250 and Counting

This day in American History, 250 years ago.

  • The Question is Called–June 7, 1776

    Cover art for June 7, 1776: An 1861 steel engraving of Richard Henry Lee, based on an 1860 painting by Alonzo Chappel. Part of the Massachusetts Historical Society Online Collection.

    It was one of the last major steps before the Declaration, and it happened on this day. The Lee Resolution, as it came to be known, was named after Richard Henry Lee, delegate from Virginia, who was given instructions from his government to propose that the Colonies become designated as free and independent states.

    Now, because some of the delegates didn’t have specific instructions on the Lee Resolution, and because Congress had long ago decided that votes needed to be unanimous, the vote was postponed for three weeks to give everyone an opportunity to get instructions from home. It took 26 days rather than 21 to get everyone to the point of voting, with the exception of New York, which was under instructions not to vote at all, so they abstained from voting until mid-July, at which point they finally also cast their Yes vote because a new legislative body was in place.

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  • William Reed–June 6, 1776

    Cover art for June 6, 1776: Portrait of William Reed, attributed to Gilbert Stuart or James Frothingham, date unknown.

    Mike is having a big day today (that is, his son is having a big day), so apologies for the delay in getting today’s episode to you, and thanks for your patience.

    William Reed was from Marblehead, Massachusetts, and while Mike has said about all there is to say, I thought I’d talk about Marblehead a little bit.

    I had an aunt who lived there when I was a small child (under 10 or so). I don’t know when she moved there, but when I visited she’d already picked up a strong local accent (pahk the cah and all like that).

    Now, Mike told you a little about Marblehead’s importance as a mariner’s town, and the docks are lovely to see as a tourist, to be sure. But the thing that really impressed me—if we’re being totally honest here—is that the town hall/museum there is the home of the famous painting The Spirit of ’76, a/k/a Yankee Doodle, by Archibald Willard, and at right here.

    It’s a terribly famous painting and most people don’t know who the artist was. Again: ARCHIBALD WILLARD.

    The other impressive thing about this painting is that it’s not nearly as big as you think it is. It’s about 18 x 24 inches. And even though there are photos of young me, alongside my grandparents (who took younger me on this visit), even in my memory it’s a big painting, despite knowing that it isn’t.

    The Mandela Effect…boy, I don’t know.

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  • Congress Does Some War Business–June 5, 1776

    Cover art for June 5, 1776: "American Uniforms, 1775-1783" by H.A. Ogden, 1889, as part of a larger series documenting the evolution of American uniforms.

    Using the input of George Washington from just a few days earlier, the Second Continental Congress wasted little time putting together some Continental Army protocols to ensure that this relatively ragtag group of men would adhere to some kind of formalized behavior.

    But the Continental Army protocols they worked on also helped to establish better pay for some personnel, or set up protocol ranks for some otherwise non-officer personnel.

    And, of course, getting everyone paid was important so they talked about that as well.

    And as we creep closer to a formal declaration announcing the break with Britain, more Congressional delegates are convinced that reconciliation was always on the table, at least until quite recently. Robert Morris wrote as much to Silas Deane of Connecticut, and likewise Oliver Wolcott wrote to Roger Newberry, a Connecticut military officer, that he was of the opinion that the army is undertaking a Mighty Cause, and that as far as he could tell, the people support it.

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  • Isaac Van Houten–June 4, 1776

    Cover art for June 4, 1776: aerial view of Clarkstown in 2010, looking south. via Wikimedia Commons.

    The Rockland County area of New York State is some lovely country. It’s just north of New York City and, along with adjacent Duchess and Westchester Counties, could be considered the heart of the area where the Dutch settlers came and stayed.

    As a result you’ll find many place names that have Dutch origins. This is why so many places in the downstate New York area (the triangle above NYC) end in “-kill”, because “kill” is dutch for “creek.” Thus, “Fishkill” means “fish creek”.

    At any rate, while not a lot is known about Isaac Van Houten, it’s clear that he almost certainly has Dutch ancestry, given both his name and his hometown along the lower Hudson River.

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  • Congressional Mail–June 3, 1776

    Cover art for June 3, 1776: portrait of Josiah Bartlett. Painted by Edwin Tryon Billings, mezzotint, after a portrait by John Trumbull. The original by Trumbull hangs in the State House in Concord, New Hampshire

    Josiah Bartlett was, in fact, the inspiration for the presidential character who appears in the TV show The West Wing. The modern day president, Jed Bartlet only spelled his name with a single T at the end, but it was only around this time that the spelling of English words was starting to standardize, so Bartlett gets a pass.

    Bartlett, of course, was involved in the creation of the state constitution, and while he declined the position of US Senator in 1789 despite the vote, he accepted the position of Chief Executive in 1790. When New Hanpshire adopted a constitution and became a state, Bartlett’s title changed to Governor. In 1794 he resigned because of his health, and in 175 he died.

