WEBVTT - 022424 Way Black History Fact - The Black Origins of Jack Daniel's

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<v Speaker 1>Right now, it's time for the Way Black History Fact.

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<v Speaker 1>In Today's Way Black History Fact is sponsored by Underground

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<v Speaker 1>Beach Club From the Streets to the Beach. For the

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<v Speaker 1>latest in beachwear, visit Underground Beach Club dot com. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>gonna share from history dot com. This is not my opinion,

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<v Speaker 1>this is history dot com. So and dig it up

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<v Speaker 1>with them Jack Daniels. For those of you who like

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<v Speaker 1>to get faded. Jack Daniel stands as one of the

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<v Speaker 1>most iconic American brands and the most popular spirits in

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<v Speaker 1>the world. Yet, while the whiskey and its founder have

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<v Speaker 1>become dominant names in American liquor, lord, the person perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>most responsible for its success, an enslaved man named Nathan

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<v Speaker 1>Nearest Green, who taught Jack Daniel the art of whiskey distillation,

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<v Speaker 1>went unacknowledged for more than one hundred and fifty years.

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<v Speaker 1>Researchers are discovering that the role enslaved people played in

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<v Speaker 1>America's early whiskey making went beyond manual labor like gathering

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<v Speaker 1>grain and building barrels. Distillation was a no te, curiously

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<v Speaker 1>laborious and tedious work, and some plantation owners, including George

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<v Speaker 1>Washington and Andrew Jackson used enslaved workers to run their distilleries.

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<v Speaker 1>According to American spirit writer Fred Minnick, author of Bourbon,

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<v Speaker 1>The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of an American Whiskey Brokers,

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<v Speaker 1>at auctions of enslaved people, folk would notaate distiller trained slaves,

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<v Speaker 1>many of whom previously worked on the Caribbean sugarcane plantations

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<v Speaker 1>and contributed to the distillation of sugar's byproduct molasses to

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<v Speaker 1>create run These skill sets earned premiums for their owners

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<v Speaker 1>and made them attractive to buyers. Overall, However, documentation of

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<v Speaker 1>enslaved workers' contributions to early American whiskey production remained sparse,

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<v Speaker 1>as few enslavers saw fit to credit their achievements for posterity.

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<v Speaker 1>Little is known about Green's early years, beyond that he

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<v Speaker 1>was born in Maryland in eighteen twenty. It's not clear,

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<v Speaker 1>for instance, if he was born into bondage or was

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<v Speaker 1>enslaved later in life. What is clear is that by

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<v Speaker 1>the mid eighteen hundreds, Green had gained renown as a

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<v Speaker 1>skillful whiskey distiller in Lincoln County, Tennessee, so much so that,

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<v Speaker 1>as in slavers, the Landis and Green Company often rented

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<v Speaker 1>Green out to area farms and plantations, eager to partake

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<v Speaker 1>in his whisky making skills. It was in this capacity

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<v Speaker 1>that Green met young jasper Jack Daniel and forged what

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<v Speaker 1>would become an iconic partnership. Green taught Daniel sugar maple

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<v Speaker 1>charcoal filtering, known today as the Lincoln County Process, a

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<v Speaker 1>universally accepted critical step in the making of Tennessee whiskey.

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<v Speaker 1>With this process, whiskey is filtered through wooden charcoal chips

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<v Speaker 1>before being placed in casks for aging, a technique food

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<v Speaker 1>historians believe was inspired by similar charcoal filtering techniques used

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<v Speaker 1>to purify water and foods in West Africa. The process

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<v Speaker 1>imparted a unique smoothness of flavor that set Jack Daniel's

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<v Speaker 1>whiskey apart from his competitors. As years passed, Daniel continued

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<v Speaker 1>to learn from Green, building friendship with his mentor and

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<v Speaker 1>eventually perfecting the Lincoln County process and selling his whiskey

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<v Speaker 1>throughout Lynchburg and surrounding towns. Lynchburg Gang all Right. By

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<v Speaker 1>the time the Civil War began, Daniel had developed into

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<v Speaker 1>an adept salesman, pedaling a smooth brand of Tennessee whiskey

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<v Speaker 1>to soldiers and cementing his varietal as the most popular

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<v Speaker 1>in the area. Once the war ended an emancipation came,

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<v Speaker 1>Daniel bought Calls Distillery, renaming it after himself. Shortly after,

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<v Speaker 1>Daniel opened a larger distillery on a nearby plot of Landberg.

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<v Speaker 1>Green's sons, Louis, Eli and George also began work. Their

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<v Speaker 1>employment began a tradition of more than seven generations of

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<v Speaker 1>the Green family working either with or for the Jack

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<v Speaker 1>Daniels brand. So another one of those stories that you

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<v Speaker 1>know we're gonna spend the second part of the show

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<v Speaker 1>talking about Black history and Black History Month, and for

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<v Speaker 1>those that can't stick around, at least this gives you

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<v Speaker 1>an idea of why we think that's important.