Where It All Goes Down
New York City, May, 1776—January, 1777
Today, it's the theater capital of the world, home of the world's biggest New Year's Eve party, and notorious for its bright lights and bad traffic. In fact, as you read Chains, it's probably a little disorienting to see famous places like Brooklyn, Broadway, and the Battery without the hustle and bustle associated with them in the present. New York may not have been the tourist mecca that we know during Isabel's time, but for the Revolution, it was something more important: the most strategic location in all of the Colonies.
Start Spreadin' the News…
Let's use a modern-day analogy to show how it worked. A lot of television coverage of Presidential elections focus on which candidates are currently leading in which states and what they are doing to gain ground among their people. During these campaigns, candidates develop clear strategies that will best help them gain momentum in these crucial battleground states. That's why you often see opposing candidates making multiple appearances there, often at the same time in different cities.
New York in the Revolution was the same way. Curzon puts it like this:
"New York is a ball tossed between the Loyalists and the Patriots. Right now, the Patriots hold it." (6.44)
The Loyalists attempted to change this by shifting their headquarters to New York in hopes of gaining ground. While the New York population of Loyalists was relatively large, many people were still pretty fickle about their position. As one of Lockton's Loyalist cronies later states, turning the tide of approval in New York to the British would pretty much wreck the rebel cause; he says:
"A Loyal New York cuts off New English from the rest of the colonies. The rebellion will wither like a vine cut off at the roots." (14.39)
We know you're probably wondering why this history lesson is so important. Here it is: by choosing to set Chains in New York, the crucial, undecided territory of the war, Anderson makes a statement about Isabel's own role in the conflict.
Like New York itself, Isabel is a ball tossed between the two sides—not primarily because of her opinions on the war, but because she doesn't know which side will help her and Ruth the most. She first spies for Bellingham, then attempts to join the British, then begins carrying messages for the American prisoners of war. The choice of New York as a setting, therefore, both carries a metaphorical role and helps to develop Isabel's character.
Isabel's World
Isabel's immediate surroundings as a slave to the Locktons also carry evidence of this political divide. A good example of this is the Tea Water Pump, the water-gathering place where the rich send their slaves for water "because it tastes the best" (6.15). Remember, there was no water purification or distillation or Evian bottles back then, so the place where you got your water was largely determined by social class—and the cleanest sources were reserved for people with money.
The Tea Water Pump isn't just an illustration of the division between rich and poor, though. Because it's where all the slaves of the rich go to get water, it's also a sort of gathering place for the slaves to hear news from the war and discuss recent developments. We see this later in the book when Grandfather and some of the other slaves argue about whether the British will make good on their promise to free slaves who join their war effort.
More importantly, though, the Tea Water Pump is strategically positioned in a pretty politically charged area. As Isabel explains:
The pump was set in a little shed at the edge of the Common, a big gathering place ringed by army barracks, the poorhouse, and the jail. (13.27)
This location eventually becomes crucial to Isabel's plan to save Curzon's life when the British take his unit prisoner—she uses her daily chore of getting water as an excuse to deliver messages and visit her friend. The significance of the Common isn't lost on Madam either; at one point, she even instructs Sarah not to let Isabel go to "that blasted water pump" (39.24). Both the city of New York itself and the places Isabel frequents both establish the importance of politics and social class in the world of Chains.