COLD CASE OF ARSON 1776: 2/8: The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution by Benjamin L. Carp
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 6 January 2025
⏱️ 8 minutes
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Summary
https://www.amazon.com/Great-New-York-Fire-1776/dp/0300246951
New York City, the strategic center of the Revolutionary War, was the most important place in North America in 1776. That summer, an unruly rebel army under George Washington repeatedly threatened to burn the city rather than let the British take it. Shortly after the Crown’s forces took New York City, much of it mysteriously burned to the ground.
This is the first book to fully explore the Great Fire of 1776 and why its origins remained a mystery even after the British investigated it in 1776 and 1783. Uncovering stories of espionage, terror, and radicalism, Benjamin L. Carp paints a vivid picture of the chaos, passions, and unresolved tragedies that define a historical moment we usually associate with “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
1776 Battle of Long Island
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is CBSI in the World. |
| 0:05.0 | I'm John Batchel with Professor Benjamin Carp of Brooklyn College of CUNY Graduate Center. |
| 0:13.0 | Professor of History, his new book, The Great New York Fire of 1776, a lost story of the American Revolution. We're building the details before the fire |
| 0:23.6 | because the decision for everyone to make is was it on purpose? The Battle of Long Island |
| 0:30.6 | is late August of 1776. Washington's forces are badly outflanked and put to flight. |
| 0:40.2 | It's a miracle of the wind that Washington is able to leave Long Island without being captured with his soldiers and escaped to Manhattan. |
| 0:51.1 | And so, Professor, we come now to late August, early September, Washington's |
| 0:56.2 | army in New York City, and knowing the British have an enormous force that is going to start |
| 1:04.0 | landing soon enough, the Hows, however, are not looking to punish the rebels. It's important |
| 1:10.7 | here to emphasize the Howe brothers had another understanding of how to solve a rebellion. |
| 1:16.6 | Why did they hesitate? Why didn't they destroy the army immediately? |
| 1:20.6 | What did they think could happen? |
| 1:23.6 | Well, I mean, historians disagree about this, but I think the consensus is beginning to develop that, you know, William Howe at least had witnessed the Battle of Bunker Hill. And he never knew, you know, what kind of force he was going to face on the other side of a hill. He didn't necessarily want to commit a bunch of his forces in a way that would lead to a mass casualty event because he is not going to be able to request unlimited amounts of troops from back home. And so he tried to be cautious with his army. He definitely wanted to win a decisive victory against Washington and destroy Washington's army in order to undermine |
| 2:02.6 | the rebellion, but he also was cautious and not necessarily willing to, you know, do something |
| 2:10.6 | that he thought might lead to massive amounts of casualties. |
| 2:13.6 | And they were offering pardons. |
| 2:15.6 | My memory is they offered a pardon to anyone who gave up the rebel cause. July 14th, they offered a pardon. And my memory is they offered one in mid-September before the fire. So they were looking to persuade as opposed to punish the rebel army? |
| 2:34.2 | Was it successful? |
| 2:35.4 | Yeah, well, they're trying to do both, right? |
| 2:37.3 | They also have a peace commission from Parliament. |
| 2:40.2 | They do want to see reconciliation on happier terms. |
| 2:44.3 | They have this idea that many Americans are loyalist in their heart and only waiting for the |
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