Fort Hancock: A Bastion of America's Eastern Seaboard

(National Park Service) W hen Samuel J. Tilden surveyed America's most important harbor, he saw danger. "A million of soldiers," wrote New York's senior senator in 1885, "with the best equipments on the heights surrounding the harbor of New York in our present state of preparation, or rather in our total want of preparation, would be powerless to resist a small squadron of [foreign] war steamers." Nor was the threat confined to America's commercial capital: harbors from Portland, Maine, to San Francisco stood defenseless against any navy that chose to attack. Such an attack, Tilden argued, "...would inflict upon the property and business of the country an injury which can neither be foreseen nor measured."1 Many late 19th-century Americans, however, believed such dangers were remote. Europeans would never attack the U.S., they argued, and therefore money spent on stronger forts and new high-powered guns would be wasted. Existing defenses and the Atlantic Ocean provided more than adequate protection, and keeping expenditures low would both limit taxes and prevent the creation of the type of standing army Americans had traditionally feared. This lesson uses Fort Hancock in New Jersey—one of the sites Senator Tilden hoped would defend New York—as a base for examining a debate that has run throughout American history. Today Fort Hancock stands silent, part of Gateway National Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park System. Although the fort is no longer part of the nation's military, its history illustrates many important issues involving American defense policy. 1Quoted in the Congressional Record, volume 17, part 7, 49th Congress, 1st session (July 1886), 7101.

TABLE OF CONTENTS About This Lesson Getting Started: Inquiry Question Setting the Stage: Historical Context Locating the Site: Maps 1. Lower New York Harbor Determining the Facts: Readings 1. Defending America's Coastline 2. Reaction to the Endicott Board Recommendations 3. Sandy Hook after the Endicott Report Visual Evidence: Images 1. Battery Potter 2. Gun at Battery Potter 3. Gun at Battery Potter 4. Gun at Battery Granger 5. Gun at Battery Granger Putting It All Together: Activities 1. Continued Evolution of Defenses 2. Protecting Coastal America 3. Your Community—Defense and the Economy Supplementary Resources

RELATED INFORMATION How to Use a TwHP Lesson Lessons on Related Topics TwHP Home National Register Home About the National Register How the National Register Helps Teachers Contact TwHP Gateway National Recreation Area This lesson is based on the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area, one of the thousands of properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

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