250 and Counting

Some of what you’ll be hearing today will have overlap with yesterday’s episode, but we all have shorter memories, we read in an article…uh, somewhere. But in the long run, that’s okay, because context is everything, and it’s important to understand what a big deal this particular incident was against the bigger picture. The post May 28, 1775: The Battle of Chelsea Creek, pt.2 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Not to be confused with Chelsea of Battle Creek, who has worked for a famous cereal company for 28 years. (We may have made that up.) Lexington and Concord was the first “official” battle of the American Revolution, but at best it was a draw: Patriots took a bunch of losses, soldier-wise, but the British were forced to retreat under fire the entire time, and they wound up mostly sequestered in Boston when the dust settled. This could be considered the next chapter in that story, in that the Siege of Boston led directly to the events of this day, and the next, in 1775. Claude is setting up the story, and Mike will be finishing it off tomorrow. Enjoy! The post May 27, 1775: The Battle of Chelsea Creek, pt.1 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Despite everything that had already happened, there was still a sizeable chunk of the Second Continental Congress who thought that some form of reconciliation with England was possible. Under their logic, the fact that there had been fighting at Lexington and Concord should have provided King George with ample proof that his policies were unpopular, and maybe he could back off on them a little bit. In retrospect, we can see that this was rather short-sighted, and that those people truly didn’t understand the motivations that the English leadership had for their actions. Plus, England had history on their side: someone’s acting up? Squash them like bugs and get them all back in line. The post May 26, 1775: One More Attempt at Peace appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Sometimes it’s kind of tough to bring an image to life through an audio podcast, but we thought it was important enough that you needed to see it somehow. It’s oftentimes hard for us to understand just how wild the Thirteen Colonies were back in the day. In 1775, New York City was roughly a square mile of the southern tip of Manhattan. Where today’s Wall Street is was literally a wall, keeping out anything to the north. That’s another 13 miles of island (roughly) to the north which might have some Europeans living there, but not many. So, to that end… This is a map of modern-day Boston, with a neighborhood breakdown on it, per the city’s Office of Neighborhood Services: And this is the full map from the cover artwork. They’re slightly rotated to one another (more likely, the 1775 map is pointed toward magnetic north than true north), but the heart of Boston, at center left, is essentially the tip of today’s South Boston. On the map above, the siege line is about where the word “South” is printed. So it was pretty easy to set up a line of defense to keep the city isolated, especially since the city was surrounded by water on three sides. Supplies and people could get in and out by water, but the city itself was still cut off for anyone approaching by land. The post May 25, 1775: Reinforcements Arrive From Britain appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Even though he was President of the Second Continental Congress when the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 (whoops…spoiler alert), it’s entirely possible that John Hancock would be just one more guy who signed the document, except for the fact that he signed his name so large. His signature is so large and so well-known that you can say to someone “Give me your John Hancock” and they know exactly what you mean. Sure, we know John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, because they became presidents of the US, and Ben Franklin was already a living legend. But how many others can you name? See what we mean? Even if you’re a fan of 1776, you might only come up with a couple of others, and you’d still be trying to work out the name of the guy from the south with the white outfit on. And Richard Henry Lee doesn’t count because he didn’t sign the thing. It’s just some late-night thinking on my part. Addendum: for the next few nights I’m not in my usual recording space, so apologies in advance if you pick up some stray background noises. The post May 24, 1775: Congress Elects Its President appeared first on 250 and Counting.

New Jersey has been pretty quiet since the Lexington and Concord fighting took place. But no more: today they came back…with a vengeance! The post May 23, 1775: New Jersey Gets Into the Act appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Up until now, New Hampshire has been rather quiet when it came to resisting British rule. But today was the day that “Live Free or Die” was more than a motto for their license plates, which had yet to be invented. New Hampshire already had militias, of course, but they had a much broader range of available men from whom to choose. In addition, they organized themselves into a tight fighting force quicker than anyone imagined they would. The post May 22, 1775: New Hampshire Gets Into the Act appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Like so many people who lived in upstate New York in the Revolutionary era, David Woods was an immigrant from Ireland when he came over with his family in 1775. New York was unusual compared to the other colonies in that the overwhelming percentage of the population was immigrants; as a result it became a bit of an enclave for people from the UK and the Netherlands, so Woods blended in well. As a result, we believe that although he wasn’t a politician for very long, he did a solid job, which doesn’t always stand out from the bigger picture. The post May 21, 1775: David Woods appeared first on 250 and Counting.

