250 and Counting

Tag: US History

  • Our First Win At Sea–April 7, 1776

    Cover art for April 7, 1776: "Raising the 'Stars and Stripes' for the first time in home waters," painted by F. Muller, ca 1900. via the US Navy website, image catalog# KN-457.

    Captain John Barry was commanding the Lexington, looking for Lord Dunmore’s fleet when they more or less stumbled on the HMS Edward off the coast of the Virginia Capes.

    By most accounts the battle went on for two hours and included the Edward trying to lure the Lexington into the capes, though it’s not clear why. Possibly there was some help there in the form of other ships or land-based guns. And possibly because being in the capes meant that geographically, the Lexington wouldn’t have as much room to maneuver. But in the end the Lexington was victorious.

    Capturing a ship from the world’s mightiest navy, and bringing that ship back to Philadelphia, was a huge morale boost to Continental forces, especially given that the Continental Navy was so small and newly-established. Plus, John Barry became a celebrity and eventually was promoted to Commodore.

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  • Brits: Keep Out!–April 6, 1776

    Cover art for April 6, 1776: A British flag covered by an interdiction symbol.

    We’ve mentioned a few times that boycotts and import restrictions didn’t have a huge impact on the British economy. After all, the British Empire was huge and America just didn’t have the financial clout to make such things hurt.

    The real issue, many Britons thought, was that America had the impudence to act at all. How dare these mere colonists think that they can behave in such a dreadful manner, what with the wasting of the tea and circumventing our governors? Stuff like that, you know?

    And it was because of that attitude that many people in Parliament weren’t so much interested in reconciliation as they were interested in punishment. But America had gotten used to being so far from Britain, and the harder that England held on, the more America just slipped out of the grasp, like trying to hold a fistful of sand.

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  • Mr. Washington Goes to Providence–April 5, 1776

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    Cover art for April 5, 1776: Detail of Theodore Foster's diary relating the arrival of George Washington. via Rhode Island Historical Society

    The war was less than a year old, but heroes were already beginning to emerge, as we learn from contemporary writings. The arrival of George Washington in Providence, RI, was considered a big event each time he came through.

    In fact, it was such a big deal that the website for Stephen Hopkins’ house in Providence notes that “George Washington was
    a guest here. Twice.”

    I suppose they could have hung up two “George Washington Slept Here” signs but nobody would get it. Then again, “George Washington Slept Here” isn’t quite the trope it used to be. Leave me alone, I’m old. And get off my lawn.

    Hopkins, for what it’s worth, was an important person in his own right, having been central to the development of the colony and then the early days of the state. If you visit the house, though, be forewarned that it’s not in the same place it was when Hopkins lived there; it’s been moved twice since he was there. Although, to be fair, it’s always been on that street.

  • Washington Departs Cambridge–April 4, 1776

    Cover art for April 4, 1776: Longfellow National Historic Site, also known as the Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Uploaded to Wikipedia by user Daderot.

    To say the Washington left the Longfellow House is putting the cart before the horse, because Washington was in it before Longfellow.

    The house originally belonged to John Vassall Jr, a Loyalist who had the good sense to get out of town when the shooting started. From July 16, 1775 until this day in 1776, Washington occupied it as his home and his headquarters. In 1791 Washington’s apothecary Andrew Craigie purchased the house and made a major addition to it, the only big cosmetic change to the house. After Craigie’s death, his widow rented out various rooms to supplement what little income she had, and one of her tenants was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who eventually became the owner in 1843 when it was purchased for him as a wedding gift.

    The Longfellow family was the last to live in the house; some time after his death the family established the Longfellow Trust to provide for the house’s preservation, and in 1972 the house and its possessions were donated to the National Park Service.

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  • Elias Boudinot Caldwell–April 3, 1776

    Cover art for April 3, 1776: cropped portrait of Elias Boudinot Caldwell by William Ogden Wheeler, ca 1855. via WIkimedia.

    I mentioned briefly that Elias Boudinot Caldwell was a member of the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America (to the extent that anyone can say that briefly), and I though I’d get a little deeper into that organization here.

    The group was founded in 1816 by Robert Finley, along with Caldwell and Francis Scott Key, to encourage and support the repatriation of freeborn people of color and emancipated slaves to sub-Saharan Africa. Their feeling was that free people of color could not integrate into American society. It was also thought that free Blacks running around would incite still-enslaved Blacks to escape or rebel. So…why not relocate them?

    The group, which later became known as the American Colonization Society, thought they’d be preventing a civil war from breaking out. In fact, some historians think they may have hastened its onset. What’s more, only a few thousand African Americans out of millions, eventually made the trip to (what would become) Liberia. Worse still, they were kind of bad at it. Transporting people to Liberia was very costly, and close to half the people who arrived died from tropical diseases.

    And for all that, the ACS didn’t officially dissolve until 1964.

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  • Thanks, George–April 2, 1776

    Cover art for April 2, 1776: The original strike of Washington Before Boston Gold Medal. via Boston Public Library.

    Just a few days ago, Congress passed a resolution that George Washington should be thanked for his efforts in Boston, and that a Congressional Medal should be issued to him.

