February 16, 1959- Fidel Castro Sworn in as Prime Minister of Cuba

Fidel Castro, 1950s. Public Domain.

After many years of violent conflict between Fidel Castro’s revolutionaries and the US-backed regime of Fulgencio Batista, the autocratic president was arrested by one of his generals who had arranged a secret ceasefire with Castro. Batista was allowed to flee into exile before he could be tried by the rebels. General Castillo attempted to organize a new government without Castro, resulting in his arrest by revolutionary sympathizers within the military. Castro’s forces occupied Havana and he appointed Manuel Urrutia Lleó to the presidency while he purged the government and reordered the economy. Though his governing was autocratic and resulted in many executions without trial, he remained immensely popular with most Cubans.

On February 16, 1959 Castro was sworn in as the prime minister of Cuba. He served as the head of the government until 2011.

February 9, 1674- Third Dutch-Anglo War Officially Ends

Flag of the Dutch West India Company

At a time when most European countries were ruled, wholly or partially, by monarchies, the Dutch people of The Netherlands (Holland and its colonies) began experimenting with democracy. The United Provinces of the Netherlands was a republic created from 7 provinces that had seceded from The Spanish Empire’s northern region. One of its strongest sources of wealth was the Dutch East India Company, a private company created to conduct trade throughout eastern lands, famously in Indonesian spices. Like the British East India Company, it had the power to conduct wars on foreign soil and enjoyed monopolies on trade in certain areas or of certain commodities. 

The Dutch West India Company was a separate corporation created to conduct similar colonial projects in the Atlantic. It established colonies and outposts on the coasts of Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean Islands, and North America. Like their colonial competitors, the Dutch West India Company used their infrastructure to circulate numerous commodities, as well as enslaved laborers, mostly from Western and Central Africa.

On the island of Mannahatin (Delaware/Lenape language) the Dutch established the colony of New Amsterdam in 1624. Further up the Hudson River near modern-day Albany they established Fort Orange. These northern parts of New Netherland, struggled to compete with more populous English colonies to the east, and attacks from Native peoples to their west. Additionally, the Dutch colonists’ resistance to feudal land policies designed to fund the colony made it a far less successful property in the West India Company’s portfolio than its Caribbean and African counterparts.

The English and Dutch Empires came into frequent conflict through their various naval assets. Several years after the first Anglo Dutch War (1652-54) a small fleet of English ships surrounded New Amsterdam. Director-General Peter Stuyvesant decided there was little point in resistance. He negotiated recognition of the inhabitants property rights and surrendered to the English without a fight in 1664. 

The Second Anglo-Dutch War began soon after (1665-67). Like the first, it consisted primarily of naval battles in Europe. Five years later the Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672-1674) erupted. In 1673 the Dutch sent their ships to surround the renamed New York. It was renamed again, this time New Orange and remained under Dutch control for almost a year until it was returned to the English at the close of the war. 

This was codified on February 9, 1674 in the Treaty of Westminster (The Second Peace of Westminster). Whether governed by the English or the Dutch, New York retained a strong Dutch influence and distinct colonial population, even as it brought together disparate peoples from around the world, many against their will. 

Sources:

The Rise and Fall of New Netherland- National Parks Service

Anglo-Dutch Wars- Encyclopedia Britannica

New Amsterdam- Dutch Port Cities Project, NYU

New Netherlands- NBC News Learn, Youtube
The Dutch West India Company- PBS

February 2, 1848- The Mexican/American War ends (Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo)

Map of the Republic of Texas, 1836–1845. Ch1902. Own work using: Cambridge Modern History Atlas (1912) map 71. 2009.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wpdms_republic_of_texas.svg

Mexico’s road to independence was a long and tortured one. As a colonial possession of Spain, untold wealth was extracted from it, and shameful violence, pestilence, and famine were meted out to its indigenous inhabitants and most of the Spanish and mixed-race people born on its soil following the conquest.

A coalition of dissident factions eventually managed to throw off Spanish rule in 1821. However, the revolutionaries did not share a vision for independence for most of Mexico’s citizens, who were by and large uneducated, and/or of mixed heritage. Without a popular movement supporting their initiatives, the intellectual and military leaders of the new republic frequently fell out and fought against each other. Several of the first Mexican presidents were executed for treason by political rivals not long after leaving office. General Antonio López de Santa Anna emerged as the most dominant political leader of this period. He held the office of president several times, but even outside of it, was never far from the center of power. 

As conservative Centralists gained power in the country, the first constitution was overhauled and the government took on a more authoritarian structure, leading to more strident resistance in many parts of the country. Beyond Ciudad Mexico (Mexico City) in all directions were large rural territories that had traditionally been ruled by heavy handed elites, often using forced labor, relocation, and cultural repression. As economic insecurity plagued the new government, multiple popular uprisings emerged, sapping the military’s resources. 

