Brooklyn and the Revolutionary War:
Building an American Identity
Historical Hint
Brooklyn played a critical role in the Revolutionary War; its economic strength and strategic waterways were important assets for the British to control. The early and very bloody Battle of Brooklyn was lost to the British. However, this battle represented one of the first instances of solidarity amongst the colonists from different areas. Colonists from far beyond New York City came to Brooklyn to participate in this battle to achieve independence from the British.
Mission
Uncover the historical connection between a fragment of wood from the Brooklyn Public Library collection, a seemingly ordinary street in the Vinegar Hill neighborhood, and Brooklyn’s role in the Revolutionary War.
How the mystery was solved
With cameras rolling, the middle school students of IS 318 visited several cultural institutions, including the Old Stone House, the Brooklyn Museum’s Nicholas Schenck House, the Brooklyn Historical Society and the Brooklyn Public Library. Their historical research and documentation ultimately led them to solving their mystery—the fragment of wood they were given. It was a piece of the most notorious of the British prison ships of the American Revolution, the Jersey. The seemingly ordinary street in Vinegar Hill? It is the first burial ground for the 11,000 Jersey prisoners who refused to join the British Navy.