Author: Mike Messner

As farfetched as it sounds today, considering the need to invade and occupy Canadian territory was considered important early in the war effort, largely because the colonies in the Great White North had been treated a little more favorably by Parliament. Therefore they were more likely to lean on the Loyalist side of things.

In making the decision to do so, however, there were lots of things to consider that (in retrospect) seem not to have been considered. But as time goes on and we get closer to the end of the year, we’ll be discussing that in future episodes. At this point, the plans are mostly just getting started.

Frederick Graff feels like one of those guys who gets so little credit for what he did, you wind up feeling pretty badly for him.

But the fact is, if not for him, over three dozen cities in the US wouldn’t have adequate water systems. So good on Frederick! Hoist your favorite beverage in his honor! (Though, in this case, it really should be water.)

Rhode Island has been proactive about the war effort ever since the events at Lexington and Concord. And one thing you’re going to learn today is just how much coastline there is to Rhode Island, and why having a navy was important to them.

But it’s important to get an outsider’s view of things, and this wasn’t necessarily the Continental Congress’ viewpoint. It took a long while before any real action was taken.

Today we take a look at two letters composed today:

The first was an account of the activities around the Battle of Bunker Hill, from the time they were assigned to protect the hill, to the time they were finally defeated by the British—because they were out of ammunition.

In the other letter, Thomas Jefferson composes a letter to a fellow Virginia politician in which he writes very specific prose, knowing that sooner or later it will fall into British hands. The intent was that the letter go public and let people who weren’t politicians that their leaders might not be telling the whole truth.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Lots of prominent early Americans weren’t Americans to begin with. For instance, the first President of the United States who was actually born in the United States would be Martin Van Buren, our eight president.

But while most of these folks were born on the North American continent, the subject of today’s episode was not. He was born in Bermuda. So while George Tucker was still a British citizen by birth, he didn’t come to America until he was twenty years old, making him an honest-to-goodness immigrant.

But let’s not hold that against him. As you’ll learn today, Tucker had a long and varied career as a politician, an educator and an author.

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.