One of Mexico’s largest territories was the province of Coahuila and Texas. Before independence, the Spanish Empire had struggled to populate this region. In order to solve this inherited problem, the Mexican government encouraged immigrants from the United States to settle in the area, providing cheaper land and temporary exemption from Mexican taxes. The policy stipulated that these immigrants must be Roman Catholics, but this was not something that could be enforced in reality. This created an unstable situation among many of the American immigrant communities and their Mexican and mixed-race Tejano neighbors. The government kept the immigrant Texans in check politically by keeping Coahuila, where Mexicans still had greater numbers, and Texas in one province. But American immigrants still dominated Texas demographically and economically. In order to preserve Mexican control of the area, the government abolished chattel slavery in 1829, (Texas being the only Mexican territory where it was still widely practiced, due to immigrants from the American South). This was meant to discourage immigration from the United States, which a year later was banned outright.

Eventually, calls for Texas secession from the Mexican Republic reached a critical mass, resulting in the establishment of the Lone Star Republic in 1836. General Santa Anna’s hardline tactics against the rebels only steeled their resolve and bolstered support from factions within the United States who supported the revolt with money and volunteers. Texan forces eventually captured Santa Anna and forced him to sign an agreement recognizing Texan independence and vow to cease hostilities. The general returned to Mexico to an irate government that refused to recognize the agreements. 

While many Americans cheered the Texas revolution and urged their government to absorb the new republic into the United States, just as many saw it as a dangerous powderkeg that had resulted from reckless adventurism. The question was debated for years and argued against on the grounds that annexation of Texas would start a war with Mexico and introduce an unwelcome cultural element (Mexicans) into the United States. By the mid 1840s, Democrats gained more traction for expansionist policies. James K. Polk won the presidency in 1844 on a platform including annexation of Texas. Before he was even inaugurated, a bill was introduced to Congress and the state of Texas was created by 1845.

Map of Mexico in 1824 after the creation of the Federal District. Hpav7. Wikimedia Commons. 2009. Public Domain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mapa_de_Mexico_1824_2.PNG

As predicted, this sparked condemnation from the Mexican government which had never recognized Texan independence. Both nations began preparing for war. Polk sent troops into the disputed border region between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande, began mobilizing the US Navy, and sent special envoy John Slidell to Ciudad Mexico. When Mexican journalists learned that Slidell was in fact attempting to negotiate the purchase of more Mexican territory, New Mexico and California, it inflamed nationalist sentiment and many citizens threatened to revolt against President José Joaquín Herrera. The negotiations went nowhere. 

Polk’s cabinet was still divided on declaring war. Several secretaries were not willing to vote for war until attacked by Mexican forces. This occurred when General Zachary Taylor, who had crossed Mexico’s stated border, the Nueces, led his troops to the Rio Grande. Soon after refusing the Mexican commander’s order to withdraw, a skirmish broke out between troops. Taylor reported 16 casualties. Polk argued before Congress that Mexico had invaded US territory and “shed American blood on American soil.” Congress swiftly declared war on Mexico in 1846. The Mexican government was defiant, but still divided amongst itself. The army overthrew the current president and brought General Santa Anna back to power.

The war saw battles in California, New Mexico, and Texas, but the major offensive took place in Mexico’s heartland. US forces invaded and occupied Veracruz. Civilian deaths far outnumbered military casualties. US newspapers reported shocking abuses against civilians by American troops. General Winfield Scott fought several battles on the way to Ciudad Mexico, and eventually conquered its defenses. The occupation of the ancient city was not an easy task, as the citizenry continued its resistance through acts of sabotage and guerrilla warfare. Most US deaths were the result of disease rather than combat.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed on February 2, 1848. The United States purchased California, New Mexico, and Texas, half of Mexico’s territory, for 18.25 million dollars. The treaty obligated the US to protect the property of the Mexicans in their new possessions by giving them US citizenship or just compensation if they decided to leave the country. In reality, only the most elite Mexicans were able to retain their wealth, while the majority of the population suffered political, cultural, and often violent repression, including frequent lynchings.

Despite this brutal history, Mexican and indigenous communities resisted erasure and fought to retain their cultures and communities throughout the American Southwest.

Sources:

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)- The National Archives (US)

The United States-Mexican War, 1846-1848- United States Foreign Policy History and Research Guide

Mexican War Timeline- National Parks Service

“Santa Anna, the Centralized State, and the War with the United States.” The Course of Mexican History. Susan M. Deeds, Michael C. Meyer, William L. Sherman. Oxford University Press. 11th ed. 2018.

January 26, 1788- New South Wales founded in Australia

“One of the NSW Aborigines befriended by Governor Macquarie,” Artist Unknown. Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW – ML 696.

The British Empire regularly sent prisoners to its colonies around the world in order to “cleanse” itself of unwanted people. After the loss of its North American colonies in 1783, the Empire was in need of new lands to exile its convicts to. British sailors had recently discovered Australia and claimed it for the British Crown. This was not negotiated with the local aboriginal people, the Eora nation (pronounced “yura”).

