250 and Counting

Delegates Start Getting Their Orders–May 23, 1776

Cover art for May 23, 1776: portrait of James Duane by John Trumbull, 1805. [https://250andcounting.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/1776-05-23-Cover-1024x1024.jpg] Once the preamble to Congress’ resolution had been written and unanimously approved back on May 15 [https://250andcounting.com/2026/05/15/the-declarations-first-draft-may-15-1776/], it really was just a matter of when, rather than whether, America was going to formally declare itself as a separate state from England. The hardest part was getting all the ducks in a row, as the expression goes. The biggest reason that independence hadn’t already been declared is that anything that came out of the Continental Congress had to pass unanimously, so they could speak with a single voice. Now, at the delegate level, they didn’t all have to vote the same way, but once a majority of the delegates from a given colony voted a certain way, then the colony voted that way as part of the larger body. Some colonies had the green light to vote in the affirmative, as long as a different colony brought up the question. Georgia was rather split within the state, and was also more concerned with the skirmishes they were having at the border with Florida. So they mostly didn’t care. New York delegates, as we mentioned yesterday, arrived with instructions not to vote on Independence at all. Even when they finally did vote, it was technically against their orders. But one of the more passionate sets of orders came from a group in Boston. Put your earbuds in and learn about how florid writing can really get your point across. The post Delegates Start Getting Their Orders–May 23, 1776 [https://250andcounting.com/2026/05/22/delegates-start-getting-their-orders-may-23-1776/] appeared first on 250 and Counting [https://250andcounting.com].

The Third NY Provincial Congress–May 22, 1776

Cover art for May 22, 1776: portrait of Major-General Charles Lee. Engraving created in 1860 by H.B. Hall & Sons of New York. [https://250andcounting.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/1776-05-22-Cover-1024x1024.jpg] When the Third NY Provincial Congress convened on this day, chances are that nobody really got their hopes up. By this point, that body had already met a few times, so it was generally known where they stood when it came to the Independence Question. And sure enough, when they sent delegates to the Continental Congress, they sent those delegates with instructions to oppose Independence. Rather than do that, however, the New York delegation typically just remained on the sidelines, appearing to neither favor nor oppose the notion. This went on for several weeks, and while it didn’t necessarily hinder the cause, neither did it really help matters. The post The Third NY Provincial Congress–May 22, 1776 [https://250andcounting.com/2026/05/21/the-third-ny-provincial-congress-may-22-1776/] appeared first on 250 and Counting [https://250andcounting.com].

What To Do With A Captured Brit?–May 21, 1776

Cover art for May 21, 1775: Colored engraving of "Ethan Allan in Irons", by Albert Bobbett, ca. 1877. [https://250andcounting.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/1776-05-21-Cover-1024x1024.jpg] Early in the war, it became apparent that the treatment of prisoners was going to be a very lopsided affair. British soldiers were treated humanely and with dignity. American soldiers…not so much. As we noted last August [https://250andcounting.com/2025/08/11/august-11-1775-washington-gets-serious-about-pows/], when Americans were captured they weren’t treated as prisoners of war but rather as criminals who didn’t deserve dienity. During the course of the war, over 8000 soldiers died because of the conditions of their confinement. Despite this, it appears that the Continental Congress, when asked the question directly, determined that the humane route was the most appropriate one. This didn’t really change the British approach, but at least we had a policy, and we had it in writing. The post What To Do With A Captured Brit?–May 21, 1776 [https://250andcounting.com/2026/05/20/what-to-do-with-a-captured-brit-may-21-1776/] appeared first on 250 and Counting [https://250andcounting.com].

Simon Fraser–May 20, 1776

Cover art for May 20, 1776: Pre-1826 painting of Simon Fraser by unknown artist in Bennington Museum, Vermont. uploaded to Wikipedia by user Objectivesea (Erik Bjørn Pedersen). [https://250andcounting.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/1776-05-20-Cover-1024x1024.jpg] Simon Fraser was born in Hoosick, New York, which is close to where New York’s border meets with those of Vermont and Massachusetts. He was the youngest of eight children. He moved to Montreal when he was 14 and worked with his uncles in the fur trade, apprenticing to the North West Company the following year. Now, the North West Company had already commissioned someone to find a river route to the Pacific Ocean. That may did find a route that worked for fur sources but wasn’t especially good as a trade route. Fraser was given the responsibility for extending operations to the west, and he did it by establishing trading posts along the way, essentially taking possession of that part of the continent. This led to further exploration and either establishing or expanding fur trade along the way. In 1814 he got caught up in a dispute in the Red River Valley area, between the North West Company and Thomas Douglas, a controlling shareholder of the Hudson’s Bay Company, which had established the Red River Colony. By 1816 this dispute ballooned into the Battle of Seven Oaks, in which twenty people were killed. Fraser wasn’t involved in the battle but he was arrested anyway by Douglas. He was eventually acquitted of any charges, but that was pretty much the end of his involvement in the fur trade industry, though he remained an active menber of the North West Company until his death in 1862. Because his wife died the next day, the pair were buried in a single grave in a cemetery near their home in Cornwall, Ontario. The post Simon Fraser–May 20, 1776 [https://250andcounting.com/2026/05/20/simon-fraser-may-20-1776/] appeared first on 250 and Counting [https://250andcounting.com].

Mugford’s Last Stand–May 19, 1776

Cover art for May 19, 1776: a 1780 portrait believed to be that of Captain James Mugford, attributed to Samuel Blyth. [https://250andcounting.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/1776-05-19-Cover-1024x1024.jpg] Captain enlisted in the Continental Army not long after the battles at Lexington and Concord. He was commissioned as a Captain and immediately put to work capturing British ships. One of the more surprising things about the battle between the USS Franklin is not so much the victorious outcome, which was starting to feel a little bit of a foregone conclusion at this point, or that the ships moving in on the Franklin at first pretended to be friendly Bostonians, since that was actually a common tactic. It was the fact that his birth date and death date are the same calendar day. Mugford was born in 1789, and died in 1776, on May 19. That seems like the sort of coincidence that might get a little more attention. The post Mugford’s Last Stand–May 19, 1776 [https://250andcounting.com/2026/05/19/mugfords-last-stand-may-19-1776/] appeared first on 250 and Counting [https://250andcounting.com].