#revolutionary-war

#revolutionary-war

A group of sculptures installed at Freedom Plaza on Friday, May 22, includes a statue of a Revolutionary War officer who enslaved at least 200 people during his lifetime. The equestrian monument of Caesar Rodney, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, had been removed by the city of Wilmington in Delaware in June 2020, amid historic Black Lives Matter protests against racist violence.

“We think of these great characters from history driving history forward,” said director Nick Foster. “But it's really the small people and communities like this that make history every day.”

The dedication ceremony will begin with the first speaker at 1:30 p.m. and end with a 2:33 p.m. flyover by the West Coast Ravens that perform at air shows.

"There's quotes all throughout this exhibition ... but one of my favorites is from Charles Higgins. It basically says, 'The Declaration [of Independence] was signed in ink in Philadelphia, but it was signed and sealed in blood in Brooklyn.'"

The man who would come to be called Harry Washington was born near the Gambia River, in West Africa, around 1740. As a young man, he was sold into slavery and endured the horrors of the Middle Passage. In Virginia, he was purchased by a neighbor of George Washington, who then bought the young man in 1763 for 40 pounds. After working to drain the colony's Great Dismal Swamp-one of George Washington's many land ventures-he was sent to Mount Vernon to care for the horses.

Originally constructed as a home by a merchant named Casparus Mabie, '76 House was later operated as a tavern. One of the country's oldest operating restaurants, it functioned as a key social and political hub that drew locals and soldiers alike during the Revolutionary War. Plenty of history has been made in the restaurant in the past two and a half centuries.

The iconic dwelling, known as the Ebenezer Hancock House, is available for purchase for the first time in more than 50 years and was meticulously maintained for decades.

The public can come and contemplate the mysteries around this ship, because like anything from the past, we have pieces of information. We don't have the whole story.