250 and Counting

The Battle of Hog Island was the first of two major events early in the Revolution that got South Carolina firmly on board with the Independence cause. Hog Island caused the South Carolina Committee of Safety to expand their navy; in this respect they were way ahead of the Continental Congress. But when King George III approved the American Prohibitory Act in December, that really irritated South...

The United States Marine Corps celebrates its birthday every year on this day, usually with a ball (the dancing kind) and a cake-cutting ceremony. The cover art today is from their 233rd birthday celebration. Until 1921, the Marines marked the occasion on July 11, which was the date of the re-establishment of the Corps, since they were disbanded after the Revolution. But John Adams (again) came to...

We gotta give Benedict Arnold this: he set a goal and he stuck to it. Given the opportunity to take men and help invade Quebec through a kind of pincer move with General Montgomery, Benedict Arnold took 1100 men through the wilds of Maine to the St. Lawrence River, a trip that he thought would take 20 days over 180 miles. But they ran into problems almost immediately involving weather, leaky boats...

When we talk about Franking, we typically use it in the context of the Franking Privilege, something that members of Congress, ex-presidents, and a few others get to use. In short, if they put their name on the envelope, they can mail stuff without cost to themselves. (The Congressional budget reimburses the US Postal Service.) But Franking isn’t limited to the franking privilege. “Fra...

Lord Dunmore was driven from the Governor’s Mansion back in June, but he never went far. That same day he took refuge on a British ship near Williamsburg and continued playing the role of Governor, even though the House of Burgesses was already doing quite nicely, thank you. Slave revolts were a constant concern in the slave states, and Dunmore was almost certainly inspired by an incident ju...

There are going to be days when no truly big events happen, but that wasn’t going to stop the Second Continental Congress from getting stuff done. Today we have a bit of an image of that group as a bunch of men who are hard-drinking philosophers, ready—and maybe eager—to burst into fisticuffs, or perhaps the occasional song, depending on where you got your impressions. So for that reason, we...

Guy Fawkes Day is one of those holidays, we think, that many people in America know ABOUT, but don’t necessarily know when it takes place, nor do they have any idea who Guy Fawkes was. Fortunately we’re here to give you some of the scoop. Guy Fawkes was one of eleven conspirators involved in a plot to blow up the House of Lords with King James I inside, killing him and setting up an op...

As we told you yesterday, Major Preston was hoping that reinforcements were coming in time to rescue him and his men from Fort St. Jean, so he tried to stall for time with General Montgomery. General Montgomery wasn’t biting, though, and the siege finally ended when Preston’s men surrendered. Today, only a day later, a few hundred men arrive in Quebec from Newfoundland and Prince Edwar...

If you’re scrutinizing today’s cover art and you’re having trouble reading the plaque, that’s because what you see is mostly in French. The bottom half, only part of which is visible here, is in English. The English part (which is a translation of the French part) reads: FORT SAINT JEAN Constructed in 1743 by M. de Léry under orders from Governor la Galissonnière. This post...

It’s noted that Brooklyn is the place where Jeromus Johnson was born, but to be more specific, Johnson was born in a neighborhood called Wallabout, which still exists but Johnson wouldn’t recognize it today. Wallabout got its name from the adjacent Wallabout Bay, which has been mostly filled in and is now occupied by the Brooklyn Navy Yard. “Wallabout” is a corruption of a...

In July 1775, there were still several delegates to the Second Continental Congress who thought that reconciliation with Britain was a possibility. There were a few others who may not have necessarily been of that opinion, but were willing to take a chance. Some of these men, led by John Dickinson, formed a committee to draft what’s come to be known as the Olive Branch Petition. The intent w...

Sam Adams was a patriot in his own right, oftentimes supporting his second cousin John. The two of them were often able to work together closely. What’s more, they were an efficient team, with Sam Adams being the fiery agitator and organizer, and John Adams acting in the more measured and sophisticated role, playing the political diplomat. But Sam also had his own ideas about how things shou...

