On This Day In The Revolution

On this day 250 years ago on an island off Newport in Narrangansett Bay, Rhode Island, militia were working around the clock since10:00 pm the previous night to remove cannon and military stores from Fort George. The militia loaded the artillery onto boats to carry them away to Providence where the British could not reach…

On December 7, 1774, in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Journal published an article reporting That General Gage had … orders to prevent the congress at any rate, and to take those deputed into custody. If these orders were executed, it must either set all America in a flame, or damp the small fire of liberty that…

On this day 250 years ago in Cambridge, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress issued a public resolution seeking support for the people of Boston and Charlestown suffering because of the closure of the Port of Boston we hold ourselves obliged, in Justice, to contribute to their Support; while they, under such a Weight of Oppression, are…

On this day 250 years ago in Cambridge, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress adopts a resolution That the proceedings of the American Continental Congress, held at Philadelphia on the fifth of September last, and reported by the honorable delegates from this colony, have, with the deliberation due to their high importance, been considered by us; and…

On this day 250 years ago in London Vice Admiral Samuel Graves received an Order of the Privy Council approved by the King to send Royal Navy ships to patrol ports in New England in order to intercept ships smuggling arms and ammunition in violation of the Order. Graves promptly ordered the Gaspee, Halifax, Lively and Canceaux to patrol…

On this day 250 years ago in London, England, Benjamin Franklin received invitations to meet the next day with two prominent British supporters of America, David Barclay and John Fothergill. Barclay and Fothergill were acting as intermediaries for Lord Dartmouth and other British ministries, perhaps including Prime Minister Lord North, in a final effort to…

On this day 250 years ago in Portsmouth, Royal Governor John Wentworth of New Hampshire wrote to the British Secretary of State Lord Dartmouth about the “inflammatory spirit” in the colony. Wentworth reported that “a cry about liberty will captivate and bear sway with the populace . . . as there is no power to…

On this day 250 years ago in all thirteen American colonies, Patriots began a boycott of goods imported from Britain as recommended by the Articles of Association passed by the First Continental Congress. Source: https://www.americanrevolution.org/first-continental-congress/

On this day 250 years ago the freeholders of Fairfax County, Virginia hold a meeting at the Alexandria Courthouse to adopt the Continental Association. The Continental Association called for a boycott of trade with Great Britain and is scheduled to go into effect on December 1. George Washington organized the meeting but did not attend.…