The following is an installment of “On This Day,” a series celebrating America’s 250th anniversary by following the actions of Gen. George Washington, the Continental Congress, and the men and women whose bravery and sacrifice led up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
June 24, 1776
Recommended Stories
Everything is moving at the speed of light. The Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia is intensively navigating the logistical, political, and philosophical groundwork for independence. And at the same time, a massive British fleet is barreling down on Gen. George Washington in New York City, while Canada, meanwhile, is slipping away.
The Committee of Five — Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston — continue their meetings to review Jefferson’s initial draft of the Declaration of Independence. Their focus is to both refine its language and to fortify their arguments before presenting the document to the wider Congress.
Over at the Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Provincial Conference declares Pennsylvania’s independence from Great Britain, calling for a constitutional convention to build a government rooted solely in the authority of the people.
Washington is not only dealing with the pending attack from the British Fleet in New York, but he is also scrambling to uncover a widespread Loyalist conspiracy that involved the royal governor of New York, William Tryon, and the New York Mayor David Mathews, and allegedly aimed to sabotage city infrastructure and capture or kill him.
Washington receives a warning from the New York Provincial Congress that disgruntled armed men on Long Island are suspected of being prepared to aid the British.
Without hesitation, Washington directs Nathanael Greene to detach riflemen to disarm and secure the dissenters.
Washington accepts that Canada is lost. He urges Col. Jacob Bayley to fortify the roads running southward — Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and the routes toward Albany — so the British cannot pour into New York from the north. His fears mount that these roads will provide British forces an easy path into the colonies.
