#Whiskey Rebellion

[rastronomicals]

5:22 AM EDT September 13, 2024:

Mojo Nixon - "Kinky Is Everywhere" From the album Whiskey Rebellion (2009)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

File under: Friedman, that is.

[pitch-and-moan]

The Whiskey Rebellion

The story of the Whiskey Rebellion as though it was a fraternity rebelling on campus. George Washington is recast as the dean.

[kontextmaschine]

The Whiskey Rebellion was this great example of early American state incapacity, like sub-Colonial, medieval – there's like no viable currency in circulation so frontier grain farmers are basically coining their own by distilling whiskey and refusing to cut the feds in so George Washington himself raises an army – which basically amounts to insisting an army be raised and threatening to impress stray farmers with a handful of regular troops until he eventually gathers a mass of nearby absolute rabble plus every local elite from the area who all insist on being in command in their own way. This mass then sets off under the sitting President's personal leadership eating, looting, and likely raping its way across its own country, and is considered a testament to Washington's leadership that it survives intact all the way to Western Pennsylvania, at which point the rebels have already dispersed (and further sub-military expedition attempts to apply federal authority prove largely fruitless).

It was a complete nightmare the Lewis and Clark Expedition was at-the-time understood as a recovery from, a proof of the ability of the United States to sustain disciplined operations across the continent.

(And then the Civil War, and then like every Western country in the world the executive branch restructured and modernized itself modeled off Prussia.)

[pub-lius]

GET HYPE GET HYPE GEORGE WASHINGTON PART TO

@thereallvrb0y I LOVE YOU /p

FUCK the Revolution is happening and the Continental Congress commissioned Washington to take command of the Continental Army in Boston in June 1775. He wrote to Martha wrote that he should return in the fall but motherfucker was LYING, he came back 8 years later in the winter like bro.

Bro was NOT prepared for this, he only had experience from the Virginia frontier thing with only a few hundred men. He was figuring that shit out as he went and mf was STRESSING. I'm not retelling the revolution, there's no time, but specific questions are welcome bc Washington and his staff during the Revolutionary War are the biggest part of my specialty.

During the Revolution, the Congress assholes wrote the fucking Articles of Confederation, which sucked, and Washington thought that they sucked bc he had to experience why they sucked constantly. He wrote to James Madison that they needed an energetic Constitution, bc that's a thing ig.

He went to Philadelphia in 1787 for the convention to amend the articles after being sufficiently peer pressured by Madison and Alexander Hamilton, who you might have heard of. He was unanimously chosen to provide over the convention, but spoke little in proceedings.

"My wish is that the convention may adopt no temporizing expedients but probe the defects of the Constitution to the bottom and provide a radical cure."

vvgfthyvcrt45 -my mom's puppy

Washington's reputation and support were essential to the Ratification, and he helped the federalists gain support. He hoped to finally retire for real, but recieved a vote from EVERY ELECTOR in the first presidential election. While this is impressive (and inconvenient), it was manufactured, and the fact that he's still the only unanimously elected president is also manufactured.

He served two terms as president. His first term lasted 1789-1793. It was occupied mainly by organizing the executive branch and establishing procedures. He had several principle advisors, such as Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and Henry Knox, and they all got along really well and liked each other very much. (you can tell I'm lying because I'm about to mention the financial plan)

Washington adopted a series of measures proposed by Hamilton to resolve the national debt. He also concluded peace treaties with southeastern indigenous tribes and designated a site on the Potomac river for a permanent capital.

His first term ended with a war against indigenous tribes continuing on the northwest frontier, which was encouraged by the British, and this would be one of the issues that would cause the war of 1812. The Spanish also denied Americans use of the Mississippi River. These issues limited the westward expansion Washington really wanted.

Washington was also very concerned by partisan politics, highlighted by severe divisions between the Democratic Republicans and the Federalists. A lot of people say that Washington was a federalist, but that is entirely missing the point. He didn't align himself with either political party bc he recognized that they are dangerous and damaging to governments. This point is annoying as shit and doesn't even MATTER.

Washington reluctantly agreed to a second term (1793-1797), which was dominated by foreign affairs. For example, the fucking French Revolution, and I'm going into fight or flight at just the mention of this in relation to foreign affairs.

Washington believed neutrality was key for US policy, since they couldn't afford a war, and he believed the country's future depended on increasing wealth from commerce and westward expansion. One of his greatest accomplishments was keeping the US out of the war.

