A Dollop Crossover | Ben Naddaff-Hafrey on Staten Island and the Revolutionary War
A crossover episode between The Dollop and Revisionist History explores the extraordinary story of Colonel Christopher Billup and Staten Island's fierce loyalism during the American Revolution. Despite being a key British stronghold with unprecedented occupation lasting seven years, Staten Island's residents ultimately betrayed the cause they initially fought to preserve, revealing how external pressure and abuse transformed political allegiance.
Summary
Ben Naddaff-Hafrey from Revisionist History joins Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds of The Dollop to discuss Staten Island's unique role during the American Revolution. The episode begins by establishing Staten Island's identity as the "forgotten borough" of New York City—a place historically isolated and resentful of neglect.
The narrative centers on Colonel Christopher Billup, a prominent Staten Island landowner from a military family who inherited significant properties including Bentley Manor. In the years leading up to the Revolution, Staten Island's economy was deeply integrated with British interests, particularly through supplying food, water, and oysters to Royal Navy warships in exchange for silver payment. When the Continental Congress called for a boycott of British goods, Staten Island refused to participate, voting against every patriotic measure in the New York Assembly. The colonel personally opposed any revolutionary activity, hoping the conflict would "blow over."
When British troops arrived in July 1776, 500 Staten Island men—including Billup and his militia—swore allegiance to the King. The British army, initially well-received as saviors from "rebel mobs," stationed themselves on the island's 15 miles of shoreline. Billup and his men supplied the British army with food, firewood, and labor, digging fortifications and hauling artillery.
The conflict between Billup and a rebel named Nathaniel Fitz Randolph forms the dramatic core of the story. Fitz, a famous rower who conducted raids from New Jersey, had a bounty on his head. After multiple failed kidnapping attempts on Billup, Fitz succeeded on June 23, 1779, by sneaking across the frozen water and abducting the colonel from his home—famously denying him time to grab his hat.
Billup was imprisoned and chained to a jail floor on bread and water, with authorities offering him the cruel choice: arrange better treatment for imprisoned American soldiers (including Fitz) or remain in irons. He refused to comply and was eventually traded back to the Americans, where he promised not to escape or take up arms. New York's legislature then convicted him of loyalty to the Crown, confiscating his 1,078 acres and all his property.
The turning point came in January 1780 when Washington sent 2,500 men across the frozen harbor on sleds to attack Staten Island. Billup desperately appealed to his militia to defend the garrison, but not a single man volunteered. The militia refused to fight because the British had systematically abused the island's residents: stealing fences for firewood, destroying churches including the Reformed Dutch Church and Moravian Church for fuel, and generally plundering the civilian population. American forces then looted Staten Island extensively, stealing cattle, horses, furniture, and enslaved people.
After the British evacuated on December 3, 1783, Billup filed a claim in London for 5,171 pounds and 10 shillings in losses. The British offered him 400 pounds and an 80-pound annual pension that would cease if he left for Nova Scotia. He moved to Nova Scotia anyway, where he eventually prospered, serving in the provincial assembly and council, dying at age 90 in 1827 worth at least 750,000 pounds.
The episode concludes by noting that Staten Island experienced the longest occupation of any American community during the Revolution—seven years and five months—yet emerged from the war with more people than it started with, having attracted roughly 1,000 new residents.
About this episode
<p>After Ben's Staten Island summer, he sat down with <a href="https://apple.co/3V0mK8b">The Dollop</a> hosts, comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds, to examine Staten Island during the Revolutionary War. Ben, Dave, and Gareth dive into an extremely niche topic in history.</p><p>See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.</p>
Key Insights
- Staten Island residents refused to join the colonial boycott of British goods because their economy depended on selling supplies—oysters, beef, wheat—to the Royal Navy for silver payment, making economic self-interest their primary political motivation.
- Colonel Billup actively opposed revolutionary measures in the New York Assembly, personally voting down every patriotic proposal and writing to British commanders asking them not to send troops, believing the conflict would quickly resolve.
- When 500 Staten Island men swore allegiance to the King in July 1776, they were motivated primarily by proximity and economic ties to Britain rather than ideological commitment, as evidenced by their later abandonment of the loyalist cause.
- The British military, initially welcomed as protectors, systematically destroyed Staten Island's infrastructure for firewood—including fences needed for livestock management and entire churches—violating the trust of their supposed allies.
- Nathaniel Fitz Randolph's ability to repeatedly raid Staten Island and kidnap the colonel demonstrated that even the most prominent loyalists were vulnerable to determined rebels, and that geographic proximity to New Jersey made the island a target.
- Staten Island militia members refused to volunteer for combat defense in January 1780 despite facing potential execution if Americans won, showing that even fear of death could not overcome resentment of British abuses and the militia's loss of faith in the loyalist cause.
- American forces looting Staten Island included enslaving previously free Black residents and stealing them across the frozen harbor to sell into slavery, revealing that the American revolutionary cause contained its own moral compromises.
- The British government offered Billup only 400 pounds in compensation for his claimed 5,171-pound loss and threatened to revoke his 80-pound annual pension if he moved to Nova Scotia, essentially punishing him for leaving Britain's sphere of influence.
- Staten Island experienced the longest military occupation of any American community during the Revolution—seven years and five months—yet paradoxically gained approximately 1,000 new residents during this period, suggesting the occupation attracted rather than repelled newcomers.
- Billup's story demonstrates how external military occupation can radicalize a population: his militia went from enthusiastically serving Britain to actively refusing to fight for them, driven by the British army's destruction of civilian property and infrastructure.
- The episode reveals that Staten Island's historical isolation and resentment of New York City authority preceded the Revolution by centuries and has persisted into modern times, suggesting deep structural reasons for Staten Island's perpetual outsider status.
- Phil Pappas's historical research, preserved through letters from contemporaries like Moravian minister Hector Gambold, shows how mundane written records—not grand declarations—preserve the actual lived experience of ordinary people during revolutionary upheaval.
Topics
Transcript
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