Generations of scholars have written countless texts about the myriad origins of the American Revolution. Some are quite good. Some quite bad. Yet all are informative, except maybe one partisan publisher of ‘alternate facts’ that recently made the news. This article tosses another possible source of rebellion into the mix; it is a link to a revolution that somehow managed to put together a damn good government to stand the test of time (even when faced with social internet). It boils down to one key source: water. But not just any water. We’re speaking of bad water. The kind found throughout colonial Europe. All those pathogenic microorganisms that did a nasty to one’s body, interfering with all the pleasures colonial life brought – like fending off landlords, revenue agents, draconian religions and persecution, and local magistrates, which most colonials considered the same as emptying the outhouse. Science had yet to figure out that all those tiny bacteria floating around in water was the reason people felt like crap. Colonials just knew they felt better after they stopped drinking cursed water and stumbled upon other ways to wet their whistle.
Tea became big. As did coffee, especially in London and later New York City where coffee houses sprang up like McDonalds. But there was another elixir that seemed to do the trick nicely which also had a very satisfying and desired side effect – beer. After a pint or two of ale, you felt pretty damn good. You smiled, laughed, and sat back in your chair. No need to recognize that boiling or processing beer sterilized the fetid water. Nor that you rarely sipped tea, drank coffee, or downed a few mugs of beer alone. Men and women, either at social gatherings in the parlor, at the local coffee house, or at the community tavern bending an elbow with mates, downed their brew among friends while ignoring the smelly, dangerous, and always backbreaking work of trying to etch a colonial living. Beer became popular, more so than wine or spirits. Because of its lower alcohol content, you could drink more of it, becoming a natural substitute for water. Also, it was cheap to make. The process was simple. Supplies were readily available and it was easily incorporated into other family household chores, such as churning butter and putting up with the husband’s snoring before the fireplace.
This readily available homebrew became particularly important for those who gave up on Europe and hauled their family to America’s primitive shores. Although the new world had a seemingly inexhaustible supply of pristine water, few if any would ever dream of drinking it. They were convinced; beer was healthy and water was not. Drabs of beer were even dished out to the youngest of children on a regular basis. While breaking land for a new settlement, the family brewery was soon incorporated into the home, usually an attachment or outbuilding because of the high heat and chance of fire. Later beer, like in Europe, provided a setting for social gatherings among the community. This would prove paramount for survival in a hostile new land, establishing local governments, lines for communication, and a center to organzie protection through militias.
Ships that plied the Atlantic and brought the first colonists to America were well stocked with casks of beer. Sailors knew that beer warded off sickness and would last the whole voyage there and back. Experience from long voyages proved that when the supply of beer was exhausted, crewmen became sick and died. Sir John Pringle, considered the founder of modern military medicine, wrote in 1776 that “It hath been a constant observation, that in long cruizes or distant voyages, the scurvy is never seen whilst the small-beer holds out, at a full allowance; but that when it is all expended, that ailment soon appears.” A small beer was rationed as a gallon per sailor per day, which may seem a lot, however the watered down drink resulted in a lower alcohol level. James Cook touted beer as a healthy beverage in reference to his journey aboard the ships the Resolution and Adventure toward the South Pole and around the world.
Beer’s nutrition importance became blatantly obvious during the first few years of newly settled Jamestown, Virginia, which had a horrid supply of fresh water. During its first year, 1607, most of the settlement succumbed to both starvation and what we now know to be dysentery, typhoid, and scurvy. Jamestown’s earliest setters desperately bartered with sailors on newly arrived ships to restock their supply of beer. By 1609, they fully realized their error and the Governor and Council of Virginia advertised for brewers. Even into the 1620s, Virginian’s decried a lack of decent beer. Aboard the Mayflower, Pilgrims began to exhibit signs of scurvy when their supply of beer ran out. While off the coast of New England (named by John Smith in 1614) passenger William Bradford wrote on December 19, 1620 that “We could not now take time for further search or consideration our victuals being much spent, especially our beere.” They originally planned to settle along the Hudson River which was considered part of Virginia at the time.