Partisanship continued to grow within the executive branch. The department heads "agreed" that the US should remain neutral, but did they really? They disagreed over foreign policy, with Hamiltonian federalists siding with Great Britain, and Jeffersonian Democratic Republicans siding with France. This heavily deepened the partisan divide.

Also, he had a tumor at some point as president. It was benign, but he had to have surgery.

Opposition to federal policies developed into resistance to law in 1794 when distillers in West Pennsylvania rioted and refused to pay taxes. Washington directed the army to restore order. This action was applauded by Federalists and condemned by Republicans.

The war against indigenous tribes was a victory for the white people, Britain surrendered some (*FORESHADOWING*) of it's forts in the Northwest, and Spain opened the Mississippi River. This opened the west to settlement. Washington concluded his second term with his famous Farewell Address and yippee!! he can retire!!!!

Sike again, he had to be commander-in-chief again bc Adams is a pussy.

But it's fine, he got to go home for the next two years.

On December 12, 1788 he was supervising farming activities from late morning until 3 in the afternoon. The weather shifted from light snow to hail to rain. When it was dinner time, someone was like "hey man, your clothes are pretty wet, you should probably cha-" and Washington was like "would you make Hamilton and his autism go against his daily schedule? no you wouldn't. so if you wouldn't be ableist to him, don't be ableist to me" and then went to eat dinner in his nasty ass clothes.

He noticed that he had a sore throat and became increasingly hoarse. He woke up in terrible discomfort at 2 am, and Martha went to get help. And this... DUMBASS (Washington). REQUESTED that the doctors used bloodletting. AND THATS PROBABLY WHAT KILLED HIM. in addition to that the group of doctors tried induced vomiting, an enema, and "potions' of vinegar and sage tea. He still got worse. He called for his two wills, and directed that the unused one should be burned.

He died between 10 and 11 at night on December 14, 1799. Happy Anniversary, Hamilton and Eliza. He passed peacefully by people close to him (Martha, Dr. Craik, Tobias Lear, his enslaved housemaids Caroline Branham, Molly, and Charlotte, and his valet Christopher Sheels). He was not buried for three days by his request. His body lay in a mahogany casket in the New Room. His funeral was held on December 18, 1799 at Mount Vernon where he was laid to rest in the family tomb. He was moved to a better tomb, and thank fuck bc i went to the first one and it was janky as hell.

Okay, Washington is done. Now, we've just got my holy trinity: Burr, Lafayette, and Hamilton. Also, if you couldn't tell, Washington's death is a micro-special interest of mine LHFSKJFHSK anyway i hope you enjoyed. I still have more shit to do so if you see me floating around, tell me to get back to work.

[yr-obedt-cicero]

“To guard against surprise among these passes, and to protect the country beyond them from devastation by these undisciplined levies, was a service of no less difficulty than to restrain mutiny prompted by unexpected hardships. Hamilton was ever on the alert. While the bright gleams of early soldiership lightened his countenance, nothing escaped the vigilance of his eye. Holding no military rank, he was seen day after day mingling with the men, studying their tempers, rallying their spirits, relating stirring incidents of the Revolutionary War, while in the heavy hours of the night he traversed the camp, unattended, watching the sentries on their tedious rounds. On one occasion he found a wealthy youth of Philadelphia sitting on his outer post, his musket by his side. Approaching, he reproved him. The youth complained of hardship. Hamilton shouldered the musket, and, pacing to and fro, remained on guard until relieved. The incident was rumored throughout the camp, nor did the lesson require repetition.”

— Decisive Events in the Story of the Great Republic: Or, Half-hours with American History, parts 1-2 · 1892

[cmanateesto]

Whiskey Rebellion: A Frivolous Affair?

The United States was founded and the Militias delayed development. The militias incorporated the same level of resistance as they did prior. This was in protest of a Whiskey Tax. Without context, it seems like a frivolous affair. Public schools teach it in this manner without examining the context. I was also told the militia died down with little incident, which was a blatant lie. 

After the United States won its independence, it incurred a war debt. Several war debts actually. This tab had debts that included France, the Netherlands, and Spain. Alexander Hamilton proposed consolidating the debt into a single fund. While that made keeping track of the debt easier it still left the United States with $54 million worth of debt.

 Elson, Bob. "Foreign Aid." History of the United States of America. Kathy Leigh. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1904. 275-279. Web. <http://www.usahistory.info/Revolution/foreign-aid.html>. 

Chernow, Ron (2004). Alexander Hamilton. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1-59420-009-0. OCLC 53083988 – via Internet Archive.

