Mrs. Emma Clarissa Clement In 1776, Washington was managing an overworked army. He directs brigade majors to ensure every regiment shares equally in duty. In 1776, Commodore Esek Hopkins, the commander in chief of the Continental Navy, writes from Providence, thanking him for the temporary use of army men. Hopkins says he will send them back to New York in the sloop Providence, but he also reports that the fleet remains “sickly onboard all the Vessels” and cannot yet put to s

Washington's Inauguration In 1789, George Washington was sworn in as the first president of the United States under the Constitution. He delivered his first inaugural address to a joint session of Congress, assembled in Federal Hall in the nation’s new capital, New York City. The newly-elected president delivered the speech in a deep, low voice that betrayed what one observer called “manifest embarrassment.” In 1803, representatives of the United States and Napoleonic France

Dachau Concentration Camp - least any one forgets! In 1751, the New York Gazette and Post Boy carried the first public report of a cricket match played in America: New York XI v London XI on the site of what is today the Fulton Fish Market in Manhattan, NYC. In 1776, the time had come for the army to take shape. Washington orders a formal encampment, arranging brigades into a deliberate defensive line around New York. What had been a gathering of troops is becoming an army pr

Depiction of John Harvey Arrest In 1635, Virginia Governor John Harvey was accused of treason and removed from office. In 1776, Soldiers from a Pennsylvania regiment were found firing their weapons and wasting ammunition, claiming ignorance of orders. Washington rejects this outright. He orders that the Articles of War be read weekly to every company so no one may “plead Ignorance.” In 1776, Washington responds to Nicholas Cooke, the governor of Rhode Island, who has pleaded

Zebulon Pike In 4977 B.C., the universe was created—at least according to the calculations of the famed astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler, who is better known for his theories explaining the motion of planets. In 1773, in London, the House of Commons passed the Tea Bill, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade. In 1776, correspondence poured in and out of Washington’s headquarters on Broadway. He con

William Price In 1776, the Second Continental Congress approved funding for a gun factory in North Carolina to be built by Richard Herring and John Devane. The factory was to produce muskets with 3-foot, 8-inch barrels and 18-inch bayonets, at no more than five pounds each. In 1776, in today’s orders, Washington works to turn a collection of provincial regiments into a disciplined army before the British strike New York. He reshapes the army in New York into five brigades and

Nicholas Cooke, RI Governor In 1635, the Boston Grammar School (later the Boston Latin School), open to all boys regardless of social class, was founded as the first public school in what would become the United States; it set a precedent for tax-supported public education. In 1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress voted to raise a volunteer force of 13,600 men. In 1776, South Carolina Indicts the King for Actions Against the Colonies. In 1776, in a letter to John Hancoc

Pat Tillman In 1526, the first slave revolt in North America occurred at San Miguel de Gualdape, a Spanish settlement now part of South Carolina. In 1692, Edward Bishop was jailed for proposing flogging as a cure for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. In 1776, Washington’s mind is fixed on discipline. He issues orders directing that prisoners awaiting general courts-martial be sent to the provost marshal, while lesser offenders remain under regimental guard. Meanwhile, the c

Henry Knox In 1649 , the Maryland Toleration Act, which provided for freedom of worship for all Christians, was passed by the Maryland assembly. In 1776, in New York, Washington found a city uneasy and divided. Though British warships have recently withdrawn, the threat remains close, with William Tryon, the former royal governor of New York, directing Loyalist activity from offshore. Washington’s army fills the streets, but it is raw, regionally divided, and only partly fit

George Clinton, 4th VP of the US In 1775, the Siege of Boston began. In 1776, Washington focused on readiness. Writing to the New York Committee of Safety , he asks what method exists—and how quickly—to assemble 2,000 to 2,500 militia if a British fleet appears. He proposes a coordinated system of lookouts and signal relays along the harbor. In 1776, Washington was also troubled by supply. In a letter to Connecticut governor Jonathan Trumbull Sr., he reports alarming ret

