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250-Years Ago … Declaration of Independence

Throughout the 1760s and early 1770s, the North American colonists found themselves increasingly at odds with British imperial policies regarding taxation and frontier policy.

When repeated protests failed to influence British policies, and instead resulted in the closing of the port of Boston and the declaration of martial law in Massachusetts, the colonial governments sent delegates to a Continental Congress to coordinate a colonial boycott of British goods.

Britain began to prepare for war in early 1775. The first fighting broke out in April in Massachusetts. In August, the King declared the colonists “in a state of open and avowed rebellion.” For the first time, many colonists began to seriously consider cutting ties with Britain.

When fighting broke out between American colonists and British forces in Massachusetts, the Continental Congress worked with local groups, originally intended to enforce the boycott, to coordinate resistance against the British. British officials throughout the colonies increasingly found their authority challenged by informal local governments, although loyalist sentiment remained strong in some areas.

Despite these changes, colonial leaders hoped to reconcile with the British Government, and all but the most radical members of Congress were unwilling to declare independence.

The colonists elected delegates to attend the Second Continental Congress that eventually became the governing body of the union during the Revolution. Its second meeting convened in Philadelphia in 1775. The delegates to Congress adopted strict rules of secrecy to protect the cause of American liberty and their own lives. In less than a year, most of the delegates abandoned hope of reconciliation with Britain.

Throughout the winter of 1775–1776, the members of the Continental Congress came to view reconciliation with Britain as unlikely, and independence the only course of action available to them.

When on December 22, 1775, the British Parliament prohibited trade with the colonies, Congress responded in April of 1776 by opening colonial ports – this was a major step towards severing ties with Britain.

The colonists were aided by the January publication of Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense, which advocated the colonies’ independence and was widely distributed throughout the colonies.

By February of 1776, colonial leaders were discussing the possibility of forming foreign alliances and began to draft the Model Treaty that would serve as a basis for the 1778 alliance with France.

Leaders for the cause of independence wanted to make certain that they had sufficient congressional support before they would bring the issue to the vote.

On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution “that these united colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states,” acting under the instruction of the Virginia Convention. The Lee Resolution contained three parts: a declaration of independence, a call to form foreign alliances, and “a plan for confederation.”

Other members of Congress were amenable but thought some colonies not quite ready. However, Congress did form a committee to draft a declaration of independence and assigned this duty to Thomas Jefferson.

The publication of Thomas Paine’s stirring pamphlet Common Sense in early 1776 lit a fire under this previously unthinkable idea. The movement for independence was now in full swing.

On June 11, 1776, the Congress appointed three concurrent committees in response to the Lee Resolution: one to draft a declaration of independence, a second to draw up a plan “for forming foreign alliances,” and a third to “prepare and digest the form of a confederation.”

They appointed a Committee of Five to write an announcement explaining the reasons for independence. Thomas Jefferson, who chaired the committee and had established himself as a bold and talented political writer, wrote the first draft.

On June 11, 1776, Jefferson holed up in his Philadelphia boarding house and began to write. Jefferson’s writing was influenced by George Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights, as well as by his study of natural rights theory and the writings of John Locke, including Two Treatises of Government.

Jefferson later explained that “he was not striving for originality of principal or sentiment.” Instead, he hoped his words served as an “expression of the American mind.”

Through the many revisions made by Jefferson, the committee, and then by Congress, Jefferson retained his prominent role in writing the defining document of the American Revolution and, indeed, of the United States. Jefferson was critical of changes to the document and was justly proud of his role in writing the Declaration of Independence and skillfully defended his authorship of this hallowed document. (LOC)

Less than three weeks after he’d begun, the draft went to Congress. He was not pleased when Congress “mangled” his composition by cutting and changing much of his carefully chosen wording. He was especially sorry they removed the part blaming King George III for the slave trade, although he knew the time wasn’t right to deal with the issue.

On July 2, 1776, Congress voted to declare independence. Two days later, it ratified the text of the Declaration.

John Dunlap, official printer to Congress, worked through the night to set the Declaration in type and print approximately 200 copies. These copies, known as the Dunlap Broadsides, were sent to various committees, assemblies, and commanders of the Continental troops. The Dunlap Broadsides weren’t signed, but John Hancock’s name appears in large type at the bottom.

One copy crossed the Atlantic, reaching King George III months later. The official British response scolded the “misguided Americans” and “their extravagant and inadmissable Claim of Independency”.

