Flushing State Armory

Flushing State Armory. Flushing Freedom Mile. , This site could be considered the birthplace of religious freedom in America. It was here, on December 27, 1657, that a group of brave Flushing freeholders issued a proclamation calling for religious tolerance. One of these men, Michael Milner, owned the house that stood here., At the time, Quakers living in Flushing were persecuted by Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant, who permitted only the Dutch Reformed religion to be practiced. In response, the freeholders addressed a letter to Stuyvesant. In the letter, known as the Flushing Remonstrance, the residents spoke of their desire to "let every man stand or fall to his own Master." The Remonstrance, the first of its kind in the New World, served as the inspiration for the First Amendment to the Constitution., The Flushing State Armory was built in 1905 to house various units of New York's National Guard., [Captions:] , The first page of the Flushing Remonstrance, written in 1657. The document is now housed at the New York State Archives in Albany. (below), The State Armory in 1916, when it was home to the New York National Guard's 10th Regiment. (right)