Between 1626 and 1664, the main town of the Dutch colony of New Netherland was New Amsterdam, now called Manhattan. Peter Minuit, Director of the Dutch West India Company, met with Indigenous peoples and purchased Manhattan for trinkets equivalent to several thousand dollars today. The land was quickly settled. The colony of New Netherland extended …
Continue reading “New Amsterdam (present-day New York) becomes a city (2/2/1653)”
When reenacting or acting as a historical interpreter, its good to have a few historical dates and stories to share. This series will publish a few. February 2, 1790US Supreme Court meets for the first time under the new US Constitution at the Merchants Building in New York City. The Supreme Court was established in …
Continue reading “Historical Tidbits — US Supreme Court meets for the first time”
We all know the story of the Sons of Liberty boarding the Eleanor, Dartmouth, and Beaver on December 16, 1773 and dumping their cargo of 45 tons of East India Company tea in to Boston Harbor. What you might not know is that this simple act of civil disobedience and the then decade old Nonimportation …
Breeches are a bifurcated garment covering the lower body from waist to knees or just below the knees. These garments were standard everyday attire for European and American men from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries. Breeches were worn for both evening wear and day wear. They might be made of leather or buckskin for laborers …
Continue reading “Evolution from Breeches to Gaitered Trousers”
Does “Freedom of Speech” mean you can say anything you want about anyone you choose? Our Founding Fathers would certainly not agree! You can, of course, say anything you want but there must be consequences for malicious defamation of individuals and even in revolutionary America libel and slander laws were enforced. There is, however, one …
Continue reading “A Colonial Orator: True Revolution is Fought with Words not Bullets”
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 