This Date in History

[05C40]

On This Day in History – 1774: King George III Acts Against Boston


On March 7, 1774, King George III formally charged the colonists in Boston with attempting to harm British commerce, following the rebellious actions of the Boston Tea Party. In response to the colonists’ protest against British taxation, where they had thrown an entire shipment of tea into Boston Harbor, the British government began to take punitive measures. The charge paved the way for the Intolerable Acts, which included the closure of the Boston Port—effectively strangling the city’s economy as punishment for the Tea Party.

The harsh response from the British government only fueled anger and resentment among the colonists, uniting them in their opposition to British rule. This confrontation marked a turning point, one that would soon lead to the outbreak of the American Revolution.

#OnThisDay #BostonTeaParty #TheDigPodcast

The version of the Boston Tea Party I read as an adult has always struck me as more likely. Enterprising Yankees were smuggling in tea from the Dutch and selling it at a price below the taxed tea price. The British responded by reducing the tax on tea until the retail sale price for legally taxed tea in Boston was less than the cost at which the Dutch merchants (who were suppling the Yankee smugglers) could buy it. So in frustration at the British undercutting the price of tea, the Yankees resorted to violence by throwing the legal/competing tea into the harbor in order to maintain a market for the higher priced, smuggled tea that they had already purchased.

 

[Zoo_View]

Today is the 60th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” on Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge.

 

[grimes70]

Quite the twisted history in the creation, ownership, and operation. Now Trump wnts to put his stamp on it.

1880 President Rutherford B. Hayes declares that the United States will have jurisdiction over any canal built across the Isthmus of Panama.




The idea of the Panama Canal dates back to 1513, when the Spanish conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa first crossed the Isthmus of Panama. He wrote in his journal the possibility of a canal but did not take action.[5] Instead, the first trans-isthmian route was established to carry the plunder of Peru to Spain from Panama to Nombre de Dios.[6] European powers soon noticed the possibility to dig a water passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across this narrow land bridge between North and South America. The earliest proposal dates to 1534, when the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ordered a survey for a route through the Americas in order to ease the voyage for ships traveling between Spain and Peru.[7] In 1668, the English physician and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne specifically proposed the Isthmus of Panama as the most convenient place for such a canal.

The first attempt actually to make the isthmus part of a trade route was the ill-fated Darien scheme, launched by the Kingdom of Scotland (1698–1700), which was abandoned because of the inhospitable conditions.

Panama Canal - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Patb78]

The version of the Boston Tea Party I read as an adult has always struck me as more likely. Enterprising Yankees were smuggling in tea from the Dutch and selling it at a price below the taxed tea price. The British responded by reducing the tax on tea until the retail sale price for legally taxed tea in Boston was less than the cost at which the Dutch merchants (who were suppling the Yankee smugglers) could buy it. So in frustration at the British undercutting the price of tea, the Yankees resorted to violence by throwing the legal/competing tea into the harbor in order to maintain a market for the higher priced, smuggled tea that they had already purchased.

This is the more likely reason. The incident was motivated mostly for the reason you stated. It was also to show they would not submit to taxes imposed without the colonies having a say. Still the overriding reason was the fear of lost income.

 

[grimes70]

The Battle of Hampton Roads, also referred to as the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack (actually the CSS Virginia, having been rebuilt and renamed) or the Battle of Ironclads, was a naval battle during the American Civil War.

The battle was fought over two days, March 8 and 9, 1862, in Hampton Roads, a roadstead in Virginia where the Elizabeth and Nansemond rivers meet the James River just before it flows into Chesapeake Bay by the city of Norfolk. The battle was a part of the effort of the Confederacy to break the Union blockade, which had cut off Virginia's largest cities and major industrial centers, Norfolk and Richmond, from international trade.[2][3] At least one historian has argued that, rather than trying to break the blockade, the Confederacy was simply trying to take complete control of Hampton Roads in order to protect Norfolk and Richmond.[4]



This battle was significant in that it was the first combat between ironclad warships, the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia. The Confederate fleet consisted of the ironclad ram Virginia (built from remnants of the burned steam frigate USS Merrimack, the newest warship of the Union Navy) and several supporting vessels. On the first day of battle, they were opposed by several conventional, wooden-hulled ships of the Union Navy.

Battle of Hampton Roads - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[nycfan]

March 9, 2005 — my son was born at 2:20 am.

 

[05C40]

The Battle of Hampton Roads, also referred to as the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack (actually the CSS Virginia, having been rebuilt and renamed) or the Battle of Ironclads, was a naval battle during the American Civil War.

The battle was fought over two days, March 8 and 9, 1862, in Hampton Roads, a roadstead in Virginia where the Elizabeth and Nansemond rivers meet the James River just before it flows into Chesapeake Bay by the city of Norfolk. The battle was a part of the effort of the Confederacy to break the Union blockade, which had cut off Virginia's largest cities and major industrial centers, Norfolk and Richmond, from international trade.[2][3] At least one historian has argued that, rather than trying to break the blockade, the Confederacy was simply trying to take complete control of Hampton Roads in order to protect Norfolk and Richmond.[4]



This battle was significant in that it was the first combat between ironclad warships, the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia. The Confederate fleet consisted of the ironclad ram Virginia (built from remnants of the burned steam frigate USS Merrimack, the newest warship of the Union Navy) and several supporting vessels. On the first day of battle, they were opposed by several conventional, wooden-hulled ships of the Union Navy.

Battle of Hampton Roads - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

I have visited the Mariner's Museum in Newport News several times. And it is always a thrill to see the progress they continue to make in preserving the Monitor. But outside the Museum where you can walk on, under, and around the full size replica (outside) of the Monitor is just amazing. I'm sure that those with a better imagination than I have, when first seeing the replica of the Monitor think, "This looks about right." But for me, my first impression was, "This thing is huge!" The first time I saw the USS North Carolina, was on Saturday, October 14, 1961. It was huge, but I was expecting it to be huge. The replica of the Monitor was so much bigger than I expected, that in retrospect makes me wonder, "What was I expecting?" In reality, the Monitor was exactly the size it needed to be, not a foot to long or a foot too short.