250 and Counting: February 3, 1775

Cover art for February 3, 1775: "The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton, January 3,1777" by John Trumbull

Hugh Mercer is one of those people who was terribly important to the cause of Liberty during the American Revolution, yet his story goes untold largely because he died early in the effort.

But if Mercer hadn’t come to America because he was on the losing side of a battle in Scotland, he wouldn’t have become a doctor in Pennsylvania.

And he wouldn’t have joined up in the French and Indian War.

And if he hadn’t been wounded, then he wouldn’t have been rescued, transferred and promoted to Major.

And if he hadn’t been transferred, he wouldn’t have met George Washington.

And Washington wouldn’t have gotten the idea to invade Trenton, New Jersey at Christmastime 1776.

And Mercer wouldn’t have been killed the following month. Which is bad, but…

If Mercer hasn’t sacrificed himself so publicly, Washington’s troops wouldn’t have been inspired to re-enlist and continue the fight.

Also, the county surrounding Trenton, New Jersey would have a name other than “Mercer County,” so there’s that.

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250 and Counting: February 2, 1775

Cover art for February 2, 1775: portrait of Abigail Adams by Benjamin Blyth, in 1766.

After the Boston Tea Party, the government in Britain enacted what they called the Coercive Acts, or what the Colonists called the Intolerable Acts. (From here, it doesn’t feel like one name was any better-sounding than the other.)

Because the Colonists were still hoping to preserve a decent relationship with the Mother Country, the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia and put together a letter to the king, which said in essence, “We’re very loyal to you, O King, but it’s been a year and enough is enough. Maybe you could prevail upon Parliament to dial it back a little bit, hm?”

That was in October of 1774. Of course, documents moving slowly and all that, the reply from the king didn’t come back for a couple of months, and at the heart of it was George affirming his faith in Parliament’s actions, and nothing’s going to change for the forseeable future.

Both John and Abigail Adams, in different places at the time and in separate letters to friends, each relayed to friends their opinion that the tipping point had passed and that war was probably inevitable.

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Guest Voice: Shannon Call, who needed a lot of convincing to get near a microphone.

250 and Counting: January 27, 1775

Cover Art for January 27, 1775: A portrait of General Gage

William Legge was the second Lord Dartmouth and the Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1772 to the end of 1775. He was also step-brother to Lord North, who gets a mention in this episode.

While he was a supporter of the constitutional supremacy that Parliament maintained they held over the Colonies, Lord Dartmouth was also the Colonists’ best hope for some form of reconciliation.

Dartmouth’s resolve to achieve this reconciliation was damaged by the Boston Tea Party, so by this time he ordered Gage to put some extra pressure on the Colonists. Unfortunately this backfired badly and led to the battles at Lexington and Concord, which we’ll talk about in a future episode. Even after that, however, Legge couldn’t fully support armed coercion against the Americans, and he resigned his post in November, which basically ended his political career.

Legge was considered by many to be very pious and gentle, to the point where some people called him “the Psalm Singer.” He died in 1801, nearly forgotten. Even his final resting place no longer exists, as it was destroyed by the Nazis during World War II.

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250 and Counting: January 11, 1775

Francis Salvador was a man who is in the history books for two notable things: the day he was elected to public office, and the day he died in the Revoluationary War.

That doesn’t ordinarily make a person notable, but Salvador had the distinction of being the first person of his faith to achieve these two things.

And for our money, the place where it happened may also be notable.

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