250 and Counting

This day in American History, 250 years ago.

  • Taking Canada’s Temperature–March 5, 1776

    Cover art for March 5, 1776: Charles Carroll by Michael Laty. Created 1846, making this a posthumous portrait.

    So here’s a fun story about Charles Carroll. As I’ve mentioned many times before, lots and lots of place names in Baltimore have strong historical connections and Charles Carroll is no exception.

    There is, of course, a Carroll Street, which starts in the southeast neighborhood of Morrell Park. It doesn’t go quite through that neighborhood though; it gets broken up by a couple of blocks’ worth of houses and resumes again. There’s another break as a railroad right-of-way comes through—but there’s no train crossing; the road just terminates. Carroll Street resumes (we’re still in Morrell Park) on the other side, however, before it’s interrupted yet again.

    Now as I understand it, this particular part of the neighborhood was wiped out completely by Hurricane Agnes in the early 1970s, so the rebuild was kind of haphazard. Plus, I-95 was first constructed through this part of Baltimore City around this time, so you have to jump almost 3500 feet before Carroll Street resumes again.

    But now you’re not in a residential neighborhood; it’s series of warehouses and industrial buildings for a stretch until it gets back into a residential neighborhood known as Pigtown, so called because on Market days, pigs would be led through the streets to the market for sale and eventual slaughter. Carroll Street meets with Cross Street in that neighborhood, and that’s the northern terminus.

    However.

    There’s an elementary school in the area that’s also named after Charles Carroll. It’s not on Carroll Street (of course) but is about two blocks away, in Pigtown. Now, remember, Charles Carroll was a lawyer, or a “barrister” as the old-timey types like to say. So Elementary School #34 is officially “Charles Carroll, Barrister Elementary School”. Except everybody forgets the comma is there and says it like one long name. And chances are, they think there was a guy actually named Charles Carroll Barrister somewhere in history.

    And wasn’t that a long walk for a short drink of water.

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  • Beginning of the End in Boston–March 4, 1776

    Cover art for March 4, 1776: A map of the Boston area during the siege. from the History Department at the US Military Academy.

    Colonel Henry Knox took about ten weeks to get from Ticonderoga to Cambridge rather than the two he anticipated. But his arrival meant the siege’s end in Boston would come soon.

    Knox had brought something like 60 tons worth of material overland using hand-built sledges and carts drawn by oxen. The last leg of the trip is still a mystery, because Knox’ diary ends about two weeks early. What is known is that as he passed through the occasional town, people would line up to watch. So we know when he was where, but the usual stuff that ran through Knox’ head for that portion of the trip is gone.

    Still, his arrival at Cambridge meant that Washington now had what he needed to fortify his position and do what he needed to drive the British out of Boston. After nearly a year, the siege’s end was actually in sight.

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  • The Raid on New Providence–March 3, 1776

    Cover art for March 3, ,1776: A modern-day view of Fort Montagu.

    The raid on New Providence is probably one of those situations where we couldn’t really represent everything that was going on on this particular island, because there were a lot of moving parts. We especially overlooked the part at the end.

    Two of the ships went to St. Augustine, laden down mostly with gunpowder. Of the others, they headed further north, where they encountered the HMS Hawk and then the HMS Bolton. They ended up caputuring both ships.

    Then they bumped into the HMS Glasgow off the coast of Long Island. Despite being outnumbered, the Glasgow got away while simultaneously damaging one of the Navy ships.

    Initially, the Navy was given kudos for the raid, but the failure to capture Glasgow, plus complaints about some of the captains in the fleet led to investigations and courts-martial. One ship’s captain, that of the Providence, lost his command and it was given to John Paul Jones. Division of the spoils was also disputed. The commander of the entire action, Esek Hopkins, was censured for not patrolling the Virginia and Carolina Coasts (never mind he was secretly told to do so), and he was eventually dismissed from the Navy.

    What’s more, Nassau remained poorly defended and was subject to capture several times throughout the war.

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  • The NC Royal Governor is Defiant–March 2, 1776

    Cover art for March 2, 1776: miniature portrait of Josiah Martin, artist unknown, ca. 1775. via Wikimedia

    Oh, that Royal Governor Josiah Martin. He might be defiant, he might be delusional. He might be in denial.

