It’s easy to forget that during the 1930s, Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist Party—though seen as radical by many—were not necessarily considered a threat to world peace. It’s even easier to forget that Hitler had more than a few sympathizers, even outright supporters, in the United States. Here are some pieces of history that are seldom discussed, but should serve as a reminder as to how extremist ideals can take hold anywhere, anytime.

10The Bund

A great portion of Nazi ideology revolved around the purity of the German “race,” and Hitler shrewdly realized early on that this could be exploited in the German migrant populations of his potential foes. A mere four months after his rise to power in 1933, an American organization known as “Friends of the New Germany” was assembled from several smaller organizations around the US. Originally made up of both German nationals and US citizens of German descent, it was restructured in 1936 into the German American Bund (“Bund” meaning “Alliance”), which admitted only German-Americans.

Since a quarter of the US population at the time had some German ancestry, membership was higher than one might imagine. The Bund’s leader, Fritz Kuhn, was even dubbed the American Fuhrer. While taking care to ensure its perception as an American organization remained solid (expressions of American patriotism were plentiful in Bund gatherings, which often took place on American holidays or on presidents’ birthdays) the fact remains that American citizens gave the Nazi salute, shouted “Heil Hitler,” and otherwise behaved much as an attendee at any German Nazi Party gathering would have. Fritz Kuhn was exposed by undercover journalists in 1937 and jailed for embezzlement two years later.

9Nazi Summer Camps

After its 1936 restructuring, the Bund began making a concerted effort to advance Nazi ideology in the hopes that the US could be made sympathetic to, or even a stronghold for, Hitler and his armies. Among its most alarming projects: summer camps for American youths. While not supported by or directly related to the infamous Hitler Youth program, the similarities were nevertheless glaring. Parents and children alike saluted the Fuhrer and wore the same armbands their German counterparts did. By the time they were shut down shortly after the start of the war, 16 of these camps existed all across the country, from New York to Los Angeles.

Anti-Semitic sentiment was at an all-time high in the US at this time, and programs like these were intended to indoctrinate America to racist, fascistic ideologies. Children from eight to 18 were taught to speak German and participated in military-style drills. Nazi ideology and German heritage were essentially presented as part of the same package, and many German-Americans were receptive to the message.

8The New York Nazi Community

The most prominent of these camps was Camp Siegfried in upstate New York, outside the small town of Yaphank. The town’s small houses were originally built as bungalows for the summer campers. Anyone seeking to purchase land in the town had to be primarily of “German extraction.” Many of its main streets were named after Hitler, Goebbels, and other prominent Nazi Party leaders.

Even after the beginning of the war, pro-Nazi sentiment would, shall we say, not get one kicked out of the town of Yaphank. Nazi-themed parades were held on its streets, Nazi and SS flags were flown side by side with American flags, and residents carved a giant hedge into the shape of a swastika.

Though the land was eventually seized by the FBI after the war, the town still stands, retaining the original tract homes built for pro-Nazi summer campers. Unfortunately, though many of its residents are unaware, its racist bylaws are still in effect. Even today, virtually all of its resident are white and of German ancestry.

7The Madison Square Garden Rallies

Friends of the New Germany, and later the Bund, were headquartered in New York, making the state a primary hub of American pro-Nazi activity. As early as 1934, the predecessor organization was holding rallies at Madison Square Garden. Participants gave the Nazi salute, chanted slogans, and bore banners with sentiments such as “Stop Jewish Domination of Christian Americans.”

The most infamous of these gatherings took place on February 20, 1939, when the Bund was at the height of its power. A Bund gathering wrapped in the title of a “Pro-America” rally at the Garden was attended by over 20,000 people that day. Four times that number protested outside the venue, attempting to storm it and shut it down. They were unsuccessful, but this was among the last such events. The Bund was dissolved after the US declared war on Germany in late 1941.

6The Bush Connection

Conspiracy theories have long examined a possible collusion between the US government and the Nazi regime. Circumstantial evidence abounds, from the similarities between the CIA’s reviled MKUltra program and similar programs developed by the Nazis, to the role of some of Hitler’s top rocket scientists in the development of NASA.

Among the many outlandish claims, a truth was revealed near the turn of this century that is somehow even more outlandish: Prescott Bush—a US senator and father of future president George H.W. Bush—had mutually beneficial business relationships with German companies that were directly involved with Hitler’s rise to power.

While the secretive nature of these dealings helped them avoid scrutiny for decades, the eventual reveal prompted speculation as to whether Bush should have been tried for war crimes. The assets of his company were seized in 1942 under the Trading With The Enemy Act. Not only may this relationship have played a substantial role in helping fund the Nazi war effort, it may have also laid the foundation for the Bush family fortune.

5Nazi Radio

As previously suggested, fascism was not as dirty of a word in the 1930s as it is today. Still, the vast majority of Americans were wary of fascist regimes and their tactics; after German paramilitary forces and citizens took to the streets on November 9, 1938—the infamous Kristallnacht—an American poll revealed that 94 percent of Americans disapproved, despite the pervading anti-Semitic sentiment of the time.

Yet throughout it all, one loud voice could be relied upon to defend and explain Hitler’s actions: Father Charles Coughlin, a Catholic priest and radio personality with an audience of millions. Coughlin had built his audience attacking “bankers” during the Great Depression, and he extended this criticism specifically to Jews in a broadcast that took place a mere 11 days after Kristallnacht. He railed against German Jews for appropriating Christian property and attempting to spread Communism.

Although his show was canceled shortly thereafter, the damage was done. Coughlin became the hero of Berlin . . . and America. The station owner reported that that, in response to the cancellation, “several thousand people encircled the block where our studios are located, denounced . . . WMCA as un-American, and shouted its slogan of ‘Don’t buy from Jews,’ ‘Down with Jews,’ etc.”

4American Roots Of Eugenics

Eugenics was a crucial component in Nazi ideology. The concept is largely thought to have originated with the Nazis or at least in Europe, but in reality, eugenics originated in America with some of the most prominent scientific and business leaders of the era.

Financed by such venerable entities as the Carnegie Institute and Rockefeller Foundation, many of America’s most respected scientists were busy working up theories of “race science” at the behest of their corporate financiers. Data was tweaked and faked to serve the premise that non-white races are genetically inferior and must be bred out of existence.

This “science” became prominent in the early part of the 1900s and became a vital part of Hitler’s ideology. The United States at this time actually had laws pertaining to eugenics on the books. Hitler was familiar with these, enabling him to frame his anti-Semitism in (completely invalid) medical and scientific terms. He once confided to a subordinate, “I have studied with great interest the laws of several American states concerning prevention of reproduction by people whose progeny would, in all probability, be of no value or be injurious to the racial stock.”

3Failure Of The American Press

After Hitler’s initial rise to power in 1933, much of the American press seemed to be confused—and even at odds with each other—over what the ramifications were and how it should be reported. The Nazis had risen from small fringe party to majority political party in just a couple years. Many newspapers seemed to think that he would calm down with his expansionist rhetoric once in office. Some reporters even thought he’d bring peace and prosperity to Germany after all.

The Christian Science Monitor, in a 1933 piece, praised the “quietness, order, and civility” observed by a visiting reporter; there seemed to be “not the slightest sign of anything unusual afoot.” Later in the decade, the New York Times reported “a new moderation” in the German political atmosphere since Hitler’s rise, with the New York Herald declaring stories of atrocities against Jews to be “exaggerated and often unfounded.”

While much of this can be explained by the Nazi regime’s deft handling of foreign press, much of it can also be explained by a deep misunderstanding on the part of Americans as to the nature of Hitler’s problem with Jews. Many US newspaper editors framed the conflict as one between ideologies of differing political views, rather than one between a race of people and those who wished them exterminated.

2Celebrity Supporters

Aviator Charles Lindbergh was an American hero of the 1930s. He performed the first solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927 and had endured the very public ordeal of the kidnapping and murder of his infant son in 1935. He was unfortunately also a proponent of eugenics, having become close with French scientist Alexis Carrel, who was a firm believer. In a 1935 interview, Lindbergh asserted, “There is no escaping the fact that men were definitely not created equal,” and discussed Dr. Carrel’s eugenics-based ideas on race. A 1939 radio address was the final blow to his weakened public image. In it, he opined that “our civilization depends on a Western wall of race and arms which can hold back . . . the infiltration of inferior blood.”

Auto manufacturer Henry Ford was also an unrepentant anti-Semite and Nazi sympathizer, allowing recruiters for the Bund to work in his factories and employing Gestapo-like thugs to crack down on those employees who might have tried to unionize. Konrad Heiden, a biographer for Hitler, stated that Ford supplied Hitler with direct financial support totaling at least $340,000. Ford even paid for the reprinting and distribution of the racist hoax pamphlet “Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion” to libraries in the United States.

1Continued Influence

In politics and culture, “Nazis” and “Hitler” have become catch-all comparisons for those who would brutalize or subjugate others. Nevertheless, the legacy of America’s brief flirtation with this poisonous ideology is all around us.

White supremacist movements and neo-Nazi groups have long flourished in the US, but Hitler’s failed attempt at world domination gave many of them a new focus and a defined ideology. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, neo-Nazi organizations still exist in every single state as of 2016.

The CIA isn’t spotless, either. Documents uncovered in 2014 indicated that as many as 1,000 former Nazis were employed by the agency as spies during the Cold War, with some still living in the United States under government protection as late as the 1990s.

In 1704, an American girl named Eunice Williams was abducted by Kahnawake Mohawks. When her parents found her, they thought she would be relieved at the chance to go home to her family. Instead, she refused. Life, she explained, was better with her Mohawks captors.

Eunice wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Puritan life was harsh and difficult—and even stricter than you imagined.

10 Christmas And Easter Were Banned

The Puritans who settled in America didn’t believe in celebrating Christmas—or any holiday. Anyone caught celebrating the birth, death, or resurrection of Christ was seen as a blasphemer who risked punishment.

According to the Puritans, celebrating holidays took away from the holiness of Sunday, “The Lord’s Day.” So everyone in a Puritan colony was required to keep showing up for work.

One Puritan diary recounts the tale of a troubling December day when a group of newcomers were caught outside, sinfully celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. When the governor spotted them, he yelled that, on Christmas, “there should be no gaming or reveling in the streets!”

The revelers fled into their homes. The entry ends by reassuring us that “[since that] time, nothing hath been attempted that way, at least openly.”

9 Adultery Was Punishable By Death

If you read The Scarlet Letter, you already know how strictly the Puritans frowned on adultery. Getting a scarlet “A” emblazoned on your dress, though, was actually getting off easy. When it came to adultery, Puritans followed Biblical laws, which meant that the punishment for adultery could be death.

You didn’t have to actually commit adultery to be punished, though. You would be publicly flogged if you even proposed it. One man, for example, was charged with propositioning another man’s wife on the grounds that he was “taking hold of her coate and inticing her by words.”

Women, of course, had the worst of it. They could even be charged for not responding properly while being sexually assaulted. Legal records tell us that one woman was charged 50 shillings for the crime of “not crying out when shee was assaulted.”

8 A Man Was Hanged For Bestiality Because A Piglet Looked Like Him

George Spencer was a balding, unattractive man with a missing eye. He wasn’t popular, either. The whole town thought he was up to something but just couldn’t put their finger on it until a pig gave birth to a piglet with one eye.

The one-eyed piglet, the people felt, was “incontrovertible proof” that Spencer had been having sex with pigs. This, they believed, was a divine message from God, who wanted them to hang Spencer.

Spencer was given two choices. He could be hanged as a sinner, or he could confess and find mercy. He decided to tell them he did it, believing that “mercy” meant he wouldn’t be killed. But they were talking about the sort of divine mercy that only comes after an angry mob kills you.

In court, he revoked his confession. But the court found him guilty anyway. Spencer was hanged, and even the pig was sentenced to death.

7 Following Other Faiths Was Punishable By Death

The Puritan colonies didn’t allow other faiths, especially the Quaker faith. Like Puritans, Quakers were Christians who believed in Jesus and the Bible. But Quakers had the gall to say that God’s original blessing was more important than man’s original sin. So obviously, they had to die.

In 1658, a law was created in Boston saying that any Quaker who did not immediately leave could be sentenced to death. Over a period of three years, four Quakers were executed.

The mass murder of Quakers only slowed down after the death of Mary Dyer. She was raised a Puritan but converted to the Quaker faith after a visit to England. She was warned never to set foot in Massachusetts again. When she did, she was hanged.

After Dyer’s execution, King Charles II revoked the legal permission that Massachusetts had been granted to murder Quakers.

6 They Took The Word ‘Cock’ Out Of The Language

The word “rooster” didn’t exist until the Puritans came to America. Until the 1600s, the only word used to describe a male chicken was “cock.” When “cock” picked up a second meaning, the Puritans were embarrassed.

It seemed indecent to have a cock on your farm or to serve cock for dinner. So the word “rooster” was created so that Puritans wouldn’t have to say something that sounded like male genitalia.

They didn’t stop there, though. Every instance of the word “cock” was excised from the English language. “Haycocks” became “haystacks,” “weathercocks” became “weather vanes,” and “cockroaches” became “roaches.”

Even names were changed. Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, was an “Alcox” until her father changed their family name. He was humiliated to be the family of “all cocks.”

5 They Gave Their Kids Insane Names

Some Puritans believed that giving your child a normal name was worldly and sinful. No one with a name like “John” or “Peter,” they believed, could ever be truly devoted to Jesus Christ.

When the time came to name their children, the Puritans just labeled their kids with slogans. Puritans had some strange names like “Praise-God Barebone” and his son, “If-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned Barebone.”

Even the short names were fairly strange. Kids walked around with names like “Sorry-For-Sin Coupard” and “Kill-Sin Pimple.”

Most Puritan names that came from virtues and slogans didn’t really catch on. Nevertheless, we still use a few Puritan names today. Any current “Felicity,” “Hope,” or “Prudence” was named following the same tradition that gave us the name “Abstinence.”

4 Fiddles Were Created By Satan To Make People Commit The Sin Of Dancing

According to the Puritans, the violin was a tool of the devil, created to lead innocent Christians into the sinful act of dancing. In a Puritan colony, dancing was immoral, especially dancing with the opposite sex. These were acts of raw, physical sexuality, and they risked enticing people into fornication.

However, the young people knew that other colonies were holding shameless hoedowns before the light of God without the slightest apology. They wanted the freedom to dance, too. So they created a clever work-around.

Young Puritans held “play-parties”—celebrations where young people would follow the steps in a children’s game to music so that they technically weren’t dancing. Songs like “Skip to My Lou” were written so that Puritan boys and girls could dance together—and tell their parents they were playing a kids’ game.

3 Unmarried Men Needed Permission To Enter A Town

Unmarried men were dangerous to a Puritan colony. If a man reached maturity without having a family, he was prone to drinking, gambling, and fornication. So single men could only enter a town with express written permission.

Almost every hobby that didn’t honor God was forbidden. Anyone caught adorning their shirt with laces or ruffs was seen as an excessive follower of vanity. If you were caught with a deck of cards or dice, you had to throw them away or face punishment.

Some recreation was permitted but with strict rules. Bars could sell alcohol. But they had to make sure nobody got drunk from it, and they had to close by 9:00 PM. You could go hunting, which was a way to feed your family. But to the Puritans, it was also classified as a recreational luxury.

2 Missing Church Was Punishable By Whipping

During every church service in Virginia, parishioners were reminded that they were required to attend church twice every day. If they missed it once, they would lose a day’s food. A second offense was met with a whipping, and anyone missing three days of church was sentenced to six months of rowing in a galley.

After a long voyage at sea, one man was so excited to see his family again that he kissed his wife in public—forgetting that it was Sunday. For his crime, he was charged with “lewd and unseemly behavior” and sentenced to hours of public humiliation in the stocks.

Even children were punished for not going to church. One boy was caught playing with chalk and brought in front of a court on charges of “irreverently . . . playing and recreating himself in the time of publick worship.”

1 Kissing The Bible Was Considered Blasphemy

Puritans took offense at anyone caught kissing The Holy Bible, believing that it was an act of idolatry that offended God.

Usually, that didn’t create a problem until Edmund Andros, who wasn’t a Puritan, was made governor general of New England. Andros declared that witnesses and jurors should kiss the Bible before swearing an oath in court. The Puritans were outraged.

People arranged protests by refusing to sit on juries or serve as witnesses in court on the grounds that they refused to step into a courtroom with such blasphemous rules. Andros’s rule—along with his other restrictive laws—aroused such fury in the colonists that there was an all-out revolt in Boston in 1689.

The Puritans won. Today, every American in a courtroom raises their right hand when they swear an oath—a legacy of Puritan beliefs that we still follow.

+ Further Reading

Given the historic events unfolding daily in the current presidential election, it seems fitting to spend a little time looking at more historic US lists. Here are but a few from the archives:

10 Conspiracy Theories That Helped Shape American History
10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Puritans
10 Surprising Facts About America’s First Book
10 Strange Examples Of Colonial Justice

By any stretch of the imagination, life in colonial America was hard, demanding, and cruel. Many European settlers did not survive their first few years in North America thanks to disease, starvation, the harsh climate, and violence.

Many recognize these truths, and yet few have fully comprehended just how daunting a task it was to settle a strange continent. The following 10 entries will not only provide greater detail about memorable events, but many will also provide a new appraisal of certain moments in history.

10 The Pre-Pilgrim Settlers Of New England

Most US students can rattle off the dates concerning when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Most believe that before 1620, no English settlers had ever set foot on New England soil. This, however, is incorrect.

In looking through the historical record, it’s clear that isolated English fishing communities from what is now Maine down to Long Island sparsely dotted the map. For the most part, these settlers stuck close to the coast, although it has been asserted that their contacts with the Native Americans led to epidemics that weakened certain tribes prior to the arrival of the Pilgrims.

Furthermore, it’s likely that English settlers had been trawling the waters of New England for generations before the coming of the Separatists and Puritans. Indeed, the very fact that Squanto, a member of the Patuxet tribe, could speak English and was a Christian highlights the fact that the English began settling New England long before 1620.

9 The First Pilgrims

Decades before English Separatists sought to leave behind the neo-Catholicism of the Anglican Church, a group of French Protestants, known as the Huguenots, settled in modern Florida.

Back in Europe, after years of tense harmony, French Catholics decided to bloodily purge Calvinism from their country. During the infamous Massacre of Saint Bartholomew’s Day in 1572, the Huguenot leader Gaspard II de Coligny was murdered alongside 3,000 Protestants in Paris and another 70,000 throughout France.

Seeking refuge from Catholic persecution, many Protestants fled to Fort Caroline near today’s Jacksonville. The fort had been founded by a French expedition led by de Coligny and Jean Ribault. Unfortunately, on September 20, 1565, the small garrison at Fort Caroline was overrun by a Spanish force who reclaimed the area for Catholicism.

8 Forgotten Conquerors

The pop history of early America usually focuses on the colonies of England, Spain, France, and, to a much lesser extent, the Netherlands. But there was a fourth power involved—Sweden.

Between 1638 and 1655, Sweden controlled much of Delaware, southern New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania. The center of the colony, Fort Christina, was founded by a small cadre of sailors who left Gothenburg under the command of Captain Peter Minuit. Located in Wilmington, Delaware, Fort Christina included mostly Swedish settlers with a sprinkling of Finnish and Dutch as well.

The commercial goals of New Sweden were never fully met. After Sweden lost to Russia in the Second Northern War, the 400 men at Fort Christina became citizens of New Netherland.

7 Battle Of The Severn

Sometimes called the final battle of the English Civil War, the Battle of the Severn took place far away from England in the colony of Maryland. When Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, took control of the colony, he tried to establish it as a refuge for England’s Catholic minority.

Unfortunately for him, large Protestant immigration quickly turned Maryland into a Protestant-majority colony. In 1649, Governor William Stone allowed several hundred Puritans from Virginia to settle in Maryland.

Years later, Virginia declared its loyalty to King Charles II, the heir of the executed King Charles I. As for Maryland, Governor Stone ordered all landowners to pledge their loyalty to the Catholic Lord Baltimore, which in a way was an oath of allegiance to the English crown.

As can be expected, the Puritans refused. So on March 25, 1655, Governor Stone and a militia force sailed from St. Mary’s City to the Puritan settlement of Providence (today’s Annapolis). Near Spa Creek, the Puritans surprised Stone’s men, killing 40.

6 Puritans Return To England

Decades prior to the English Civil Wars, a massive migration of English Protestants took place. Many went to the Netherlands, where Calvinism was accepted. Some went to the Rhineland, while others headed for the Caribbean islands of Barbados and Saint Kitts and Nevis. An unlucky few settled Old Providence Island off Nicaragua’s Mosquito Coast.

The majority, however, landed in Massachusetts, thereby creating the Plymouth Colony and the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Between 1620 and 1640, over 20,000 Pilgrims and Puritans settled what would become New England with their families. Soon thereafter, the population doubled and would continue to double every generation for two centuries.

However, in 1640, large-scale immigration to Massachusetts reversed as Puritans, both English-born and Massachusetts-born, began sailing back to England to fight for the Parliamentarians. While the exact number is unknown, it is true that this Puritan exodus essentially stopped widespread immigration to New England until the Irish Catholic waves of the 1840s.

5 The First French Fort

Throughout the history of New France, the most important colony was Quebec. To this day, Quebec remains the chief Francophone province in Canada. Other former French colonies, from Illinois to Ohio, have lost their Gallic flavor.

In 1562, the first French settlement in North America was founded by the Huguenots under the command of Jean Ribault. Called Charlesfort, this short-lived colony collapsed when the 26 or 27 men that Ribault left behind mutinied, built their own ship, and returned to France.

The ruins of Charlesfort, or rather Charlesfort–Santa Elena, can be found on Parris Island, South Carolina.

4 The Strict New Haven Colony

Puritanism has a well-earned reputation for theological rigidity. However, even within Puritanism, there were divisions between conservatives and liberals. John Davenport, the founder of the New Haven Colony in Connecticut, was arguably the strictest Puritan of early America.

Founded in 1638, the New Haven Colony had a very clear set of rules: Everything had to be done according to the Bible. Not only did colonists pledge to live their lives according to Scripture, but the town itself was laid out in such a way as to resemble the Temple of Solomon and the New Jerusalem of the Book of Revelation.

Davenport believed that his colony’s government, exemplified by the Church of the Elect, should be ruled by the laws of the Old Testament and by so-called “saints.” In 1665, New Haven Colony merged with the larger Connecticut Colony.

3 Refugees And The Salem Witch Trials

As first argued in the book Salem Possessed by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, many today view the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 and 1693 as the tragic end result of a land dispute between many of the village’s families. This view is backed up by maps that show the geographic disbursement of the accused and the accusers.

One of the lesser-studied aspects of the trials is the role played by refugees. Namely, a few of the accusers, including 17-year-old Mercy Lewis, had recently moved to Salem Village from the frontier settlements of Maine.

