WEBVTT - Tar and Feather 0:00:08.245 --> 0:00:13.325 School of Humans. Have you guys done your taxes yet? Yeah? 0:00:13.645 --> 0:00:14.125 Me neither. 0:00:14.925 --> 0:00:16.725 I mean, if you have, that's great of you, A 0:00:16.845 --> 0:00:20.285 very responsible ten out of ten, you win the award 0:00:20.405 --> 0:00:24.725 for today. But I do stand up comedy, so sometimes 0:00:24.805 --> 0:00:27.205 you'll get like you'll get like a W two for 0:00:27.325 --> 0:00:30.085 some place that you did a show at where you 0:00:30.165 --> 0:00:33.485 got like fifteen dollars, And I'm like, do I can 0:00:33.525 --> 0:00:36.685 we just like not? Can we just not report this? 0:00:36.845 --> 0:00:39.925 I think it's fine, it's just fifteen. But do you 0:00:39.925 --> 0:00:42.645 guys know who was really annoyed about taxes, like even 0:00:42.645 --> 0:00:47.245 more than we are. The American colonists before the American Revolution, 0:00:47.765 --> 0:00:48.605 they were pissed. 0:00:48.645 --> 0:00:49.725 They were pissed. 0:00:49.405 --> 0:00:54.405 About those taxes, stamps, tea. They're like, is nothing sacred? 0:00:56.005 --> 0:01:00.445 In the mid eighteenth century, revolution was rumbling in the streets. 0:01:00.885 --> 0:01:04.565 People were whispering or even sometimes talking quite loudly about 0:01:04.565 --> 0:01:08.485 liberty and Indians from Britain because I didn't want to 0:01:08.485 --> 0:01:12.605 pay those gosh dang taxes. I mean other reasons too, 0:01:12.725 --> 0:01:14.085 but mostly the taxes. 0:01:14.125 --> 0:01:14.645 It seems. 0:01:15.325 --> 0:01:18.445 The stampback lasted less than a year due to boycotts 0:01:18.445 --> 0:01:20.925 and protests, but the Brits. 0:01:20.605 --> 0:01:21.205 Kept at it. 0:01:21.525 --> 0:01:25.685 They were like, we'll create more taxes, maybe they won't notice. 0:01:26.205 --> 0:01:29.685 Well they did, and some of them decide to do 0:01:29.765 --> 0:01:34.485 something more about it, something dramatic. They're like, yeah, we 0:01:34.525 --> 0:01:38.085 can protest, we can boycott, but let's do something a 0:01:38.165 --> 0:01:42.245 bit crazier. Why don't we take these loyalists or these 0:01:42.245 --> 0:01:45.605 people trying to enforce the taxes, or also the importers 0:01:45.605 --> 0:01:49.485 and exporters who aren't boycotting. What if we cover them 0:01:49.485 --> 0:01:52.445 in tar and then roll them in feathers. 0:01:53.805 --> 0:01:55.405 Obviously that's the solution. 0:01:56.125 --> 0:01:59.365 Appropriately, this is called tar and feathering, and it's been 0:01:59.365 --> 0:02:02.325 happening since the medieval period in Europe, and then it 0:02:02.365 --> 0:02:06.205 got exported to the Americas and became trey potlair during 0:02:06.205 --> 0:02:09.325 the Revolutionary period. We're going to get into the nitty 0:02:09.365 --> 0:02:12.565 gritty of it today and learn about this sticky and 0:02:12.605 --> 0:02:17.525 feathery torture and its many victims. Cue the theme song. 0:02:22.645 --> 0:02:25.285 This is American filth. I'm Gabby Watts. Every week I 0:02:25.365 --> 0:02:29.165 tell you a filthy story from American history. This week 0:02:29.845 --> 0:02:33.765 tar and feather. I know, not very creative, but I'm tired. 0:02:43.205 --> 0:02:46.245 So tar and feathering really caught on in the Americas 0:02:46.245 --> 0:02:50.365 in the mid eighteenth century, the Sons of Liberty were 0:02:50.525 --> 0:02:51.645 super into it. 0:02:52.165 --> 0:02:54.405 That was a band of dudes that was formed. 0:02:54.085 --> 0:02:57.325 To fight for the rights of the colonists, intimidate any 0:02:57.365 --> 0:03:01.045 person trying to enforce British taxation, sometimes with the violence, 0:03:01.445 --> 0:03:04.365 and then eventually they would fight for American independence. 0:03:05.485 --> 0:03:09.765 They were the ones who were like no taxation without representation. 0:03:09.845 --> 0:03:12.925 And they were the ones who made tar and feathering iconic. 