On July 19, once all 13 colonies had signified their approval of the Declaration of Independence, Congress ordered that it be “fairly engrossed on parchment.” (To “engross” is to write in a large, clear hand.) Timothy Matlack, an assistant to the Secretary of the Congress, was most likely the penman.

On August 2, the journal of the Continental Congress records that “The declaration of independence being engrossed and compared at the table was signed.”

John Hancock, President of the Congress, signed first. The delegates then signed by state from north to south. Some signed after August 2. A few refused. George Washington was away with his troops. Ultimately, 56 delegates signed the Declaration.

Unlike the other founding documents, the Declaration of Independence is not legally binding, but it is powerful. Abraham Lincoln called it “a rebuke and a stumbling-block to tyranny and oppression.” It continues to inspire people around the world to fight for freedom and equality.

The Declaration of Independence was designed for multiple audiences: the King, the colonists, and the world.  It was also designed to multitask. Its goals were to rally the troops, win foreign allies, and to announce the creation of a new country.

The introductory sentence states the Declaration’s main purpose, to explain the colonists’ right to revolution. In other words, “to declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” Congress had to prove the legitimacy of its cause. It had just defied the most powerful nation on Earth. It needed to motivate foreign allies to join the fight.

These are the lines contemporary Americans know best: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness.”  These stirring words were designed to convince Americans to put their lives on the line for the cause.

Separation from the mother country threatened their sense of security, economic stability, and identity. The preamble sought to inspire and unite them through the vision of a better life.

The list of 27 complaints against King George III constitute the proof of the right to rebellion. Congress cast “the causes which impel them to separation” in universal terms for an international audience. Join our fight, reads the subtext, and you join humankind’s fight against tyranny.

The most important and dramatic statement comes near the end: “That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States.” It declares a complete break with Britain and its King and claims the powers of an independent country.

About the Signers

Fifty-six men from each of the original 13 colonies signed the Declaration of Independence – they mutually pledged “to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”

Nine of the signers were immigrants, two were brothers and two were cousins.  Eighteen of the signers were merchants or businessmen, 14 were farmers and four were doctors.  Twenty-two were lawyers and nine were judges.

The average age of a signer was 45.  Benjamin Franklin was the oldest delegate at 70.  The youngest was Thomas Lynch Jr. of South Carolina at 27.

American Revolutionary War

By the time the Declaration of Independence was adopted in July 1776, the Thirteen Colonies (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia) and Great Britain had been at war for more than a year.

That war lasted from April 19, 1775 (with the Battles of Lexington and Concord) to September 3, 1783; it lasted 8 years, 4 months, 2 weeks and 1 day.

Then, the sovereignty of the United States was recognized over the territory bounded roughly by what is now Canada to the north, Florida to the south, and the Mississippi River to the west.

The British captured five signers during the war.  Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward and Arthur Middleton were captured at the Battle of Charleston in 1780.  George Walton was wounded and captured at the Battle of Savannah; Richard Stockton was incarcerated at the hands of British Loyalists.

Eleven signers had their homes and property destroyed.  Francis Lewis’s New York home was razed and his wife taken prisoner. John Hart’s farm and mills were destroyed when the British invaded New Jersey, and he died while fleeing capture.

Fifteen of the signers participated in their states’ constitutional conventions, and six – Roger Sherman, Robert Morris, Benjamin Franklin, George Clymer, James Wilson and George Reed – signed the US Constitution.

Here are a couple myths about the 4th of July and the Declaration of Independence:

#1 Independence Was Declared on the Fourth of July

America’s independence was actually declared by the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776.  The Lee Resolution, also known as the resolution of independence, …

… was an act of the Second Continental Congress declaring the United Colonies to be independent of the British Empire.  Richard Henry Lee of Virginia first proposed it on June 7, 1776; it was formally approved on July 2, 1776.

So what happened on the Fourth? The document justifying the act of Congress – Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence – was adopted on the fourth, as is indicated on the document itself.

#2 The Declaration of Independence Was Signed July 4

Hanging in the grand Rotunda of the Capitol of the United States is a vast canvas painting by John Trumbull depicting the signing of the Declaration.

Both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams wrote, years afterward, that the signing ceremony took place on July 4. When someone challenged Jefferson’s memory in the early 1800s Jefferson insisted he was right.

However, David McCullough remarks in his biography of Adams, “No such scene, with all the delegates present, ever occurred at Philadelphia.”