    What he was not, apparently, was cognizant of the effect that the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge had on Loyalist morale. Or, perhaps he did. At any rate, his order to raise the British flag anywhere a flag could be raised was more performative than anything else.

    This was Martin’s second big push to restore North Carolina to British control, but it wasn’t his last. Many months later the Carolina Campaign began. It went on for a long time and they very nearly succeeded. However, Martin finally had to leave, first for Long Island and then for Britain.

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  • The French Connection–March 1, 1776

    Cover art for March 1, 1776: portrait of Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, created by Jean-Marc Nattier, 1755. via Wikimedia Commons.

    We bumped into a little dilemma when putting together this episode. Specifically, what do we do when 1776 doesn’t match up with 2026?

    As it turns out, 1776 was a leap year, so that year had a February 29, whereas 2026 does not. So we decided to do what most Leap Babies seem to do: mark the day on March 1.

    To that end, today marks two events: first, we take a look at an arrangement that France and Spain made to trade with America on a kind of gray market. That arrangement was first presented to King Louis XVI on February 29, 1776.

    From there we jump to March 1, the date that the Royal Navy began enforcing the Prohibitory Act in earnest. It was supposed to go into effect on January 1, but presumably the Navy didn’t know about it until after that date, so March 1 became the agreed-upon start date. Under the terms of the Prohibitory Act, the Colonies were banned from trading with other nations, in addition, any Colonial ships were considered enemy vessels and were subject to being captured and retained. Likewise, any sailors aboard those ships were enemies of the Crown and to be treated as such.

    This was almost certainly the last straw for many in the Colonies.

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  • Phyllis Wheatley Gets A Fan Letter–February 28, 1776

    Cover art for February 28, 1776: Portrait of Phyllis Wheatley by Scipio Moorehead, 1773. Via Library of Congress.

    Phyllis Wheatley was an 18th century poet who was born in West Africa and sold into slavery as a small child, living with the Wheatley Family in Boston.

    Phyllis wrote a book of poems which was published in 1773, after which she was emancipated. This makes her the first African-American author of a published book of poetry.

    Phillis Wheatley married a grocer named John Peters around this same time. They had three children, but unfortunately all of them died quite young. Phyllis herself died in of pneumonia in 1784, not long after giving birth to a daughter, who also died that day.

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    Per the Phyllis Wheatley Historical Society, this was the poem that moved George Washington to write to her:

    Celestial choir! enthron’d in realms of light,
    Columbia’s scenes of glorious toils I write.
    While freedom’s cause her anxious breast alarms,
    She flashes dreadful in refulgent arms.
    See mother earth her offspring’s fate bemoan,
    And nations gaze at scenes before unknown!
    See the bright beams of heaven’s revolving light
    Involved in sorrows and veil of night!

    The goddess comes, she moves divinely fair,
    Olive and laurel bind her golden hair:
    Wherever shines this native of the skies,
    Unnumber’d charms and recent graces rise.

    Muse! bow propitious while my pen relates
    How pour her armies through a thousand gates,
    As when Eolus heaven’s fair face deforms,
    Enwrapp’d in tempest and a night of storms;
    Astonish’d ocean feels the wild uproar,
    The refluent surges beat the sounding shore;
    Or thick as leaves in Autumn’s golden reign,
    Such, and so many, moves the warrior’s train.
    In bright array they seek the work of war,
    Where high unfurl’d the ensign waves in air.
    Shall I to Washington their praise recite?
    Enough thou know’st them in the fields of fight.
    Thee, first in peace and honours,—we demand
    The grace and glory of thy martial band.
    Fam’d for thy valour, for thy virtues more,
    Hear every tongue thy guardian aid implore!

    One century scarce perform’d its destined round,
    When Gallic powers Columbia’s fury found;
    And so may you, whoever dares disgrace
    The land of freedom’s heaven-defended race!
    Fix’d are the eyes of nations on the scales,
    For in their hopes Columbia’s arm prevails.
    Anon Britannia droops the pensive head,
    While round increase the rising hills of dead.
    Ah! cruel blindness to Columbia’s state!
    Lament thy thirst of boundless power too late.

    Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side,
    Thy ev’ry action let the goddess guide.
    A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine,
    With gold unfading, WASHINGTON! be thine.

  • The Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge–February 27, 1776

    Cover art for February 27, 1775: Historical marker located near the restored bridge. Image via revolutionarywar.us

    As Revolutionary battles go, the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge was relatively minor. It didn’t last very long, there weren’t a ton of losses on either side (though definitely more on the Loyalist side), and it led to the capture of hundreds of Loyalists.

    However, it changed the way the British viewed the Carolinas through the rest of the war. Overall, the perception was that the Carolinas were poor, and weak, and a stronghold of Loyalist sympathizers. And this was an easy assumption to make, especially when you think back to the Siege of Ninety-Six and the way that finally ended. British confidence was pretty high at that point, especially given the fact that it ended pretty much in a draw.

    But the lasting effect of The Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge was more in the way it affected recruitment of Loyalist troops, in that the numbers plummeted. And, only about two months later, North Carolina delegates were among the first to vote for Independence.

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    To read about the battle in greater detail, check out this website, which is also the source of today’s cover art.

  • Innis Green–February 26, 1776

    Cover art for February 26, 1776: Detail of Innis Green's headstone in Dauphin Cemetery, Dauphin County, PA. Via findagrave.com.

    Innis Green served as a Jacksonian Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives during the 20th (1827–1829) and 21st (1829–1831) Congresses, essentially holding the party’s populist line.

    But he did deviate from party alignment on May 26, 1830, when Green voted nay on H.R. 287, the Indian Removal Act. Despite this, the bill passed narrowly, 102-97. This stance positioned him among Pennsylvania Jacksonians influenced by local Quaker and moral opposition to forced tribal relocations, contrasting with southern and western Democrats who prioritized land acquisition for white settlement.

     Green’s vote highlighted intraparty tensions over executive-driven policies, though it did not derail his Jacksonian credentials amid broader support for Jackson’s anti-bank rhetoric and vetoes of federal internal improvements like the Maysville Road in 1830.

    The short version of all that is, while Green was a fairly reliable guy when it came to upholding Jacksonian politics, he often acted with his actual constituents in mind: if it wasn’t going to poorly affect the people in his district, he could get behind it. Otherwise, he would be willing to vote against it.

    Perhaps he didn’t make a huge splash politically, but there are some behavior lessons in there.

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  • Another Washington in Uniform–February 25, 1776

    Cover art for February 25, 1776: portrait of William Augustine Washington, ca. 1795, by Rembrandt Peale. via WIkimedia.

    I mention in today’s episode that William Augustine Washington lived on a Virginia plantation he’d inherited, and that his first house burned down.

    The second house he moved to, on the same property but a mile away (yow!), was called Blenheim. Washington used some of the bricks from the original house to add on to the Blenheim house, but he also used a bunch of them to start on a house and barn on a separate property.

    What a thrifty fellow!

    For what it’s worth, Blenheim is still standing and is on the National Register of Historic Places. You may be able to see it from the street but it is privately occupied and not open to the public.

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  • British People Noticing Things–February 24, 1776

    Cover art for February 24, 1776: "Entrada al Castillo de San Antón [Entrance to the Castle at St. Antón]", in La Coruña, Spain. Uploaded by "Marcus", via Wikimedia and used under Creative Commons under SA 3.0

    A Coruña is a coastal city in northeastern Spain that’s often stylized as La Coruña, as Mike says in this episode. Its location makes it an ideal port for trade with other nations, and the American Colonies was no exception.

    Now, France gets a lot of attention for the assistance they gave us during the Revolution, but Spain was at least as helpful as France was. They were just quieter about it. So it was probably just a matter of time before some British officials noticed ships in the Spanish harbors that appeared to be engaging in more than your typical trade. What’s more, the presence of Dutch materiel suggested that Spain may have been acting as a third party between Holland and America, to enact some nearly-clandestine trade with the Colonies for gunpowder and other stuff.

    As the year wore on, Spain would become a little more openly involved in the war effort.

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