0:03:15.645 --> 0:03:19.125 Starting in the late seventeen sixties, a slew of tarn 0:03:19.125 --> 0:03:23.045 featherings occurred throughout the colonies, from Virginia up to New England. 0:03:23.765 --> 0:03:27.565 Historians think that American colonists learned about the practice from sailors, 0:03:28.445 --> 0:03:32.325 like in seventeen sixty six in Virginia, a ship captain 0:03:32.405 --> 0:03:36.165 got tarred and feathered because he told royal officials that 0:03:36.365 --> 0:03:41.885 contraband was on board another ship. But then that captain 0:03:42.125 --> 0:03:44.685 was attacked by the owner of the ship. He tattled 0:03:44.685 --> 0:03:47.685 on the owner and some of his cronies smeared tar 0:03:47.925 --> 0:03:51.725 all over him, doused him in feathers, and then paraded 0:03:51.805 --> 0:03:55.805 him through the streets of the town. Finally, once their 0:03:55.885 --> 0:03:59.805 revelry was completed, they dumped the captain in the harbor. 0:04:02.365 --> 0:04:05.285 I would imagine at this point, while flailing in the water, 0:04:05.725 --> 0:04:09.325 he regretted his choice. After all, the royal officials were 0:04:09.365 --> 0:04:12.245 doing nothing to save him, and also while. 0:04:12.045 --> 0:04:14.045 He was paraded through the streets. 0:04:13.965 --> 0:04:17.165 Apparently even the mayor was there ello welling at the 0:04:17.205 --> 0:04:21.965 captain like everyone else. The captain almost drowned, but before 0:04:22.005 --> 0:04:26.325 he sank, a passing boat rescued him. He probably resembled 0:04:26.325 --> 0:04:29.485 one of those pelicans covered in gas from an oil spill, 0:04:29.925 --> 0:04:32.485 but unfortunately at the time they did not yet have 0:04:32.605 --> 0:04:37.725 don dish soap. While dumping the captain into the harbor 0:04:37.965 --> 0:04:42.165 was a unique garnish for that particular case. This was 0:04:42.205 --> 0:04:45.885 how most tarn featherings would go. And if any of 0:04:45.925 --> 0:04:48.485 you are in need of a historical torture method for 0:04:48.565 --> 0:04:51.605 your enemies, here is what you need to tar and 0:04:51.645 --> 0:04:55.605 feather someone. First, it's hard to tar and feather someone 0:04:55.645 --> 0:04:59.005 by yourself. You know, most people won't sit still and 0:04:59.085 --> 0:05:01.165 let you tar them up, so it's good to have 0:05:01.245 --> 0:05:04.245 some cronies with you, or even better, a whole mob. 0:05:04.805 --> 0:05:06.405 Mobs love to tar and feather. 0:05:06.925 --> 0:05:10.965 Indeed, tar and feathering is actually a great community building 0:05:11.045 --> 0:05:17.205 exercise and create sponds that will last to lifetime. Then Obviously, 0:05:17.245 --> 0:05:19.485 you need to get some tar, and most of the 0:05:19.525 --> 0:05:22.285 tar that was used was pine tar, which you could 0:05:22.285 --> 0:05:25.485 find almost everywhere in the colonies. It was used on 0:05:25.605 --> 0:05:29.405 ships to protect the ropes and use for axles and machinery. 0:05:30.165 --> 0:05:34.245 Tar was also used to cauterize and sterilize wounds somehow, 0:05:35.125 --> 0:05:37.045 and then sometimes you could use it in your hair 0:05:37.085 --> 0:05:41.725 if you're trying to do a nice stiff updo. Okay, 0:05:41.765 --> 0:05:44.005 so now you got your tar. Now it's time to 0:05:44.005 --> 0:05:47.565 put it all over your victim. Here, you got some options. 0:05:48.765 --> 0:05:51.205 You could tar them up while they're still in their clothes. 