“YOU DREAM TOO HARD FOR ME”
Sir William Johnson was in charge of Indian affairs for the British in the Colonies. He was on good terms with the head of the Mohawks. One day, Johnson visited him, wearing a new suit he had imported from England. The chief admired the clothes and Johnson mentioned that he had just received several suits from his home land. The next time they met, the chief told Johnson that he had a dream where Johnson had given him one of his suits. Taking the hint, Johnson gave him one of the suits, much to the delight of the Mohawk. At their next meeting, Johnson told the chief that he had had a dream that the chief had made him a gift of a valuable tract of land along the Mohawk River. The bemused leader gave up the land saying: “Now, Sir William, I will never dream with you again. You dream too hard for me.”
– maroon 14
BUNDLING
Colonial New England had an interesting custom known as “bundling”. It was used for courting. A young couple would go to bed together, but fully clothed. That way some privacy was had, and no hanky-panky occurred. Well, none was supposed to occur. It was based on the honor system. If the parents were less than trustful, they might insist on the use of a “bundling board”, which was a stout board that would be placed down the middle of the bed to provide a physical barrier to hanky-panky. The custom actually had a practical origin. When a beau would come calling, normally the courting would occur in the main room of the log cabin by the fire. Unfortunately for privacy, the rest of the family would be availing itself of the warmth of the fire, too. It made sense for the boy and girl to go into her bedroom and get under the covers for warmth. Toasty warm, because they had their clothes on.
– maroon 1178
FRANKLIN THE RUNAWAY
Benjamin Franklin was the fifteenth son of a candlemaker. As a teenager, he was apprenticed to his brother James at his newspaper. James tricked him into an indentureship until age 21. Ben had no intention of fulfilling it, so he left Boston at age 17. He told the ship captain that he had gotten a girl pregnant and was heading out of town. He went to New York City, but he could not find a job. He continued on to Philadelphia where he arrived broke, munching on a penny loaf of bread. He went on to become the City of Brotherly Love’s most revered citizen.
– Whitcomb 37
PURITAN CHURCH SERVICE
Men sat on one side and women on the other. The boys were crowded together so they could be monitored. The opening prayer sometimes lasted over an hour. The sermon could last four hours. They would take one hour off for lunch and then repeat the whole thing. Then the adults spent the evening discussing the sermon. A “tithingman” roamed the church with a pole that had a feather on one end to wake up adults and a knob on the other to whack children who were misbehaving. In winter the church would be unheated. Adults liked looked forward to Sundays because they got to wear their best clothes, it was a day off from work, they got to talk to friends, and the sermons were thought-provoking.
- my notes
MARY DYER, MARTYR
Mary Dyer arrived in Boston in 1635 as Puritans. However, they became followers of the controversial Anne Hutchinson, who became a mentor to the much younger Mary. The Dyers ended up being banished like Hutchinson, but before that an event occurred that increased Mary’s notoriety. She had a stillborn baby that was deformed. This “monstrous birth” was seen by the Puritans as proof of her heresy. The Dyers moved to Rhode Island and then returned to England in 1651. While there, they converted to Quakerism. Upon returning to Boston, she preached Quaker ideas like equality of the sexes and slavery, war, and capital punishment were wrong. Since being a Quaker was against the law, she was asking for trouble and was convicted and banished. She came back and was banished again. She returned yet again and was sentenced to death along with two men. The two men were hanged and she was next when a reprieve saved her. She was banished again. Seeing the reprieve as a ploy to dilute criticism of the execution of her comrades, she returned again to seek execution and got it this time. Talk about a woman who was willing to die for her principles!
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Dyer
ERGOT POISONING?
