While the Continental Congress made over 86 changes to Thomas Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration of Independence, one major change stands out. Jefferson enumerated 28 abuses and usurpations by King George and Parliament but the Congress kept only 27. They debated and ultimately deleted the following paragraph entirely: “[He] waged cruel War against Nature …
Continue reading ““He waged cruel War against Nature itself, …"”
The wooden barrel was created around 300 BCE. To understand why brewers, vintners, and distillers use barrels; you have to look back to the Celts, those northern Europeans who lived around the Alps or what is current France and Germany before conquest by the Roman Empire. Northern Europe had timber in abundance and as these …
Okay, so this week I broke down and used the GPS feature of my phone and was sorely disappointed. Every time I use a terrestrial GPS, I am reminded that Magellan was such a great navigator that his crew abandoned him on the battlefield and left him to be eaten by cannibals. In 1494, Portugal …
Yes, I can help you find the Holy Grail. To the north there lies a cave, the cave of Caerbannog, where in carved in mystic runes upon the very living rock, the last words of Olfin Bedwee of Rheged. Make plain the last resting place of the most Holy Grail. “Follow…. “But ! … Follow only if …
By 1720, approximately 15% of all imports into England came from India and the British East India Company was responsible for almost all of this trade. Furthermore, the British East India Company grew so large and influential that by the 18th century it faced almost no competition for trade between England and India, that it …
Continue reading “Dangers of Business Interest in Government”
Queen Elizabeth issued a Royal Charter to trade in the Indian Ocean in 1600 to the newly formed English East India Company. The EIC adopted a flag of thirteen red and white stripes with the flag of England (St George’s Cross) in the canton. This flag was chosen because many of the East India Company’s shareholders were Masons, and the …
In the spring of 1767, Robert Clive, then a “writer” for the East India Company (EIC) planned to return to England, having earned a sizable fortune in legitimate trade of spices and textiles. Several Bengali nobles, including asked him to remain in Bengal and offered him £1 million and the EIC another £1 million if …
Continue reading “Read the Fine Print, Keep your Powder Dry, and be Cautious of Turncoats”
One of the very first Indian words to enter the English language was LOOT, the Hindu word for plunder. To understand how this word became a common term across the British Empire in the 18th Century, take a look at the holdings of Powys Castle in Wales. Stored in great heaps in what could pass …
The Fugio Penny, also known as the Franklin cent, was the first coin ever minted by the United States under the new US Constitution. The coin does not say “In God We Trust” or “E Pluribus Unum” on its front face. Instead, it reads “Mind Your Business.” The coin was designed by Benjamin Franklin, who most …
In 1771, numerous American newspapers ran this excerpt of a “Letter from a Gentleman in India”: On our arrival here, we found a river full of dead human carcasses floating up and down, and the streets crowded with the dead and dying, without anyone attempting to give them relief; so horribly has the famine raged …
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 