When the folks in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, heard about the events at Lexington and Concord a month earlier, they were quite incensed. So much so that they decided they were going to declare independence from Britain. Maybe. Maybe not. Tune in as Mike explains the controversy. The post May 20, 1775: The Mecklenburg Declaration appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Baltimore has a lot of historic pride in its street names. Nearly all of them can be traced back to an historic figure or event: Key Highway, named after Francis Scott Key. (Also the Key Bridge, but we’re all still sad about that.) Fort Avenue, leading to Fort McHenry. And while I’m at it, McHenry Street, about two miles from the fort. The town also has John Street, Eager Street and Howard Streets, all of them named after John Eager Howard. one of the earliest governors of the state. During the revolution, a prominent family in the city of Baltimore was the Purviance Family, led by brothers Robert and Samuel Purviance. They were both well-known for their activities to support the Colonists’ side during the Revolution. Where are they memorialized?…Listen in and find out. P.S. I do have theories about this but I’m hoping to explore those in a later episode. The post May 19, 1775: From Sam Adams to Samuel Purviance appeared first on 250 and Counting.

People seem to have an inherent need to excuse their own unfortunate behaviors. One of the most common is to point to someone else breaking a rule and making it about them. Or, in the case of most of the battles of the early American Revolution, the colonists seemed always to be the aggressor, making their actions strictly an act of self-preservation. But what happens when you’ve captured all their horses? Tune in! The post May 18, 1775: 18th Century Spin Doctors appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Is it just me or does Daniel LeRoy look a lot like actor Richard Kind? Daniel LeRoy was born in upstate New York and started to put together a pretty good settlement, but an unfortunate choice on his part caused him to lose it all. So he moved west and rebuilt his life and, by most accounts, it’s reasonable to say that he did rather well in the Michigan Territory, and in the State after that area became our nation’s 26th. The post May 17, 1775: Daniel LeRoy appeared first on 250 and Counting.

While the Declaration of Independence was still about 15 months away, a small community in the far western reaches of Pennsylvania decided not to wait around for it to happen, and they took matters into their own hands. The Hanna’s Town Resolves was probably the most direct challenge to British rule to date, if you don’t count the stuff that involved shooting. Unfortunately, in the end the entire town paid the price and it was destroyed. However, on the same site you can visit reproductions of several of the structures that originally stood. Likewise, the original document of the Hanna’s Town Reserves was never recovered (and was probably destroyed in the fires that took out the town), but the text was reproduced in the Pennsylvania Gazette in August of that year, which is the only reason we know about it today. The post May 16, 1775: The Hanna’s Town Resolves appeared first on 250 and Counting.

The Second Continental Congress has only been convened for about five days and things are already heating up for them. Delegates are still arriving. Lexington and Concord has upset their original plans so they’re making alternate plans. And even the alternate plans they made five days ago are being amended. And then Virginia comes in with some crazy idea about Independence? Will the madness never end? (Spoiler alert: it doesn’t, but we’ll tell you if it ever does.) The post May 15, 1775: The Continental Congress Toughens Up appeared first on 250 and Counting.

