In this episode of History 10s, we learn about 10 ways in which alcohol changed world history.
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Andrew tells 10 historical stories about how booze has played a key role in defining the world we live in today. Assassinations, communism, pilgrims, and scurvy. This show has it all. Bottoms Up!
10. Pilgrims stopped at Plymouth Rock because they were out of beer
It’s 1620, and the Pilgrims are sailing on the Mayflower for the New World. We probably don’t associate Pilgrims with alcohol considering that Pilgrims were deeply religious and well disciplined, but alcohol played a key reason in why the Pilgrims stopped at Plymouth Rock.
They had to stop at Plymouth Rock because they were running low on a key provision: beer. The Pilgrims and the rest of the crew of the Mayflower (as well as all other passengers and crews of ocean-sailing ships at the item) had to drink beer instead of water over the course of their ocean voyage since beer was safer and more hygienic to drink than water.
The problem was that the Pilgrims took longer than expected to reach the New World and by the time they reached the coast of Cape Cod (near Plymouth Rock), they were out of beer and weren’t able to continue on to their original planned destination of Virginia. Thus, they headed ashore to Plymouth Rock. In doing so, the Pilgrims became the first permanent European settlers in New England.
9. An alcoholic drink helped put an end to scurvy
Between 1500 and 1800, it’s possible that up to 3 million sailors around the world died of scurvy, a terrible disease that occurs from a lack of Vitamin C in the human body. On any major voyage, the crew of a ship could expect to suffer up to 50% casualties from scurvy alone.
At the time, it was unknown what the cause of scurvy was, and that Vitamin C was found primarily in fruits. However, in the mid-18th century, a man named James Lind discovered that giving citrus fruits to sailors suffering from scurvy helped to reduce their symptoms. Then, in 1794, a British ship named the Suffolk sailed on a long journey to India and the sailors each day were given an alcoholic drink called Grog, which was a mix of rum, water, and lemon juice. Not a single soldier on the voyage developed scurvy.
Soon, it was clear to the British how to defeat scurvy, and in doing so, they were able to establish naval dominance over most of the world at that time because they had healthy crews while other crews from other nations continued to suffer from the effects of scurvy.
8. A tax on distilled spirits helped create the first American political parties
Back in 1791, the newly formed United States was struggling with a great deal of debt that it incurred as a result of fighting and winning the American Revolution against Great Britain. As a result, the new government, led by President George Washington, decided to impose a tax on all distilled spirits. Because whiskey was the most common spirit in the United States at the time, it’s commonly known as the “Whiskey Tax”.
However, many farmers, particularly farmers in western Pennsylvania, were very unhappy about this new tax for many reasons, and rebelled as a result. This was known as “The Whiskey Rebellion” and lasted from 1791 to 1794.
The Rebellion was ultimately put down, and it had 2 legacies…
- It proved the Federal government had the ability to suppress violent resistance to its laws and was able to protect the Constitution
- It created differing political parties. Certain members of government opposed the tax, while other members supported it. The group that opposed the tax ultimately became the Democratic-Republican Party (led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison), and the group that supported the tax was the Federalist Party (led by George Washington). These parties, over the centuries, eventually molded and developed into the modern Republican and Democratic parties.
7. Alexander the Great’s struggled with excessive alcohol consumption and may have died because of it
Alexander the Great is one of most important names in all of history. He lived from 356 to 323 BC, never lost a battle, and built an empire that was over 3 million square miles. And on top of all of that…as part of his conquest, there was an unprecedented blending of Eastern and Western cultures.
However, Alexander was also a huge drunk, and there’s a lot of debate as to whether or not alcoholism was what killed him at the young age of 32. Over the course of his life, there were numerous famous incidents that occurred as a result of Alexander being drunk. One example of this was 328 BC, when Alexander “accidentally on purpose” killed one of his commanders Clitus the Black during a drunken quarral. Clitus the Black was a good friend of Alexander and had actually saved Alexander’s life in battle 6 years earlier.
At the time of Alexander’s death, he was planning on expanding his empire southward into Arabia (actually, when he died, he was in the midst of returning to Macedonia from India in order to consolidate his empire before heading towards Arabia).
If Alexander had lived to do this and conducted other campaigns, rather than dying at young age from possible alcoholism, it’s possible the conditions to create the Roman Empire may never have existed and India and the Middle East would have had very different futures, meaning Christianity and Islam may never have come to exist.
6. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated because his bodyguard was getting a drink next door
We might assume Presidents have always been fiercely protected by the Secret Service, but the Secret Service didn’t start protecting presidents until 1902. Before that, protecting a US president could be quite lax and in some cases, no existent. For example, there were many times that Abraham Lincoln would walk alone at night between the White House and the War Department, a distance of about a quarter of a mile. Could you imagine a President doing that now?!
Most of us know what ultimately happened to Abraham Lincoln…he went to a play at Ford’s Theater in April of 1865 and while Honest Abe was watching the show, John Wilkes Booth snuck into the room and shot him.
What many of us may not know, though, is that John Frederick Parker, Abraham Lincoln’s bodyguard that evening, was not present at the time of the assassination. At intermission, the footman and coachman of Lincoln’s carriage invited Parker to have drinks at the Star Saloon, which was right next door to Ford’s Theatre. Parker took the invitation and left the theater. No one knows for sure where Parker was during the assassination, but it’s very possible he was still sitting at the Star Saloon sipping drinks when John Wilkes Booth fired his derringer. And in another interesting twist of fate, John Wilkes Booth had been in the same saloon right before he went into the theater to shoot Lincoln.
