The Importance of Salt in the 18th Century

Jon Townsend is an expert in the lifestyles of colonial America, particularly the food of the era. The food was good if you had it, but there were no grocery stores, no refrigeration, and no canned food. If you wanted to preserve fresh food for later, you had to have salt. That wasn't always easy, especially during wartime. The tensions leading up to the Revolutionary War and the war itself caused disruptions in the salt supply lines that threatened to ruin the food cycle the colonists had established. The story of salt in colonial America is like many that Townsend tells: the struggles of everyday people in a new land just trying to get by. You'd never learn these things in high school history class, so we are glad we now get the chance.

The Importance of Salt in the 18th Century