So when was it signed? Most delegates signed the document on August 2, when a clean copy was finally produced by Timothy Matlack, assistant to the secretary of Congress. Several did not sign until later. And their names were not released to the public until January 1777.

John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Charles Carroll were the longest surviving signers of the Declaration of Independence.  Adams and Jefferson both died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence; Carroll was the last signer to die – in 1832 – at the age of 95.

Click the following links to general summaries about the Declaration of Independence:

Click to access Declaration-of-Independence-SAR-RT.pdf

Click to access Declaration-of-Independence.pdf

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

250 Years Ago … Plot to Kill George Washington

On March 11, 1776, from his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, overseeing the siege of Boston, General George Washington issued a General Order to Colonels or Commanding Officers of regiments of the Continental Army.

Washington’s order directed these officers to select four men from each regiment who would form his personal guard.

General Washington had a clear idea of the type of men he was seeking and the qualifications were laid out in the General Order.

Captain Caleb Gibbs, an adjutant of the 14th Massachusetts Continental Regiment, was selected by General Washington to command the new unit, promoted to the rank of Major, and given the title Captain Commandant. The task fell to Gibbs to organize the new unit, whose motto was “Conquer or Die.”

The explicit mission of the new group was “to protect General Washington, the army’s cash and official papers.” Among Gibbs’ immediate staff officers was Lieutenant George Lewis, a nephew of General Washington.

The official designation of the new unit was “His Excellency’s Guard,” or the “General’s Guard.” Enlisted soldiers referred to the unit as “The Life Guards,” “The Washington Life Guards,” or “Washington’s Body Guard.” General Washington usually referred to the unit as “My Guards,” while Gibbs signed dispatches and unit correspondence “Commandant C-in-C, Guards.”

Within two months of the Lifeguards’ formation, several enlisted men and Non-Commissioned Officers were at the center of what became known as the Hickey mutiny.  (Mount Vernon)

A group of New York Tories had established a secret organization whose possible goal was to assassinate General Washington while he was encamped with units of the Continental Army on Manhattan Island.  (NPR)

The New York Provincial Congress had established the Committee on Conspiracies, a top-secret team of civilians with a mission to gather information about the enemy and detect and thwart the enemy’s intelligence operations. (Smithsonian)

As the plot against Washington got bigger, people started to talk, and this little committee – led by lawyer and Continental Congress delegate John Jay – wound up bringing the whole thing down. It was the beginning of America’s counterintelligence efforts.

At the start of the Revolutionary War, the governor [appointed by the royal government] and the mayor of New York, both British loyalists, successfully turned some of Washington’s personal guards against him. They were ready to strike, but Washington found out. (Smithsonian)

In June 1776, General Washington ordered the arrest of David Mathews, the Loyalist mayor of New York City, for conspiring in support of British plans to invade the city and strike the Continental Army there.

It was later learned that Mathews was also involved in a devious plot against Washington, along with  William Tryon, the British-appointed governor of New York.

The conspirators aimed to capture or assassinate Washington using traitors in his “Life Guard,” the detachment of soldiers responsible for the general’s safety.

They were foiled by the Committee for Detecting and Defeating Conspiracies, led by  John Jay, who would later gain fame as a Founder, diplomat, and jurist.

Thomas Hickey, the Continental soldier at the center of the plot, was a favorite of Washington.

An Irishman and British Army deserter, Hickey joined the colonial militia in Connecticut and was later handpicked by Washington to join his elite Life Guard.

Hickey proved a disappointment and was later jailed on suspicion of counterfeiting. While detained, he confided to fellow prisoners that he was turning his back on the cause of independence and actively recruiting others to support the British.

Hickey was court-martialed for his role in the plot against Washington, and pleaded innocent to charges of “exciting and joining in a mutiny and sedition,” and “treacherously corresponding with, enlisting among, and receiving pay from the enemies of the United Colonies.”

Hickey was found guilty on June 26, 1776.

By Washington’s orders, all soldiers who were not on duty at the time were present at the execution (June 28, 1776). Washington later wrote in a letter to the Continental Congress, “I am hopeful this example will produce many salutary consequences and deter others from entering into the like traitorous practices.”

Mere days before the passage of the Declaration of Independence, 20,000 spectators gathered in a field where Manhattan’s modern-day Chinatown lies.

All together, soldiers and citizens alike, they amassed the largest crowd to watch a public execution in the colonies at the time.

Although he was the only one executed, Hickey, it turns out, was part of a much larger scheme, one concocted by British loyalists to assassinate Washington, who at the time was commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.  (Smithsonian)

Hickey was the first individual to be executed for treason against what would become the United States.

