07/30/2018
There is a distinct difference between a bar and a tavern. As early as 1644, while the colonies were still controlled by the crowns of Europe, laws were in place that required every town to provide a ''public house,'' or tavern.
It was viewed a municipal service, but regulated.
Taverns, once known as" public houses" back when residents were still British subjects were places that served only beer, wine, cider, and food if they choose to do so.
The tavern fee paid to the European legislature stuck in the craw of our early colonists, and was in par with the tax on tea which irked their ire.
Their tea was taxed, their beer was taxed their stamps were taxed.
We know that there was a brewery set up at the Jamestown Settlement in 1609 and that it was likely the first establishment created for making and serving alcohol of any kind—in this case beer. Breweries of the time—or brew houses as they were sometimes called—could often resemble what we might think of as a pub or café. In fact many pubs of the time served as small breweries.
During his travels along the eastern seaboard, Alexander Hamilton noted that one was expected to keep pace with their hosts while in the tavern, or risk insulting the surrounding company. Alcohol formed an integral part of colonial life: indeed, it is estimated that there were more taverns per capita than any other business in colonial America. According to visitors to the colonies, one of the favorite, alcohol-related pastimes that could seemingly go on without end was the raising of glasses in a toast.
Not always understood, and at times criticized, ‘drinking to ones health’ continued to remain a favorite way of passing the time in the American colonies. With such an appetite for intoxicating liquors, the colonists lacked no excuse for imbibing their favorite beverages, but this old English custom certainly made the act more entertaining for assembled groups.
