Shows / US History Archives - 250 and Counting
Episodes
US History Archives - 250 and CountingUncle George Wants You–October 25, 1776
King George III offered up some naval incentives throughout 1776. Seamen who enlisted would get bonuses depending on their level of experience, but the Royal…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingJefferson’s New Laws–October 23, 1776
Holding the show to two minutes exactly (because we also have a few radio listeners) sometimes makes it tough to tell the whole story of the rules behind en…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingBattle of Mamaroneck–October 22, 1776
Oddly enough, having an episode about the Battle of Mamaroneck is one of those times when it pays to have grown up in New York. I saw that note in our common…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingGeorge Izard–October 21, 1776
Calling George Izard a “Nepo Baby” might be laying it on a little bit thick, but it’s pretty clear he came from some privileged people. His…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingDelaware Gets Down To Business–October 20, 1776
The Delaware Assembly was ahead of most other states in our fledgling nation, in part because they’d declared independence before anyone else. Back in…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingA Pause in New Rochelle–October 19, 1776
Before I get into the events of New Rochelle, I have to confess that I’m kind of hating today’s artwork, and it’s not even published yet…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingBattle of Pell’s Point–October 18, 1776
The Battle of Pell’s Point, also known as the Battle of Pelham, was an important battle of the Revolution that doesn’t get the attention that so…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingLeaving New York–October 17, 1776
When Washington’s Council of War (with a single exception) determined that sticking around New York City was a bad idea, the next step was deciding which…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingIn And Around New York–October 15, 1776
By the time Charles Lee returned to duty, the Continental Army in New York was in a sad state of affairs. Many men had been injured or deserted. Supplies were…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingThe Return of Charles Lee–October 14, 1776
Charles Lee was born in Great Britain and only came to British America in 1773, when he purchased an estate in western Virginia. It wasn’t his first time…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingBattle of Split Rock–October 13, 1776
The Battle of Split Rock is really just a continuation of the Battle of Valcour, and a lot of it takes place in a location called Button Mould Bay (or…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingBattle of Throgs Neck–October 12, 1776
The Battle of Throgs Neck, or Throg’s Point, or a number of other names, was part of a move intended to trap Washington’s forces through flanking…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingBattle of Valcour Island–October 11, 1776
The Battle of Valcour Island didn’t really take place on the island; rather it was in Valcour Bay, a strait between New York and Valcour Island, in Lake…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingHenry Shultz–October 10, 1776
The town created by Henry Shultz turned out to be as ephemeral as the man himself. Don’t go looking for Hamburg, South Carolina, because you’ll be…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingThe British Finally Make Their Move–October 9, 1776
It took a month to figure it out, but the British ship movement up the Hudson River was a sign that they’d finally decided how they were going to…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingHow Best To Invade New York?–October 8, 1776
There are several names for the battle about to happen here, depending on how you view the geography; Battle of Throgs Neck, Battle of Throgs Point, Battle of…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingVirginia Is Open For Business–October 7, 1776
Before I tell you a little bit about the First Virginia General Assembly of 1776 (which I do have to differentiate with a date, so it’s not confused with…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingDeane Gets Busy–October 6, 1776
We’ve talked so much about Silas Deane that I don’t have much new to share in this space, so I’ll tell you a little about his house. The…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingA Fort Is Abandoned–October 5, 1776
The cover art for today’s episode is the historical marker for Bergen Neck Fort, in Bayonne, New Jersey. As someone who was born and raised on the other…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingBrother, Can You Spare $5 Million?–October 4, 1776
War bonds have been a thing since literally the beginning of the country. In this particular case, Britain had spent a few years taking as much hard currency…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingJefferson Goes Home–October 2, 1776
Thomas Jefferson, after many months in Philadelphia, finally got to return home today. One of the things that puzzled me early on in this podcasting project…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingRe-Mastering the Army–October 1, 1776
Thomas Mifflin was the Continental Army’s first Quartermaster General, and he was replaced by someone who just couldn’t get the job done, so he was…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingWashington’s Thoughts of Home–September 30, 1776
Mount Vernon, the mansion along the Potomac River in which George Washington lived, was originally built by his father when George was two years old. At that…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingJohn Adams, Correspondent–September 29, 1776
When you only have two minutes to get the point across, you sometimes lose some of the nuances. This is a rundown of the second letter discussed today: Abigail…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingPennsylvania Ratifies A New Constitution–September 28, 1776
As I mentioned a few days ago, when Pennsylvania drafted its constitution and then voted on it, not everybody involved was on board with the idea. In June…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingBusy Day For Mr. Rutledge–September 27, 1776
In putting this episode together, I realized that I used this same image of Edward Rutledge back in the September 9 episode. However, I neglected to put the…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingThe French Commission
The Continental Congress, in the wake of Washington’s recent letter, finally realized that they weren’t going to be able to defeat the British on…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingJohn Adams Wants To Go Home–September 25, 1776