On January 26, 1788, Britain’s First Fleet, made up of 11 ships led by Captain Arthur Philip, founded the first “convict settlement” in Australia at Sydney Cove. This eventually became the colony of New South Wales.

Sources:

Exile or Opportunity?- National Museum Australia

Eora-Mapping Aboriginal Sydney- New South Wales State Library

January 19, 1966- Indira Gandhi Elected Prime Minister of India

Photo: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

Many call Indira Gandhi one of India’s most controversial prime ministers, however a quick read leaves me with the impression that all of India’s prime ministers have been controversial. 

India has recently surpassed China as the world’s most populous country. Like many nations, India’s borders were largely imposed by colonial outsiders, in their case, the British. Within these borders there are diverse cultures and communities, many that have long been marginalized by successive ruling powers.

Upon gaining independence from Britain, a fierce conflict unfolded between Hindu and Muslim elites  that resulted in the event known as Partition. This process created the 2 modern nations, The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and the Republic of India. 

A historic migration and refugee crisis resulted as Muslims surged into Pakistan and non-Muslims fled it. Neither country was prepared to deal with the volume of movement, which only exacerbated chaos and conflict. It is believed that at least 1 million people died in the violence that attended these mass migrations. 

Indira Gandhi was the daughter of India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. She worked as an assistant to her father for many years. She eventually won a seat in the Indian Parliament in 1964 at the age of 47. She was appointed Minister of Information and Broadcasting by then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shasti. Shasti died in office shortly after signing the Tashkent Declaration, a treaty that officially ended the Indo-Pakistan War. 

On January 19, 1966 India’s Congress Party elected Indira Gandhi to succeed him as Prime Minister. She served 3 consecutive terms through 1977 and a 4th term from 1980-84. 

During the Cold War, newly independent nations like India faced immense pressure to side with the capitalist US/Western European sphere or the Soviet Russian dominated communist sphere. Indira Gandhi kept India part of the global Non-Aligned Movement, a coalition of “developing” countries that sought political space between the 2 major power blocs, both of which continued to oppress colonized and decolonized countries throughout the so-called 3rd World.

Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984 by 2 of her Sikh bodyguards in retaliation for her government’s military operation against Sikh militants in Amritsar, a major Sikh city.

India’s history is incredibly complicated and fascinating. I have been familiar with Indira Gandhi’s name for many years, but am embarrassed to report that prior to researching this post, I believed she was related to Mahatma Gandhi. Wrong again 🫥

Sources:

19 January 1966- History Channel UK

Indira Gandhi Timeline- Indiragandhi.in

Indira Gandhi- Iowa State University

January 12, 1908- Lee de Forest's Long Range Radio Broadcast

Lee de Forest, Pubic Domain.

Lee de Forest was an American inventor who was one of the earliest innovators of radio technology. On January 12, 1908, he conducted one of the first long range radio broadcasts from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. His life and career were marked by achievement, but also controversy.

Sources:

A Short History of Radio- FCC.gov

Lee de Forest- New World Encyclopedia

Lee de Forest and the Amplifying Audion- Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers

January 5, 1875- Peter Crosby and the Vicksburg Massacre

Chicago Inter Ocean

After the election of a Black sheriff, Peter Crosby, along with several other Black officials in Warren County, Mississippi, violence erupted.

In December of 1874 the Taxpayer’s League (a White political organization) demanded Crosby’s resignation. When he refused, they returned with an armed mob and forced him to sign a resignation document in the county courthouse.

On December 7, when a group of Black citizens marched on the county courthouse to demand Crosby’s reinstatement, they were fired upon by White mobs. Not satisfied with vanquishing the organized marchers, the mobs continued seeking Black victims around the city. It is estimated that up to 300 Black people were killed in what became known as the Vicksburg massacre.

On January 5, 1875, President Ulysses Grant ordered federal troops to restore order to the city and reinstate the Sheriff. Though successful in the short term, racialized political violence would continue to plague Vicksburg as it did many cities across the country in the Reconstruction era.

Sources:

Peter Crosby (1844-1884)- Black Past

Ulysses S. Grant, Key Events- The Miller Center, UVA

A Brief Pause on History

I’ll be pausing the Saturday posts during January in order to prepare enough new ones to keep the blog updated consistently. This will also allow me to do some research on a few topics I don’t want to rush.

Teaser: do you know Pocahontas’ real name?

Friday posts will continue as normal. Thank you for reading.