The assassination plot is ‘hidden history.’ When the British were coming, the last thing Washington wanted to say was, “Hey, everyone, my own men just turned on me.” (Smithsonian)

Click the following link to a general summary about the Plot to Kill George Washington:

Click to access Plot-to-Kill-George-Washington.pdf

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

About 250 Years Ago … Battle of Bunker Hill

Following the battles at Lexington and Concord in April 1775, colonial forces from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island formed a New England army to surround and contain the British forces occupying Boston.

To prevent British soldiers from conducting further attacks on the countryside after the march to Lexington and Concord, 20,000 provincial militiamen encircle Boston in the spring of 1775. The Charlestown peninsula and Dorchester Heights, commanding both the city of Boston and Boston harbor, lie abandoned.  This has been referred to as the Siege of Boston.

Hoping to make the British “masters of these heights,” General Gage, in conference with Major Generals William Howe, Henry Clinton, and John Burgoyne, plans to seize the neglected positions before the colonists do so.

News of Gage’s intent filters across from Boston and down from New Hampshire on June 15. Acting quickly on this intelligence, the Massachusetts Committee of Safety orders General Artemas Ward, commander of the colonial militia surrounding Boston, to race the British to the Charlestown peninsula, capture Bunker Hill, and then seize the Dorchester hills.

Colonel William Prescott and General Israel Putnam were the ranking officers in the expedition to Charlestown, however Prescott, being from Massachusetts, commanded the majority of the men.

The following day, Ward orders Colonel William Prescott, with the aid of one thousand colonial troops, to take and fortify Bunker Hill. Unknown to the British, Prescott and his troops arrive at the Charlestown peninsula that same night.

Prescott and other officers ultimately decide to bypass Bunker Hill, rising 110 feet and situated near the only route back to Cambridge, and instead give “orders to march” to Breed’s Hill, a smaller mount further south and within cannon range of Boston and British ships in the harbor.  They built an earthen fortress 160-feet long and 30-feet high atop the hill.  (Massachusetts Historical Society)

For generations many have argued over who ultimately chose where to fortify a position on the lower, more centrally located hill known today as “Breed’s Hill,” rather than the higher prominence known today as “Bunker Hill.”

But on that night, construction began sometime around midnight as hundreds of men with pickaxes and shovels constructed a fort atop the lower hill overlooking the settlement of Charlestown and the beaches along the Harbor. (NPS)

Astonished British generals wake on the morning of June 17 to discover the newly erected defenses. As the day continues, British ships bombard the untrained militia as they work, and Colonel Prescott walks the fortifications to raise morale. Thirsty and tired, the soldiers receive “no refreshment.” Back in Boston, Gage summons a war council.

At three o’clock in the afternoon, over 2,000 British soldiers, commanded by General Howe, land on the Charlestown shore. Continental snipers fire at the British as they march, and General Howe orders a combustible shell launched on Charlestown.  Amid smoke and flames, local inhabitants flee their homes in order to escape “Charlestown’s dismal fate.”

From rooftops and hilltops, spectators watch Charlestown burn. The clear day affords views to residents as far off as Braintree, including Abigail Adams and eight-year-old John Quincy Adams, who later recalls,

“The year 1775 was the eighth year of my age. Among the first fruits of the War, was the expulsion of my father’s family from their peaceful abode in Boston, to take refuge in his and my native town of Braintree….”

“For the space of twelve months my mother with her infant children dwelt, liable every hour of the day and of the night to be butchered in cold blood, or taken and carried into Boston as hostages, by any foraging or marauding detachment of men …”

“My father was separated from his family, on his way to attend the same continental Congress, and there my mother, with her children lived in unintermitted danger of being consumed with them all in a conflagration kindled by a torch in the same hands which on the 17th. of June lighted the fires in Charlestown.”

“I saw with my own eyes those fires, and heard Britannia’s thunders in the Battle of Bunker’s hill and witnessed the tears of my mother and mingled with them my own, at the fall of Warren a dear friend of my father, and a beloved Physician to me.”  (John Quincy Adams, National Archives)

British troops headed uphill, where they are frustrated by fences, pits, and tall grass. In dust and heat, the continental militia wait behind their walls. They hold fire until the British are in within 150 feet of the fortifications.

(Contrary to urban legend, there’s no evidence anyone ordered the men to hold their fire until they saw “the whites” of the enemies’ eyes. The writer Parson Weems seems to have invented this decades later.)

