On this day 250 years ago in Philadelphia, John Adams wrote to Richard Henry Lee:

A Legislative, an Executive and a judicial Power, comprehend the whole of what is meant and understood by Government. It is by ballancing each of these Powers against the other two, that the Effort in humane Nature towards Tyranny, can alone be checked and restrained and any degree of Freedom preserved in the Constitution.

Source: “John Adams to Richard Henry Lee, 15 November 1775,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-03-02-0163. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Papers of John Adams, vol. 3, May 1775 – January 1776, ed. Robert J. Taylor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1979, pp. 307–308.];

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On this day 250 years ago at Kemp’s Landing, in Princess Anne County (now the City of Virginia Beach), Virginia, approximately 200 poorly armed Virginia militia were routed by 131 British and Loyalist troops led by Virginia’s royal governor, Lord Dunmore. Only one British soldier was wounded, but seven Virginia Militiamen were killed including Pvt. John Ackiss who was the first Patriot whose name was recorded for history who was known to give his life defending Virginia in the Revolution. The British captured 18 Virginians including Cols. Anthony Lawson and Joseph Hutchings, the commanders of the Militia. Hutchings would later die as a prisoner of the British.

Today and tomorrow November 15, 2025, the City of Virginia Beach is commemorating the Battle of Kemp’s Landing at City View Park.

Sources: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/kemps-landing; https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/battle-of-kemps-landing/; https://www.virginiasar.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=429:virginia-road-to-revolution&catid=20:site-content; https://www.founderoftheday.com/founder-of-the-day/joseph-hutchings;

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=267550; https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=135204; https://www.pilotonline.com/2025/11/12/virginia-beach-weekend-long-free-event-will-feature-artillery-demonstrations-battle-reenactment/