George Clinton

New York’s Uncertainty Over The Declaration of Independence

July 2, 2026 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

At the outset of the emerging American Revolution there was no intent to overthrow the established social order, nor to subvert the government of the British Empire.

Most colonists wanted self-government, self taxation and direct representation within the empire, and professed to stand for their old and recognized rights as men and as Englishmen under the British constitution, which they believed a blind parliament and an obstinate ministry were violating. [Read more…] about New York’s Uncertainty Over The Declaration of Independence

George Washington’s Lands in Oneida County

June 29, 2026 by Richard Williams Leave a Comment

America’s first President George Washington owned 316 acres of land in today’s Town of Kirkland, Oneida County, NY, in partnership with New York State’s first Governor George Clinton.

The Oneida Indian Nation lived in what is now Oneida County, even after the area’s settlement by Europeans, which started in the 1600s. The French traveled through the area in the 1500s. [Read more…] about George Washington’s Lands in Oneida County

New York’s Revolutionary Provincial Congresses 1775-1776

June 26, 2026 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

By May 1775 civil war between the American colonies and the British government had begun. The Battles of Lexington and Concord, and the seizures of Forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point told the story of an appeal to arms.

Town, county, city and state committees, as representatives of the people, assumed the functions of government, took the initiative in opposing the objectionable acts of the British parliament, and gradually, perhaps more or less unconsciously, prepared the people for the Revolutionary War. [Read more…] about New York’s Revolutionary Provincial Congresses 1775-1776

Revolutionary New York in Eight Documents

September 17, 2025 by Dr. Bruce W. Dearstyne Leave a Comment

Readers of New York Almanack can expect to see lots of coverage of events related to the America 250 commemoration over the next year or so. The events and programs are likely to be mostly based around major events, such as the Battle of Saratoga.

But there might be another way to gain perspective on the American Revolution in New York, one that focuses on some original documents. A few revealing documents are noted below. They illustrate a pattern that will recur in New York history: our state sometimes hesitates but then assumes a leadership role in effecting change. [Read more…] about Revolutionary New York in Eight Documents

A History of Education in New York: From Earliest Times to the Revolution

March 26, 2025 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

The history of education in New York has no single beginning date. Wherever people have lived, they have educated themselves and their children. The process and content of education and the institutions developed to perform this function have changed over time.

Only part of the task of education has ever been carried out by the schools. Newspapers, libraries, apprenticeships, churches, and especially families, have been key educators, transmitting knowledge, skills, and attitudes to successive generations. [Read more…] about A History of Education in New York: From Earliest Times to the Revolution

Aaron Burr As New York State’s Third Attorney General

February 13, 2025 by Historical Society of the New York Courts Leave a Comment

Aaron Burr (1756-1836) is perhaps best known as the infamous Vice President who took a rather dramatic turn in American history and shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804.

But before he became a household name for all the wrong reasons, Burr served as New York’s third Attorney General from 1789 to 1791. He was known for his legal savvy and charm, navigating the post-Revolutionary legal landscape as something of a rogue. [Read more…] about Aaron Burr As New York State’s Third Attorney General

The American Revolution in the Middle Colonies, 1775–1776

December 13, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

In United for Independence: The American Revolution in the Middle Colonies, 1775–1776 (Westholme Publishing, 2023), historian Michael Cecere (Westholme Publishing, 2025) examines how the inhabitants of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland reacted to the outbreak of the American Revolution in Massachusetts.

Leaders in these middle colonies, influenced by strong Loyalist sentiment within their borders and, in some cases, among themselves, fiercely debated whether to support the war in New England. [Read more…] about The American Revolution in the Middle Colonies, 1775–1776

US, NYS Continues To Honor Slavers, Racists, Traitors and Scoundrels

January 10, 2023 by Alan J. Singer Leave a Comment

In 2023, the United States Military Academy will remove 13 Confederate symbols on its West Point campus. They include a portrait of Robert E. Lee dressed in a Confederate uniform, a stone bust of Lee, who was superintendent of West Point before the Civil War, and a bronze plaque with an image of a hooded figure and the words “Ku Klux Klan.”

Art displayed in the United States Capitol building in Washington, DC, still includes images of 141 enslavers and 13 Confederates who went to war against the country. A study by the Washington Post found that more than one-third of the statues and portraits in the Capitol building honor enslavers or Confederates and at least six more honor possible enslavers where evidence is disputed. [Read more…] about US, NYS Continues To Honor Slavers, Racists, Traitors and Scoundrels

Chains Across the Hudson, Stirling Ironworks & The Townsend Family

April 5, 2022 by Peter Hess 1 Comment

“The importance of the Hudson River in the present contest, and the necessity of defending it, are subjects which have been so frequently and fully discussed and are so well understood that it is unnecessary to enlarge upon them.” – George Washington [Read more…] about Chains Across the Hudson, Stirling Ironworks & The Townsend Family

The Albany Congress of 1754: Native People, Colonists & the Monarchy

January 26, 2022 by Peter Hess 1 Comment

William Shirley was the Royal Governor of Massachusetts, appointed by the King of England. Shirley had been a British official in England serving on negotiating committees with French officials determining boundaries. This had led Shirley to a thorough dislike of the French.

He was very aggressive and had been a stalwart advocate of invading Canada and driving the French out of North America. Shirley had written a strong criticism of the New York Congress for its resistance to an invasion of Canada in 1748. He was upset when New Jersey and Rhode Island refused to cooperate in the invasion because they were not threatened. [Read more…] about The Albany Congress of 1754: Native People, Colonists & the Monarchy

Albany’s Role In Three Little-Remembered Colonial Wars in the Northeast

January 24, 2022 by Peter Hess 2 Comments

From the time Henry Hudson sailed up the Hudson River in 1609, the area that is now Albany, NY was considered the focal point of trade with Indigenous People.

