Published Articles
Tobacco: A Twist in the Life of John Car lyle - January 2003
Tobacco did more than fill the pipes and snuff boxes of colonial Virginians. It controlled the lives of planters, filled the coffers of the King, and brought many people indentured, enslaved, and free to the Chesapeake region. Tobacco was such a vital part of the colonial economy, its going price during a given season had ramifications for all levels of society. This article is going to look at why this plant was so important to the colonial world and how it would have affected the life of John Carlyle.
John Carlyle and Wheat - February 2003
Tobacco is the crop most associated with the eighteenth century economy in Virginia. It was such a dominate force in the early eighteenth-century, that other crops such as wheat and corn are overlooked. But starting in the 1740s many planters made the switch from growing tobacco to wheat for a variety of reasons. First, tobacco fields must be rotated every few years because the crop exhausts the soil, thus new land must be acquired. In addition, overproduction of tobacco in the colonies resulted in lower prices in the English market. By contrast, crops such as wheat and corn could be used to help feed the farmer’s family and dependants, required less labor than tobacco and also could be easily shipped as either grain or milled flour to the West Indies or Europe. Shortages of these staple crops in Europe also lead to an increased demand for planters to diversify.
Mapping John Carlyle’s World - March 2003
Maps have always been an integral part of defining societies. They establish the boundaries of territories, create national identities, define trade routes, and make political statements. Maps were particularly important in colonial America and it is not surprising that they are found on John Carlyle’s inventory. According to Margaret Pritchard and Henry Taliaferro, “For America, maps tell the story of how European’s took possession of the land in the New World and fought to substantiate their claims.”
Thomas Gainsborough - April 2003
Thomas Gainsborough is considered one of the greatest British portrait artists of the eighteenth century. He was born in 1727 in the town of Sudbury in Suffolk, England. He was the youngest of ten children. At age thirteen, Thomas was apprenticed to an engraver named Hubert Francois Gravelot. While in London, Gainsborough mastered the art of engraving and began his painting career at the St. Martin’s Lane Academy. There he was probably influenced by the work of William Hogarth, a very popular eighteenth-century satirical artist working in London during this time. Gainsborough opened his own studio in London and in 1746 was married to Margaret Burr. Margaret brought an annuity of two hundred pounds per year to the marriage. It is speculated that Margaret was the illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Beaufort, a very wealthy man and that is why he provided so generously for her. This marriage was a very important part of Gainsborough’s career because he was not under any financial strains in the early years. As a result, he could divide his time between commissioned portraits that made him an income and the landscapes that were his true passion, but which rarely sold.
Storing and Caring for John Carlyle’s Clothing - May 2003
As modern shoppers, we don’t think twice about purchasing new items of clothing and adding them to our already full closets. If a favorite shirt is ruined by a ketchup stain, that even the most potent stain remover can’t get out, we simply go to a store or catalog and replace it. In the eighteenth century, acquiring items of clothing was much more time consuming and a larger financial investment. As a result, even the wealthy eighteenthcentury consumer took great care in the storing of and caring for their clothing.
18th-Century Celebrations - December 2003
On December 18,1773 Philip Vicars Fithian, a tutor to Robert Carter’s children, wrote:
