Quirky Founding Fathers and Other Bonkers Bits of American History

1. Shortcut to Instant Age Eligibility

During the Civil War, there were age restrictions on official enlistment in the military. In the Union, enlistees had to be over 16. However, such restrictions were usually honored more in the breach than in the observance.

Many an under-aged Northern boy, eager to enlist, had little trouble in finding a recruiter willing to sign him up so long as he was willing to put one hand on the Bible, raise the other, and swear that he was “over 16”. Some children ingeniously reconciled their consciences with the lie by writing the number “16” on a piece of paper, and sticking it to the bottom of a shoe, thus enabling them to honestly swear that they were “over 16”.

Check this out: Heartbreaking Photographs of Child Soldiers from WWI and WWII.

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

American Battlefield Trust – Children of the Civil War

Anthony, Dave, and Reynolds, Gareth – The United States of Absurdity: Untold Stories From American History (2017)

Baseball Almanac – Ten Cent Beer Night

Brodie, Fawn McKay – Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History (1974)

Cracked – 5 Stories That Prove the Founding Fathers Were Total Maniacs

Dickinson College – Benjamin Rush, Race, Slavery, and Abolitionism

Dugatkin, Lee Alan – Mr. Jefferson and the Giant Moose: Natural History in Early America (2009)

KFOR, November 11^th, 2013 – Great State: World War II Veteran Recalls Strange Incident During Coral Sea Battle

Koerner, Brendan I. – The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking (2013)