Fraunces Tavern

Predictions/Inquiries:

• I predict that I'll learn more about Fraunces Tavern's role in Revolutionary America.

Outside Fraunces during the Flag Day
Celebration

At Fraunces:

Among the many surprises on my New York adventure was the significant presence of American Revolutionary history in the City.  There are sites from Harlem to the Battery that range from museums to monuments including four that I saw in my travels alone.  After the Battle of Harlem Heights, in September, 1776, the city was occupied by the British until the end of the war.  Even before the war, the city was largely Loyalist.  Nevertheless, since Evacuation Day on November 25, 1783 NY has embraced and promoted a strong Patriotic presence.  Today in New York, Fraunces Tavern and Museum are at the forefront of this presence.

Me with Revolutionary War
Reenactor, Ken

This was a three part stop: a) Flag Day parade and ceremony celebrating "Old Glory" and its history; b) a meal in the historic pub; c) a visit to the Fraunces Museum.   This was a great stop filled with good food, interesting people, rich history, and a couple surprises.

Here are the historic facts important to know about Fraunces Tavern:

• A building was first constructed on the Fraunces lot in 1719
• In 1762 Samuel Fraunces purchases the property and open it as Queens Head Tavern
• An, interesting note on Fraunces is that only one painting exists that is considered to be him though it is not certain.  There is some speculation around his race as his nickname was "black Sam."  However, based on a 1712 law that I came across at the African Burial Ground which reads, "No Negro, Indian, or Mulatto made free henceforth shall be allowed to own property in the colony of New York," the possibility of Fraunces being black seems unlikely.  
• In 1775 the Sons of Liberty planned the New York Tea Party here.  
• Tavern hit by British canon fire in 1775.
• Washington gave his famous farewell to his officers in the Long Room here in 1783.  This room is on display in the museum.  
• The building housed the War Department, the Treasury, and Foreign Affairs Department while the U.S. Capital was in NYC.
• In 1804, a week before their duel, Burr and Hamilton met here as part of the Society of Cincinnati.  

If you look close, you can see a crack left by the '75 bombing.

A lesser known story, not advertised in the guidebooks, or represented in the Fraunces sponsored literature, though my Irish bartender told me about it, the middle aged women sitting next to me knew about it, and there is a plaque in a back room acknowledging it, is the bombing that took place in the Tavern in 1975.  This was one of the most intriguing discoveries that I had on the entire trip, and was the second NYC bombing in two days that I learned of.  The bombing was carried out by Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion Nacional Puertoriquena (Armed Forces of Puerto Rican National Liberation), another group I never heard of, and who is tied to around 100 bombings in NYC.  The Fraunces bombing killed four people and injured another forty-four.  Below is the FALN's Communique released in the aftermath of the attack:

Also interesting about Fraunces is who owns it today:  The Sons of the Revolution.  Their mission is "to engage with State Societies in activities which further the education of the general public (especially America's youth) about the American Revolution and the United States Constitution and about the patriots who supported those worthy causes during the period of 1775-1789."  Hence the Flag Day Celebration that I happened upon on the street in front of Fraunces.  Their membership is limited to "any male of good character" who is a direct descendent of a Patriot who officially participated in the Revolutionary cause.  The group, formed at Fraunces Tavern in the late 1800s, was created around the idea that

"... the steady decline of a proper celebration of the National Holidays of the United States of America, that popular concern in the events and men of the War of the Revolution is gradually declining, and that such lack of interest is attributable, not so much to the lapse of time and the rapid increase of immigration from foreign countries, as to the neglect, on the part of descendants of Revolutionary heroes, to perform their duty in keeping before the public mind the memory of the services of their ancestors and of the times in which they lived."

So, basically you have a group of wealthy, old, white, men (pictures of their meetings support this) promoting their great white ancestors.  It's interesting that they mention immigration in the above statement of purpose, but at the same time not that it is not the biggest factor in the decay of American history.  Nevertheless, this group has serious capital, owning an entire block that includes five buildings in Lower Manhattan, valuable artifacts displayed in their museum, and assets beyond.  Seventeen U.S. Presidents have been a member of the group. While the politics of the Sons is not transparent, though six out of the last ten member-Presidents were Republican, from their history, it's easy to assume a crusty conservative leaning.  They are doing a great thing in the preservation of American history though their narrative is rather Whiggish in interpretation.  It's interesting that FALN chose Fraunces tavern as a target in their retaliatory action, and on the surface it doesn't make sense.  But digging a little deeper, I imagine it was because of the likely conservative politics and power of the Sons coupled with the place of Fraunces in America's own Freedom struggle that the Tavern was selected.

Resources:

Interesting article on Obama's offering clemency to Oscar Lopez Rivera, a member of the FALN.  

Link to the Sons of the Revolution Home Page