How would they cover this fiscal gap? That’s where the Whiskey Tax would come in. It was a tax on all distilled hard liquor, but Whiskey was the main product. It was an accessible product to many farmers. They produce the Whiskey with surplus barley, wheat, or corn. Many farmers in the western frontiers produced this and used it in absence of the dollar. 

Taxes were already a hot button for many Americans due to previous experiences. Hamilton’s argument that Whiskey was a Luxury Tax, thus would be the most difficult tax to contend with. 

One problem is, Whiskey wasn’t a luxury product. I know, let me explain. Upon rescinding dependency on Great Britain, that meant getting rid of their currency. So what would they use in place of that? The American dollar would stand in place of the pound. The U.S. was a new nation and that meant they would have to print enough money. Enough money so that it can be a currency and flow to the entire economy, not select parts. The problem was that the dollars weren’t getting to everyone fast enough. So does that mean farmers out west would sit and wait until they get their money? No. They would use this hard liquor as a form of currency while they waited. This is a practice often used in hard times when financial institutions are absent.

 Hogeland, William (2006). The whiskey rebellion : George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the frontier rebels who challenged America's newfound sovereignty. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-5491-5. OCLC 1036919582 – via Internet Archive. 

Armitage, S. (2020, January 31). How Vodka Became a Currency in Russia. Atlas Obscura. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/vodka-currency-russia

 When Congress passed the Whiskey Excise Tax, they didn’t take into account how early it was for the country. The country had yet to establish itself to all citizens. It was easy to think that America was ready if you were in a developed region like Boston or New York. They failed to take into account the Western farmers in Pennsylvania or Virginia. 

When the bill passed, if you wanted your distilled liquor to be legal you had to register. This registration already causes two obstacles for farmers. It was a financial and an obstacle of time. The time and distance it took for farmers to mail or travel to a Federal Courthouse were astronomical. Mailing it would take the same amount of time or longer. I also mention that they use whiskey in absence of the government's provision of currency. It was not a luxury product as Alexander Hamilton would argue. 

"We should take time here to understand exactly what these new taxes meant to the farmer-distillers of the time--these guys didn’t have any cash. 

They might have been making a decent living, but many, indeed, most transactions at that time were conducted by barter. It’s a grand way to do business: Pop into the town center with a few quarts of whiskey, trade one to the local seamstress in return for a new dress for the missus, another to the fishmonger who will supply you with dinner for the next four Fridays, and when the landlord is passing by, maybe you can persuade him to take a gallon of your finest whiskey in lieu of a few months rent. The scene and the amounts are merely hypothetical, but it gives you a rough idea of why the farmers had empty pockets."

Regan, G., & Regan, M. H. (2020). American Whiskey History. American Whiskey Trail. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from https://americanwhiskeytrail.distilledspirits.org/american-whiskey-history

 Under the conditions of the bill, the more whiskey you distilled, the lower your taxes were. The less whiskey you distilled, the higher your taxes were. If this was a bill that aimed to pay off the war debt wouldn’t it make more sense to tax a higher quantity of whiskey?

Some concessions would come. I.E: a higher tax on liquor distilled from imported products as opposed to local raw products. The distilleries were in favor of this bill when it passed so it didn't seem to affect them much at all. The question then is: did rural production exceed industrial production? Did it warrant focusing on rural output over industrial output?

This moment defines the priorities Hamilton and men like him. Representatives voiced their concerns to Congress in regards to the tax. Hamilton branded them radical Anti-Federalists instead of addressing the issue. Hmm...so avoiding the question is also an American past time?

Library of Congress. (1994). A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 - 1875. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=009/llsp009.db&recNum=156 

 Holt, Wythe (January 6, 2004). "The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794: A Democratic Working-Class Insurrection" (PDF). University of Georgia. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 25, 2011.

Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. (2018, May 18). ." Gale encyclopedia of u.s. economic history. . encyclopedia.com. 15 Nov. 2022 . Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/united-states-and-canada/us-history/whiskey-rebellion Slaughter, Thomas P. (1986). The Whiskey Rebellion: Frontier Epilogue to the American Revolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-977187-5. OCLC 770873834.

Washington did send diplomats to de-escalate the situation. We've already reviewed Hamilton's opinion and many Federalists shared the sentiment. This was a majority of Washington's party despite his disdain for factionalism. The Conditions laid for the people were:

A. Accept this Whiskey Excise Tax. 

B. The Federal Government sends a standing Army to put down the insurrections. 

There was a reason to do this. Tax Collectors were being kidnapped, tarred, and feathered like before the Revolution. There isn't a reason to deny the necessity for using a standing Army, but there were moderate voices. 