0:05:51.445 --> 0:05:53.365 That would actually be the nicer way to do it. 0:05:53.365 --> 0:05:56.725 It's like, yeah, you're ruining that outfit, but it will 0:05:56.725 --> 0:05:58.645 be a lot easier for them to get all of 0:05:58.645 --> 0:06:05.165 the tar off later. Alternatively, you could strip them out 0:06:05.165 --> 0:06:07.445 of all their clothes and you could just dunk them 0:06:07.485 --> 0:06:14.885 in a tar barrel. Now, it appears most of the 0:06:14.965 --> 0:06:18.405 time the tar that was used had been cooled down. 0:06:18.485 --> 0:06:20.445 It wasn't fresh hot tar. 0:06:21.125 --> 0:06:24.405 But there were a couple unhappy cases where people were 0:06:24.445 --> 0:06:30.525 actually tarred with warm tar, and that's bad. It would 0:06:30.565 --> 0:06:33.965 blister your skin, just burn you up. So luckily they 0:06:34.085 --> 0:06:39.645 usually had the humanity to use cool tar, okay, And 0:06:39.685 --> 0:06:41.685 now once you got the tar on them, you got 0:06:41.725 --> 0:06:45.285 to find some feathers. Feathers were also pretty common, you know. 0:06:45.325 --> 0:06:48.885 They stuffed mattresses and pillows, and if you wanted to 0:06:48.885 --> 0:06:51.965 find the right quantity, usually you just needed a couple 0:06:52.205 --> 0:06:55.125 pillows of down to cover your victim from head to 0:06:55.125 --> 0:07:00.365 toe and become the ugliest bird you've ever seen. There 0:07:00.365 --> 0:07:02.925 are plenty of cases, though, where people would rip open 0:07:02.965 --> 0:07:05.965 a mattress and then just throw their victim into the feathers. 0:07:07.245 --> 0:07:07.445 Now. 0:07:07.445 --> 0:07:10.805 Once you have your victim covered in tar, covered in feathers, 0:07:11.285 --> 0:07:14.245 it's time to show off the great work you have done. 0:07:14.685 --> 0:07:15.525 You and your. 0:07:15.405 --> 0:07:19.325 Mob of friends parade the victim around the town, being like, 0:07:19.605 --> 0:07:20.165 look at. 0:07:20.045 --> 0:07:24.525 This loyalist fool moa haa haa haa. And for them, 0:07:24.685 --> 0:07:25.205 a lot. 0:07:25.005 --> 0:07:27.965 Of the pain from his experience came from the humiliation 0:07:28.285 --> 0:07:32.605 of being in this parade. Sometimes crowds would gather in 0:07:32.685 --> 0:07:36.005 the thousands to see a feathered man, and they would 0:07:36.085 --> 0:07:40.245 last for hours while people were cheering and hurling insults 0:07:40.285 --> 0:07:45.165 at you. Wow, what a fun time. Sometimes they'd even 0:07:45.205 --> 0:07:48.845 make the victim make a speech to renounce his loyalist 0:07:48.885 --> 0:07:53.965 ways and embrace the fervor of liberty, and when it 0:07:53.965 --> 0:07:57.965 came to physical pain, in some cases the process was 0:07:58.045 --> 0:08:00.845 quite violent, Like there was one case where a dude 0:08:00.885 --> 0:08:03.885 was forced to pluck the feathers off of a live goose, 0:08:04.965 --> 0:08:07.725 and then after he was tar and feathered, they kept 0:08:07.765 --> 0:08:13.285 throwing the goose at him. In some other cases, once 0:08:13.325 --> 0:08:16.405 a man was covered in feathers, they let them on fire, 0:08:16.805 --> 0:08:22.165 burning his skin underneath aUI also, it was just really 0:08:22.205 --> 0:08:25.285 hard to get the tar off, like you'd have to 0:08:25.325 --> 0:08:28.325 scrub and scrub and scrub and maybe use turpentine to 0:08:28.365 --> 0:08:31.645 help dissolve it. And almost every single victim of this 0:08:31.805 --> 0:08:34.205 they had a lot of hair loss, and sometimes they 0:08:34.205 --> 0:08:36.965 would get this thing called tar acne, which I can 0:08:37.005 --> 0:08:43.085 only imagine is fucking terrible acne. A lot of these 0:08:43.085 --> 0:08:48.045 events happened in Boston and in the surrounding New England area, 0:08:48.205 --> 0:08:51.205 but it wasn't just the sons of Liberty who engaged 0:08:51.205 --> 0:08:54.565 in it. In fact, it caught on all across the colonies. 0:08:55.805 --> 0:08:59.605 Everyday people on the side of independence from Britain might 0:08:59.645 --> 0:09:03.285 partake in some recreational torture if someone started being too 0:09:03.405 --> 0:09:08.285 loyalist around them. Also, some of these colloquial tar and 0:09:08.365 --> 0:09:12.925 featherings kind of demonstrate the creativity and diy spirit that 0:09:13.005 --> 0:09:18.085 many folks had at the time. Like there was one 0:09:18.365 --> 0:09:21.205 that happened in Kinderhook, New York. There's a group of 0:09:21.245 --> 0:09:24.725 women just sitting around quilting, just girly things, and then 0:09:24.765 --> 0:09:27.005 this guy came up to them who was a loyalist, 0:09:27.085 --> 0:09:31.725 and he started complaining about the Continental Congress. He was like, Gough, 0:09:32.085 --> 0:09:34.765 why on earth would you want to advocate for your independence? 