Social and Economic
Origins of the U.S. Post Office
My bet there’s not one of you who have not cursed the U.S. Postal Service whether you are standing in line. Or, when the cost of postage went up. Or…
Read MoreColonialism and Lord Shelburne’s Vision for the New Country
Cornwallis surrender at Yorktown occurred in October 1781. Four British Prime Ministers (North, Rockingham, Shelburne and Cavendish) and 23 months later, the nascent United States and the Great Britain agreed…
Read MoreBog Iron – Beginnings of the U.S. Steel Industry
When one thinks of the U.S. steel industry, images of large vats of molten iron ore in huge plants comes to mind. It didn’t start out that way. Colonists needed…
Read MoreChocolate – Rations and Currency
Way back in the cold winter of 1667, Boston candy maker John Hull lamented that a shipwreck cost him the revenue from the cocoa beans that he had shipped to…
Read MoreThe Origin of the U.S. Dollar
In the 18th Century, there weren’t official exchange rates for currencies. Before and during the American Revolution, in the Thirteen Colonies there were at least 17, that’s right, 17 different…
Read MoreNot Worth a Continental
Before the Battle of Lexington and Concord, currency (paper money) and specie (coins) were regulated by the British Parliament. In 1751, 1764 and as late as 1773, British Currency Acts…
Read MoreTwo Proclamations With Unintended Results
When the American Revolution began, the British knew that to win, they had to disrupt the economy of the Thirteen Colonies which was heavily dependent on exports – lumber, dried…
Read MoreSmallpox, Variolation and George Washington
In the late summer of 1775, two U.S. forces entered Canada. One, led by General Richard Montgomery came north from what is now Vermont and captured Montreal and then headed…
Read MoreEconomic Crisis of the 1780s
Once the celebrations over the signing of the Treaty of Paris were over in the new United States, reality set in. The government was deeply in debt to its citizens…
Read MoreBeer and Freedom
Most people would never associate the two words, but they are closely related. Ben Franklin wrote “in wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom and in water, only…
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