This special issue of the Federal Bar Council Quarterly grew out of a meeting that Federal Bar Foundation President Seth Levine and I attended with Chief Judge Debra Livingston, Judge Reena Raggi, and Judge Joseph Bianco about how the Federal Bar Council and Foundation could work with the judiciary to advance our common interest in celebrating the forthcoming 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. 

We are grateful for the knowledge, ideas, passion, and inspiration that they and other judges have brought to our telling some of the remarkable stories of the people, places, and events within the geography of the Second Circuit related to the Declaration and the War for Independence. And we all owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to our indomitable Editor-in-Chief Bennette Deacy Kramer and Managing Editor Steven A. Meyerowitz, as well as to the unprecedented number of authors who have contributed their time and talents to this historic issue.

The stories our authors tell inspire, embolden, and remind us all that history is not made by extraordinary people as much as by ordinary people who, in extraordinary moments, choose courage, sacrifice, and service over self.

These stories also remind us that right here, on the streets where we live, work, and casually walk, the history of the world was changed by people like you and us, to bend decidedly (though not for all, immediately) in an arc toward justice. We hope these stories might give you a reason to visit, appreciate, or pause at many of the places right around us.

Our issue begins with Nancy L. Savitt’s article about the Declaration — including a reminder of our opportunity to read the Declaration in The New York Times’ July 4 edition annually — and the musical 1776. She illuminates the personalities (and practical, sometimes petty calculi) that needed to be navigated to avoid derailment at the outset. Before voting to decide whether the issue of independence should even be granted open debate, the delegates first needed to debate and decide whether to open the windows to combat the stifling heat in Philadelphia or to keep them closed to shut out the “too many flies.” Anyone with experience in mediation or a legislative process can appreciate such things.

Manjit K. Kalirao takes us on an epic walking-tour journey covering City Hall Park, Bowling Green, Governors Island, and numerous other lower-Manhattan sites notable for pre-Declaration uprisings, the Declaration itself, and the Revolutionary War. She notes the public reading of the Declaration (at City Hall Park), discusses the storming of the statue of King George (at Bowling Green), and explains the momentous history that occurred at numerous other spots in lower Manhattan, as well as the notable future leaders who were there. Her article will make an ideal guide for walking this history, should you be inspired to do so as the semiquincentennial approaches. She ends at Fraunces Tavern, noting that “[i]f City Hall Park is where the Revolution begins in New York, Fraunces Tavern is where it ends, with Washington saying goodbye to the army that made independence possible.” And she notes that Fraunces still operates as a well-known restaurant, whose phone number ends in 1776, and a fine place to end your tour with a hearty meal.

As Travis Mock details, Fraunces Tavern would also turn out to be the site of one of the most consequential legal proceedings in early American history: the Birch Trials, through which thousands of Black Loyalist soldiers were emancipated from slavery. 

Magistrate Judge Joseph Marutollo tells us about the Battle of Brooklyn, one of the early and most important battles of the American Revolution, of which it has been said “[t]he Declaration was signed in ink in Philadelphia, but it was signed and sealed in blood in Brooklyn.” The Americans were routed. But, as would prove to be General Washington’s perhaps greatest skill, they would live to fight another day.

Adam K. Magid and McKenna Hunter describe the Battle of Kip’s Bay, where a flotilla of 84 British boats carrying 4,000 British and Hessian soldiers overwhelmed a ragtag, part-time militia and helped make the case for a standing army. Gaze to your right and envision those ships next time you are heading north on the FDR Drive.

The story of Mary Lindley Murray, reported by Sara Lindsay Neier, holds a special place in my heart. My first New York apartment was a tiny studio at 123 East 37th Street, a building named the Lindley House, built on the site of the home of this exceptional woman. She detoured British officers with tea, cake, and wine, while a maid stood watch out a rear window to ensure fleeing American troops escaped north to safety.

As Michael Canty and Danielle Izzo Mazzeo recount, then ensued the Battle of Fort Washington, a fort of strategic importance at the highest point in Manhattan and along the Hudson River. In conjunction with Fort Lee, which was located directly across the river on the New Jersey Palisades, these two forts had been instrumental in blocking British ships from traveling up the Hudson River. Patriot troops were again decimated, ultimately conceding the fort and retreating, some across the Hudson to Fort Lee and others northward. 

