250 and Counting

Carter Braxton was born into money, as his grandfather was probably the wealthiest man in Virginia. This gave him the “in” he needed to become a gentleman farmer and a public official. In 1761 he was elected to Virginia’s House of Burgesses, and in 1769 he was a signatory to the Virginia Resolves, which protested parliamentary interference with colony affairs. While he was a Patr...

The South Carolina 5th Regiment ultimately wasn’t a huge success, with a single exception, which we’ll talk about in greater detail in a few months. But in those losses there were some long odds going on, so we’ll not judge too harshly. I learned a couple of things as a result of today’s episode. I own a piece of property in South Carolina, in the Myrtle Beach area, which i...

There’s a line in the play 1776 about how everyone in the New York Legislature is very loud and talks very fast and as a result nothing ever gets done. This was likely a side effect of the fact that New York was so politically mixed at the time. Everyone hollering at rather than talking to each other means that nobody is truly connecting with anyone else. Thank goodness we’ve moved pas...

Oliver Wolcott was one of our Founding Fathers in that he was one of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence, but while he never achieved prominence on the level of Franklin or Adams, he nevertheless served an important role as a member of the Second Continental Congress. As the Revolution began, Wolcott was made a commissioner of Indian affairs, largely to work on ensuring that the nor...

Today we’re looking at Fort Moultrie. I know, it wasn’t that long ago that I was gushing about Fort McHenry, but I live in Baltmore so it’s kind of the law around here to pump up the local history. Also, Fort, McHenry is a cool place to visit. And so is Fort Moultrie! In fact, Fort Moultrie itself was built several times, including its original Fort Sullivan incarnation, and as a...

William Scarbrough, who was the owner of the USS Savannah more than he was anything else, purchased the ship when it was still on the slipway. It was purchased with the aim of converting it to an auxiliary steamship and give his company the distinction of offering the world’s first transatlantic steamship service. The Savannah had multiple sources of propulsion, though. The steam engine coul...

Back in June, Mike told you about the Continental Congress taking a stab at issuing common currency that could be used throughout the Colonies . It didn’t work out very well, and the Continentals became a joke because there was nothing backing them up. But this time around, they may have gotten it right, because the new Continental Currency had some specific backing to it. (We don’t ev...

Mike already tells you about all you need to know about Nicholas Ware in today’s episode, so let me focus on his home, which was derisively nicknamed “Ware’s Folly.” The house was completed in 1818 at a total cost of $40,000, which would be well over $12 million today. Part of this derives from the elaborate styling on the outside, and part of it is from the extravagant det...

We should confess that by the time we actually get to the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge, it’s not going to be as big a battle as anyone thought it was going to be. But the buildup was something else again. It seemed pretty clear to everyone involved that this was going to be epic and a veritable cast of thousands would be involved. But, things happen. Motivations change. Cynicism and...

There were many reports from George Washington over the course of the Revolutionary war, but for the most part I think they were carefully crafted and frankly not always worthy of the reactions they proposed. The careful craftsmanship does makes sense, though, because Washington was a diligent collector and reader of books. As an autodidact, he was constantly learning, and he was the teacher. It&#...

So nearly a year ago, in March 1775, Patrick Henry said “Give me Liberty or give me death.” Today the Continental Congress said “Bet,” and sent him to lead troops in Virginia. That was a coincidence, of course: practically anyone who showed any real leadership skills was given the opportunity to lead troops. Henry had the leadership and the oratory skills to get his troops...

The thing that’s hard to understand when considering the flag that Mary Pickersgill put together, and that inspired our National Anthem, is that it’s huge . Mike says specifically that this flag is 17 feet by 42 feet, but that’s hard to picture. When the flag was first displayed at the Smithsonian, it hung out in the open, against the atrium wall. But a flag that big, and that ol...

Richard Caswell was in charge of the Minutemen in New Bern, North Carolina until the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge. Not long after that, the Provincial Congress did away with the Minutemen in favor of a more broadly-trained milita. From that point, his position in the Continental Congress was pretty much over for good. Caswell remained active in the military throughout the Revolution, and w...

