250 and Counting

(Yeah, we couldn’t fit all that on the title card and have the artwork still visible.) Happy St. Patrick’s Day, if you’re the type to celebrate! We have a little Easter Egg (shamrock?) in this episode for you. Ninian Edwards was an interesting character in that he tried very hard to make the best choices […]

The post March 17, 1775: Ninian Edwards and His Illinois Doings appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Over the last few days we’ve heard from several counties in Virginia sending delegates and instructions to the Second Virginia Convention, which would meet in another few days. Many of these counties published their instructions, called “Resolves,” in newspapers, so that anyone who was literate would know where the freeholders of those counties stood. And […]

The post March 16, 1775: The Augusta Resolves appeared first on 250 and Counting.

The New York colony gets a bad reputation for not having its act together when it came to American Independence, but the fact is, they were late to the party because they held on to their loyalty to the Crown until there was clearly no more reason to do so. Simply put, they were the […]

The post March 15, 1775: New York Calls for Delegates appeared first on 250 and Counting.

John Murray, the Fourth Earl of Dunmore, or more commonly Lord Dunmore, came to the Colonies in 1770 to become the Royal Governor of New York, but fate intervened and he wound up as the Royal Governor of Virginia instead. He might have fared better in New York, but given the events of the Westminster […]

The post March 14, 1775: Lord Dunmore Calls for Help appeared first on 250 and Counting.

The Westminster Massacre was a seminal event in the history of both the United States and the State of Vermont. At that time, Vermont was a disputed territory between New York, which was loaded with Loyalists, and New Hampshire, which had many Patriots. So when a group of five dozen New Yorkers showed up to […]

The post March 13, 1775: The Westminster Massacre appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Henry Eckford was born in Scotland on this day in 1775 and died in Constantinople in 1832. In between he spent a great deal of time in the Thirteen Colonies and then the United States, primarily in New York. Eckford also dabbled in politics, serving in the state legislature and as a delegate to the […]

The post March 12, 1775: Henry Eckford, Shipbuilder appeared first on 250 and Counting.

The Botetourt Resolutions was a document prepared by the freeholders of Botetourt County in Virginia that sent instructions to its representatives in the Second Virginia Convention. Botetourt doesn’t get a lot of attention nowadays, largely because the Fincastle Resolutions arrived first and laid down nearly identical sentiments. But as we’ll see in the next few […]

The post March 11, 1775: The Botetourt Resolutions appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Because of popular culture in the 1950s and 1960s, Daniel Boone is probably one of the more colorful figures in American history. He was born in Pennsylvania, but it was in the frontier territory. He had little formal education, but he could read and write, even if his spelling was unorthodox. (In fact, oftentimes when […]

The post March 10, 2025: Daniel Boone Paves the Way for Kentucky appeared first on 250 and Counting.

We’ve talked about the New England Restraining Acts in the past, but now they’re being put to actual votes by Parliament. And on this day in 1775, they take another step forward when the House of Commons passes the measure. With still more economic pressure placed on the Colonies (and the Act itself, by the […]

The post March 9, 1775: The Restraining Act Moves Forward appeared first on 250 and Counting.

It was on this day that an essay appeared in the Pennsylvania Journal advocating for the abolition of slavery. The content wasn’t a huge surprise for Pennsylvania, but the interesting thing is: the essay is known for being written under a pen name, and for a long time, people were pretty sure they knew who […]

The post March 8, 1775 appeared first on 250 and Counting.