For over a hundred years, Albany (formerly Fort Orange) was the trading post furthest west and most remote in the colonies. Originally a Dutch colony, most of their neighboring colonies were English. To the North were the French.

Outside these colonies Native People ruled the land. From the early 1600s into the 1760s, French, Dutch, and English empires fought several major wars to gain control of this land. [Read more…] about Albany’s Role In Three Little-Remembered Colonial Wars in the Northeast

Trump Impeachment Recalls Aaron Burr’s Treason

February 23, 2021 by James S. Kaplan 6 Comments

Donald Trump’s recent impeachment trial in which the President was accused of incitement of insurrection against the United States recalls to mind a case from more than 200 years ago.

In that case another New York politician, former Vice President Aaron Burr, whose personality was arguably not dissimilar from Donald Trump, was tried and acquitted of treason in 1807. [Read more…] about Trump Impeachment Recalls Aaron Burr’s Treason

Hudson River Chain, Anthony’s Nose, and the American Revolution

September 19, 2019 by Brian Barrett 12 Comments

General George Washington, Governor George Clinton and Lord Stirling all knew about Anthony’s Nose. Not because it was part of someone’s anatomy, but because it was a prominent feature along the Hudson River, the highest place in Westchester County. Anthony’s Nose resembles a person’s nose when viewed in profile from the Hudson River, and so was a well known landmark.

Anthony’s Nose was also strategically important. [Read more…] about Hudson River Chain, Anthony’s Nose, and the American Revolution

Terror on the Hudson: The Burning of Kingston

June 17, 2018 by Jack Kelly 5 Comments

Terrorism has been a grim feature of our time, but the tactic is far from new. The Revolutionary War, like every war, was marked by wanton violence. One of the cruelest incidents came in October 1777 when the British attacked the city of Kingston, then the capital of New York State.

A massive enemy invasion in 1776 had driven patriot forces from the city of New York. The delegates who were in the process of writing a state constitution moved away from the fighting, first to White Plains, then to Fishkill. [Read more…] about Terror on the Hudson: The Burning of Kingston

Grave Robbing And The Doctors Riot of 1788

December 20, 2016 by Miguel Hernandez 4 Comments

The origins of this civil disturbance began in early February of 1788 and broke out in mid April of that year. Actually the City’s doctors did not riot as the name implies. However, it had its origins in the illegal procurement of corpses of free blacks and slaves and poor whites by doctors and medical students at an unaccredited surgical training school in lower Manhattan led by Richard Bailey, a Connecticut-born doctor who had studied in London.

Apparently it was expensive and almost impossible for the school to provide corpses for its teaching purposes and the professors and students resorted to stealing them from nearby Trinity Church yard and other local cemeteries including the one for people of color then known the “Negro Burying Ground” [Read more…] about Grave Robbing And The Doctors Riot of 1788

Lecture On Anti-Federalist George Clinton Wednesday

September 20, 2016 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Dr. Donald C. Katt Institute for Constitutional Studies will host “George Clinton: Anti-Federalist” on Wednesday, September 21, at 7 pm, at the Vanderlyn Hall College Lounge (VAN 203) on the Stone Ridge, NY Campus of SUNY Ulster.

George Clinton (1739-1812) was Governor of New York from 1777 to 1795, and again from 1801 to 1804, then served as the fourth Vice President of the United States from 1805 to 1812, under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. [Read more…] about Lecture On Anti-Federalist George Clinton Wednesday

The Albany Connections of Burr, Hamilton, and Schuyler

May 14, 2015 by Peter Hess 10 Comments

During the Revolutionary War, Alexander Hamilton served as an artillery captain and later a colonel and trusted aid to General George Washington. Colonel Aaron Burr also served in the Colonial Army and accompanied Benedict Arnold on his march through the Maine wilderness and his failed attempt to capture Quebec.

Burr had been with General Richard Montgomery when Montgomery was shot and killed in Quebec. Later in the war, Burr was placed in charge of a regiment and his troops were stationed in Westchester County, New York. [Read more…] about The Albany Connections of Burr, Hamilton, and Schuyler

Governor George Clinton and Pok-O-Rushmore?

February 21, 2012 by Lawrence P. Gooley Leave a Comment

Untouched scenic vistas and natural landscapes are treasured in the Adirondacks. Seventy years ago, Pok-O-Moonshine Mountain, a popular landmark since admired by millions, was nearly transformed into something far different from its present appearance.

It all began in 1937 with the editor of the Essex County Republican -News, C. F. Peterson. Formerly a Port Henry newspaperman, active in multiple civic organizations, and clearly pro-development and pro-North Country, Peterson was a force to be reckoned with.

Just how influential was he? The Champlain Bridge that was recently blasted into oblivion probably should have been named the Carl F. Peterson Bridge. In fact, efforts were made to do exactly that. Peterson originated the bridge idea, and as Vermont and New York debated whether to locate it at Ticonderoga, Crown Point, or Rouses Point, it was Carl who put his all into promoting the Crown Point site. [Read more…] about Governor George Clinton and Pok-O-Rushmore?

George Clinton

We Need Your Help Now More Than Ever

New York Almanack receives no public funds.

It’s supported only by readers like you.

Please give today (a monthly recurring gift is best)