volume 3 chapter 36 the New York land revolt undoubtedly one of the main reasons for the
collapse of resistance in New York was the gratitude of the New York landed oligarchy
for the prompt use of British troops in suppressing a widespread tenant rebellion in 1766 by the middle
of the 18th century rising resentment against the manorial lords of New York recipients of huge
In 1750, a tenant-settler revolt occurred in Dutchess County, and in the early 1760s,
similar revolts erupted on the giant manors of Albany and Westchester counties. Discontents
centered in the largest ones, the Big Four Manors, and the movement of the New York peasantry
culminated in the General Hudson River Rebellion or Leveller's Uprising of 1766.
This revolt began over land in the Phillips Manor, Highland Patent, in southern Dutchess
County, now Putnam County, where Phillips tenant settlers, largely from New England,
concentrated in the eastern end of the county, were buying their land titles from the local
Indians and Ignoring the Phillips Land Claims. By 1756, the Phillips proprietors had seized
the lands from the Indians and had brought ejectment suits against the rebellious tenants.
In 1763, the tenants renounced the Phillips leases and refused to pay rent to their designated
Landlords. A Chancery Court case reached trial in the spring of 1765, but the judges,
including members of the Colden, Smith and Delancey families of the New York oligarchy,
were all great landlords. One judge, William Smith, was even connected with the Livingston
family, which was involved in similar lawsuits with the Indians. Not only were the judges
was packed against the Indians and the tenants, but the Grand Indian Sakham, Daniel Ninam,
was unable to retain a lawyer, because every attorney in the province had been bought by
the landlords. Furthermore, not only was Ninam not allowed to speak in court, but the tenants
were ordered arrested for the high crime of depriving the crown of its due inheritance.
While Ninam appealed to England, Van Rensselaer took ejectment action against many of his
tenants claiming Indian titles. The settler cases were brusquely thrown out by the courts,
except for those won by the Phillips proprietors on the strength of obviously forged bills
of sale from the Indians. Deprived of their lands by the aggression of pact and landlord-dominated
In the time when the landlord dominated courts, the tenants looked for other means of defending their property.
At the end of 1765, the tenants of New York, undoubtedly inspired by the stamp tax fight for liberty, decided to strike out for liberty for themselves.
The Phillips settlers advertised publicly for tenants to meet in order to reinstate the evicted tenants by force.
The Duchess County rebels moved to stand by each other with lives and fortunes to force
their landlords to grant them security of tenure and, at least, to lower their rents.
Their main methods were by refusing to pay rent and defending themselves against any
forced ejections.
They pledged to rescue any tenants arrested for refusing to pay rents.
The Calcutrant tenants were now forced to join the rent strike. William Prendergast,
one of the more prosperous tenants, was chosen as leader, and militia companies were formed.
Judges were forced by the rebels to swear never to prosecute them. In the spring of
1766, the Leveller rebels on the Van Cortlandt manor in Westchester refused to pay rent,
and demanded their land in fee simple.
When three of them were arrested by the New York government,
over a thousand assembled Westchester tenants
threatened to rescue the prisoners from the New York City jail.
The duchess rebels, who had been leery of the radicalism of the Westchester movement,
now eagerly joined in the demands for rescue.
The armed tenants marched on the city,
of the City, Naively Expecting Aid from the New York Sons of Liberty. When this help
never materialized, the tenants disbanded and returned home before reaching the city.
As the conflict polarized, the alarmed governor, Sir Henry Moore, called out the militia to
suppress the tenants. Five hundred rebels now gathered and threatened to burn the house
A mob of 500 also freed John Way from a Poughkeepsie jail where he had been confined for non-payment
of rent.
But a show of military force and a proclamation for the seizure of tenant leaders managed
to disperse the rebels.
The Dutchess County rebels, led by William Prendergast and Samuel Munro, moved against
at Livingston Manor, several hundred leveler rebels marched on Livingston's house, threatening
to destroy the Lord and his property, unless they were at last freed from rent and taxation.
They were dispersed, however, by an armed Livingston troop.
Seventeen hundred armed rebels also fought at Van Rensselaer Manor.
By the summer of 1766, jail rescues of tenants flourished throughout the eastern Hudson Valley.