Tituba was a slave from the West Indies who cooked for Reverend Samuel Parris. She loved to tell stories about sorcery and voodoo. Her rapt audience was some of the young girls of Salem. Soon after their kitchen sessions, some of the girls began having fainting spells. This evolved into hysterical fits, then complaints that they were being choked and bitten. Unseen hands were choking them. They could smell brimstone. And then they suffered from convulsions and would talk to apparitions. Their eyes would roll and their bodies would go limp. Naturally their parents became concerned and started asking questions. The answers they got pointed to Tituba and then she and the girls began to finger elderly women in the town. Starting with the unpopular ones, but then the net widened. Eventually, the “angels” (as the girls were called by the gullible, witch-paranoid adults) were responsible for the deaths of twenty women and men, and two dogs. I guess the girls were cat people. Finally, the adults did a collective face-palm and the reign of terror ended. Since then, scientists and historians have tried to prove it was something different than impressionable teenage girls who wanted attention. The most interesting science-based theory blames everything on ergot poisoning. Ergot is a fungus that grows on moldy grain. It has been traced to outbreaks of disorientation and hallucinations in the Middle Ages, but the people of Salem would not have been aware of this. Why just the girls? Tituba would have enhanced her story-telling by slipping the girls the drug. So the Salem Witch Trials were the result of hippies.
– Ayres 143-145
COLONIAL HOMES
Most colonists lived in simple wooden (later brick) houses. The main room was the one with the chimney. It was called the “keeping room” and was a combination of kitchen, sitting room, and dining room. There was not much furniture. There would be a table with one chair for the father and benches for everyone else. A family might have a “settle” which was a narrow seated, high-backed sofa. The bedroom usually had one bed for the father and mother. It would have a feather mattress. Kids slept on mattresses on the floor or on a “trundle-bed” which was rolled out from under the main bed. Chests were used for storage.
– Lawrence pp. 23-24
COLONIAL EATING
A typical colonial home had a fireplace for heating and cooking. Most of the food was either roasted or boiled in a “bake-kettle”. Meat was roasted on a spit turned by a child or hung by a hook over the fire. There would be a brick oven constructed in the wall of the fireplace. A big wooden paddle allowed the mother to put the loaves in and take them out. Bread was usually baked overnight. Meat pies were also popular. The kettles were used to make stews, soups, and hashes. The most popular meal was a type of porridge called “hasty pudding” which was a corn meal mush. People ate from trenchers which were wooden blocks that were hollowed in the middle. Sometimes there was just one big trencher that the whole family would eat out of. They used wooden spoons for this. Forks were rare. People ate with their fingers a lot. Drinking was done from tankards made of wood, leather, or animal horn. Water was rarely consumed. Beer, cider (some of it was hard cider), and tea were popular. Even kids drank beer or hard cider before going off to school. Breakfast was some type of porridge or bread. Lunch (called dinner) might be meat, bread, and vegetables. Supper was usually meat pies or hasty pudding.
– Lawrence pp. 24-25
https://www.ducksters.com/history/colonial_america/food.php
COLONIAL DRINKING
You would think colonists would have drunk mostly water and milk. You would be wrong. Water was considered unhealthy, which certainly would have been true in the cities. However, even rural dwellers did not drink a lot of the fresh water available from streams. And wells were usually located near the outhouse. Milk was not a major source of drink because it spoiled easily and was better used for products like cheese. So colonists turned to tea as the replacement for water and milk. Coffee was not popular because it took too much effort to brew it. “Ardent spirits” were very popular. People drank at funerals, weddings, births, and christenings. And everywhere else. Liquor lubed society. Taverns were centers of society. But liquor was not just a social thing. Alcohol would make hard work easier. Many men would “take their bitters”. This referred to a shot of rum or hard cider in the morning. Doctors used it as a cure and an analgesic. Rum and milk was prescribed for pregnant women and for nursing mothers! Rum-soaked cherries were used to prevent colds. Families brewed their own hard cider, beer, and wine. Wine was made from strawberries, cranberries, blackberries, elderberries, gooseberries, and currants. They even made wine from vegetables like carrots, tomatoes, onions, beets, celery, and squash. Even kids drank hard cider. In spite of this, drunkenness was frowned on. Being drunk might be called fuddled, moon-eyed, like a rat in trouble, or in the sudds. Today Americans drink an average of about 2 gallons of alcohol per year. In 1790, they consumed 34 gallons of beer and cider plus 5 gallons of distilled spirits, and one gallon of wine.
