250 and Counting

When you first hear the word “Privateers” and its definition, your mind probably goes to your basic concept of a pirate: someone who attacks a ship and plunders its hold for anything valuable. And you wouldn’t be entirely wrong, but there’s still a difference. A privateer is essentially a pirate who’s working on the right […]

The post Here Come The Privateers–March 23, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

To be perfectly clear, William Tryon was never popular on this side of the pond. When he was appointed Lieutenant Governor in North Carolina in 1764, he wasn’t able to move into the usual housing for a man of that title because the previous inhabitant refused to move out. When the Stamp Act was enacted […]

The post William Tryon Isn’t Popular–March 22, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

John Frelinghuysen was born on this day in 1776 (hey! Cake and Candles for this man!) and died in 1833. Like many people of the time, he never permanently left the area where he was born. Born there, lived and worked there, died there. He probably went to Trenton on business a few times, and […]

The post John Frederick Frelinghuysen–March 21, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

While preparing to depart Boston for New York, George Washington appointed Nathaniel Greene to run things for awhile until everything was back in order. Fortunately for both Greene and Washington, matters straightened out rather quickly, because Greene was called to join Washington just a few weeks later. Nathaniel Greene was tasked with fortifying Brooklyn while […]

The post Meet The New Boss–March 20, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Philemon Beecher is an unusual name (said the guy named Claude Call, sigh), but that’s on us for not recognizing it as a name from the Bible. Philemon was a man to whom the apostle Paul wrote while in prison. He was in prison more than once, but it’s not entirely clear which stretch Paul […]

The post Philemon Beecher–March 19, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

In the aftermath of the siege of Boston, it was incumbent upon George Washington and his men to re-enter the city and take stock of its condition. Mike brings up Artemas Ward in today’s episode, and I’m pretty sure that was the first time his name has come up in the course of this podcast. […]

The post Reviewing Boston–March 18, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

It’s been 333 days since Lexington and Concord, when the British were forced to retreat to Boston and were bottled up there by Colonial forces. It’s been a week since the British said “enough” and decided to effect their departure from the city as soon as the weather cooperated. But today, the day finally came. […]

The post The Siege Ends–March 17, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

As we noted back in July, a day of prayer, humiliation and fasting wasn’t new to the Continental Congress. (Go back to that episode’s show notes to see my explanation of the word “humiliation” in this context.) And, as Mike notes in the episode, it wasn’t even close to the last for this Congress. That’s […]

The post A Special Proclamation–March 16, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Georgia delegates to the Second Continental Congress numbered exactly one until around this time. That would be Dr. Lyman Hall, who didn’t believe it was ethical for him to represent the entire colony when he knew that feelings were largely divided back home. Then came the Battle of the Rice Boats, on March 2 and […]

The post Georgia Gets In The Game–March 15, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

There’s a ninth season episode of The Simpsons called “Sideshow Bob’s Last Gleaming” in which Bart’s nemesis, Sideshow Bob, steals a nuclear bomb and threatens to detonate it unless the town disables all of its television broadcasts. He delivers this ultimatum via a Jumbotron screen. Before ending the transmission, he says, “By the way, I’m […]

The post Congress Makes A Tough Call–March 14, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.