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National Collegiate Honor’s Council Partners in the Park Independence Hall Class of 2017 in front of Fraunces Tavern, which is a national historic landmark, museum, and restaurant in New York City, situated at 54 Pearl Street at the corner of Broad Street. The location played a prominent role in pre-Revolution, American Revolution and post-Revolution history, serving as a headquarters for George Washington, a venue for peace negotiations with the British, and housing federal offices in the Early Republic. The picture is flanked with Andrew Cuevas in the Tavern holding a USCA Secretary Charles Thomson letter transmitting the USCA Journals and legislation to Governor Samuel Huntington in Connecticut. - For More information please visit NCHCPartners in the Park 2017 |
Fraunces Tavern is often mistakenly cited as the seat of government for the final Congress under the Articles of Confederation. In reality, the United States in Congress Assembled convened at the Walter Livingston House, located at 95 Broadway in New York City near Trinity Church, using former offices of the Department of Foreign Affairs rather than Fraunces Tavern, as suggested by some historians.
In January 1787, U.S. Secretary of Foreign Affairs John Jay requested that the Department of Foreign Affairs relocate to City Hall when Fraunces Tavern’s lease expired in May. However, Jay was informed that no space could be spared. Consequently, the Department of Foreign Affairs, along with the War Department, remained at Fraunces Tavern for an additional year, from May 1, 1787, to April 30, 1788. On February 1, 1788, Jay notified Secretary of War Henry Knox about securing a new location, writing,
“We have hired for a year the new House of the honorable Walter Livingston Esquire in the Broad way, for the Office of Foreign Affairs and of War, at the rate of 250 pounds and the Taxes. As we shall not have occasion for all the Rooms, it may perhaps be convenient to you to place one or more of the Offices within your Department in the supernumerary ones.” -- (Selected Papers John Jay, 4: 644 )
On October 6, 1788, the Department of State vacated its offices, allowing the United States in Congress Assembled (USCA) to relocate to the second floor of 95 Broadway in the Walter Livingston House. This move provided a temporary base of operations while the Old City Hall was being renovated to accommodate the forthcoming federal government under the new Constitution. It was within the walls of the Livingston House—not Fraunces Tavern—that the Confederation Congress and its Secretary continued to assemble and govern, overseeing the nation’s affairs until the Congress’s formal dissolution on March 3, 1789. This transition marked the end of the third United American Republic under the Articles of Confederation, as governance moved to the structure laid out in the U.S. Constitution.
Fraunces Tavern History and British Evacuation Hearings
The building known as “Fraunces Tavern” was originally constructed in 1719 as a residence by Stephen de Lancey, a French Huguenot who had become a successful merchant. His 55-by-42-foot brick house on the corner of Broad and Pearl Streets in lower Manhattan was repurposed over the years. By 1759, it was acquired by the firm Lancey, Robinson & Company for use as offices and storage, and in 1762, it was sold to Samuel Fraunces for £2,000. Fraunces renovated the house and established it as a public tavern known as the Queen’s Head Tavern, which became a prominent venue in colonial New York. Before the Revolutionary War, the tavern played host to various important gatherings, including the founding of the New York Chamber of Commerce in 1768 and meetings of the New York Sons of Liberty in the 1770s.
During the British occupation of New York in 1776, Fraunces was imprisoned. Later, he recounted that he had “submitted to serve for some Time in the Menial Office of Cook in the Family of General Robertson [General James Robertson, British Governor of New York City, 1780-1783] without any Pay, or Perquisite whatsoever, Except the Privilege of disposing of the Remnants of the Tables which he appropriated towards the Comfort of the American Prisoners within the City.” When Fraunces resumed operations of the tavern is uncertain, but his attempt to sell the property on March 17, 1781, was unsuccessful.[1]
Fraunces’s advertisement in the New York Royal Gazette detailed the property:
“AN elegant Three Story and a Half Brick Dwelling House, situated in Great Dock Street, at the corner of Broad Street, the property of Mr. Samuel Fraunces, and for many Years distinguished as the Queen's Head Tavern; in which are nine spacious Rooms, besides five Bed-chambers, with thirteen Fire places, an excellent Garret in which are three Bed rooms well finished, an exceeding good Kitchen, and a Spring of remarkable fine Water therein; a most excellent Cellar under the whole, divided into three commodious apartments; a convenient Yard with a good Cistern and Pump, and many other conveniences too tedious to mention; the whole in extraordinary good repair…”[2]
Fraunces resumed management of the tavern in 1783, as New York City prepared for the British evacuation. In November 1782, Britain and the United States signed a preliminary peace treaty in Paris. As the British began withdrawing from Charleston and New York City, complications arose regarding freed Black men and women who had sought refuge with British forces under wartime proclamations. Article 7 of the peace treaty stipulated that no “negroes or other property” belonging to Americans could be removed, sparking conflict over the status of formerly enslaved Black people.
