Rum Punch and Revolution by Peter Thompson

Rum Punch and Revolution by Peter Thompson

'Twas Honest old Noah first planted the Vine
And mended his morals by drinking its Wine.
--from a drinking song by Benjamin Franklin

There were, Peter Thompson notes, some one hundred and fifty synonyms for inebriation in common use in colonial Philadelphia and, on the eve of the Revolution, just as many licensed drinking establishments. Clearly, eighteenth-century Philadelphians were drawn to the tavern. In addition to the obvious lure of the liquor, taverns offered overnight accommodations, meals, and stabling for visitors. They also served as places to gossip, gamble, find work, make trades, and gather news.

In>Rum Punch and Revolution, Thompson shows how the public houses provided a setting in which Philadelphians from all walks of life revealed their characters and ideas as nowhere else. He takes the reader into the cramped confines of the colonial bar room, describing the friendships, misunderstandings and conflicts which were generated among the city's drinkers and investigates the profitability of running a tavern in a city which, until independence, set maximum prices on the cost of drinks and services in its public houses.

Taverngoing, Thompson writes, fostered a sense of citizenship that influenced political debate in colonial Philadelphia and became an issue in the city's revolution. Opinionated and profoundly undeferential, taverngoers did more than drink; they forced their political leaders to consider whether and how public opinion could be represented in the counsels of a newly independent nation.

'Twas Honest old Noah first planted the Vine
And mended his morals by drinking its Wine.
--from a drinking song by Benjamin Franklin

There were, Peter Thompson notes, some one hundred and fifty synonyms for inebriation in common use in colonial Philadelphia and, on the eve of the Revolution, just as many licensed drinking establishments. Clearly, eighteenth-century Philadelphians were drawn to the tavern. In addition to the obvious lure of the liquor, taverns offered overnight accommodations, meals, and stabling for visitors. They also served as places to gossip, gamble, find work, make trades, and gather news.

In>Rum Punch and Revolution, Thompson shows how the public houses provided a setting in which Philadelphians from all walks of life revealed their characters and ideas as nowhere else. He takes the reader into the cramped confines of the colonial bar room, describing the friendships, misunderstandings and conflicts which were generated among the city's drinkers and investigates the profitability of running a tavern in a city which, until independence, set maximum prices on the cost of drinks and services in its public houses.

Taverngoing, Thompson writes, fostered a sense of citizenship that influenced political debate in colonial Philadelphia and became an issue in the city's revolution. Opinionated and profoundly undeferential, taverngoers did more than drink; they forced their political leaders to consider whether and how public opinion could be represented in the counsels of a newly independent nation.

Peter D. Thompson, PhD, is a licensed school psychologist and a long-time member of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). He has multiple advanced degrees in psychology and holds various leadership positions in the Douglas County School District, which is a district of more than 70 schools in Colorado. Dr. Thompson has extensive training in school neuropsychology, and is currently the school district's traumatic brain injury (TBI) team coordinator. He continues to lend his expertise to several organizations and agencies in the Denver metro area. In 2013, Dr. Thompson was named Colorado School Psychologist of the Year. Dr. Thompson authored the first edition of The School Psychology Licensure Exam Guide in 2004, which is now in its third iteration. He has also written chapters in Brain Injury in Children and Youth: A Manual for Educators (2016) and Concussion Management Guidelines Manual (2015), both published by the Colorado Department of Education.