Parker was charged with failing to protect the president, but for various reasons, the complaint was dismissed about a month later. Nevertheless, Mrs. Lincoln always blamed Parker for failing to protect her husband.
5. The Auld Alliance between Scotland and France was backed by wine from Bordeaux
The Auld Alliance was an alliance made in 1295 between Scotland and France for the purpose of helping to deal with their common enemy: England. The alliance lasted for 265 years, and stated that if either Scotland or France were attacked by England, the other country would attack England.
Wine played a huge role in the negotiating process, with France giving primary access to Scottish merchants to the finest wines in the Bordeaux region of France, including Bordeoux claret.
There were several examples of the Auld Alliance at work, including the 1513 Battle of Flodden, France aiding Scotland during the Wars of Scottish Independence, and both nations helping one another during the Hundred Years’ War. When Joan of Arc fought in Orleans, she did so alongside Scottish soldiers who were honoring the Auld Alliance.
The exact effects of the Auld Alliance, backed by wine, are debatable, but it’s widely believed that English expansion slowed down dramatically until the Colonial Era due to England having to deal with the Scottish and French Alliance. Also, for the first time, it gave Scotland a major international ally, propelling the Scots further forward on the world stage.
4. European settlers used alcohol to exploit Native Americans
Among contemporary Native Americans and according to the American Journal of Public Health, about 11.7% of all deaths are alcohol-related. By comparison, about 5.9% of global deaths are attributable to alcohol consumption. Many historical sources have talked about alcohol played a key role in European colonists being able to expand through Native American territory. The stories may be horrible and sad, but they are there to read.
Why were Native Americans more susceptible to the negative effects of alcohol than Europeans? The first problem is the fact Native Americans had much less historical exposure to alcohol. Many Native Americans had no tradition of making alcoholic beverages and the very few who did only made beer. Also, alcohol was used only in ritual settings. Now, suddenly you have Europeans arriving who have huge stocks of alcohol and are also making a large quantity of spirits and wine available to Native Americans. To these tribes, it’s essentially a shock experience to the tribes had very little time to adapt and develop social, legal, or moral guidelines to regulate alcohol use.
By the early 1700s, Europeans were beginning to take advantage of this lack of experience and the moral guidelines that go with alcohol. This includes making unfair trades with the Native Americans, such as swapping alcohol for large amounts of more valuable goods, and getting the Native Americans drunk before making these deals. In even more sinister situations, colonists would give alcohol to Native Americans, wait until they were drunk, and then kill them.
The systematic destruction of the Native American peoples was one of the great tragedies of American history, and alcohol played a key role in it.
3. A ban on alcohol helped create the conditions for the Russian Revolution and the rise of communism
During the Russo-Japanese War in the early 20th century between Russia and Japan, there were many incidents of Russian troops being unable to fight or even mobilize because they were too drunk.
As a result of this, the Russian Empire took steps to curb drinking so it wouldn’t hamper them in future wars. In 1914, with the outbreak of World War 1, the Russian Empire banned alcohol so that soldiers wouldn’t be drunk and unable to fight effectively.
However, there was a problem with this. The taxes on alcohol provided as much as HALF of government income, and with vodka banned, that source of income went away…right at a time in history when the governments of Europe needed all the money they could get to fight World War 1. In addition, with alcohol banned, it meant countryside peasants no longer needed to sell surplus grain for vodka, creating food shortages in the cities.
The hyperinflation from the lack of government income, the rioting of angry and hungry citizens, and the revolting of thirsty Russian soldiers, all played roles in the fall of Russia to communism in 1917 and the creation of the Soviet Union. While it almost certainly wasn’t the main reason, it certainly played a role. And without the Soviet Union and communism in the 20th century, the world is a very different place today.
2. Rum was one of the key pillars of the Slave Trade
The slave trade was fueled in part by rum. Rum, specifically, was the alcoholic drink involved here because of a product of the Caribbean (one of the key areas of the slave trade). This product was molasses. Molasses, which is made as a byproduct from sugar cane production, can be fermented and distilled into rum.
When it was discovered that rum could be made from molasses, rum instantly became a staple of the colonies of New England, and as a result, what we now call “The Triangular Trade” was created. The Triangular Trade was a system of trade involving, fittingly, three products: (1) rum, (2) sugar, and (3) slaves. It also involved three locations: (1) Africa, (2) the Caribbean, and (3) New England.
Slaves would be taken from Africa and shipped to grow sugar on Caribbean plantations. The molasses from the plantations would be exported to New England where it was made to rum and then finally shipped to Africa, who responded by sending more slaves that were paid for in gallons of rum. As an example, a male slave from Africa cost about 150 gallons of rum.
1. Alcohol may have been the main inspiration for the starting of farming
Farming fundamentally changed the course of human history. It is what allowed people to switch from hunter-gatherer tribes to being able to actually settle in large numbers in one area. This led to the creation of villages, then towns, then cities, then nations, and then finally, the modern world as we know it.
Farming is believed to have taken place around the end of the Stone Age and it involved people trying to domesticate and grow wild grains. What historians still debate about is exactly what motivated people to start trying to domesticate and grow wild grains in the first place.
Since the 1950’s, it’s widely believed among many historians that stone age farmers, while motivated to make bread, may have been even more motivated to make beer. Some evidence that caused this shift were discoveries such as noticing that the first maize used by ancient Mexicans was better suited for beer than flour and noticing that the earliest Chinese pottery contained rice beer which was likely fermented from saliva.
Why would farmers do this? Why would they focus on beer over bread? Three reasons…
- It has all the same nutrients as bread while tasting better
- It’s more sterile than water, and is thus more safe to drink (*coughPILGRIMScough*)
- It makes you feel good and drunk (of course!)
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