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. June 20, 1790 – During a dinner meeting with Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison drafted a bill to move the Federal Capital to a …
Continue reading “Historical Tidbits — District of Columbia”
The Pinckney treaty of 1795 had resolved friction between Spain and the United States over the right to navigate the Mississippi and the right for Americans to transfer their goods to ocean-going vessels at New Orleans. This détente was threatened by Napoleon Bonaparte’s plans to revive the French empire in the New World. Bonaparte planned to recapture the …
Benjamin Banneker was an African-American farmer, self-educated mathematician, astronomer, and surveyor but most importantly, Benjamin Banneker was a FREE MAN not a slave, despite living in a slave state during the early years of the republic. Although he received little schooling, Banneker demonstrated exceptional scientific ability and taught himself advanced mathematics and astronomy. In 1789 …
Continue reading “Noted Surveyor and Astronomer, Benjamin Banneker a Real Self-made man”
If we tried to have a revolution today, would we succeed? Do we have what it takes? I hear boasts at reenactments all the time and everyone thinks they have what it takes to rebel but are we willing to “dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,”[1] or are we more likely …
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“THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman….” Thomas Paine, The Crisis (19 December 1776) So, I just had a stupid argument …
Surveying was a family business for Thomas Jefferson. Both he and his father Peter Jefferson were land surveyors for the King of England. Although Thomas Jefferson didn’t continue to survey as a profession, the skills he acquired as a surveyor were a solid foundation for his subsequent success. In the early 18th century, much of …
As a boy, George Washington strongly considered a career in the Royal Navy and studying geometry and celestial navigation. To improve his skills, he took up surveying using a set of surveyor’s instruments his father owned for his farm. Early in 1748, Washington accompanied George Fairfax and James Genn, the Royal Surveyor of Prince William …
Candles were made by either dipping a wick in molten wax or pouring that wax into a mold around the wick. By the late 1700s, many of the candles used in the American colonies were produced by commercial chandlers. Soap is a natural by-product of candle making, so many chandleries also sold soap. To make …
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. June 17, 1775 – BATTLE OF BREED’S HILL (AKA Bunker Hill): 200 colonial troops under the command of William Prescott occupied Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill constructing a strong …
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Next time you hear some politician blaming China for all the problems in the world, remember our friends in the East India Company. Unregulated, government and military backed capitalist that they were, started a WAR in order to extract a trade balance with China. Even though Europeans were eager to acquire Chinese tea, silk, and …
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 