Marc Liebman's Blog, page 26

Signing Day

We are all taught that on July 4th, 1776, the Declaration of Independence, was signed and promulgated. Well, not exactly.

By the time the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Second Continental Congress, the colonies had been at war with England for over 15 months. The Battle of Lexington and Concord occurred on April 19th, 1775. Bunker (or Breeds) Hill was fought on June 17th, 1775 and the siege of Boston ended on March 17th when the British pulled out of the capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

So here are six fun facts about the Declaration of Independence that have been skipped over.

ONE, the Declaration of Independence was not the first document approved by the Second Continental Congress that declared our independence. It was the second. Members of the Second Continental Congress voted unanimously for the Lee Resolution on July 2nd, 1776.

This resolution was written by Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee and based on a resolution passed by the Fifth Virginia Convention which had already declared Virginia a free and independent nation. The text of the short Lee Resolution is – Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances. That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation.

When the delegates to the Second Continental Congress unanimously passed the Lee Resolution, they knew that the “Committee of Five” – John Adams (Massachusetts), Benjamin Franklin (Pennsylvania), Thomas Jefferson (Virginia), Robert Livingston (New York) and Roger Sherman (Connecticut) – was almost finished with its declaration. While Jefferson physically wrote what became known as the Declaration of Independence, his initial draft incorporated many ideas from other men not on the committee such as Francois Salvador from South Carolina with whom he corresponded.

TWO, the Committee of Five submitted its the original draft to Congress on June 28th, 1776. Members of the Congress read and requested changes that shortened the document by about 25%.

THREE, only 12 of the 13 colonies voted for the Declaration of Independence. New York abstained. The state’s provincial legislature later approved the Declaration of Independence so its delegates could sign it.

FOUR, the original draft submitted to the Continental Congress and used for the basis of editing has been lost to history. Back then, the Congress had a secrecy rule and many historians believe that once the final version was approved, the notes and drafts were destroyed.

FIVE, while the delegates of the Second Continental Congress voted for promulgating the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, most of the men who signed the document did so on August 2nd, 1776.

SIX, the document that is in the National Archives was written by a clerk named Timothy Matlack. Written on parchment paper, this is the document that the 56 men signed.

So, on this day, 245 years ago, We the People took a giant step on the long road to independence. It took eight long years from April 17th, 1775 when the Battle of Lexington was fought until September 3rd, 1783 when the Treaty of Paris was signed, to become an independent nation.

Ultimately, the United States of America became the greatest democracy in this planet’s history. Even with the problems we face today, we would all do well and be better off to take a moment to recognize the risks the Founding Fathers took when they drafted and then signed the Declaration of Independence. We the People have all benefited from their vision and courage.

Image is of the Lee Resolution from the National Archives.

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The U.S. Navy’s First War

By 1794 the War of the First Coalition was well underway in Europe. The French claimed that the Franco-American 1778 Treaty of Alliance and Friendship committed the U.S. to protect French shipping in the Caribbean (it did) and side with France in any future wars (it did not).

French leaders believed that the 1794 Jay Treaty between the U.S. and England which clarified some of the terms of the Treaty of Paris and facilitated an expanded commercial relationship with England violated of the 1778 Franco-American Treaty of Commerce. However, French diplomats conveniently ignored France’s egregious violations of the Treaty of Friendship and Alliance when they signed the Treaty of Aranjuez with Spain that violated several codicils of the 1778 Treaty of Friendship and Alliance. Or, that they began negotiations with the British behind our backs in violation of the same treaty.

France’s irritation increased when the U.S. stopped repaying the loans from the Revolutionary War. U.S. leaders contended that the governing entity (Louis XVI and the French monarchy) was no longer in power and was replaced by the First French Republic.

U.S. leaders were determined not to get involved in a European war and protect our commercial interests. Exports to England were increasing rapidly and by 1800, they’d tripled over what they were in 1775!

War became inevitable when in 1798, the French government ordered its navy to seize U.S. ships and issued letters of marque to privateers based in the Caribbean. When diplomatic efforts failed and Jefferson and his Democratic-Republicans leak of classified correspondence about the negotiations backfired in the XYZ Affair (see blog post – L’Affaire XYZ – https://marcliebman.com/laffaire-de-xyz/), Congress authorized military action against the French on July 7th, 1798.

Thus, the Quasi War officially began. President Adams ordered the U.S. Navy to capture any privateers and French naval vessels that its ships encountered. U.S. merchant ship captains were encouraged to join convoys escorted by the Royal Navy

Adams problem was that the Navy was in its infancy. New ships were being built, equipped and men trained, but there weren’t nearly enough to do the job. He turned to an unlikely source, the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service. Initially created in 1790 at the behest of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton to enforce U.S. customs laws, Adams ordered the Revenue Cutter Service to support the U.S. Navy in its actions against the French.

By the end of the Quasi War, some estimates claim French privateers took 2,000 U.S. vessels of all sizes. While there was not much actual fighting, the U.S. Navy and the Revenue Cutter Service now known as the U.S. Coast Guard, acquitted themselves quite well. They captured 118 French privateers, one frigate, two corvettes and one brig from the French Navy.

More importantly, Edward Preble, Stephen Decatur, William Bainbridge, Thomas Truxtun, and many other officers who would distinguish themselves during the War Against the Barbary Pirates and the War of 1812 gained valuable experience.

By 1800, Napoleon came to his senses and agreed to the Treaty of Convention which ended the Quasi War and formally terminated both 1778 treaties – the Treaty of Commerce and the Treaty of Friendship and Alliance. The agreement ensured that the U.S. would remain neutral during the Napoleonic Wars. In fact, the U.S. stayed out of European Wars until 1917.

Sketch is of U.S. Marines capturing a French privateer during the Quasi War. Image is courtesy of the U.S. National Archives.

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The Undeclared War Against France

The French Republic won the War of the First Coalition when Austria, Prussia, Spain and The Netherlands made peace. French royalty’s first attempt to restore the Bourbon monarchy had failed. In the aftermath, the Holy Roman Empire collapsed and ceded much of northern Italy, all of Belgium and the Rhineland to France.

Britain, however, did not a sign any of the three treaties remained at war with France. In November 1798, only 13 months later, the War of the Second Coalition began when the British, Russians, Portuguese, the Kingdom of Naples, several German duchies and the Ottoman Empire decided it was time to curtail France’s designs on additional territory in central Europe, Italy and later, the Middle East.

This war ended in 1802 when England and France signed the Treaty of Amiens. Nothing changed on the map other than during the conflict, England officially became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

The United States refused to support either side in either war. During their lifetimes, the Founding Fathers had lived through the War of Austrian Succession that started in 1744, the Seven Years War that ended in 1763 and the American Revolution.

However, our Founding Fathers realized that war in Europe was good for U.S. businesses. With large, relatively forests full of quality oak and pine close to our ports, we could build ships faster and cheaper than European shipyards. American merchant (and other) ships carried flour, salted meats and dried fish and vegetables such as peas, beans and corn along with tobacco and indigo for making blue dyes to Europe.

In both the War of the First and then the Second Coalition, the French Republic pressured the U.S. to side with their cause because, after all, we “owed” them for France’s support during our fight for independence. President Washington, then President Adams resisted because neither trusted the French.

The French Republic decided that the U.S., by signing the Jay Treaty in 1796, the U.S. violated of the Franco-American 1778 Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Commerce. The Jay Treaty clarified several points of the 1783 Treaty of Paris and expanded the commercial relationship with Great Britain.

Our Founding Fathers found the French position “amusing” since the French violated the Treaty of Alliance shortly after the ink was dry when France signed the Treaty of Aranjuez with Spain. And, then France again violated the Treaty of Alliance when it started negotiating with Britain without telling their American allies in 1782.

Faced with a growing threat to American ships sailing to European ports, in March 1994, the Congress passed the Navy Act and authorized the formation of a standing Navy and Marine Corps. Six new frigates were initially authorized followed by more ship orders.

France retaliated by issuing letters of marque to privateers based in the Caribbean and ordered its navy to seize American ships sailing to Britain. While the Navy was building ships and recruiting crews, U.S. merchant ships were unprotected. Between October 1796 and June 1797, French privateers seized 316 American ships which amounted to about 6% of our merchant ship fleet.

In response, the Adams administration quietly encouraged U.S. merchant ship captains to join convoys escorted by the Royal Navy and suspended payments on the French loans that helped pay for the War for Independence. By 1796, the United States had a small, but growing Navy that was more than a coastal defense force. The famous six frigates – Constitution, Constellation, Chesapeake, Congress, President and United States – were ready for sea.

