# The Earl of Sandwich and American Independence.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-earl-of-sandwich-and-american-independence/473611>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 20, 2008, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-earl-of-sandwich-and-american-independence/473611 "2008-11-20T04:54:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-earl-of-sandwich-and-american-independence/473611/1 "2008-11-20T04:54:31Z")

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Back when I was still a child, I heard on tv (you will understand if I don’t exactly recall where or when) that some people, presumably in Britain, blame the Earl of Sandwich (the alleged originator of the common sandwich) for “losing” the American colonies. That is to say, some people say we would still be a part of the British empire if it weren’t for the Earl of Sandwich. My question is _what exactly did he do to make this happen_?

You can understand why this question would be hard to google. And since I heard it so long ago, you will understand why some of the exact details escape me. I am pretty sure though, when I first heard this, they didn’t go into any exact details. Well, details now are what I hope you can provide for me on these boards.

Thank you to all who reply:):)🙂

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**Author:** ![WoodenTaco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@WoodenTaco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WoodenTaco)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-earl-of-sandwich-and-american-independence/473611/2 "2008-11-20T04:58:13Z")

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According to Wikipedia,

> [@](#):
>
> Lord Sandwich was Postmaster General in 1768, Secretary of State in 1770, and again First Lord of the Admiralty in Lord North’s administration from 1771 to March 1782. Despite the number of important posts that he held during his career, Sandwich’s incompetence and corruptness inspired the suggestion that his epitaph should read: “Seldom has any man held so many offices and accomplished so little.”
> 
> His incompetence in the Admiralty was said to have undermined the seaworthy efforts in the American Revolutionary War.

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**Author:** ![PopeJewish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@PopeJewish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PopeJewish)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-earl-of-sandwich-and-american-independence/473611/3 "2008-11-20T06:07:05Z")

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> [@Jim\_B](#):
>
> the Earl of Sandwich (the alleged originator of the common sandwich)

alleged is correct. There is no way he was the first guy to look at bread, look at meat/cheese, and decide they’d go well together. Most likely the first sandwich was created by some unkown farmer who didn’t have enough time to sit down and eat a real lunch so he just crammed a bunch of crap together and stuffed it into some bread while he went about his work. Also, there is no proof (that I’ve ever seen, anyway) that the Earl of Sandwich did, in fact, create the first sandwich. I mean, the French have been eating cheese and bread together for as long as anyone can remember, no reason to see why cultures they’ve come in contact with weren’t doing the same

as for your actual _question_ 😉 yea, WoodenTaco = nail on the head