Times In History Beer Changed the World

Times In History Beer Changed the World

Times In History Beer Changed the World

There are so many ways beer changed history, you have to wonders what kind of world we would live in if the vital, hoppy nectar had never been invented. From the earliest civilizations to the modern day, beer has had a major impact on the trajectory of history. Read on for a deeper understanding of how and why the carbonated delight changed the world.

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Content

0 -> When we think of the forces that shape history
2.61 -> we tend to think of things like war, famine,
5.46 -> natural disasters, and disease.
7.99 -> And while few people would include a tall frosty beer
10.77 -> on the list, the truth is, beer's influence on history
14.01 -> is arguably as pronounced as any of those other factors.
17.32 -> There are so many ways beer changed history,
19.66 -> you have to wonder what kind of world
21.21 -> we would live in if the vital hoppy nectar had never
24.12 -> been invented.
25.17 -> So today we're going to take a look at times
28.17 -> beer has changed history.
30.2 -> But before we get started, be sure to subscribe to the Weird
32.7 -> History channel and leave us a comment below on spirit related
36.06 -> topics you would like to hear about.
38.05 -> OK, saddle up to your screen with a tall frosty beverage.
41.97 -> This video is a hoppy one.
43.89 ->
48.25 -> Homer Simpson once opined that alcohol
50.71 -> was the cause of and solution to all of life's problems,
54.7 -> but even he would probably be surprised to learn
56.98 -> that beer is at least arguably, the catalyst of civilization
60.67 -> itself.
61.75 -> You see, it was originally theorized
63.64 -> that migratory humans settled to harvest grain
66.22 -> from which bread was made, but in 2013
69.55 -> a paper that appeared in the Journal of Archaeological
71.83 -> Method and Theory suggested that harvesting barley for beer
75.43 -> predated harvesting wheat for bread by more than 3,000 years.
79.97 -> The paper cited archaeological evidence from the Mediterranean
82.81 -> and was corroborated by evidence found in Mexico.
85.72 -> This means that critical developments
87.61 -> in human civilization from the plow,
89.74 -> to irrigation, to the wheel, were driven by a love of beer.
94.21 -> This argument heavily suggests that beer is
96.7 -> the reason civilization began.
99.16 -> So maybe instead of the breadbasket of civilization,
101.68 -> we should all start referring to the beer keg of civilization.
104.98 ->
108.45 -> Without beer we wouldn't have the only one
110.88 -> of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that
112.95 -> still stands today.
114.75 -> You see, as it turns out, the Egyptians
116.91 -> used beer as medicine and currency
118.89 -> for those who built the pyramids.
120.84 -> Writing in Smithsonian Magazine, Dr. Patrick McGovern
124.11 -> explained that beer was of utmost importance.
127.22 -> It was a source of nutrition, refreshment, and reward
129.96 -> for all the hard work.
131.07 -> It was beer for pay.
132.96 -> That's right, the laborers who built
134.82 -> the pyramids performed their work in exchange for beer.
138.3 -> According to Dr. McGovern, you would
140.25 -> have had a rebellion on your hands if they had run out.
143.062 -> The pyramids might not have been built if there
145.02 -> hadn't been enough beer.
146.02 ->
149.86 -> Urukagina was a Mesopotamian king
152.32 -> who ruled over the city-states of Lagash and Girsu
156.52 -> in the 24th century BCE.
159.04 -> His predecessor as ruler was wildly corrupt,
162.07 -> so in an attempt to combat the problem,
164.53 -> Urukagina made some rules to combat corruption.
167.95 -> That set of rules, now known as the Code of Urukagina
171.19 -> is often cited as the first legal code in history.
174.28 -> One of the most interesting aspects of the code
176.41 -> is that it prescribed beer as a central unit of payment
179.23 -> and penance for civilization.
181.51 -> So for example, one of the things
183.07 -> the code specifies regarding burial costs is
185.68 -> that, "for a corpse being brought to the grave,
188.05 -> his beer shall be three jugs, and his bread 80 loaves."
191.68 -> Similarly, "60 loaves of bread, one mud vessel of beer,
195.46 -> and three ban of barley are for the person
197.71 -> who is to perform as the sagbur priest, king, or god."
201.76 -> And so in the very first instance
203.86 -> of written law and order in civilization,
206.29 -> beer was currency.
207.76 -> Sometimes the old ways are the best ways.
210.16 ->
214.76 -> In the Middle Ages water sources were
