New York Almanack

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Thomas Jefferson

Astronomical Observatories & Early US Boundary & Coastal Surveys

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A map of the contested New Hampshire Grants from Wikimedia Creative Commons user KmusserBoundary disputes such as the those around the New Hampshire Grants came up everywhere in the colonies. Many colonial grants had been based on parallels of latitude or meridians of longitude. It was no easy matter to mark out these lines.

One famous boundary historically is the Mason and Dixon line between Maryland and Pennsylvania. Mason was an astronomer as well as a surveyor and more astronomical observations were probably made in connection with this line than any other. [Read more…] about Astronomical Observatories & Early US Boundary & Coastal Surveys

Robert R. Livingston and the Declaration of Independence

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Robert R. Livingston by Gilbert Stuart ca. 1790Five men served on the Second Continental Congress’s Committee of Five, to produce the Declaration of Independence. We know three of them well: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. But who were the other two?

The latest episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast explores the lives and contributions of Robert R. Livingston of New York and Roger Sherman of Connecticut. [Read more…] about Robert R. Livingston and the Declaration of Independence

The Dutch & Flemish Roots of Yankee Doodle Dandy

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Archibald M. Willard, “The Spirt of ‘76” (also known as “Yankee Doodle”), ca. 1875. (U.S. State Department)Yankee Doodle went to town
A-riding on a pony,
Stuck a feather in his cap
And called it macaroni.

Macaroni Craze

During the third quarter of the eighteenth century, Londoners saw the bizarre spectacle of the so-called “macaroni craze.” Young aristocratic men who had returned home from their educational Grand Tour through Continental Europe to Italy, displayed a liking for pasta. [Read more…] about The Dutch & Flemish Roots of Yankee Doodle Dandy

Angelica Schuyler Church: A Woman at the Center of Revolution

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Angelica Schuyler Church bookAngelica: For Love and Country in a Time of Revolution (W. W. Norton & Company, 2025) by Molly Beer is a women-centric view of revolution through the life of Angelica Schuyler Church (1756-1814), the eldest daughter of General Philip Schuyler and Catherine Van Rensselaer.

The Van Rensselaers of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck were one of the wealthiest and most politically influential families in what was then the still heavily Dutch-influenced Province of New York. [Read more…] about Angelica Schuyler Church: A Woman at the Center of Revolution

Creating the U.S. Federal Government

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The Capitol as it appeared in 1800 from a watercolor by William Russell Birch. (Library of Congress)When we think about the founding of the United States, we often focus on the Constitution, the Founding Fathers, and those first landmark elections.

But how did the United States actually build its federal government, the entire apparatus of state that could collect revenue, manage international diplomacy, provide law and order, and extend its reach across a rapidly expanding nation? [Read more…] about Creating the U.S. Federal Government

The British, Enslaved People & The American Revolution

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A Perfect FrenzyAs the American Revolution broke out in New England in the spring of 1775, dramatic events unfolded in Virginia that proved every bit as decisive as the battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill in uniting the colonies against Britain.

A Perfect Frenzy: A Royal Governor, His Black Allies, and the Crisis That Spurred the American Revolution (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2025) relates the largely untold story of rebellion in Virginia that should forever change our understanding of the American Revolution. [Read more…] about The British, Enslaved People & The American Revolution

New York’s Enlightenment Legacy: Science and Social Mobility

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The chemistry auditorium in the old building of the École polytechnique in the Quartier Latin of Paris photographed by Jules David in 1904The French Revolution abolished the privileges that were traditionally reserved to noblemen. Military careers were opened to all talent instead. [Read more…] about New York’s Enlightenment Legacy: Science and Social Mobility

What Really Happened on the Fourth of July

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The Declaration of Independence lithograph by Napoleaon Sarony after John Trumbull, 1843-1853On April 19, 1775, British Regulars and American minutemen fought at Lexington and Concord. There were casualties on both sides. A second battle was fought at Bunker Hill in June, the Continental Army with George Washington as commander was created, the British forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point were captured by the colonists, King George III declared his colonies to be in a state of rebellion in August, Canada was invaded, and in May 1776 Congress learned that Britain had employed Hessian troops to fight their American cousins.