The Thirteen Colonies didn’t have a lot in the way of a navy to help them with their battles, especially not against perhaps the biggest and best navy ever up until then. What they did have was people who were willing to act in lieu of a navy. Some of them did it out of sheer patriotism, and others were a little more mercenary about it. Specifically, privateers. Now, “privateers” sounds a little like “pirates” and people often use the words interchangeably. You should stop being friends with those people. Privateers are a specific breed of sailor. They’re government-sanctioned to act as a kind of ad-hoc navy, authorized to take action in times of war. Typically, their job was to disrupt merchant vessels (hence the confusion with pirates). It wasn’t long after the Revolution began that Fairhaven, Massachusetts, became a place known for privateer activity. Extra credit activity: check out the West Wing, Season 4, Episode 18. You’ll learn more about privateers, and as a bonus, you’ll never think of Francis Scott Key the same way ever again. The post May 14, 1775: Don’t Mess With Fairhaven appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Dr. Lyman Hall gets a little name recognition because he was a strong supporting character in the play/film 1776, but he was more involved in the Revolution than that. While Georgia (eventually) sent five delegates to the Continental Congress, Hall was one of the three who regularly attended and signed the Declaration of Independence. For instance, he ensured that food and medicine got to Colonial soldiers, and it was he who convinced the Georgia congress to send official delegates to the Second Continental Congress, himself among them. He also became the state’s first Governor and spent that single year establishing the state university. The post May 13, 1775: Lyman Hall Joins the Continental Congress appeared first on 250 and Counting.

A fort was built at Crown Point in 1730 by the French. The British attacked it twice before the French finally destroyed it in 1759. That same year the British began building a new fort for defending against the French. In 1773 it was partially destroyed in a fire. Since nobody had seriously threatened the area in thirteen years, the British didn’t really care and chose to keep a skeleton staff of nine soldiers there. So what made it such an important target to the Green Mountain Boys? Mike’s got the answer to that question. The post May 12, 1775: The Taking of Fort Crown Point appeared first on 250 and Counting.

When the Second Continental Congress convened, they spent a little time with the formalities of going over credentials and establishing some ground rules. But right after that, they got right down to business. They knew that they were going to move into a wartime footing immediately. They also knew that they wanted to operate in an “official” capacity, so they took the time to review, on the record, the events leading up to and including the battle at Lexington and Concord. They then adjourned until the next day, but tabled discussion of the state of America to the following Monday. (May 11 was a Thursday, so this wasn’t terribly out of line.) The post May 11, 1775: The Second Continental Congress Gets to Business appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Mike has done a pretty good job of covering the basic story in today’s episode, so I thought I’d spend a minute with you on the cover art. This image, which had to be cropped to fit the parameters of podcast art, is called a “conjectural work”, because it was created many years later based on accounts of people who were there. I’ve also seen the phrase “idealized depiction,” but I think “conjectural work” is more value-neutral. The original artist was named Alonzo Chappel, and he created this image in 1858, 78 years after the original event. It was converted to an engraving by Thomas Philbrown. And I know all this because it’s part of the New York Public Library’s Digital Collection. How accurate is it to actual events? It may be pretty close, since there are several different images available, each depicting all the same people in similar poses (though one appears to be flipped from the others, so that everyone is facing the other way). So I think there’s a pretty high degree of confidence that it looked a lot like this. Enjoy. The post May 10, 1775: The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga appeared first on 250 and Counting.

When it comes to the War of 1812, Baltimore and the Fort McHenry get to eat for free for a long time, because they get most of the good stories: the star-spangled banner and Francis Scott Key, the battle at North Point, the Shot Tower being briefly the highest structure in America, and so on. But there was a lot of fighting going on elsewhere, particularly in upstate New York, around the Great Lakes area, and General Jacob Brown was in the thick of it. He was a nationally-recognized war hero back in the day, but nowadays he’s largely forgotten. And more’s the pity. Listen in on a brief review of General Brown’s life. The post May 9, 1775: Jacob J. Brown appeared first on 250 and Counting.

If you’re like me, you’ll hear a less-common name from history and have yourself a moment of “Wait…I should know that name, but from where…?” William G. Weld was one of those names, but it turns out that William wasn’t necessarily the famous one here; it’s just that he was a direct ancestor of so many other people named Weld. Listen in and learn about the patriarch of a family of merchants and politicians, and suddenly it’ll come to you that it wasn’t THIS William Weld you’re thinking of…it’s his great-great-great grandson, also named William, who got a bunch of press in recent years. [wordpress] The post May 8, 1775: William G. Weld appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Joseph Wanton was elected governor of Rhode Island in 1769, and every year he was re-elected to the position. By all accounts he did a good job and looked out for his constituents. Then came the events at Lexington and Concord. Wanton wasn’t a Loyalist, but he did think that a war with England wouldn’t be especially productive, and when the General Assembly thought that it was time to raise an army, Wanton refused to do so. Unfortunately for him, he was in the space between his re-election and his taking the oath of office, and the Assembly used the opportunity to run him out of the office. The post May 7, 1775: Joseph Wanton is Prevented from Becoming Governor appeared first on 250 and Counting.