Sally Scott Murray was a political wife for the better part of her adult life, given all the different elected offices that her husband Edward Lloyd the 5 th held. There were a few years immediately after their marriage when id didn’t hold elected office, and he predeceased her by about twenty years, but in between, Edward’s resume is all over the Maryland State Archives. And, of cours...

One of the most fascinating things about this event, and we only got to touch on it briefly in the episode itself, is that some important parts of the story are under dispute. What’s not debated is that the order went out to transfer gunpowder and lead to the Cherokees on October 29. What is debated, however, is the date and the place where the materials were confiscated. By some accounts, t...

It’s nice, isn’t it, that not everything we have for your benefit concentrates on people shooting at each other or generally not being kind? Take today, for instance. It’s Wedding Bells for the President of the Continental Congress! John Hancock got married to Dorothy Quincy today! (Okay, never mind that the motivations to get these two together may have been a little corrupt. Le...

We’re 300 days into 1775 and therefore 300 days into this show, and we’ve finally gotten to the point where British troops will be shooting at Americans because the two parties are officially at war. Up until now, all the fighting was about control, because what better way to control people than by shooting at them? But King George III’s declaration of rebellion in August was inf...

With both Boston and Canada in a state of stalemate, there wasn’t a lot of active fighting going on in the Colonies. Not until, as we said yesterday, General Woodford stumbled into a bunch of British soldiers preparing to attack Hampton, VA. This set off the first major battle of the Revolution in a southern state, and one of our first significant victories. But in the meantime, Congress dis...

William Woodford was both smart and able to see the bigger picture. He’d already begun training his troops in earnest in anticipation of a British attack. Then the word came in that his men were to protect Norfolk or Portsmouth. When they began the march, they had not idea that they were about to stumble into a British attempt to attack amphibiously. Woodford’s men repelled the attack...

For what it’s worth, the picture I used for George Washington depicts what he looked like during the French and Indian War, which ended roughly twelve years prior to this date. But we wanted to show you that he didn’t always look like the guy on the dollar bill. After the firebombing and destruction of Falmouth, Massachusetts (and which we mention for the first time today, I think, is...

Peyton Randolph is another one of those Founding Fathers who goes largely unknown to most people, probably because he died relatively young (age 54) and early in the whole Independence movement. But Randolph was a true Patriot and while he wasn’t around to sign the Declaration of Independence, it’s said that his spirit was at the heart of the document. It’s worth noting that, as...

After the Pyrrhic victory at Bunker Hill, the fact that General Gage was about to be replaced probably came as a surprise to nobody. That he was replaced by William Howe…well, that also probably wasn’t a surprise. Howe had experienced success in the Seven Years’ War. And while he was known to have shown some sympathy with the Colonies (he’d voted against the Intolerable Act...

The Second Continental Congress was having a busy week, with the worries about the trade embargo going on, and whether ships from other nations could get in/out safely. And John Adams was worried, too–worried that he wouldn’t be able to keep up with the demand for gunpowder for the soldiers. One of the components of gunpowder is saltpeter, and while it isn’t hard to make, it&#821...

In the immediate aftermath of the destruction of Falmouth (then Massachusetts, now Maine), naturally there was a great deal of concern when it came to defending our shores from the British Navy. After all, the Brits had the most powerful navy in the the world, and the Americans…well, they’d barely gotten started putting theirs together. A couple of the colonies had started their own na...

There were two events marked today. One of them involves the continuation of a ban on exports of weapons to America. This was something that had to be formally declared every few months. Meanwhile down in South Carolina, a brief fight between two ships in the Charleston Harbor got local leaders thinking about the best way to keep the harbor protected. Their solution: set it up that the only way yo...

George Washington was a pretty smart guy. He knew exactly what his army needed, in all aspects. He had a handle on discipline, on supplies, on tactics and any number of other things. Washington surrounded himself with people who were smart, too. This went a long way toward ensuring his success. So when his army started to fall apart because some basic needs weren’t getting met, Washington to...