Statue of King George III
Location: Bowling Green, New York, NY
Constructed: 1770
Protested: 1776
Status: Toppled
Biography
Who is the statue of?
In this section I present a very brief biography for historical context to provide background on the person who was the subject of the statue.
Biography of King George III
Born: June 4 1738, London
Died: January 29, 1820, London
1760: Became King of England after the death of his father and grandfather
1760-1776: Internal government instability; national financial difficulties; Seven Years War
1775: War with American colonists
1783: Regained poiltical popularity in England
1793: War with France
1801: Great Britain and Ireland were united into the United Kingdom, making George the first king of the new nation.
1810: Became unable to rule after several severe illnesses in 1788 and 1801
(Source)
Beginnings
Origin Story
How was the statue erected, and why? How did the creation of this statue capture the symbolism of the communities at that time whose values were espoused through its creation? In what ways did they wish to celebrate the particular historical figure in the statue? What are any written records we have of the narrative surrounding the commission and construction of the statue? What records do we have of its intent? Are there marginalized voices whose views may not have been considered at the time, and if so, who? In what way might this statue's symbolic connotations shape our picture of the historical period from which it nascent?
Intermediary Period
The lesser known
This period represents an interesting period of silencing even within my project. My own presentation makes it sound as if the statue simply remained, inert, a mere dead thing, during the intermediary period. Granted, in one or two individual statues in my project, I do present intermediary events regarding the statues being moved, relocated or repaired. But how about the public discourse or interaction regarding these statues? This, realistically, is an underemphasized part of my project. It has been largely ignored due to its being less essential to my analysis, but it is naive to pretend nothing happened during this period in that the statue, remaining in public and generally in a prominent place, did take a life of its own from the many years from when it was erected to when it was disassembled. Even in times when we have no records of the statue its life still existed and continued to interact with the other actual lives of the people who came into contact with it. For future research, it would be interesting to find what additional records may be uncovered about this “silenced” intermediary period. For now, I have simply included any photographs capturing the statue during this period; and any references I came across during my research, though unfortunately, this was not an area I actively sought documentation. Aside from these considerations, this section also serves to provide a brief list of major historical developments for a broader contextual picture.
Date commissioned: June 23, 1766
Date erected: Aug 21, 1770 (Source)
Location: Bowling Green, New York
Sculptor: Joseph Wilton
Financier: The
The statue was commissioned by _ in 1766 and erected in Bowling Green, New York in 1770.
The following quote from the newspaper paints a picture of why George III was still popular in 1766, and gives an image of the public sentiment. He was perceived as saving the colonists from impositions such as the Stamp Act, infringements the colonists attributed to Parliament alone and not the King
"The innumerable and singular Benefits received from our most gracious sovereign, since the Commencement of his auspicious Reign, during which they have been protected from the fury of a cruel, merciless, and savage Enemy; and lately from the utmost Confusion and Distress, by the Repeal of the Stamp Act: In testimony therefore of their Gratitude, and the Reverence due to his Sacred person and Character: Resolved That this House will make Provision for an Equestrian Statue of His present Majesty, Our Most Gracious Sovereign, to be erected in the City of New York, to perpetuate to the latest posterity, the deep Sense This Colony has, of the eminent and singular Blessings derived from him, during His Most auspicious Reign.”
The New York Gazette, June 30, 1766.
1766 - 1776
Public sentiments shifted when it became apparent that King George III and not only Parliament were to blame for going against the colonists' vision for themselves in America including in passage of the "Coercive Acts, the Quebec Act, the New England Restraining Act, and the Prohibitory Act, with his refusals to redress their grievances outlined in Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, the Fairfax Resolves, the Suffolk Resolves, the First Continental Congress’ Declarations of Rights and Grievances, and the Olive Branch Petition" (Source).
The change in heart about King George himself was a major factor in Americans deciding to consider Britain an oppressor and decision to begin the American Revolution.
Protest Period
The Protest Act and Beyond
The act itself: what was done to the statue itself (toppling, defacing, etc). What was protested, what was being contested? Was the primary subject of the protest movement the statue itself, or was it primarily symbolic as a representation of something greater within a larger protest movement? Regarding the statue itself, who was the person depicted by the statue and what did this person represent, from the point of view of the protesters? What particular aspects of the statue were being contested along with the personage it represented, implicitly or explicitly, including where it may have been located, its connotation of a place of honor in the public condoning ? Can we discuss any symbolism in the design statue itself? Did the protesters think of the statue as primarily symbolic, or did their consider its impact to extend past symbolism to possible consequences on a psychological and practical effects on people influenced by its presence (example)? Regarding the protest movement, what part big or small did the statue play in the protest movement? What did the protesters think the statue falling (or not) meant for the bigger picture of their protest movement? Was the existence of the statue, as a historical relic of our past made concrete as part of people's present-day experience, something essential and critical to the way people were impacted by the protest movement? In this sense is this a power the statues had to in fact uncover historical truths that may have otherwise been buried, crumbled, lost or forgotten? If so, can statues actually provide the opposite of silencing, as opposed to the question asked initially of them perpetuating silencing?
1776 and Beyond
The tail of the gilded equestrian statue of King George III is on display at the New-York Historical Society. Credit: George Etheredge for The New York Times
New York 1898
The same fence around Bowling Green that once surrounded the statue of King George III still remains to this day
The tail of the gilded equestrian statue of King George III is on display at the New-York Historical Society. Credit: George Etheredge for The New York Times
The statue was toppled in 1776.
Most of the statue was melted down to make ammunition in the Revolutionary War.
Some of the statue was lost (or stolen) in transit; thus, tiny fragments of the statue remain extant today.
Today: sculptors are attempting to recreate a replica statue to the historic specifications.
They use information from many sources including written descriptions, paintings of the statue, knowledge of the sculptor, and knowledge of the statue it was modeled after.
To this day: the same fencepost put up around the statue in 1766 can still be seen in New York City in Lower Manhatten at Bowling Green.
Aftermath, Thoughts, and Analysis
Its legacy in popular sentiment
In this case of King George III statue being torn down, it is interesting to see how its symbolic meaning changed in the public and popular sentiment withing such a short period of time. In addition one fascinating aspect of the statue is how the statue itself as well as the protest act surrounding it has been memorialized and re-remembered in numerous paintings in the decades and centuries that followed. How much did this story reach the public mythos and to what extent does this suggest the centrality of its symbolism as part of the Revolutionary War. Interestingly each painter portrays the event in slightly different ways, including for example, the most famous painting of the scene by Johannes Adam Simon Oertel portrays both African Americans and Native Americans at the scene to convey his interpretation of the symbolism of freedom in America, which received several commentary in his time. It is impossible to know with certainty of who were the exact parties involved, but artists who have portrayed the event through their creativity and artistic license would have shaped the perception of the act during future historical periods. One notable commonality about the portrayal of the act that is consistent amongst all the artists is that it is a heroic act. This fact is certainly not in dispute amongst those artists who found it meaningful enough that they took the effort to commemorate this act of protest through a rememberance in their production of another historical artifact of their own time to replace the lost artifact of 1776.