The Americans opened fire at about 50 yards, much too distant to see anyone’s eyes. However, one commander did tell his men to wait until they could see the splash guards – called half-gaiters – that British soldiers wore around their calves.)  (Smithsonian)

“Heavy and severe Fire” decimates the thick British ranks. Recoiling from the first attack, General Howe relies on “the Bravery of the King’s Troops”.

He immediately ordered his stumbling and disordered soldiers to make a second charge, this time only at the hill and rail fence. Again the colonists slaughter the King’s troops with their fire.

An hour passed as the British recover from the two attacks. They receive 400 new troops from Boston. A third time, General Howe orders his soldiers, with the help of the reinforcements, to charge the breastworks and the rail fence.

Prescott’s men again waited until the last minute to open fire. This time, they are running out of ammunition and are soon overrun by the British; then they fought with rocks and the butts of their muskets.

No longer able to withstand the British attack, Prescott’s men retreat north over the road to Cambridge, as General Stark’s New Hampshire troops cover them in the rear.

One of the last to abandon the fort on Breed’s Hill, Joseph Warren was killed as he retreats, and he was mourned with “the tears of multitudes.” In total, 140 colonists are dead and 271 are wounded. Before dark, the British again command the Charleston peninsula, though 226 British lie dead and 828 are wounded.

Despite renewed British control of the peninsula, colonial forces still trap the British in Boston. As supply issues and shortages plague them, the British prepare for further military commitment to defeat the “poor and ignorant” colonists. Meanwhile, the colonies scramble to assemble more soldiers.

Britain replaced General Gage with General Howe in early October 1775, and two weeks after the battle at Breed’s Hill, on July 2, 1775, George Washington arrived in Cambridge to take command of the Continental Army. (Massachusetts Historical Society)

Getting the Names Straight

Popularly known as ‘The Battle of Bunker Hill,’ as noted, the battle actually occurred on Breed’s Hill.

 The National Park Service, on their Boston National Historical Park website, notes that Historian Richard  Ketchum stated,

To the south of [Bunker Hill], and connected to it by a lower, sloping ridge, was a height of land not sufficiently distinguished to bear any particular name. Some called it Charlestown Hill;  others, considering it an appendage of Bunker Hill, referred to it by that title;

while some of the local people, out of deference to a farmer whose cattle grazed there, called it Breed’s. Its steep western flank, covered with orchards and gardens, leveled out near the settlement of Charlestown.

By 1775, the population of Charlestown hovered around 2,000 to 3,000 people with 400 structures in it, mostly situated on the south shore facing Boston. Bunker and Breed’s Hills, named after George Bunker and Ebenezer Breed, were mostly undeveloped with some farmhouses and pastures.

The Battle of Bunker Hill, also called the Battle of Breed’s Hill, (June 17, 1775), was the first major battle of the American Revolution, fought in Charlestown (now part of Boston) during the Siege of Boston.

Click the following link to a general summary about the Battle of Bunker Hill:

Click to access Battle-of-Bunker-Hill-SAR-RT.pdf

Click to access Battle-of-Bunker-Hill.pdf

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

About 250 Years Ago … George Washington

“Father of His Country,” “The Sage of Mount Vernon,” “The Foundingest Father of them all” … Martha Washington called him her “Old Man.”

On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first President of the United States.  He wrote James Madison,

“As the first of every thing, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent, it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles.”

Born in 1732 into a Virginia planter family, he learned the morals, manners and body of knowledge requisite for an 18th century Virginia gentleman.

The unexpected death of their father, when George Washington was eleven, prevented him from receiving a classical, Latin-based education at Appleby School in England. Instead, private tutors and possibly a local school in Fredericksburg provided the young man with the only formal instruction he would receive.

Throughout his life, George Washington felt keenly embarrassed by his lack of a formal education, privately admitting that he was “conscious of a defective education,” and for good reason.

The majority of the founders were college-educated gentleman who had spent years reading law and studying the classics. Washington was one of the few in his generation who rose to leadership without these advantages.

In addition to reading, writing, and basic legal forms, Washington studied geometry and trigonometry – in preparation for his first career as a surveyor – and manners – which would shape his character and conduct for the rest of his life. 

The printed word, as much as the trials of battle, forged George Washington the soldier and was central to his efforts to create disciplined, effective armies.

The war stories told by his half-brother, Lawrence Washington, an officer in the Virginia militia likely ignited Washington’s interest in a military career, but printed histories may have also inspired him.

