1783 Inquiry Fails to Resolve Cause; Historians Exonerate Washington Professor Benjamin L. Carp, Professor of History at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center | The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution

The John Batchelor Show

1. 1783 Inquiry Fails to Resolve Cause; Historians Exonerate Washington Professor Benjamin L. Carp, Professor of History at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center | The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution

In October 1783, General Guy Carleton convened an inquiry to determine if the fire was accidental or by design, questioning witnesses about sabotage and combustibles. However, no summary opinion was reached. The unique records of this inquiry were found not in the British archives but in the clerk's private papers, donated in 1893. Early American memoirists like Joseph Henry concluded Americans were responsible, arguing that even "great countries can do bad deeds." However, influential historians like Washington Irving later strove to exonerate George Washington, blaming apolitical "miscreants" instead.
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