The Great Fire of New York is a devastating fire that burns through the night of September 20, 1776, and into the morning of September 21, on the West Side of what at this time constitutes New York City at the southern end of the island of Manhattan.
It breaks out in the early days of the military occupation of the city by British forces during the American Revolutionary War.
The fire destroys about one third of the city, while some unaffected parts of the city ware plundered.
Many people believed or assume that one or more people had deliberately started the fire, for a variety of different reasons.
British leaders accuse revolutionaries acting within the city and state, and many residents assume that one side or the other had started it.
The fire has long-term effects on the British occupation of the city, which does end until 1783.
