Assateague Island National Seashore
Today in 1776, a little more than a year into the Revolutionary War, the Thirteen Colonies 'broke up' with Great Britain and declared independence. But did you know that Assateague played a unique role in the Revolutionary War?
During the first half of the 18th century salt was scarce in Maryland. Used for everything from preserving food to supplementing nutrients in livestock, salt was not only a commodity, but also a necessity. Realizing the urgency of the salt shortage, the Maryland Assembly petitioned the British Parliament to request that the importation of salt into the colony be permitted. Permission was granted to import salt from Europe, particularly from Portugal, where it was cheap. With salt freely flowing into Maryland and the other colonies, it was business as usual. However, once the Revolutionary War was underway, the British cut off the European salt supply to the Thirteen Colonies. In response, knowing there was a huge market and demand for salt, the Baltimore Salt Company established a salt works on Assateague just south of the current North Beach area.
To make salt, workmen would collect large shallow pans of water, stack them on block or metal frames and light a fire underneath. After the water boiled away, salt that was left behind would be scraped off of the pans and collected. Salt was packaged and sent up to Baltimore where it was sold throughout the Thirteen Colonies until the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783. (Photo: Pinpin/Wikimedia Commons)
Salt has always been a necessity for human survival and until the mid-nineteenth century could be hard to come by unless one lived near an area of natural salt deposits. Before recorded history camel trains crossed the Sahara Desert to carry this valuable commodity from central Africa to the northern coasts. The word "salary" is derived from the Latin word for salt because Roman centurions received much of their pay in the form of salt. This is the origin of the phrase, "He isn't worth his salt".
ReplyDeleteAll that may be true but after the Revolutionary War there was certainly no problem getting salt anywhere around here. A&P opened their first grocery store in Annapolis in 1784 and Acme followed suit in Baltimore in 1786. Both stores carried salt, sugar, molasses, bacon and Eggo frozen waffles. Wal-Mart was late to the game and didn't open a store in Easton until almost 1800.
ReplyDeleteHow else would the now deceased segment of my ancestors have gorged everything they ate with salt if none had been available?
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