During King William’s War, which occurred in the background throughout the entire trials, Native Americans raided English settlements in Maine and drove many back to Massachusetts. George Burroughs, the former minister of Salem Village who was accused of leading the witch’s coven, had earlier been accused of bewitching soldiers during his time as the minister of Falmouth (now Portland), Maine.

2 The Massacre Of 1622

The attack on the colony of Jamestown that erupted on the morning of March 22, 1622, proved to be one of the deadliest days in the history of colonial America. Angered by the growing English population and the less than friendly manner of the English colonists who began settling away from the coast, the Powhatan tribe surprised the citizens of Jamestown and ultimately killed 347 of them.

The massacre, which was part of a larger Powhatan uprising, nearly ended the English colony of Virginia. One-sixth of all Virginians were killed on March 22, while many others became lost or were taken prisoner.

1 The Worst War In Early America

In terms of sheer body count, the US Civil War remains the deadliest war in American history. In terms of per capita losses, King Philip’s War of 1675–76 is the deadliest. Under the leadership of the Pokunoket chief Metacom (aka King Philip), a confederacy of Native American tribes tried to drive the English settlers back across the sea.

The war was especially vicious. By 1680, Native Americans only made up 10 percent of New England’s population. Furthermore, one-tenth of New England’s military-age male population perished during the war, while 12 Puritans towns were burned to the ground.

Although the war proved costly, King Philip’s War did much to unite the New Englanders as a separate people. As England did not provide troops, arms, or support, the New England militias fought the war on their own, thus arguably laying the groundwork for an American identity.

The American Revolution was about more than just America. It was a worldwide event. America did not fight alone. They got help from every part of the globe.

And we don’t just mean Marquis de Lafayette and Casimir Pulaski. Countless soldiers from all over the world stood up and fought with America, and without them, the United States never would have won its independence.

10Crispus Attucks
The Slave Who Was The First Casualty Of War

The first man to fight and die in the War of Independence was born in America, but most of his fellow Americans didn’t think of him as a countryman. His name was Crispus Attucks, and he was a runaway African slave.

Attucks was working as a sailor, even though there was a price on his head. His master wanted him back, and he was willing to pay anyone who would drag him back into slavery. Nobody tried it, and if someone had, the American Revolution might never have happened.

Attucks and his fellow seamen were in a pub when a British soldier walked in. Attucks and his friends didn’t take kindly to the British presence, and they started taunting the soldier. Staring down a hulking 6’3″ man, the soldier got nervous. Seven of his friends, other British soldiers, rushed in to help. In short time, things got out of hand, and the British opened fire.

Attucks fought back. He grabbed a soldier’s bayonet and knocked him over, but the British gunned him down before he could do any more. Four other men in that bar would die before the massacre was over.

History has debated whether Attucks was a hero or just a violent drunk, but it can’t deny his impact. He was the first to die in the Boston Massacre, a moment that would spark the American Revolution.

9Von Steuben
The Prussian Who Trained The American Army

The Americans who fought for Independence weren’t all seasoned veterans. Before Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben came in from Prussia, they were using bayonets to skewer meat more often than they were using them to skewer their enemies.

Von Steuben crossed the ocean to teach the Americans how to fight. He was the Inspector General of the American Army, in charge of drilling the soldiers and organizing their training, and he barely spoke a word of English. Von Steuben would bark at people in Prussian, his secretary would translate it into French, and then another secretary would translate that into English.

It was complicated, but it worked. He taught the American army how to fight and how to use bayonets, and that made a huge difference in the war.

In 1779, General Wayne used Von Steuben’s lessons to take Stony Brook. He and his men took a fort protected by 750 men without firing a single shot. They won the battle entirely with bayonets. Without filling the night with the sound gunfire, they were able to launch a sneak attack the British didn’t expect. Thanks to Von Steuben, Stony Brook was taken.

8Tadeusz Kosciuszko
The Polish War Hero Who Tried To Free The Slaves

Tadeusz Kosciuszko was one of the chief engineers for the US Army. He planned the defensive strategy in Saratoga, a moment that turned the war in America’s favor. He built the military fort at West Point, which, today, is the site of the US Military Academy.

The real story for Kosciuszko, though, happened after he died. He became close friends with Thomas Jefferson, and when he died, he trusted the president to carry out his final wishes. Every penny he had, he said, should be used to free and educate African slaves.

Thomas Jefferson was almost 75 years old, so he passed the job on to someone else. That man didn’t want the responsibility of trying to get white people to educate black people, though, and he passed it on, too. Eventually, Col. George Bomford was put in charge of it, and he decided to blow the money on himself instead.

By the time Col. Bomford died, only $5,680 of Kosciuszko’s $43,504 was left. His will made it into the hands of the Supreme Court, and they just threw it out. Despite his wishes, not a single penny was put toward freeing slaves.

7De Galvez
The Spanish Governor Who Secretly Supplied The American Army

Bernardo de Galvez was the governor of Louisiana, which, at the time, was a Spanish colony. He wasn’t exactly invested in the cause of democracy, but he was deeply involved in the cause of messing with England.

And so, when America went to war with England, he started sending them everything he could. He promised them all the weapons and medicine he could get them, warning them, “It must appear that I am ignorant of it all.”

Spain entered the war in earnest in 1779, and De Galvez didn’t have to hide it anymore. He could fight, and he did. Within a year, he’d chased the British out of Mobile, Alabama. The year after that, he chased them out of Florida.

6Moses Hazen
The Man Who Led A Canadian Regiment For America

Canada was a British colony during the Revolutionary War. They were, quite directly, America’s enemies, which makes it surprising that some of them fought alongside America. The Americans sent out political tracts and messengers to try to get Canadians to switch sides, and some of them did. A ragtag group of Canadians, most of them French, joined the American army.

The American army had two Canadian Regiments. The first group of turncoats, appropriately enough, was commanded by Benedict Arnold. They tried and failed to take over Quebec and then spent the rest of the war stationed in New York.

The Second Canadian Regiment, commanded by Moses Hazen, was a bit more successful. Hazen was a Canadian himself, and he led his army through some of the most important battles in the war. That included the Siege of Yorktown, the battle that ended the war.

When the war ended, Moses Hazen and the Canadians who fought with him no longer had the option to return home. They had to give up everything they’d known to fight for American Independence and had to live, from then on, in the United States.

5Antonio Barcelo
The Spaniard Who Fought The Biggest Battle Of The War

We usually think of the American Revolution as a war on American soil, but it was more than that. The Spanish and the French took the fight straight to the English. In fact, the biggest and longest battle of the whole war took place in Europe.

It was on Gibraltar, a tiny, 3-square-mile island that happened to be in an important strategic location. On June 24, 1779, a fleet of French and Spanish ships tried to take it, and they kept trying for more than three years.

Their best attack was the brainchild of Antonio Barcelo. He set up a fleet of small ships loaded with cannons called “floating batteries” and sent them against the British. It didn’t work. The British held them off, but it was the closest they got.

The siege didn’t end until the peace treaty was signed. Antonio Barcelo and his men failed, but even if it was a waste, 3,000 Spanish soldiers gave their life fighting in Gibraltar.

4Goetschius
The Dutchman Who Led A Guerrilla Army

In its early years, there were a lot of Dutch settlers in the United States. They had their own community, one that seemed separate from the rest of America, and when the Revolutionary War started, that let them do things the Americans couldn’t.

After the British took New Jersey, John Mauritius Goetschius formed a guerrilla militia of Dutch farmers and struck back. They would attack and raid the British under the cover of night, and then, when morning came, pretended to be nothing more than farmers.

They might have been farmers, but they were capable of a lot more than they seemed. That became clear when, in 1781, Washington sent his army to take Fort Lee from the Loyalists. By the time the American troops had made it to their destination, the Loyalists were gone. Goetschius and his Dutch guerrillas had already taken the fort on their own.

3Tewahangarahken
The Native Chief Who Fought For The Us

No one could be more American than the Native Americans, but they weren’t treated that way. They played a role in American Revolution, though, and it’s one that’s often overlooked.

Most, if they picked a side, went with the British. That only makes sense: Part of the reason the Americans wanted independence was so that they could move into native land.

The Oneida tribe, though, refused to believe that the Americans had any intention of hurting them. Their main contact with Europeans had been through a missionary named Rev. Samuel Kirkland, and he had been good to them. And so, when they knew that Kirkland’s people needed their help, they raised up their arms and fought alongside them.

The Oneida tribe worked as guides, harassed British sentries, and even joined some of the battles. They were good at it, too. In the Battle of Oriskany, their War Chief Tewahangarahken single-handedly took out nine British soldiers.

Despite that, they still had to struggle to convince America they were on their side. At one point, they sent them six prisoners from another tribe and a rescued American soldier. The Americans had asked for scalps instead, but they sent along a letter that apologetically explained, “We do not take scalps.” They ended it, “We hope you are now convinced of our friendship toward you and your great cause.”

2Rochambeau
The French General Who Made The British Surrender

The decisive battle of the American Revolution came when George Washington led a troop of American soldiers into battle against the British at Yorktown. Washington, though, was not alone. He was joined by an even bigger army of French soldiers and ships, led by Comte de Rochambeau.

The Siege of Yorktown ended in the British surrender. Lord Cornwallis was the leader of the English soldiers there, but he refused to stand in front of his enemy and surrender—instead, he sent his deputy, Brigadier General Charles O’Hara.

O’Hara offered the sword of surrender to Rochambeau, but Rochambeau refused it. This, he believed, was America’s war. He insisted that the English surrender to George Washington instead.

Washington, too, refused the sword. He made O’Hara surrender to his second-in-command, Benjamin Lincoln. Lincoln had been overwhelmed by the British in Charleston and was denied the honors of a proper surrender. Washington wanted to see he got to experience one firsthand.

1Hyder Ali
The Indian Sultan Who Fought The British

The last battle of the American Revolution wasn’t on American soil. It was in India. In the 18th century, communication was far from instant, and so the men fighting on the other side of the world had no idea it was over.

India had been a battleground for the American Revolution for the last five years of the war. When France declared war on England, the British East India Company started attacking their colonies there. Hyder Ali, the Sultan of Mysore in India, took the side of the French and led the fighting there.

When Hyder Ali died in 1783, the British started making serious advances on French India. They moved their forces to Cuddalore, a city on the Bay of Bengal, and very nearly took it. The French, however, managed to send a fleet in time to fight them off.

That French fleet kept the battle going. An army of French and Mysorean soldiers fought across India, struggling to hold back the British. Then, on June 29, 1783, word finally came in that the war had been over for eight months. The last fighters of the American Revolution put down their arms and went home, a whole world away from the country they had liberated.

If you’re traveling to the USA, you might also want to see its neighbors, Canada and Mexico. In this case, you now have even more things to see and do. Since that is going to make your planning decisions even more difficult, we now present, in no particular order, the 35 best things to do in North America. Here they are:

The 35 Best Things To Do In North America  

1. Take A Fun Miami Speedboat Tour, USA

Experience the thrill of Miami on a speedboat tour. Put on your shades and feel the wind blowing through your hair on a tour that takes you offshore for a rousing ride as you blast past numerous high-rise buildings in Florida. A local guide will narrate your tour of celebrity homes on Fisher Island, Miami Beach, Star Island, Venetian Islands, and even South Beach’s Art Deco district from the unique perspective of the shining Atlantic Ocean. 

2. Watch For Bears At Yellowstone National Park, USA

Yellowstone National Park covers an area in three states: Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Here among incredible giant redwood trees, live both grizzly and black bears. You might not see one, but if you do, keep your distance, make noise to let the bear know you’re there, and don’t panic.  