December 15 and 29, 1890- Sitting Bull's Murder and the Wounded Knee Massacre

Lakota Times. 2021. https://www.lakotatimes.com/articles/march-in-lakota-history/

Sitting Bull was a Hunkpapa (Tribe) Lakota (Nation) leader born in modern-day Montana. The Lakota are more commonly known as the Sioux. This was a name meaning “snakes,” applied to them by Ojibwe enemies. It was also adopted by Canadian and American colonists. Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota are different dialects of the same language. All these versions of the word mean “friend” or “ally,” referencing the political and cultural bonds of the many tribes (Hunkpapa, Oglala, Yankton, etc.) that made up the Lakota confederacy.

Sitting Bull was famous for defeating General George Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. In reality, Sitting Bull did not take part in the fighting. In resistance to being settled on a reservation, he had established a camp for his band on the Little Bighorn River (Greasy Grass River to the Lakota). Other renegade bands joined them over the course of months, swelling their numbers. Sitting Bull, among others, acted as a spiritual leader, performing the Sun Dance, and other cultural rituals to bolster the numerous warriors.

The US Army sent several units to confront the camp and force the Native people back on to reservations. Tellings of the infamous battle vary widely. Some say Custer’s unit, the 7th Cavalry, was ordered to attack, and others insist the general brashly led his soldiers into a situation where they were starkly outnumbered and doomed to slaughter. After wiping out the Americans, the camp disbanded over the next few days. Sitting Bull led his band up into Canada and lived there for 4 years. Most of the bands that remained in the US were hunted down by the Army or surrendered.

Sitting Bull eventually returned to the US and surrendered in 1881. He and his band were confined to the Standing Rock Reservation between North and South Dakota. His time on the reservation was tense. In the late 1880s, a movement called the Ghost Dance spread among western tribes. A Paiute man from Nevada named Wovoka is credited with creating it. He told his followers that if they performed the Ghost Dance their dead would rise, the buffalo would return, and the White people would be driven away. The movement made White westerners paranoid and hostile to its followers. The dance was outlawed on the reservations and many Americans called for the extermination of the remaining western tribes. The authorities of Standing Rock became concerned that Sitting Bull would join this movement and increase its numbers. On December 15, 1890 they ordered his arrest. When he resisted, one of his band fired at the arresting officer, who in turn shot Sitting Bull. A firefight ensued and left 8 men dead from each side.

Sitting Bull. D.F. Barry. 1885.

Many of Sitting Bull’s band fled to the camp of a well known Minneconjou Lakota leader named Spotted Elk on the Cheyenne River Reservation. Fearing conflict with the US Army, Spotted Elk reached out to the Oglala Lakota Chief, Red Cloud, who invited the band to take refuge with him on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The band was intercepted by Major Samuel Whiteside leading a detachment of the 7th Cavalry. Spotted Elk surrendered peacefully and allowed his band to be escorted to a camp by Wounded Knee Creek. That night Colonel James Forsyth arrived and positioned 4 cannons around the camp. The next morning Forsyth and his soldiers ordered the band to disarm. One Lakota man refused, resulting in a gunfight that escalated into a massacre that claimed the lives of over 200 Native people, many of them women, children, and unarmed men.

Initially reported as a battle in which the US Army emerged victorious, more accurate reports soon surfaced and elicited more conflicted reactions from the American public, and even some soldiers. While many view the Wounded Knee massacre as a tragedy born of a communication breakdown, others believe it was a calculated act of vengeance by the 7th Cavalry for the slaughter of Custer’s unit at Little Bighorn. As with so much history of the so-called “Indian Wars,” there is little evidence and many stories.

Sources:

Sioux- Dominican University

A Sioux Chief’s Arrest- Rock Island Auction

Sitting Bull- Canadian Encyclopedia

A Dark Day: Massacre at Wounded Knee- South Dakota Public Broadcasting

Spotted Elk- Aktá Lakota Museum and Cultural Center

Vocab- Modernism

Modern is a term to describe something of the present, but modernity is a lot messier.

The word “modern” was first used to describe a time period by a Roman statesman and historian of the 6th century CE named Cassiodorus. Like his father, he was an advisor to the Ostrogoth Kings who had taken over southern Italy as the Western Roman empire slowly fell apart. At the end of his career, Cassiodorus retired to his estate and founded a monastery called the Vivarium in order to preserve Roman culture and texts from ancient scholars. He is cited as the first writer to use the word “modernus” (Latin) to regularly describe his own time.

The term was used on and off by different European writers to describe their times throughout subsequent centuries. The Italian Renaissance was a movement in which Europeans began to distinguish their cultures from the standards and structures of the Middle Ages, which were defined by feudalism and religious domination of education and politics. Renaissance scholars translated and circulated texts about ethics and arts from ancient Romans, Greeks, and others, that did not rely on Christian works.

This dynamic played out around Europe in various locales over the following centuries and it largely defined the Enlightenment. Between roughly 1700-1800 this movement fueled secularism, nationalism, and capitalism.

