250 and Counting

We’ve visited Esek Hopkins in the past, when we told you about the transgressions he committed that led to today’s activity. To be fair, when Hopkins chose to engage in the raid on Nassau, the reaction in Congress was mixed, especially at first. John Hancock was happy that the Continental Navy had seized badly-needed war […] The post An Official Reprimand–August 16, 1776 appeared first on 250 and...

Nathanael Greene was among the first to step up when the shooting started at Lexington and Concord. This is almost certainly because a British official seized a vessel owned by Greene and his brothers. After the Intolerable Acts were enacted in 1774, Greene organized a militia unit called the “Kentish Guards.” Despite his leadership, he […] The post Greene Isn’t Happy–August 15, 1776 appeared firs...

John and Abigail Adams were one of the great love stories of the 18th Century, and for John to receive a letter from Abigail must have been heavenly, even if it happened nearly every day. To be sure, Abigail didn’t always have good news with regard to whatever might be happening at home, and today’s […] The post Mail From Braintree–August 14, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

Abraham Shepherd hails from Shepherdstown, West Virginia, but when he was born it was Mecklenburg, Virginia. As near as I can put it together, there were originally two large tracts of land belonging to Shepherd families; one was over 200 acres and the other was a 750-acre plot of mostly farmland. In 1776 there were […] The post Abraham Shepherd–August 13, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

Andrew Pickens was a plantation owner whose property was near Seneca, South Carolina, which is almost as far west as you can go and still be in South Carolina. As the Cherokee-American wars wore down, Pickens was able to sign peace treaties with the tribe, which was known as the Treaty of Hopewell. Meanwhile, in […] The post Do The Fight Ring–August 12, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

George Washington’s means for maintaining motivation in the Continental Army came from two directions: discipline and stirring rhetoric as a means of providing the troops with something to rally for. And his Orders of the Day for this day seem to be focused simultaneously on both. As noted elsewhere, Washington could be a stickler for […] The post Maintaining Motivation–August 11, 1776 appeared fi...

Once again, we have a situation where the technology of the eighteenth century has to be seen to be believed. Only a few days ago, we mentioned an event that took place in France without knowledge that the United States had declared independence, and now we have today’s entry, suggesting that it’s only in the […] The post The Big News–August 10, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

The idea to have a flying camp at all belonged to Geroge Washington. He knew that he was going to be facing huge numbers of British soldiers soon, and he proposed having a mobile unit that could show up wherever they were needed. While the soldiers came from three specific states, they were intended to […] The post Flying Camp Rations–August 9, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

The career of John Paul Jones, or Captain Jones, as he became on this day, is marked by both brilliance and controversy. Jones was born in Scotland and sailed on merchant ships before coming to America and joining the nascent navy here. Through the Revolutionary War, he was involved with several key battles, many times […] The post Captain Jones–August 8, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

I promised you a postscript for the Christopher French story, but let me offer up some broader context first. In July 1776, French wrote to George Washington from Connecticut, where he was being held as a prisoner of war. The purpose of the letter was to request parole from his confinement. Washington’s reply reads: Sir: […] The post A Gift For George, None For Chris–August 7, 1776 appeared first...

We didn’t spend a whole lot of time talking about John Morton, who comes up as part of today’s episode, and he does have an important part in the quest for Independence. John Morton’s father died the same year he was born. John had very little formal schooling; most of what he learned, he learned […] The post Confederation Talk And A Trade–August 6, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

The Charleston Liberty Tree has something in common with its more famous counterpart in Boston: neither tree made it to the end of the Revolutionary War. The Boston Liberty Tree was cut down by Loyalists in 1775, and the Charleston Liberty Tree was burned down by the British in 1780. In researching these trees and […] The post The Charleston Liberty Tree–August 5, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Co...