Adams ordered the Navy to defend U.S. merchant ships. Very quickly, the American crews and showed their mettle by defeating French Navy ships and capturing French privateers.

Napoleon, who was now First Consul of the French Republic, signed the Convention of 1800 that ended what is known as The Quasi War. The U.S. readily agreed to remaining neutral in any European war. Both sides agreed to formally terminate the 1778 Treaty of Alliance and Commerce.

The Quasi War was a watershed for the nascent United States Navy. A new generation of Naval officers recruited by John Barry came to the fore. These men would later demonstrate their skills against the Barbary Pirates and later, were a nasty surprise to the Royal Navy during the War of 1812.

Painting is of the February 9th, 1799 action in which the U.S.S. Constellation defeated the French Navy’s frigate L’Insurgente courtesy of the Navy History and Heritage Command, National Archive ID# 428-KN-2882

 

 

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The First 18th Century Domino to Fall

By 1789, Louis XVI, the French King who came to our aid against the British was in trouble. His rule was viewed as corrupt and was very unpopular. France was deeply in debt thanks to loans taken out to finance Louis XVI’s support of our cause, retake possessions around the world lost in the Seven Years War, as well as the Spanish efforts to retake Gibraltar.

The deposition of a monarchy was seen as a threat by the kingdoms throughout Europe. King Leopold II, ruler of what was known as the Holy Roman Empire which then consisted of parts of what we know now as Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Belgium, northern Italy and parts of modern Germany, was afraid for the safety of his sister Marie Antoinette

Many French nobles related to the other monarchs in Europe fled France and began agitating against the French rebels who has seized power. Even Louis XVI tried to escape but was captured. Leopold II issued the Padua Circular on July 6th, 1791 that demanded the release of Louis XVI. It had no effect.

Together with King Fredrick Wilhelm II of Prussia, Leopold II issued the carefully worded Declaration of Pillnitz that supported King Louis XVI and again, demanded he be kept safe. Knowing that England would not support a war against France, the document focused on continuing the partition of Poland and Lithuania which would not become independent again until after World War I.

The revolutionary leaders of France believed the men who signed the Pillnitz Declaration were intending to go to war with France, so they declared war on the Holy Roman Empire and Prussia. Thus began the War of the First Coalition which lasted until 1797 after the leadership of the First French Republic fought off invasions. Ultimately, Great Britain was dragged into the war. For the record, Louis XVI was guillotined on January 21st, 1793.

On this side of the Atlantic, the last thing our Founding Fathers wanted was to be involved in another war. As young men, many had fought in the Seven Years War/French and Indian Wars, then the American Revolution. They steadfastly refused to join either side. War, however, was good for the growing American economy.

Europeans needed “stuff” the U.S. had to offer, i.e. – lumber, dried foods, indigo, tobacco, etc. Our shipyards could build the ships to carry the cargo faster and more cheaply than their competitors in Europe. As a result, the War of the First Coalition spurred the development of our economy which began to grow rapidly.

Before the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, the Continental Army and Navy were dissolved. Only poorly equipped and trained state militias remained. As a country, we were defenseless. An army was needed to protect settlers pushing westward in the land given to us by England in the Treaty of Paris. A navy was needed to protect the shipping carrying materiel to Europe.

In June of 1792, the Congress passed legislation that created the Legion of the United States. Two years later, in March 1794, the Navy Act was passes establishing the modern U.S. Navy.

By the time the War of the First Coalition ended in 1797, the United States John Adams was president. As a diplomat, Adams was part of the team that had negotiated with Great Britain and had witnessed first-hand the duplicity of the French, first with the Treaty of Aranjuez (see blog post – https://marcliebman.com/french-diplomatic-duplicity-during-the-american-revolution/ ) and then again when they began negotiating with the British behind our back. Unlike his vice president and his successor, Thomas Jefferson, Adams did not trust the French.

War in Europe continued with The War of the Second Coalition that began on November 29th, 1798 and lasted until March 25th, 1802. Despite the treaty of Campo Formio that officially ended the war, England and France were still at each other’s throats. It was in this war that a young French officer but the name of Napoléon Bonaparte began his meteoric rise to power.

Meanwhile, President Adams tried to remain neutral but in 1798, the U.S. was dragged into a conflict known as the Quasi War against our former ally, the French.

Painting of Napoleon at the January 21st 1797 Battle of Rivoli

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First Assault

Marine Corps history officially started on November 10th, 1775 when the Continental Congress authorized the formation of two battalions of Marines. Eighteen days later, Samuel Nicholas was commissioned as its first officer (and first Marine) given the rank of captain, thus making him the first commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Congress authorized “one colonel, two majors, and other officers, as usual in other regiments; that they consist of an equal number of Privates with other battalions; that particular care be taken that no persons be appointed to offices, or enlisted into said battalions, but such as are good seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve by sea when required; that they be enlisted and commissioned to serve for and during the present war with Great Britain and the Colonies, unless dismissed by order of Congress; that they be distinguished by the names of the First and Second Battalion of Marines.”

Nicholas set about recruiting Marines and then set sail on U.S.S. Alfred, 30 guns as head of the frigate’s Marine detachment. Alfred’s First Lieutenant was John Paul Jones and its captain was Dudley Saltonstall. Esek Hopkins, the commodore of the five-ship task force flew his flag on Alfred. When the ships left Philadelphia in February 1776, Alfred was accompanied by the frigate Columbus, 28 guns; the brigs Cabot, 14 guns and Andrea Doria, 12 guns; and the sloop Providence, 12 guns.

Their mission was to take the two forts guarding Nassau in the Bahamas where intelligence suggested there was a large stock of gunpowder and shot, something the Continental Army and Navy desperately needed. On arrival, Jones urged Hopkins to blockade the port to ensure that the British do not move the munitions. Instead, Hopkins decided to anchor off the island of Abaco, leaving Nassau unguarded.

Two hundred Marines and 50 sailors led by Nicholas and Hopkins landed on New Providence Island, north of the town of Nassau on March 3rd, 1776. This is the first assault on “enemy” territory made by the United States Marines.

The small British Army garrison stayed in its two forts – Montagu and Nassau – and Montfort Browne, the Royal Governor, sent British Army Lieutenant Burke to meet with Hopkins and Nicholas who demanded that the town and the forts surrender. Burke agreed as he was authorized to do but asked for 24 hours.

Hopkins, who owed his command more to the fact that his brother was the chairman of the Continental Congress’ Marine Committee than to his experience as a ship captain, steadfastedly refused to heed John Paul Jones’ (and other officers’) advice to keep the port of Nassau under surveillance. That night, most of the gunpowder and ammunition was loaded on two ships – Mississippi Packet and H.M.S. St. John. By dawn, both ships were well on their way to British held St. Augustine.

Governor Browne dutifully surrendered the town and the forts to Captain Nicholas and Commodore Hopkins on March 4th. Even though most of the powder and shot was gone, there was enough left to call the raid a success.

Jones and Nicholas would go on to have distinguished careers. Hopkins was later relieved of his command by the Continental Congress in August 1778. Three reasons were given. One was his failure to take the small Royal Navy frigate H.M.S. Glasgow, 20 guns which his squadron outnumbered five to one. Number two was his failure to get his ships to sea and the third was his failure to man the ships under his command. In fairness to Hopkins, the Continental Congress pay scale was low and sailors were paid in Continental Dollars which weren’t worth the paper they were printed on. The Royal Navy maintained an effective blockade of Narragansett Bay and Long Island Sound which is where most of the Continental Navy ships were docked.

Nonetheless, privateer and some Continental Navy captains managed to get to sea and during the course of the war, captured about 12% of the British merchant fleet.

Nicholas died in 1790 from yellow fever. Three U.S. Navy ships have been named in his honor and at dawn, every November 10th, a detachment of U.S. Marines lays a wreath on Major Samuel Nicholas’s grave in the Arch Street Friends Meeting graveyard in Philadelphia.

Image is the 1973 painting by V. Zveg of the March 3rd, 1776 landing by Continental sailors and Marines landing on New Providence Island, Bahamas.

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Madison’s Blueprint

The Articles of Confederation were drafted and passed on November 1st, 1777, almost a month after the Battle of Saratoga had been won in October 1777. It would take four years before Maryland became the last colony to ratify the Articles of Confederation on February 2nd, 1781. When notified of the Maryland vote, on March 1st, 1781, the Continental Congress made them the governing law of the land.

The Founding Fathers, knew before the ink was dry on the Articles of Confederation that it was an imperfect document. Drawn together by a desire to kick the British out, the Thirteen Colonies, now called states, began to squabble amongst themselves.