British Commander-in-Chief Sir Guy Carleton insisted that those who had joined British lines were entitled to protection and that their freedom should be honored as promised. He wrote:
I enclose the copy of a order which I have given out to prevent the carrying away any negroes or other property of the American inhabitants…As I had no right to deprive them of that liberty I found them possessed of, an accurate register was taken of every circumstance respecting them, so as to serve as a record of the name of the original proprietor of each negroe, and as a rule to judge of his value; By this open method of conducting the business, I hope to prevent all fraud and whatever might admit of different constructions is left open for future explanation or compensation.
This business carried on in this public manner and the orders nominating persons to superintend embarcations, published in the Gazette I had no reason to think either the embarcation or any circumstance attending it could have been matter of surprise to your Excellency on the 6th May. I then however learned with concern that the embarcation which had already taken place, and in which a large number of negroes had been conveyed away, appeared to your Excellency as a measure totally different from the Letter and spirit of the treaty. The negroes in question I have already said, I found free when I arrived at New York, I had therefore no right as I thought, to prevent their going to any part of the World they thought proper.
The issue affected George Washington personally. Harry Washington, listed as “formerly property of General Washington,” was one of several persons who had once been enslaved in, and had escaped from, Mount Vernon.
Carleton agreed to create a detailed register of Black individuals eligible for evacuation, noting,
“an accurate register was taken of every circumstance respecting them, so as to serve as a record of the name of the original proprietor of the Negro, … and as a rule by which to judge of his value.”
This register, later known as the "Book of Negroes," provided each individual’s name, former owner, and other pertinent details to serve as compensation records should disputes arise. The British and Americans each maintained a copy of the register—one in the British National Archives in Kew and another in the U.S. National Archives in Washington, D.C.
Inspection Roll of Negroes Book No. 1, page showing George Black. National Archives Identifier 17337716
A three-man commission of U.S. representatives, Alexander Hamilton, John Rutledge, and Nathaniel Gorham, was appointed to inspect the British evacuation process, ensuring only eligible freed individuals left with the British fleet. Carleton's Adjutant-General, Oliver DeLancey, directed that the commissioners meet at “Fraunce’s Tavern every Wednesday at ten O’clock [to hear] any Person claiming property embarked, or to be embarked.” The U.S. commissioners discovered that every negro granted the privilege of embarking had been given a signed certificate that read
New York, April 1783This is to certify to whomsoever it may concern that the bearer hereof __________________________, a Negro restored to the British Lines in consequence of the proclamation of Sir William Howe and Sir Henry Clinton, late Commanders-in-Chief in America; and that the said Negro has hereby his Excellency’s Sir Guy Carleton’s permission to go to Nova Scotia or wherever else __________________________ may think proper.By order of ….
On this day the commissioners heard 14 formal cases, with two decided in favor of the slaves, nine in favor of the owners, and three referred to Brig. Gen. Samuel Birch for final decisions.
Evacuation and the Book of Negroes [3]
Within a year of the 1782 provisional treaty, the British compiled a detailed register documenting approximately 3,000 former slaves who had joined them prior to the treaty's signing. Those recorded in this ledger, identified as “eligible” for evacuation, would retain their freedom and be allowed to leave with the British forces. Those who had not joined before the treaty date were to be returned to their American owners. These 3,000 names were carefully recorded in two ledger books: the American version, titled the Inspection Roll of Negroes, and the British version, known as the Book of Negroes.
The first name listed in these records is that of George Black, age 35, who had been freed by Lawrence Hartshorne on April 23, 1783. The final entry, dated November 30, 1783, is for Bettsey Mann, a 5-year-old noted as having been born free within the British lines. Among the roughly 3,000 Black men, women, and children who departed New York in November 1783, there were 1,119 men, 914 women, 339 boys, 335 girls, and 76 children whose gender was unspecified.
Of those recorded, the largest group consisted of individuals who had joined the British military during the war and thus claimed their freedom under British proclamations promising liberty in exchange for service. The second-largest group included individuals who had abandoned their enslavers and sought refuge with the British during the conflict. The third-largest group comprised those who asserted they had either been born free or had been emancipated by previous owners. These records provide a significant historical record of the lives and circumstances of thousands of African Americans who sought freedom through their alliance with the British during the Revolutionary War.
