250 and Counting

Tag: American Revolution

  • August 24, 1775: No Liquor Was Lost—We Hope

    Cover art for August 24, 1775: Modern-day photo of Fraunces Tavern in New York City.

    Fraunces Tavern is an historic landmark and the oldest and most historic bar in New York City.

    That’s what it says on their website, so.

    At various points in its history, Fraunces Tavern served as a headquarters for George Washington, a venue for peace negotiations with the British, and housing federal offices in the Early Republic.

    The building is still open to the public (there’s a museum there that’s open on weekends), though reservations are recommended if you want to eat in the restaurant. It’s a little on the pricey side but then again it’s not way out of line for New York City.

    Here’s the dirty secret: the building has fallen victim to fires a couple of times and been rebuilt, plus the top two floors were added in the late 1800s. So it’s not 100% clear that the building looks the way it did when George Washington was getting his drink on. But swing by anyway, you’ll have some fun.

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  • August 23, 1775: George III Declares Rebellion

    Cover art for August 23, 1775: Proclamation of Rebellion, August 23, 1775 - Museum of the American Revolution by Joy of Museums

    When the Olive Branch Petition arrived in England, its contents hardly even mattered.

    There were elements of Parliament who were strongly disposed toward punishing the Colonies, and punishing them hard. The folks who were still pro-American were dwindling in number, because of the way it could affect their political futures.

    In short, the King had decided what he thought, and how he was going to handle it, and everyone else either bowed to it or faced losing their position. And it didn’t matter that he was a little bit crazy; he was the King and what he says, goes.

    Presumably we’ve learned the lesson behind that kind of thinking.

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  • August 22, 1775: HMS Scarborough Leaves Portsmouth

    Cover art for August 22, 1775: the HMS Scarborough

    Things were heating up all over, but it was still especially prevalent in the northeast. This time around, problems are cropping up in New Hampshire.

    The HMS Scarborough was designated to keep the peace by patrolling the mouth of the Piscataqua River, but when relations broke down between the British and the colonists there (and with good reason), when the ship ran out of supplies they had to re-locate. So naturally they headed to…um, Boston.

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  • August 21, 1775: Rhode Island Cracks Down

    Cover art for August 21, 1775: Public requisition of supplies for the Continental Army. Source unknown, via Wikimedia Commons.

    We have two events taking place on this day. First, Rhode Island allows the death penalty for certain activities at sea.

    Next, word goes out that the Continental Army is in need of supplies…lots of supplies. It’s looking like General Washington isn’t seeing an end to the Siege of Boston anytime soon.

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  • August 19, 1775: Washington Hates the Rumor Mill

    Cover art for August 19, 1775: Interior of the British prison ship Jersey. Artist: Edward Bookhout, engraved by Felix Darley, created 1855 but meant to represent conditions during the Revolution.

    In 1681, John Dryden said in his poem “Absalom and Achitophel”:

    Beware the fury of the patient man.

    I hear ya, Dryden, because that’s how I operate.

    And apparently George Washington operated the same way, because he initially took the high road, assuming that rumors about how American prisoners were being treated were just that, and giving General Gage the benefit of the doubt.

    But when the rumors began that Washington was mistreating his prisoners…oh, that didn’t sit well with the General at all.

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  • August 17, 1775: The Six Nations Summit

    Cover art for August 17, 1775: Mirror-image copy of a portrait of Philip Schuyler. Painted by Jacob H. Lazarus from a miniature painted by John Trumbull. via Wikimedia.

    Philip Schuyler served as a delegate from New York to the Continental Congress until June 1775 when he was appointed a major general to the Continental Army. We’ll hear more about him as we start to delve into the Invasion of Quebec later this year.

    Schuyler was on his way to Saratoga, NY when he got word that the tribes of the Six Nations—the Mohawks, Oneidas, Tusscaroras, Onondagas, Cayugas, and the Senekas (spelled that way then)—had taken Congress up on its offer of a summit and were on their way to Albany. What’s more, he was needed for the summit.

    What happened next came as a surprise to…well, nobody, really. But at least everyone knew where everyone else stood. And if that was the locals’ attitude, it wasn’t their fault; the Speech to the Six Nations laid out their argument for them.

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  • August 16: John Adams Gets Extralegal

    Cover art for August 16, 1775: The house where the Suffolk Resolves were adopted. Photo taken in 1930. The house has since been reclaimed as an historic site.

    Just a couple of days ago we told you about the efforts on the part of the Continental Congress to get around its own rules in order to provide Washington’s army with the materials they needed to maintain the Siege of Boston.

    This time around, John Adams takes steps to do what he needs to do without running afoul of the Intolerable Acts.

    It’s like the legal equivalent of the obnoxious game your siblings played with you: “I’m not touching you…I’m not touching you…”

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  • August 15, 1775: Washington Makes Some Appointments

    Cover art for August 15, 1775: portrait of Colonel George Baylor

    We do seem to be spending a lot of time with George Washington this week.

    It stands to reason, though: Washington was a very busy guy at this time, what with getting his army organized. That meant finding the men who were smart and reliable, to get the ones who weren’t into fighting shape. It also meant figuring out what resources he had and what he needed.

    What we’re learning is that the men that he did promote would eventually go on to prosper, whether in the military or in politics or just their personal lives after the war. There were only a few who did not, and oftentimes there was a reason. Not all of them didn’t prosper out of incompetence; some of them simply had to deal with things like illness or lingering effects of injuries inflicted during the conflict.

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  • August 14, 1775: “Stolen” Goods From Bermuda

    Cover art for August 14, 1775: Map of Bermuda from 1778, origin not known to this writer.

    There’s an episode of The West Wing in which Leo McGarry explains how, several years earlier, the President wanted to meet the Dalai Lama. The problem was that China was strongly opposed to such a meeting, so they arranged for an “accidental” meeting between the two:

    Set up a low-level meeting with someone else and leave the door open. The President wanders by, “Hey, how ya doing, Dalai Lama?”

    The point is, diplomacy can be weird. And when the Continental Army, needed gunpowder from Bermuda, it was arranged to have the gunpowder be “stolen” from their armory and somehow make its way into American hands.

    Who knew!

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  • August 13, 1775: The Olive Branch Petition Arrives in England

    Cover art for August 13, 1775: the signature page of the Olive Branch Petition.

    As you may recall, several months ago some members of the Continental Congress thought it was important to make one last effort to reconcile with Britain before things got worse. So they composed the Olive Branch Petition and sent it off to England.

    Transit times being what they were then, the petition took several weeks to get to its destination. In the meantime, things got worse.

    So when the Olive Branch Petition arrived, nobody really cared. But there were two other documents that made matters worse. Plus, you know, all the shooting that went on in April. And in June.

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