Norfolk Towne Assembly

“We have had the most extraordinary year of drought and cold ever known in the history of America. In June, instead of 3 ¾ inches, our average of rain for th...

In Thomas Jefferson’s book, "Notes on the State of Virginia", he argued for a United States founded on an agrarian ideology. But just what is Agrarianism? ...

In our last post, we took a brief look at the history of recreational fishing, with a focus on England, Colonial America, and the Early United States. Today w...

Spring is arriving here in Virginia. The sun is coming out, the weather is beginning to warm, and we are all feeling the urge to get out and do something. Wi...

Last time we talked about the Importance of Social Dance in Early America. This post we will take a quick look at the origins of English Country Dance, and ...

In the Early Republic, balls were the venues where people went to network, develop develop business connections, and meet future wives

The early US central government, under the Continental Congress and later under the Articles of Confederation had been unable to levy taxes. It had borrowed...

Washington agreed with Virginia Governor Patrick Henry that canals were the easiest answer for an efficient means of inland transportation.

In 1781, the Articles of Confederation defined the framework of the first United States government. It took seven years for the central government to get th...

"Carrying up to 12,000 pounds (6 tons) of cargo, the Conestoga Wagon was the tractor-trailer of the colonial and early-republic period."

As the cold dark months of January set in, our thoughts today often turn to travel to foreign places. For the well-to-do of England and America, this was tr...

As we discussed in our last posting, the Twelve Days of Christmas, beginning on Christmas Day and ending on January 5, is the festive Christian season that c...

"Christmas is mostly seen as a children's holiday, no eighteenth-century sources highlight the importance of children at Christmastime.."

Madeira! Jefferson toasted with it, Hancock smuggled it, and Washington greeted voters with a healthy glass of it. But how did this beverage, from a tiny i...

Most Americans have little or no knowledge of the game even though it once was one of the most popular games in Colonial and Early America.

Alien and Sedition Acts: This legislation led to confrontation between the Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans and the Federalist Party

In the last several posts, we have focused on the efforts by France and Spain to affect US alliances and foreign policy and the US efforts to counteract them...

At the end of 1797, Adams addresses Congress, and made it clear that there was a need “to place our country in a suitable posture of defense

On 1 February 1793 Revolutionary France declared war on Great Britain, expanding a conflict already raging on the European continent . . . .

One of the greatest threats to the country at this time . . . . . the scheming and plotting to involve America in war against Spain.