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 […]

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. […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

The post April 17, 1775: Some Prescient Preparations appeared first on 250 and Counting.