Black bears are generally smaller and more prone to run from humans. Grizzly bears are more aggressive. Take your pictures from a safe distance!

3. Sample Some Texan BBQ, USA 

If you’re a foodie or just like to try new things, head for Amarillo, Texas, and enjoy some genuine Texan barbecue. Smoked over a real hickory fire and fairly oozing with flavor, Texan barbecue is a wonderful way to acquaint yourself with the famous Texan mantra: “‘bigger is better.” Amarillo is home to several memorable restaurants that serve traditional BBQ dishes including ribs, brisket, and pulled pork. One of the more popular places is Tyler’s Barbeque.  

4. See The Sights In Washington, DC, USA

Regular readers already know that Washington, DC is the heart of the US government. It is home to many impressive buildings, monuments, and memorials that commemorate the country’s history and leaders. Some of the highlights include the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, the Washington Monument, the National Cathedral, the Vietnam War Memorial, and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. They are located throughout the city and are all easily accessible to visitors.

5. Go Canoeing In Whistler, Canada

Some travel writers say Whistler is one of the best places in the country to go canoeing. They report that the lovely landscape and calm water provides a most blissful experience. You can rent a canoe locally and go paddling around the numerous local lakes and rivers. Veteran visitors recommend such popular spots as Green Lake, Alta Lake, and the River of Golden Dreams. Canoeing here is simply a great way to enjoy and explore the natural beauty here.

6. Take A High-Flying Helicopter Ride Over The Grand Canyon, USA

If, like your rovin’ writer, you have already explored the Grand Canyon on foot, consider getting a bird’s eye view of this natural wonder. Indeed, a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon is an incredible experience that will give you a new perspective. You’ll soar high above the deep canyon and take in breathtaking views that you won’t soon forget. It’s a great way to appreciate its beauty without even breaking a sweat.

7. Cruise The San Francisco Bay

San Francisco is a city full of colorful architecture, creative-minded people, and plenty of stylish shops too. Arguably one of the best ways to take in the sights is by hopping aboard a catamaran and cruising around the briny bay. You’ll get to see the city from a new perspective and enjoy the stunning views of such notable landmarks as Alcatraz Island, the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower, the Sausalito Waterfront, and the Palace of Fine Arts.

8. Ride The Rollercoasters At Disneyland, USA

California’s Disneyland is a magical place where you can channel your inner child. Ride the rollercoasters! Some of the most popular rides include Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and the Matterhorn Bobsleds. In addition to the rollercoasters, you can also enjoy other attractions such as Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. There are plenty of shows and other experiences to enjoy too. Make a day of it and experience everything Disneyland has to offer.

9. Take A Hot Air Balloon ride in Arizona, USA

There are several companies that offer hot air balloon rides here. You can search online or go through travel agencies. Some of the most popular locations for hot air balloon rides in Arizona include Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tucson. 

The best time to go on a hot air balloon ride is early in the morning. The weather is cooler and the winds are calmer. Most rides last between 45 minutes to an hour and include a champagne toast after landing.

10. Dive Into Deep Dish Pizza In Chicago, USA

Chicago, Illinois is famous for its deep-dish pizza. The term ‘deep dish pizza’ became popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s as Chicago’s signature dish gained national recognition.There are many places in Chicago where you can try it.

Two of the most popular locations include Giordano’s and Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria. However, there are several other places to try deep-dish pizza there. Check with some of the locals when you get there!

11. Go Snorkeling In Maui, USA

The island of Maui in the archipelago state of Hawaii is a great place to go snorkeling. There are a number of places you can snorkel in Maui. Some of the popular beaches for snorkeling are nestled along West Maui and South Maui. The northernmost part of Kāʻanapali Beach near Puʻu Kekaʻa, a.k.a. Black Rock is famous for great snorkeling. Additionally, there are good snorkeling spots located along the west coast which are more sheltered from the wind and swells.

12. Take A Boat Ride To The Base Of Niagara Falls, USA And Canada

Niagara Falls is located between the state of New York and Ontario, Canada. It includes three falls: the American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and the Horseshoe Falls. The latter straddles the international border. Niagara Falls are North America’s most famous waterfall. Boat rides are an exceptional way to experience the falls up close and personal. They offer stunning views of the falls and are available on both the American and Canadian sides.

13. Look For Celebs In Beverly Hills, USA

Some travel writers say that Beverly Hills is a great place to spot celebrities. There are many cafes in the area where you can relax and enjoy a pricey latte while keeping an eye out for your favorite stars. Celebrities can be found all over California, but some of the best places to spot them include Mulholland Drive, Alpine Drive, Bedford Drive, Benedict Canyon, The Polo Lounge at The Beverly Hills Hotel, and Spago Beverly Hills.  

14. Experience Indigenous Culture In Santa Fe, USA

Santa Fe, New Mexico is a great place to experience indigenous culture. You can visit the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture or take a guided tour of the Pueblo Indian villages. Other popular activities include exploring ancient Native American ruins filled with petroglyphs or visiting centuries-old adobe and European-style churches. You can even take a guided tour of the Pueblo Indian villages or explore the ancient Native American ruins filled with petroglyphs.  

15. Take A “Gossip Girl” Tour Of New York City, USA

If you or your traveling companion like the TV show “Gossip Girl”, you can take a tour of New York City and visit some of the locations. There are several companies that offer Gossip Girl tours. Gossip Girl Tour NYC offers private Gossip Girl Pedicab Tours. On Location Tours offers a bus tour that takes you to sites in the Upper East Side and Midtown Manhattan all from the comfort of a coach bus. 

16. Go On An Urban Bicycle Adventure In Boston, USA

If you’re looking for an urban bicycle adventure in Boston, Massachusetts to explore the Irish influences of this town, take the City View Bike Tour Boston by Urban AdvenTours. This tour takes you through six neighborhoods as you cycle past countless historical and cultural sites throughout the city. You’ll be provided with a fitted bicycle, bicycle helmet, and a professional guide who leads you on your travels. It’s a great way to explore Boston!

17. Shop In The Market In Charleston, USA

If you’re a shopaholic and like indoor markets in Charleston, South Carolina, you can visit the Charleston City Market. First opened in the 1790s, this historic landmark is one of the oldest public markets in the United States. There are handmade crafts and jewelry to choose from, and arguably the most prized souvenir – the woven sweetgrass basket. Certain weekend nights even have a special night market that runs late. It’s a great way to support the local artisans. 

18. Take A Las Vegas Party Bus Tour, USA

If you’re looking for a party bus tour in Las Vegas, you can get the full Vegas experience by hopping on a party bus for a tour down the iconic strip. Party Tours offers a fine choice of luxury party bus rentals perfect for any size group, no matter the occasion! You can reserve your tour party bus at reasonable rates. Check out the four-story M&M’s World and Dick’s Last Chance Lounge too!

19. Go Horseback Riding In Durango, USA

Experience the thrill of horseback riding in Durango, Colorado!  It’s the adventure capital of the American Wild West. Channel your inner cowboy as you ride, surrounded by majestic panoramas. Durango’s where you’ll find several ranches that offer horseback riding tours with friendly guides and horses ready to take you on the trip of a lifetime. Some of the best places to go horseback riding here include Rapp Corral, Hole in the Wall Stables, Buck’s Livery, and Rimrock Outfitters. 

20. Go Potter Crazy At Universal Studios, USA

“The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” at the popular Universal Orlando Resort consists of two lands based on the Harry Potter books and movies. The Diagon Alley area is ensconced in Universal Studios Florida and Hogsmeade in the Islands of Adventure. Both lands have themed shops, rides, dining, and entertainment that will transport you into the magical world of Harry Potter. You can also visit Marvel Super Hero Island which features rides based on such characters as Spiderman and the Hulk.

21. Honor The King Of Rock In Graceland, USA

Graceland is said by some to be the most iconic rock ‘n’ roll residence in the world. It is a massive mansion on a 13.8-acre estate in Memphis, Tennessee, once owned by American singer-songwriter and musician Elvis Presley. It was first opened to the public as a house museum on June 7, 1982, and attracts over 650,000 visitors annually. Take a tour of Presley’s incredible home and marvel at the splendor.

22. Parasail At Daytona Beach, USA

Experience the thrill of paragliding at Daytona Beach, Florida! While the laid back chill-seekers relax and catch some rays on the beach, folks feeling more adventurous can take to the skies on an epic parasailing excursion. You’ll soar high above the beach and enjoy breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean and the city skyline. No experience is necessary since you’ll be accompanied by a professional instructor who will guide you through every step of the way.

23. Go White Water Rafting At Mount Robson, Canada

Experience the thrill of white water rafting at Mount Robson, Canada! Who needs to ride rollercoasters when they can go white water rafting? The Canadian Rockies offer some of the most exhilarating white water rafting experiences in the world. You’ll navigate through rapids and waves while enjoying breathtaking views of the surrounding forests and mountains. No experience is necessary as you’ll be accompanied by a professional guide who will ensure your safety and provide you with all the required equipment.

24. Learn To Cook In New Orleans, USA

Experience the mouthwatering flavors of Southern cuisine with a Cajun cooking class in New Orleans, Louisiana! Southern cuisine is both delicious and perplexing, but you’ll learn the secrets of numerous New Orleans specialties in a Cajun cooking class. You’ll learn how to prepare classic dishes such as gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish étouffée, and more. Impress all your friends with your newly-gained culinary skills! Once they learn you’re a good cook, you might just have to baptize the gumbo!

25. Hit Venice Beach, USA

Venice Boardwalk is perhaps the coolest part of Los Angeles, California with colorful street murals, independent shops, and street performers. You can also check out the popular skate park, Abbott Kinney Boulevard, the Electric Lodge Performing Arts Center, and the nigh-famous Muscle Beach outdoor gym if you’re into working out. The beach is also a great place to relax and soak up some sun while enjoying the welcoming ocean breeze. Foodies, don’t forget to try some of the delicious food from the local vendors along the boardwalk!

26. Sample Some Poutine In Quebec City, Canada

Indulge in the famous French-Canadian delicacy of poutine in Quebec City. You just might forget what country you’re in as you dine on this delicious dish made with french fries, cheese curds, and gravy. You can enjoy poutine at many restaurants and cafes throughout Quebec City. Don’t forget to explore the charming cafes and cozy side streets while you’re there. Quebec City is also home to many historic landmarks and museums that are worth visiting. 

27. See Stars At The Kennedy Space Center, USA

“Ground control to Major Tom…” The Kennedy Space Center is the best place to satisfy all of your NASA curiosities. Here you can explore the history of space travel and learn all about the latest space missions. The family-friendly Florida-based center also offers visitors a surprising variety of exhibits and attractions that are fun for all ages. Don’t forget to check out the Rocket Garden, which features a collection of historic rockets and missiles.  

28. Enjoy A Dinner Cruise In Vancouver, Canada

Experience the beauty of Vancouver with a dinner cruise! The perfect way to relax and recharge after a day of energetic exploring, a dinner cruise here will have you enjoying a hearty, delicious meal as you float past various sights. You’ll enjoy stunning views of the city skyline and the surrounding mountains while you drink and dine Oh! Don’t forget to dress warmly if you’re going on a dinner cruise during the winter months.

29. Check Out The Liberty Bell, USA

Discover the birthplace of America as you see the various sights of Philadelphia, including the famous, historical Liberty Bell at the Liberty Bell Center, the Franklin Institute Science Museum, the Philadelphia Zoo, Independence Hall, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, South Street, and Reading Terminal Market. There’s also The Philadelphia Magic Gardens, The Eastern State Penitentiary, The Barnes Foundation, and Brasil’s Nightclub. Be sure to have a hot soft pretzel and a Philly cheesesteak, too.