https://ushistoryscene.com/article/american-drinking/
– Lawrence 25
COLONIAL PUNISHMENTS
The most common punishment in colonial towns was whipping or fines. Every town had a whipping post. Punishments might get medieval with the hand of a thief getting cut off or a hot poker being thrust through a blasphemer’s tongue. A town might also have a stock which was where you sat and had your feet locked in a board. A pillory was where you stood and had your head or head and hands locked in the board. It was common for people to throw rocks or rotten fruits and vegetables. Stocks and pillories were used for crimes like not attending church. Criminals might be branded with the letter of the crime, A for adultery for instance. A ducking stool was a chair on the end of a pole which was used to dunk women who were considered to be nags or gossips. Some towns had “Lecture Day” which was when a week’s worth of punishments were staged at the same time for entertainment purposes. Hopefully, the final act was a hanging!
https://www.geni.com/projects/Punished-in-Colonial-America/14286
– Lawrence 26
COLONIAL MEDICINE
The mortality rate in Colonial America was high, especially for children. If a family had ten kids, there was a good chance only about five would reach maturity. The biggest killers were smallpox, tuberculosis (“consumption”), malaria (“the ague”), and yellow fever (“distemper”). There were few doctors and most believed in the ancient theory of the Four Humours. Sickness resulted when the four chemicals in your body (blood, phlegm, black bile, yellow bile) were out of balance. The cure was bloodletting which believed that draining blood would restore the balance and/or remove the “bad spirits”. If your town didn’t have a doctor, you could go to the barber for your bloodletting. Barbers were called chirurgeons and they practiced chirurgery. The red and white pole stood for blood and bandages. Hell, some people went for a good bloodletting to stay healthy. Sometimes the bloodletting was via leaches. Even Washington, as he lay dying from a fever, was leached. It didn’t help. If there was no doctor available, people turned to local healers or folk remedies. The folk remedies were often administered by women. Here are a few of those folk remedies:
– juice of the wooly-headed thistle painted on the cancerous area
– put a new potato on the arthritic spot
– gargle with cow manure fluid for diptheria
– fur from a muskrat on the chest for asthma
– lie in the chicken house and wait for a black hen to walk over you to cure chicken pox
– inhale powdered moss for a headache
– set cobwebs on fire on your warts
– prick the toothache with a piece of a pine tree hit by lightning
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_medicine_in_the_United_States#Colonial_era
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/popup_medicine.html
– Lawrence 27
DEATH AND FUNERALS
Here are some omens that you were going to die:
– if your rose bloomed more than once in a year
– if a white dove flew over your house three times
– if you dreamed about a white horse
– if you saw a candle moving at night (“a corpse candle”)
– if you dropped an umbrella on the floor you’d be murdered
Rules for funerals:
– no pregnant women
– cover all the mirrors because if you saw yourself, you were next
– no new clothing
– take the corpse out feet first because if you brought it out head first, it would lure others
– don’t meet any white chickens along the way
– no funerals of Friday
Funerals were at night. You had to be invited. The invitation would include a gift like gloves or a scarf or a ring with skull and crossbones. The home was decorated and adult beverages were served. A rich family might pay professional mourners to wail.
– Lawrence 27-28
COLONIAL COURTSHIP
- Courtship was difficult because of a lack of privacy. However, some privacy could be achieved. The couple could use a hollow rod called a “whispering stick” to converse in the main room of a home. Once the couple were engaged, or approaching it, they were allowed to sleep together as sort of a test drive. This was called “bundling”. They were put in a bed in a separate room, but were to remain fully clothed. If her parents were skeptical, a “bundling board” could be placed down the middle of the bed as barrier. Obviously, intercourse sometimes resulted.
