Week #14

For my blog this week I'm going to be discussing two presentations I liked the most. Those two presentations are "Beer in Colonial America & Jefferson's influence on beer" and "Fruit & Fruit varieties at Monticello."

Beer in Colonial America & Jefferson's Influence on Beer

First off, I would like to say that the best part of this presentation was getting to try the Raz Wheat beer from Jackie O's. Tasting this beer definitely opened my eyes to wanting to try more beers from Jackie O's. But aside from that, the presentation was very well done. I liked how he described the brewing process and how he used visuals to help explain the process better. Some of the interesting facts I took away from this presentation, that I didn't know before, was that Martha Jefferson would brew 15 gallon batches of beer nearly every two weeks in order to stay stocked up at Monticello, which to me is a lot. I also found out that Jefferson had a brew house and would also spend over $5,000 on beer to be sent to Monticello. Overall, I felt that this presentation was very informative and I enjoyed listening to it.

Fruit & Fruit Varieties at Monticello

For this presentation, I found it interesting to learn about all the different types of fruits that Thomas Jefferson liked and kept in his garden at Monticello. It was fascinating to learn that Jefferson had 150 varieties of 31 species of fruits in his garden at Monticello. Overall, I enjoyed the fruits Brie brought in for the class and I thought the presentation was very well done and I learned a lot from it.

Week # 13

For my blog this week I'm going to be discusses two presentations I enjoyed the most. Those two presentations were "Differences between food and gardening vocabulary and lexicon from then to now" and "Heritage livestock breeds in Colonial Virginia."

Differences between food and gardening vocabulary and lexicon from then to now

For this presentation, I just found it very fascinating to learn about the different pronunciations between American English and British English. I never realized how many different vowels there were in American English, but apparently there are a lot that we use that I wasn't a where of. What I enjoyed the most about this presentation was learning about how Thomas Jefferson was neologist ( creator of words). I honestly had no idea that was even a real thing, but apparently Thomas Jefferson created  a lot of words that we use a lot today, for instance "guess" and "bid". Lastly, I found it really weird the way that Thomas Jefferson would speak to his fellow high class friends, for instance he would say things like, "How does your lady, sir." Which I just find very crazy to say something like that because to me that makes no sense. But overall, I learned a lot from this presentation. 

Heritage livestock breeds in Colonial Virginia

For this presentation, I felt that the presenter flew through it too fast for me to really enjoy the content she was presenting. So from what I did catch from the presentation, I thought it was interesting that Thomas Jefferson didn't want to raise sheep until he received a letter from George Washington telling him that he should start raising sheep. Overall, this presentation just spoke about different types of animals that need to be conserved because the changing agriculture in America is putting these animals at risk. Lastly, I would just like to say that this presentation was very informative for the most part and I learned a lot from it. 

Week #12

For my blog this week I will be commenting on two presentations that really caught my attention. Those two presentations are Healthcare in Colonial America and Physical & Leisure Activities of Jefferson & Colonial America.

Healthcare in Colonial America

For this presentation, I found it very interesting to find that the life expectancies in 1776 was 33 years old, which I find to be pretty crazy. I couldn't imagine only having 12 years of my life left to live. The life expectancies now is 78 years old, which seems to be a lot more reasonable than 33. I also found it interesting that Thomas Jefferson believed that medicine needs to be unique for each person because he felt that every individual is unique and the illness a person has is unique as well.

Physical & Leisure Activities of Jefferson & Colonial America

I found this topic very interesting to find the differences between how and why people did physical activities in colonial america versus now. In Colonial America people would do physical activities by either working, cleaning, gardening, farming, and landscaping. People back then did it for the joy of it or to get work done around their homes. Where as now we do physical activities because we feel we have to in order to stay healthy. I also found it interesting to learn about different games that were played back in the colonial times that are so similar to the games we play now. Lastly, I found it interesting to learn about Thomas Jefferson favorite physical activities, which were walking and horseback riding.

