Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
This topographical view shows the city at the time of the riot. East is at the top, placing
the East River (labelled K) furthest from the viewer and the North River (N) - an old name
for the Hudson River - in the foreground. In the mid 18th century, New York City was a re-
latively small settlement at the southern tip of Manhattan Island. The very tall buildings that
are characteristic of today's metropolis would not start to be built for more than a century.
Nonetheless, several features are easily recognisable. For instance, Bowling Green (labelled
D) still lies at the southern end of Broadway and the Battery (B) is now the site of Battery
Park.
The view was drawn by William Cockburn on behalf of Commander Archibald Kennedy,
a senior officer in the British Royal Navy tasked with protecting Fort George (labelled A).
This fort, which was also the colonial administrative headquarters, held a large stock of the
all-important stamped paper. Kennedy's men were unable to protect the fort from the rioters
and the governor, Cadwallader Colden, decided to hand over the stamped paper to the Cor-
poration of New York, which destroyed it.
In an attempt to prove that he had tried his best to defend Fort George and its contents,
Kennedy sent a bundle of paperwork to the Admiralty in London that explained and justified
his actions. This view was intended to illustrate and support his argument that he had sta-
tioned his three ships - the Coventry (labelled F), the Guarland (G) and the Hawke (H) - in
the best places. The Admiralty accepted Kennedy's explanations and he was allowed to con-
tinue his naval career.
The British authorities eventually realised that the stamp tax had proved too difficult to
collect and repealed the Stamp Act in 1766. The colonists' successful resistance to the tax
was a contributing factor to the American Revolutionary War of 1775-1783 and the founding
of the United States.
