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Ok so if you've been here for a while, you probably already know that I make documentaries and if you didn't...well...now you do. With that being said, I'm not an idea kinda creative person (as in I can't just come up with stuff off the top of my head) sooooo that's why I'm coming on here to ask:

WHAT KIND OF DOCUMENTARIES DO YOU WANT TO WATCH?

I already have one in the works right now and if you wanna see my other ones here is the link to my YouTube channel. I'm ok with pretty much any history except ancient history primarily because it's hard to find audio-visual sources for that time period from a reputable location (same thing with older history so keep that in mind).

You can make suggestions in my inbox, comments, or personal messages!

Also it's gonna take me a hot second to do the research, format the video, and finish the video so bear with me.

[i-like-old-things]

I love being summoned!

But yes, it is in fact true. I don’t have much information about the James Searle incident with the exception of this:

https://declaration.fas.harvard.edu/blog/november-thomson

Now when it comes to the second part of that screenshot is talking about a much much larger feud that Thomson had with Henry Laurens which actually made its way into the presses from both sides. I haven’t found Laurens’ response but we have Thomson’s original statement. Here is a brief explanation of their problems and Thomson’s response:

https://books.google.com/books/about/Potter_s_American_Monthly.html?id=RqmdCe9ONLkC

If you couldn’t tell, Thomson was a very interesting fellow that got along with a few people but was stubborn enough to make some enemies.

For example, I know that Thomson had his fair share of disputes with John Adams. While none of them got physically violent (as far as I know), Adams was mad about Thomson’s adamant refusal to incorporate rejected proposals in the official Congressional minutes. Similarly, Thomson also had his quarrels with the Lee family of Virginia (yes that Lee family) for the same reasons he and Adams butted heads.

So yes, this wasn’t a one-time incident. However, I can’t really say if he deserved it because I wasn’t there to witness the event myself.

People actually had cane fights on the congress floor?? I thought that was just added in 1776 as a comedy/plot thing?? 😭😭

[i-like-old-things]

UPDATE:

I still have yet to access my JSTOR account (sorry) but I did make a run to my local library and I found the entirety of the letter transcribed in the book. However, there really wasn’t much else by way of substance to that letter. More importantly, and another reason why I love this book, is that there’s extensive footnotes about a lot of the letters that help with the context and this particular footnote goes into a decent bit of depth (including other sources) that relate to Charles Thomson’s relationship with James Rivington. I’ve included the section of the letter and the footnote below as well as a picture of the actual letter which was included in the book itself (the section with the stuff about Rivington is crammed into the lower left hand corner)

Source: Congress at Princeton: Being the Letters of Charles Thomson to Hannah Thomson June-October 1783 pages 23-24

Edited by: Eugene R. Sheridan and John M. Murrin

Hey Julia! I'm currently working on my senior thesis concerning the Culper Ring and noticed that you said Tommy knew of James Rivington's spying. Do you have any sources on that you could send me? I would greatly appreciate it!

I GOT YOU

So I’ll send you a little more once I have access to my JSTOR account cuz there’s some stuff there but here’s what I’ve found so far.

This is an excerpt from page 26 of Charles Thomson: Patriot and Scholar by Lewis R. Harley. This excerpt indicates that Thomson knew very well what, at least part of, the Culper Spy Ring was doing. However, this was published in 1897 so it might be taken with a grain of salt.

There’s also this excerpt of a letter Charles Thomson wrote his wife, dated July 22, 1783. I could only find this little section online but I have the whole book accessible to me at my local library so I’ll pick it up and see if the rest of the letter has any other information about their relationship.

Unfortunately, Charles Thomson destroyed almost all of his papers related to the revolution before he died so the information we have is very sparse. That’s really all I could find through a brief search but I’ll look more into it tomorrow.

In the meantime, I’d possibly reach out to these people who might have more information:

Harriton House — This was Thomson’s estate that he owned through his marriage to Hannah until his death in 1824. I’m not really sure if they’ll have what you’re looking for but you can always reach out.

Historical Society of Pennsylvania — they have a whole slew of Charles Thomson’s stuff from his time in Congress as well as some out of print books. I’ll be the first to admit, their website is not the most accessible to use but I’d still reach out to them.

I hope this was at least a little helpful. I’ll keep my eyes peeled and let you know if I find anything else!

[i-like-old-things]

Oppenheimer best picture, Masters of the Air being a hit, Napoleon being like, there I guess, Turn and Hornblower and Terror fandoms still kicking… the children yearn for more military history content. Give the children more military history content.

[i-like-old-things]

Hey Julia! I'm currently working on my senior thesis concerning the Culper Ring and noticed that you said Tommy knew of James Rivington's spying. Do you have any sources on that you could send me? I would greatly appreciate it!