First, I think we need to address the elephant in the room that Mike brought up during this episode: Winona Ryder comes third out of four; Katharine Hepburn and Saoirse Ronan are way ahead. And let’s just pretend June Allyson didn’t happen. Mary Sherwood is one of those authors who, it appears, was fated to fade into obscurity after dying despite the huge popularity they enjoyed in life. It still happens today; ask anyone under 40 about Erma Bombeck or Kurt Vonnegut. Fortunately you have us to learn a little bit about her and her work. [powerpress} The post May 6, 1775: Mary Sherwood appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Alexander McNair wasn’t especially well-educated, but he became a judge and a governor of a territory and then that same area when it became a state, so he must have had something going on besides high-level friends. Then again, as governor, he wasn’t able to get a ton of stuff done, and when his term ended he took on a Federal job just for the money. So, for a guy who spent so much time in the “Show-Me State”, he didn’t really have much to show. The post May 5, 1775: Alexander McNair, First Governor of Missouri appeared first on 250 and Counting.

As we noted a few days ago, both Payton Randolph and George Washington managed to quell a couple of militia-based riots which would have resulted in the torching of the Royal Governor’s mansion. Both of those riots came from Fredericksburg. What nobody counted on, however, was that militia from other parts of Virginia had the same idea to march on Williamsburg and wreak a little havoc. They were led by Patrick Henry, who (let’s face it) extorted payment for the missing gunpowder from Lord Dunmore, and then took off for Philadelphia to deliver the money. Dunmore called him out on it, declaring Henry an outlaw, and the Virginia citizens acted accordingly. I’ve said too much here; listen in to see what they did. The post May 4, 1775: How the Gunpowder Incident Ended appeared first on 250 and Counting.

More often than not, items that appear in the Bill of Rights derive directly from actions that the British took at one time or another in the past. Ban guns, will you? Here’s a nice Second Amendment. Ban free speech? Here’s your First Amendment. And so on. Today’s edition could be considered a Part Two to the events of April 16, when the Massachusetts Spy had to pack up shop and hightail it out of Boston down the road some forth miles to Worcester specifically so it could keep publishing. On this day, the Spy sprang back to life. The post May 3, 1775: You Can’t Keep a Good Spy Down appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Rachel Walker Revere was Paul Revere’s second wife. When he married her, he’d only been a widower for a few months, so clearly she made a big impression on him, especially since they remained together until her death in 1813 (one year after the portrait in today’s artwork was painted), and he didn’t remarry after that. Rachel was a very supportive wife to Paul, by most accounts, but she was also willing to give him grief when he deserved it, as you’ll learn in today’s episode. The post May 2, 1775: Meet Rachel Revere appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Wellll….ordered to be destroyed. But it didn’t happen. Oddly, it was also quite susceptible to the foibles of weather, so when the British took South Carolina back five years later, it was assumed that the garrison had been destroyed on purpose, but nobody knows for sure. The post May 1, 1775: Invasion of Quebec, and a Fort is Destroyed appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Nova Scotia could have been the fourteenth state, except we ruined it for them over the whole fishing rights thing. And then when push came to shove, they decided that rebellion wasn’t for them, and they sent troops down to Boston to help the British there. Ain’t that a kick in the head! The post April 30, 1775: The Fourteenth Colony appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Payton Randolph was the Speaker of the House of Burgesses during this period in 1775, and while what was said wasn’t recorded, he managed to put down two riots in which Virginians were ready to trash the Royal Governor’s place with the Royal Governor inside of it. He did it twice. No question, this man was a patriot who cared deeply about the soul of its people. And if he hadn’t died just a few months later, he would almost certainly have been a name we’d have heard a lot more often in recent years. The post April 29, 1775: The Gunpowder Incident, Part 2 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Jonathan Trumbull was one of only two men to serve as governor of a Colony and of a State. (Nicholas Cooke of Rhode Island was the other.) This, to us, gives him a kind of air that perhaps he could be trusted by all parties to act appropriately. And when push came to shove, Trumbull found himself in the position of having to support the Colony rather than the crown, as you’ll see in today’s episode. And as things further deteriorated, he became more focal about supporting the Colony, since the British no longer appeared to view the Colonists as subjects of the Crown but as a genuine enemy to be crushed. (Which is exactly how many in Parliament felt, so.) The post April 28, 1775: Jonathan Trumbull Chooses a Side appeared first on 250 and Counting.