When it came to army discipline, George Washington had some definite opinions. The punishments we hear about were rather harsh by modern standards, but Washington had some problems with his recruits that modern armies don’t tend to have. Specifically, (and we’ve mentioned this before), the Continental Army had a relatively short enlistment period, which meant […] The post Laying Down The Law–Augus...

George Washington had a deep-set sense of right and wrong, and sometimes his sense of Army decorum could get in his way. Our July 14 episode demonstrated that to a certain extent. Other times it demonstrate the high expectations he placed on himself and others. He wanted his officers to be behavior models, especially because […] The post It’s Only Proper–August 3, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Co...

The approval of the Lee Resolution was July 2, the Declaration was approved July 4, the signingof the Declaration was (mostly) on August 2. Which date would you have considered for Independence Day if you were in charge back then? Ah, who are you kidding. You’d have picked the Fourth as well. The approval of […] The post Sign Here, Please–August 2, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

At this point, Americans were fighting a two-front war. More accurately, they were fighting two wars against different enemies: the Cherokee in the southwest areas of the country (so far), and the British…well, practically everywhere else. But today we’ll focus on the British in New York. After yesterday’s disaster in the Ninety-Six District of South […] The post Escalation Everywhere–August 1, 17...

As I mentioned very early in this podcast, Francis Salvador’s life was especially notable for two things: the day he was elected to public office, and the day he died. And in his case, the dates were notable largely for the fact that Francis Salvador was a Sephardic Jew, making him the first man of […] The post Farewell, Francis–July 31, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

Both Dr. Benjamin Franklin and the Reverend John Witherspoon made good points when they discussed state representation in Congress under the Articles of Confederation they were trying to put together. The interesting thing is that the debate sounds very much like a modern-day discussion with regard to the nations that participate in NATO. Smaller nations […] The post Getting The Finer Details–July...

The presence of the British in Staten Island wasn’t a big mystery, but within a month after they first arrived, the number of ships in New York Harbor was well over 100, and still growing. And, as George Washington suspected (along with many others), the British began moving up the rivers surrounding Manhattan, working their […] The post British Forces Gather in NY–July 29, 1776 appeared first on...

Hygiene in the Continental Army was practically nonexistent. As you can imagine, things got pretty ripe around camp, especially in the summer. And when people don’t take good care of such things, they’re probably going to wind up sick. Getting sick when you’re supposed to be on duty likely means that you’re going to do […] The post Cleaning Up The Act–July 28, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counti...

Getting arms and credit wasn’t an overly tough task for Silas Deane. But it wasn’t because the French liked us so much; it was because they were still a little salty about the French and Indian War. So they were willing to do almost anything to embarrass the British. As a delegate to France (essentially […] The post Credit From France–July 27, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

That Native American relations were considered at all as part of the Articles of Confederation is a little bit of a mystery, but it’s possible that the Congress was just looking for some across-the-board consistency when it came to that sort of thing. After all, you couldn’t have the folks in the Southern States battling […] The post What To Do With Those Natives?–July 26, 1776 appeared first on 2...

Representatives from each colony were already working on draft Articles of Confederation beginning one day after Thomas Jefferson, et.al. started work on the Declaration of Independence. The first draft Articles were presented to the Congress on July 12, and this day was another day of discussion and debate. The ultimate disposition of the articles discussed […] The post Drafting A Confederation–J...

Philip Schuyler was part of a prominent New York family, enough that if you have any familiarity with that state’s history, you realize that the Schuyler name keeps popping up, especially during and shortly after the Revolution. (Similarly, the names Schermerhorn and Burr also manage to crop up a lot; Burr is probably the most […] The post The Schuyler Is Falling–July 24, 1776 appeared first on 25...

Huntington, New York, is coincidentally quite close to where I grew up. And frankly, I had no idea that they could celebrate the way they did on this day in history. In addition to being its own little town, Huntington was determined not to let the British take any more of Long Island than they […] The post Ain’t No Party Like A Long Island Party–July 23, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .