Worst Shortages in History
I think market shortages have been a topic that has been living for a long time in our minds. Even more, it’s living completely rent-free. And even if this year, last year, and especially the year before, we had to deal with a ton of shortages in some of the most needed sectors, it’s worth mentioning that this has been an issue since the dawn of times.
Yes, that’s right. It’s not just now that we have to go through this, as our grandparents had, too. In fact, whether it was because of chain issues or something more serious than that, the 21st century has already seen a kimchi shortage, a hazelnut shortage, and even the disappearance of Twinkies for a while, and that’s just a couple of things that humanity had to wave goodbye for a while.
What’s even more concerning is that these kinds of shortages often have a negative impact on many other things. I mean, the world simply runs out of some products, whether it’s helium for party balloons or vodka (I know, but it happened in Russia). Here are some of the most important shortages in history:
During the American Revolution, there was so little paper, mill workers were exempt from military duty
During the American Revolution, a vast shortage of paper became a problem after too many newspapers and books have been published. When the Stamp Act of 1765 asked that all materials that are published within the colonies be printed on stamped paper, it only increased the inflated cost of paper, and it was one of the many reasons why declaring independence became an imminent matter.
Paper shortages started to become a huge problem for many. Having previously imported the wide majority of paper from Europe, Americans had nothing else but to produce their own. Many states invested in the expansion of such an industry, and some even decided on a set of rules that were targeting paper makers and mill workers.
According to these rules, they were exempt from military duty as long as they focused more on rolling the sweet parchment.
3 Responses
All thanks to crooked, creepy, senile joe!
You’re a sheep. No man should be worshipped, that only belongs to God.
I found this so interesting as I do remember some of the shortages, but never knew the reason why? I love learning about history as one is never to old to learn something new. Thank you so very much.