216.89 -> full of disease and drinking contaminated
219.05 -> water was sure to bring on parasites like Giardia,
221.75 -> if not something worse.
223.4 -> As the brewing process for beer involved
225.5 -> boiling water, then fermentation,
227.54 -> the final product was free of bacteria.
230.03 -> That is probably why in the 16th century
232.49 -> annual beer consumption in Britain was 530 pints
236.18 -> for every man, woman, and child, or three times the amount
239.99 -> consumed in the 21st century.
242.03 -> Having access to beer was about way more than getting drunk,
245.39 -> it was literally a matter of life and death.
248.15 ->
253.1 -> Medieval Europe was not a particularly fun,
255.71 -> fragrant, or healthy place.
257.63 -> On the contrary, it was dirty, smelly, and full of disease.
261.89 -> Childbirth especially, labor pain,
264.02 -> was brutal and typically exacerbated
266.15 -> by the squalid conditions and ignorance
268.22 -> in which many women lived.
269.78 -> To help things along, midwives would typically
272.42 -> administer beer instead of water to their patients.
275.61 -> Again, this was because many, if not most,
277.85 -> water sources were contaminated.
279.98 -> These midwives had their own brew,
281.9 -> known as groaning ale, which was given to pregnant women
285.38 -> when contractions began.
287.19 -> Sometimes the baby was even washed
289.43 -> in a seven or eight-month-old ale immediately after birth.
292.52 -> While some consider taking a bath in beer today
295.34 -> as an excess, back then the process saved countless lives.
298.865 ->
304.51 -> The Vretslav beer war was a cold war,
307.03 -> waged in the Polish city of Vretslav,
309.64 -> now Wroclaw beginning in 1380.
312.73 -> The war started because both the city council and the church
316.36 -> sought profit from beer sales.
318.64 -> The standoff between the mayor and the bishop
321.01 -> became so intense that when King Vaclav IV visited the city
325.21 -> in 1381, he found the bishop had shut down
328 -> all religious services.
329.98 -> To express his unhappiness at the state of affairs,
333.01 -> the king had his troops sack every religious site
335.71 -> in the city.
337.27 -> Intervention from the Pope himself
338.92 -> was eventually required to get Vretslav back under control.
342.28 -> In the wake of the beer war, the city council,
344.92 -> worried about future threats to its dominion,
347.26 -> created a restrictive oligarchy.
349.69 -> This led in 1418 to open revolt, during which
353.26 -> six members of the council, including the mayor,
355.51 -> were executed by an angry mob.
358.12 -> The emperor returned the favor by lopping the craniums off
361.48 -> of the 30 revolt leaders and boiling, tarring,
364.15 -> and impaling their heads on spikes on the city walls,
367.09 -> very subtle.
367.735 ->
373.43 -> The pilgrims were initially headed to Virginia
375.77 -> to start their lives in the New World.
378.02 -> That plan fell apart however because the Mayflower
380.78 -> was running low on beer.
382.73 -> The journey across the Atlantic had
384.35 -> taken a longer than expected and Captain Jones, commander
387.32 -> of the Mayflower, needed to get ships ashore
389.42 -> as quickly as possible to have enough beer to make the return
392.39 -> voyage to England.
393.92 -> It's tempting to imagine the Mayflower didn't want
396.35 -> to set sail without beer because it was a ship full of party
398.93 -> animals, but in truth, beer was simply
401.72 -> the main beverage for long sea voyages since it kept well.
404.87 -> Whereas water easily became brackish.
407.45 -> So it was because of beer that the pilgrims
410.21 -> landed at Plymouth Rock instead of pushing further
412.43 -> down the coast.
413.48 -> At Plymouth Rock they fortunately
415.28 -> happened upon Squanto, the Native American who
417.65 -> had been to England and back and therefore spoke English.
420.71 -> Squanto helped the Pilgrims work the land
423.05 -> and live alongside the natives.
424.97 -> If the Pilgrims had traveled just a little bit further,
427.76 -> they may have never met Squanto who helped them
429.95 -> through their first winter.
431.36 -> So we could also say that beer saved Thanksgiving.
435.05 ->
440.5 -> Early colonists in America were good at a lot of things,
443.9 -> but brewing wasn't one of them.
445.99 -> Native Americans had been brewing beer
447.82 -> since before the colonists arrived,
449.5 -> but their recipes didn't use barley.
451.63 -> So at first, colonists relied on shipments of beer
454.39 -> from England to get their brew.
456.19 -> Fed up with waiting for ships to cross the oceans, in 1609