Week # 11

For my blog this week I will be commenting on two presentations that really caught my attention. The two presentation I found to be fascinating were,  "Desserts from Jefferson's Kitchen" and "Food in the American Army during the Revolutionary War/ in Colonial America."

"Desserts from Jefferson's Kitchen"

For this presentation I really enjoyed the Chocolate tort she brought in. It was a little bitter, but overall I thought it was very well made. Her presentation, on the different desserts in Jefferson's kitchen, was very well done and contained a lot of varieties of desserts. I particularly thought it was interesting how a lot of her presentation contained ice cream because that was Thomas Jefferson's favorite dessert and even though I spoke about ice cream in my presentation I felt I learned things from hers that I didn't know before. Overall, I would say that she did a great job on her presentation and at the end I really wanted to try more desserts.

"Food in American Army during the Revolutionary War/ in Colonial America"

For this presentation I think the thing that stood out most for me was the visual aid he brought in. I found it very intriguing to be able to see what kind of food is served to soldiers to eat. From what I learned from holding the box set lunch/dinner was what they got isn't much at all and doesn't look very appetizing either. So by seeing what soldiers now get to eat while on duty, I can't even imagine how much food and if it was even edible that soldiers back in Jefferson's era had to eat; in my opinion it had to be a lot worst than what soldiers get now.

Week #10

For my blog this week I will be commenting on the two presentations I liked the most. The two presentations I enjoyed the most was "Dining Etiquette in Colonial America" and "Clothing of Workers in Gardens and Kitchens of Colonial America."

Dining Etiquette in Colonial America

I felt that this presentation was very informative and I learned a lot about proper dining etiquette. Before this presentation I knew nothing about which fork or spoon to use for certain dishes and where they are placed on the dinner table. I feel that this presentation helped me understand how proper dinners were at the Jefferson household and just overall in Colonial America during that time. Being proper and presenting yourself well is necessary when attending a dinner back in Colonial America and today. 

Clothing of Workers in Gardens and Kitchens of Colonial America

Now this presentation I found to be particularly interesting because of the different types of clothing that was worn during that time. I always find it fascinating to learn about what people wore during different time periods and why certain people wore different types of clothing. The pictures and the clothing that was brought in really made me understand what kind of clothing was worn; I also thought is was amazing how the presenter made all those article of clothing for her project. Overall, I took a lot from this presentation and it gave me better understanding of what was worn during Jefferson's time. 

Week #8

Lewis and Clark set out on a journey that most people believed was a death sentence. Very few people believed that the two men would accomplish their goal to make it to the Pacific Ocean and discover what the West had to offer.

During their voyage, Lewis and Clark encountered many different species and American Indian Tribes. I believe that Lewis and Clark did many trades with the Indians and during those trades discovered different foods and herbs that were not known in the east. So I feel that a lot of the food and herbs, that benefited America in the 1800s and today, mostly came from trades with the American Indian Tribes, but also from the Indians teaching them how to use the herbs and how to hunt for their food. I also believe that Sacagewa might of brought knowledge of different species and food to the men during the expedition, since she did live in the west part of the United States.  Even though I still do believe that they could of found a lot of new foods during the trip by taking chances and eating animals they have never encountered before in the east, like salmon.

Week #7

When it comes to the coffeehouses now, Front Room Coffee House in Baker, to the coffeehouses at Colonial Williamsburg in Jefferson's time, I feel there are many differences and similarities between the two.

The Front Room Coffee House is a modern coffee house that will provide coffee and espresso drinks instantly, where as coffee was only offered and took longer to make. The Front Room will also provide a range of other drinks, such as caramel lattas, espresso con panna ,etc. At Front Room you will see many people doing homework, reading, chatting with friends, or going over a group project with your classmates. The similarity that stems between these two coffee houses is it is a gathering place to meet people or a place to relax on your own and a difference is in the making and variety of drinks.