250 and Counting

The cover art for today’s episode is the historical marker for Bergen Neck Fort, in Bayonne, New Jersey. As someone who was born and raised on the other side of the East River, it’s supposed to be my duty to bust on New Jersey and say something like “there’s nothing interesting going on in Bayonne” and I’d mostly be right, but I will note that Mercer Park, just...

War bonds have been a thing since literally the beginning of the country. In this particular case, Britain had spent a few years taking as much hard currency (that is, gold and silver) from America as they could, which left us in a pretty bad state when it came to having something to back our money. The coin used for today’s cover art was actually a Continental Dollar, which was designed by...

The New Jersey Seal looks like a complicated and maybe convoluted project on its surface, but when you take a closer look, it becomes clear that in fact a lot of thought went into it and many of the individual pieces do tie together. New Jersey statutes are pretty specific about the Great Seal. Title 52, §2-1 reads: The great seal of this state shall be engraved on silver, which shall be round, of...

Thomas Jefferson, after many months in Philadelphia, finally got to return home today. One of the things that puzzled me early on in this podcasting project was the relative fluidity of the membership of the Continental Congress. People came in, people went out, and nobody seemed to have a problem with it. There didn’t appear to be a set schedule to it, and there were often periods in which...

Thomas Mifflin was the Continental Army’s first Quartermaster General, and he was replaced by someone who just couldn’t get the job done, so he was asked to return to the position. He was good at the Quartermaster duties, but he really preferred to be on the front lines. Oddly enough, though, when the soldiers at Valley Forge went through all their hardships, it was Mifflin who got the...

Mount Vernon, the mansion along the Potomac River in which George Washington lived, was originally built by his father when George was two years old. At that time, however, it was a rather modest house. Washington’s half-brother Lance lived in the house until his death in 1752. After a year or two, George leased out the property, but he did not own it outright until 1761. He did, however, ex...

When you only have two minutes to get the point across, you sometimes lose some of the nuances. This is a rundown of the second letter discussed today: Abigail Adams penned a poignant letter to her husband, John Adams, who was still serving in the Continental Congress but hoping to get home as soon as his replacement arrived. This correspondence highlights the immense psychological and economic st...

As I mentioned a few days ago , when Pennsylvania drafted its constitution and then voted on it, not everybody involved was on board with the idea. In June 1776, The Pennsylvania Provincial Conference resolved “that the present Assembly of the Colony is ‘not competent to the exigencies of affairs’ and that a Provincial Convention ought to be called for inaugurating a form of Colo...

In putting this episode together, I realized that I used this same image of Edward Rutledge back in the September 9 episode . However, I neglected to put the information for the image in the alt text. And that’s something I do try not to overlook. On the other hand, I was still hopped up on cold medication, so there’s that. And before I forget, I mentioned the censure of Esek Hopkins d...

The Continental Congress, in the wake of Washington’s recent letter, finally realized that they weren’t going to be able to defeat the British on their own. Some outside assistance would be needed. So on this day in 1776, they appointed a three-man commission to undertake a diplomatic mission to France, seeking money, arms and other materials. France, as we’ve mentioned before, w...

Back in April, Mike and I had the opportunity to visit the Massachusetts Historical Society, and we were able to spend some time with the man whose job it is to curate, analyze and organize the papers of the Adams family. Not just John and Abigail, but their descendants and maybe a few ancillary branches of the family. At one point in the conversation I said to him, “It seems like John and A...

George Washington was a practical man, and he realized that without a standing army, he wouldn’t stand a chance against the British. Sure, it’s good to have motivated people who are passionate about the cause, but when they have setbacks, they’re more likely to bail out, and that’s exactly what he was facing once the dust began to settle from his losses in New York. Many of...

The Dominguez-Escalante Expedtion was an effort to find an over-land route from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Monterey, California. Their journey took them north across the Colorado Plateau to Utah Lake Valley, which was a peculiar route at first, until you realize that they started with a route taken by Juan Rivera in 1765. Atanasi Domínguez and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante were born in Mexico City an...

For a long time the debate about what Nathan Hale said before he was hanged was whether he said “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country” or “I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” In more recent years, it’s emerged that what he said is probably lost to history, since contemporary accounts aren’t especially clear about it. Mo...

One of the events that took place the same day of Nathan Hale’s capture is that there was a huge fire in New York that burned about a quarter of the city. Now, the British thought that it was started by American saboteurs to prevent the city from falling into British hands. However, while that […] The post Nathan Hale’s Capture–September 21, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

The Pennsylvania Constitution turned out to have many unique qualities, but they were so good that before long they weren’t unique anymore, because so many people copied them. That’s not to say that everything about the Pennsylvania Constitution was unique, or even original. For instance, the document begins with a Declaration of Rights that was […] The post Pennsylvania Writes A Constitution–Sept...

The Battle of the Black Hole, also known as the Battle of Coweecho River, lasted about two hours and had surprisingly few casualties, considering its location and just how fierce the fighting was. Colonel Andrew Williamson essentially marched into an ambush in a deep gorge, and had to fight their way out. They began by […] The post Battle of the Black Hole–September 19, 1776 appeared first on 250...

Washington’s report to Congress regarding the events at Harlem Heights a couple of days earlier didn’t pull any punches with regard to how badly his army was beaten, or what mistakes he and his men might have made. It didn’t always make for cheerful reading in Congress, but at least they knew what they were […] The post Washington’s Report–September 18, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

Langdon Cheves had a bit of a rough start in life, but he managed to pull himself up and become quite the influential man in the early 1800s. Despite the fact that few people have heard of him, Cheves was an active member of the House of Representatives, and managed to make the best of […] The post Langdon Cheves–September 17, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

While it didn’t change the result in New York, the Battle of Harlem Heights was a tactical win for the Continental Army, and a boost to morale as well. It was the Continental Army’s first true victory since Lexington and Concord, and after the demoralizing loss at Kip’s Bay only a day earlier, demonstrating that […] The post Battle of Harlem Heights–September 16, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Cou...

Calling it “The Battle of Kip’s Bay” may actually be overstating it a little bit; there were 500 militamen from Connecticut in the area when the British landed, and their defenses were blown away almost immediately, after which they panicked and ran. But I tell you all about that in the episode. This is my […] The post Battle of Kip’s Bay–September 15, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

Washington was on the brink of retreating from New York City, but he was getting pushback from some of his generals regarding how it should be done. Fortunately for him, this Gordian Knot was cut by a letter arriving from John Hancock on behalf of the Continental Congress. Nathanael Green and William Heath weren’t necessarily […] The post Word From Congress–September 14, 1776 appeared first on 250...

When Patriot forces saw four ships moving into Bushwick Creek, it was ominous but probably not a huge surprise, given that the British already held Brooklyn. They put up largely token fire from their own strongholds and that was pretty much that. Washington knew that Manhattan was next, but it wasn’t clear how the attack […] The post Suspicious Movements–September 13, 1776 appeared first on 250 an...

George Washington’s Council of War finally got to meet on this day in 1776, to figure out what happens next. The Battle of Long Island was a rout for several reasons. In addition to the Continental Army being outnumbered by roughly two-to-one, there was poor communication and a couple of tactical errors. And the only […] The post To Stay, Or Not To Stay?–September 12, 1776 appeared first on 250 an...

The Staten Island Peace Conference was a bust almost from the beginning. Not because the sides were so opposed, but because one side didn’t have the authority to do any real negotiation. John Adams, Edward Rutledge and Benjamin Franklin had to row over from Perth Amboy, New Jersey to get to the Totten House, which […] The post The Staten Island Peace Conference–September 11, 1776 appeared first on...