New York Assembly. Remarks on the Claim of New York City to Fort George, [16 April 1787]
New York Assembly. Remarks on the
Claim of New York City to Fort George
[New York, April 16, 1787]
Mr. Hamilton proposed a resolution, which would set aside the order of the day, and answer the purposes much better, in his opinion; it was to direct the attorney general to enquire into the claim of the corporation to the Fort St. James, and its dependencies, now called fort George;1 and that the commissioners of the land office have a survey made of the property of the state therein; and that a report be made to the legislature at their next meeting, of the said claim of the corporation, and the best manner of disposing of the same.2
The [New York] Daily Advertiser, April 19, 1787.
1. Successively called Fort Amsterdam, Fort William Hendrick, Fort James, Fort William, Fort William Henry, Fort Anne, and Fort George, this fort was located in the lower part of Manhattan Island. On March 21 it was suggested in the Common Council of New York City that a bill be introduced into the Assembly for the sale of lands at the fort and the Battery. A committee was appointed to inquire into the rights of the city regarding these lands. On March 28 the Common Council in a petition to the legislature asserted the claim of New York City to the site which the legislature proposed to sell (Minutes of the Common Council, I, 285, 287).
2. The text of the resolution made by H is printed in , 1787, 165. It was passed by the Assembly on the date of its introduction and concurred in by the Senate on April 18.
The attorney general’s report was read in the Assembly on March 12, 1788. He affirmed the claim of the state to Fort George and adjoining lands (, 1788, 125–57).