250 and Counting

Category: US History

  • Philemon Beecher–March 19, 1776

    Cover art for March 19, 1776: Gravestone of Philemon Beecher. via findagrave.com.

    Philemon Beecher is an unusual name (said the guy named Claude Call, sigh), but that’s on us for not recognizing it as a name from the Bible. Philemon was a man to whom the apostle Paul wrote while in prison. He was in prison more than once, but it’s not entirely clear which stretch Paul was doing when he wrote it.

    Philemon was a leader in the Colossian Church, and Paul’s letter—one of a very few that scholars generally agree was actually written by Paul—touches on themes of reconciliation, forgiveness, and Christian fellowship, addressing themes of slavery, freedom, and ethical conduct within the Roman social context. While it doesn’t explicitly condemn slavery, it reframes master-servant relationships in spiritual terms, highlighting the moral and social transformation encouraged within early Christian communities.

    But I digress. Philemon Beecher was a successful attorney and a semi-successful politician who was one of Ohio’s first House members once Ohio became a state. Beecher also got married in 1803, so that was a pretty good year for him. He was one of ten children, one of whom died at the age of three and who coincidentally was also named Philemon Beecher. They recycled that name two years later! Some of his other siblings also died relatively young but they had reached adulthood.

    I don’t imagine he had an especially distinguished political career, given that I couldn’t find an image of him in any of my usual haunts. What’s more, I couldn’t ascertain whether he and his wife Susan had any children, though it appears the answer to that is “no.” Nevertheless, he remained a prominent citizen as an attorney and member of the board of the Lancaster, Ohio Bank. He also participated as a member of The Colonization Society in Lancaster, a group dedicated to repatriating Black people back to Africa as an alternative to slavery.

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

  • Reviewing Boston–March 18, 1776

    Cover art for March 18, ,1776: Statue of Artemas Ward at Ward Circle in Washington, DC. Photo by Wikipedia user GarrisonLeMasters, 2008.

    In the aftermath of the siege of Boston, it was incumbent upon George Washington and his men to re-enter the city and take stock of its condition.

    Mike brings up Artemas Ward in today’s episode, and I’m pretty sure that was the first time his name has come up in the course of this podcast. Ward was a major general during the Revolutionary War, among others, and an effective political leader when he wasn’t being a soldier. It was Ward who sounded the alarm on Bunker Hill, and who took command of the New England area once Washington led most of the troops down to New York City. ‘

    The statue in today’s cover art can be found in the center of a traffic circle in Washington, DC, where Massachusetts and Nebraska Avenues cross one another. Ward’s great-grandson donated four million dollars to Harvard on the condition that they build a statue of Artamis, and maintain his Shrewsbury home. Harvard apparently chose to purchase a statue but did not provide enough money to provide the general with a horse. Oddly enough, because it’s a traffic circle and therefore has no obvious way for a pedestrian to get to the center (i.e., no crosswalk), it’s quite difficult to get close enough to the pedestal to read the inscription:

    ARTEMAS WARD
    1727–1800
    SON OF MASSACHUSETTS
    GRADUATE OF HARVARD COLLEGE
    JUDGE AND LEGISLATOR
    DELEGATE 1780–1781 TO THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
    SOLDIER OF THREE WARS
    FIRST COMMANDER OF THE PATRIOT FORCES

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

  • The Siege Ends–March 17, 1776

    Cover art for March 17, 1776: The first Congressional Gold Medal, given to George Washington in 1790 for his first victory of the war in Boston. 1776 Washington Before Boston Comitia Americana Second Restrike (Baker-48G) Image credit to Heritage Auctions

    It’s been 333 days since Lexington and Concord, when the British were forced to retreat to Boston and were bottled up there by Colonial forces.

    It’s been a week since the British said “enough” and decided to effect their departure from the city as soon as the weather cooperated.

    But today, the day finally came.

    It took about five hours to launch over a hundred ships, carrying thousands of soldiers, women and children from the city.

    It was Washington’s first major win and the last time the British did anything of importance in New England. The war began to move south, to New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Virginia and the Carolinas also had their share of action, as we’ll see in the coming months.

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

  • Georgia Gets In The Game–March 15, 1776

    Cover art for March 15, 1776: Archibald Bulloch circa 1775. Detail from painting by Henry Benbridge. via Wikimedia Commons.

    Georgia delegates to the Second Continental Congress numbered exactly one until around this time. That would be Dr. Lyman Hall, who didn’t believe it was ethical for him to represent the entire colony when he knew that feelings were largely divided back home.

    Then came the Battle of the Rice Boats, on March 2 and 3. After that, it seems, things moved very quickly for Georgians: the Royal Governor, who’d been in and out of custody, fled to a nearby warship, the Provincial Congress was left in charge, and they immediately began making plans to raise a more formal army than the militia that fought in the Battle of the Rice Boats, and Georgia delegates were sent to the Continental Congress with actual instructions.

    In addition, pieces were put in place to write a constitution for Georgia, a good first step toward the document that was created later in the year and adopted the following February.

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

  • Congress Makes A Tough Call–March 14, 1776

    Cover art for March 14, 1776: Portrait of John Hancock (detail) by John Singleton Copley, ca. 1765.