30. Take A Lovely Lake Louise Selfie At Jasper, Canada

Lake Louise is located inside beautiful Banff National Park and is part of the Canadian Rockies. Pose before this backdrop of beautiful blue-green water, lush, verdant forest, and majestic mountains. Surely this will inspire wanderlust in all your Instagram followers. This is undoubtedly one of the reasons you booked a flight to Canada in the first place, isn’t it? If you are feeling energetic you can also go canoeing, hiking, and horseback riding here. 

31. Go Sailing In Waikiki, USA

Experience the beauty of Waikiki, USA by going sailing on the Hawaiian sea. With the wind at your back and the sun on your face, you’ll feel like you’re living your best island life. You’ll have the opportunity to see the stunning coastline of Waikiki from a different perspective and enjoy the peacefulness of the ocean. Keep an eye out for the sea turtles as they swim by to say hello. It’s an experience you won’t soon forget!

32. See Mount Rushmore, USA

Mount Rushmore is a famous mountain carving located in the Black Hills region of South Dakota, USA. The carving depicts four former US presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. It is an iconic symbol of United States history and culture that you won’t want to miss. You can visit this famous site and take a guided tour to learn more about the history and significance of this national monument. It’s a must-see destination.  

33. Get Your Kicks On Route 66, USA

Route 66 is a historic highway that runs from Chicago to Los Angeles, USA. It’s an iconic symbol of American culture and rockin’ road trip vibes. Channel pure Americana by blasting your favorite road trip music mix while you cruise this historic highway. The landscape is beautiful but you need to stop at some of the landmarks too. Check out The Blue Whale of Catoosa, The Gemini Giant, The 66 Drive-In Theatre, and The Gateway Arch.  

34. Hit The Slopes In Whistler, Canada

Whistler is a virtual Canadian snow-globe paradise that offers some of the best skiing in the world. With its stunning mountain scenery and world-class ski resorts, it’s the perfect destination for a ski trip you will never forget. You’ll have the opportunity to experience some of the best powder in the world and enjoy the peacefulness of the mountains. It is definitely an experience you just don’t want to miss!

35. Tour The Hot Spots, Mexico

Mexico is a beautiful country with many hot spots. Some of the most popular destinations include Cancun, Tulum, and Playa del Carmen. These cities are known for their beautiful beaches, crystal-clear water, and lively nightlife. You can also visit historic sites like the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza and Tulum. Mexico is also famous for its tacos, margaritas, and tequila. It’s a yet another country in North America that has something for everyone and is perfect for a vacation you won’t forget!

The earliest period of US history has been so mythologized that it is sometimes hard to get a grip on what life was actually like during this time. As longtime readers know, whatever you learned in school about it probably won’t be much help. So, just in time for Independence Day, let’s take a look at the American Revolution.

You probably thought of this period as a time in which a bunch of scrappy underdogs with ideals and practices of political and social decorum rose up to defeat their oppressors. As with most aspects of history, this conception is both true and untrue in ways that are surprising, fascinating, fascinatingly surprising, and surprisingly fascinating. (Comment below if we’re missing any adjectives.)

10 Americans Were Taller Than The British

The American colonists are often portrayed as the scrappy underdogs, fighting for independence against their English rulers. Being a cobbled-together group of militias fighting against the most formidable military power of the time, this was true, for the most part. The colonists, however, did boast one advantage over the English: height. While the average Englishman of the time stood around 165 centimeters (5’5″), the average American man would tower over them by a staggering 8 centimeters (3 in). Scholars have hypothesized that this is because of better nutrition in 18th-century America. There may simply have been more food available for colonists and thus more opportunity to get the nutrition they needed.

While it would be difficult to characterize the exact effect of this height advantage on the outcome of the Revolutionary War, we would be hard-pressed to say there was none. I mean, imagine leaving your home to fight a bunch of people you perceived to be a bunch of backwoods outdoorsmen, half-expecting them to look like Bigfoot, only to find that they all have three inches on you, at least somewhat confirming your Bigfoot notions. I, for one, would be on the first boat back to London (assuming I didn’t get shot for desertion, that is).

9 Americans Had A Higher Literacy Rate Than The British

One might think that because the British were the largest empire of the time that their mainland would be one seeping with widespread intelligence and culture, but this wasn’t necessarily the case, at least in relation to the American colonies. While 18th-century Great Britain maintained a 40-percent literacy rate among males (France was even worse with 29 percent), New England boasted a 70-percent literacy rate.^[1] This high literacy rate could have been a second advantage the colonies had over the British. Much of the support for the revolution came from the spreading of pro-revolution propaganda such as Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. As we all know, literary propaganda really only works on those who can read; it’s common sense.

The high literacy rate was perhaps due to two factors. The first was that the very populous New England colonies were largely dominated by Puritans, who valued education for religious purposes. Puritans demanded a lot of Bible-reading. The second was that, due to the flourishing colonial economy of the time, which mainly consisted of farming activities, there was an extreme abundance of food. This meant that kids could spend less time working for their parents and more time working on their education.

8 One In Three Women Who Walked Down The Aisle Were Pregnant

Colonial Americans are normally thought of as a bunch of stiffs who only worked and read the Bible, while eschewing sex, alcohol, and art, and in many cases, this portrayal was accurate. Historically, Puritans, for example, banned gambling, closely regulated drinking, and banned mixed dancing between men and women because they thought it might lead to fornication.

So one might be surprised to learn that more than one in three women in the late 1700s was pregnant while walking down the aisle.^[2] A possible reason for this was the traditional act of bundling, in which a man and a woman, during the process of courtship, would be encouraged to share a bed for a night in order to test their compatibility. A bundling board would be placed between them (or a sack around one of them) in order to discourage any sexual activity. If anything was learned from this practice, it’s that if you put two people in a bed and tell them not to have sex, they start thinking of sex, and then they want to have sex, and then they have sex.

7 Americans Drank . . . A Lot

Much has been made in recent years of the rising problem with binge drinking in the United States, but in the context of history, the drinking habits of Americans today don’t even hold a candle to those of colonial Americans. While Americans today drink a modest 8.7 liters (2.3 gal) of alcohol per capita annually, the average American in 1790 drank 129 liters (34 gal) of beer and cider, 19 liters (5 gal) of distilled spirits, and 3.8 liters (1 gal) of wine.^[3]

Alcohol, however, was simply a practical choice. Before water purification and the understanding of bacteria, Americans believed that water was unhealthy because it often made them sick, whereas alcohol did not, leading to the belief that it was healthy. Alcohol was a normal part of daily life, being consumed even at breakfast and work. Craftsmen and hired hands would often drink at work, and John Adams famously began every day with a draft of hard cider and ended the day with three glasses of Madeira.

How did Paul Revere so effectively warn everyone that the British were coming? It wasn’t by knocking on each and every person’s door like a magazine salesman. He stopped at many crowded taverns on his way from Boston. Without alcohol, who knows? The United States might not exist.

6 South Carolina: One Of The Most Tolerant And Cultured Of The Colonies

With all of the art that we know the United States has produced today and the aforementioned high literacy rate of colonial Americans during the 18th century, one might be surprised to learn that the arts were not so successful in America during that time. One reason for this is because the Puritan-dominated New England colonies and Quaker-dominated Pennsylvania historically banned art that did not focus on God. The Puritans, for example, banned theater for what they perceived as its sexual nature.

South Carolina, however, was not dominated by any one religion.^[4] It was a mix of Methodists, Baptists, Quakers, Jews, Anglicans, and Presbyterians, all of whom built churches that supported each other, leading to a relatively pluralistic and tolerant society where culture could flourish. (Methodists and Baptists had inclusive congregations and allowed black people to be recognized as preachers.)

5 The Peak Of Blood Sports

In 18th-century America, there was no football on television, no video games, and you weren’t allowed to gamble or go to the theater (depending on which colony you lived in), so what else was there to do but mess with animals?

Blood sports peaked in colonial America during the 18th century. Most people today are familiar with a favorite pastime of 18th-century Americans known as cockfighting, but not as many are familiar with bear-baiting, an activity which involved the worrying or tormenting of bears or pitting them against other animals. Many times, bears would be chained to a pole and forced to fight off hordes of dogs.

Another popular activity of the time was an import of Dutch culture known as goose pulling. In this, a live goose with a greased head would be fastened to a rope or pole, and a man riding a horse at full speed would try to grab its head in an attempt to rip it off.^[5]

4 Newspaper Editors Had To Carry Guns

Most people are familiar with the practice of dueling, which was prevalent in 18th-century colonial America and perhaps made famous by the later duel between political rivals Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. During a time in which the free press was just starting to flourish, people were not so used to having their character or political viewpoints attacked as viciously and publicly as the wide distribution of the printing press allowed.

This often put newspaper editors quite literally in the line of fire. Newspapers during the time were very biased in their political viewpoints, and as a result, editors were challenged to duels so often that they had to keep a firearm with them at all times, even at the office, just in case an irate reader charged in and demanded a duel.^[6]

3 Nova Scotia Could Have Been Considered The 14th Colony

Before the Revolutionary War, there really was no conception of the 13 colonies as Americans know them today. There was simply British North America, of which Nova Scotia was a part. Three quarters of Nova Scotia’s population were New Englanders, and on a few occasions, various Nova Scotian groups attempted to join the American Revolution through acts of insurrection and correspondence with patriot leaders. For example, a shipment of hay to be used in Boston as forage against American rebels was burned in Halifax before it could be loaded on to the ship.^[7]

A group of Nova Scotian emissaries also traveled to Boston in order to meet with the Continental Congress and convince George Washington to invade Nova Scotia. Washington denied their request, perhaps because his last offensive attempt in Quebec had gone so poorly. The Nova Scotian rebels did, however, go on to launch a few military actions back home but were ultimately unsuccessful. (The campaign is known in Canada as “Eddy’s Rebellion.”)

2 Thomas Jefferson Consumed Opium Habitually

Many see the opioid crisis of the United States today as a fairly new one, but the history of opium in the US stretches back much further. In fact, the Founding Fathers themselves had their own encounters with the drug. By now, because of recent pushes to legalize marijuana, we all know that Thomas Jefferson grew hemp on his plantation, but fewer people know he grew opium as well.

Because opium is an effective antidiarrheal, Jefferson turned to it later in life because of his, well, chronic diarrhea. He often used what was an early form of laudanum, an alcoholic solution containing opium. Jefferson felt so much better on the drug that he once wrote to a friend describing his use of laudanum as “habitual.”^[8]

1 Politics Were Very, Very Uncivil

A lot is made of the incivility in American politics today, with people pining for a time in which political parties and politicians from opposite sides of the political spectrum treated each other with respect, but this is simply a misrepresentation of politics in the United States. You may not have had televised presidential debates in which candidates talked about the size of their genitalia, but this is only because there wasn’t television, and there weren’t yet public presidential debates. Otherwise, the most powerful politicians were most certainly discussing their genitalia in public forums. John Adams, for example, once wrote of Alexander Hamilton:

What a pity it is that our Congress had not known this discovery, and that Alexander Hamiltons project of raising an Army of fifty thousand Men, ten thousand of them to be Cavalry and his projects of Sedition Laws and Alien Laws and of new Taxes to Support his army, all arose from a superabundance of secretions which he could not find Whores enough to draw off? and that the Same Vapours produced his Lyes and Slanders by which he totally destroyed his party forever and finally lost his Life in the field of honor.^[9]

All of this is to ignore the fact that people would actually shoot each other over political differences, such as that most famous instance in which Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. So pine not for the so-called civil days of American politics, unless you wish to see a duel between two candidates, which is a bad example because we would all definitely watch that on TV.

