250 and Counting

Category: US History

  • 250 and Counting: January 7, 1775

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    Cover art for January 7, 1775: “Lady Howe Checkmating Benjamin Franklin,” by Edward Harrison May.

    By all accounts, Ben Franklin was a charming guy. And while he has a reputation today for being the sort of ladies’ man who left behind lots of children with single moms, that wasn’t really the case (as you’ll discover in a future episode).

    But part of his charm came from his diplomacy skills, which he knew how to use to the fullest. And part of those skills included learning what friends he could make who had a great deal of social capital he could use.

    One such person was Lady Caroline Howe, who first met Franklin in 1774 as part of a shadow diplomacy tactic. Although this didn’t go far, Howe and Franklin maintained a relationship over the years and frequently visited one another for conversation and games of chess. (Ben Franklin was quite the avid chess player, often playing several times a week in multi-hour sessions.) Today’s episode discusses some of this, and their efforts to get together to play a match.

    Guest voice in this episode: Serena Gaylord

  • 250 and Counting: January 6, 1775

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    Cover art for January 6, 1775: A map of the New York area from that year

    The impression that most people have of John Adams, it seems, comes from one of two places. It’s either William Daniels’ portrayal of him in the play and film 1776 (and we’re big fans of that particular bit of cinema), or it’s Paul Giamatti’s portrayal in the seven-part miniseries on cable TV. Both stories had their charms, and both took some liberties with the facts. (Oddly, both of them showed Benjamin Franklin being carried in to the Second Continental Congress, but that didn’t happen until the Constitutional Conventions eleven years later.) The bottom line is that Adams was a complex man and a very smart one who had the ability to see the bigger picture, as they say.

    George Washington was also a well-rounded person, as you no doubt discovered in the January 1 episode. Early in 1775 Washington wore multiple hats. He was a delegate to the First Continental Congress, he was responsible for training militiamen in Virginia, and he was unofficially the Commander-in-Chief of the army, except there wasn’t one quite yet.

    Today we’re looking at some correspondence from Adams to Washington, and we’ll learn in a future episode just how seriously Washington took his warnings.

  • 250 and Counting: January 5, 1775

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    Cover art for Janaury 5, 1775: The USRC Benjamin Rush

    Daniel Dobbins was born this day in 1775. We’re pretty sure that’s the date; listen in and find out why.

    Dobbins spent most of his time on the waters of Lake Erie. He—and most of the people in the Lower Peninsula of modern-day Michigan—didn’t even know that the War of 1812 was going on until he and his ship were captured by the British.

    He managed to escape and an interesting coincidence saved his life. Eventually he became a Sailing Master in the US Navy and redesigned the gunboats so they’d handle better in the Great Lakes. After the war his career took some interesting turns that had literally nothing to do with him.

  • 250 and Counting: January 4, 1775

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    Cover artwork for January 4,1775: Portrait of Samuel Seabury

    Samuel Seabury was a prominent figure in the Protestant Episcopal Church on this side of the pond.

    From a political standpoint, he was a Loyalist and spent some time writing pieces urging his followers not to seek independence from England.

    One piece in particular, which he wrote using a pen name, lit a fire under a fellow by the name of Alexander Hamilton, who took the time to write a lengthy—35 page—reply, also under a pen name. This was just the beginning for the both of them.

  • 250 and Counting–January 3, 1775

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    Thomas Flournoy was born this day in 1775, and while he therefore didn’t have a lot to do with the Revolutionary War, he did have an impact on the Florida Patriot War and on the War of 1812. Now, we’re pretty sure you’ve heard of the War of 1812 but we’re willing to bet that most folks don’t know about the Florida Patriot War.

    To that end, listen in and learn about how the US first got its hooks into the Spanish territory in North America.

  • 250 and Counting: January 2, 1775

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    The Philadelphia Packet was a weekly newspaper that had only been around for about four years by the start of 1775, so tensions between the Colonies and the Crown were already in place from the first issue.

    John Dunlap

    But while publisher John Dunlap generally sided with the Americans, he did feel a responsibility to present both sides of the debate. And it was on this day in 1775 that Dunlap published an anonymous letter aimed at convincing people that reconciling with Britain was a better idea than pushing back against every decision made by the Crown.

    Dunlap became famous later on for something else he printed…listen in and find out what it was.

  • 250 and Counting: January 1, 1775

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    Welcome to the inaugural episode of 250 and Counting!

    This is a daily podcast, but don’t worry—it only runs about four or five minutes per day. Those of you of a certain age (ahem) may remember the Bicentennial Minute.

    For those of you who don’t: As the 200th anniversary of the United States approached, our country was absolutely immersed in Bicentennial stuff. Anything that could get the Bicentennial logo slapped on it, had the logo slapped on it. And absolutely everyone had a little extra dash of American pride in them.

    And every night at 8:00 PM, on CBS Television, we’d get what was informally called the Bicentennial Minute. A celebrity of some level (some were big names and others weren’t) would come on and tell us what happened 200 years ago on that day. They’d tell us about the events that led up to the Revolutionary War. They’d talk about the people who signed the Declaration of Independence. They’d talk about the aftermath of these events. And they did it in just a couple of minutes. For two years, we’d get a little snippet of the history of the United States.

    Now, it’s 2025 and the 250th anniversary (July 4, 2026) of our country is coming. America isn’t feeling that pride anymore, we don’t think. And that’s a shame because we do need a win. We need to feel like we understood what our ancestors fought for. 250 years isn’t quite as exciting a marker as a nice round number like 200 or 300, but most of the people involved in this project aren’t likely to live that long. (We’re still trying to face it, but dangit, it’s true.)

    Also, we can’t afford celebrities, so you have us, instead. “Us” is Claude Call and Mike Messner, with a little help from Serena Gaylord and Lorene Childs. (You can read more about everyone on the “About Us” page.)

    250 and Counting will be available in your favorite podcatcher, but if you prefer listening to it here on the website, here it is for your enjoyment.