The British occupation of New York City was an utter failure. Under military control, the city didn’t strive the way it did before. To make things worse, “on September 21, 1776, a fire began near whitehall” (50). Over 1000 buildings were destroyed, including a ship, which blew up from 260 lbs’ of gunpowder. Needless to say, things weren’t going well for the British! Once recaptured, the colonists found it to be “a most dirty, desolate, and wretched place” (51).
I find this argument very important and persuasive. If not for the fire that devastated pre-1800 New York City, we would have much more information on buildings from that era. We would have more buildings and more antique items. However, I find the information questionable. In a documentary we saw in class, the fire did not destroy 1000 buildings, but instead 500 buildings. Nevertheless, this argument is persuasive and I deem it correct.
The Great NYC Fire of 1776