Flag Raising at New Providence 28 January 1778 Shortly after his arrival at Georgetown, South Carolina, Captain John Peck Rathbun of the sloop Providence was informed by a merchant captain who had just returned from the Bahamas that the Mary had put into Nassau for repairs. The news immediately brought back memories of his brief …
Author Archives: Michael Carver
Supply Chain Issues? — The Bread Famine in 18th-century France.
Yesterday, I was dismayed at the lack of stocking in my local Giant supermarket. Voltaire once remarked that Parisians required only “the comic opera and white bread.” But bread has also played a dark role in French history and, namely, the French Revolution. The storming of the medieval fortress of Bastille on July 14, 1789 …
Continue reading “Supply Chain Issues? — The Bread Famine in 18th-century France.”
Either Fly the Flag or Don’t
Okay, this is a rant but I’ve had enough. First, under the guise of “honor” the right-wing extremist mutilated our flag with selective discoloration and even the pictures of hate mongers. Then they took the Betsy Ross Flag and imbued it with connotations of hate (alluding to a time when slavery was legal), then those …
Second Annual Cast Iron Chef at Fort Mifflin
On January 28th, Fort Mifflin on the Delaware (www.fortmifflin.us) and the Regimental Brewmeister (www.colonialbrewer.com) will be conducting a very unique program at Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia. This is our second annual Cast Iron Chef program and it promises to be spectacular. Cast Iron Chef is an opportunity our guest to gain hands on experience working …
Continue reading “Second Annual Cast Iron Chef at Fort Mifflin”
Making Copies in the 18th Century
Today when we want to make a copy of a letter or a map all we do is strike a few keys on a computer or place the document on a Xerox Copier screen and within a few seconds, we have a near perfect duplicate. A few decades ago, the process was a bit more …
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 …
Continue reading “So You Think RENEWABLE Energy is a New Thing?”
“Beer” Recipe — Whiskey Rebellion Corn Beer
Okay, TECHNICALLY this is not a beer. According to Reinheitsgebot, beer must be made with malted BARLEY and this beer uses corn but AMERICAN beer is often made with whatever grain is available. I have dedicated this to the Whiskey Rebellion. During the American Revolution, individual states incurred significant debt. In 1790 Treasury Secretary Alexander …
Continue reading ““Beer” Recipe — Whiskey Rebellion Corn Beer”
THE BILL OF RIGHTS: A BRIEF HISTORY #1
Insurrections often are propagated upon misinformation. So too are the most recent band of domestic terrorist who like to hide behind our most sacred American institutions. In this series, I want to explore the Bill of Rights and why some of the hype and hyperbole thrown around by the extremist is not just wrong but …
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 …
Continue reading “Basic Colonial Brewing #2 — Brewing in the 18th Century”
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 …
