The First Independence Days

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THE FIRST INDEPENDENCE DAYS.

Brooklyn in 1776—First Independence Movement here—the Army—Congress—John Adams Prophecy—Tradition—Washington in Brooklyn—First Reading here of the Declaration of Independence—Scene in New York—Brooklyn is the most Historical Ground.

Of the primitive families of “Broucklen”, eighty-one years ago—of the stirring scenes of that period—probably not an individual to-day remains to testify as an eye witness of those persons and events. What is now the paved and populous city around us was then of course a sparse collection of old fashioned Dutch farms, at some distance from each other, and all together numbering but a few hundred inhabitants.

The first active movement in behalf of the American cause against the government of Great Britain, began here on Long Island early in the spring of ’76. Withdrawing their attention from Boston, the king’s forces were instructed to take possession of New York city at all hazards; and this was to be done through Brooklyn. The royal governor had fled. Two or three British ships lay idle down the bay. On land, so far, the “rebels” held undisputed control.

Through April, May and June, ’76, as full preparations were made in Brooklyn as the time and materials allowed. Quite a numerous body of men was concentrated here; but most of them were raw troops. Some very good companies arrived from Virginia, Maryland and Delaware; most of them sons of planters, and personal acquaintances of Washington. All the different companies used to go through their exercises, morning and evening every day, for greater proficiency. Brooklyn, those times, was indeed quite a warlike scene.

While these things were under way here, and the people on this island and elsewhere were in great excitement and suspense, with the conviction of some dreadful danger gathering around them, the General Congress at Philadelphia was discussing, with closed doors, what John Adams pronounced “the greatest question ever debated in America, and as great as ever was or will be debated among men.” The result was, a resolution passed unanimously, on the 2d of July, “that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.” “The 2d of July,” adds the same patriotic statesman, “will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to Almighty God. It ought to be solemnised with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forth and for evermore.” (The tale is often told, but still remains of undying interest.)

What was decided upon that day has, indeed, given rise to an annual jubilee, but not on the day designated by Adams. The 4th of July is the day of national rejoicing; for on that day the Declaration of Independence was adopted. Tradition gives a dramatic effect to its announcement. It was known to be under discussion, but the closed doors of Congress excluded the populace. They awaited, in throngs, an appointed signal. In the steeple of the State-house was a bell, imported twenty-three years previously from London, by the Provincial Assembly of Pennsylvania. It bore the portentous text from Scripture: “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof.” A joyous peal from that bell gave notice that the bill had been passed. It was the knell of the British domination.

Washington, at that time in Brooklyn and New York, hailed the declaration with joy. It is true it was but a formal recognition of a state of things which had long existed; but it put an end to all those temporising hopes of reconciliation which had clogged the military action of the country. On the 9th of July toward sundown, here on the hills of Brooklyn, he caused it to be read at the head of each brigade of the army. “The General hopes,” said he, in his orders, “that this important event will serve as a fresh incentive to every officer and soldier, to act with fidelity and courage, as knowing that now the peace and safety of his country depend, under God, solely on the success of our arms; and that he is now in the service of a State possessed of sufficient power to reward his merit, and advance him to the highest honors of a free country.”

Over the river, in New York city, among the people, the “Liberty Boys” were not content with the ringing of bells to proclaim their joy. There was a leaden statue of George III in the Bowling Green, in front of the fort. Since kingly rule is at an end, why retain its effigy? On the same evening, therefore, the statue was pulled down amid the shouts of the multitude, and broken up to be run into bullets “to be used in the cause of independence.” Some of the soldiery having been implicated in this popular effervescence, Washington censured it in general orders, as having much the appearance of a riot and a want of discipline, and the army was forbidden to indulge in any irregularities of the kind. It was his constant effort to inspire his countrymen in arms with his own elevated idea of the cause in which they were engaged, and to make them feel that it was no ordinary warfare, admitting of vulgar passions and perturbations. “The General hopes and trusts,” said he, “that every officer and man will endeavor so to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier, defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country.”

Reader! while the noise of the Eighty-First Anniversary is thundering around you, revert back your thoughts to the condition of the American cause at that early time—to its origin, its struggles, and the dauntless fortitude that—thanks to Washington, above all men—carried it forward to completion.

Another point, nearer home: Brooklyn is seldom thought of or mentioned in connection with “the first independence days;” and yet here, out of all the then colonies, was the spot of the most of the action and interest of those very days. Upon the Battle of Long Island (August 27, ’76,) turned more momentous results than upon any battle fought elsewhere upon the American continent. And here too were sadly deposited, through that long and oft-times dismal war, the corpses of the eleven thousand American martyrs! Here they still remain—priceless dust!—representing every one of the Old Thirteen States.