- Even in Puritan Massachusetts premarital sex occurred. It is estimated that 30-40% of women were pregnant at the time of their wedding. But as long as your first-born was born after the wedding, everything was cool. However, if the birth came before the wedding, the father might be whipped and the mother put in the stocks.
- Girls were usually betrothed as early as 13, but usually they were married in their late teens. Boys were usually married in their early twenties. If a girl was not married by age 21, they may be called an “antique maid”. It was very rare for a woman to become a spinster as women tended to die in childbirth meaning there were widowers looking for their next wife.
- Romantic love was not a prerequisite for marriage. Marriage was a necessity for having children, meaning having little workers. It was assumed love would develop after marriage.
- Prostitution existed in the bigger cities. It was difficult in towns because everyone knew everyone else’s business. Some taverns were referred to as “disorderly houses” where male patrons might have companionship available. Seaports had brothels, mainly for the sailors.
https://theweek.com/articles/462497/5-courtship-rituals-from-colonial-america
https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/topic_display.cfm?tcid=71
https://historycollection.com/10-weird-common-practices-in-colonial-america-in-the-early-history/10/
COLONIAL EDUCATION
- A “dame school” was a school run by a woman in the village or town from her home. Kids went from ages 5-7. They were taught their letters, numbers, and some prayers. And how to behave.
- Elementary schools were for boys and girls from ages 7-10. The teacher was called the schoolmaster. It was usually a man, like Ichabod Crane. They were paid in produce. The students were all in one room. They were taught the 4R’s: reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion. The learning was done by rote memorization. The kids sat on wooden benches.
- Students used a hornbook which was parchment pasted to a wooden board with a handle. It had the letters of the alphabet and a religious passage, like the Lord’s Prayer. There were no pens or paper. Students might practice using charcoal on birchbark. Or a stick on a dirt floor.
- Grammar school was usually from 10-14 and mostly boys. Besides the 4R’s, the kids were taught Latin and literature. They graduated from a hornbook to a primer. A primer was like a textbook with all the subjects in it.
- Once girls learned to read and write, their schooling was considered to be over. Their mothers would teach them the other things they needed to know, like sewing and cooking.
- Discipline was strict. The teacher had a hickory stick for corporal punishment. Sometimes misbehaving kids would be put in the corner with a dunce cap on.
https://noahwebsterhouse.org/colonial-schools/
– Lawrence 31-32
MARRIAGE IN THE NUDE
In the New England colonies, some places adhered to an old English tradition that if a woman got married in the nude, her prenuptial debts would not be brought into the marriage. Some couples got married at night, in darkness, to conform to the tradition. There were cases where naked brides stood in closets with only their hand exposed for the ceremony.
– Shenkman 20
POWDERED WIGS
Powdered wigs were not as common in the Colonies as portraits seem to suggest. In fact, they were only worn by the rich and influential partly because they were very expensive. The purpose of the wigs was not to control lice and other pests. Even those who could afford them usually did not wear them unless as part of their duty or to dances or parties. Wigs were considered an expected look for some occupations like judges, lawyers, government officials, tax collectors, and constables. To accentuate the prestige that came with wearing a wig, the wigs were often powdered with chalk dust of ground clay. By the time of Washington’s Presidency, wigs had gone out of style. This may have been due to George not liking to wear them himself.
https://historycollection.co/19-american-history-myths-debunked/5/
THANKSGIVING MYTHS
It was common for colonists and Native Americans to have feasts for giving thanks. Sometimes they came together for the meal. There was one near Jamestown in 1619. In the case of the first Thanksgiving, it was common for the Pilgrims to give thanks, but in a religious manner. This was more of a harvest festival not connected to religion. It is likely that the Indians were not invited, but were attracted by the noise of the celebration. The ninety Wampanoag Indians brought several deer to contribute to the meal so the main course was venison. Not that there were no turkeys, but there was no potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberries, or pumpkin pie. There was also no popcorn. There may have been beer since the Pilgrims brewed it. The recreation included games, races, and target shooting. We’ve all seen pictures of the get-together which are usually inaccurate. There were only four Pilgrim women who survived the early days of the colony. They and the men would not have been wearing black clothing. That was only for Sundays and not for nonreligious affairs.