In history the Early Modern era is roughly 1490-1780, and the Modern Era is roughly 1780-1960. But this is not the same as Modernism, a literary and artistic movement of the 1900s wherein writers and artists, again largely in Europe and nations founded through European colonialism, broke with cultural traditions as their societies industrialized and urbanized. The term “modernity” is used in all these contexts, sometimes to mean very specific things, or just as often, wildly vague phenomena.

Modern

Modernity

Modernism

Clear as mud, right?

Just wait for Postmodernism.

Sources:

Modernity- Wikipedia

Introduction to the Renaissance- M.A.R. Habib, Rutgers University

December 22, 1864- William Sherman Captures Savannah

Union General William Tecumseh Sherman. 1965. Public Domain.

William Tecumseh Sherman was a Union general in the American Civil War. He is most famous for “Sherman’s March to the Sea.” In 1864, after capturing Atlanta, Georgia’s capital, he ordered his army to march to Savannah, on the coast. This took roughly a month’s time, and involved destroying any infrastructure that might be of use to the Confederate army along the way.

On December 22, Sherman telegraphed President Lincoln the following:

“I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the City of Savannah with 150 heavy guns & plenty of ammunition & also about 25.000 bales of cotton.

W. T. Sherman

Major Gen”

Sources:

Telegram- Library of Congress

Sherman’s March to the Sea- New Georgia Encyclopedia

December 8, 1949- Chinese Nationalists Establish their Capital in Taipei, Taiwan

China’s last dynasty was the Qing Dynasty. It was overthrown in 1911 by a coalition of nationalist forces that established the Republic of China. 

From 1927 to 1937 the Nationalists fought a civil war with the Chinese Communist Party for control of the country. The conflict was mostly put on hold in order to defend against a Japanese invasion that lasted from 1937-45. After Japan’s defeat by the “Allied Powers” in World War 2, the civil war resumed. By 1948, it became clear the Communists had gained the advantage and the Nationalists began a systematic retreat to the island of Taiwan. 

Chiang Kai-shek, first president of the Republic of China/Taiwain. Public Domain. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chiang_Kai-shek%EF%BC%88%E8%94%A3%E4%B8%AD%E6%AD%A3%EF%BC%89_%289to12%29.jpg

On December 8, 1949 the Nationalists officially moved their capital to Taipei, Taiwan. 1.2 million Chinese people fled the mainland to join them throughout the following year. The country was ruled under martial law until 1987.

Taiwan has a long history of invasion featuring the Dutch, the Portuguese, The Chinese, the Japanese, and others. The Taiwanese government currently recognizes 16 indigenous peoples as the original inhabitants of the island. A number of other peoples continue to struggle for official recognition. 

Sources:

History- Tawain.gov

The Great Retreat- Taipei Times

Indigenous Peoples in Taiwan- IWGIA

As Taiwan Embraces its Indigenous people, it rebuffs China- CNN

December 1, 1955- Rosa Parks Arrested

Rosa Parks fingerprinted by a deputy sheriff in Montgomery, Alabama on February 22, 1956, when she was arrested again, along with Martin Luther King Jr. and others, for boycotting public transportation.

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, NYWT&S Collection, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZ62-90145] https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2020/02/rosa-parks-in-newspapers-and-comic-books/

Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1913. She joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church in her youth and remained a member her whole life.

She joined the NAACP in 1943 and served as the chapter’s secretary for many years. Through this work, Parks investigated many cases of discrimination and violence around the country.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus for a White person, resulting in her arrest.

Since the 1940s, similar incidents had occurred all over the US with increasing frequency. Sometimes this was the result of conscious organizing. Other times they were spontaneous actions Black people undertook because they were, in Parks’ words, “tired of giving in.”

The NAACP and other civil rights organizations collaborated on making Rosa Parks’ case a major flashpoint in the fight against Jim Crow, resulting in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. 

Numerous lawsuits around the country had ruled against segregation laws and practices, but had failed to result in concrete change. However, these earlier fights were critical in building the momentum that would lead to more radical changes. Thanks to collaborative activism among many organizations and individuals, the Montgomery Boycott became a sustained and visible campaign that helped the anti-segregation lawsuit, Browder v. Gayle, make its way to the US Supreme Court. The court found for the 4 Black female plaintiffs, ruled against American “Separate But Equal” policies, and marked the beginning of widespread integration on local, state, and federal levels. Brown v. Board of Education had only addressed integration in public schools.

Sources:

Rosa Parks: My Story- Internet Archive

Nonviolence vs. Jim Crow 1942: Bayard Rustin- Civil Rights Teaching

Irene Morgan 1944- Equal Justice Initiative

Lillie Mae Bradford 1951- Wikipedia

Claudete Colvin 1955- Smithsonian Magazine

Browder v. Gayle- Stanford University

Shadows At Dawn: A Borderlands Massacre and the Violence of History

Karl Jacoby examines the massacre of an Apache band of mostly women and children in the 1871 Arizona Territory from the perspectives of the victims and the different allied perpetrators- Mexicans, Americans, and indigenous O’odham. In doing so, Jacoby adds a small but valuable amount of clarity to a time and place that has left scarce historical sources. Unfortunately, clarity does not always make the past make sense. Patterns of violence have left deep scars on the many peoples who’ve made their homes in the Southwest.