0:09:34.845 --> 0:09:39.525 That's so stupid boo the Congress. The women who were 0:09:39.565 --> 0:09:42.645 quilting were probably looking at this dude like, why are 0:09:42.685 --> 0:09:45.485 you loyalist explaining to us right now? We will not 0:09:45.605 --> 0:09:49.565 do emotional labor for you random man. Also, quilting is 0:09:49.605 --> 0:09:52.845 a serious and tedious process not to be interrupted, so 0:09:52.925 --> 0:09:55.365 I don't know why he was just talking at them. 0:09:55.925 --> 0:09:59.245 So while the dude was spewing his loyalist garbage, the 0:09:59.285 --> 0:10:03.645 women suddenly stopped their quilting and we're probably like, shut up, 0:10:03.685 --> 0:10:08.805 you little British cuck bit which they grabbed him, pinned 0:10:08.845 --> 0:10:12.285 him down, stripped him down to the waist, girl boss, 0:10:12.365 --> 0:10:17.525 girl power, etc. But the thing is these women, they 0:10:17.525 --> 0:10:20.485 did not have any tar on hand. They were probably 0:10:20.525 --> 0:10:23.965 like hell fire and damnation. The one time I didn't 0:10:23.965 --> 0:10:26.285 bring tar with me, we need to tar a son 0:10:26.325 --> 0:10:29.965 of a female dog. But luckily the quilt squad had 0:10:30.005 --> 0:10:31.125 a bunch of molasses. 0:10:31.725 --> 0:10:31.885 You know. 0:10:31.925 --> 0:10:34.165 That's why you eat with the girlies when you're quilting, 0:10:35.165 --> 0:10:37.885 you know, before the invention of SIPs and strokes, where 0:10:37.925 --> 0:10:40.125 you drink wine and paint a horrendous picture of a 0:10:40.165 --> 0:10:43.805 flower with your gal pals, they had quilt to molasses parties, 0:10:43.925 --> 0:10:46.805 probably called sticky and so I'm just kidding that was 0:10:46.845 --> 0:10:47.605 a stupid joke. 0:10:47.725 --> 0:10:49.245 I should delete it, but I'm not going to. 0:10:49.365 --> 0:10:52.925 Ha So, with the spirit of diy or die, they 0:10:52.925 --> 0:10:57.365 took the molasses and poured it all over the loyalist dude. 0:10:57.565 --> 0:11:00.365 And then, as they had no feathers on hand, what 0:11:00.405 --> 0:11:02.765 they did instead is they just rolled them around in 0:11:02.765 --> 0:11:06.685 the meadow collecting the debris of wild life flowers. And 0:11:06.725 --> 0:11:14.965 they were like, yeah, that's what you get, scum. Now, 0:11:14.965 --> 0:11:17.725 I want to be clear, it wasn't like everyone was 0:11:17.765 --> 0:11:21.565 getting tar and feathered. Historians have found that there were 0:11:21.725 --> 0:11:25.525 probably like a dozen or so, maybe two dozen that 0:11:25.645 --> 0:11:29.005 have actually been written down and recorded there was probably 0:11:29.045 --> 0:11:32.645 some other ones, but it kind of happened in different phases. 0:11:33.525 --> 0:11:36.285 Like it seems that they started after the Stamp Act 0:11:36.405 --> 0:11:40.445 was repealed, and then when the British enacted the Townshend Act, 0:11:41.005 --> 0:11:44.885 which tax glass, lead, paint, paper and tea, and as 0:11:44.925 --> 0:11:46.805 an act of protest, they were like, we're going to 0:11:46.845 --> 0:11:49.725 tarn feather. But then it seems like the sons of 0:11:49.805 --> 0:11:53.205 Liberty kind of change their methods. Instead of tar and 0:11:53.285 --> 0:11:56.405 feathering people who are importing British goods or trying to 0:11:56.525 --> 0:12:00.445 enforce taxes, they started tar and feathering the goods themselves, 0:12:00.685 --> 0:12:06.165 you know, property and in one case someone's horse. Why 0:12:06.245 --> 0:12:09.125 they decide to do this, IDK, but it seems that 0:12:09.205 --> 0:12:12.245 from like seventeen seventy to seventeen seventy two there were 0:12:12.245 --> 0:12:16.525 only a couple of cases where people got tar and feathered. Also, 0:12:16.605 --> 0:12:20.085 at this point the Townshend Act had been repealed, So 0:12:20.205 --> 0:12:23.285 the Liberty Boys, the Whigs, the Patriots, they seemed to 0:12:23.325 --> 0:12:28.085 be losing steam and motivation, but luckily for their resolve 0:12:28.245 --> 0:12:31.845 in seventeen seventy three, that's when the Tea Act was passed. 