Land surveys consist of six basic tasks: Determinizing your position on Earth using celestial navigation methodsMeasuring distances with a Gunter’s Chain.Measuring changes in elevation with a Range PoleMeasurement of directions and angles using a Compass.Drawing the map on a Plane Table, andComputing areas with basic plane geometry In this series we will discuss the fundamentals …
Continue reading “How to Survey Land with 18th Century Tools – The Tools”
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. November 19, 1794 — Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America (AKA the Jay Treaty) facilitated ten years of peaceful …
The following essay is in two parts: the first is by “Massachusettensis,” and is reprinted from The Massachusetts Gazette of January 29, 1788; the second part was written by “An Old Whig,” and is taken from The New-York Journal of November 27, 1787. That the new constitution cannot make a union of states, but only …
Continue reading “Antifederalist No. 49 — On Constitutional Conventions. (Part 1)”
We are on the eve of a very important election. Much has been said about the Constitution and what is Constitutional so let’s take a few weeks and look at the foundational letters written by Madison, Hamilton, and Jay arguing for the creation of the US Constitution. The comment tab is open. Please share your …
“Leonidas,” from London, obviously did not understand Article II Section I of the proposed new Constitution. But his works were welcomed in the London Times, and either The Freeman’s Journal, or The North-American Intelligencer on July 30, 1788. In the new constitution for the future government of the thirteen United States of America, the President …
Continue reading “Antifederalist No. 48 — No Separation of Departments Results in No Responsibility”
We are on the eve of a very important election. Much has been said about the Constitution and what is Constitutional so let’s take a few weeks and look at the foundational letters written by Madison, Hamilton, and Jay arguing for the creation of the US Constitution. The comment tab is open. Please share your …
We all think of Benjamin Franklin as a grandfatherly type who invented and published things, sort of that eccentric neighbor who was everyone’s friend, but there was a ruthless side to Franklin. In 1728, a printer named Samuel Keimer founded the Pennsylvania Gazette, the second newspaper ever printed in the colony. It did not do …
Continue reading “Dirty Business and Politics are Often Bedfellows”
This essay is made up of excerpts from “Centinel’s,” letters of October 5 and 24, 1787. Taken from The Independent Gazetteer. I am fearful that the principles of government inculcated in Mr. [John] Adams’ treatise [Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America], and enforced in the numerous essays and paragraphs …
We are on the eve of a very important election. Much has been said about the Constitution and what is Constitutional so let’s take a few weeks and look at the foundational letters written by Madison, Hamilton, and Jay arguing for the creation of the US Constitution. The comment tab is open. Please share your …
For both days of the Siege this weekend, we assembled and ran a tavern. Admittedly, it was Loyalist Country and the abiding presence of the 1NJV and various Privateers may have limited how many Continental soldiers were present but we had a great experience and I have been asked by many to ensure that this …
Continue reading “Tavern at Siege Weekend was Great Success”
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 