The vote that would create the United States was deadlocked, and the man who could break the tie was eighty miles away, dying of cancer, on the wrong side of a thunderstorm.
His name was Caesar Rodney. On the first of July 1776, while Congress argued itself toward independence in Philadelphia, he was stuck back in Delaware. He was tamping down Loyalist trouble, in constant pain from the cancer eating at his face and fighting for breath due to his asthma.
Then the letter came. Delaware's two delegates in Congress were split. One for independence, one against. Without a tiebreaker, the colonies would not stand united. And a divided front was exactly what the Crown was counting on.
He did not hesitate. He climbed onto his horse near midnight and rode straight into the storm. Lightning split the sky. The roads turned to sludge. A journey that normally took two days but he made it in eighteen hours. He stopped only to change horses, soaked with every mile.
He reached Independence Hall on the morning of July 2 just as the vote was called, still in his boots and spurs. Caked in mud. Thomas McKean never forgot the sight of him standing in the doorway.
Rodney walked in and cast his vote for independence. It broke Delaware's tie, and with that, not a single colony stood against the break from Britain.
On this day, 250 years ago, a dying man rode all night through a storm so America could be born.
America 250 ๐บ๐ธ
To break a deadlock in the Continental Congressโs vote for independence, Delaware delegate Caesar Rodney rides through a thunderstorm all night and arrives in Philadelphia in muddy clothing just as voting begins.
Unfortunately, the first vote does not pass, which was unexpected.
Meal prepping is the wildest thing you could suggest to someone with ADHD because as soon as I'm done making a week's worth of lasagna, I guarentee you the last thing I wanna eat is a single spoonful of motherfuckin lasagna.
@DavidLeavitt Not a letter but Iโm a member of @postcrossing โ received one last week. Still have 4 waiting to be received since sending earlier this month.
@jojostarless For a long time Iโve been audio booking because I had a really long commute. Iโve DNFโd a couple because I donโt like the narrator. Recently I DNFโd a book because the plot really was too much of a stretch and the writing wasnโt enough to overcome it.
@SNY_Mets@Mets@WxMets@MetsBooth Are we looking at an on time start? (Being in Delaware is not helpful for being in the know with the severity of the rain in Queens)
Listening to a spicy MM book while waiting for my car to be done when an older man sits two seats down from me. Suddenly terrified my headphones are too loud and heโs hearing Adam and Riley getting it on.