On July 9, 1776, General George Washington authorized a public reading of the newly signed Declaration of Independence to the Continental Army stationed in New York City. Washington hoped the powerful words would boost the morale of his troops, who were preparing for an imminent British invasion. The document was read aloud at the head of each brigade, officially signaling to the soldiers that they were no longer fighting merely for a redress of grievances, but for the birth of a sovereign nation.
The reading triggered an immediate wave of revolutionary fervor that spilled out into the city streets. An excited crowd of soldiers and citizens marched to Bowling Green, where a massive gilded lead statue of King George III stood. The mob tore the monument down, hacked it into pieces, and shipped the metal to Connecticut, where it was melted down into more than forty-two thousand musket balls used to fire back at the British military.