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  • RIP John Thomas–June 2, 1776

    Cover art for June 2, 1776: Portrait of John Thomas. Stipple engraving based on a 1775 pastel portrait by Benjamin Blyth. By Scan by NYPL - https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47db-92db-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52899662

    John Thomas was a doctor and a soldier from Massachusetts who was in Quebec during the attempted invasion and was in charge of the withdrawal until he got smallpox and died on this day in 1776.

    Thomas discovered he liked military service about as much as he liked being a surgeon, so in 1747 he became a lieutenant in the British army. A few years later he served as a surgeon for a different regiment.

    In the early days of the Revolution, Thomas nearly quit the Continental Army because he wasn’t named as a major general. At the time, Congress was trying to avoid having all its generals come from the same place, and Artemis Ward got the nod instead. It was only because both George Washington and Charles Lee both talked him into staying that he remained in the army and returned to service. Shortly thereafter he was assured that he would get top priority for advancement.

    It was that which led directly to his being assigned to command in Canada when Richard Montgomery was killed. Unfortunately for him, what he found when he arrived in Quebec was a mess: the army was far outnumbered (plus the city had walls), about a third of the Continental soldiers were due—or overdue—for discharge, and smallpox was making its way through the camp.

    Also unfortunately, as the smallpox moved through the camp, it made a stop at Roberts’ tent, and he died just a few weeks after arriving in Canada.

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  • George Schetky–June 1, 1776

    Cover art for June 1, 1776: Logo of the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia. We do hope they get some extra attention and don't hold it against us for swiping this off their website.

    George Schetky came from a very musical family. As we mention in the episode, his father was also a cellist and composer who was originally from Vienna. As a result his home always had plenty of music present and was a regular hub of performances.

    In fact, one could say that the Schetky family was a musical dynasty, between George, his father, his uncle on his mother’s side (Alexander Reinagle) amd others. Thus, he was a virtuoso on the cello before he ever set foot in America.

    George came to America to stay with his uncle Alexander in Philadelphia, who was already well established there, and got himself into the local music scene as a performer and a teacher. This penchant for teaching also led him to theater programs including educational pamphlets so that patrons would understand the importance of the piece they were about to hear.

    And, of course, Schetky was important in the founding of the Musical Fund Society of Phladelphia, which is dedicated to artistic advancement and musician welfare even now, over 200 years later.

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  • José Antonio de la Garza–May 31, 1776

    Cover art for May 31, 1776: Closeup of each side of the coins minted by José Antonio de la Garza. Image reportedly came from KVUE-TV in Austin but we can't pin it down as definitively their image.

    José Antonio de la Garza was born in what we now call San Antonio. They may have called it that back then as well, but the area was called San Antonio de Béjar at the time, and was a mission around which the eventual city grew.

    Texas was still a territory belonging to Mexico (i.e., Spain), and in the early 1700s the popular thought was that building these missions would strengthen Spain’s claims to the territory. That…sort of worked for awhile, until disputed territories were locked into treaties, or ceded one way or another, or occupied by a military force.

    At any rate, once you’ve listened to the episode, you’ll have a better understanding of how Texas got its nickname.

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  • Back From Canada–May 30, 1776

    Cover art for May 30, 1776: Detail of an oil sketch depicting Samuel Chase, Charles Carroll and Benjamin Franklin on their diplomatic mission to Canada. Father John Carroll's hand is entering from right. Created by J. Carroll Mansfield, probably for an exhibition called Cavalcade of Colonial Maryland, 1943.

    Ben Franklin in Canada isn’t completely unreasonable, even though he was already the oldest delegate to the Continental Congress at 70. He was America’s first diplomat and a very skilled one at that, with oodles of charm.

    But Franklin in Canada was also a bad idea, because his health was bad and it’s not like he could just shoot up the New York Thruway to get there. He had to head up the Hudson River through Albany and Saratoga, and then across Lake Champlain. And he had to do it in wartime, in hostile territory.

    For all that, however, Franklin’s failure in Canada eventually led to the Battle of Saratoga and in turn got the French on our side.

    So maybe it wasn’t such a crazy idea after all.

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  • The Address That Didn’t Happen–May 29, 1776

    Cover art for May 29, 1776: Portrait of Caesar Rodney, possibly by John Thomas Scharf, circa 1888. There are no contemporary portraits of Rodney known to be extant.

    While the Second Continental Congress always had a lot going on, not creating “an animated address” to make the Independence movement appearent to everyone seems like an odd failure.

    But sure enough, when it was recommended that such an address be created, this specific committee came up with nothing. Other committees appear to have presented addresses without problems, and many delegates worked on multiple committees, so was this an oversight? Was it overwork? Or perhaps the need to actually write a Declaration of Independence obviated the need for creating “an animated address”?

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