Kevin Klatman is a stand-up comedian, writer, and actor from Colorado. He has performed stand-up all over the United States and has acted in a bevy of commercials and will also appear in the upcoming movie The Wilderness Pilot. His writing has been featured in The Hard Times, , and Savage Henry Magazine.

Most fans of American colonial history know about the harrowing disaster of Roanoke or the many problems faced by the first Jamestown settlers. What is less known, however, is that European attempts to settle North America started almost a century before the Jamestown colonists first landed in Virginia.

Despite numerous attempts between the 1520s and the 1600s to establish permanent, successful colonies in the modern US and Canada, nearly all of them failed—Santa Fe and St. Augustine being the famous exceptions. Colonial life was hard, and the early Europeans lacked the supplies, tools, and geographic knowledge they needed to thrive in the New World. In this list, we’re exploring ten of the most notable failed attempts to settle North America.

10 San Miguel De Gualdape
1526

In 1521, a Spanish expedition set out to explore South Carolina. They returned to Cuba with 60 captives and a glowing report of a land that would make a great colony, populated by friendly natives who wouldn’t need to be conquered. A wealthy local official, Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon, was impressed by their report and soon got permission from the Spanish crown to found a new settlement in the land. Ayllon indebted himself funding the expedition of six ships and 600 colonists. Laden with supplies, they departed in July 1526 to found the first European colony in North America since the Vikings over five centuries before.^[1]

They soon ran into trouble. After they landed in Winyah Bay in August, their native pathfinders abandoned them, and their flagship sank, taking many of their supplies with it. Finding the land unsuitable for building a settlement, Ayllon organized a wide-ranging scouting mission. Based on the scouts’ reports, they headed toward another site over 320 kilometers (200 mi) away, which they finally reached in late September. They christened the new town San Miguel de Gualdape after the feast day of Saint Michael.

It was too late in the year to plant any crops, and the natives were unwilling to trade. The weather was much colder than they had expected, and disease, especially dysentery, killed many and made more unable to work. In early October, Ayllon himself died, and the colonists split into two groups, one wanting to stay and wait for resupply and the other wanting to abandon the colony. The dispute broke out into a full-blown mutiny in which the leading rebels were captured, and their homes were burned down by slaves. By November, the survivors had decided to abandon the settlement, but only after three quarters of the colonists had died.

9 Charlesbourg-Royal
1541

The next settlement to be built in North America was founded by Jacques Cartier, who had spent many years surveying the coast of Canada with the original aim of finding a safe sea route to China. Though he was unsuccessful, he did note several spots that he thought would be good places to settle, and with the king’s permission, he established a colony of roughly 400 people in modern-day Cap Rouge sometime between June and September 1541.^[2] He named this settlement Charlesbourg-Royal after Charles II, duke of Orleans.

At first, the colony was successful, surviving its first winter despite the harsh Canadian weather and being on neutral, if not friendly, terms with the native Iroquoians. They built a fort in two sections, one by the base of the river to protect the ships and houses and another at the top of a nearby hill for defense. The colonists went hunting for precious metals and found piles of diamonds and gold. It seems, however, that Cartier struggled to discipline his men, and unruly engagements with the Iroqouians turned them hostile. While they were supposed to wait for the arrival of de Roberval, the official leader of the expedition, Cartier and his men believed the colony would fail and departed for France in June 1542, slipping past de Roberval’s vessel under the cover of night. When he arrived in France, however, Cartier learned that the diamonds and gold they’d thought they’d found were actually worthless (but very similar-looking) minerals.

De Roberval took over control of the settlement, but the situation only worsened, and they abandoned it in 1543 after disease, bad weather, and clashes with the natives made the fort uninhabitable.

8 Fort Caroline
1564

St. Augustine is famous today for being the oldest continually inhabited European settlement in North America. The story could have been much different, though. In June 1564, a year before St. Augustine was founded, 200 French colonists built Fort Caroline on the Northeastern Florida coast.^[3] The fort’s garrison struggled to contain bouts of mutiny while they wrestled with attacks by the natives, hunger, and disease. The fort persisted, though the morale of its inhabitants was very low by the time the Spanish learned of its existence in early 1565.

The fort was reinforced by Jean Ribault and hundreds more colonists and soldiers in August, but by that time, the Spanish government had already organized an expedition to conquer it. The Spanish expedition, led by Pedro Menendez de Aviles, sailed up the northern coast but ran into Ribault’s fleet, who drove them off. The Spanish soldiers made landfall further south and built a fort. This fort would come to be known as St. Augustine. Ribault gathered an army of 600 and sailed south to destroy the new fort, but his fleet was hampered by a sudden storm. Menendez took advantage of the weather and marched overland to Fort Caroline, launching a surprise attack in September and seizing it, killing all inside except 50 women and children.

The Spanish burned the fort down, but Fort Caroline continued as a rebuilt Spanish outpost until 1568, when a French adventurer, de Gourgues, burned it down in revenge.

7 Santa Elena
1566

Two years before Ribault built Fort Caroline, he and his followers had founded Charlesfort further up the coast, in modern-day South Carolina. The settlement failed within a few months, and they ultimately moved to Fort Caroline. However, Menendez (pictured above), whether to add insult to injury to Ribault or because he liked the site, decided to resettle Charlesfort as the Spanish colony of Santa Elena. It was intended to be the capital of Spanish Florida, and the government was moved there from St. Augustine in 1566.^[4]

Santa Elena quickly became the center of military and religious missions going north, particularly for Juan Pardo’s expedition, which established a string of short-lived forts up the Appalachian mountain range, the furthest European colonists would venture inland for another century. Santa Elena itself was, alongside St. Augustine, the first successful long-term European colony in North America, thriving until it was attacked and burned by natives in 1576. The Spanish returned next year, and in 1580, they successfully pushed back an attack by 2,000 natives. Despite Santa Elena’s size and heavy fortification, however, the Spanish ultimately lost interest in the Carolinas and abandoned the settlement in 1587, choosing to focus their efforts on Central America instead.

6 Fort San Juan
1567

Following the colonization of Santa Elena, the Spanish crown planned to extend its influence inland through what they called La Florida—modern-day North and South Carolina. The goal was to find an overland route to Mexico which the Spanish could use to transport silver to St. Augustine and ship to Europe without having to contest the dangerous Caribbean waters.

This expedition was led by Juan Pardo, who took a force of 125 men with him. They soon came across the native town of Joara. Renaming it Cuenca and claiming it for Spain, the Spanish built a fort to control the town, Fort San Juan, and left a garrison of 30 to protect it before moving on.^[5] They built five more forts across the Carolinas, but none were as big as San Juan. Pardo never made it to Mexico: Hearing of a French raid on Santa Elena, he turned back and headed straight for the Floridian capital. He never returned to the Carolinas.

Soon after the main body of troops had returned to Florida, the natives turned on the Spanish and burned down all six forts, killing all but one of the Spanish soldiers, who only escaped by hiding in the woods. The Spanish never returned to the North American interior, considering the venture a huge failure.

5 Ajacan Mission
1570

In 1561, a Spanish expedition to Virginia captured a Native American boy. He was taken to Mexico, raised as a Catholic, and christened as Don Luis. He was taken to Madrid and even met the Spanish king before he became part of another Spanish expedition back to Virginia in 1570.^[6]

Father de Segura, an influential Jesuit in Cuba, planned to establish an unarmed religious mission in Virginia. While it was considered highly unusual at the time to send a mission without soldiers, he was granted permission. He and seven other Jesuits, a Spanish boy, and Don Luis, their interpreter and guide, set off for Virginia in August 1570. They arrived in September and built a small wooden mission before establishing contact with the nearby native tribes. Don Luis told them he wanted to find his home village, which he hadn’t seen in roughly a decade. The Jesuits let him go.

As time went on, the Jesuits became increasingly concerned that Don Luis had abandoned them. They tried to find him, since they couldn’t communicate with the natives without his help. In February 1571, three of the Jesuits found Don Luis’s village. Don Luis and the natives killed them, and then he led the native warriors to the mission, where the rest of the Jesuits were executed. Only the Spanish boy was spared. He was taken back to the village.

In 1572, a Spanish expedition returned and recovered the boy, killing 20 natives in retaliation. The mission was abandoned, however, and the Spanish never returned to Virginia.

4 Roanoke
1585

In 1584, Queen Elizabeth granted Walter Raleigh a charter giving him the right to establish a colony in North America. His goal was to establish a base from which to harass the Spanish treasure fleet, which was the main artery of Spain’s economy at the time, and also for future exploration of the continent. While Raleigh never visited North America himself, he financed and organized an expedition in 1584 which scouted out the area of modern-day North Carolina, mapping the region and bringing back two natives with knowledge of the tribal relationships in the area.

Based on this, Raleigh organized a second expedition in 1585. They landed in Roanoke in August and established a small colony of around 100 people.^[7] The fleet then returned to England to bring more supplies. In June 1586, the settlement was attacked by natives. Sir Francis Drake stopped at the colony shortly after and picked up the colonists, taking them back to England. The original fleet returned with supplies from England after that and, finding the colony abandoned, left a small contingent of 15 men behind to hold the island in Raleigh’s name before returning to England.

In 1587, Raleigh dispatched another 115 colonists to collect the contingent and take them to the Chesapeake Bay, where a new colony would be built. When they arrived in Roanoke, however, all they found of the 15 men was a single skeleton. The new colonists remained in Roanoke instead, and the fleet returned to England to find help and support. Unfortunately, the outbreak of war with Spain made the long sea voyage almost impossible, and it was late 1590 when the fleet was once again able to make it to Roanoke.

They returned to find the settlement abandoned. There was no sign of a struggle, and the buildings had been dismantled in an orderly way, suggesting there was no rush to leave. All they found was the word “CROATOAN” carved into a fence post, and the letters “CRO” on a nearby tree. Since the colonists had agreed to carve a Maltese cross if they’d had any difficulty, it was assumed that the colonists had moved to the nearby Croatoan Island. Bad weather prevented the English from checking, however, and they returned home. The English didn’t return until the colonization of Jamestown 17 years later, and they never found any definite trace of the Roanoke colonists.

3 Saint Croix Island
1604

Today, Saint Croix Island is an uninhabited island off the coast of Maine, with no public access. In the early 1600s, though, it was the site of an early French colony that was supposed to be the first permanently occupied (instead of seasonal) settlement in the region the French called Acadia, or l’Acardie. Since the failure of Charlesbourg-Royal some 60 years before, the French crown had shown little interest in modern-day Canada. But after the attempts to colonize Sable Island in 1598 and Tadoussac in 1600, French interest in Canada was growing again.

Saint Croix was chosen after considerable surveying of the region had identified the best possible locations for settlements.^[8] The island seemed ideal: Well-defended from both the natives and the English, it could only be attacked from one direction by boat, which made it very defensible. The soil was good, and there were plenty of trees.

In the early days of the colony, morale was high, and the settlement was established very quickly. Natives even visited to study the colony and asked the French to mediate their disputes. However, it began to snow on October 6. The winter had come earlier than expected and lingered a long time, sealing the settlers on the island as the river froze over. Many succumbed to a strange “land disease” which made their teeth fall out and sapped their energy. Later analysis of their bones revealed that they were plagued by scurvy.

When the original leader of their expedition, Francois Dupont, returned in June the next year with boatloads of supplies, they made the decision to move to a different site. The buildings were dismantled and shipped across the bay to the new site of Port-Royal.