The economies of some states recovered more quickly than others from the war that devastated the countryside. Exports resumed – indigo, rice, lumber, dried fish, dried corn, cotton, all needed by European customers resumed.

Yet, squabbling amongst the colonies began over territory, commercial rights to fishing certain waters, which state could tax what and for what reason, etc. etc. After the heartbreak and trauma of eight years of war, the Founding Fathers were not going to allow the new country dissolve into thirteen little kingdoms such as found all over Europe.

They knew there had to be a better way. The Constitutional Convention of 1787 began on May 25th, 1787, just over three years from the day the Treaty of Paris that ended the American Revolution went into effect. By September 17th, 1787, the convention had a draft to send to the states for ratification. On June 21st, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution. The Articles of Confederation were now officially dead.

What is not well known is that 11 days before the Constitutional Convention began, Virginia Delegate James Madison arrived in Philadelphia. The future president of the United States penned a document called “Vices of the Political System of the United States.”

This document was a thorough examination of the plusses and minuses of the Articles of Confederation. In it he laid out his ideas of how a future strong central government might be structured. One that had the power to tax, regulate both interstate and foreign commerce, maintain an army and navy, and conduct foreign policy.

Madison’s vision gave the central government a court system that could force the individual states to comply with laws passed by the national legislature. His idea was that the legislature would consist of two houses. One would be based on the state’s population and the other would have the same number of representatives for each state regardless of territory or residents. Madison believed that his concepts would provide a balance of power between the courts, legislature and executive branches.

A printed version of this document was given to all the delegates at the beginning of Constitutional Convention. Later, John Adams, also a member of the Convention and our second president, said Madison’s ideas avoided the “tyranny of the majority.”

What Madison wrote became the template for the U.S. Constitution. Most of Madison’s ideas  made it into the final document. We have to thank James Madison for creating the blueprint of the longest serving document of its kind in the world. If you want to read Madison’s “Vices of the Political System of the United States,” go to this link – https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-09-02-0187

One final note on this Memorial Day weekend. The oath that those who serve in the military, Federal police or hold an elected Federal office take states that we “swear to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…”

We should keep in mind that for the past 233 years since the document was ratified by New Hampshire on June 21st, 1788, over 1.3 million Americans have given their lives in the defense of our country. Many more have suffered debilitating wounds and psychological trauma. We should, this and every Memorial Day weekend, remember and thank them for their sacrifice.

Image is the first page of Madison’s “Vices of the Political System of the United States” courtesy of the National Archives.

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Colonialism 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 to a peace treaty. The path from defeat to treaty had twists and turns of plot of a novel.

The talks started between an American ambassador to the Netherlands (Henry Laurens) imprisoned in the Tower of London with his former business partner, Richard Oswald. After Yorktown, the French secretly approached the British without telling their American ally. Hearing this, the Americans offered to talk directly to the British without the French being present. Hamstrung by their treaty with Spain, the French could only watch.

At first, Britain wanted the new country to remain part of the British Empire which would give Parliament some control through a “Royal Governor.” The Americans, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Jon Adams, and Henry Laurens wanted no British influence on their new country. If Britain didn’t grant full independence, then the fighting would continue, as it did in North America and Central America, the Caribbean and India.

Shelburne didn’t bother to tell his King or Parliament that he’d agree to full independence of the Thirteen North American colonies until near the end of the negotiations. This revelation almost torpedoed the treaty. What held sway in Parliament was Lord Shelburne’s economic argument that England would benefit from an economically strong United States which would be neutral or an “ally” against their traditional enemy, the French.

Remember that by the time the American Revolution started in 1775, England had been at war with the French for most of the 18th Century. In the Seven Years War, soundly defeated their traditional foe.

Lord Shelburne was also a “free trader.” He was the great-grandson of William Petty who first described what we know as “laissez faire” and believed governments shouldn’t intervene in their country’s economies. His views were further influenced by his conversations with the Scottish philosopher David Hume and the economist Adam Smith.

So it is no surprise that with this background, Lord Shelburne saw the economic potential of the new United States of America. Which is why he advocated giving the new country all the land claimed by the Thirteen Colonies south of Canada from the Atlantic to the Mississippi.

But, make no mistake, Shelburne’s vision for the U.S. was very colonial, or British empire driven. He saw the new country as rich in raw materials with huge potential. He believed the new country would continue to supply with raw materials (cotton, flour, tobacco, indigo, etc.) to England which would then manufacture them into finished products that could be sold throughout its empire.

