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On this day 250 years ago in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress appointed a Committee of Seven . . . to take into consideration the state of the trade of America, and report their opinion. The following members were elected: Benjamin Franklin, John Rutledge, John Jay, Peyton Randolph, Thomas Johnson, Silas Deane, and Thomas Willing. The…
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On this day 250 years ago, at his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Gen. George Washington dictated a letter to John Hancock, the President of the Continental Congress. The letter read in part: The Connecticut & Rhode Island Troops stand engaged to the first of December only, & none longer than to the 1st January. A…
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On this day 250 years ago, eight American transport ships under the command of Captain James Clarkson sailed through fog and heavy rain into the Kennebec River of present-day Maine to anchor at Parker’s Flats off Georgetown, Maine (then Massachusetts). The fleet carried the troops of Col. Benedict Arnold’s expedition to Quebec. Two other transports…
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On this day 250 years ago from Newburyport, Massachusetts, the 1100 volunteers from the Continental Army led by Col. Benedict Arnold set sail with “colors flying, drums and fifes playing, the hills all around being covered with pretty girls weeping for their departing swains.” That night they anchored off of Wood’s Island, Massachusetts (now Maine)…
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On this day 250 years ago in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress formed a “secret committee” with the primary mission of obtaining arms and ammunition for the Continental Army. Source: “Editorial Note on the Secret Committee, 18 September 1775,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-22-02-0127. [Original source: The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 22, March 23, 1775, through October 27, 1776, ed.…
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On this day 250 years ago, Brigadier General Richard Montgomery, an immigrant from Ireland, led 1400 Continental soldiers, New York and Connecticut militia, and Green Mountain Boys from Vermont to assault Fort Saint Jean (also called Fort Saint John), Canada. Like four earlier assaults during the previous week, the Americans were repulsed but instead of…
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On this day 250 years ago, the New Hampshire delegation — Josiah Bartlett and John Langdon — joined the Continental Congress and Philadelphia. Source: https://americanfounding.org/entries/second-continental-congress-september-16-1775/ On this day 250 years ago in Newburyport, Massachusetts, the 1100 Continental Army volunteers of Col. Benedict Arnold’s expedition into Canada were awaiting ships to transport them to Maine. Some…
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On this day 250 years ago South Carolina Governor Lord William Campbell’s fled Charleston to the safety of the HMS Tamar in Charleston Harbor. The departure of South Carolina’s last royal governor left theSouth Carolina Provincial Congress and Council of Safety in control of the entire province except the post at Ninety Six and other…
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On this day 250 years ago in Philadelphia, the Second Continental Congress: Resolved, That Samuel Stringer be appointed director of the Hospital, and chief Physician and Surgeon for the Army in the northern department with the power to appoint up to four surgeon mates. That the deputy Commissary general purchase and forward such medicines as General…
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On this day 250 years ago in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress reconvened with a full delegation from Georgia, making it the thirteenth colony participating in the Congress. Georgia was represented by Archibald Bullock, John Houstoun, John J. Zubly, Noble Wimberly Jones, and Lyman Hall. The delegations from Virginia (Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson,…
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