(The Second Annual North Hempstead Day Celebration will take place on September 21st at Mary Jane Davies Park. This is the second installment of the Town's three-part series on the colonial origins of the Town of North Hempstead.)

Part II

In the mid 1700s, Hempstead was a prosperous rural town of property owners and artisans. Due to Hempstead's geographic location, colonial life was largely based around an agrarian culture. While most men worked as farmers and fishermen, others found work as laborers in the shipyards, lumberyards, and mills. While life in Hempstead Town was peaceful during the first half of the 18th century, this period of tranquility lasted for only a brief time.

The outbreak of the French and Indian War in 1754 brought havoc to the American colonies and Hempstead Town was not immune to the bloodshed and destruction that ensued. By order of King George III, those residing in Hempstead were forced to enlist in the British militia and to quarter soldiers. When the war reached the shores of Long Island, rumblings of discontent were heard throughout the northern section of Town. While many within Hempstead appeased the British by quartering their soldiers, several men, especially Quakers, refused to quarter British soldiers in their home. These men faced harsh penalties for their strong anti-war sentiment.

The cries for freedom and independence, sparked by oppressive laws, unjust taxes, and the lack of representation in British Parliament, were first heard in the Township of Hempstead in 1770. Although Britain emerged victoriously from the French and Indian War, King George III was faced with the burden of paying for the cost of the war. In order to pay England's war debts, the King imposed a series of taxes on the American Colonies which led to the formation of the Sons of Liberty, a protest group that organized demonstrations all along the eastern seaboard.

In the 1770s, those who lived in the southern portion of Hempstead pledged their loyalty to the British Crown, while those residing in the north opposed the King's oppressive actions. According to Town Historian Joan Kent, "the Town of Hempstead was about one-third Tory (loyal to the crown), one-third Whig (favoring independence), and one-third neutral with no desire for a visible part in the debate." Although Hempstead was ideologically divided, the Loyalists controlled the Town' government and as a result all of the laws and policies passed at Hempstead Town Board Meetings reflected a pro-Tory sentiment. This outraged the Whigs or Patriots of the northern neck, and as time passed by, the tension between these opposing factions grew exceedingly worse. As the first shots of the Revolution were fired at Lexington, a Civil War was on the verge of erupting in the Township of Hempstead.