Posted on 07/03/2006 5:43:05 AM PDT by Pharmboy
Finally a decent piece appears on the Op-Ed page of the Times. The author, Edwin G. Burrows, is "a history professor at Brooklyn College and the co-author of Gotham: A History of New York to 1898, and is the author of the forthcoming The Prisoners of New York."
For Later.
Pinging the RevWar/Colonial History/General Washington list
Freepmail me to get ON or Off this list.
Also pinging the original 13 colonies...Happy Fourth to all you Freeping Patriots!
NY Times means Tinfoil to me. Is there a chance they published this to show inhumane war prisons are, such as Gitmo?
I doubt that, although I share your distrust and likely hatred of the Times. Actually, one could make the opposite point: if you want to speak of atrocious prison conditions, HERE'S an example of that. Abu Ghraib and Gitmo were country clubs compared to this.
Or all the Palies in prison in Israel....
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Thanks.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1111944/posts
Also, country clubs compared to the prisons and torture cells for the countries these prisoners originate from. But don't forget, you read with a critical eye. Most Rats are too busy nodding there heads to focus on the words.
BTW, it is a very interesting article, nonetheless. I don't want to hyjack your thread.
I'll bet these schmucks think they're original.
I worked on an archaeology project on Chambers Street at City Hall Park years ago.
During the historic research phase a document was uncovered that contained the death bed confession of a British provost in New York in which he confessed that he had American prisoners secretly executed along what is now Chambers Street. This was part of a scam by the provost in which the executed prisoners were never stricken from the prisoner rolls and the provost was able to pocket the money assigned for their rations.
Bit of an exaggeration. Not nearly as important as Boston or Philadelphia.
I have no access to the article, but I wonder if it brings up the fact that NYC was the most Loyalist of all American cities. To a very considerable extent, New Yorkers were on the other side during the Revolution.
You forget Charleston, South Carolina. The back country was Patriot; the planters tended to be Tory.
The most important reason for this was the fact that NYC was the center of the British Command during the French and Indian War, and when a good deal of them left in 1763 at war's end, NYC suffered an economic depression. Idle street people and sailors formed groups who battled the Brits after 1765. Google "The Battle of Golden Hill" for example.
But you are certainly correct in what you say about Loyalists in NYC--there was likely a higher percentage of them here, but Loyalists were spread throughout the colony. Further, most of the Dutch farmers in Brooklyn and Queens (who, BTW, still mostly spoke Dutch and not English at this time) were not Loayalists or Patriots but neutral. They just wanted to farm and be left alone. However, there were Dutch Patriots who helped the army during the Battle of Brooklyn (Long Island).
The Sons of Liberty often met at Fraunces Tavern and the prominent among them were Isaac Sears, John Scott and John Lamb. It almost became a game between the Patiots and the Brits: the Patriots would put up a Liberty Pole, the Brits would take it down in the middle of the night, and there would be a street brawl the next day.
Happy Fourth!
Your Obdt. Svt.
P______y
Whoa! Never knew about THAT one...thanks for posting that info. The way the Brits thought of the Patriots, I am afraid I am not surprised.
My understanding is that in SC (and NC) the big planters tended to be Patriots, the small farmers in the Piedmont (many of whom were recent immigrants) were largely Loyalist, and the real back country boys were almost all rebels. (Mostly because the Brits made the mistake of trying to use the Indians against them.)
I believe that the author is trying to make us think that these prisons are somehow analogous to our imprisonment of Al Quada terrorists.
The difference is that, in 1776 New York, the war was being fought after the Declaration of Independence and there was a recognizable, although nascent, United States government.
On the other hand, the prisoners in Guatanamo do not claim to be fighting out loyalty to any single nation. Instead, they are fighting to destroy our Nation and subjugate us all to Islam.
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