250 and Counting

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 […]

The post Jeromus Johnson–November 2, 1775 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

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 […]

The post Congress Gets Bad News–November 1, 1775 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

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 […]

The post Sam Adams on Armies–October 31, 1775 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

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 5th 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, […]

The post Sally Scott Murray–October 30, 1775 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

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 […]

The post An Intercepted Gift–October 29, 1775 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

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 […]

The post Dorothy Becomes Mrs. Hancock–October 28, 1775 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

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 […]

The post It’s Finally Official–October 27, 1775 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

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 […]

The post A New Facet of War–October 26, 1775 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

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 […]

The post An Unexpected Battle–October 25, 1775 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

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 […]

The post When Washington Couldn’t Help–October 24, 1775 appeared first on 250 and Counting.