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 …
Author Archives: Michael Carver
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 …
Chanukah in Colonial America
What religious story most resonates with the spirit of the American Revolution? Yes, there are many stories in many religions that people overcoming atrocities and oppression. But consider for just a moment the story of Judah Maccabee. In the late 6th century BCE, the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great let the Jews go home after …
SinterKlaas
During the American War of Independence, the inhabitants of New York City, formerly New Amsterdam), celebrated the tradition of Sinterklaas as symbol of the city’s non-English past. In the 1770s the New York Gazetteer noted that the feast day of “St. a Claus” was celebrated “by the descendants of the ancient Dutch families, with their usual festivities.” Sinterklaas is …
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 