Spotlight: On this date in 1839,
US Coast Guard officers boarded the
Amistad, a ship anchored off
Long Island, and found African slaves on the ship who had revolted against their captors, killed the ship's captain and cook, and taken control of the vessel. With ownership of the slaves disputed, and the slaves themselves facing charges of mutiny and murder, the case came to trial. Eventually, the judge ruled that the slaves had been illegally kidnapped in Africa, and freed them to return to their home.
Abolitionists raised funds to help them return to what is now
Sierra Leone.
Quote: "But, slavery is good for some people! As a good thing, slavery is strikingly peculiar, in... that it is the only good thing which no man ever seeks the good of, for himself." — Abraham Lincoln
Question of the Day: What was the cause of the Amistad Case?
The question was raised as to ownership of the slave ship
Amistad, which had been taken in the open seas after the slaves had mutinied and gained control of the ship. Salvage rights for the ship and the property (including the slaves) were claimed, by various claimants.
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Black
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Word of the day: black site
In military terminology, a black site is a location at which a black project is conducted. Recently the term has gained notoriety in describing secret prisons, generally outside of the mainland U.S. territory and legal jurisdiction, and with little or no political or public oversight. It can refer to the facilities that are controlled by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used by the U.S. in its War on Terror to detain suspected enemy combatants.
(© Wikipedia)
There are so many colors in the rainbow, and many of them have been moonlighting as parts of phrases that give them a whole new meaning. This week we'll take a look at some of them.
Today's History:
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English Archer With a Longbow
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- Battle of Crécy: longbows helped the heavily outnumbered English defeat the French, marking the decline of chivalry and the rise of England as a world power (1346)
- Donoghue v Stevenson: woman found a snail in her ginger beer; this case became a cornerstone of British law in the field of negligence (1928)
- Pope John Paul I: Italian cardinal dubbed the Smiling Pope assumed the papacy; he died 33 days later (1978)
Today's Birthdays:
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Branford Marsalis
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