He pursued two intertwined interests: military arts and western expansion.

In 1747, Washington executed his first practice surveys, and in 1749 he secured the lucrative office of county surveyor in Culpeper County, Virginia.  At 16 he helped survey Shenandoah lands for Thomas, Lord Fairfax.

Commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754, he fought the first skirmishes of what grew into the French and Indian War. The next year, as an aide to Gen. Edward Braddock, he escaped injury although four bullets ripped his coat and two horses were shot from under him.

In March 1755, Washington rejoined the British Army, this time as an unpaid aide-de-camp to General Edward Braddock. However, he was still seen as a second-rate aide and Braddock did not listen to colonists despite their experiences. The result was a disaster.

After years of frustration, Washington resigned from the British Army for good. Continuing to serve with his men was clearly his preference, but he could no longer do so.

From 1759 to the outbreak of the American Revolution, Washington managed his lands around Mount Vernon and served in the Virginia House of Burgesses.

In both the French and Indian War and the American Revolution, George Washington faced the frustrating task of transforming liberty-loving colonists into disciplined soldiers.

Officers were often as unfamiliar with the basic commands as their troops, and Washington urged them to read military manuals. One Hessian soldier recalled with surprise the books found in the captured bags of American officers: “This was a true indication that the officers of this army studied the art of war while in camp.”

Married to a widow, Martha Dandridge Custis, he devoted himself to a busy and happy life. But like his fellow planters, Washington felt himself exploited by British merchants and hampered by British regulations. As the quarrel with the mother country grew acute, he moderately but firmly voiced his resistance to the restrictions.

Washington knew British control extend too far within the government as well. As the British Parliament continued to tax the colonies his anger grew.

The first time George Washington ran for public office, he lost.  Despite the loss, Washington decided to run again for the House of Burgesses. It seems that by November 1757, some already knew Washington’s intentions to run in Frederick County.

The last session of the House of Burgesses Washington attended was in May 1774. During the session burgesses called for a day of “fasting, Humiliation and prayer,” to show support to those being punished by Parliament for the Boston Tea Party.

British Governor Dunmore promptly dissolved the House of Burgesses and did not recall it until June 1775.

When the Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia in May 1775, Congress created the Continental Army on June 14, 1775, and John Adams nominated George Washington to serve as the army’s Commander-in- Chief.

On June 16, 1775, Washington addressed the Continental Congress … “Mr President, Tho’ I am truly sensible of the high Honour done me in this Appointment, yet I feel great distress, from a consciousness that my abilities & Military experience may not be equal to the extensive & important Trust:”

“However, as the Congress desire i⟨t⟩ I will enter upon the momentous duty, & exert every power I Possess In their service & for the Support of the glorious Cause: I beg they will accept my most cordial thanks for this distinguished testimony of their Approbation.”

“But lest some unlucky event should happen unfavourable to my reputation, I beg it may be rememberd by every Gentn in the room, that I this day declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think my self equal to the Command I ⟨am⟩ honoured with.”

“As to pay, Sir, I beg leave to Assure the Congress that as no pecuniary consideration could have tempted me to have accepted this Arduous emploiment at the expence of my domestk ease & happi⟨ness⟩ I do not wish to make any proffit from it: I will keep an exact Account of my expences; those I doubt not they will discharge & that is all I desire.” (Washington, National Archives)

On July 3, 1775, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, he took command of his ill-trained troops and embarked upon a war that was to last six grueling years.

Despite having little practical experience in managing large, conventional armies, Washington proved to be a capable and resilient leader of the American military forces during the Revolutionary War.

While he lost more battles than he won, Washington employed a winning strategy that included victories at the Battle of Trenton in 1776 and Yorktown in 1781.

First President of the United States

Washington longed to retire to his fields at Mount Vernon. But he soon realized that the Nation under its Articles of Confederation was not functioning well, so he became a prime mover in the steps leading to the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia in 1787.

When the new Constitution was ratified, the Electoral College unanimously elected Washington President.

He did not infringe upon the policy making powers that he felt the Constitution gave Congress. But the determination of foreign policy became principally a Presidential concern.

When the French Revolution led to a major war between France and England, Washington refused to accept entirely the recommendations of either his Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who was pro-French, or his Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who was pro-British. Rather, he insisted upon a neutral course until the United States could grow stronger.