By resisting the temptation to frame the events in terms of clear winners and losers, heroes and villians, or to add a more satisfying ending to the story, Jacoby reveals the contingent nature of history. It is all too easy when looking at the past to attribute causation to famous persons, social and philosophical theory, or materialist statistics. To do so obscures the stories of the people who lived through these events and simplifies the forces that fueled them.

Shadows At Dawn- Brown University

November 30, 1993-Brady Bill Requiring Federal Background Check for Guns Becomes Law

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan, Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy, policeman Thomas Delahanty, and Reagan’s Press Secretary James Brady were injured in an attempted assassination by John Hinckley Jr. with a .22 caliber revolver.

All of the victims survived, but Brady suffered multiple sites of paralysis and used a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

The bill that would carry Brady’s name was first introduced to Congress by 2 Ohio Democrats in 1987. The main provision of the bill was to require a federal background check for anyone purchasing a handgun from a licensed gun dealer and a waiting period before the gun could be accessed by the buyer.

It took several legislative campaigns over the course of 6 years to get a version of this bill passed. Throughout the process the waiting period was reduced several times. Ronald Reagan wrote a 1991 op-ed endorsing the bill, despite widespread Republican opposition. It was eventually signed into law by President Bill Clinton on November 30, 1993.

The 5-day waiting period provision expired in 1998, and enforcement of the act has always varied from state to state. However, the Brady Bill is still cited by many as the United States’ most comprehensive gun-control measure. It’s effectiveness has always been debated, but most gun-control advocates support plans to build on it, and most opponents consider it flawed or unconstitutional.

Sources:

Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act- Wikipedia

The Brady Bill Explained- Gun.Laws.com

Ronald Reagan’s 1991 Call for More Gun Control- Vox

Origins of Palestine and Israel: Part 2- Diaspora and Occupation

The newly created United Nations inherited official authority over the Palestinian mandate in 1947 and proposed a partition of the territory into 3 separate states, an Arab Palestine with 43% of the territory, a Jewish Israel with 57%, and a UN-governed autonomous entity encompassing Jerusalem. At this time, Jews comprised 1/3rd of the population and owned only 7% of the land. Arabs in Palestine and beyond rejected the plan based on the disproportionate land area assigned to Israel.

The Jewish faction accepted the borders. As Arab members of the United Nations attempted to petition the legitimacy of the partition plan, and of the authority of the UN to even inherit the Palestinian mandate, Israel declared its independence. While not explicitly defining its borders, the Israeli Declaration included a commitment to work towards a partition plan along the UN scheme. Israeli forces sought to consolidate their claimed territory and in response, the surrounding Arab states of Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt deployed military forces to combat them. Israel’s military was able to effectively take control of its proposed borders, as well as most of the areas of Jewish settlement, a 50% increase of land over the initial partition proposal. Amidst the fighting, numerous atrocities were committed and 800,000 surviving Palestinians were directly and indirectly displaced.

In 1949, all parties of what is usually referred to as the First Arab/Israeli War, signed an Armistice Agreement. The agreement demarcated ceasefire lines that were explicitly called out as temporary arrangements not meant to be borders. However, the fight over borders has never been officially resolved, leaving the conflict in a heightened state of tension that has periodically exploded ever since.

Second Arab/Israeli War (AKA the Suez Crisis, Tripartite Aggression, Sinai War)

Egyptian President Gamal Nasser was the leading figure in the Pan-Arab movement that gained steam after World War 2. As part of his campaign to decolonize Egypt, he nationalized the Suez Canal in 1956, leading to an invasion led by Britain and France that attempted to retain control of the Canal for the Western powers. Israel’s interest in joining the invasion was to regain access to the Straits of Tiran for its shipping industry. International pressure prevailed on the invading countries to abort their operations.

Third Arab/Israeli War (AKA Six Day War, June War)

While seen as a victory for Nasser, Israel regained access to the contested waterways at the end of the Suez Crisis. Nasser again announced them to be closed to Israeli vessels in May of 1967. He then ordered United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) personnel that had been active in the area as peacekeepers since 1956, to evacuate and mobilized the Egyptian army along the border. Israeli forces struck Egyptian airfields in a preemptive strike that allowed them to gain the Sinai Peninsula. Israel also seized the West Bank and the rest of Jerusalem (both then part of Jordan), and the Golan Heights (then part of Syria).