Jennifer Bloom shines a light on Margaret “Molly” Corbin, who helmed a cannon during the Battle of Fort Washington after her husband was killed. She suffered permanent injuries herself. And she became the first woman to receive a military pension, by an Act of Congress. In the 1970s, as the bicentennial approached, a group of New Yorkers outraged that the area remained named after British Major General William Tryon, banded together to honor Margaret Corbin, which led to the entrance plaza and drive being named after her at 190th Street and Fort Washington Avenue.

Council President-Elect Russell Yankwitt and his colleague Silvana Martinaj describe the Battle of White Plains, where more than 450 American and British soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured and where Washington again lived to fight another day, ultimately escaping to New Jersey for the winter, from which he would head south and eventually launch his famous and pivotal Christmas Eve surprise attack at Washington’s Crossing. The Southern District of New York’s White Plains Courthouse sits on the site of parts of the Battle of White Plains and has significant architectural details in tribute to the battle. The Council will host a special program at the courthouse on the anniversary of the battle on October 28, 2026.

Our stalwart Quarterly contributor C. Evan Stewart describes the notable lunar and weather phenomena, and the command chaos, around the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse. And he explains the resulting legend of Molly Pitcher, known to many of us heretofore principally for the eponymous rest area on I-95 in New Jersey.

Peter J. Toren tells us about the Battle of Saratoga, known as the turning point in the war, as well as the preceding failures of the British army’s pincer strategy across the Mohawk Valley and northern New York State. He notes British General John Burgoyne’s famous report that was unimaginable years earlier to come from a British officer: “The Present Situation Justifies a Capitulation.” Peter speaks of the importance of Thaddeus Kościuszko, hero to Polish Americans and the source of the name of the major Brooklyn-Queens Expressway bridge over Newtown Creek. Yes, Kościuszko was an engineer. His mention of the Battle of Oriskany has special meaning to me, as my parents’ front porch looks across the Erie Canal to the homestead of the Patriots’ leader of that battle, Nicholas Herkimer, who died from that battle but prevented St. Leger from joining with Burgoyne, helping lead to the Patriots’ victory at Saratoga. What parts of the Revolution and Declaration took place where you live, work, and travel? The answer is almost certainly not “none.” And the semiquincentennial may be the occasion to find out. Maybe it will lead to a follow-up article?

Notable People

Many of our authors tell us about some of the notable people from the time. 

Layaliza Soloveichik writes about Thomas Paine, whose January 1776 pamphlet Common Sense arrived at “the perfect moment” and was circulated in extraordinary numbers. Her interview of Eric Nelson, the Robert M. Beren Professor of Government at Harvard University, whose research focuses on the history of political thought, points out the influence of religion and John Milton on Paine’s influential work. 

Anastasia Zurashvili, our newest and youngest author, writes about Alexander Hamilton, the foundation of the Rule of Law and why strong institutions matter. Anastasia is a 10th grade student at the Academy of American Studies High School in New York City. She moved to the United States just three years ago from the nation of Georgia. In 2025, she participated in The Honorable Robert A. Katzmann Justice For All: Courts and the Community Initiative program that the Council funds with the courts.

Our Editor-in-Chief, Bennette Deacy Kramer, writes about the extraordinary Phillis Wheatley. She arrived in America on a slave ship in July 1761, a seven-year-old child, parentless, speaking no English, and being offered for sale on the Boston docks. Named after the ship on which she was brought (the Phillis) and the Wheatley family who purchased her at auction, she would prove to be a prodigy. Raised and educated in their home, within 16 months she was fluent in English and by age 11 she was composing poems that were admired around Boston. She rose to international acclaim and negotiated her own manumission. She came to be known as the poet laureate of the American Revolution and the Mother of African American Literature. She wrote the first book of poetry published by a person of African descent in the English language. She, Abigail Adams, and others wrote about transcendent human liberties – not just rights of colonialists, but of all humans.

