Opposition to British policy became increasingly vocal by the mid-1760s. An economic depression followed the French and Indian War (1754-1763) and coincided with the British Parliament's decision to tighten control over economic activities in the colonies. Parliament imposed a number of import taxes and fees in the colonies, threatening profits to which New York's merchant gentry had become accustomed and encouraging the resistant mood of the urban populace. In New York City, as elsewhere in the colonies, a secret organization known as the Sons of Liberty sprang up to oppose these laws. New York's City Hall was the site of the Stamp Act Congress, at which delegates from nine colonies protested British policy.
Though opinion was divided in New York City on the question of resisting imperial control, the patriotic element had the upper hand by May 1775, a month after the American Revolution (1775-1783) broke out. In April 1776, after colonial forces drove the British out of Boston, Massachusetts, General George Washington moved his headquarters to New York City and began building defenses. Between August and November the Continental Army formed by the rebelling colonists lost a series of engagements with the British, including the Battle of Long Island. Washington then retreated to Manhattan Island, fighting delaying actions at Harlem Heights near the present-day campus of Columbia University.
Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. American Revolution Information info
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