Finally, to depart the United States on a British vessel, freed Black men and women were required to carry a pass that was signed and approved by both British and U.S. officials. These passes validated their eligibility to leave under British protection, adhering to agreements made during the British evacuation. The final destinations for these individuals were often unclear, with options ranging from Nova Scotia to England, or even the West Indies. The fate of these former slaves varied greatly depending on their destination, which held different prospects and challenges for resettlement and freedom.
After the British evacuated New York, Fraunces continued to run the tavern until 1785, when he leased it to the United States in Congress Assembled for use by the Departments of Foreign Affairs, Finance, and War. Shortly after leasing the property, Fraunces sold it to George Powers, a Brooklyn butcher, for £1,950.
Footnotes:
- New York Royal Gazette advertisement, March 17, 1781.
- New York Royal Gazette, Property Listing by Samuel Fraunces, March 17, 1781.
- Kratz, Jessie, “Forgotten Soldier” at American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, U.S. National Archives, July 15, 2019
For students and teachers of U.S. history, this video features Stanley and Christopher Klos presenting America's Four United Republics Curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Filmed in December 2015, this video is an informal recording by an audience member capturing a presentation attended by approximately 200 students, professors, and guests. To explore the full curriculum, [download it here].
September 5, 1774 | October 22, 1774 | |
October 22, 1774 | October 26, 1774 | |
May 20, 1775 | May 24, 1775 | |
May 25, 1775 | July 1, 1776 |
July 2, 1776 to February 28, 1781
July 2, 1776 | October 29, 1777 | |
November 1, 1777 | December 9, 1778 | |
December 10, 1778 | September 28, 1779 | |
September 29, 1779 | February 28, 1781 |
March 1, 1781 to March 3, 1789
March 1, 1781 | July 6, 1781 | |
July 10, 1781 | Declined Office | |
July 10, 1781 | November 4, 1781 | |
November 5, 1781 | November 3, 1782 | |
November 4, 1782 | November 2, 1783 | |
November 3, 1783 | June 3, 1784 | |
November 30, 1784 | November 22, 1785 | |
November 23, 1785 | June 5, 1786 | |
June 6, 1786 | February 1, 1787 | |
February 2, 1787 | January 21, 1788 | |
January 22, 1788 | January 21, 1789 |
United States in Congress Assembled (USCA) Sessions
USCA | Session Dates | USCA Convene Date | President(s) |
First | 03-01-1781 to 11-04-1781* | 03-02-1781 | |
Second | 11-05-1781 to 11-03-1782 | 11-05-1781 | |
Third | 11-04-1782 to 11-02-1783 | 11-04-1782 | |
Fourth | 11-03-1783 to 10-31-1784 | 11-03-1783 | |
Fifth | 11-01-1784 to 11-06-1785 | 11-29-1784 | |
Sixth | 11-07-1785 to 11-05-1786 | 11-23-1785 | |
Seventh | 11-06-1786 to 11-04-1787 | 02-02-1787 | |
Eighth | 11-05-1787 to 11-02-1788 | 01-21-1788 | |
Ninth | 11-03-1788 to 03-03-1789** | None | None |
* The Articles of Confederation was ratified by the mandated 13th State on February 2, 1781, and the dated adopted by the Continental Congress to commence the new United States in Congress Assembled government was March 1, 1781. The USCA convened under the Articles of Confederation Constitution on March 2, 1781.** On September 14, 1788, the Eighth United States in Congress Assembled resolved that March 4th, 1789, would be commencement date of the Constitution of 1787's federal government thus dissolving the USCA on March 3rd, 1789.
Philadelphia | Sept. 5, 1774 to Oct. 24, 1774 | |
Philadelphia | May 10, 1775 to Dec. 12, 1776 | |
Baltimore | Dec. 20, 1776 to Feb. 27, 1777 | |
Philadelphia | March 4, 1777 to Sept. 18, 1777 | |
Lancaster | September 27, 1777 | |
York | Sept. 30, 1777 to June 27, 1778 | |
Philadelphia | July 2, 1778 to June 21, 1783 | |
Princeton | June 30, 1783 to Nov. 4, 1783 | |
Annapolis | Nov. 26, 1783 to Aug. 19, 1784 | |
Trenton | Nov. 1, 1784 to Dec. 24, 1784 | |
New York City | Jan. 11, 1785 to Nov. 13, 1788 | |
New York City | October 6, 1788 to March 3,1789 | |
New York City | March 3,1789 to August 12, 1790 | |
Philadelphia | Dec. 6,1790 to May 14, 1800 | |
Washington DC | November 17,1800 to Present |
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Dr. Naomi and Stanley Yavneh Klos, Principals
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