Despite all that ensued, the Continental Congress still had not taken up the idea of independence, much to the dismay of the more radical delegates such as John and Samuel Adams and Virginia’s Richard Henry Lee. [Read more…] about What Really Happened on the Fourth of July

How West Point Academy Terrorized Its First Black Cadets

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Cadet Alix Idrache sheds tears of joy during the commencement for the US Military Academy at West Point’s Class of 2016In its first 133 years of existence (1802–1935), over 10,000 cadets graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, only three were African Americans.

West Point Academy was founded in 1802 with the passage of the Military Peace Establishment Act, signed into law by President Thomas Jefferson. It was designed to educate and train future Army officers. Jefferson claimed that West Point would be established under democratic ideals — a meritocracy that would admit cadets based on their character and abilities rather than their wealth and family connections. However, these democratic ideals only applied to white men. [Read more…] about How West Point Academy Terrorized Its First Black Cadets

Maple Syrup: The Sweet Taste of Freedom

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A Caribbean sugar plantation in ca 1823 shown in William Clark's “Slaves Cutting The Cane In Antigua.” Maple syrup is a familiar staple in many households, with the United States producing 5.86 million gallons last year alone. While its culinary use extends far beyond pancakes and waffles, maple sugar and syrup was once a choice that spoke to deeper personal morality.

From the late 1700s to the Civil War, anti-slavery advocates used maple as a statement about their morality and views on human rights. Choosing to tap or purchase maple products meant one less purchase of cane sugar, an industry supported entirely by enslaved labor. [Read more…] about Maple Syrup: The Sweet Taste of Freedom

The United States in the First Barbary War, 1800–1805

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To Fix a National Character: The United States in the First Barbary War, 1800–1805When the United States declared its independence on July 4, 1776, American merchants faced a major problem: They could no longer rely on the protection of the British Royal Navy. In the Mediterranean, American merchants were targeted by corsairs from the Barbary States ― Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, and the Sultanate of Morocco – who robbed, kidnapped and enslaved American sailors.

While most European countries made treaties to circumvent this predation, this option was fiscally untenable for the young nation, and on May 14, 1801, the Ottoman Tripolitania declared war on the United States in what is now known as the First Barbary War. [Read more…] about The United States in the First Barbary War, 1800–1805

Aaron Burr As New York State’s Third Attorney General

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Aaron Burr Attorney GeneralAaron Burr (1756-1836) is perhaps best known as the infamous Vice President who took a rather dramatic turn in American history and shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804.

But before he became a household name for all the wrong reasons, Burr served as New York’s third Attorney General from 1789 to 1791. He was known for his legal savvy and charm, navigating the post-Revolutionary legal landscape as something of a rogue. [Read more…] about Aaron Burr As New York State’s Third Attorney General

The Old State Museum: Old Bones, Extinction & Climate Change

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Students visit the old New York State Museum in Albany, ca 1950sTo commemorate the start of another school year, the New York State Museum posted a series of photos on social media from field trips to the original museum, now occupied by the New York State Education Department.

That building, completed in 1912 and distinguished by a colonnade of pillars facing the capitol building, is the place where many of us first saw the State Museum’s zoological collection, which famously included fossils, skeletons and life-sized reconstructions of extinct ice age mammals. [Read more…] about The Old State Museum: Old Bones, Extinction & Climate Change

What Does The Election of 1800 Have To Do With 2024?

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1800 Election Thomas Jefferson and John AdamsAlthough historians generally disagree, many people think history repeats itself. Are there any parallels between the Election of 1800 and the contest for the presidency in 2024?