– Mental Floss / https://www.rd.com/culture/thanksgiving-myths/ / https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/406
IROQUOIS FACTS
- According to legend, the five tribes came together through the efforts of two shamen – Deganiwidah and Hiawatha. They got the conflicting tribes to agree to peace and put an end to cannibalism.
- The five tribes were the Seneca (the largest), Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawks (the fiercest). Later, the Tuscarora joined the “Five Nations of the Iroquois League”.
- The four principles of the league are: peace, respect for laws, brotherhood, and reverence for ancestors.
- They was sedentary and farmed without the aid of animals. Their three main crops were squash, beans, and corn (the “Three Sisters”).
- Their villages were located next to rivers. They had a wooden fence (palisade) around the buildings. The buildings were called “longhouses” which were from 30 to 300 feet long. They were covered with bark and could hold numerous families in sectioned off quarters. They moved every ten to thirty years.
- It was a matrilineal society with women holding a lot of power. They owned the longhouses and property. They did the farming and gathering. They had a lot of influence over tribal decisions. When they got married, the male moved in with the wife’s family.
- The men were hunters, trappers, traders, and warriors. They often were away from home for months.
- The league was very democratic with the chiefs being elected and a council making decisions for the confederation. Their government may have influenced the Founding Fathers.
- Their clothing was deerskin. They wore mocassins.
- They all wore the Mohawk hair style. The girls wore their hair in two braids and then one braid after they got married.
- They invented the sport of lacrosse.
- Their main musical instruments were the drum and the flute.
- Wampum were beads made from clam shells that were used for decorating and as a form of currency.
- They had medicine men who blew ashes on patients to cure them. They wore wooden masks and shook rattles and danced.
- They fought the Hurons and the Algonquian tribes. All the tribes used torture. They took captives and enslaved them.
https://www.ducksters.com/history/native_american_iroquois.php
COLONIAL HYGIENE
- Full-body bathing was uncommon, except for babies. They were immersed in water to “harden them”. People would wash their face and hands in the morning. They used a basin and a cloth or sponge, no soap. Dips in the local body of water were more for cooling off than for bathing.
- Some doctors argued that bathing would remove body oils that were important for hygiene.
- Dentists were vey rare. Teeth were pulled by barbers, surgeons, apothecaries, and even blacksmiths. For toothaches, sufferers used figs, chamomile, alcohol, or opium. Dentures were sometimes made from teeth sold by poor people. Other materials were wood, ivory, or animal teeth. It is a myth that George Washington had wooden teeth. His were made out of animal teeth and held together by metal and wires. No wonder he seldom smiled and had a bad temper.
- Powdered wigs were fashionable for the wealthy. This was partly because they were part of the solution to the lice problem. People would shave their hair to avoid lice and then needed wigs. The wigs were usually made from human or animal hair. They were supposed to be cleaned weekly, but this did not always happen, so ironically this increased the lice problem. Plus sometimes the fragrances used on the wigs to hide the smell of the wig (and of the person underneath) attracted lice.
LORD CORNBURY
In 1702, the new governor-general opened the New York Assembly in an elegant hoop dress and elaborate headdress. The only problem was she was a he. Lord Cornbury had been appointed to the position because he was the cousin of Queen Anne of England. When asked about his dress, he responded that since he was representing the Queen, he would dress like her. Cross-dressing was not well-accepted in the early 18th Century. Plus, Lord Cornbury was a crappy governor. He was inept at administration. In his personal life, he was an extravagant spender, so much so that his wife had to steal to get money of her own. When he was finally removed in 1708, it was straight to debtors prison. However, he was released in 1711 and appointed to Her Majesty’s Privy Council. He did not wear dresses to those meetings.
– Strange 505
BLACKBEARD
- The most famous pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy was born Edward Thach (more likely than Teach) in Bristol, Great Britain in 1680.
