Kamau Ware, "Battle in the Margins: Black Experiences in New York City During the American Revolution" (Black Gotham Experience)

While Lexington and Concord claim significance as the sites of the American Revolution’s opening battles, New York City’s geography, population density, and cultural status made it one of the most important theaters of the war. Between 1776 and 1777, numerous battles were fought for control over the Port of New York, including the Battles of Harlem Heights, Pell’s Point, White Plains, Fort Washington, and the largest battle of the entire revolution, the Battle of Long Island/Brooklyn. Recognizing the strategic importance of New York, and forewarned by his experience at the Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston, Lieutenant-General Sir William Howe and royal governor Lord George Germain recruited Hessian mercenaries and soldiers from across the empire to defend the city from an eventual patriot campaign to claim New York. In 1776, George Washington, as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, began preparations for what we know today as the New York and New Jersey Campaign. Though the campaign failed to fortify New York from Sir William Howe, which remained in British control until the end of the war in 1783, the revolution might have ended altogether on Staten Island when William and his brother, Admiral Richard Howe, entered peace negotiations with the Americans. In a September 11, 1776, meeting, the Howes met with John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Edward Rutledge for an unsuccessful three-hour negotiation. Four days later, Howe, as Commander-in-Chief of British Land Forces in America, landed 12,000 troops in lower Manhattan and quickly claimed the city. Though the British took control of New York Harbor and the surrounding agricultural areas, the areas around New York and New Jersey remained active battlegrounds for the rest of the revolution. When the war ended, it saw some of the last British soldiers evacuate the new United States, including thousands of free and formerly enslaved Africans who had served the empire in the war, documented by The Book of Negroes.

Battle in the Margins is a special project of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation in collaboration with Black Gotham Experience, an organization devoted to African Diasporic storytelling, to commemorate the African Diaspora’s impact on the American Revolution. Those listening to this episode in real time in the New York City area can reserve a ticket to the September 19, 2026 Battle in the Margins “Main Event,” a series of original ten-minute plays centering