Despite proclamations and orders for arrest for high treason, the provincial government
could not begin to suppress the rebellion.
The militia, including many small farmers, proved completely unreliable, and British
troops had to be called in by the governor to quell the uprising.
Ruthless suppression by the pillaging British troops continued for four months. Finally,
about eighty of the rebels were captured, including the great leader of the Phillips
Rebellion, William Prendergast. Significantly, so far was Prendergast from being a radical
partisan of debtors or heedless of the property rights of creditors that he made it clear
Remember that payment of debts in general must be strictly enforced. Only debts for
the unjust exactions of quasi-feudal rents drew Prendergast fire. Prendergast and the
eighty other or so rebel leaders were brought to trial. The judges were all great landlords
and land speculators. Moreover, two of the judges were directly related to the manorial
The Rebels were indicted on charges of riotous assault and some for rescuing prisoners. They
were variously sentenced to fines, imprisonment, and the pillory.
Prendergast's trial was different. His indictment was for high treason. Prendergast, highly
popular in the colony and known to be a sober, honest, and industrious farmer, was able to
The court sharply remarked that they might as well cover the prisoner with a veil, lest
the distress painted on his countenance should too powerfully excite compassion.
The jury quickly brought in a verdict of guilty, with a recommendation of mercy, but the court
sentenced Prendergast to be hanged and quartered.
Meanwhile, butchery continued in the field, where British troops burned, pillaged and
plundered the still recalcitrant Philip's tenants.
Dispossessed Van Rensselaer and other tenants fled to Massachusetts and Connecticut, where
They continued their quest for the land via guerrilla warfare aided by Massachusetts and
the Indians. Because of the great popular sympathy for Prendergast, the sheriff could
find no one willing to carry out the brutal sentence upon him, despite the sheriff's promise
to disguise and reward the collaborator. Finally, after keeping Prendergast in prison
The Earl of Shelburne, Secretary of State for the Southern Department, recommended a
pardon in view of the prisoner's great popularity, and the King agreed.
Frederic Bast incidentally had bravely refused several chances to escape from prison in order
to spare his family from having their property confiscated.
He now returned home to great rejoicing.
As for the rebellious settlers, many of them left either for cheap and available land in
virtually unsettled Vermont or for nearby Massachusetts.
The Indians, despite the Crown's sympathy for their land claims, were forced to plead
their case before a packed court, a council consisting of great landlords, some of them
directly involved in the dispute.
The Indians could not find a lawyer in the province, their witnesses were arrested and
judgment was concluded against them.
The failure of the liberal forces in New York was the failure of groups like the Sons of
Liberty to merge with the Tenant Liberation Movement, but given the conditions of the
day, no further link was possible between these two libertarian groups, for the landlord
In the late 19th century, the world leadership of the struggle against British oppression could hardly join hands with their own tenetry.
The zeal of the Livingstons for liberty always stopped well short of extending such liberty to their own tenants.
Two, the bulk of the Sons of Liberty was urban and artisan and had little appreciation of the problems of the tenetry
or perception of how the mutually beloved concept of liberty could have forged a link between the two movements.
Hence the indifference or hostility of the urban radicals toward the tenants.
The radicals even applauded the calling in of British troops.
And hence the lack of enthusiasm among the New York tenants for the Sons of Liberty and their cause.
A pity, since the tenants had been firm supporters of the Stamp Act rebellion, and were inspired
by that very revolt to struggle for their own particular liberty.
A grave split thus developed among the radical forces of New York, weakening the whole resistance
drive in that critical province.
An example of this split was the case of John Moran Scott, an early founder of the Sons
of Liberty.
It is true that Scott was early suspended, in control of the sons by such radical leaders
as Isaac Sears, John Lamb, and Alexander McDougall. But it is also significant that this merchant,
land speculator, large landlord, and political ally of the Livingston's was viciously anti-tenant,
and was one of the personally interested judges who condemned Prendergast to death.
On the other hand, an arch-tory like Lieutenant Governor Cadwallader Colden counseled against
the massive use of force that crushed the tenants. General Gage chortled at the come-uppance
being given to the rich and most powerful people who had fought the Stamp Act. Gage
Each wrote trenchantly that these leaders had first sowed the seeds of sedition amongst
the people and taught them to rise in opposition to the laws.