Lord Shelburne’s vision turned out to very accurate. The United States refused to take sides in during the 23 years of war between Britain and France that started in 1792 and ended at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The war-torn U.S. economy quickly recovered and supplied England as well as other customers in Europe with an ever-expanding range of products and raw materials.

What Lord Shelburne did not envision was the economic powerhouse that the United States became in the 19th Century during the Industrial Revolution that carries on to this day. For that, we have to thank Lord Shelburne for his vision and courage to drag his country’s leadership kicking and screaming into the Treaty of Paris.

Image is the official portrait of William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, a.k.a. Lord Shelburne

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Bog 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 products made from iron and ordering them from England was a time-consuming process.

Iron making began in 1608 when a ship from the Jamestown Colony in Virginia shipped a load of iron ore back to England. An expedition was put together to create the Falling Creek Iron Works in 1619. This facility had all the attributes for a successful 17th Century mill – deposits of iron ore, abundant supplies of wood, running water and access to the sea.

The mill stopped production abruptly in 1622 when the Powhatan Indians raided the works and killed all but two of the workers. The Falling Creeks Iron Works was lost to history until the site was discovered in 2006.

Small iron ore deposits were found near the surface in Massachusetts and New Jersey but were quickly played out. What was plentiful was a source of ore called bog iron. Found in streams, along rivers and in swampy areas, the iron rich soil tinted the water reddish-orange color as shown in the image at the top of this post.

Turning the dirt containing the ore from bogs into pig iron was a simple process. All one needed was heat which wasn’t a problem with the dense forests of Colonial America. Impurities in the ore were either burned off or separated from the mixture which was poured into molds. When the molds cooled, the blocks or balls of pig iron could be easily shipped for further processing.

By the mid-18th Century, iron mills in the colonies were shipping pig iron “billets” to England at about half the price English iron mills paid for ore from Sweden and Russia which were at different times, enemies. To further reduce the costs of pig iron to mills in England and reduce English dependency on Swedish and Russian ore, Parliament passed the Iron Act of 1750 that eliminated any duty on iron imported from the Thirteen Colonies.

The bill was one of the Trade and Navigation Acts that was supposed to promote manufacturing in England. The theory was cheap raw materials would be brought to England where they were turned into manufactured goods to be sold abroad at a healthy profit.

The Iron Act also forbid mills in the colonies to roll and hammer iron into sheets as a way to limit the Thirteen Colonies’ ability to produce arms that could be used in a rebellion against the King.

The Iron Act worked. By 1776, there were about 80 iron mills in the Thirteen Colonies and were shipping, depending on which estimate you believe, between 20,000 and 30,000 tons of pig iron to England. This was about 2/3rds England’s needs.

From these humble beginnings, the behemoth that became the U.S. steel industry was borne. The sad part is that not too long ago, the U.S. was self-sufficient in steel production. Now, we import most of the steel we consume. The U.S. like the England of the 18th Century, is now dependent on foreign producers and as such, we change or write new laws to facilitate its importation.

Image is of a small stream with the red-orange water suggesting iron deposits.

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The American Revolution Started Upheavals Around the World

When one looks back at history, the significance of the American Revolution cannot be overlooked. Some pundits use the words “The shot heard around the world.” The words ring true because what began at Lexington and Concord in 1775 started an upheaval in the world order. The convulsions lasted well into the 19th Century because our founding fathers proved that that revolution against a reigning monarch or government was not just possible, but feasible.

By 1789, six years after American Revolution ended in the Treaty of Paris, storm clouds were brewing in Europe. France was a mess and for all intents and purposes bankrupt. Banks were reluctant to loan money to King Louis XVI’s government. He had no choice but to increase taxes on every citizen.

The nobility and wealthy French businessmen wanted a say in how their tax dollars were spent and felt their influence on French domestic and foreign policy and every other citizen was unhappy with their lot in life. France was, in those days, a miserable place to live.

Declaration of the First French Republic set off alarm bells in the palaces of reigning monarchs throughout Europe who saw the deposition of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette as something that could happen to them. Prussia, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, the United Kingdom and French nobles who were opposed to the revolution formed an alliance and invaded France.

In the middle of what is known as the War of the First Coalition, Louis XVI and his wife were executed. The countries fought off and on for three years, but the First Republic was still standing when the war ended in 1797.