- He was a privateer (a legally sanctioned pirate encouraged to attack enemy shipping) during Queen Anne’s War. When the war ended he joined a pirate named Benjamin Hornigold in the Caribbean. Hornigold was his mentor and soon gave him his own ship. Before long, he set off on his own.
- He became a celebrity after taking fifteen ships off the east coast of America in 1717. Newspapers wrote about his fearsome appearance. He became known as Blackbeard. He dressed in black and had several pistols across his breast. He put slow burning fuses (or candles) in his hair to light up his face. Despite the look, it is believed that he never killed anyone until his final battle.
- His famous ship was the Queen Anne’s Revenge. It had been a French slaver. It was a large ship, especially for a pirate ship. Blackbeard crammed it with 56 cannons. It had a crew of 75. Many of them were slaves who volunteered when Blackbeard took their slave ships. Others were auctioned off at the nearest port.
- In 1718, he blockaded Charles Town, South Carolina. He captured several ships coming in or going out. He took a governing council member and his son captive and held them hostage. All of this was to get medical supplies.
- Later that year, the Queen Anne’s Revenge ran aground and sank. Blackbeard took that as a sign and accepted a pardon from the Governor of North Carolina and settled down in Bath. He got married, but couldn’t quite settle down. One day, he sailed out of the harbor and returned with a loot-filled French ship that he claimed to have found abandoned. Some believe he had an arrangement with the Governor to share his “findings”.
- Blackbeard was once visited by another notorious pirate. The two crews staged an epic days-long party on an island near Bath.
- His career came to an end on Nov. 22, 1718. The Governor of Virginia had enough of his piracy and decided that despite the “protection” from the Governor of North Carolina, Blackbeard needed to be stopped. He sent two ships under Royal Navy Lt. Robert Maynard to end the pirate’s reign. Maynard found Blackbeard’s ship anchored, expecting no trouble. Although Blackbeard was on board (after a night of heavy drinking), he had only 18 men with him. When Maynard’s ship (the Jane) approached, Blackbeard fired a broadside that killed and wounded many of the crew. Maynard, expecting to be boarded, ordered his uninjured men below decks to lay a trap. When Blackbeard led a boarding party, Maynard came swarming up to meet them. A six-minute melee ensued. Maynard and Blackbeard dueled amidst the chaos. When the smoke cleared, Blackbeard was dead with 20 sword cuts and 5 bullet wounds. He was beheaded and the body was thrown overboard. According to legend, the body swam around the ship three times before sinking. The head was tied to the bowsprit and later put up on a tall pole at the intersection of the Hampton and James Rivers, where it stayed for a few years.
https://royalarmouries.org/stories/popular-culture/blackbeard-facts/
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/531982/facts-about-pirate-blackbeard
https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/10-facts-about-blackbeard/
CAPTAIN KIDD
William Kidd never left a crewman on a deserted isle. He never made anyone walk the plank. He did leave a buried treasure, but that was about the only thing that was classic pirate. The fact is, although he is infamous, he was a poor example of a pirate. Kidd was born in Scotland sometime around 1655. At an early age, he settled in New York. As a teenager, he went to sea with pirates. Later, a mutiny left him as captain of his own ship. He was not a particularly good pirate. He once had his ship stolen by another pirate when he was ashore. He married a wealthy widow and chummed around with the upper class. Some of them and the Governor of New York commissioned him to prey on French shipping and pirates. He was given a letter of marque (official approval for piracy) making him officially a privateer. His ship was the Adventure Galley which had oars as well as sails and 34 cannons. He had trouble with his crew as they wanted to be pure pirates. In a dispute he once killed a crewman named William Moore. He crossed the line when he captured a valuable ship that was under French protection, but hired by American merchants. He wanted to give it up, but his crew refused to pass up the riches. Politicians in England branded him a pirate. When he returned to America, he buried some treasure on an island near New York City. The Governor lured him to Boston with a promise of clemency, but had him arrested on July 6, 1699 and extradited to England. He was found guilty of piracy and murder (William Moore). He was executed on May 23, 1701. The first time he was hanged, the rope broke. But they got it right minutes later. He was gibbeted (hung from a gallows) for three years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kidd