Most parties landing on American soil brought their own equipment and raw materials to begin immediate production of ale. This was especially true in New Amsterdam [New York City] where the Dutch soon learned that the tip of Manhattan’s only supply of water were slivers of waterways and a small body that became known as Clear Pond. The first Brewery was in 1633 and in Boston, 1637. By the mid seventeenth century, several breweries had sprung up to meet the growing population. Philadelphia didn’t get rolling until 1685, but made up for lost time by establishing more breweries than any other city. Even our early spheres of higher learning grasped the importance of beer. Harvard’s dietary recommendations demanded that all students sit down to a daily breakfast of ‘bread and a cue of beer.’
Greg Smith, in his article Brewing in Colonial America, comments on how popular beer had become in America: “Ale and beer was a major dietary staple in the colonies. Literally everyone partook. It was the common item which spanned generations, from cradle to grave, everyone drank beer. Infants were fed beer and it was especially recommended for nursing mothers. Farmers, laborers, merchants, lawyers, and craftsman, all drank beer. It was a common thread in all their lives. It was not uncommon for drinking to begin even before breakfast and it continued with every meal throughout the day. Seldom did anyone pass on the opportunity to down an ale. It was both the nourishment and refreshment common throughout that period’s long work days.” Often journeymen and apprentices took a portion of their wages in ale, a custom they brought with them from England.
Throughout the 1600’s and a decade into the next century, brewing and drinking beer occurred in the home. Until strains and methods for producing American barley developed, most homebrewer supplies were imported from England. Hops however, was found growing wild. With an ever increasing stream of exports, including resources such as raw iron, indigo, tobacco, and rice, hard currency became readily available. Colonists didn’t have to handmake or barter for the tools necessary to etch out a meager living. They could begin to purchase what they needed. There was a growth of artisans and merchants setting up shops within the cities and surrounding regions. So too, we see a plethora of breweries emerge. Beer production was at the forefront of businesses in America and soon became big business. Farmers planted huge fields of barley and hops, beer’s chief ingredients, to help keep the liquid flowing. Wealthy landowners bought up these ingredients from local farmers, investing in private brew houses and malt houses. At the Battle of Harlem Heights, partially within present day Central Park New York, American and British soldiers clashed on a wide field of ripe barley.
Beer now played a huge role that impacted the future of America. With a flourishing economy, colonists found themselves with extra time on their hands and more importantly, cash in their pockets. At the same time, England desired to expand their colonies inland. They would develop a network of residences that would stimulate travel and development. In Great Britain, the English Tavern had filled this role nicely for centuries. Why not in the New World? These two situations, an economy that provided cash and time for leisure, along with a hunger to develop, would combine to give birth to what helped drive America towards rebellion – the tavern. And they sprang up everywhere.
Ale houses would become the center of a community’s social livelihood and government. The colony’s magistrates developed a system whereby they would bring the royal government to outlying and developing regions through a system of traveling jurists. These administrators of justice would travel from town to town, and tavern to tavern, thereby setting up a government court of authority at the local alehouse. So too, farmers and merchants, after a long day in the fields or shop, would gather in taverns over a mug of ale while unwinding and discussing everything from the weather to politics. Soon, the tavern’s importance to the community was second only to the church [probably more so if colonists were truthful]. But it was in politics that the tavern impacted America’s heritage. Taverns and alehouses would become the center for assembly and therefore a hot bed of rebellion.
By the 1760’s, alehouses and taverns were common in nearly every village from New Hampshire to Georgia. Tavernkeepers, along with landed aristocracy, became the wealthiest among the region’s leaders. They received revenue from the royal government who frequently used their facilities to do crown business. A constant flow of cash could be relied upon from out of town lodgers for travel and business. Also, local organizations frequented the alehouse, such as freemasons and militiamen. When protests arose over Crown Revenue Acts such as the Stamp Act, Sons of Liberty and later Committees of Correspondence and Safety had regular, almost daily meetings at local alehouses. But the mainstay of their existence continued as the center of social gatherings, benefiting from sales in spirits, food, and of course locally and imported beer.