2 Port-Royal
1605

Port-Royal (replica pictured above) was a much better-suited location for a thriving settlement.^[9] Located on the shore of a huge bay, the French envisioned it as potentially mooring hundreds of ships one day, so they gave it the name Port-Royal, or Royal Port. They built their first settlement against the northern mountains by felling trees and putting up a simple wooden palisade around the buildings for protection. Supported by the fertile soil and temperate climate, and assisted by the nearby Mikmaq people, they prospered. Concerned about the low morale at Saint Croix, they even established a social club which hosted frequent feasts and art shows, including theater productions. However, the colony had to be abandoned in 1607 after its founder, Pierre Dugua de Mons, had his fur-trading license revoked, removing the colony’s main source of income.

The colony was left in the hands of the Mikmaq and recolonized by a small French expedition in 1610. The colony never grew to any considerable size, however, and conflicts over the involvement of the Jesuits in the colony led to divisions. It was burned to the ground while the colonists were out by the English adventurer Samuel Argall. The colony was abandoned once again, and the settlers went to live among the Mikmaq.

1 Popham Colony
1607

Encouraged by growing English interest in North America, King James invested two companies with the rights to settle New England: the London Company and the Plymouth Company, both of which were parts of the Virginia Company.^[10] To foster competition, the king specified that the company whose colony was most successful would win the rights to own the land that lay between them.

After a flurry of excitement and investment, the London Company established their colony of Jamestown in Virginia, and the Plymouth company settled theirs at Popham in Maine. Unlike the Jamestown colony, which lost over half of its people to disease, the Popham colony was largely successful to begin with. Things took a turn, however, when they were unable to trade with the natives as much as they’d expected, and their leader, George Popham, died in 1608. They continued their efforts to expand the colony despite this, even building the first-ever English seafaring ship in North America, the Virginia.

The winter was bitterly cold. The colonists complained about the unceasing snow. A fire burned down the storehouse, destroying most of their supplies. Following food shortages, over half the colonists chose to return to England on the next supply ship. The remaining colonists were determined to continue on, however, and the summer was better.

The settlement was ultimately brought down by a crisis not in America but in England. A supply ship arrived carrying news that the colony’s new governor, Raleigh Gilbert, had inherited his family’s lands in England following his brother’s death. Raleigh decided to return to England. Unwilling to face the prospect of another harsh winter—this time without a leader—the rest of the colonists glumly agreed to return to England with him.

It is a very easy thing to hate the United States of America right now. But why? We stormed the beaches at Normandy, saved Europe from economic ruin with the Marshall plan (thanks for paying off the loan, Norway. Anybody else? Anybody? Bueller?), invented the Internet, uprooted tyrants, and give foreign aid away like it was candy. We want to be the good guys and thought we were. Yet we just can’t seem to get any love these days. How’d we get here? Well… [JFrater: as the representative of , I would like to say that we don’t hate America – in fact, I had one of my greatest holidays there. This list will no doubt cause a storm – be calm and debate nicely!]

The first reason: we act like the world revolves around us. America presumes much for a country generously dated at 300 years old. China has latrines ten times older than that. A quick example: many countries play baseball, but only we have the “World Series”. We’re getting better about our egocentrism, but it’s been a loooong time coming. And don’t get me started about our tourists. Just smile and take the money- they’re loud, but they’ll be gone in a week.

Okay, I’ll concede Vietnam, tennis (but we don’t care) and Kenyan marathon runners. But we win damn near everything else, eventually. The Space Race. The Cold War. Tour de France. The list goes on and on. Even we hate the Olympics now that our professionals are allowed to participate straight up with the underaged/doping communist nations. It’s boring for us, but as a Red Sox/Bolton Wanderers fan, I know the angst that chronic losing against bigger and better funded opponents generates. And if we don’t have the best athletes/scientists/entertainers, we’ll make sure they get a chance to immigrate while others wait in line. That’s gotta sting. Oh, Yao Ming and Ichiro say “Hi”.

Why? Because we can. Americans are the second fattest industrialized nation per capita (sorry, Australia). But as always, we make up for it in volume. We can afford automobiles so we don’t ride bikes or walk anywhere except for fun, and thanks to abundant agricultural surpluses, ANYTHING we want to eat is readily available from takeaway restaurants and convenience stores. Some of our refrigerators could hide an entire human body. And we like the fatty stuff, because fat tastes good. This is NOT a good thing, and our global franchises (KFC, McDonald’s) are already infecting nations that traditionally had healthier diets (are you listening, Japan?)

The United States is the inventor and only wartime practitioner of nuclear weapons (never mind that using them prevented an invasion that would make the Iraqi insurgency look like a blowjob. “Operation Downfall”, the now-declassified US plan to invade Japan, estimated 1 Million American casualties alone). Lax security protocols (and clever spying) spread the secret to the USSR and after that the genie got out of the bottle. Many countries now have atomic weapons, and with no clear Cold War counterpart to US supremacy, the balance has shifted, and the peace dividend has not been kind post 9/11.

Though accounting for only 5 percent of the world’s population, Americans consume 26 percent of the world’s energy. (American Almanac), and we are the world’s largest single emitter of carbon dioxide, accounting for 23 percent of energy-related carbon emissions worldwide. (U.S. Department of Energy). This, while worldwide, some 2 billion people are currently without electricity. (U.S. Department of Energy). The good news is that among industrialized and developing countries, Canada consumes per capita the most energy in the world, and the United Sates is only second. Italy consumes the least among industrialized countries (that’s because they still drive Fiats, which “conserve” energy by breaking every other day).

The United States has the most advanced army in the world. We station our military in other countries at their “request”, which is a source of much seething and hurt national pride. From Banana Republics, to the Cold War, to the War on Terror, we routinely interfere in the business of other countries to make the world safe for our interests, whether anybody asked for it or not. Even if the intentions are both right and good, many countries resent our involvement in their affairs on sheer principle: they’d rather f*** it up themselves. Are you listening, North Korea?

A thriving market economy and near total freedom of expression liberate Americans to pursue almost every endeavor imaginable, resulting in some of the greatest discoveries and inventions in the history of man, from the first practical light bulb to powered flight, polio vaccines, radio and TV, space exploration, the Internet, and unfortunately, everything in between. So that means ubercrap like Jerry Springer and Britney Spears gets exported worldwide. No, I’m being too kind there– “force fed” worldwide. Other cultures despise this with a mix of dread, envy, and loathing. They can’t figure out how to cull the good from the bad out of this torrent (neither can we, btw)—but once it takes hold, it won’t let go. This what the Islamic world fears most. Tanks, they understand. An educated, employed woman horny and clubbing on Friday night they simply can’t fathom. And it scares the crap out of them.

Despite the hyperbole bandied online, strong political opinions won’t get your door kicked in at 3 AM like in the Gulag Archipelago. There are no Stalinist purges or killing fields here. And the FBI/CIA/ATF/DEA/PTA will not shoot you on sight simply because you speak against The Surge or march against the Economic Stimulus Plan. But it’s certainly fun to claim a fear of it! You become an instant radical and feel intellectually enlightened to boot– patriotism is an uncritical, reflexive act, right?– only a deep thinker would hate his country (yet stay on to enjoy its privileges). And don’t worry about proof, because all that matters is the accusation. Volume and conviction win the day, so toss that bibliography—grab half the story and make the rest up. If you get caught in a logic box, claim satire. Other countries see this lack of consequences and pile on.

From Vietnam to Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinski to “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq to finding Osama Bin Laden, we seem to do most of the work, but keep a lot of things hanging on, never quite finished. Eventually the answer makes itself known, but it usually takes time, and involves help from others after a lot of (necessary) heated discussions. Maybe we should try this as as a first course of action more often…

We are a nation of doers, and our errors (when they occur) will be from acts of commission, not omission (Hypocrisy Alert: Darfur). Sometimes that’s a great thing, like sending Kruschev’s missiles back home, breaking Gaddafi’s/Qaddafi’s/Kaddafi’s nuclear ambitions (his nukes are now safely tucked away in Oak Ridge, Tennessee), or winning the Cold War. Other times, it blows up in our (and often, YOUR) face. Our attempts to spread democracy worldwide, intended to let others enjoy the same freedoms and advantages that we have, sometimes result in innocent people dying. We must stop to remember the Somalia embassy, Madrid and Fiji and Lockerbie 101 bombings, along with the millions of nameless others who suffered and died in countries that are not free. The US is the biggest face opposing these things that actually does anything (not just talk, FRANCE. You railed about Guantanamo but when it came time to release prisoners you took ONE.), but our allies often bear the brunt of our “foreign” wars, because the enemy cannot reach us. That has changed recently, and while it has altered our perspective, it has not altered our resolve.

Slavery, one of America’s greatest tragedies, caused immeasurable suffering and loss of human life. The Stanford prison experiment is frequently cited when people discuss the brutality demonstrated by humans with power. But we don’t need to look any further than our own history for these examples.

10 Interesting Facts You Never Knew About Slavery

Slaves could be punished for any number of “offenses,” including theft, laziness, running away, or even speaking their native language. By some accounts, enslaved people were even disciplined for sport. Here are 10 of the most horrible punishments recorded for slaves in America.

Warning: This content contains graphic descriptions of various physical abuses and tortures and may act as a trigger to sensitive individuals. Great care has been taken to respect the lives and histories of the people represented as slaves. Please read at your own discretion.

10 Whipping

In America, slaves, including pregnant women and children, were often whipped as punishment. The famous image of the slave “Gordon” (aka “Whipped Peter”) reveals that the skin on his back was raised with a lattice of scars from brutal and repeated whippings.^[1]

However, some owners did not stop there. When their slaves’ wounds began to heal, these owners ordered that the wounds be split open and that products such as red pepper and turpentine be applied to the gashes. According to some accounts, one owner ground a brick into rubble and dust, mixed it with lard, and had it rubbed into the wounds of a slave.

9 Mutilation

Slaves were often expected to work in exceptionally difficult physical conditions, especially in the fields or on cotton plantations. Other slaves worked in their masters’ homes and were expected to be “well-groomed” and “clean.” These slaves often had lighter skin or “better speaking skills.”

Either way, it would make sense for slaves’ bodies to be protected and maintained. However, this rarely happened.

Particularly in cases where slaves had fought each other or resisted their owners or overseers, it was common for owners to order bodily mutilation. Sometimes, it involved cutting off an ear or slicing at the flesh. More severe examples included amputating limbs, gouging out eyes, cutting hamstrings, or even castrating both males and females.^[2]

In many cases, the victims did not receive medical treatment. Some died from infection, blood loss, and other complications.

8 Brandings

Branding refers to searing the flesh with a heated metal instrument. This type of torture was typically done to denote ownership.

Large companies often branded their slaves to make them easily identifiable and to prevent the theft and resale of slaves. Eventually, these brands were used as bodily evidence to refute claims from larger companies that the practice had never occurred.

In Louisiana, a “Code Noir” permitted the branding of slaves as punishment for running away. By 1840, New Orleans had developed the largest slave market in America, which placed innumerable people under this decree.^[3]

Particularly in the South, branding was a common punishment for running away. Often, a letter or other identifiable mark was seared onto the slave’s face. This usually prevented that person from being assigned to any house or serving work.

7 Smoked Alive

Eventually, various slave states passed laws regarding the maintenance, well-being, and rights of slaves. Theoretically, this should have given slaves some protection from cruelty and abuse. In reality, these laws were rarely enforced. Some accounts describe how different methods of punishment and abuse became more popular in different states.

Escaped slave William W. Brown discussed a common practice used in Virginia. He described an owner who had his slaves bound and whipped in the smokehouse. Then he created a fire from tobacco stems to suffocate and “smoke” the slaves as further punishment.^[4]

6 The Hogshead

Former slaves may offer the most harrowing accounts of slave abuse and torture. Moses Roper was born of his African and Native American mother, who was a slave to his English father. After Moses escaped his bondage, he wrote a book about his life. He explicitly outlined various tortures and indignities that slaves in America had to suffer.