Shirley Temple in Stand Up and Cheer In 1764, the English Parliament banned the American colonies from printing paper money. In 1775, the shot heard round the world was first fired on Lexington Green in Lexington, MA. No one knows for sure who fired first, but it sparked the American Revolution, which changed human history forever and brought the idea of self-government to the world. In 1776, it was the first anniversary of Lexington and Concord. Washington nods to the occas

Ellis Island In 1776, Martha Washington arrived in New York. The couple takes up residence at the Abraham Mortier house, a country estate overlooking the Hudson River just north of the city. In 1783, Spanish soldiers and their Quapaw allies, commanded by Captain Jacobo Du Breuil, defeated British partisans at Fort Carlos during "Colbert’s Raid" led by British Captain James Colbert. This was the only Revolutionary War action to occur in present-day Arkansas. In 1861, Virginia

Earl Averill In 1776 , expecting the British to arrive at any moment, Washington directs engineers to press the works forward with “every possible dispatch,” calling for additional men to complete New York’s defenses. The city fills with arriving soldiers from several colonies, swelling the ranks but also heightening concerns about discipline. With no clear distinction between citizen and soldier, enforcing order remains a constant challenge. In 1787, the first American com

First American School for the Deaf In 1528, Pánfilo Narváez, a Spanish conquistador, arrived in Florida with 350 men to a hostile reception from native indians. In 1715, the Pocotaligo Massacre of four South Carolina representatives triggered the start of the Yamasee War in colonial South Carolina. In 1774, Benjamin Franklin’s satirical open letter to Prime Minister Lord North was published. In 1776, Washington spent the day in a flurry of correspondence from his New York hea

In 1756, the Governor Glen of South Carolina protested against 900 Acadia Indians. In 1775, the Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage, the first American society dedicated to the cause of abolition , is founded in Philadelphia on April 14, 1775. In 1776, Washington spent his first full day at his New York headquarters, a townhouse on Broadway, where he began taking charge of the city’s defenses. In the day’s orders , he thanks Major General Charl

Cigarette Tax In 1776, Washington paused briefly in New Haven while traveling to New York. He writes to Samuel McKay, a British prisoner, responding to McKay’s plea for relief. Washington explains that he has repeatedly asked General William Howe for a prisoner exchange but has received no answer. If McKay remains confined, Washington says, the responsibility lies with Howe. In 1776, Major General Artemas Ward writes from Boston with intelligence: Captured sailors claim

Arbor Day and the First Safety Pin In 1607, the British colonial expedition that would found Jamestown departed Puerto Rico for the American mainland. In 1778, South Carolina issued its own money. It was printed on thin paper from engraved copper plates. In 1834, a fire at the LaLaurie mansion in New Orleans , Louisiana , led to the discovery of a torture chamber where Delphine LaLaurie routinely brutalized enslaved workers. In 1841, the New York Tribune began publishing unde

Ray Kroc In 1682, René-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle , claimed the Mississippi River basin for France, naming it Louisiana . In 1768, Customs officials tried to board one of John Hancock‘s ships, the Lydia, without a warrant. Hancock refused to let them search and had one officer physically thrown off the ship, starting a legal battle about search and seizure rights. In 1776, Washington reached New London, Connecticut, at about 1 p.m., as evidenced by an expense account

Ribbon Creek NY Times Article In 1775, Samuel Adams and John Hancock left Boston as their spies had warned of upcoming trouble. In 1776, Washington arrived in Norwich, Connecticut, on his hurried journey south to New York. He consults with Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull Sr., a key ally of the Continental cause. In 1776, Gurdon Saltonstall, the New London patriot leader, wrote to Washington at 2 p.m., reporting that Continental Commodore Esek Hopkins had just arrived

Albert B. Fall In 1776, a small, 14-gun American warship, the Lexington, captured the sloop H.M.S. Edward off the coast of Virginia, right in front of the British Naval Blockade. In 1776, Washington’s army marches steadily through southern New England, its columns stretching for miles along muddy spring roads. In 1776, from Albany, Major General Philip Schuyler writes that the American army in Canada is dangerously weak and urges Washington to send reinforcements quickl