Something I never understood about those times is how they travelled great distances like this? There was no major highway system , how did he find his way from Boston to Philly? And get there just on a horse? How long would the trip take? Did he 'pull over' at night and sleep on the road?
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Virtually any town of any size at all had either an inn, or a tavern with a few rooms to let...One would plan ones journey so that one ended up each night in a particular town or villiage....Although they lacked a highway system as we would know it, roads existed betw most towns (the quality was another story)
It is not our abilities that show who we truly are...it is our choices
It is about 325 miles between Quincy (Adams' home) and Philadelphia. Presuming 40 miles a day (4mph x 10 hours) it probably took nearly two weeks to make this journey.
FWIW some day I hope to make the Knox Cannon Trail Journey recreation, from Fort Ticonderoga, NY to Cambridge, MA- about 225 miles.
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McCullogh's book, on which the series was based, includes maps that show the roads that were used. The Boston Post Rosd, now US Route 3 (I believe), is still extant, although largely supplanted by I95
shareAnother question about the travel aspect. At the very end of the first episode(Join Or Die) we see John Adams, John Hancock, Robert Payne, and a lot of other men leaving Boston for Philadelphia to take part in the First Continental Congress. British troops had been moving into the city on orders from King George. When the American group was leaving town they marched right past a formation of British soldiers who were marching in the opposite direction. Were the British under orders not to interfere with the colonists' movements? Were the British aware that the Americans were on their way to Philadelphia in defiance of King George's order against assembly? Were the British just not aware of what was going on? Any history buffs out there who could provide some insight? I appreciate any info. Thanks!
shareThe Boston Post Road is Route 1 and believe it or not but, you can still follow it all the way from Maine to Florida.
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