Elizabeth Scott–June 13, 1776

Elizabeth Scott–June 13, 1776

Cover art for June 13, 1776: the tablet inset in the gravestone table for Elizabeth Scott Williams Smith. [https://250andcounting.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/1776-06-13-Cover-1024x1024.jpg] The life of Elizabeth Scott is an open book and is still quite mysterious. It’s not 100% clear when she was born, other than it was “probably” in 1708. Her personal life isn’t very well known, and her work as a hymnist is still a matter of speculation, since so many of her pieces didn’t have her name on them, for some reason. It’s only been through careful analysis of known pieces that we’ve been able to put her name to the unknown pieces. Many of her known works are in the hands of Yale College, and are in manuscript rather than print, so they date back to the 1740s. Most of them are signed simply “S” or “Scott” rather than “Elizabeth Scott,” but those pieces have had a good chain of custody that they can be considered authentic. Interestingly, the plate that appears in today’s cover art is mounted into a grave table, which is a stone table (i.e. a table top and four legs with some opening between it and the ground) standing over her grave. The grave of her second husband is nearby, but it’s marked with a simple stone. The post Elizabeth Scott–June 13, 1776 [https://250andcounting.com/2026/06/13/elizabeth-scott-june-13-1776/] appeared first on 250 and Counting [https://250andcounting.com].

The Virginia Declaration of Rights–June 12, 1776

Cover art for June 12, 1776: portrait of George Mason created by Dominic W. Boudet. It was an 1850 copy of a 1750 original by John Hesselius that had badly deteriorated. [https://250andcounting.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/1776-06-12-Cover-1024x1024.jpg] While the Virginia Declaration of Rights wasn’t adopted until today, and Thomas Jefferson only got started on writing the Declaration of Independence yesterday, it’s known that the Virginia document was one of the few references that Jefferson had with him when he first began writing. The other one we know about for sure is the draft of the Virginia Constitution, which Jefferson himself had written. The Virginia Declaration of Rights [https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/virginia-declaration-of-rights] not only served as a big chunk of Jefferson’s inspiration for the Declaration of Independence, you can definitely see echoes of it in the US Constitution [https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution], particularly the Bill of Rights. (In fact, if you read Section 13 of the Virginia Declaration, you’ll see the heart of the more contentious language from the Constitution’s Second Amendment.) The big difference between the Virginia Declaration and the Constitution is that the Constitution is the actual law, whereas George Mason’s document is more prescriptive (e.g. thus-and-such should happen, or this ought to be the situation.) Follow the links above and do a little compare-and-contrast. You might have fun! The post The Virginia Declaration of Rights–June 12, 1776 [https://250andcounting.com/2026/06/12/the-virginia-declaration-of-rights-june-12-1776/] appeared first on 250 and Counting [https://250andcounting.com].

The Declaration Begins–June 11, 1776

Cover art for June 11, 1776: "Writing the Declaration of Independence 1776" by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, 1900. via Wikimedia Commons. [https://250andcounting.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/1776-06-11-Cover-1024x1024.jpg] After temporarily tabling the Lee Resolution, which called for our independence from Great Britain, the Second Continental Congress identified its Declaration Committee. Five men were chosen to articulate why we were asking King George to go screw himself in the politest possible terms. While the Committee involved five men—John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston—most of the work fell to three of them: Jefferson, Adams and Franklin. Jefferson spent a few days working on the first draft in isolation, then Adams and Franklin began reviewing and revising his work. The Declaration Committee worked steadily for over two weeks before presenting their finished product to the Congress, though John Hancock did get to see an earlier draft. The post The Declaration Begins–June 11, 1776 [https://250andcounting.com/2026/06/11/the-declaration-begins-june-11-1776/] appeared first on 250 and Counting [https://250andcounting.com].

Who Wants To Write A Declaration?–June 10, 1776

Cover art for June 10, 1776: photo of Gordon S. Wood (1933-2026) in 2008. Photo by Earl McDonald, NARA. [https://250andcounting.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/1776-06-10-Cover-1024x1024.jpg] With the Lee Resolution on hold for the time being, but still a very real thing, the Continental Congress needed to get organized with regard to how this was going to be presented and effected. As we told you a few days ago [https://250andcounting.com/2026/06/07/the-question-is-called-june-7-1776/], some delegates needed hard instructions. Others needed a little more clarity regarding the structure. Still others determined that a formal declaration was necessary. Why? You have to remember, this kind of thing had never been done before. And even though some other nations saw what was going on and were sympathetic in some way, it was still necessary for us to lay out the argument, and in such a way that the entire world could look at it and say “Well yeah, that makes sense.” (Maybe not in so many words; they probably said archaic stuff like “ye” or something, but you get the idea. Also: catch me on a slow show notes day and I’ll dive into the whole “ye” thing.) Now, you may be wondering why Lee’s proposal was presented on the 7th and only on the 10th did they decide that a Declaration Committee was necessary? I have two reasons off the top of my head. First, June 7th, 1776 was a Friday, and while they did do some business on Saturday, the whole thing needed greater consideration so it was probably tabled to the 10th. Second, remember we’ve been telling you for many months that the Second Continental Congress was a very thoughtful, deliberate body of men. They considered many, many things before making decisions, and it’s likely that they had to arrive at consensus regarding the need for a declaration at all. So in that respect it does make sense. And tomorrow, while one guy gets most of the credit, we’re going to meet all of the men responsible for the declaration. The post Who Wants To Write A Declaration?–June 10, 1776 [https://250andcounting.com/2026/06/10/who-wants-to-write-a-declaration-june-10-1776/] appeared first on 250 and Counting [https://250andcounting.com].

News From All Over–June 9, 1776

Cover art for June 9, 1776: Map of New York which the British published shortly after the Battle of Long Island. [https://250andcounting.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/1776-06-09-Cover-1024x1024.jpg] It was a busy day for corresponding with George Washington on this day, as three letters to Washington were sent. Each one had a bit of information that was negative at its worst and neutral at its best. But these letters were a bit of a problem, in that information took so long to get from one place to another: by the time Washington received warning that British troops were enroute, they were thisclose to actually being there. On the other hand, both sides are equally disadvantaged by the time lag, and Washington was shrewd enough to find a way to take advantage of that, as we’ll discover. The post News From All Over–June 9, 1776 [https://250andcounting.com/2026/06/09/news-from-all-over-june-9-1776/] appeared first on 250 and Counting [https://250andcounting.com].