Fourth Arab/Israeli War (AKA Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War, October War)

On October 6, 1973, Syrian forces crossed the ceasefire lines into the Golan Heights, and Egypt crossed those in Sinai. The surprise attack was met by Israeli forces who either repelled invading troops or held them in place. A stalemate soon solidified. The US and the Soviet Union rushed to resupply their respective allies. Many feared direct intervention by one of the superpowers that could lead to a wider conflict involving nuclear weapons. A ceasefire was negotiated by both sides and their allies. This diplomatic work continued and eventually led to the Camp David Accords in 1978 and the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty in 1979, facilitating the return of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.

None of the territory taken in these conflicts has ever been recognized as legitimately part of Israel, however neither international pressure nor the threat of Arab aggression has kept Israel from building settlements and facilitating immigration into them.

Israel often asserts that its Arab neighbors do not recognize their right to exist. Besides Egypt and Jordan, most of the states in the Middle East do not formally recognize Israel. However, many people in these countries argue they simply do not recognize Israel’s right to retain all of the territory it has conquered. Officially, the United Nations does not either. US support for Israel has continued to shield it from international action, if not international condemnation.

In the wake of geopolitical gridlock on the issue, violent resistance came to define the Palestinian response, and de facto martial law has characterized Israel’s administration of not only its conquered territory, but much of Israel itself.

The source cited below is a textbook I used in 2017 in my “Middle East Geography” class. I elected not to add any online sources to this post, but there are many substantive ones available that I recommend readers seek out. My purpose in writing at length on a topic outside my field was to provide a brief overview of the key events involved with the founding of the modern territories of Palestine and Israel, and to highlight the involvement of colonial powers I believe bear partial responsibility for the ongoing violence.

Source:

“The Arab-Israeli Problem.” Middle East Patterns, 6th ed. p252-264. 2014. Colbert C. Held, John Thomas Cummings. Westview Press.

Maps:

“Territorial evolution of Israel, from Palestinian mandate to contemporary state, with occupied territories (part B-D)”

John V. Cotter. Middle East Patterns, 6th ed.

November 17, 1989- Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution

The Velvet Revolution (also called the Gentle Revolution) was a nonviolent movement of civil resistance in Czechoslovakia (now the countries of Czechia and Slovakia) against the communist one-party regime. It was actually the last stage of decades of organizing against the authoritarian government. It included protests, strikes, public forums, and direct actions.

Local communist politicians had attempted to democratize the country in the late 1960s and were forcibly removed and replaced. Soviet tanks flooded into the cities and the popular protest movement was violently repressed. Many dissidents were imprisoned, beaten, and killed in the decades leading up to the tipping point of this movement.

The Velvet Revolution that brought a critical mass of the public into civil disobedience started on November 16, 1989 in the Slovak capital of Bratislava. High school and university students organized a mass protest against the government in the capital. This kicked off a series of similar demonstrations around the country. The one in the larger Czech capital of Prague on November 17 is more widely regarded as the “beginning” of the revolution.

Crucial to the unfolding of these events was the situation in the Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbechev’s government had for several years attempted to reform the USSR into a more open society by establishing genuine academic and press freedom, as well as political plurality. Propping up an unpopular regime in Czechoslovakia was no longer a priority. These measures ultimately proved ineffective in staving off the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Sources:

Statement of the Slovak Republic

Short video of the events- Houston Czech Center Museum

A deeper look at the events and strategies- International Center on Nonviolent Conflict

Visual presentation of the events- Radio Free Europe

November 10, 1898- North Carolina's Wilmington Massacre

The remains of the office of the Black-owned newspaper the Daily Record after it was burned in the Wilmington coup and massacre, November 10, 1898. (McCool/Alamy)

The Wilmington Massacre of 1898 was long referred to as a riot, but was in fact, a bloody coup executed by a White mob organized by local Democrats. The mob burned down the offices of the local Black Newspaper, killed over 50 Black people, and banished numerous citizens of both races from Wilmington.

Such incidents were common during Reconstruction, the decades after the Civil War. In towns and cities throughout the country, White vigilantes ran smear campaigns in the press that often culminated in the violent overthrow of elected Blacks and Republicans, as well as mass displacement of Black communities.

Sources:

North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources

Cape Fear Museum

Southern Coalition for Social Justicetary-underway-on-the-wilmington-massacre-of-1898/

Equal Justice Initiative

Origins of Palestine and Israel: part 1-Organized Chaos

The Ottoman Empire, based in Turkey, became the dominant power in most of the Middle East in the 1500s. They eventually extended their rule into North Africa, Eastern Europe, and south of Turkey into the ancient lands known as the Holy Land, the Levant, and many other names. Historically home to many peoples, they were then predominantly populated by Arabs. Divided into provinces under the Ottomans, they would eventually become the modern countries of Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait, Palestine, and Israel. 

The Ottoman Empire was long a rival to the Christian Kingdoms of Europe, but as time went on the geopolitical situation became more complicated, as they usually do. While ostensibly enemies, delegations of the British, French, Ottoman, and other empires could be found collaborating on colonial projects. Ultimately, this status quo was toppled when the Ottoman Empire allied with Germany in World War 1. 

