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 250 and Counting.

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 and Counting.

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 first on 250 and Counting.

One of the most common things written about George Washington is that he always behaved like a gentleman, and expected others to behave the same way; following protocol was very, very important to him. When he was sixteen years old, he copied out by hand 110 rules of Civility & Decent Behavior inCompany and Conversation, […]

The post You Don’t Mess Around With George–July 14, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

That the Southwick Broadside version of the Declaration of Independence isn’t as famous as the Dunlap Broadside shouldn’t be a surprise, since the Dunlap is the first one, and the one on which all the others are based. The the Southwick has the wrong date on it is an interesting nugget of information. It’s worth […]

The post Rhode Island Gets The Declaration–July 13, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

In the play/film 1776, John Dickinson is portrayed as a Loyalist from the Pennsylvania Colony whose goal is to obstruct any efforts at achieving Independence. When his efforts fail, he resigns from the Congress and leaves, though John Adams publicly admires his integrity before Dickinson departs. (Leave us alone; 1776 is a delightful film and […]

The post The Constitution’s First Draft–July 12, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

White Plains, New York, calls itself the birthplace of the State of New York, and this day in 1776 is the reason why. The provincial congress, having fled New York City to White Plains, received a copy of the Declaration of Independence and immediately approved it, then resolved to change their name from “The Provincial […]

The post New York Becomes A State–July 11, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Samuel Powell is another one of those early Representatives in our government about whom little is known from a legislative standpoint. We have odd details noting that he became a lawyer “prior to 1800” because we don’t really know how he got there. And another detail that we have about Samuel Powell is that, after […]

The post Samuel Powell–July 10, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.