Back in April, Mike and I had the opportunity to visit the Massachusetts Historical Society, and we were able to spend some time with the man whose job it is…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingWashington’s Desperate Letter–September 24, 1776
George Washington was a practical man, and he realized that without a standing army, he wouldn’t stand a chance against the British. Sure, it’s…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingThe Dominguez-Escalante Expedition–September 23, 1776
The Dominguez-Escalante Expedtion was an effort to find an over-land route from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Monterey, California. Their journey took them north…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingNathan Hale Is Hanged–September 22, 1776
For a long time the debate about what Nathan Hale said before he was hanged was whether he said “I regret that I have but one life to give for my…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingNathan Hale’s Capture–September 21, 1776
One of the events that took place the same day of Nathan Hale’s capture is that there was a huge fire in New York that burned about a quarter of the…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingPennsylvania Writes A Constitution–September 20, 1776
The Pennsylvania Constitution turned out to have many unique qualities, but they were so good that before long they weren’t unique anymore, because so…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingBattle of the Black Hole–September 19, 1776
The Battle of the Black Hole, also known as the Battle of Coweecho River, lasted about two hours and had surprisingly few casualties, considering its location…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingWashington’s Report–September 18, 1776
Washington’s report to Congress regarding the events at Harlem Heights a couple of days earlier didn’t pull any punches with regard to how badly…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingBattle of Harlem Heights–September 16, 1776
While it didn’t change the result in New York, the Battle of Harlem Heights was a tactical win for the Continental Army, and a boost to morale as well…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingBattle of Kip’s Bay–September 15, 1776
Calling it “The Battle of Kip’s Bay” may actually be overstating it a little bit; there were 500 militamen from Connecticut in the area when…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingWord From Congress–September 14, 1776
Washington was on the brink of retreating from New York City, but he was getting pushback from some of his generals regarding how it should be done…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingSuspicious Movements–September 13, 1776
When Patriot forces saw four ships moving into Bushwick Creek, it was ominous but probably not a huge surprise, given that the British already held Brooklyn…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingTo Stay, Or Not To Stay?–September 12, 1776
George Washington’s Council of War finally got to meet on this day in 1776, to figure out what happens next. The Battle of Long Island was a rout for…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingThe Staten Island Peace Conference–September 11, 1776
The Staten Island Peace Conference was a bust almost from the beginning. Not because the sides were so opposed, but because one side didn’t have the…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingMore Bad News–September 10, 1776
General William Heath was around for the battle at Lexington and Concord, but you may remember him from our episode from just a few days ago. He was already a…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingThe Peace Delegation–September 9, 1776
First off, my apologies to you, and to Mike (because it was his episode), for not double-checking that yesterday’s episode was actually loaded into the…
- US History Archives - 250 and Counting
Nathan Hale’s Fateful Decision–September 8, 1776
There are lots of images of Nathan Hale that have him looking like a middle-aged fellow, and then there are others that have him looking like some kind of…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingAll Under Heaven Is Chaos–September 7, 1776
…but the situation was not excellent, for the American side, anyway. George Washington got a wake-up call in the form of a letter from Congress. In that…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingRedrawing Maryland Maps–September 6, 1776
I’ve brought this up in the past, but Maryland appears to have an extraordinary grasp of its own history, even when it comes to naming Maryland counties…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingMore Brooklyn Aftermath–September 5, 1776
The American Army has evacuated Brooklyn. Reports are coming in from all over that the Loyalists are being rather sore winners over the event. Refugees are…
- US History Archives - 250 and Counting
Nicholas Emery–September 4, 1776
When Nicholas Emery was born, the state in which he did most of his important work didn’t yet exist. At the time of his birth, Maine was still considered…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingDown By The Bay–September 3, 1776
The HMS Rose was a British ship that we first discussed a little over a year ago. Her job was largely to patrol the waters off southern New England to prevent…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingA British Offer–September 2, 1776
General John Sullivan had been captured only a few days before by the British, during the Battle of Long Island. Now, Mike tells us in this episode that the…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingEzekiel Bacon–September 1, 1776
If nothing else, Ezekiel Bacon was a fairly reliable Representatvie in Congress, given how often he voted with his party, and the fact that he had a good…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingWashington Is Back To Business–August 31, 1776
Washington wrote two letters today: one to General William Heath, and the other to Congress. To Heath, he basically gave a little bit of an…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingGW Explains His Exit–August 30, 1776
Even though George Washington was in charge of the whole Continental Army, he still had people to answer to. Most directly that would be the Continental…
- US History Archives - 250 and Counting
The Maryland Heroes–August 29, 1776
The Maryland 400 (who got that name because “The Maryland 270 ” was too awkward?) was directly responsible for keeping the American losses…
US History Archives - 250 and CountingThe Battle Winds Down–August 28, 1776
As we told you yesterday, Washington got the word rather late that the battle wasn’t going down the way he thought it would, largely because the Jamaica…