The war was hot in Massachusetts, but it was still cold elsewhere. But that didn’t mean that there wasn’t rebellious activity going on, since by this point everyone knew what was going on up north. It manifested itself in different ways. In Maryland, it appeared that Patriots were straight-up lying to the Royal Governor in order to deprive the British troops of some of their arms and gunpowder stores. And in North Carolina, the Royal Governor loudly declaimed his disdain for anyone who didn’t agree with him. Unfortunately for him, that included the entire North Carolina Assembly. Their response was to do exactly the opposite of everything he asked. The post April 27, 1775: Skullduggery and Rebellion Here & There appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Josiah Quincy—who we’ve talked about before; remember that portrait?—would have been one of the more prominent men we speak of when we use venerated tones about the Founding Fathers, had it not been for the fact that he died just as the war was getting started. The post April 26, 1775: Josiah Quincy II Dies at Sea appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Benedict Arnold was a pretty smart guy who chose the wrong friends…and, as we’ll discover later on, the wrong enemies as well. But for the time being, here’s a peek into some of Arnold’s activities when he was still on our side in both body and spirit. The post April 25, 1775: Benedict Arnold Wasn’t All Bad appeared first on 250 and Counting.

The testimony of John Robins is what teachers like to call “primary sources”. It’s a document prepared by someone contemporary to an event, and even if the narrator is unreliable, we learn much more from it than from, say, something that was written long after the fact. In the case of John Robins’ testimony regarding events at Lexington and Concord, the events were still fresh in his mind, having happened only a few days earlier. And because it derived from an official proceeding, that document was reasonably well-preserved and serves as a fascinating window into one of the most important events of our history. And as for Robins himself, he was a relatively common man who happened to be part of the militia that day and might have been otherwise forgotten. The post April 24, 1775: Eyewitness Testimony from Lexington & Concord appeared first on 250 and Counting.

I (Claude) suppose that I should note that for a few days last week I sounded a little odd. You’re not wrong; I was not in my usual recording space and not using my usual recording equipment; what’s more I was plagued by allergies and sounded a little rough on top of the funky acoustics. I hope it didn’t bug you too much. Anyway. Today, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress takes the time to organize its militiamen into a decent army. Meanwhile in New York, word gets out about Lexington and Concord, and people in that colony have a big decision to make. The post April 23, 1775: Boston Needs a Few Good Men appeared first on 250 and Counting.

In the aftermath of the battles at Lexington and Concord, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress held a series of hearings to determine who fired the first shot. The purpose of the hearings was partially to find out exactly what had happened, but it had another purpose: if it turned out that the British had fired first, then the Assembly could turn to England and say “SEE? It wasn’t us!” Even 250 years ago, Congressional hearings had a second agenda attached to them. (*sigh*) In the end, despite getting lots of testimony, the answer was still somewhat murky. But the Assembly still had enough information to give reconciliation one last shot. The post April 22, 1775: Who Shot First? appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Word spread rather quickly about the events at Lexington and Concord, and everybody mobilized to be ready for when (rather than if) hostilities broke out. Most people were arming themselves and avoiding confiscation of supplies by the British, but in South Carolina they turned the tables and did a little confiscating of their own. The post April 21, 1775: We Can Confiscate Arms, Too appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Word was already getting out about the fighting in and near Boston. While Virginia hadn’t been much of a concern to anyone until then, the British wanted to ensure that there wouldn’t be any trouble. So in the middle of the night, they removed the gunpowder from the magazine at Williamsburg. Oddly, as we’ll learn shortly, this wasn’t a popular move on their part. The post April 20, 1775: The Williamsburg Gunpowder Incident appeared first on 250 and Counting.

