“A good musket is a complicated engine and difficult to make — difficult of execution because the conformation of most of its parts correspond with no regular geometrical figure.” – Eli Whitney We all know Eli Whitney for his invention of the Cotton Gin but it was his contribution to industrial engineering and the manufacture …
Continue reading “Supplying the Army with Muskets – The birth of Mass Production in America”
I have a new shipment of books and while you can order Beers and Beer Stories by the Regimental Brewmeister and The Fort Mifflin Bartenders’ Guide Book: A View into Colonial Era Spirits and Cocktails from Amazon, why not come to an event and take a copy home with you. These books are my research …
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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. October 18, 1775 Falmouth Burnt. After the march on Lexington, the British in Boston were cut off from the land and their only means of supplies was by sea. …
Banishment or forced exile has been used as a punishment since at least the 5th century BCE but the British Empire turned it into an industry during the 18th and 19th centuries. Penal transportation was the relocation of convicted criminals and other undesirable people (chiefly the poor) to a distant colony for incarceration. Transportation was …
Continue reading “The Scourge of Slavery (#3c) — Penal Transportation”
The acquisition of indentured servants and slaves began with the earliest days of the settling of America. Before 1680, the most common form of bound labor was the white indentured servant. Up to two-thirds of the English migrants who came to Virginia between 1630 and 1680 arrived in servile status. In return for the cost …
Continue reading “The Scourge of Slavery (#3b) — Indentured Servants”
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. October 17, 1777 Surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga In the summer of 1777, General Burgoyne led an army of 8,000 men south through New York in an effort to …
Continue reading “Historical Tidbits — Surrender at Saratoga”
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. October 17, 1770John Adams DEFENDS the soldiers accused of murder as a result of the Boston Massacre Although a devout patriot, John Adams agreed to risk his family’s livelihood …
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13 October 1776 In the fall of 1776, the American Revolution appeared doomed to the ignominious fate of a suppressed insurrection. The invasion of Canada had collapsed with the assault on Quebec, where General Richard Montgomery was slain, and the ocher colonial commander, Benedict Arnold, severely wounded, was forced to flee southward with his men. …
Continue reading “US Marines in the American Revolution — Defeat on Lake Champlain”
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. October 13, 1775 — The acquisition of a fleet of ships that would become the United States Navy was authorized by an act of the Second Continental Congress. The …
There is a lot of controversy over Imperial vs Metric units of measurement. Let’s be totally honest, metrics based on base-ten measurement (ie metric) are much easier to use IN MODERN SOCIETY but this has not always been true. Imperial metrics are historically significant and easier for preliterate societies to use. In a society where …
Continue reading “Powers of Two – Defense of the Imperial System of Measurements”
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 