In this episode, we are finally covering the history of my favorite spirit: whiskey! This uniquely American tale touches on whisky's backstory involving the migration of the Scots-Irish, as well as exactly how farmers felt when one (sing it with me) Alex-an-der Ham-il-ton tried to levy taxes on their beloved corn liquor. We also cover the ways the rise of the Industrial Revolution changed the drinking culture in the young United States, such as the very real problems that developed when the US population hit an unprecedented peak of alcohol consumption. One such problem involved recognition of a new disease called delirium tremens that could cause terrifying hallucinations. Was this a possible cause of the great author Edgar Allan Poe's death? So many topics, and so much whiskey - dive on in, and I hope you enjoy.

Primary Sources:

Jesse Carter, “Observations on Mania a Potu” The American Journal of Medical Sciences (Aug. 1, 1830)

Nils-Gerrit Wunsch, “Per capita consumption of corn products in the U.S. 2000-2019,” Statista (June 1, 2022).

Secondary Sources:

Michael Brander, Brander’s Guide to Scotch Whiskey, fifth edition (New York: Lyons Press, 1996).

Bruce L. Bustard, Spirited Republic: Alcohol’s Evolving Role in U.S. History, Prologue, the US National Archives, Winter 2014.

Cleveland Clinic, “Delirium Tremens,” June 5, 2023.

Joe Dabney, Mountain Spirits: A Chronicle of Corn Whiskey from King James' Ulster Plantation to America's Appalachians and the Moonshine Life (Bright Mountain Books, 1984).

Patrick Griffin, The People With No Name: Ireland's Ulster Scots, America's Scots Irish, and the Creation of a British Atlantic World, 1689-1764 (Princeton University Press, 2001).

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), “Delirium or Psychosis? The Strange Death of Edgar Allan Poe,” November 16, 2021.

James Nicholls, The Politics of Alcohol: A History of the Drink Question in England (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2011).

Andrew J. O’Shaughnessy, An Empire Divided: the American Revolution and the British Caribbean (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000).

Matthew Warner Osborn, Rum Maniacs: Alcoholic Insanity in the Early American Republic (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014).

W.J. Rorabaugh, The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition (Oxford University Press, 1979).

Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne

Theme music: "Southern Gothic" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Outro music: “D´vil,” anrocomposer

Additional featured music:

“Industrial Decay,” stephane_varloteaux

“Rustic Vocal Phrases,” DesiFreeMusic

“Celtic Folk Song,” Caffeine_Creek_Band

“Pirate Bay,” Ebunny

“Appalachian Folk Instrumental,” alanajordan

“Dark Fear,” AUDIOREZOUT

“Dramatic Mystery Investigation,” ShadowsAndEchoes

“Below the Surface,” Anon (Pixabay)

“Separation,” HarumachiMusic

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Part two of the story of the Gin Craze, a roughly fifty-year drinking binge that took hold of early modern London. Check out part one if you have not yet listened to it! This episode covers dives into the ways women became uniquely connected to the juniper spirit, in addition to the specific problems gin drinking caused, such as theft, violence, and acts of murder. Also, what does drinking gin have to do with spontaneous combustion?! Tune in to find out.

Primary Sources:

Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 9.0) February 1734. Trial of Judith Defour (t17340227-32).

Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 9.0) Ordinary of Newgate's Account March 1734 (OA17340308).

Stephen Buck, Geneva: A Poem in Blank Verse (London: 1734).

Henry Fielding, An Enquiry into the Causes of the late Increase of Robbers (London: 1751).

William Hogarth, Gin Lane and Beer Street (London: 1751).

Secondary Sources:

Richard Barnett, The Book of Gin (New York: Grove Press, 2011).

Simon Difford, “History of gin (1728-1794) - London’s gin craze,” Difford’s Guide.

James Nicholls, The Politics of Alcohol: A History of the Drink Question in England (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2011).

Katelyn Stieva, “‘Drunk for a Penny, Dead Drunk for Two Pence’: Drink and Culture in London’s Eighteenth Century Gin Craze,” The Mirror 36, 1 (March 1, 2016).

Jessica Warner, Craze: Gin and Debauchery in an Age of Reason (New York: Random House, 2003).

Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne

Theme music: "Southern Gothic" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Outro music: “D´vil,” anrocomposer

Additional featured music:

“Tensity,” SergeQuadrado

“Separation,” HarumachiMusic

“Through [the] Horizon,” Tuan1368

“Dark Lullaby,” ShadowsAndEchoes

“Around Every Corner,” Dream-Protocol

“Wanderers of the Night,” IndianBit

“History of Perseus,” White_Records

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this season's first two-part episode, we digging into the fascinating and disturbing history of the Gin Craze. Spanning roughly half a century, gin drinking seemed to hold London's poorer residents in an unrelenting grip. This decades long drinking binge did not happen by accident, however; this occurred as the result of legislation passed by members of Parliament who directly benefitted from the increase in domestic distillation.

For part one, we cover the origins and initial responses to the Gin Craze, including a series of laws passed by Parliament in an effort to correct the mess that they had made. Attempts to take gin away from the laboring poor only succeed in increasing open mockery of the government, subtle means of subverting the law, and even acts of violence directed toward government-funded informants. We cover all of this, as well as what the heck a "puss and mew" is and what it has to do with gin this week - check it out!

Primary Sources:

John Clayton, Friendly Advice to the Poor (Manchester: 1755).

Isaac Maddox, Sermon (London: 1750).

Thomas Wilson, Distilled Spirituous Liquors the Bane of the Nation (London: 1736).

Secondary Sources:

Richard Barnett, The Book of Gin (New York: Grove Press, 2011).

Simon Difford, “History of gin (1728-1794) - London’s gin craze,” Difford’s Guide.

Elizabeth Gilboy, Wages in Eighteenth Century England (Harvard University Press, 1934).

Andrew A. Hanham, “The Gin Acts, 1729-51,” The History of Parliament.

Alice Loxton, “What was the Gin Craze?” History Hit (January 18, 2021).

James Nicholls, The Politics of Alcohol: A History of the Drink Question in England (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2011).

Katelyn Stieva, “‘Drunk for a Penny, Dead Drunk for Two Pence’: Drink and Culture in London’s Eighteenth Century Gin Craze,” The Mirror 36, 1 (March 1, 2016).

Jessica Warner, Craze: Gin and Debauchery in an Age of Reason (New York: Random House, 2003).

Jessica Warner and Frank Ivis, “‘Damn You, You Informing Bitch.’ Vox Populi and the Unmaking of the Gin Act of 1736,” Journal of Social History 33, 2 (Winter, 1999): 299-330.

UK National Archives Currency Converter (1270-2017).

Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne

Theme music: "Southern Gothic" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Outro music: “D´vil,” anrocomposer

Additional featured music:

“The Silence,” Tunetank

“Victorian London,” Table Top Audio

“Baroque Classical Meets Underground Hip Hop Fusion,” nickpanek620

“Legacy of Passacaglia,” White_Records

“Dark Fear,” AUDIOREZOUT

“Clockwork Adventure (Steampunk),” Luis_Humanoide

“One Thousand Years Ago,” JoelFazhari

“Chance Meeting,” White_Records

“Cinematic Dramatic Tense,” Lexin_Music

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.