History with Geek Girl

 Hello, History Friends!! As we welcome you to 1773 (the Year We Finally Talk About the Tea), I wanted to let you know of a couple things that happened in the beginning of the year that maybe ya'll didn't know about before. At least, I didn't. First up, on  Jan 6, enslaved people of Massachusetts petition legislature for freedom. Side note, I had been wondering how to honestly word some of the rough stuff that happened in this time period where humans had the audacity to own other humans, and I noticed in the book I'm reading (The one about being descended from Jefferson), she always uses the term enslaved people. She only mentioned it as the word slaves once and that was in quotation marks, as in, that's what their owners called them. I appreciated her doing that because it helps me learn how to be more respectful about a part of our past that I am genuinely sad happened. Like so many things in this time period- this event simply got the ball rolling. It didn't...

Hello, History Friends!! Often, the year 1772 gets skipped in studies of what we at my house call the RevoWar, at least in type, haha! My family is so patient. Sometimes I worry that all I talk about is the stuff I'm learning. Luckily, most of them at least seem interested as well. But let's be honest, what's not to be interested in? I say whoever says history is boring has never actually studied it!    The year 1772 started out on a happy note, Jan 1 was the day that Thomas Jefferson married Martha Wayles Skelton. Now, ya'll know that Jefferson isn't my favorite founding father, but I just finished a book about him called Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham. Not to be crazy shallow or anything, but the fact that Edward Hermann (or Richard Gilmore for those of you who half believe Stars Hollow is a real place and part of your identity live there) narrated it, sure helped soften the ordeal. I still don't particularly care for Mr. Jefferson too much,...

 Hello, History Friends!! I've noticed that a lot of timelines skip from the Boston Massacre in 1770 to the Shot Heard Round the World in 1773. But life doesn't quite happen that way. And it's not like nothing happened during those times! Granted, I've had to learn about them, but I'm excited to tell you all the things that I HAVE learned. We're focusing on North Carolina. Apparently, starting a few years back, in 1765/6, there was something called the Regulator Movement. I had never heard of this before, so now you get all of the background info, too! Before we start, you should know that in this case, Regulators would be the farmers and the regular people in the back country. These folks were mostly Scotsmen and Colonials from all kinds of places. There was an interstate type road called the Wagon Road and people from the Northern Colonies would follow it down looking for new starts. One of the lectures I watched was by a lady named Marjoleine Kars, who wrote ...

  Hello, history friends!! Last time, we talked about the tragedy of the Boston Massacre and got to know a few of the victims a little bit. Today we are jumping back in, but we're going to look at what happens next. So many times, this is just an event on a timeline, but we don't dive into the real impact it had. In most history books, this happened and then boom, tea is dumped and we're in Lexington and Concord. But that's not how it really went. Remember that this is the first quarter of 1770 and the Boston Tea Party doesn't happen until the very END of 1773. That's like talking about a baby being born and then in the next sentence discussing their preschool enrollment. (I have 6 kids, so kid events are how I tell time). Let's back up a second and see what the events of 1770 did for the colonists AND for the British. Could you imagine having to wait 8 weeks to 6 months just to hear news of stuff? That would drive me bonkers. I guess instant messaging optio...

 Hey, History Friends!!! Last time, we talked about New York's first Revolutionary bloodshed, but this time, we head NORTH. This is why I need maps. I legit had to open a map to double check that I had said that right. If you remember right, when the Townshend Acts were passed, Bostonians signed a Nonimportation Agreement.  I told you about John Hancock and one of his run-ins with the new customs officers. There's actually a lot more fun stories about him and his history, but I haven't studied him extensively- yet. He's on that to-learn about list I mentioned. I will tell you, though, that he was the richest man in Boston at one point. It took him a minute to really warm to the Patriot Dream, but after the Stamp Act, he became more vocal about the British injustices. He became selectman and then eventually a delegate in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.  The Nonimportation Agreement kind of put Mr. Hancock in a spotlight, however. He was a bit of a target for ...