    Specifically, the resolution read:

    Resolved, That the thanks of this Congress, in their own name, and in the name of the thirteen United Colonies, whom they represent, be presented to His Excellency General Washington, and the officers and soldiers under his command, for their wise and spirited conduct in the siege and acquisition of Boston; and that a medal of gold be struck in commemoration of this great event, and presented to His Excellency; and that a committee of three be appointed to prepare a letter of thanks and a proper device for the medal.

    They did do all this, but frankly striking a congressional medal (or any other type, presumably) during the Revolutionary War was kind of a low priority (in addition to the other issues Mike cites), but it did eventually get done.

    An unknown Greek poet, possibly from the 1st century CE, once said:

    Ὀψὲ θεῶν ἀλέουσι μύλοι, ἀλέουσι δὲ λεπτά.
    The millstones of the gods grind late [slowly], but they grind fine.

    Clearly this guy knew how governments operate.

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  • Gang Greene–April 1, 1776

    Cover art for April 1, 1776: Portrait of Nathaniel Greene. This was a mezzotint created by Valentine Green in 1785, after an original painting by Charles Willson Peale. This is from a little later in the war, during Greene's time in the South.

    re: the title, I regret nothing.

    Nathanael Greene (you’ll also see it alteratively spelled as “Nathaniel”) was one of Washington’s trusted generals, largely because he had a keen mind for military tactics, but also because he had high expectations for his soldiers.

    In addition to drilling them regularly, he also insisted that they keep as clean as possible, including things like maintaining a clean-shaven face. Card-playing and swearing were also prohibited.

    As a result, his men stood out among the others when George Washington arrived at Cambridge, and he decided that he needed a little more of that in the Continental Army. Greene followed Washington to New York but afterward he began to take charge of military matters in the south.

    When Washington’s troops moved to the Valley Forge area in the winter of 1776, the disciplinary problems Greene had helped solve began to arise again, and Washington had to turn to another man to get his troops back in order. We’ll look at that as we get into that time of the year.

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  • Farewell, Mother Jefferson–March 31, 1776

    Cover art for March 31, 1776: to be fair, this image has been identified as being one of several women, but Jane Randolph Jefferson comes up more often than others, so we're sticking with it.

    In discussing the life of Jane Randolph Jefferson, I mentioned during the episode that Thomas Jefferson rarely discussed her.

    This is not, however, to suggest that he lacked affection for her, or that he was somehow ashamed of her. There are family remembrances and contemporary biographies that show that Jane was a revered family member. It’s also worth noting that Thomas Jefferson, unlike Benjamin Franklin, was not in the habit of retaining correspondence, even with people important to him.

    Jane is credited by many historians as the person responsible for his love of music and for his writing abilities. And after all, he didn’t leave his family home until it burned down. Furthermore Thomas named his second daughter after his mother (his first was named after his wife).

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  • Death Of A Belcher–March 30, 1776

    Jurist Jonathan Belcher was born in Boston. He was the second son of Jonathan Belcher and Mary Partridge,

    Belcher entered Harvard College, where in 1728 he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Divinity Studies. In 1730 he entered the Middle Temple, London, to read law, and in 1734 was called to the English bar.

    In the meantime he had been admitted as a fellow-commoner to Trinity College, Cambridge, where in 1733 he received another master’s degree, this time in mathematics. He later received a third master’s degree from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).

    In 1754, Belcher was sent to Nova Scotia to become the first Chief Justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court. Prior to Belcher’s arrival Nova Scotia had no formally trained law officers. This meant that he was not only interpreting the law there, he was oftentimes writing it.

    Belcher also served on the Nova Scotia Council. On July 28, 1755, he published a document which concluded that deportation of the Acadians was both authorized and required under the law. This is the decision that got him in hot water.

    From 1761 to 1763, he was also Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, spending the last three years of that period as Acting Governor when Henry Ellis did not fulfill his duties. He negotiated the peace that led to the Burying the Hatchet ceremony in Nova Scotia.

    Jonathan Belcher died in office in 1776, and is buried in the Old Burying Ground in Halifax.

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  • From One Postal Official To Another–March 29, 1776

    Cover Art for March 29, 1776: a letter from Ben Franklin to the Secret Correspondence Committee, 1777.

    While we’re focusing on one letter written by Benjamin Franklin today, written to Anthony Todd, it’s rather impressive the sheer number and breadth of letters written by, or to, Franklin during his lifetime as a statesman.

    There is a collaborative effort going on between Yale University and the American Philospohical Society, among others, to search, collect and publish the various works of Benjamin Franklin. So far over forty volumes have been published since 1959, and the scholars involved are pretty sure that number will surpass 50.

    Important to this effort is the fact that Franklin saved a lot of his correspondence specifically for the sake of posterity. As a result we have perhaps a more complete collection of what historians like to call “primary sources” of materials than for any other Founding Father. What’s more, Franklin didn’t just dash off quick notes; he treated them like miniature works of art and crafted their composition. This came in handy when he edited the first draft of the Declaration of Independence. It was his suggestion that the phrase “We hold these truths to be self-evident” whereas Jefferson had described them as “sacred and undeniable.”

    The full text of Franklin’s letter can be found here.

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