Less than a year later, the War of the Second Coalition began. Again, European monarchs, fearful of being overthrown, attacked again. A young French officer by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte rose to prominence despite his disastrous campaign in Egypt. Peace broke out again after more than three years of war when the Treaty of Lunéville and the Treaty Amiens were signed in 1802. Through these two documents, the French Republic’s survival was more or less guaranteed.

Britain was still at war with France who for centuries, had been its traditional enemy. When the War of the Third Coalition ended, the Holy Roman Empire collapsed.

Ultimately, there were seven wars of coalition which kept much of Europe continually at war from 1794 to 1815. The first two conflicts are known as the French Revolutionary Wars and the last five are often collectively referred to as the Napoleonic Wars. On one side, there was France and Spain, sometimes joined by other nation states. On the other, there was Great Britain, Prussia, Sweden and often Russia. The wars of coalitions lasted until Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo in 1815 and exiled to St. Helena.

The results of these wars are still seen today. Spain’s control of its colonies in South and Central America was weakened and almost all of its former colonies were independent by the 1820s. Italy began to unite in 1848 and in the same year, the process began in Germany.

Besides being a brilliant general, Napoleon was also a superb administrator. He used France’s control of conquered territory to implement the ideals of the French Republic, i.e. democracy; an end to serfdom; reduction in the power of the Catholic Church; and most important, demands for limits on the powers of reigning monarchs. When the monarchs regained control of their land, they tried to roll back the reforms instituted under Napoleon and failed.

The revolution started by our Founding Fathers ultimately changed the map of Europe and South America. Not bad for a group of patriots who wanted nothing more than to govern themselves.

Image is the Jacques-Louis David 1812 portrait of Napoleon.

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Chocolate – 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 France. A year later, Dorothy Jones and Jane Barnard received permission from the leaders of the Boston Colony to sell coffee and “chucoletto” in houses of public entertainment.

The first record of cacao beans arriving on these shores is 1641 and they came to Florida on a Spanish ship from Mexico. The Spanish probably got the beans and recipes from the Mayans who boiled the crushed beans in water and then added honey or sugar to sweeten the drink or hot peppers to make it spicy.

By the mid 17th Century, chocolate was popular in Spain and The Netherlands. In France and England, due to transportation costs and taxes, chocolate was expensive and drunk by the wealthy.

The British Parliament, never a group to miss an opportunity to tax something to raise money for a British king, passed a series of Navigation Acts beginning in 1651. The laws required any goods coming into England from a foreign land had to be transported on English ships manned by English sailors. Parliament’s intent for these acts was to monopolize transportation of bulk cargo. These acts were targeted at England’s traditional enemies – Spain which was the largest European consumer of chocolate – and France.

Keep in mind, in the years leading up to the American Revolution, U.S. shipyards produced over 50% the English merchant marine fleet. Made in the U.S. ships cost roughly half the cost of one built in England and the Colonies still had forests full of oak from which to make more ships.

Thirteen Colonies were much closer to the source of cocoa beans – the islands in the Caribbean and Mexico. Since the beans were carried on British ships manned by British crews, the cargoes were not subject to the taxes under the Navigation Acts. Distance and this exemption lowered transportation costs when compared to the cost of tea from India.

Records on chocolate and chocolate makers from Colonial times vary from very detailed to really sketchy. What we do know is taverns and coffee houses such as those started by Barnard and Jones served chocolate beverages as well as coffee and tea.

Chocolate was popular, readily available and cheap. Shops sold bricks of chocolate that our Founding Fathers used to shave into boiling water and flavor to their personal taste with sugar, honey, cinnamon, cloves, anise, nutmeg and even chili peppers. Like the coffee/tea/chocolate houses, everyone who drank chocolate had their favorite mix.

By the time the American Revolution began, there were 70+ chocolate businesses up and down the Atlantic coast making chocolate bars and offering recipes on what you could add to chocolate and boiling water. Most of the chocolate makers were centered in Boston, New York and Philadelphia. There was even a chocolate maker in Charleston, SC.

Chocolate was even used for medicinal purposes and as currency. Bricks of chocolate were used to pay soldiers in the Continental Army and was so well liked, that chocolate became part of the standard rations given to the Continental Army. And, ever since then, rations given to U.S. soldiers, sailors and airmen contain some form of chocolate.

Image is chocolate leaves, pod, beans and chocolate from Pinterest.

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