395 Benjamin Carp, The Great New York Fire of 1776

When we think about the American Revolution, textbooks, documentaries, and historic sites have trained most of us to think about American triumphs in battles or events when American revolutionaries overcame moments of despair, when all seemed lost, to triumph in the cause of American independence.

Benjamin L. Carp will help us look at the American Revolution differently. The Daniel M. Lyons Chair of History at Brooklyn College, Ben will use details from his book The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution to help us consider the strategic military importance of New York City and its capture by the British Army and how both armies used fire as an instrument of war.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Ben Franklin’s World is a production of Colonial Williamsburg Innovation Studios.

Episode Summary

Benjamin L. Carp is the Daniel M. Lyons Chair of History at Brooklyn College. His research interests include urban politics, society, and culture in eighteenth-century America. He is the author of several books including Defiance of the Patriots: The Boston Tea Party and the Making of America and, most recently, The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution.

During our investigation of the Battle for New York and the Great New York Fire of 1776, Ben reveals why the British and American armies wanted to hold New York City during the American War for Independence; How and why the British and American militaries used fire as an instrument of war; And details about the Great New York Fire of 1776 and what the evidence has to say about how it broke out.

What You’ll Discover

New York City on the eve of the American Revolution
The politics of revolutionary New York City
New Yorkers’ loyalties by 1776
Fire as a weapon of the Revolutionary War
Military strategy behind using fire as a weapon
Why the British Army wanted control of New York City in 1776
Why the British Army chose New York City instead of Philadelphia
Tactical advantages of New York City as a “loyalist stronghold”
The Battle for New York City
George Washington’s decision not to burn New York City
The Great New York Fire of 1776
Conflicting accounts about the origin of the Great New York Fire
Newspapers as evidence of the Great New York Fire
What New Yorkers believed about the start of the fire in 1776
The British inquiry into the Great New York Fire
The impact the Great New York Fire had on the British Army
The impact the Great New York fire had on everyday New Yorkers

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Time Warp Question

If the Great New York Fire of 1776 had never happened, how would the lack of a major fire in New York have impacted the rest of the American War for Independence?