When we talk about 18th Century trade monopolies, the big three (British East India Company, Hudson Bay Company, and the Dutch East India Company). The era of Spanish hegemony in trade was well in the decline by 1700 but what about the other imperial powers. Let’s not forget that France, Austria, Demark, Sweden, and Portugal …
Monthly Archives: December 2025
Did Jews Participate in the American Revolution? Well here are a few stories. (David Salisbury Franks and Solomon Bush)
Yesterday we discussed Mordecai Sheftall’s career during the Revolution. There were two other Jewish soldiers that became staff officers in the Continental Army – David Salisbury Franks and Solomon Bush. When General Richard Montgomery took Montreal from the English, David Salisbury Franks (then a Canadian civilian) lent the American Army money and sold them supplies, …
Did Jews Participate in the American Revolution? Well here are a few stories. (the "Jew Company")
In South Carolina of at least thirty-four Jewish soldiers served in what would become known as the “Jew Company” under Captain Richard Lushington. The Jews who served in Lusington’s company did not constitute a majority, but since most of them had been conscripted as a group from the King Street shopkeepers of Savanah, they all …
Historical Tidbits — 1st Battle of Trenton
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. December 26, 1776 1st Battle of Trenton Having successfully crossed the Delaware on Christmas day, the Continental Army attacked a Hessian garrison at Trenton on December 26, 1776. Although …
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Did Jews Participate in the American Revolution? Well here are a few stories. (Francis Salvador)
Francis Salvador owned a large plantation South Carolina’s Ninety-Six District. Salvador soon emerged as a Whig leader. In a time when only men who had accepted Christian oaths were allowed to serve in military and political office, Salvador was the first unconverted Jew to serve in an American legislature. He was elected to the provincial …
Lords a Leaping…
Social Stratification in English Society Under English Common Law, you are entitled (in some situations) to a “Jury of your Peers.” As Americans, we frequently misinterpret “peers” to mean people like us. This is because with the adoption of the US Constitution in 1787, we officially renounced all references to “peerage” and titles of nobility …
Edmund Halley’s Famous Prediction
The first known observation of Halley’s Comet, or Comet Halley, took place in 239 BCE., when Chinese astronomers recorded its passage in the Shih Chi and Wen Hsien Thung Khao chronicles. When Halley’s returned in 164 BCE. and again in 87 BCE, it was noted in Babylonian records. It’s also thought that another appearance of …
The Philadelphia Tea Party
We all know that on December 16, 1773 protestors boarded the Dartmouth, the Eleanor and the Beaver, ships of the East India Company, and threw their cargo of tea into the Boston Harbor but this story neither begins nor ends in Boston. The idea for the acts of defiance against the British Empire was birthed in Philadelphia at …
Historical Tidbits — Washington crosses Delaware
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. December 25, 1776 Washington crosses Delaware On blustery Christmas Day in late 1776, George Washington led a daring attack on the Hessian garrison in Trenton. After a series of …
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Did Jews Participate in the American Revolution? Well here are a few stories. (Levy Solomons)
Since the quartermaster department of the Revolutionary armed forces was primitive and inadequate, the government turned to civilian purveyors for badly needed supplies. Many, if not most, Jewish merchants of that day were purveyors on a large or small scale, offering the government clothing, gunpowder, and lead. Harassed for lack of funds, the authorities took …
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 