https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Kidd
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/months-past/execution-captain-kidd
THE LEGEND OF THE WHITE DOE
In 1587, 150 colonists set sail for what is today North Carolina and established a settlement on Roanoke Island. Two of the passengers were friendly Indians named Manteo and Wanchese who had been brought to England earlier. They were led by John White and included his daughter Eleanor and her husband Ananias Dare. They landed on July 22. On August 18, Eleanor gave birth to Virginia. The infant was the first English child born in the New World. Nine days later, White was talked into returning to England for supplies. Due to complications, including the Spanish Armada, he was not able to return for three years. He arrived on what would have been the third birthday of his granddaughter. When he got back, he found the settlement abandoned. The words “Cro” and “Croatoan” were carved on a tree and on the palisade, but no there were no other clues. The mystery has never been solved, but since there was a nearby Indian tribe named the Croatoans, it is most likely that for some reason the colonists went to live with them. Later, a legend developed about Virginia. She became known as Winona-Ska to the Indians. She grew up beautiful and well-loved. When she reached maturity, she was wooed by the handsome Okisko. Unfortunately, an evil witch doctor named Chico wanted her for himself. When he realized he could not have her, he turned her into a white doe. Okisko went to another witch doctor and got a pearl arrow that had been dipped in a magical pond. It would turn Winona-Ska back into a human if she was hit by it. But meanwhile, Wanchese (the son of Wanchese) wanted the fame and glory that would come to whoever killed the white doe. He would use a silver arrow given to his father by Queen Elizabeth. Okisko managed to shoot the doe and turned it back into a human, but at the same time, Wanchese put his arrow in it, too. Winona-Ska died in Okisko’s arms. In desperation, he ran to the pond and threw the arrows in. When he returned, a beautiful white doe looked in his eyes and ran into the woods. Believe it or not.
https://www.ncpedia.org/culture/legends/virginia-dare
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Dare
THEORIES ON THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS
The most famous witchcraft trials were held in Salem, Massachusetts between February, 1692 and May, 1693. Teenage girls accused members of the community of being witches and before the hysteria ran its course 200 people were accused. 30 were found guilty. 20 were executed (19 hanged and one pressed to death under heavy stones). 14 of the victims were women. Salem was rife for this sort of thing because belief in the occult and witchcraft was part of society and religion, but what caused this particular hysteria. Here are some of the more popular theories.
- post-traumatic distress over recent Indian wars – In the 1670’s, Massachusetts had barely survived King Philip’s War. Many blamed the close call on the Devil. Fear that the Devil and his minions (witches) were plotting future Indian attacks made people very stressful and this may have been passed on to the teenage girls.
- boredom – In a tight-laced Puritan society, there was little for teenage girls to do for entertainment. This particular group found some fun in secretly meeting and listening to tall tales from a slave named Tituba. She introduced them to fortune-telling and the occult. The guilt and fear from these clandestine meetings may have laid the groundwork for the behavior of the girls. Or maybe their fits were another form of entertainment.
- teen rebellion against strict adults – The girls may have been striking back against their strict upbringings.
- cold weather – European witch hunts were often associated with cold winters. Massachusetts had suffered from several in a row before 1692. Crop failures would have put pressure on society. Witches were believed to control weather and thus were targets for blame.
- mass hysteria – The witch hunt may have been due to the combination of a strict religion/society plus life on a dangerous wilderness. This stress may have caused physical symptoms among the girls.
