The Articles of association were passed on October 20, 1774, two hundred fifty years ago. While often overlooked, they are both a critical part of the story, and a window into the colonial mind, that would eventually lead into open rebellion.
During the civil war, the manufacture of powder and explosives was often handled by the most vulnerable, young women and children, whose labor was needed when so many men had been sent off to war. On March 13, 1863, the confederacy experienced a munitions disaster, in the confederate capitol of Richmond.