250 and Counting

First off, let me note that sometime this week we cracked the 1,000-download mark, and we have you to thank for that, especially inasmuch as 40% of that took place in the last 30 days or so. We’re grateful that you’re giving us this little slice of your life each day. We’re also happy to […]

The post July 25, 1775: Early Drafts of History appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Even when it’s Mike’s voice you hear on the episode, it’s Claude who takes the blame for the episode titles. It wasn’t a bad thing for members of the Continental Congress to disagree, but some level of decorum was still expected from those members. And almost certainly, one of the commandments was Thou Shalt Not […]

The post July 24, 1775: A Leaked Letter From Someone Who Knows Better appeared first on 250 and Counting.

John Adams wrote to his wife twice on this day in 1775. What did you do for your spouse that was such a big deal? In these letters, the sparks don’t fly the way they do in many others, but the affection he feels for her is still present nonetheless. That he took the time […]

The post July 23, 1775: John Adams Has Opinions appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Lord North gets kind of a bad rap for being the Prime Minister who “lost the colonies.” But the fact is, he mostly understood their concerns and was sympathetic to them. However, Parliament was itching for a fight and not making life easy for anyone involved. Lord North put forth a proposal to the Colonies […]

The post July 22, 1775: Lord North’s Motion appeared first on 250 and Counting.

We know: when an episode is a biography, we typically use a portrait of the person born on this day 250 years ago. But this time around is special: the artwork on today’s episode is a building that was erected by the subject of the episode. The McKim Free School is now the McKim Community […]

The post July 21, 1775: Isaac McKim appeared first on 250 and Counting.

As long as we’ve had a Constitution, the United States has had a nominal separation between church and state. What that means is that Congress isn’t able to establish a state-sanctioned religion. For longer than we’ve had a Constitution, Congress has proclaimed days of prayer of some kind or another. For a long time, these […]

The post July 20, 1775: A Tradition Begins appeared first on 250 and Counting.

John Andrew Shulze was the sixth governor of Pennsylvania and a member of the Muhlenberg political clan. So this was a guy with some heavy firepower behind him, and he managed to use some of it in righteous ways. Shulze wasn’t completely successful with all of his endeavors, but even when he failed, he laid […]

The post July 19, 1775: John Andrew Shulze appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Although Fort Johnston was originally a British fort, a few years into the Revolutionary War, the Colonies recognized that it could be a valuable place to have a fort, and in 1778 they appropriated the money to have it rebuilt. That fort was also destroyed and, although reconstruction began in 1794, it took many years […]

The post July 18, 1775: The Burning of Fort Johnston appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Given the fact that the existing government of Virginia was technically extra-legal, it’s a little amusing to think that they themselves felt the need to conduct extra-legal activities of their own. A more cynical mind would think that they were hedging their bets, so that if anything Revolutionary were to come up and the British […]

The post July 17, 1775: The Third Virginia Convention appeared first on 250 and Counting.

As noted a couple of days ago, Abigail and John Adams wrote to each other quite frequently. Their relationship was not only deep with love, but with admiration for one another. If you get an opportunity, read David McCullough’s biography of John or, better yet, the Library of America’s volume of Abigail’s letters (not just […]

The post July 16, 1775: Abigail and George appeared first on 250 and Counting.