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: January 6, 1775

Cover art for January 6, 1775: A map of the New York area from that year

The impression that most people have of John Adams, it seems, comes from one of two places. It’s either William Daniels’ portrayal of him in the play and film 1776 (and we’re big fans of that particular bit of cinema), or it’s Paul Giamatti’s portrayal in the seven-part miniseries on cable TV. Both stories had their charms, and both took some liberties with the facts. (Oddly, both of them showed Benjamin Franklin being carried in to the Second Continental Congress, but that didn’t happen until the Constitutional Conventions eleven years later.) The bottom line is that Adams was a complex man and a very smart one who had the ability to see the bigger picture, as they say.

George Washington was also a well-rounded person, as you no doubt discovered in the January 1 episode. Early in 1775 Washington wore multiple hats. He was a delegate to the First Continental Congress, he was responsible for training militiamen in Virginia, and he was unofficially the Commander-in-Chief of the army, except there wasn’t one quite yet.

Today we’re looking at some correspondence from Adams to Washington, and we’ll learn in a future episode just how seriously Washington took his warnings.

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250 and Counting: January 1, 1775

Welcome to the inaugural episode of 250 and Counting!

This is a daily podcast, but don’t worry—it only runs about four or five minutes per day. Those of you of a certain age (ahem) may remember the Bicentennial Minute.

For those of you who don’t: As the 200th anniversary of the United States approached, our country was absolutely immersed in Bicentennial stuff. Anything that could get the Bicentennial logo slapped on it, had the logo slapped on it. And absolutely everyone had a little extra dash of American pride in them.

And every night at 8:00 PM, on CBS Television, we’d get what was informally called the Bicentennial Minute. A celebrity of some level (some were big names and others weren’t) would come on and tell us what happened 200 years ago on that day. They’d tell us about the events that led up to the Revolutionary War. They’d talk about the people who signed the Declaration of Independence. They’d talk about the aftermath of these events. And they did it in just a couple of minutes. For two years, we’d get a little snippet of the history of the United States.

Now, it’s 2025 and the 250^th anniversary (July 4, 2026) of our country is coming. America isn’t feeling that pride anymore, we don’t think. And that’s a shame because we do need a win. We need to feel like we understood what our ancestors fought for. 250 years isn’t quite as exciting a marker as a nice round number like 200 or 300, but most of the people involved in this project aren’t likely to live that long. (We’re still trying to face it, but dangit, it’s true.)

Also, we can’t afford celebrities, so you have us, instead. “Us” is Claude Call and Mike Messner, with a little help from Serena Gaylord and Lorene Childs. (You can read more about everyone on the “About Us” page.)

250 and Counting will be available in your favorite podcatcher, but if you prefer listening to it here on the website, here it is for your enjoyment.

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