Adam K. Magid and Dylan Ceballos discuss Gouverneur Morris, a lawyer who was barely 24 years of age at the time of the Declaration. His drafting contributions to the Constitution led him to be known as “the Penman of the Constitution” and far outpaced his personal fame. A strident advocate for a strong federal government, he was personally responsible for changing the Constitution’s preamble from “We the People of the States” to “We, the People of the United States” and for other changes in text that have been relied upon by the Supreme Court in construing meaning based on the drafting history.

Peter J. Toren and Abraham Lee provide us separately with two perspectives on John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the United States. As Abraham describes, as diplomat and as jurist, Jay played important roles in holding the young nation to its word. And as Peter describes, among the Founding Fathers, few figures combined legal acumen, diplomatic skill, and sustained public service across as many critical offices as John Jay. Living presently not far from the John Jay Homestead in neighboring Bedford, New York, I have often found John Jay’s story to be confounding and interesting. He was a founder of the New York Manumission Society, yet is reported to have held at least five slaves and his family was heavily involved in slave importation. He advocated for barring Catholics from the United States. He initially opposed American independence, did not participate in the drafting, negotiation, or adoption of the Declaration of Independence, and yet he eventually became “a reluctant revolutionary,” supported independence and, of course, went on to become one of the authors of the Federalist Papers. How would his late-adoption of independence, let alone his history, play out in today’s politics? Would such a person succeed through a Senate confirmation to become Chief Justice of the United States? It hardly seems so. Yet, his positive impact on the nation in many respects is certain.

Sam Bieler explains how Roger Sherman became the only person to sign all four founding documents: the Continental Association, the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution. This, too, resonates with me: I pass The Roger Sherman Inn on my way to the train in New Canaan each morning.

Larry H. Krantz writes about New York’s four Declaration signers. William Floyd’s story has a Forrest Gump quality. Schools, roadways, and even a town in New York bear his name, some more than 300 miles apart, and he seems to be involved in many important parts of the stories of his era, but seldom as the victor or central figure. Francis Lewis was a political prisoner in the pre-Declaration era who returned to America in the 1760s as a committed political radical. His wife was taken prisoner by the British, ruining her health and leading to her death in 1779. Philip Livingston was a most prominent merchant and philanthropist, and his legacy includes critical roles in creation of Columbia University and the New York Public Library. Larry also discusses the fourth signer from New York: Lewis Morris.

Finally, two authors speak to questions regarding the Declaration and, respectively, Native Americans and African Americans. 

Magistrate Judge Sarah Cave sheds light on the scholarly debate over the extent to which the drafters of the Declaration of Independence drew inspiration and influence from the Iroquois confederacy’s government. 

And Ahiranis Castillo writes about how, although the Declaration’s assertion that “all men are created equal” utterly failed for far too long to manifest equality for African Americans or women, a number of leaders have advanced civil rights by strategically using the Declaration as an instrument above statutory law and even the Constitution. Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” described the Declaration’s assertion (that equality is a “self-evident” “truth”) to be “a promissory note” to “all men . . . black[,] as well as white.” And he explained that, while “[i]t is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note” as to “citizens of color,” “we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.” As Ahiranis writes, the Declaration’s “legacy, therefore, is not defined by its original limitations, but by its capacity to be reclaimed, contested, and expanded, ensuring that the pursuit of equality in the United States remains an ongoing project – inviting each generation to confront what those principles require in practice.”

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Each of these articles is designed merely to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence by giving our readers a flavor of the history that surrounds us in the Second Circuit. These articles are not comprehensive and none purport to be authoritative or the product of substantial original research. They aim merely to inspire awareness, appreciation, and participation in what remains the greatest political experiment in history.

The British Empire’s system of government had been seen as the highest order of government. It was part democracy (a House of Commons), part aristocracy (a House of Lords), and part monarchy (a king). 

As discontent with the British government grew, it did so across 13 colonies that were distinct politically, socially, and in jealous competition with each other in many respects. Arguably, no nation had been as diverse in backgrounds, religions, and political views on important issues like slavery, human rights, political economy, and debt. 

Even more remarkable is the audacity of the core ideal around which they coalesced, that:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

The reality is that those “truths” were not “self-evident” to the vast majority of people at the time. “Evidence” to the contrary abounded around them. Yet, these disparate peoples ended up cohering around those purposes and ideals. 

These articles highlight some of the important parts of the story that happened here. Enjoy!