He retired at the end of his second term.  In his 1796 Farewell Address, Washington’s principal concern was for the safety of the eight-year-old Constitution. He believed that the stability of the Republic was threatened by the forces of geographical sectionalism, political factionalism, and interference by foreign powers in the nation’s domestic affairs.

White House

George Washington, selected the site for the White House in 1791, but he never lived in it. The following year, the cornerstone was laid and a design submitted by Irish-born architect James Hoban was chosen. After eight years of construction, President John Adams (the 2nd US President) and his wife Abigail moved into the still-unfinished residence.

George Washington’s Mount Vernon mansion is ten times the size of the average home in colonial Virginia.  Mount Vernon was the home of George Washington.

Washington enjoyed less than three years of retirement at Mount Vernon; he died of a throat infection December 14, 1799. For months the Nation mourned him.  (White House)

Click the following link to a general summary about George Washington:

Click to access George-Washington.pdf

© 2026 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

About 250 Years Ago … Stars and Stripes, the US Flag (also US Army Birthday)

As we approach the semiquincentennial (250th) anniversary of the forming of the United States (July 4, 2026), here is a brief summary of issues and actions that led to the Revolution and the Revolutionary War … this is about the US Flag.

“[N]ational symbols and ceremonies express deeper aspects and meanings of the nation, and function as integrative and/or divisive forces. Moreover, national symbols and ceremonies form a central part of a ‘secular’ religion which provides anchorage in a dynamic world.”

“National symbols and ceremonies also have an effect upon the community they represent; that is, they raise collective consciousness of ‘who we are’ and ‘where we are from.’”  (Elgenius)

“The earliest depiction of a fabric flag is vaguely claimed to date back to 400 BC. It is painted on a wall in a Samnite colony in Paestum in Southern Italy.  This depiction lacks a distinct design although the shape of the flag itself bears a close resemblance to a modem one.”

“The Chinese also used flags, as lateral cloth attachments to staffs, following the invention of silk farming.  The development of sericulture around 3000 BC brought new possibilities of producing light, large, enduring and colourful (painted or dyed) flags that could be used outdoors.”

“These flags were mainly known for their military use, but also appeared in temples and religious processions. One of the earliest cloth flags was also flown during the Egyptian Middle Kingdom around 2000 BC.”

“It is not necessary to date the first flag, in this context, but it is interesting to see that flags were used by early civilisations and that the present pattern of flag symbolism has ancient roots.”  (Elgenius)

“The end of the 18th century marks the official beginning of the ‘national’ flag. This was a gradual process where official recognition came after the flag and its colours had gained some sort of symbolic value.”

“It is noteworthy that one of the first manifestations of American ‘resistance’ was a Red Ensign with the motto ‘Liberty and Union’, which was hoisted a year before the Revolution in Taunton, Massachusetts.”

“Even earlier, in 1769, Boston had flown a flag of red and white stripes. The ‘rattlesnake’ with the motto ‘Don’t Tread on Me’, was another famous flag, which later developed into a depiction of the rattlesnake with 13 segments.”

“The Pine Tree emblem, which originated from New England and was later identified with the Liberty Tree, figured on many early American flags (and also in very early Native American symbolism).”

“The use of the Red Ensign with the motto in the fly, or with the Pine Tree in the canton and that of the plain Pine Tree Flag, were the first prime sources for the American flag tradition. These constituted together with the Boston striped flag the main starting points for the colonial flag evolving during 1775.”

“The emblem of the rattlesnake was seen in the canton of the Red Ensign, which was hoisted by a Pennsylvanian regiment in 1775, and in the flag of stripes used by the South Carolina Navy. In 1776 the flag hoisted in Massachusetts was described as ‘English Colours but more Striped’, i. e. a British Red Ensign but with white stripes across the field.”

National Flag

“[T]he concept of the ‘national flag’ is the direct consequence of political developments after the American and the French Revolution, where the idea of the flag representing the country and its people emerged.”

“The American flag was adopted to represent a multi-ethnic people; it symbolised first and foremost the attempt to break free from colonial domination. At the same time the ‘Stars and Stripes’ flag made a significant contribution to the modern flag tradition as an idea of a flag representing a ‘whole population’ as well as its government, and it also reflected the more egalitarian ideas of the time.”

