1. Historical Time Period of Murder Afloat BY: Daniel Barstow

2. First piece of evidence “I was born in the brownstone town house in Baltimore in 1868” Page 3, paragraph 2. This directly states that the protagonist was born in 1868, and this isn’t researchable. However, you can research if brownstone was used in houses at the time. “While it is most closely associated with the Eastern United States, this material was at one point used all over the world in construction, particularly in upper class regions.” Source: Wisegeek.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2013..

3. Second piece of evidence “I asked our groom, Jake to saddle my gray pony, Billy; for I’d just as soon not walk five long blocks to the Lexington Market.” Page 6, paragraph 2. This evidence is accurate, for horses were the main form of transportation in the 19 th century. Horses were used for quite a lot of daily activities in city as well as country during this time. Source: IMH.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2013..

4. Third piece of evidence “They pulled the ropes and heaved the sails; sank back on their haunches as the ship caught the wind and headed farther south into the Chesapeake Bay” Page 16, paragraph 2. This is good evidence, because it says that the sailors/slaves pulled on the ropes and heaved the sails. This shows that the book was set in an older time because most modern boats use fossil fuel to power a propeller rather than wind to power a sail.

5. Fourth piece of evidence “Do they raid you, the Accomack, I mean?” I was nervous about Indians.” Page 86, paragraph 1. This shows that the setting of the book is during a time period where Native Americans still raid settlers. Native American wars and raids still happened very much in the 19 th century, so this information is accurate. Source: Legendsofamerica.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2013..

6. Fifth piece of evidence “I watched as Rolfe was handed a quarter, a dime, and a nickel. We were rich! My heart lifted and I felt like dancing” Page 96, last paragraph. This shows that money was worth a lot more back then, and this is true. But I’m not entirely sure if this made them “rich”. According to a historical currency converter, forty cents only had the buying power of around 10 dollars now, very far from rich. Maybe Benjy and Rolfe thought they were rich because they worked very long with no pay and little food, so forty cents might seem like a lot to them at the time. Source: Futureboy.us. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2013..

7. Sixth piece of evidence “I went up on the deck, where Captain John was standing at the tiller.” Page 102, paragraph 3. The author’s information is accurate, because tillers were used to steer smaller ships back in the 19 th century. Tillers were only used on smaller ships because as the boat gets bigger, the tiller starts to require ridiculous amounts of force to be used. Now, wheels are used on almost all ships with the exclusion of row boats. Source: Cnx.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2013..

8. Seventh piece of evidence “Rolfe and I slept in the barn, When we got up the next morning Paul and the wagon were already gone.” Page 82, paragraph 1. This information shows that this book was set in an older time period, because the farmer, Paul, uses a wagon as opposed to a car or truck. The information is accurate as well, for wagons and carriages were the dominate form of transportation during the 19 th century. Source: literary-liaison. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2013..

9. Eighth piece of evidence “Plum sprang too, grabbed the pistol from beside the captains hand and shot him twice” This is good proof that this was the 19 th century because Plum shot the captain twice in succession. If it was any earlier, say the 18 th century, Plum would have had to take a minute to reload the gun manually, stuffing the powder and ball down before shooting again. The 19 th century is when the single action revolver and repeater rifle were invented, allowing for multiple bullets to be fired without reloading. Source: History. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013..

10. Ninth piece of evidence “I knew a train track had been built just for the purpose of carting them (oysters) from Crisfield to Baltimore” Page 14, paragraph 2. This information is accurate, for a railroad was built in Crisfield for the purpose of carting oysters, along with other seafood to other cities and towns. Source: Crisfield.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013..

11. Tenth piece of evidence “Sometimes I was the lad who saw the glint of the gun that was about to kill our President James Garfield, and I’d knocked it from the assassins hands.” This information is accurate, because James Garfield was assassinated in 1881, just before the protagonist, Ben, was born. Source: whitehouse.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2013..