0:12:33.525 --> 0:12:37.245 Wasn't that compelling information about taxes whatever? But we all 0:12:37.245 --> 0:12:39.645 know about the Tea Act. Blah blah blah blah. There's 0:12:39.685 --> 0:12:44.005 the Boston Tea Party, and then the patriot passion was 0:12:44.045 --> 0:12:51.245 ignited once again. After the Boston Tea Party. That's when 0:12:51.325 --> 0:12:55.485 one British official got a particularly violent tar and feathering 0:12:55.565 --> 0:13:00.085 in Boston. His name was John Malcolm. He was despised 0:13:00.085 --> 0:13:03.925 by the sons of Liberty and independent supporters because he 0:13:04.085 --> 0:13:06.085 was a big fat ladist. 0:13:06.445 --> 0:13:06.965 That's right. 0:13:07.085 --> 0:13:10.685 He worked in customs and he loved his job. If 0:13:10.685 --> 0:13:14.085 people weren't paying their taxes, if people weren't paying their duties, 0:13:14.725 --> 0:13:19.125 John Malcolm was gonna come for them. Now mob came 0:13:19.165 --> 0:13:22.645 after him after this one particular event that really didn't 0:13:22.645 --> 0:13:24.845 have anything to do with taxes, but he was just 0:13:24.885 --> 0:13:27.405 being an asshole, and they're like, that's enough of an 0:13:27.405 --> 0:13:31.485 excuse for us. So Malcolm had been walking around Boston 0:13:32.085 --> 0:13:35.165 when suddenly a young boy riding in a sled ran 0:13:35.205 --> 0:13:39.805 into him. Now, Malcolm, it seems he probably had a 0:13:39.805 --> 0:13:42.805 reputation where he wouldn't take it too well if someone 0:13:42.885 --> 0:13:46.485 ran into him with a sled. So a shoemaker named 0:13:46.525 --> 0:13:49.565 George Hughes saw the incident and he came to the 0:13:49.565 --> 0:13:53.685 defense of the boy, which then resulted in Malcolm beating 0:13:53.725 --> 0:13:55.525 the shit out of George. 0:13:56.045 --> 0:13:56.885 What a nice guy. 0:13:59.725 --> 0:14:02.325 And so the Liberty boys were like, that's all we need. 0:14:02.365 --> 0:14:06.645 We got a tar and feather this asshole. And for Malcolm, 0:14:06.685 --> 0:14:09.925 while he's not the most sympathetic person, this was really 0:14:10.005 --> 0:14:13.405 quite unfortunate for him because he's probably one in a 0:14:13.525 --> 0:14:17.725 small handful of people who have been through this twice. 0:14:17.925 --> 0:14:20.725 Two months earlier, he had been in New Hampshire and 0:14:20.765 --> 0:14:24.125 got tar and feathered. But this tar and feathering that 0:14:24.205 --> 0:14:26.525 was about to happen in Boston was about to be 0:14:26.645 --> 0:14:31.325 a whole heck of a lot worse. Once word of 0:14:31.365 --> 0:14:34.645 the assault got around, a mob descended upon Malcolm and 0:14:34.725 --> 0:14:37.445 they tore his clothes off, beat him up, gave him 0:14:37.485 --> 0:14:40.365 the tar and feathering treatment, and then paraded him through 0:14:40.405 --> 0:14:46.405 the town, stopping at various Patriot attractions like the Liberty Tree, 0:14:46.845 --> 0:14:51.765 and at each stop they would flog him. And you know, 0:14:51.845 --> 0:14:54.525 because they were still pissed off about the tea, they 0:14:54.605 --> 0:14:57.765 forced him to drink so much tea that he vomited. 