Revolutionary New York: 250 Years of Social Change

How New York State has led the way in expanding freedom for all over the last 250 years.

Revolutionary New York celebrates the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution and the many historical changes that have occurred since, as reflected through the history of the state. This book explores "unfinished revolutions" in the Empire State: the two-and-a-half century struggle to realize the revolution's ideals and bring increased freedom and opportunities to previously marginalized populations. The book presents the pageant of revolutionary New York through sixteen historical stories about conflict, change, and turning points. From the initial settlement of the region through the state's first constitution, through struggles for civil and equal rights, women's rights and gay rights, through innovations in industry and commerce, to the crises 9/11 and COVID, New York has charted its own course. It has often led the nation toward expanding its peoples' rights. These are inspirational, against-the-odds stories where a determined individual or a group struggled against the status quo to improve social conditions, move toward equality, or effect social justice. Most are about ordinary New Yorkers who rose to the occasion in their time and achieved extraordinary results. And though drawn from over 250 years of history, these stories resonate today, where some of the same issues linger, though in different form. New York seems to be always undertaking, in the midst of, or finishing some sort of revolution. Restless New Yorkers rarely accept the status quo but rather are inclined to alter the state of affairs to (hopefully) make things better. In New York, the revolution never ends.