The mood at the Sankofa Cultural Arts and Business Center on Chicago’s west side was celebratory on June 25, 2019, as hundreds gathered to watch Illinois make history.

With the stroke of a pen, Gov. J.B. Pritzker made it legal for adults in Illinois to possess up to 30 grams of marijuana without fear of arrest. When sales began in 2020, legalization was expected to be a financial boon for the state, but the promise went deeper for some supporters.

“Today, we're hitting the reset button on the war on drugs,” the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, said to applause. “Today, we begin the process of undoing the harm of the war on drugs.”

People who had been arrested for, but not charged with, low-level cannabis offenses would have those records erased automatically. Pritzker pardoned thousands more who were convicted of possession of less than 30 grams. Anyone who had been prosecuted for possession of up to 500 grams – a little more than a pound – would be able to petition the court to have those records expunged.

“Today we're giving hundreds of thousands of people the chance at a better life, jobs, housing and real opportunity,” Pritzker said.

Around a third of Americans have some kind of criminal record by the time they are 25, said Daniel Kuehnert, a staff attorney in the western office of Land of Lincoln Legal Aid, a nonprofit serving a swath of Illinois from the Metro East to the Quad Cities. While it may just be an arrest record, “those records are consulted by basically all sorts of entities for important life decisions,” he said.

“And particularly with employment, we see employers who have better jobs doing the heavier criminal background checks,” said Megan Kinney, the managing attorney at Land of Lincoln Legal Aid’s central office, which serves clients in six counties in southwest Illinois. “So it really is not only a barrier to employment, but it's a barrier to good, well-paying, stable jobs with benefits.”

Land of Lincoln Legal Aid was one of 18 nonprofits that joined a coalition called New Leaf Illinois. The state funded the initiative, which provided free legal representation to people who wanted cannabis convictions off their record.

Christopher Bradford was among thousands helped by New Leaf. He was in his mid-20s when he was convicted of felony possession in 2003, giving him a criminal record that potential employers would not overlook.

“And I just felt like, that wasn’t right,” he said in a video posted to New Leaf’s website. “I felt like I was being singled out from others because I had a felony conviction.”

New Leaf helped Bradford clear his record, which allowed him to get a job as a kitchen manager at a restaurant in Springfield, Illinois.

“I’m working, I’m providing for my family, so you know, I’m happy,” he said.

PITFALLS IN THE PROCESS

The law wasn’t perfect.

The word “automatic” was a misnomer, said Kinney. An individual with a criminal record for marijuana had to take an active role in the court system to make that record go away, and every single court in the state is its own entity.

"You have to file a petition in every single county in which there was a charge and arrest or conviction,” Kinney said. “There's not just some magic button that someone can press and all these records just go poof, and they go away.”

The law also failed to address local restrictions on marijuana, said Kuehnert. While some counties were willing to expunge those ordinance violations, “we’ve been encountering some counties where the Judge is like, ‘Oh, hey, wait a minute, this law doesn't say anything about ordinance violations.’”

Despite those complications, Kuehnert said, Illinois generally gets high marks nationwide for how its law is structured.

“It’s been pretty good at helping people get their records cleared, helping folks move forward in their lives and helping heal some of the damage to both individuals and our communities from the war on drugs,” he said.

EXPUNGEMENT IN MISSOURI

When advocates for recreational marijuana in Missouri drafted their ballot measure, they made sure to include expungement provisions as well.

All nonviolent marijuana offenses, except for operating under the influence or sales to a minor, were to be automatically removed by the court, said John Payne, the campaign manager for Legal Missouri 2022.

While there was no formal organization like New Leaf Illinois in Missouri’s initiative, the campaign coordinated with groups like the ACLU and Empower Missouri, Payne said.

“A government program is never 100% accurate the first time,” he said. “We've talked to attorneys from some of these organizations and other attorneys who are just not necessarily affiliated with them but who have said, we'd be happy to help assist.”

Misdemeanors were supposed to be expunged by June 8, while the deadline to remove felony records is Dec. 6. But experts told KCUR those dates did not take into account how time-consuming and complicated it can be to expunge even a misdemeanor case. And while the courts asked for additional money from the state, lawmakers have not provided the assistance.

“I do know that they're making a hell of an effort because I know that the clerk's offices have hired extra people to come in and help,” Stephen Sokoloff, senior counsel for the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, told KCUR. “In some places, I think retirees have been asked to come back and help.”

The law does not outline a penalty for missing the expungement deadlines.

Thanksgiving myth

Trigger Warning - Genocide, Death, Slavery.

Written by Laura Casey.

The Myth - In 1620, Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock and friended the Wampanoag, who showed the colonizers how to harvest and survive the brutal NE winter. This “thankfulness” culminated into a “celebration” in 1621 between the Wampanoag and Pilgrims.

The truth - English colonizers landed in the vicinity of (what is now) Massachusetts in 1614, taking the regional Indigenous as slaves, selling them for 200 shillings on European markets and leaving behind small pox and other European disease.

By the time Puritans arrived in Plymouth, entire nations of Indigenous tribes were already decimated or extinct because of Europe’s lust to conquer. Within 4 days of landing, the Puritans robbed graves and stole crops.

Within 15 years, the Puritans were at war with the Pequot nation. And by 1641 the first scalp bounty was placed. Puritans at this point (and through out) were determined to eliminate any Indigenous Nations and take their land.  They held massacres in order to achieve and then celebrated EVERY SINGLE TIME with “Thanksgiving”.