    There’s a ninth season episode of The Simpsons called “Sideshow Bob’s Last Gleaming” in which Bart’s nemesis, Sideshow Bob, steals a nuclear bomb and threatens to detonate it unless the town disables all of its television broadcasts. He delivers this ultimatum via a Jumbotron screen. Before ending the transmission, he says, “By the way, I’m aware of the irony of appearing on TV in order to decry it…so don’t bother pointing that out.”

    And to a certain extent, that’s what happened today in 1776 as well. The Colonies were protesting British oppression, but in order to do that successfully, they had to briefly resort to British tactics.

    It’s an unfortunate truism that the “good” side often has to resort to the “bad” side’s means of doing things to achieve an objective. On the other hand, the difference between the “good” and the “bad” side is that the “good” side is willing to undo the thing they did.

    I cited The Simpsons above, but I’m sure you could come up with your own specific television episodes in which this is what happens. (I’m sure you can because another one just came to mind, but I’m not sharing it.)

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

  • Preparing To Take Back Boston–March 13, 1776

    Cover art for March 13, 1776: George Washington's General Orders for this day. via Library of Congress/National Archives.

    First: let me apologize for the slight change in sound quality for today’s episode. I’m not in my usual recording space and I’m not especially happy with the equipment I brought. At worst you’ll have to put up with it just one more time.

    Next: George Washington was a gentleman through and through, so the fact that his general orders sometimes focused on the Continental soldier behavior shouldn’t be a surprise. In today’s episode he concerns himself specifically with that, but for two reasons. One is for the health and safety of the troops, but the other is because the Bostonians have been through enough, and he doesn’t want the Continental Army–the people supposedly on their side–to look like villains.

    In the meantime he’s already standing down a big chunk of soldiers and sending them to New York, where the next big battle is going to be, he thinks. (Again, he’s right, but he didn’t realize it at the time.)

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

  • Baltimore Celebrates Women–March 12, 1776

    Cover art for March 12, 1776: "First Blow For Liberty," by Felix Octavius Carr Darley, 1858. I know it's a year later, but this image is meant to depict ordinary citizens as part of the battles at Lexington and Concord.

    Of course it’s coincidental, but it’s kind of cool that we’re able to bring you this episode during Women’s History Month and the same week as International Women’s Day.

    Believe it or not, Mike and I have struggled with the fact that there’s very little representation of anyone from this era who isn’t a white male. We’ve managed to touch on a few women and African-Americans from time to time, but after 435 episodes (including today) we’re probably still in the single-digit range.

    Mike doesn’t concentrate very much on the newspaper notice that appeared in Baltimore this day; he gives us a little perspective on some of the ripples created by events we’ve talked about so far. Sometimes the women’s history angle comes from the things that are mundane in print, but vital to the success of the war.

    It doesn’t make up for the lack of representation, but we hope it helps.

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

  • Getting Ready To Move–March 11, 1776

    Cover art for March 11, 1776: "The Evacuation of Boston". Engraving by Frederick Stuart, based on a drawing by Lambert Hollis.

    The focus today up in Cambridge, while waiting for the British to hightail it out of Boston, was getting the men ready to move to New York, and putting together Washington’s personal guard.

    Washington didn’t really need a personal guard in Cambridge, at least not much of one, because he was in the driver’s seat while he was there. The British were bottled up, and he was the stopper. But to move to New York and then defend that territory? Well, that was another project entirely. New York had more access points, more deepwater harbor, and more territory overall to defend. This wasn’t like keeping the British locked up on the peninsula that was the entirety of Boston. And while Washington probably considered it a bit of vanity at first (that’s a guess on my part) to even have a group of men dedicated to being “Washington’s personal guard”, he likely began to understand the inevitability of needing the guard as the Continental Army’s Commander-in-Chief.

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

  • Laundry Day–March 10, 1776

    Cover art for March 10, 1776: General Howe's proclamation regarding the collection of linen by Crean Brush. Via National Archives.

    For a guy who’s technically on the wrong side of history, Crean Brush was a pretty interesting character.

    Mike mentions in the episode that Brush was jailed for some time during the Revolution, but time didn’t allow him to tell you how Brush managed to get out of jail. I’m not going to spoil it, but the truly fascinating story can be found in this article by Eric Weiser. This article was one of those serendipitous finds that turned up when I went looking for a picture of Crean Brush. It’ll take you about twenty minutes to read, but I guarantee it’s worth your time, and I’ll give you your money back if you disagree.

    General Howe’s demand that people turn their linen and wool goods over to Brush sounds a little weird on its surface, but once you look a little closer you’ll see that it’s more petty than anything else. That said, there was a pragmatic angle to it as well: the material could be used to keep their troops warm and/or bandage any wounded British.

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

  • The Big Guns In Boston–March 9, 1776

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

    Cover art for March 9, 1776: portrait of Rufus Putnam by James Sharples, 1796. via the National Park Service.

    The occupation of Dorchester Heights, just across the river from Boston, was perhaps the final step that George Washington needed to end the siege that had gone on for nearly a year.

    Of course, it wasn’t just occupying Dorchester Heights; Washington could have pretty much done that at any time. It was occupying them with a terrifying speed, thanks to Rufus Putnam (the guy in today’s cover art, by the way) and his clever plan for assembling the defenses there. And thanks also have to go to the big cannons that had been brought down from Ticonderoga. These guns had the range that Washington needed to not only shoot at Boston if he needed to, but to fire upon British ships in Boston Harbor.

    Howe had a couple of moves left, but it was nearly over.