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 .

That Charles Lee turned out to be giving information to the British is one of those things that feels obvious in retrospect. As Mike notes during the episode, Lee was passed over for command of the Continental Army, and even though he was still in a position of importance and command, things like that can […] The post When Accusation Is A Confession–July 22, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting...

David Bushnell came up with the idea for the Turtle submersible only days after Lexington and Concord. He’d been working on several different experiments he’d conducted at Yale College, and found a way to integrate them into a single device to use against the British. The Turtle was revolutionary (heh) in a couple of ways: […] The post Testing A Turtle–July 21, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Count...

The Battle of Island Flats was yet another step in the Chickamauga War, or the Cherokee-American War (call it what you like). We first talked about this on July 1, when the first attacks began in earnest. And then again just under a week ago at the Battle of Fort Lindley. The thing about these […] The post The Battle of Island Flats–July 20, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

As I explained during the episode, “engrossing” was the practice of having a formal document written out in a larger hand for public presentation. This often had different purposes: some were engrossed to make them more attractive; this was typically called illuminating, and the most typical examples are the ornate Bible pages you see from […] The post Engrossing–July 19, 1776 appeared first on 25...

Coming up with a model treaty wasn’t John Adams’ idea, but it turned out to be a very good idea that he was responsible for implementing. Once Adams had it in his head, he began to work on the model treaty along with the committee, and while it was intended to be used for commercial […] The post Adams’ Model Treaty–July 18, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

That George Washington agreed to meet with Colonel James Patterson was a bit of a surprise. He’d turned down the opportunity to meet with his British counterparts on multiple occasions, but when asked if he’d meet with one of those men’s officers, Washington accepted the offer. Once the meeting was set, Washington was more gracious […] The post No Way, No Howe–July 17, 1776 appeared first on 250 a...

John Alsop was born in 1724 in New Windsor, Orange County, in the British Province of New York. He was the son of John Alsop, Sr. and Abigail Sackett. His father was a lawyer in New Windsor and later New York City, where he was largely interested in real estate. As a young man he […] The post John Alsop Steps Out–July 16, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

The raids along the Catawba River in North Carolina we talked about on July 1 were just the beginning of the Cherokee-American Wars; the next major effort was an attack on Fort Lindley, not far from modern-day Greenville, South Carolina. It’s not entirely clear when Fort Lindley was first constructed; there are indications here and […] The post The Battle of Fort Lindley–July 15, 1776 appeared fir...