After the defeat of the Central Powers, the Ottoman Empire was divided among the Allies. France took control of what would become Syria and Lebanon. Britain oversaw what would become Palestine, Jordan and Iraq. Britain made 3 contradicting arrangements leading up to this outcome that set many of the region’s modern conflicts in motion.

In 1915, while WW1 was still being fought, the British government made a deal with Sharif Husayn, the Ottoman governor of Hijaz, a region in modern-day Saudi Arabia that encompassed Mecca and Medina. The deal stipulated that Husayn’s forces, mostly Arab, would revolt against the Turks in Arabia and Syria in exchange for Britain creating an independent Arab state from the Ottoman territory. Britain’s efforts on this operation were overseen by Colonel T.E. Lawrence (AKA Lawrence of Arabia).

In 1916, while the Arab revolts began, Britain signed the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement with France to divide up the former Ottoman lands between themselves as a collection of mandates with borders based on their own colonial interests, rather than those of their Arab allies. 

The third British agreement that represented a clear conflict of interest was the Balfour Declaration of 1917.

Zionism began in earnest in the 1880s as waves of Jewish immigration to a part of Jerusalem known historically as Zion. It was fueled largely by violent lynchings (pogroms) of Jewish people throughout Europe. Due to this violence many Jews became convinced of the necessity of an independent Jewish state. Hungarian-Jewish journalist Theodor Herzl wrote extensively on the topic and helped found the World Zionist Organization. British Zionists were instrumental in pressuring the authorities in the Palestinian Mandate to support their nationalist goals. The resulting Balfour Declaration read as follows:

“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”

There are diverse opinions about why this particular goal was really adopted by the British government. As it sought to optimize its control over the Palestinian Mandate and balance it with its numerous other colonial interests around the world, commitments to Jewish and Arab populations waxed and waned. Unsurprisingly, violence and struggles over land and resources intensified between Palestinians and Jews. Jewish immigration increased, Arab opposition to Jews who had lived in Palestine for generations hardened, and both sides lashed out at British colonial authorities. Britain would eventually relinquish its responsibility for Palestine to the newly created United Nations in 1947.

Zionism was not created as a genocidal movement, though many Zionists have embraced genocidal tactics and aims. Arab nationalism is not fundamentally anti-Israel, though numerous Arab nationalists have used Israel as an enemy to build political bases, while doing little to protect Palestinians from Israel’s right wing. Many European colonizers worked to improve the lives of the people their governments had conquered, yet colonialism and the cynical race for wealth that fuels it could not be restrained by good intentions or isolated acts of benevolence. A violent system invariably breeds more violence. 

Source:

“The Arab-Israeli Problem.” Middle East Patterns, 6th ed. p252-264. 2014. Colbert C. Held, John Thomas Cummings. Westview Press.

Map. “Territorial evolution of Israel, from Palestinian mandate to contemporary state, with occupied territories (part A)” John V. Cotter

November 3, 1839- First Opium War Begins

W. & A. K. Johnston Limited. “Map of the Macao - Bocca Tigris - Canton approach, Pearl River delta. Cropped and modified.” 1910. Public Domain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Macao_-_Bocca_Tigris_-_Canton_approach.jpg

In 1839, after decades of debate over how to respond to opium use and trade in their country, Chinese officials and Emperor Qing decided to step up enforcement of the ban on opium production and importation that had been passed in 1800. Imperial Commissioner Lin Zexu oversaw the destruction of over 20,000 chests of opium, mostly confiscated from British merchants like the East India Company.

Calls for war from merchants in Britain and its colonies increased as profits declined. On November 3, 1839 several British merchant ships feuded over the proper trade protocols, began firing on each other, and drew in Chinese warships seeking to reestablish order in their waters. The resulting battle (The First Battle of Chuenpi/Chuanbi) claimed the lives of 15 Chinese sailors and kicked off the first Opium War which would result in China ceding the island of Hong Kong to Britain.

My best guess of where Chuenpi Island is as of 2023. Not sure.

A few hours of trying to find a straight answer online about Chuenpi/Chuanbi island was not successful. You may have better luck. The screenshot of the google-map above is just my best attempt.

I could be dead wrong on this, so please do not take it as a fact.

Sources:

The First Battle of Chuenpi/Chuanbi- Wikipedia

The Opium Wars in China- An essay by Jack Patrick Hayes, PHD at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Vancouver, BC. For the Asian Pacific Foundation of Canada. (This overview provides strong context and visuals for the conflict, but the Battle of Chuenpi is not examined closely.)

The First Opium War: The Anglo-Chinese War of 1839-1842 An essay by Peter C. Purdue PHD at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), in collaboration with MIT Visualizing Cultures project. (The first tab of this site “Opium Trade” provides strong context for the conflict. The Battle of Chuenpi is not examined in much detail.)