460.09 -> colonists placed a full page advertisement
462.37 -> in a London newspaper looking for experienced brewers
465.4 -> to come to the New World and share their skills.
468.13 -> It was the first help wanted ad in the New World.
470.95 -> A number of brewers took up the offer
473.02 -> and thus began America's first non-native breweries.
476.62 ->
480.77 -> In a world before conference calls and the internet,
483.5 -> big decisions were made on a personal level.
486.08 -> The Sons of Liberty, who planned the Boston Tea Party,
488.9 -> did so at the Green Dragon Tavern in Boston's North End.
492.71 -> Taverns were a common community gathering
494.93 -> place in the 18th century and they served myriad roles
497.78 -> in the lead up to the American Revolution.
499.94 -> The Green Dragon for example, was the principal meeting place
502.64 -> of the Sons of Liberty.
504.05 -> By many accounts, the Boston of back
505.97 -> then wasn't really all that different than the Boston
508.43 -> of today.
509.46 -> So you know the Sons were doing more than
511.358 -> talking at The Green Dragon.
512.525 ->
517.94 -> While a beer flood sounds like something frat brothers do
521.45 -> to initiate pledges, it's not.
523.61 -> It's actually something terrifying and deadly.
526.49 -> The London beer flood occurred on October 17th, 1814,
530.18 -> in the London parish of St. Giles.
532.67 -> It all started when a massive beer vat at the Meux
535.22 -> and Company Brewery ruptured, causing a domino effect,
538.43 -> resulting in 388,000 gallons of beer spewing into the streets.
543.74 -> The power of the surge collapsed two houses
546.2 -> and crumbled the wall of a nearby pub.
548.54 -> It also flooded a nearby house hosting a wake.
551.66 -> Tragically, eight people died in the incident, almost all
554.96 -> of them women and children.
556.31 ->
561.15 -> When Louis Pasteur discovered bacteria,
563.67 -> he was conducting his experiments on beer.
566.55 -> Pasteur was actually trying to understand why beer sometimes
569.88 -> spoiled.
570.51 -> When he came to the conclusion that bacteria was the culprit,
573.48 -> a light bulb went off.
575.25 -> Pasteur quickly theorized that if bacteria
577.53 -> could make beer sick, it could make humans ill too.
580.41 ->
583.05 -> Prohibition in America led to some pretty nasty incidents
586.53 -> in the 1920s.
588.06 -> During the period, crime and the illegal distribution of alcohol
591.27 -> completely took over Chicago.
593.4 -> At the time, Al Capone was the most notorious and successful
596.97 -> gangster in the city, earning a reported 60 million
600.24 -> a year from the sale of illegal alcohol at one point.
604.14 -> Despite Capone's success however,
606 -> he was far from being the only game in town.
608.693 -> There were plenty of others trying
610.11 -> to get in on the lucrative illegal beer market.
612.97 -> In fact, at the time the Irish American gangster Frank
616.53 -> McErlane had a reputation for being every bit as
619.68 -> nasty as Capone.
621.03 -> And according to some, he was even more central
623.37 -> to the slayings of the beer wars.
625.44 -> The Illinois Crime Survey even called him
627.81 -> the most brutal gunman who ever pulled a trigger in Chicago.
631.23 -> Luckily for Chicago, prohibition was
633.24 -> repealed with the passage of the 21st Amendment on January 16th,
637.11 -> 1919.
642.98 -> Without beer Milwaukee is just another Midwestern city.
647.06 -> With beer Milwaukee became one of the most
649.46 -> dominant and important cities in America in the late 1800s
653.15 -> and stayed so through the 1950s.
655.73 -> It was even the setting for the beloved nostalgia soaked
658.19 -> sitcom, Happy Days.
660.05 -> Ironically one of the greatest reasons
661.67 -> for the success of Milwaukee's breweries
663.59 -> was the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
666.45 -> The fire decimated the Chicago brewing industry
669.33 -> and provided Milwaukee with a huge market
671.36 -> just a few hours down the road.
673.37 -> Using already strong railroad links
675.32 -> to move beer out of Chicago and around the country
677.63 -> cemented Milwaukee as a leading economic player in America.
681.59 -> Beer had so much influence on Milwaukee
683.96 -> they even called their Major League Baseball team
686.36 -> the Brewers.
687.59 -> So what do you think.
688.95 -> How has beer shaped your history.
690.92 -> Let us know in the comments below.
692.55 -> And while you're at it, check out some of these other videos
695.05 -> from our Weird History.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG5Iy-IIb_c