There was enough civility on both fronts where diplomacy was an option. The Federalists adopted a belligerent and provocative attitude. Hamilton also favored searching and seizing people's homes for enforcement purposes. 

Hmmm...I recall a certain Bill of Rights that had something to say about that? I don't know. Your scalp gets really itchy pondering the history behind these Amendments.

 Many of the militia who would harass the Feds fled further west. These lands would become Tennessee and Kentucky. The lack of capital offense execution disappointed Hamilton...of course it did. They captured 18 rebels, two convicted of high treason. Turns out the people they captured weren't even the actual leaders of the rebellion. Washington would pardon them instead of letting them hang. 

 Craughwell, Thomas J.; Phelps, M. William (2008). Failures of the Presidents: From the Whiskey Rebellion and War of 1812 to the Bay of Pigs and War in Iraq. Fair Winds Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-61673-431-2.

Some schools say this was an event that empowered the Federal Government. I would argue this move only weakened the Federal Government. The Revolution occurred with the understanding that Great Britain didn't respect their autonomy. Common people rejected the monarchy because it taxed them without consideration. Now the United States was pushing a tax that sabotaged rural communities. 

At this point in history, it was no longer endorsed by the people who helped it form. It discarded its popular support by enslaving itself to the whims of radicals. Radicals who were only willing to give concession to total submission. This left no room for conciliation or compromise between the conflicting parties. With those who supported the Whiskey Excise versus those that didn't, it is an epitome. More so than the American Civil War where slavery is often the scapegoat. This distracts from the true conflict between two kinds of American people: rich and poor. The haves and have-nots.

[norrisjm]

Oliver Miller Homestead

[newtownpentacle]

Oliver Miller Homestead

Tuesday – photo by Mitch Waxman I swear that I had no idea about this, when I parked the car. An errand had found me in the neighborhood of South Park, in Pittsburgh’s South Hills, nearby the neighborhood of Bethel Park. The spot I had chosen to park nearby is a water and fountain feature called “The Cascades,” which as it turns out hasn’t opened for the warm seasons yet. After meeting a family…

[revolutionarywarhistory]

"An officer of the Revolution": The story of Mountjoy Bayly [Part 1]

The Mountjoy Bayly House (also known as the Bayly House, Hiram W. Johnson House, Chaplains Memorial Building, Parkington, and Mott House) located at 122 Maryland Avenue, NE in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Photograph courtesy of Wikimiedia. Mr. Bayly lived in this house while working as a doorkeeper and sergeant-at-arms in the US Senate, building it not before 1812, but sometime between 1817 and 1822. Currently, this is the headquarters of the Fund for Constitutional Government and the Stewart R. Mott Foundation. Previously it was the headquarters of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

This post continues the series on Maryland's Extra Regiment,  focusing on the postwar lives of certain members of the unit whom information is plentiful about to explain wide-ranging trends. Mountjoy/Montjoy Bayly, whose last name can be spelled Bayley, Baley, Bailey, and Baillie, was not like unit commander Alexander Lawson Smith, who settled in Harford County until his death in 1802. Likely of Scottish origin, Mountjoy immigrated from Virginia, living in Frederick Town, within Frederick County. [1]

Reprinted from my History Hermann WordPress blog.

By the end of the war, in 1783, he had, for the time being, ended his varied military career. He served as an adjutant, and later a captain, in the 7th Maryland Regiment, from December 1776 to September 1778, when he resigned, sending George Washington a letter acknowledging this reality. [2] Within his duties as a captain, he fought at the Battle of Brandywine. On the day of the battle, on September 11, 1777, he led a patrol of Maryland soldiers wearing red coats, with a Quaker and "well-to-do farmer," named Joel Baily, thinking that they were the British and welcomed them heartily as a result. [3] However, Mountjoy soon would be out of commission for many years.