As the ideas behind Common Sense spread through the country, it’s an interesting coincidence that Common Sense came to both North and South Carolina a day apart. What’s curious is the way it caught on very quickly in South Carolina, but was more of a slow burn in North Carolina. It’s possible that the difference is as simple as Christopher Gadsden presenting the pamphlet orally b...

One of John Adams’ stronger talents was being able to see the motivation behind the action, and because of this he was usually able to thwart unattractive actions somehow. In today’s case, he was able to thwart people who opposed him by simply agreeing with them. As a newly-minted Chief Justice of Massachusetts, some Loyalist (if not Loyalist, then certainly in the Don’t Declare...

Christopher Gadsden is famous almost entirely for the “Don’t Tread On Me” flag. But even for that, most people don’t know that the flag was named after a person. And those who do, don’t necessarily know Gadsden’s first name. And yet, he was instrumental in getting America to break away from England. Christopher Gadsden was the one who got South Carolina more exc...

Detail from “The Battle of Bennington” by Grandma Moses, 1953, depicting British prisoners being taken. Originally commissioned by the Daughters of the American Revolution but rejected because of some inaccuracies. Now at the Bennington Museum. When I mentioned in today’s episode that American prisoners were left to disease or neglect, I wasn’t telling you the half of it. T...

Much like the Hessians of our last episode, the story involving our getting French recognition and friendship is longer and more complex than most people realize. The events of today were important, but they laid the groundwork for so much more in the future. France was already annoyed with Britain over the Seven Years’ War, so supporting the Colonies was the shrewd thing to do: France would...

I think I need to clarify something that I said during today’s episode. I mentioned that about 2200 Hessian soldiers fought in the Revolution. That number is accurate, but it only refers to the soldiers who came from Hesse-Hanau and were affected by the treaty alluded to today. Another big chunk came from Hesse-Kassel and the rest came from elsewhere in Germany. In all, more than 30,000 Hess...

A war map of New York City from 1776. This was almost the entire city at that time. OK, I’ll admit I cheated the title a little bit. The fact is, both General Charles Lee, who was part of George Washington’s inner circle, and General Henry Clinton, who was a British general, did arrive in New York City on the same day. The odds are pretty low that, despite how small New York City is co...

Aerial view of Fort McHenry. The curved earthworks wall along the bottom third of the picture is a remnant of Fort Whetstone. via Wikimedia Commons. I was actually rather disappointed not to be able to find any images of Fort Whetstone. Surely there are some pictures from that time, but the Internet was not in a giving mood today. In today’s artwork you can see some remnants of the original...

A typical iron factory setup, This image is generally used to represent the Salisbury Furnace. via National Park Service. In early 1775 when hostilities first broke out, the Salisbury Iron Furnace was owned by an Englishman named Richard Smith. By the end of the year he’d cleared out and gone back home to England, and remained there for the rest of the war. After an inspection in early Janua...

Portrait of William Montgomery Crane. By Unknown author – The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume XII, 1904, page 422, via Wikimedia Commons. If you’re going to have a kid in 1776, you’re probably going to be feeling a little patriotism when you do so. Such was the case with William Montgomery Crane, who got his middle name from General Richard Montgomery, under wh...

Etching of William Alexander, Lord Stirling, as a Major General. Etching by H.B. Hall, 1892. via New York Public Library. The capture and ultimate disposition of the HMS Blue Mountain Valley and her crew was, in the bigger scheme of things, a relatively minor event in the American Revolution, however it did suddenly bring both New Jersey and New York into more active participation in the war. And...

“Colonial Blacksmith, 1776”. Wood engraving, attributed to “Granger” though this may be the name of the collection. While we’re talking about enlisting apprentices today, it should be noted that there was precious little difference between an apprentice and an indentured servant, except maybe their age. Thus, the rules that applied to apprentices when it came to enlis...