This is the big one, and it’s a date that many people don’t remember, but today is the day that the Revolutionary War officially began. Oh sure, there were a few skirmishes here and there, which we’ve already discussed in earlier episodes. But this was the true tipping point from which nobody could recover or walk back. Looking through social media the past couple of days, it’s heartwarming to see the number of events commemorating the 250th anniversary of things like Paul Revere’s ride, and the sheer number of people who are participating, even if they’re doing something relatively simple such as putting two lights in a high window of their homes. We don’t recommend that you spend today shooting at British people wearing red, though. The post April 19, 1775: The War Begins at Lexington and Concord appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Once in awhile, we fear that students of history don’t necessarily put things into the appropriate perspective when it comes to dates. We offer them some facts regarding what happened and when, but the events still kind of mush together. That’s how we get the Simpsons joke: “Let’s take a look back at the year 1928- the year when you might have seen Al Capone dancing the Charleston on top of a flagpole!” To that end, students might place the Boston Massacre, say, as quite close in the timeline to the start of the Revolutionary War, when in fact they happened several years apart. But at this specific period of time, things were in fact moving quickly and closely together: Colonies were lining up behind Massachusetts, various areas began to prepare for all-out war, General Gage was doing his best to control the colonists based on the orders that were sent to him several weeks earlier from London, and Lord North was in fact hoping to provoke the colonists into doing something that would give him a reason to crush them hard. So when word got out that the British were coming up the Charles river to make a move on Concord and Lexington, Colonist spies were wise to it and they got the word out as fast as they could. Listen, my children, and you will hear. The post April 18, 1775: Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride appeared first on 250 and Counting.

War was coming closer, but nobody knew just how close. Two committees came together in Concord to make plans. They arranged for certain munitions to be moved around, for others to be prepared for action, and to ask people to lead combat units. And if those people said “No Thanks,” who the backup person would be. Then they all went out to a nearby tavern, as you do when planning a revolution. But nobody could suspect that the time from then to the war was measurable in hours by then, not by weeks. The post April 17, 1775: Some Prescient Preparations appeared first on 250 and Counting.

I (Claude) remember once reading something about how it’s not so much the dates on the tombstones so much as it is the dash in between the dates. Because the dates represent singular events, but a lot of stuff happened during the dash. And while that sentiment is often so much glurge, it does get me to thinking sometimes about the legacies left behind by tombstones. These were people who wanted to be remembered somehow. That’s not to say that people who choose to be cremated or buried at sea or dispensed with by some other means don’t want to be remembered; they just don’t seem to care whether there’s a marker saying I WAS AND NOW I’M NOT. These are largely the types who feel that you’re forgotten when your name is spoken for the last time, or when the last person who remembers you is, themselves, dead. Sylvester Maxwell, to me, is in an odd place. We have his name and we know a few things about him, but we don’t have a good handle on who he was. He could be any one of hundreds of stones we pass in any given cemetery. I’m getting maudlin here; I apologize. And I’m on vacation! In a beach condo! I gotta lighten up! Okay, then: for all that, Mike has a story for you about Sylvester Maxwell. And there is something rather notable about his life, that he’ll tell you about. Enjoy. I’m going to see if I can get some Vitamin D the natural way. Aw, man. It’s night time. The post April 16, 1775: Sylvester Maxwell appeared first on 250 and Counting.