Within the sweltering weather and rough battle of Monmouth, in New Jersey, on June 18, 1778, he "broke a blood vessel" which rendered him "unfit for duty." He remained unable to "do duty until the Spring of 1780," sitting in a Pennsylvania hospital, as he said years later in his federal veterans pension application. [4] While he sat in the hospital, in an "unfortunate disposition," his regiment was ordered south, as he recalls. Even though he was later considered an "invalid," meaning that he had been injured in battle, he was still chosen as a captain in the Extra Regiment, which barely had a mention in his pension, only referenced in passing as the "additional regiment" of the Maryland Line. In later years, after serving in the Extra Regiment, he served as a recruiting officer in Frederick County and as "local city major and commandant of prisoners" in the town of Frederick as captured Hessian private Johann Conrad Döhla described him. [5] He placed people under arrest and oversaw Hessian prisoners, from 1781 to the end of the war. He even held a court-martial, in December 1781, in the town of Frederick since the officers commanding the militia in the county did not have, in his words, "the least Idea of discipline or indeed even distinction."

Mountjoy's life after the war

Fairfax County, Virginia (and surrounding counties) as pictured in Thomas Jeffery's 1755 map. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

One year before the conclusion of the war, his father, William, died. However, Mountjoy still had many siblings and his mother, Mary, surviving him. He had six brothers (Pierce, William, Samuel, Joseph, Tarpley, and Robert), and three sisters (Sarah, Nancy, and Betty). [6] As a result of his father's death he may have inherited his father's land in Virginia, which likely included hundreds upon hundreds of acres. This is buttressed by the fact that Mountjoy was buying deeds to property in Fairfax County, Virginia in 1783 and 1784, along with part of a land agreement in 1782 with his father before his death. While Edward Papenfuse says he was entitled to 200 acres in Allegheny County for his service during the Revolutionary War, no record of his land plot in that county can currently be found. [7] However, Papenfuse may have a valid point in saying that he expanded his land holdings in Frederick County, including 47 acres of confiscated British property, and selling 192 acres between 1785 and 1805.

In 1784, Mountjoy cemented his ties with the Edelin/Edelen (Edelin is used in this article) family, prominent and wealthy within Frederick County, especially manifested in Christopher Edelin, a merchant who had become part of the local government in the county during the Revolutionary War. [8] As it turned out, Mountjoy married Elizabeth Edelin, the daughter of Christopher, with the connections between the two families continuing for years to come. He would have four children with Elizabeth, called by her first name in the rest of this article, named Benjamin, Richard, Eleanor, and Elizabeth. [9] Two land transactions the same year seems to indicate when Mountjoy was married. In September 1784, he paid a Baltimore merchant, Hugh Young, to buy a 450-acre tract known as "Victory" and later sold that same tract to Joseph Smith, who might be the son of the person it was originally surveyed for in 1773: Leonard Smith, when the tract consisted of 468 acres. [10] Since Elizabeth is not included on the first transaction, but is included on the second, this indicates she was possibly married to Mountjoy sometime between September 4 and 25.

Later in the 1780s, as Mountjoy continued to buy and sell land, Elizabeth would become more involved in these transactions, especially when it came to selling land. In December 1785, he bought the land on which his father-in-law, Christpher, previously mentioned, lived, which included a stone house and sat on a street in Frederick Town (present-day Frederick). [11] Not long after, he began his slave ownership, as much as we know. He bought an 19-year-old enslaved Black woman named "Pack" and an unnamed two-year-old enslaved Black female from Christopher. [12] These transactions were not surprising since Christopher would die the following year, 1786.

It would not be until 1787 that Elizabeth would agree with one of her husband's sales. He would sell land to numerous individuals, such as Joseph Young and George Scott, while buying land from Benjamin Dulany, mortgaging land to George Schuertzell and Peter Mantz, a former major of the Maryland Flying Camp, as the Bayly family lived comfortably in Frederick Town. [13] This included one piece of land called Salsbury/Salisbury Plains which was originally surveyed for Christopher in 1774, and consisted of 131 acres. By 1789, there was another change: Mountjoy re-entered the US military in 1789 as a major, the first of his forays back into the armed services. [14]

Mountjoy, the Maryland House of Delegates, the "Whiskey Rebellion," and French prisoners

A 1795 painting reportedly by Frederick Kemmelmeyer titled "The Whiskey Rebellion" which depicts George Washington and his troops near Fort Cumberland, MD before they suppress the revolting farmers in western Pennsylvania. Image is courtesy of Wikimedia.

