Sky-Rockets in Flight
My Fourth of July was a bit out of the ordinary this year. I’m usually at the William Paca House and Garden shortly after 6 am on Independence Day, getting […]
The Road Not Taken
No one knew it at the time, but on July 5, 1770, America was one day less than six years away from declaring independence. Looking back from 2020 with the […]
“Liberty and Loyalty…stand or fall together”
Earlier this month, I wrote about the June 1770 arrival in Annapolis of a ship from Rhode Island, where some residents had reportedly abandoned their boycott of English goods, thereby […]
The merchant doth protest too much, methinks
In last week’s episode of “Annapolis 250 Years Ago,” a ship had just arrived from Rhode Island, where it was reported “that the Inhabitants of that Colony have broke through […]
What’d We Miss?
As Thomas Jefferson sings at one point in the musical Hamilton, “Can we get back to politics?” When we last looked at the British taxation and American boycott story of […]
That’s Entertainment!
OK, who’s ready for a little break from political, economic, and public health stories? For the past seven weeks, most of my blogs have focused on the repercussions of British […]
A Healthy Gamble?
Interested in undergoing a medical procedure that, if successful, would protect you from the worst effects of a dreaded disease? 250 years ago, that’s the enticing offer that Dr. Henry […]
Sorry, we’re out of paper.
Have you recently experienced a…how to put this delicately…paper shortage? You know…a difficulty in procuring a certain kind of paper that everyone uses quite regularly. I hope you’ve never completely […]
Getting Back to Business?
Is it time to reopen the economy? Has the threat diminished enough to make that a viable option? Do we have enough reliable information on which to base a sound […]
Reason over Passion
Missed the first posts on the Good Intent incident? Read them here: Entry 1: Good Intent…ions? Entry 2: The Tale of the Good Intent Thickens And now we continue our […]
The Tale of the Good Intent Thickens
250 years ago, when William Paca and Stephen West published a pamphlet detailing the story of the ship Good Intent, they knew their hardline handling of its cargo of boycotted […]
Annapolis: The week of April 5, 1770
In these unsettled times, when there’s no limit to the volume of news produced daily for our consumption, it’s comforting to think of an era when news was published only […]