The alehouse’s connection to the militia merits mention. England did not have the men nor means to provide a standing army to protect the American frontier from foreign interests and Native Americans. They relied heavily on a militia system whereby males of every community were to enroll in a local militia under local military leaders who were often veterans of previous wars. To entice enrollment and attendance at drills, militias often met at the local tavern. To assure there was a good turnout – drinks were offered to all who showed up. At first these weekend warriors met in droves, but so too, soon became too inebriated to drill. It wasn’t the work of genius to figure out that the leaders must first march the thirsty farmers and merchants around the commons for a spell before indulging in free-flowing ale. Needless to say, militia drills became a good excuse to get out of the house and hang out with the guys.
From bad water, to beer, to alehouses and taverns, the rest as they say, is history. Beer Halls became the Sons of Liberty headquarters where they hatched out protests. Where the leaders of a developing nation planned their next move. Where militiamen met before rushing off to war. In Boston we had Samuel Adam’s gang of dockside thugs and mechanics labeled Sons of Liberty, piling out of a King Street tavern before racing up a cold, snowy street to grasp eternal fame in what we label the Boston Massacre. Later, men dressed like Mohawks streamed out of the Green Dragon Alehouse to dump tea in Boston’s Harbor. In New York we have King Sears and his chapter of the Sons of Liberty meeting at Montagne House Tavern along with William Howard’s Tavern, before battling British regulars with fists and clubs on Golden Hill. Some might say a few bottles of courage helped. No doubt, why the British army, from the time of King James to the Fields of Flanders, dished out rum before charging into hell.
George Washington’s favorite hangout in New York City, considered the birthplace of rebellion, was Frances Tavern, now in the financial district of New York – still one could say the center of rebellion. The Liberty Tree Tavern in Providence, Rhode Island was almost certainly where the Gaspe plot took shape, resulting in the capture and burning of a hated British Sloop. And at the start of the American Revolution, on Lexington Commons, Captain John Parker assembled his militia at, of course, Buckman Tavern, before marching them out onto The Green for the ‘shot heard round the world.’
The following slideshow of photos are from the Odessa Foundation and the Odessa Brewfest, 201 Main Street, Odessa, Delaware. The next festival is scheduled for September 21, 2021.
John Perritano published an article in Popular Mechanics, January, 2013 titled “How the Founding Fathers Made Their Beer.” I quote his description of the colonial beer process. Couldn’t say it better myself John.
“In colonial times, brewers took malted barley and cracked it by hand. They would then steep, or soak, the grains in boiling water. They called the process mashing. Mashing allowed the brewer to extract the sugars from the barley. Today’s brewers use mechanical rollers in a malt mill to crush the grain. The more the mill crushes the kernels, the more sugar the brewer can remove from the barley. The brewer then soaks the grist in a vat of hot water called the mash tun, which converts the starch into sugar. Brewers in Franklin’s day took the mash they had created, which had the consistency of oatmeal, and dumped it into a sawed-off whiskey barrel. The modified tub acted as a sieve, filtering the sugary liquid from the grain. Modern brewers pass the mash into a device called the mash/lauter tun for straining. The colonial brewer returned the strained liquid to the boil kettle, or the copper as it was called, for a 2-hour boiling. He added hops, chilled the brew, sprinkled it with yeast, and drained the final product into wooden kegs. The brewer then placed those kegs in a cellar for three weeks to a month.”
FOR FURTHER READING, CHECK OUT THESE GREAT BOOKS ON AMAZON
CHECK OUT THESE OTHER ARTICLES ON COLONIAL ARTISIANS AND ON REVOLUTIONARY WAR JOURNAL
Coffeehouses Brewed Patriotic Passions in the American Revolution
Artisans Were The Middle Class Muscle Behind the American Revolution
Coopers Had the Colonists Over a Barrel: 18th Century Barrel & Cask Production in America.
Cordwainers & Cobblers, Shoemakers in Colonial America
THANKS TO
Nachel, Marty & Ettlinger, Steve. “American Beer History through the 19th Century.” https://www.dummies.com/food-drink/drinks/beer/american-beer-history-through-the-19th-century/
Perritano, John. “How the Founding Fathers Made Their Beer.” Popular Mechanics, January, 2013.
Smith, Gregg. “Brewing in Colonial America” https://northamericanbrewers.org/brewing-in-colonial-america/
Wagner, Rich. Philadelphia Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in the Cradle of Liberty. 2012: The History Press, Charleston, SC.