As a story goes, on June 13, 1791, George Washington ascended a hill in Frederick County and looked over the "beautiful Monocacy Valley." On that day, he was met by a "Cavalcade of Horsemen from Frederick" which included Mountjoy, and Colonel John McPherson, among others. [15] By this point, he had the political bug. While he had served as an auctioneer years earlier in Frederick County, it would not be until the mid-1780s and early 1790s he would serve as a delegate for Frederick County within the Maryland House of Delegates. [16] While serving as a legislator, he voted against creating a college on Maryland's Western shore, supported the prohibition of taxes to help "ministers of the gospel of any denomination," and helped prepare and bring in reports on inhabitants of Frederick Town and County. One year after his last legislative term, he rejoined the military as a brigadier general, serving in part of the Maryland Militia's Ninth Brigade, based in the upper part of Frederick County. [17]

While Mountjoy only served in the armed forces, for the fourth time, from 1794 to 1795, he was involved in a strong assertion of federal power. From 1791 to 1794, angry farmers, which some call "protesters," who declared themselves “Whiskey Boys,” attacked tax collectors in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. They did so because of the whiskey tax introduced by Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton, calling, in part, for a more progressive tax code that didn't benefit the well-to-do. [18] Thomas Sim Lee, then the Governor of Maryland, organized state militia and "took an active part in the suppression of the Whisky Insurrection in western Pennsylvania and Maryland." Governor Lee ordered Mountjoy to rally local militia in the area, arm them, place a guard at the arsenal, and instruct another Maryland general, Smith, to raise a force of 800 men to "restore order." [19] By September 21, the rebelling farmers were dispersed, with most of them rounded up and turned over to the civil court system, as Governor Lee triumphantly told Hamilton. Mountjoy also met with Colonel Thomas Sprigg about guarding the "the magazine at Frederick." He wrote two letters about this. The first to Governor Lee, on September 10, with part of this letter describing the political environment in Western Maryland, specifically Washington and Allegheny counties where a "Spirit of disorder" existed, with "actual riots and disturbances":

I have thought it necessary to Send with the Arms &c Ordered to Allegany County a Strong Escort Consisting of one Complete Company. This I conceive will not be thought over cautious when your Excellency takes into View the existing Circumstances, these Arms &c will have to pass through Washington County Where the people are generally unfriendly to the present Views of the Government. Under this Idea of things I conceive it would be imprudent to risque the Supplies which you have Ordered.

Nine days later, Mountjoy wrote him another letter, in which he expanded on what he had said before:

In obedience to those orders, honoring me with the direction of the troops which your Excellency had commanded to rendezvouz at Frederick Town for the purpose of repressing that turbulent spirit which had violated peace & order and seemed to threaten Government itself in the Counties of Frederick Washington and Allegany...For that purpose I marched about 300 Infantry together with 70 horse through Harmans Gap which opens into the County of Washington near the Pennsylvania line, a rout which led me through the midst of those people whose turbulency it was your object to punish and repress. This was done with an intention to apprehend the characters who had been most active in their opposition to Governmt and whose names had been previously furnished to me for that purpose. It was supposed too that the appearance of an Armiment would have a very good effect, and convince those who had lost sight of their duty that Government could send forward a force at any time when necessity required it sufficient to inforce obedience to the Laws. On my arrival into Washington [County] I proceeded to carry into effect my arrangements by despatching the cavalry in quest of the Ringleaders. But upon the first display of the Horse, I found a party from Hagarstown [Hagerstown] had superceded the necessity of any exertion on my part, by having previously brought in those disorderly people to Justice. About the number of twenty [disorderly individuals] have been apprehended, all of which have been admitted to Bail except eight, these have not yet undergone their examination but most of them perhaps all of them will be committed to close Jail, without bail, however this is but opinion. Martin Bear and John Thompson had been examined before my arrival, and although both of them had been considered as notorious offenders they were admitted to Bail and to my great surprize Cols. [Thomas] Sprigg & [Rezin] Davis were their Securities. It is however but proper to add that upon the examination of these two men their was no evidence of their guilt save the general report as I am informed by those who were present [20]

Five years later, in September 1799, a captain in the First Regiment of Artillerists and Engineers, named Staats Morris (not the same as the British general of the same name) wrote to Hamilton about fifty French prisoners held by Mountjoy in Frederick Town. He says that

I have the honor to inform you that Lieut. Dyson returned from Frederick Town last night, having delivered the French prisoners (fifty in number) to Genl. Baily, as will appear by the enclosed receipt. By his report Lieut Newnan’s command is thought necessary as a guard over them. There have been several new cases of the fever at the fort since the date of my last letter; but from the report of the Surgeon and from the change in the weather, I am led to hope none will prove fatal. In my last letter I had the painful task of communicating to you the death of my young Kinsman, Lieut Lawrence Your letter received since containing orders for him (which I took the liberty of opening) has therefore been destroyed...[bottom:] enclosing Mountjoy Bayly’s receipt for fifty French prisoners

The same year, Mountjoy, a literate Presbyterian, planter, and "gentleman," would become a charter member of the Society of Cincinnati, a group of former revolutionary war officers. [21] Specifically, he would be one of the original members of the Society's branch in Maryland.