0:15:01.525 --> 0:15:07.965 And yeah, through this experience he almost died. Hoops, And 0:15:08.045 --> 0:15:11.445 how did our revered founding fathers and Patriot leaders feel 0:15:11.485 --> 0:15:14.405 about this. You know, for a lot of these the 0:15:14.405 --> 0:15:17.525 worst thing that happened was the humiliation of being torn 0:15:17.565 --> 0:15:20.285 around the streets and then you know, getting the tar 0:15:20.325 --> 0:15:22.925 off of your skin. But as we've learned, sometimes they 0:15:22.965 --> 0:15:25.765 were extremely brutal. Well, it seems that some of the 0:15:25.765 --> 0:15:29.405 Patriot leaders were like really into it, Like apparently John 0:15:29.445 --> 0:15:32.165 Hancock paid the legal fees of one man who was 0:15:32.285 --> 0:15:35.845 arrested as a tar and featherer. But this last one 0:15:35.925 --> 0:15:38.365 with John Malcolm, they're like, hey, guys, I think you 0:15:38.405 --> 0:15:40.405 went a bit too far with this one. We should 0:15:40.405 --> 0:15:43.245 probably calm it down. They're like, no one's going to 0:15:43.245 --> 0:15:46.045 be sympathetic to our cause if we are literally being 0:15:46.125 --> 0:15:50.445 a crazy mob. And then also, how did the British 0:15:50.525 --> 0:15:51.125 feel about this? 0:15:52.005 --> 0:15:52.565 Not great? 0:15:53.805 --> 0:15:57.045 In March seventeen seventy five, a group of British soldiers. 0:15:56.605 --> 0:15:57.765 Were outside of Boston. 0:15:58.205 --> 0:16:02.965 They're being harassed, they were annoyed, they're fed up. So 0:16:03.045 --> 0:16:05.085 what they did is they set up this guide named 0:16:05.085 --> 0:16:08.885 Thomas Ditson. And Thomas wasn't the brightest bulb on the tree. 0:16:09.325 --> 0:16:12.165 So one of the officers offered to sell him a gun, 0:16:12.285 --> 0:16:15.205 which was illegal, and Thomas was like, hell, yes, brother, 0:16:15.325 --> 0:16:18.645 I'll buy that gun from you. But then they arrested him, 0:16:19.085 --> 0:16:22.485 and the commanding sergeant of these soldiers was like, damn you, 0:16:22.805 --> 0:16:24.845 I am going to serve you as you have served 0:16:24.845 --> 0:16:27.605 our men, and then commanded the soldiers to tarn feather 0:16:27.685 --> 0:16:32.365 this random dude. Then they put a sign on him 0:16:32.405 --> 0:16:35.925 that said American Liberty a specimen of democracy, and then 0:16:35.965 --> 0:16:38.765 they paraded him around the town while playing Yankee Doodle. 0:16:38.885 --> 0:16:42.365 Out of spite. Of course, at this the colonists were like, 0:16:42.405 --> 0:16:46.045 oh my god, how dare you. It's like, I know we. 0:16:45.885 --> 0:16:48.965 Were doing that, but how could you technically the governing 0:16:49.005 --> 0:16:52.405 body do something as wicked as that? But you know, 0:16:52.445 --> 0:16:54.885 they didn't really resolve anything because Whoop's wares on the 0:16:54.925 --> 0:17:00.205 horizon and tarn feathering wasn't happening just in the north, 0:17:00.365 --> 0:17:04.325 Oh no, it was making its way down south. And 0:17:04.365 --> 0:17:08.285 they're one brutal feathering left another man near death, but 0:17:08.325 --> 0:17:11.885 that man survived and vowed to get his revenge. Be 0:17:12.045 --> 0:17:22.765 right back after these soothing advertisements. All right, let's talk 0:17:22.805 --> 0:17:27.245 about the Continental Congress real fast. So in seventeen seventy five, 0:17:27.285 --> 0:17:30.725 they came up with this policy. They're like, hey, don't import, 0:17:30.885 --> 0:17:34.525 don't export British goods. And then they called on these 0:17:34.565 --> 0:17:37.965 local committees across the colonies to form so that they 0:17:38.005 --> 0:17:41.565 could enforce this plan. And the Continental Congress came up 0:17:41.565 --> 0:17:45.325 with the Articles of Association where they would force colonists 0:17:45.405 --> 0:17:49.485 to publicly declare if they were four or against American liberty. 0:17:49.965 --> 0:17:53.165 And if they refused to sign these articles, well, the 0:17:53.205 --> 0:17:56.005 Continental Congress was like, local committees, you can make a 0:17:56.045 --> 0:17:58.405 public example out of them, that's fine. 0:17:59.045 --> 0:17:59.885 And what's a great. 0:17:59.725 --> 0:18:02.205 Way to make a public example out of someone, Tar 0:18:02.325 --> 0:18:06.405 and feather them, obviously, And so the tarn feathering was 0:18:06.405 --> 0:18:08.925 making its way down south, and it was about to 0:18:08.965 --> 0:18:12.245 be used upon a dude named Thomas Brown, who would 0:18:12.325 --> 0:18:13.925 later be called Burnfoot. 