When looking at historical documents related to Joseph Healy, it appears that most of them relate to Healy in a rather ancillary manner. We know how many times he voted in Congress because someone keeps tallies of everyone in Congress. We know about his family tree because he was traced back via Ancestry.com. Healy is […] The post Joseph Healy–August 21, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.
That the Southwick Broadside version of the Declaration of Independence isn’t as famous as the Dunlap Broadside shouldn’t be a surprise, since the Dunlap is the first one, and the one on which all the others are based. The the Southwick has the wrong date on it is an interesting nugget of information. It’s worth […] The post Rhode Island Gets The Declaration–July 13, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.
May 4th is Rhode Island Independence Day, marking the date that one of our smallest states became the first of the Original Thirteen Colonies to declare its independence from Great Britain. Almost. Here—as the late, great Paul Harvey would say—is the rest of the story. All of the colonies were required to sign oaths of […] The post Rhode Island Goes First–May 4, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.
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 […] The post Mr. Washington Goes to Providence–April 5, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.
Samuel Ward Sr. was a farmer and a politician, the governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and a Justice of that colony’s Supreme Court. As a younger man, Ward believed in governments issuing hard money rather than paper, often battling with Stephen Hopkins over this issue. Because of this specific topic, […] The post A Death In Rhode Island–March 26, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.
Prudence Island, in the Narragansett Bay off Rhode Island, didn’t have a lot of strategic value to anyone. What it DID have was livestock, and the British were hard-pressed to get supplies, especially for Boston, which had been under siege since mid-April. And, as Mike notes during the episode, neither army was really shy about […] The post Prudence Island Under Attack–January 12, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.
Conanicut Island isn’t much of an island to look at, but they had supplies of some kind, and the British were looking. Admiral Graves had the task of finding supplies for the British who were under siege in Boston, and he decided to move beyond the local waters, and went into Narragansett Bay. In some […] The post Raid on Conanicut–December 10, 1775 appeared first on 250 and Counting.
While Boston was under siege, the British were having a hard time getting food and other supplies. But they still controlled the water, so British naval vessels went in search. Captain James Wallace was especially good at procuring supplies, largely because he harassed people until they gave in, or he would threaten to shoot up […] The post October 7, 1775: The Bombardment of Bristol appeared first on 250 and Counting.
It’s often tough to remember that when the fighting first broke out, it wasn’t a bid for independence from Britain. It was an attempt to protect and defend rights that the Colonists thought they had as part of their relationship with Britain. Reconciliation was (amazingly) still on the table, even six months after Lexington. So […] The post October 3, 1775: Rhode Island Suggests a Navy appeared first on 250 and Counting.
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 […] The post August 26, 1775: Rhode Island Wants Some Naval Action appeared first on 250 and Counting.