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had been debating different viewpoints about the Constitution since they first worked on the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Adams feared giving the people too much control while Jefferson thought the presidency had too much power. [Read more…] about What Does The Election of 1800 Have To Do With 2024?

The Pursuit of Happiness: Classical Virtue & America

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The Pursuit of Happiness“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” — U.S. Declaration of Independence

What did Thomas Jefferson and the members of the Second Continental Congress mean by “the pursuit of Happiness?” Why is pursuing happiness important enough that Jefferson and his fellow Founders included it in the Declaration of Independence’s most powerful statement of the new United States’ ideas? [Read more…] about The Pursuit of Happiness: Classical Virtue & America

The Pizza Effect: Naples to Manhattan & Back

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Garibaldi departing on the Expedition of the Thousand in 1860The Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed on March 17, 1861, although linguistic and economic characteristics differed from one region to another. When in that same year statesman Massimo d’Azeglio published his memoirs, he began his narrative with a warning: “Pur troppo s’è fatta l’Italia, ma non si fanno gl’Italiani” (Unfortunately, Italy was created, but Italians are not being created).

The country might have become a political entity, but its population was far from cohesive. Not rooted in ancestry, national identity was a political and socio-cultural construction. [Read more…] about The Pizza Effect: Naples to Manhattan & Back

Solar Eclipses During The American Revolution

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Solar eclipse of June 24 1778 drawn by Antonio de UlloaRecently there was tremendous interest in the solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, especially for those living in or traveling to the 110 mile swath of totality. Television news, newspapers, and other media outlets had countless stories about where to find the best viewing places, how to get there and back, and how to safely watch the eclipse, as well as plenty of post event comments and impressions. Eclipse mania prevailed!

But was there similar interest in the 18th century, particularly during the years of the American Revolution? Between 1701 and 1800, there were 251 solar eclipses worldwide, of which 62 were total. More specifically, there were 54 between 1763 and 1783, of which 13 were total. Most were not easily seen in eastern North America other than two: June 24, 1778 and October 27, 1780. [Read more…] about Solar Eclipses During The American Revolution

The Huguenot Diaspora, America’s First Consulate & The Slave Trade

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Gilbert Stuart Newton, Portrait of James Maury, 1826 (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool)Huguenots were French Protestants who followed the teachings of theologian Jean Calvin for which they suffered severe persecution in the late sixteenth century and again after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in October 1685. During these periods of bloodshed, many of them left the country and sought refuge abroad.

Although small in numbers, Huguenots began to arrive in New Netherland in the 1620s, some (eventually) settling in the Dutch-speaking town of Bushwick (Boschwyck), Brooklyn, whilst others moved to New Rochelle and New Paltz as well as Staten Island. [Read more…] about The Huguenot Diaspora, America’s First Consulate & The Slave Trade

Monticello: A Saga of the Catskills & New Mexico

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Ruins of the old WPA-built school in Monticello, New Mexico courtesy Flikr user J WoodThose familiar with Sullivan County, NY history likely know the story well: the brothers Samuel Frisbee Jones and John Patterson Jones, born in Connecticut, came here from Columbia County around 1804 and founded the community they called Monticello, which upon the erection of the County a few years later becomes the County Seat and still later the first incorporated village in the county. [Read more…] about Monticello: A Saga of the Catskills & New Mexico

A Republic of Scoundrels: Schemers, Intriguers, and Adventurers

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A Republic of ScoundrelsWe now have a more clear-eyed understanding of Founding Fathers such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton; even so, they are often considered American saints, revered for their wisdom and self-sacrificing service to the nation.

However, within the generation of founders of the United States there lurked many unscrupulous figures — men who violated the era’s expectation of public virtue and advanced their own interests at the expense of others.

They were turncoats and traitors, opportunists and con artists, spies, and foreign intriguers. [Read more…] about A Republic of Scoundrels: Schemers, Intriguers, and Adventurers

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