© 2016-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[bonefall]

Tbh the whole 'bloodclan bans families and hates Cat God' thing really reminds me of the anti communist bullshit I was fed in highschool history class.

Every day I count my lucky stars that I got educated in a well-funded school in a blue state. My teachers were shockingly good in hindsight, I didn't get half of the same propaganda some of my friends in other states got.

[tarnishedhalo]

Do you justify occasional asshole behavior by being unobjectionable for the majority of the time?

Turned Inside Out || Accepting

"To quite Denis Leary, I'm an asshole and proud of it. I told this buddy of mine, I'm not Willy fuckin' Wonka, I don't sugar-coat shit. And it works for me because I know I've never told anyone anything but the truth. I can go to bed at night and sleep with a clear-conscience and that's something I don't see a lot of people doing. "And so, yeah. It hurts people's itty bitty delicate feelings because almost every fuckin' one of 'em come from this whole snowflake participation award bullshit, and have more para-social disorders than you can shake a dictionary at because they've never been told to nut up and buy a helmet. Does that mean I won't fuckin' help someone who's down? No. Does that mean I'm gonna make 'em owe me for it? No. "If someone needs to be babied? They can go hit up Beth. She lives for it, but like I don't gotta tell you that. If they need to hear it straight and they need someone who will actually do something other than hold their hand? They get me. And you. And I don't think I really need to have to explain this to you cause you're sitting shot-gun on this one, I'm pretty sure." Riley pauses to take a breath and narrows his eyes. "Unless you're an alien fuckin' pod person."

[rastronomicals]

3:11 PM EST March 4, 2024:

Mojo Nixon - "Kinky Is Everywhere" From the album Whiskey Rebellion (2009)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

File under: Friedman, that is.

[nana-glass-chillhop-radio-hour]

me, on death’s door, arguing with the grim reaper: oh god oh god no I can’t die today no no no oh god please please please  don’t take me now, I have so much I still need to learn about the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791-1794

[pittsburghbeautiful]

Hugh Henry Brackenridge

Hugh Henry Brackenridge and the Founding Of the University of Pittsburgh Hugh Henry Brackenridge, a prominent American writer, lawyer, judge, and justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, played a significant role in shaping the cultural and intellectual landscape of Pittsburgh, PA during the frontier era. Born in Campbeltown, Scotland, in 1748, Brackenridge’s family emigrated to York County,…

[unhealthyfanobsession]

The most wild thing about Cassian’s feral and constant defence of anything Rhysand is that it could be such a beautiful pain rather than a confusing annoyance.

Like I love “MMC who only thinks about FMC” as much as the next person but why wasn’t Cassian allowed a SHRED of character development.

What if every time Nesta says something bad about Rhys it’s like a barely healed over scab ripping open beneath her nails. The agony of 50 years, half a century without his brother. The loss barely healed before war comes, the time never enough. Distant, they’ve still been so impossibly distant. In the same room laughing and drinking whiskey but minds entirely occupied with their own personal destruction and salvation, both bearing the name Archeron. They haven’t even had a single good day, a single complete day, where one of them wasnt heartbroken or war wasn’t beating down their door.

And the entire cauldron-damned time he was quelling rebellion in Illyria it was all he heard. Insults for the brother who gave everything to save them. Again and again, his whole life Cassian has had to fight and punch and bloody in defence of his brother. It’s instinct. He didn’t even think, lashing out with words as if his mate was Devlon. And he regretted it. Of course, the second the words left his mouth he regretted them, but … it was true, wasn’t it. In a sense, in a horrible way.

Everyone did hate Nesta.

Not the female herself, he knew, but what she reminded them of. She wore her trauma on her sleeve while they all choked and gargled on the blood still staining their hands and everyone hated her for it. Mor most of all, he guessed. An open wound, refusing to shut. It was why she was here. Why they were both here.

Fuck the money. Fuck the liquor and sex. It was the pain. The empty spot at the dining table, the aching absence in the pictures on the walls. They … well, he and Feyre, really, couldn’t stand her absence but her presence was nothing but a mirror. Reflecting everything still inside of them. Broken and raging and screaming insults at anyone who dared speak ill of his brother.