I GOT YOU

So I’ll send you a little more once I have access to my JSTOR account cuz there’s some stuff there but here’s what I’ve found so far.

This is an excerpt from page 26 of Charles Thomson: Patriot and Scholar by Lewis R. Harley. This excerpt indicates that Thomson knew very well what, at least part of, the Culper Spy Ring was doing. However, this was published in 1897 so it might be taken with a grain of salt.

There’s also this excerpt of a letter Charles Thomson wrote his wife, dated July 22, 1783. I could only find this little section online but I have the whole book accessible to me at my local library so I’ll pick it up and see if the rest of the letter has any other information about their relationship.

Unfortunately, Charles Thomson destroyed almost all of his papers related to the revolution before he died so the information we have is very sparse. That’s really all I could find through a brief search but I’ll look more into it tomorrow.

In the meantime, I’d possibly reach out to these people who might have more information:

Harriton House — This was Thomson’s estate that he owned through his marriage to Hannah until his death in 1824. I’m not really sure if they’ll have what you’re looking for but you can always reach out.

Historical Society of Pennsylvania — they have a whole slew of Charles Thomson’s stuff from his time in Congress as well as some out of print books. I’ll be the first to admit, their website is not the most accessible to use but I’d still reach out to them.

I hope this was at least a little helpful. I’ll keep my eyes peeled and let you know if I find anything else!

[i-like-old-things]

My friend and I texting about like people from the American Revolution as one does:

Me: *drops the “Cold in my Professions” letter*

[i-like-old-things]

I just read George Orwell’s essay “Shooting an Elephant” and let me tell you, that was some of the most depressing writing I’ve ever read

[i-like-old-things]

“It’ll be but a momentary pang-”

[i-like-old-things]

So for English I have to read a lot of poetry but we’re analyzing it through different lenses and the lens we’re on now is called New Historical which is basically just reading a piece about a different time and analyzing it based on its historical context

Tell me why I’m actually kinda enjoying it

[i-like-old-things]

Guysssssss!!!

I was in New York like 2 weeks ago and I went to the New York public library and let me show yall what I found:

THE SECOND OFFICIAL PRINTING OF THE DECLARATION AND THE FIRST ONE PRINTED BY A WOMAN

However

CHARLES THOMSON SIGNED IT!!!!!

I also saw one of the original copies of the Bill of Rights but I didn’t take a picture cuz it was massive and there were a lot of people so I didn’t want to disrupt them

[i-like-old-things]

Welcome to another edition of: Unhinged things my history teacher said

Today's episode: 19th century Europe (not including imperialism)

A whole like 30 minutes explaining how if his youngest child was a girl, he wanted to name it Hatshepsut and if it was boy he wanted to name it Shaka Zulu

(about the Belgian Revolution of 1830) "The British and Belgians are tight"

(he mixed up Henri de Saint-Simon and Charles Fourier so he said this about Fourier when he meant to say it about Henri de Saint-Simon) "Another withdraw from society without all of the free sex"

(about Count Camillo Cavour and Giuseppe Garibaldi) "C cubed and G squared"

(about Count Camillo Cavour) "filthy, stinking rich"

He also went on a whole rant for like 45 minutes about how my school was cycling through Italian teachers cuz one was a defrocked nun that apparently was having a little too much fun with another teacher in the copy room (if you know what I mean) and then the next Italian teacher mysteriously stopped showing up and the police found him in a wall because he died during "rough gay sex" and his killer didn't want the teacher to be found

(about Italian unification) "we have a pissed off Pope Pius"

Made us watch this whole rap about Otto Von Bismarck while singing it

[i-like-old-things]

There’s no better feeling in the world than when you genuinely think you failed a test and your teacher then tells you, completely seriously, that you only got 1 question wrong so you set the curve

[i-like-old-things]

Ferris Bueller who?

(Historic edition)

[i-like-old-things]

I watched the Maltese Falcon yesterday and omg it was so good

[i-like-old-things]

[i-like-old-things]

I make Quizlets to study for all of my history tests and I like to think I make them rather fancy with pictures and stuff. Well, for my FREV one it somehow glitched and everything got all messed up and this was the flashcard for the directory:

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Unhinged Things My History Teacher Said During the Napoleon Lesson

"take my life, take my liberty your name is Napoleon and we're dumbass French"

(this does not reflect my beliefs on the French so if you are French, please don't take offense)

"Everyone has teeny weeny flaws. Napoleon's is that he was an immense megalomaniac"

"In my conversations with Napoleon, I ask, 'Why did you have to try and conquer the world?'"

(about Russian winters) "they've got snow up to your ass"