You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast.

Hello, and thanks for joining Revolution 250, where we look at events that took place 250 years ago this week.

This is from the American Revolution podcast, a short bonus episode to remind you about important anniversaries from the Revolutionary War.

This week we remember George Washington's proposal to invade Boston, which he made on February

16, 1776.

400 years ago, a trio of tiny kingdoms were perched on some damp islands off the coast of Europe.

Within three short centuries, these islands would become the center of an empire which ruled a quarter of the globe and on which the sun never set.

I'm Dr. Samuel Hume, a historian of the British Empire, and my podcast, Pax Britannica, follows the people and events that built

those islands into a global superpower. Listen to season one to hear about England's first

attempts at empire building. Season two covers the chaotic years of civil war, revolution and

regicide, which rocked the three kingdoms and the fledgling empire. Season three is all about how

Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell rules the powerful Commonwealth, battling

the Dutch and Spanish empires for the Atlantic world.

Season 4 has just begun with the restoration of the Stuarts, with England ready to expand

its colonial empire in America, to dominate the Atlantic slave trade trade and for the East India Company to

set down firm roots in Asia. Learn the history of the British Empire by listening to Pax Britannica

everywhere you find your podcasts or go to pod.link slash packs.

By the end of February 1776, the siege of Boston had been underway for 10 months.

Congress had sent General Washington to take command of the new army back in the summer.

Washington had almost no combat experience and had never led more than a regiment before this.

He had told Congress that he did not feel qualified for the role when he accepted it.

He very much wanted to prove himself by having some sort of great victory at Boston.

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