So You Think RENEWABLE Energy is a New Thing?

When George Washington was elected president in 1790, he chose Alexander Hamilton to be the first Secretary of the Treasury.  Hamilton served in this capacity until 1795 and during this time he set our modern banking system, establishing the federal budget process, and established the Bank of the United States. At the time, there were …

Support Colonial Plantation by Attending an 18th Century Masquerade

COLONIAL WINTER MASQUERADESaturday, January 27, 2024 from 5 PM to 9 PM Kings Mills 6000 Pennell RdMedia, PA 19063  From the Italian, a Masquerade is an assembly of persons wearing masks and usually other disguises, the word evolved from Arabic maskharah “buffoon, to make a mockery of.” Dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries, …

The Scourge of Slavery (#16) — Emancipation and the 13th Amendment

In 1863 President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring “all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.”   The Emancipation Proclamation was not intended to end slavery, it only applied to areas of …

The original “Doctor Death”

During the 1700’s, executions in France were public events where entire towns gathered to watch. A common execution method for a poor criminal was quartering, where the prisoner’s limbs were tied to four oxen, then the animals were driven in four different directions ripping the person apart. Upper-class criminals could buy their way into a …

Historical Tidbits — Louis XVI Guillotined

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. January 21, 1793               Louis XVI Guillotined In October 1789, a mob marched on Versailles and forced the royal couple to move to Tuileries; in June 1791, opposition to the …

Basic Colonial Brewing #2 — Brewing in the 18th Century

Beer was once considered the most health drink to give to children and vital to survival. To understand this, you must first understand that centuries of dense urban living had left the water in Europe unsafe to drink. People of the 18th Century did not understand why but they did observe that people who drank …

Historical Tidbits — Pompton Mutiny

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. January 20, 1781               Pompton Mutiny — revolt of New Jersey troops On January 20, about 200-300 of the soldiers at Pompton mutinied. According to eyewitness accounts, they were also …