“The ‘Stars and Stripes’ was created on the 14 July 1777 – by whom and where remains unclear – and it was used in different forms during the remainder of the War of Independence. It is worth noting that America did not have a flag representing it (or the colonies) prior to the conflicts with England.”  (Elgenius)

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress approved the design of a national flag: “Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white: that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”

The resolution didn’t prescribe a certain arrangement, so the earliest flags display quite a variety of designs. (DAR)  The number of stars on the American Flag has changed with time from 13 to 50 in order to correspond with the increasing number of states.  (Elgenius)

Betsy Ross Flag

The origin of the first American flag is unknown. Some historians believe it was designed by New Jersey Congressman Francis Hopkinson and sewn by Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Griscom Ross was born a fourth-generation American to a Quaker family on New Year’s Day of 1752 in the colonial city of Philadelphia.

Ross learned to sew from a great-aunt, and, after finishing school, apprenticed with a talented upholsterer in Philadelphia, where she met and married fellow apprentice John Ross, with whom she formed an upholstery business.

Among their customers was George Washington, for whom they sewed bed hangings in 1774 while he was in Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress. After the death of her husband at the start of the American Revolution, Ross continued to sew uniforms, tents, and flags for the Continental Army.

Historians have not been able to verify Ross’s legendary role as the creator of the Stars and Stripes. But the likely legendary story that in June 1776 General Washington consulted with Ross on the creation of a new flag, and she persuaded him to alter its stars from six-pointed to the easier-to-sew five-pointed took hold in the national patriotic imagination.

For generations Betsy Ross has stood as the symbol of feminine ingenuity and resourcefulness in service to the country. Her contributions to the founding of the United States are commonly represented, as in a 1952 stamp commemorating the 200th anniversary of her birth, with the Stars and Stripes on her lap. (DOI)

Old Glory

The name Old Glory was given to a large, 10-by-17-foot flag by its owner, William Driver, a sea captain from Massachusetts.

Inspiring the common nickname for all American flags, Driver’s flag is said to have survived multiple attempts to deface it during the Civil War. Driver was able to fly the flag over the Tennessee Statehouse once the war ended.  (PBS)

Star-Spangled Banner

In June 1813, Major George Armistead arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, to take command of Fort McHenry, built to guard the water entrance to the city.

Armistead commissioned Mary Pickersgill, a Baltimore flag maker, to sew two flags for the fort: a smaller storm flag (17 by 25 ft) and a larger garrison flag (30 by 42 ft).  She was hired under a government contract and was assisted by her daughter, two nieces, and an indentured African-American girl.

The larger of these two flags would become known as the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Pickersgill stitched it from a combination of dyed English wool bunting (red and white stripes and blue union) and white cotton (stars).  Each star is about two feet in diameter, each stripe about 24 inches wide.

The Star-Spangled Banner’s impressive scale (about one-fourth the size of a modern basketball court) reflects its purpose as a garrison flag. It was intended to fly from a flagpole about ninety feet high and be visible from great distances.

At its original dimensions of 30 by 42 feet, it was larger than the modern garrison flags used today by the United States Army, which have a standard size of 20 by 38 feet.

Between 1777 and 1960 Congress passed several acts that changed the shape, design and arrangement of the flag and allowed stars and stripes to be added to reflect the admission of each new state.  On August 3, 1949, President Harry S. Truman officially declared June 14 as Flag Day.

The first Flag Act, adopted on June 14, 1777, created the original United States flag of thirteen stars and thirteen stripes.

The Star-Spangled Banner has fifteen stars and fifteen stripes as provided for in the second Flag Act approved by Congress on January 13, 1794.  The additional stars and stripes represent Vermont (1791) and Kentucky (1792) joining the Union.

The third Flag Act, passed on April 4, 1818, reduced the number of stripes back to thirteen to honor the original thirteen colonies and provided for one star for each state – a new star to be added to the flag on the Fourth of July following the admission of each new state.  (Smithsonian)

Today the flag consists of 13 horizontal stripes, seven red alternating with six white. The stripes represent the original 13 Colonies and the stars represent the 50 states of the Union. The colors of the flag are symbolic as well; red symbolizes hardiness and valor, white symbolizes purity and innocence and blue represents vigilance, perseverance and justice.

JJune 14 also Marks the Anniversary of the Formation the Continental Army

On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress adopted “the American continental army” after reaching a consensus position in the Committee of the Whole.  This procedure and the desire for secrecy account for the sparseness of the official journal entries for the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOLU7Lp6cmw&list=PLRJNAhZxtqH8xTJcA1ATIkHzm_3plhGcz

Click the following links to general summaries about the Stars and Stripes:

Click to access Stars-and-Stripes-SAR-RT.pdf

Click to access Stars-and-Stripes.pdf

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