0:18:14.245 --> 0:18:19.885 You'll see why anyway. Thomas Brown was. 0:18:19.805 --> 0:18:22.965 Born in the North of England in seventeen fifty and 0:18:23.045 --> 0:18:26.885 his dad was a prosperous merchant and manufacturer. When he 0:18:26.925 --> 0:18:29.765 turned twenty four, it was Thomas's turn to go out 0:18:29.765 --> 0:18:32.365 in the world and make his fortune. He got a 0:18:32.405 --> 0:18:36.445 boat and enlisted seventy indentured servants from Scotland to go 0:18:36.485 --> 0:18:39.805 on the long voyage to Georgia to work on a plantation. 0:18:40.365 --> 0:18:41.245 How fun. 0:18:44.285 --> 0:18:47.965 The boat arrived in Georgia in November seventeen seventy four, 0:18:48.725 --> 0:18:51.805 and with three thousand pounds of his family's money, he 0:18:51.965 --> 0:18:58.085 established Brownsboro. Remember his name was Thomas Brown, so Brownsborough. Honestly, 0:18:58.125 --> 0:18:59.925 I think it would have had a better ring to 0:18:59.965 --> 0:19:03.245 it if it was called Browntown, but that's just me. Also, 0:19:03.245 --> 0:19:07.405 I guess that does sound gross. Anyway, Brownsboro was near Augusta, 0:19:07.885 --> 0:19:11.725 and Thomas had a fifty six hundred acre plantation. And 0:19:11.765 --> 0:19:14.765 when he arrived, the Royal Governor of Georgia made Thomas 0:19:14.765 --> 0:19:16.045 a magistrate of the area. 0:19:16.485 --> 0:19:16.885 Wow. 0:19:18.405 --> 0:19:23.045 And according to historians, it does appear that Thomas fully intended. 0:19:22.485 --> 0:19:24.885 To lead a peaceful life as a planter. 0:19:26.085 --> 0:19:29.725 Ah. Yes, isn't it peaceful to have seventy indentured servants? 0:19:29.805 --> 0:19:30.005 Ah? 0:19:30.205 --> 0:19:35.765 The definition of tranquility. But unfortunately for him. 0:19:35.685 --> 0:19:37.405 He arrived at a bad time. 0:19:37.885 --> 0:19:42.965 The Revolution was nigh, the Continental Congress was convening. They 0:19:42.965 --> 0:19:46.045 were making people say yay or nay to American liberty. 0:19:46.685 --> 0:19:50.165 The Georgia Provincial Congress voted to enforce the no import 0:19:50.205 --> 0:19:55.405 and export rule as the Continental Congress decreed. Thomas Brown, 0:19:55.445 --> 0:19:59.125 though he wasn't into independence, he wasn't into any of it. 0:19:59.565 --> 0:20:01.405 He had hardly been away for a year. 0:20:01.765 --> 0:20:04.445 He was a magistrate, He had indentured servants and a 0:20:04.565 --> 0:20:07.005 rich dad. Why would he ever be on the side 0:20:07.005 --> 0:20:11.445 of this silly American cause his life is awesome. Thomas 0:20:11.485 --> 0:20:15.125 ended up joining a loyalist group that opposed the provincial Congress. 0:20:15.685 --> 0:20:19.245 But alas I guess he was doxed or something, or 0:20:19.285 --> 0:20:21.725 it was just well known who he was associated with, 0:20:22.125 --> 0:20:25.325 because on August second, seventeen seventy five, more than one 0:20:25.445 --> 0:20:27.765 hundred men who were part of the Sons of Liberty 0:20:27.925 --> 0:20:33.125 arrived at his plantation. They're like, hello, loyalists, scum, you 0:20:33.205 --> 0:20:38.285 must sign these articles of association. But Thomas he refused 0:20:38.285 --> 0:20:41.245 to pledge allegiance to the not yet created American flag 0:20:41.765 --> 0:20:46.085 and stated that he was against independence. So this Horde 0:20:46.125 --> 0:20:49.205 of Liberty boys took it upon themselves to try to 0:20:49.205 --> 0:20:54.085 convince him otherwise. First what they did is they beat 0:20:54.165 --> 0:20:57.245 him up. Someone had a rifle and they started hitting 0:20:57.285 --> 0:21:00.005 him with it. Then they tore off his clothes and 0:21:00.085 --> 0:21:02.525 tied him to a tree. And once he was tied 0:21:02.525 --> 0:21:05.885 to the tree, they set his feet on fire. There 0:21:05.925 --> 0:21:10.725 we go, there's the burn foot and then it gets worse. 