new Ken Burns mini-series is equivalent to the Super Bowl for history lovers. And the latest The American Revolution serves up all six parts this week on your local PBS Affiliate.
Or, if you want to binge them all now, they’re all streaming now if you have a PBS app. But isn’t it more fun to watch along with everybody else?
New York plays a larger role in the story starting tonight (Monday) in Part Two. For more information on particular aspects of the American Revolution as they relate to New York City, listen to the Bowery Boys podcasts below:
The Story of Brooklyn Heights
In 1776, George Washington and the Continental Army would have certainly been vanquished by British forces if not for a daring escape from this Brooklyn village which later became New York’s first “commuter’s town.”
GOWANUS! Brooklyn’s Troubled Waters
Brooklyn’s Gowanus — both the creek and the canal — is one of the most mysterious and historically important waterways in New York City. But this was once the land of delicious oysters — and it was also the site of an early Revolutionary War battle, centered near an old stone house.
Tearing Down King George: The Monumental Summer of 1776
Two hundred and fifty years ago, Colonial New York received a monumental statue of King George III on horseback, an ostentatious and rather awkward display which once sat in Bowling Green park at the tip of Manhattan.
On July 9, 1776, angry New Yorkers violently tore down that statue of King George and, as the story goes, rendered his body into bullets used in the battles of the Revolutionary War.
Revolutionary Fire/The End of Nathan Hale
A little after midnight on September 21, 1776, the Fighting Cocks Tavern on Whitehall Street caught on fire. The drunken revelers inside the tavern were unable to stop the blaze, and it soon raged into a dangerous inferno, spreading up the west side of Manhattan.
Some reports state that the fire started accidentally in the tavern fireplace. But was it actually set on purpose — on the orders of George Washington?
Underneath this expansive story is another, smaller story — that of a young man on a spy mission, sent by Washington into enemy territory. His name was Nathan Hale, and his fate would intersect with the disastrous events of September 21, 1776.
Fraunces Tavern: Raise Your Glass To The Revolution!
Fraunces Tavern is one of America’s most important historical sites of the Revolutionary War and a reminder of the great importance of taverns on the New York way of life during the Colonial era.
This revered building at the corner of Pearl and Broad Street was the location of George Washington‘s farewell address to his Continental Army officers and one of the first government buildings of the young United States of America.
Fraunces was also recently featured in our recent show The Oldest Bars in New York
The Lenape Nation: Past, Present and Future
The Lenape were among the first in northeast North America to be displaced by white colonists — the Dutch and the English. By the late 18th century, their way of life had practically vanished upon the island which would be known by some distorted vestige of a name they themselves may have given it – Manahatta, Manahahtáanung or Manhattan.
In this show, we also discuss the Six Nations/Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Native American presence in the New York region.
Evacuation Day: The Forgotten Holiday of the American Revolution
For decades New Yorkers celebrated Evacuation Day every November 25, a holiday marking the 1783 departure of British forces from a city they had occupied for several years.
The events of that departure — that evacuation — inspired annual celebrations of patriotism, unity and a bit of rowdiness. Evacuation Day was celebrated well until the late 19th century. But then, gradually, the party sort of petered out…..
We also have a general overview podcast from several years ago on New York During the Revolutionary War that covers the years 1776-1783. If you’ve ever wondered what New York was like under British occupation, this is a good one to check out!
Other shows which touch upon New York’s role during War for Independence:
The Bronx Trilogy Part One: The Bronx Is Born — During the Revolutionary War, prominent families were faced with a dire choice — stay with the English or side with George Washington’s Continental Army? One prominent family would help shape the fate of the young nation and leave their name forever attached to one of the Bronx’s oldest neighborhoods.
Seneca Village and Other Stories of New York’s Forgotten Black Communities — Features stories of Black New Yorkers during the Revolutionary War and beyond.
Plus the tale of the Battle for Washington Heights is recounted in our recent show Dominican New York: A History in the Heights