Tearing down monuments, an old American tradition

Tearing down monuments is an old American tradition – one of the oldest. The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. Five days later, they held the first public reading in New York City, where George Washington was camped with his soldiers in Bowling Green Park. You know the park: it’s in lower Manhattan, in the financial district. At its northernmost tip is that famous statue of the charging Wall Street Bull. On July 9, 1776 there was a different statue there: a statue of