Moses recounted the sport and pleasure that some owners took in corporal punishment. He described a slaveholder who hammered nails into a hogshead (large barrel) and left the nail points protruding inside. His slaves were stuffed into these barrels and rolled down long, steep hills while the owner and other slaves watched.^[5]

10 Slaves Who Became Roman Catholic Saints

5 Suspended Beneath A Cooking Fire

Harriet Jacobs also escaped slavery and wrote about her exploits. She described falling into the “possession” of a slave owner who sexually harassed her on a regular basis despite the protests of his wife. To avoid him, Harriet hid in the crawl space in her grandmother’s ceiling for seven years before fleeing to England.

In another harrowing account, Harriet told of a slaveholder who lived close to her. He had hundreds of slaves. His favorite punishment was to tie up a slave, suspend him above the ground, and start a fire above him. A fatty piece of pork was cooked by the fire. Then the burning fat dripped onto the bare skin of the slave.^[6]

4 Demotion Or Sale

Although this type of punishment may seem less significant than the previous horrors detailed here, it could mean the difference between life and death for a slave. George Washington was a declared fan of whipping and other corporal punishments for slaves. But he also supported the demotion of slaves who did not work hard enough and the sale of repeat runaways.

Many slaves who worked in less physically demanding conditions, such as in the house or in a skilled trade, could be demoted to work in the fields. This resulted in harsher physical conditions, more demanding physical work, and often more violent treatment from owners and overseers. In the worst cases, slaves were sold at cheap prices to owners who were known to treat their slaves poorly or even work them to death.^[7]

3 Public Burnings

Punishments were often made public. Other slaves were forced to watch as a warning that they should “behave” or be disciplined the same way. At times, other owners or people from nearby towns came to watch as a form of entertainment. After slavery was abolished, public lynchings and hangings continued into the 20th century.

One horrific method of punishment was public burning. Slaves were either tied to a stake or above a fire. Some slaves fainted or passed out from smoke inhalation before the fire began to consume their bodies. But many were tortured by the flames before they finally died.^[8]

2 Long-Term Chaining

The use of chains is well-documented throughout the history of slavery. It began on slave ships where captured Africans were shackled together in the hulls of the vessels. Long-term chaining was often meted out to repeat runaway slaves. They were chained to their workstations or to other slaves.

In some cases, long lines of slaves were shackled together to perform menial tasks in unison. This was the origin of the chain gangs that became infamous in US prisons.

One woman who became notorious for her maltreatment of slaves—even by 19th century standards—was Madame Delphine LaLaurie. Various investigations were undertaken to determine the condition of her slaves until a fire broke out in her home in 1834.

An elderly female slave, who served as a cook, supposedly started the blaze in a suicide attempt. She had been shackled to the stove with the cooking fire. Afterward, several slaves were discovered in horrific conditions in the LaLaurie attic. Suspended by their necks, they were standing with their limbs chained in a way that stretched and tore them.^[9]

1 Forced Reproduction

Slaves frequently endured severe sexual harassment and assaults, including rape. There were no laws to prevent this.

Women who became pregnant as a result of this abuse rarely received any medical care or special treatment. On the contrary, they were often handled more harshly by their masters’ wives. Effectively pimped out by their owners, male slaves were also abused and forced to sleep with various women.

Following the US Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, which became effective in 1808, a shortage of slaves occurred in the South. The internal slave market boomed, which increased the demand for black people. As a result, slaves were often bought and sold based on their “childbearing” capabilities. They were forced to have sex with other slaves to produce more children.^[10]

Usually, slaves could choose with whom they would have children. But matchmaking records exist that were based on physical characteristics.

Top 10 Misconceptions About American Slavery

About The Author: Brittany is a freelance writer from New Zealand. She spends most of her time traveling, reading, and connecting with different cultures. With a professional background in mental health and addictions, she is always on the lookout for new research and breakthroughs.

When you think of museums, do you picture incomprehensible artwork hanging on the wall while a stuffy tour guide drones on? Thankfully, there are some very different and interesting museums from coast to coast in the United States.

Today we’re going to take a look at 10 of these uniquely American institutions that have documented the bizarre and the unusual, providing museum experiences like no other.

Related: 10 Oddly Wonderful Celebrity Museums Around The World

10 Abita Mystery House

Located in Abita Springs, Louisiana, not far from New Orleans, the Abita Mystery House’s mission is to take the old saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” and turn it into a museum of distinctly American throwaway items. Founder John Preble got the idea for the Mystery House during rock collecting trips. He would find not only rocks but also “bottles, bottle caps, license plates, springs, motors, pottery shards, and ‘what all.’”

The museum has since grown to feature several odd collections, memorabilia, and old arcade games. And fittingly for Louisiana, there are several alligator-themed exhibits. If you can’t make it to the New Orleans area anytime soon to see the oddities in person, several YouTubers have documented the unique experience of visiting the Abita Mystery House.^[1]

9 American Sign Museum

The American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio, offers 20,000 square feet of indoor space dedicated to signs and the history of sign making. Their website claims that they have the largest such exhibit in the United States. From the familiar red neon “MOTEL” sign to early McDonald’s storefront signage, all types of signs are represented in the museum’s collection.

Besides being a highly entertaining look at something we take for granted in everyday life, it’s also educational. The tour is self-guided, as audio you listen to on your smartphone gives context to the exhibits while also explaining the skill and artistry involved in crafting such memorable signs. You can even host your own events there, which would surely make for one of the most unique birthday parties ever.^[2]

8 Vent Haven Museum

Did that episode of the Twilight Zone featuring a sentient ventriloquist’s dummy creep you out? You might want to keep that in mind before visiting the Vent Haven Museum in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. Billed as the world’s only museum dedicated to ventriloquism, your enjoyment of this museum will ultimately depend on whether you’re comfortable with hundreds of dummies staring at you.

Over a period of 40 years, founder W.S. Berger amassed a collection of everything related to ventriloquism, including dummies, puppets, photos, scripts, posters, and other memorabilia. Since the dead-eyed stare of dummies does unnerve many people, it’s not surprising that some claim that the place is haunted, with one reviewer labeling it “the creepiest museum in the world.”^[3]

7 The Museum of Death

If ventriloquism dummies are no big deal to you, then something darker and a little more realistic might be in order—The Museum of Death. With locations in both Hollywood, California, and New Orleans, Louisiana, the Museum of Death houses the world’s most extensive collection of “serial killer artwork, antique funeral ephemera, and morticians’ and coroners’ instruments,” according to their website.

Be forewarned before visiting this museum—this exhibit has not been watered down to make it family friendly. Reports from past visitors list some of the gruesome exhibits: actual photos of the Charles Manson and Black Dahlia crime scenes, morgue photos, the guillotined severed head of the Blue Beard of Paris (Henri Landru), and videos of both real deaths and autopsies. While it won’t be for everyone, you have to admire the Museum of Death locations for their commitment to their theme.^[4]

6 Leila’s Hair Museum

Located in the Kansas City suburb of Independence, Missouri, Leila’s Hair Museum claims to be the only one of its kind in the world. And that seems totally believable. In 1956, museum founder and cosmetology school owner Leila Cohoon was visiting an antique dealer and discovered a 6″ by 6″ gold frame with a wreath of human hair in it. That kick-started a hobby that led to her eventually starting up her namesake hair museum.

What exactly is hair art? The category includes a wide variety of objects made from human hair, including wreaths, bouquets, and jewelry. Hair art actually has a long history, peaking in popularity in the 19th century. In a time before widespread photography, saving the hair of family and friends and then making art out of it was seen as a way to remember the deceased. It’s also a way to record different hairstyles over the years. Leila’s Hair Museum has been credited with reviving interest in the art form.^[5]

5 The Museum You Can’t Visit

The initials CIA are familiar to most, as they stand for the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA Museum is located at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, and, as such, is not open to the public. But the museum does collect over 3,500 declassified artifacts that are available to view online or can be sent out for public exhibits elsewhere.

The museum was the brainchild of former CIA Executive Director William E. Colby. In 1972, Colby had the idea to share “a very selective accumulation of truly unique items.” Among those items are the spy gadgets, weapons, and espionage memorabilia that one might expect from the intriguing world of international spies. So unless you’ve got the high-level government clearance required to set foot in the CIA, you won’t be making a visit to see this fascinating collection in person. Still, you can always check out the current list of exhibits on the museum’s website.^[6]

4 New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum

Technically speaking, Voodoo is a term often used to refer to many different religions and cultural practices, but there’s no doubt that New Orleans is the city most associated with it. The New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum attempts to demystify things with this mission statement: “We take all the mysteries, the secrets, the history, and the folklores of rituals, zombies, of gris-gris, of Voodoo Queens and all that jazz, and put it all in one place at the heart of the New Orleans French Quarter.”

A visit to the museum will help you understand how Voodoo made its way to New Orleans via the 18th-century slave trade and how it then merged with Catholic concepts to create the unique blend that is New Orleans Voodoo. It may seem like a scary topic to explore, but the focus is more educational than sensational. The museum does offer haunted cemetery walking tours, though, if that sounds like something you’d like to participate in.^[7]

3 Museum of Questionable Medical Devices

The Museum of Questionable Medical Devices in St. Paul, Minnesota, officially closed in 2002. But the name alone is enough to tell you this is a special collection still worth exhibiting, so the Science Museum of Minnesota picked it up as an exhibit. That makes it somewhat of a museum within a museum. The items on display range from devices of dubious functionality to the downright dangerous.

On the innocuous end of the spectrum is a phrenology reader that was purported to read personalities and give reports on traits such as intelligence and morality. That’s questionable but harmless, but the same can’t be said for a depilatory machine that removed unwanted hair with x-rays and ultimately caused cancer in thousands of patients. The museum features many other examples of medical quackery, making for a fascinating look at how humans attempted to cure their foibles over the years. If nothing else, it will make you grateful for living in a time of more advanced medical science.^[8]

2 The Spear Hunting Museum

If you live in an area where hunting is popular, you’re familiar with the various seasons for bow-and-arrow and rifle hunting. But do you remember the last time it was spear hunting season? If you find yourself in Summerdale, Alabama, you can learn all about the sport in the only museum on this list to honor one single person. Billing itself as “Home of the greatest spear hunter in recorded history, Gene Morris,” the Spear Hunting Museum is a one-of-a-kind experience.

Morris recorded 592 big game kills, which is all the more impressive considering that he didn’t even start spear hunting until the age of 40. While the focus is on Morris and his exploits, a visit to the museum does provide a good education on spear hunting itself, along with information about big African game like lions, zebras, and wildebeests.^[9]

1 Oasis Bordello Museum

The Oasis Bordello Museum in Wallace, Idaho, has one of the best origin stories of any museum in operation. In 1988, the building that currently houses the museum was an active house of ill repute when the occupants quickly packed up and left, leaving everything behind. And that really means everything, including all personal items, furniture and furnishings, food in the cupboards, and even groceries fresh from the store, still in a bag.

The operation’s madam sold the building to a local businessman in 1993, and the museum was born. Things are exactly as how they were when the occupants fled in 1988 (a tip came in that the FBI were headed to town). If a museum’s purpose is to preserve history, we’re not likely to find one that does a better job than the Oasis Bordello Museum, which was literally frozen in time. And perhaps the most fascinating aspect is just how recent that time was, given that the story of the madam and her ladies on the run sounds like a story out of the 1800s American West.^[10]