- hallucinogenic fungi – Science has weighed in on the controversy. There is a fungus called ergot that can be found in rye. It can cause convulsions, hallucinations, and pinching sensations like the girls exhibited. Possibly the rye bread they ate had the fungus.
https://allthatsinteresting.com/salem-witch-trials-causes
https://historylists.org/events/list-of-5-possible-causes-of-the-salem-witch-trials.html
PHILLIS WHEATLEY
Phillis Wheatley was born in West Africa around 1753. At age 7 she was sold to a slave trader and sent to America on the slave ship The Phillis. She was bought by a wealthy Boston merchant and tailor named John Wheatley. They named her after the slave ship, ouch! The family recognized her intellect early and she was given light duties and taught to read and write. By age 12, she was reading Greek and Latin classics in their original language. At age 14, she wrote her first poem. In 1773, she took a trip to England with the Wheatley’s son. She met patrons who helped her publish her poems in a book entitled Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. It became the first book of poetry by an African-American author. And the second book by an American woman after Anne Bradstreet’s. She was emancipated soon after. In 1775, she sent a poem entitled “To His Excellency, George Washington” to the general in 1775. She visited him the next year. She married a poor grocer, but her life was a tragedy after. She lost two children and died due to complications in the birth of her third child. She was 31. Most of her poems were elegies and many had classical themes. She rarely wrote about slavery because she had a decidedly ideal experience with the institution. Her most famous poem is excerpted below. It is a bit cringe-worthy.
Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
“Their colour is a diabolic dye.”
Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,
May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillis_Wheatley
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/phillis-wheatley
THE HISTORY OF MARDI GRAS
Some historians believe Mardi Gras can be traced back to two Roman celebrations. Lupercalia was a wild day where nude young men ran around and struck women with thongs. Saturnalia also had a party atmosphere. Masters served their slave banquets. Gifts were given, mostly gag gifts. Beans were baked in cakes. If you found it, you were “king for the day”. The populace elected a “King of Saturnalia”.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the celebrations spread to France, Germany, Spain, and England. Some historians dispute the Saturnalia and Lupercalia theory. They argue that the day actually was a result of the Christian ban on meat and sex in Lent. It should be no surprise that Christians decided to party before the bleak 40 day period of self-sacrifice. The holiday was known as Shrove Tuesday. Christians were to prepare for Lent by examining their sinfulness and asking for repentance. Mothers baked pancakes to use up the eggs, butter, and fat. You were to refrain from them in Lent. It was called “Pancake Day”. In France, it was waffles and crepes. People binged on meat and sex since they were forbidden in Lent. Gradually, this holiday associated with preparing for Lent became more of a party.
Mardi Gras came to North America on March 2, 1699. Explorers Pierre d’Iberville and Sieur de Bienville landed near the future site of New Orleans. There was a small celebration at the spot that became known as Point du Mardi Gras. In 1703, the first organized parades began in Mobile, Alabama. In New Orleans, street parties, masked balls, and big banquets became attached to the holiday. French settlers began the tradition of eating a “galette de rois”, now called king cakes. They were baked with a plastic baby inside, representing the baby Jesus. And he would have his finder provide the next King Cake.
The Spanish banned the celebration as debauchery increased. It was not renewed until 1827 when college students danced through the streets. Ten years later, New Orleans had its first parade that was recognizable to modern viewers. In 1857, some businessmen created the Mistick Krewe of Comus. The first theme was “The Demon Actors in Milton’s Paradise Lost”. They included marching bands and floats into their parade. The colors of purple (justice) gold, (power) and green (faith) became the official colors of New Orleans Mardi Gras in 1872 when newspapers told the public to decorate their balconies with the colors. There was no explanation why the specific colors were chosen. Throwing beads, wearing masks, and decorating floats came in soon. In the 1920’s, the oldest krewe, the Rex Krewe, began throwing beads and later doubloons. The first recorded baring of breasts for beads was in 1889. In 1992, the New Orleans city council banned segregation of krewes. Mardi Gras is not exclusive to New Orleans. Mexico has “Rosca de Reyes”. In Mexico City, a mile long king cake is consumed by the populace.
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/mardi-gra
https://www.history.com/news/9-things-you-may-not-know-about-mardi-gra
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/mardi-gras-fat-tuesday-history/index.htm
https://www.countryliving.com/life/a30814344/mardi-gras-history/