0:21:11.045 --> 0:21:14.805 They scalped him. That's right, They cut the scalp right off, 0:21:15.485 --> 0:21:18.405 and finally they painted him with tar and covered him 0:21:18.445 --> 0:21:24.845 in feathers. Now, some accounts say that they tarred and 0:21:24.885 --> 0:21:27.725 feathered him and then let him on fire, but others, 0:21:27.805 --> 0:21:30.485 you know, say the opposite. But either way, he wasn't 0:21:30.525 --> 0:21:35.925 feeling good. Thomas was obviously in bad shape after this happened. 0:21:36.645 --> 0:21:39.565 He ended up losing two toes from the burns and 0:21:39.605 --> 0:21:41.165 from being beaten with the rifle. 0:21:41.205 --> 0:21:42.525 His skull was fractured. 0:21:43.165 --> 0:21:45.285 For the rest of his life, he had headaches, and 0:21:45.325 --> 0:21:48.405 he became addicted to laudanum, probably from trying to get 0:21:48.405 --> 0:21:52.165 a break from his chronic pain. But instead of forcing 0:21:52.205 --> 0:21:56.605 Thomas into submission, the Sons of Liberty accidentally made a 0:21:56.605 --> 0:22:01.405 great enemy, because even though Thomas Brown had been beaten 0:22:01.485 --> 0:22:04.045 down in the muck, he was now pissed as frick. 0:22:04.605 --> 0:22:07.045 No longer was he under the delusion that he would 0:22:07.085 --> 0:22:11.085 be a peaceful, happy planter. Oh No, Instead, he doubled 0:22:11.125 --> 0:22:15.405 down and became a Tory loyalist extraordinaire, ready to fight 0:22:15.525 --> 0:22:22.165 these Patriot jackasses. He said that even though the Patriots 0:22:22.165 --> 0:22:26.045 had quote presented him with a genteel and fashionable suit 0:22:26.045 --> 0:22:29.525 of tar and feathers end quote. He was undaunted by 0:22:29.565 --> 0:22:34.485 the task to shut them down. In a couple months 0:22:34.525 --> 0:22:37.885 after the attack, Thomas Brown recovered and he began supporting 0:22:37.885 --> 0:22:43.885 the Loyalist effort in South Carolina. But then, unfortunately for him, 0:22:44.005 --> 0:22:48.645 he was overrun. So Thomas had to flee. And where 0:22:48.645 --> 0:22:52.325 were the Loyalists fleeing to at this moment, Well, they 0:22:52.365 --> 0:22:57.205 were going to East Florida. You know, Florida, a safe 0:22:57.285 --> 0:22:59.565 place where nothing bad has ever happened. 0:23:02.805 --> 0:23:04.365 When Thomas got to East. 0:23:04.085 --> 0:23:09.725 Florida, he formed his own militia called the East Florida Rangers. 0:23:09.245 --> 0:23:10.605 Pew pew pew pew pew. 0:23:12.085 --> 0:23:16.165 He and his men raided Georgia, defended East Florida, and 0:23:16.245 --> 0:23:20.325 eventually helped the British get Georgia back from the Patriots. 0:23:21.245 --> 0:23:25.125 After they disbanded, Thomas formed a new militia called the 0:23:25.285 --> 0:23:28.925 King's Rangers, and he continued to fight and fight and 0:23:28.965 --> 0:23:32.165 fight and fight to get vengeance for his missing toes 0:23:32.325 --> 0:23:39.445 and his headaches. Finally, in seventeen eighty one, Thomas and 0:23:39.565 --> 0:23:45.925 his militia had to surrender. And at this point, I 0:23:45.965 --> 0:23:50.005 don't know if Thomas had fully quenched his thirst for revenge. 0:23:50.405 --> 0:23:52.605 You know, it's like, how many patriots do you have 0:23:52.725 --> 0:23:55.685 to kill in order to get over being tar and feathered? 0:23:55.925 --> 0:23:56.405 I don't know. 0:23:58.125 --> 0:24:01.525 Meanwhile, tar and feathering was falling out of fashion. People 0:24:01.565 --> 0:24:05.245 were like, are we bad for doing this? I mean, 0:24:05.285 --> 0:24:07.605 it's the age of enlightenment after all, maybe we shouldn't 0:24:07.605 --> 0:24:12.405 behave like animals. In seventeen seventy seven, Thomas Paine wrote 0:24:12.405 --> 0:24:15.365 about tar and feathering. He wrote, quote, it is time 0:24:15.445 --> 0:24:19.645 to be done with tarring, feathering, karting, and taking securities 0:24:19.685 --> 0:24:23.125 for their future behavior. Every sensible man must feel a 0:24:23.165 --> 0:24:26.605