whether you decided to sign up as a seaman in the U.
S. Navy 156 ago nowadays,you would have found a gill of spirits”– about a quarter pint of tough liquor– included in your daily food ration. The day after swearing in, however, and you may have wound up disappointed: on 14 July 1862,Congress passed a law which banned spirit rations and required sailors to purchase their own liquor. Sailors were compensated with a 5-cent increase in daily pay. Congress’ abolition of the spirit rations marks an early episode in the tumultuous, centuries-long relationship between alcohol and the U.S. Sea... Read the rest of this entry »
Source: navalhistory.org