Habit, instinct, to lash out when one he loved was insulted.

He hated Nesta for hating Rhys. And he hated Rhys for hating Nesta.

Because what, in the almighty fuck, was he supposed to do with that?

When he loved them both so much.

[gayboydetectivez]

Tw smoking

Dbda drabble

.

.

.

"Job officially jobbed, good work, guys!" Charles smiled at his companions, coat still covered in green slime from the evil plant they had just killed.

It hadn't been a difficult case, comparatively, but hunting through the forest for a cursed bush and then losing the bottle of weed killer had made it significantly more difficult than intended.

"We should head back to the office." Edwin replied, still scratching notes into his book as he led the walk back to the bus stop.

After a few minutes crystal began digging in her bag, retrieving a small paper box and a lighter. Pulling one of the thin sticks from the box, putting it to her lips, she ignited the end, inhaling deeply.

"You smoke?" Charles asked incredulously.

"Is that uncommon now?" Edwin chimed in, a confused look on his face.

"It's frowned upon, but plenty of people still do it." Crystal answered, blowing a cloud of smoke into the air. In her months with the agency, she had grown accustomed to Edwin's cultural questions, no longer being overly sarcastic in response to his genuine confusion over time period differences.

Edwin hummed thoughtfully, watching the grey plumes curl in the air before being swept away by the wind.

"Did you ever smoke, Charles?" He asked after a moment.

"Occasionally. When the lads had a carton or I was at a party." Charles answered simply, leaving out the risk coming home smelling of cigs posed to 16yr old him and his fathers impact on his lack of typical teen rebellion. "You?" He asked, mainly to be polite. Charles knew Edwin had a sheltered childhood, as most childhoods seemed to be during his era, but he had grown fond of their usual back and forth routine.

"Me? Oh yes, quite frequently." He answered, earning duel shocked expressions from his companions.

"You smoke?" Crystal asked, disbelief coloring her voice.

"Well it has been over a century..." He corrected snarkily, "but yes. It was common place when I was alive for boys as young as 10 to get their first cigarette case and begin smoking. It was a right of passage of sorts, i suppose." He shrugged.

"Next you're gonna tell us you were shooting whiskey and doing lines of coke." Crystal retorted, earning a chuckle from Charles, who despite being well aware of his best mate's rebellious nature, simply couldn't imagine him getting drunk and doing drugs like some rockstar Charles had on his bedroom wall as a child.

"'A gentleman does not shoot whiskey, he sips it'" Edwin quoted, allowing Charles for a moment to envision what Edwins father had sounded like, "and cocaine was a very powerful and frequently prescribed medicine. It was a main ingredient in cough syrup." He informed his stunned counterparts.

Charles tried to press back the images flashing in his mind of Edwin drunk, cheeks pink, smoke swirling around him as a cigarette balanced carelessly between his fingers.

"Can ghosts smoke?" Crystal asked unprompted. "Like have you tried?"

"I can't say I have," he said, "though there were moments in Hell where I thought I could have killed for a cigarette and a drink." He added, laughing the way he usually did when speaking of Hell. Casual but with a faint tightness to it, not quite forced but not quite natural either.

Crystal dug the cardboard pack out from her bag again, offering one to Edwin. He gave his usual resigned sigh and took one, rolling the white stick between his long fingers, inspecting it, before bringing it to his mouth. Charles breath caught in his throat. Crystal flicked the lighter and Edwin leaned in to inhale through the flame. The smoke plumed around his face as his eyes fluttered shut in memory.

He exhaled a small cloud and looked at the expectant faces around him. "I can't exactly taste it, but it is rather pleasant." He answered their unasked question, taking another drag. If Charles could blush, he would be the same color as his shirt. "My apologies, would you like to try?" Edwin asked, holding the lit cigarette out to Charles who had spent the majority of this time staring at him in stunned awe.

Charles looked from the offending item to his partners expectant face and back again before sliding the cigarette from Edwin's thin pianists fingers and placing it in his own mouth. He tried not to think too hard about the fact it had also been in Edwin's mouth just moments ago. He inhaled, smoke filling his chest, the usual subtle burn missing as it flowed down his windpipe and back out again. Edwin had been right, he could almost taste it. The usual flavor dulled by death, instead a faint earthy flavor filled his senses. It was familiar enough to recognize as tobacco but lacked the overpowering taste.

Blowing out the smoke, he smiled at Edwin's expectant face. "That's brills." He said, returning the cigarette to his partner.