In retrospect, we feel like we may be picking on this historic site a little bit. In fact, the park surrounding the ruins of Fort Pownall are quite nice for hiking, biking, picnics and, as we mentioned, there are historical markers all over the place so you do get a sense of how important this particular site was. At any rate, on April 5 we told you about a detachment sent to the fort to disarm the place; today was the day that they arrived and succeeded, because even if spies knew about it (and they almost certainly did), word was not going to get to the fort in time to prevent what was going to happen. N.B. for those of you who download the episodes as they come out, apparently the audio didn’t attach to this post correctly. Our apologies. It should be in your feed now. The post April 15, 1775: The Short Life of Fort Pownall appeared first on 250 and Counting.

(Note: it’s in the alt text for the image, but in the interest of broader accuracy and general transparency, we know that this artwork isn’t the symbol for an American abolitionist society but rather a British one. But this is one of those cases where the story works better than the truth, and we found it to be a powerful image that underlines the intent of the tale. In short, let it go this once, OK?–CC) It might come as a surprise to you that societies dedicated to the elimination of slavery in America came about as early as this, especially inasmuch as we had other things on our mind, such as the largest army in the world putting us in their sights. It might also come as a surprise that the one that came first in America, exists still, but with a different focus. Tune in and learn their story. The post April 14, 1775: America’s First Abolitionists appeared first on 250 and Counting.

It seems fitting that groups like this changed names and designations quickly, given that events in the Colonies were also moving quickly. In two events this week, we’ve told you stories of armies that were raised to defend individual colonies but quickly became part of the Continental Army. The Light Dragoons of North Carolina would be one of those groups. Likewise, the rest of this episode is a throwback to TWO earlier episodes, as the activities are formally recorded in the Virginia Gazette. The post April 13, 1775: North Carolina Raises the Dragoons appeared first on 250 and Counting.

First off: apologies for the late posting. I had a very rough night last night, and there was no element of today that was my own. We’ve all had days like that, I think, and I thank you for your forbearance. A lot of people get their American History from the play 1776, and it’s mostly accurate with the facts, if not necessarily with the people involved or the specific dates. And that’s also why it gets cited here as often as it does: we hope that the common cultural touchstone provided by the play demonstrates to you that it wasn’t entirely made up, though the writers did play a little fast and loose to make for a good story. As a result of this play, most people think that Virginia came up with the whole Independence thing first, and there’s a kernel of truth in it: the activity leading to the Declaration did emerge from the Lee Resolution, but North Carolina was the first to send delegates to the Continental Congress with instructions to call for independence, through something called the “Halifax Resolves.” The post April 12, 1775: North Carolina Takes the First Step appeared first on 250 and Counting.

When the HMS Somerset first reached Boston, she was an old, leaky, weathered mess. Admiral Graves asked for permission to repair it, and while the work was slow at first, the sailors actually managed to get the important parts of the work completed. By this day in 1775, the ship was considered seaworthy and capable of doing more from its perch in the harbor, so Graves moved it into the place of two other ships, largely to demonstrate that he could do it, and safely. Had the lookouts been more alert when the battles of Lexington and Concord first broken out, the outcome could have been quite different. The post April 11, 1775: Graves Brings in The Big Guns appeared first on 250 and Counting.

This isn’t the first time you’ll see a statement like this, but the bottom line is: the history books aren’t 100% correct. Sure, the Shot Heard Round The World was at Lexington and Concord. But that’s not where the fighting started. Nearly two weeks before Concord, there were small battles going on in Assonet, Massachusetts, near the Rhode Island border. The post April 10, 1775: Skirmishes in Assonet, MA appeared first on 250 and Counting.

In January of 1775 someone took the time to write a 1400-word account of a riot that took place in Annapolis, Maryland just a few days earlier. The pseudonymous author alleged that a shipload of tea was burned in the harbor as an alternative to destroying the tea and tar-and-feathering the ship’s owner. But word got back to the folks in Annapolis, of course, and they countered with a resolution involving a reprinting of that article, plus a refutation of the allegations made. The basic thrust? The guy made it all up, and whatever he didn’t make up still isn’t true; it just happens to be close to the truth. Who’s the woman in the cover art? Tune in and find out. The post April 9, 1775: Something’s Happening…Maybe Not appeared first on 250 and Counting.