Category Archives: Ideas

Spy vs Spy: George Washington’s and King George’s Spies (#10)

The Petticoat Code — Anna Strong Anna Smith Strong was Selah Strong III, a leading Patriot judge, and their family controlled one of Long Island’s manors.  In 1778 her husband was arrested and confined on the British prison ship Jersey in New York harbor for “surreptitious correspondence with the enemy.” Although Anna’s wealthy Tory relatives …

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Historical Tidbits — District of Columbia

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 …

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Perhaps the most important surveyors in American History were Meriwether Lewis and William Clark

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 …

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Spy vs Spy: George Washington’s and King George’s Spies (#9)

Opening Doors to France — Francis Daymond Francis Daymon, was a Frenchman hired by Benjamin Franklin as librarian for his Library Company at Carpenter’s Hall.  Daymon served as translator and organizer for meetings between Julien-Alexandre Achard de Bonvouloir, a former French Army officer who retired to Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin and John Jay.  Frankin and Jay …

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Noted Surveyor and Astronomer, Benjamin Banneker a Real Self-made man

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 …

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Spy vs Spy: George Washington’s and King George’s Spies (#8)

Proper British Spies — Henry DeBerniere and John Brown In March 1775, Ensign Henry DeBerniere of His Majesty’s 10th Regiment of Foot disguised himself as a land surveyor and headed out of Boston in search of the arms cache of the local militia.  He and Captain John Brown of the 52nd Foot, had been ordered …

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If we tried to have a revolution today, would we succeed?

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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