Featuring an elk that decided to bugle during my recording, this episode discusses the first witch trials in American history. Forty years before the Salem Witch Trials, these happened mostly in Bermuda and Connecticut, with a few in Massachusetts. Bermuda was a disaster, Connecticut had a disaster of a legal system, and over a dozen Read more about ECW 27: Witch trials in the Devil’s Isles[…]
Massachusetts takes over the floundering colony of Maine … or, the floundering colonies of Maine and Lygonia. Full text In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about a colony we haven’t discussed much. We’ll go a little bit into its history, but ultimately we’re bringing Maine into our story just long enough to kill it Read more about ECW 26: Maine[…]
1655 was the year of the first Virginia law which mentioned slavery as a legitimate institution, and the Commonwealth Era was also the one which saw England take active, organized steps to enter the slave trade. In this episode, we discuss the history of England’s Western Africa trade, and exactly what was going on, slavery-wise, Read more about ECW 25: The Guinea Company[…]
Maryland’s Civil War After taking over Virginia, puritans Richard Bennett and William Claiborne also take control of Maryland. Baltimore orders his governor, William Stone, to fight back. This conflict culminates in a bloody fight near Providence/Anne Arundel, involving nearly 400 Marylanders, known as the Battle of the Severn Full Text One could argue that the Read more about ECW 24: The Battle of the Severn[…]
The foundations of the British Empire were laid as England passed the Navigation Act of 1651, declaring that all English colonies were created by and for Parliament, were directly accountable to the English government, and must trade only with English merchants. It also moved to force colonies who had declared for Charles II into submission Read more about ECW 23: Empire[…]
Part 1 If you support a revolution, you have to be willing to accept the utter uncertainty of its outcome. You don’t get to dictate how much, or exactly how things change. Your options are to defend the status quo, even if you believe in reform, or to destroy the established order and accept the Read more about ECW 21-22: The Scottish Civil War[…]
In 1650, the first major group of Scots arrived in the New World. They arrived most notably in Massachusetts Bay, transported in fact by a New England-built ship called the Unity, but others were scattered around other English Colonies which were loyal, or at least in safe submission, to Cromwell’s new government. In the next Read more about Scotland’s Civil War (pt. 1)[…]
It’s one thing to advocate for change. It’s another, far messier one to actually get an opportunity to implement it. In 1649, New England was experiencing both the rewards and complications of Cromwell’s victory. Introduction Once again, thanks for waiting. I really do appreciate those of you who stuck around this long. And you shouldn’t Read more about ECW 18: The challenges and rewards of victory[…]
When she heard about the regicide, one Bermuda colonist said she thought that “They that done it, would never see the face of Christ.” Introduction Before we get started, I just wanted to do a little housekeeping. School begins again next week, and my goal is going to be to do this as a biweekly Read more about ECW 18: Declarations of Independence[…]
If you were to make a list of the top 10 most pivotal events in American History, the execution of King Charles I would have to be on it. It might not be one which immediately sprang to mind, but it hadn’t happened, America would be unrecognizable today. As we will shortly see, everything we Read more about ECW 17: The Second English Civil War[…]