It became such a TRADITION to celebrate the genocide in every puritan town that George Washington recognized ”the need” to make it a holiday and declared the fourth Thursday in November as “Thanksgiving Day”.

Then, Lincoln made it a legal national holiday on the same day he sent troops to march on Lakota Nation in Minnesota. This is what you celebrate. This is what colonizers on Turtle Island “celebrate” when they sit with family and friends today. 

Genocide.  Murder.  Slavery.

So instead, we remember today as a Day of Mourning. We stand in solidarity with the thousands of Indigenous tribes, nations, and federations who still exist today.

We will remember lives lost and we will celebrate the strength and resilience of the first people of this land — because they are still here and thriving, living and loving, building and growing (so stop talking about Native tribes in the past tense) — and they have done it with grace and humility while surviving genocide.

We will hold space for our local Tribes (who do not have federal protections or sovereignty). We will support local Wabanaki businesses, we will cook local food (today it is Three Sisters, cornbread and maple syrup pie made with Passamaquoddy Maple), we will provide mutual aid, we will continue to call our state and federal representatives demanding support for the Alliance (and their legal sovereignty) and we will continue centering Indigenous voices.

Because whether we want to admit it or not — it’s all interconnected — the environment, the climate crisis, the housing crisis, the water crisis, the healthcare crisis, the food crisis, social norms/mores, etc…all of it.

So…enjoy time with family.  But share the true story and stop celebrating American violence (WE can break this ugly cycle folks). This is Turtle Island.

I live on Wabanaki/Nanrantsouak land. I acknowledge that today’s holiday and celebrations are rooted in violence, harm, genocide and erasure.

http://www.uaine.org

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3VZpy2GhNxc

                                                                      MARCH 2024 

THE RIB PAGE 

It seems Disney has wedding dresses to celebrate your favorite evil Disney gal. Hey Pixie: It’s time to renew those vows! 

***** 

Every year about 7 people in this country get diagnosed with the plague. An Oregon resident has just been diagnosed. 

***** 

The Senate passed a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The house killed it.  Proof positive that Trump and Mike Johnson etc do not want to fix this country at all. It is all about the power! * * Mitch McConnell has announced that he will step down in November. 

***** 

It looks like the 1% have moved on from space to the underground. Billionaires all over the globe are getting their underground bunkers ready! This is not new , but it seems to be in overdrive right now. The $ people are so important and I wonder what they’ll do when they find out that humans do not live forever. 

***** 

A very complete fossil of the Triassic’s Dinocephalosaurus Orientalis was discovered in South China. The beauty has 32 separate vertebrae to possibly look for food in crevices under water and was first discovered in 2003. 

***** 

Alabama says that embryos are children. Drop a test tube and it could be murder. So.. People don’t need IVF anymore?? 

***** 

Barry Tubb has sued Paramount for their use of his image in Top Gun: Maverick 

***** 

There is trouble on the set of Sherri. Matt Uzzle, a top exec passed away amid a financial investigation into the show. 

***** 

The Odysseus landed on the moon and fell over. 

***** 

There was apparently a big cell phone outage and I didn’t even know it. Just one more plus to not having a cell phone. 

***** 

Molly Shannon is joining Only Murders in the Building. 

***** 

John Cleese and Eric Idle are sparring a bit on X. Eric seems disgruntled at Holly Gilliam who manages the Python biz now. The rest of the crew are good with her. Eric’s daughter Lily posted that she’s proud of her Dad for speaking out against bullies. Cleese has reported that he and Idle always hated each other. 

***** 

Everything comes back around. Abe Lincoln talked of how Stephen Douglas was, “warping the public mind.” That is the perfect way to describe Scary Clown 45.** Come to think of it, it feels a bit like 1865 what with all the hate being pushed in this country. With elections in like 80 countries this year, there could be big changes. 

***** 

Support the Max Gruber Foundation that is all about hazing in college. 

***** 

Bullfighting is back. UGH! 

***** 

Wendy Williams has been diagnosed with aphasia and Frontotemporal dementia. 

***** 

Abbott Elementary, Celebrity Family Feud, Jeopardy Masters and Dancing with the Stars have been renewed. 

***** 

The 2024 noms for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are out. This year there is Mary J. Blige, Cher, Mariah Carey, Dave Matthews Band, Eric B and Rakim, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Jane’s Addiction, Lenny Kravitz, Kool and the Gang, Oasis, Sinead O’Connor, Ozzy Osbourne, Sade and A Tribe Called Quest. I mean, Geils? Zevon? C’mon stop it! 

***** 

Ozzy is threatening legal action against Ye for sampling ‘Iron Man’. Permission was refused since Ozzy said, “I want no association with this man. He was refused permission because he is an anti- semit and has caused untold heartache to many.” ** Ye also used a sample from Donna Summer’s I feel love. He didn’t have permission for this either. These men and their egos. Yikes!! 

***** 

A woman named Genesse Moreno opened fire on Lakewood church with an AR-15. She was killed. 

***** 

RFK Jr. Is pissing his own kin off again with his ad filled with old Kennedy pics. 

***** 

It’s the year of the Dragon! 

***** 

123.7 million people watched the Super Bowl. This beats the moon landing as the most watched program ever. ** Marshawn Lynch had fun after the game by walking up to 49er fans and giving them a “fuck you.” 

***** 

Watch for the new Doc, Kiss the Future. 

***** 

The RNC may be run by Michael Watley and Lara Trump. ** Political candidate Valentina Gomez took a flamethrower to books she didn’t like. ** Trump was booed at sneakercon as he was pushing his golden shoes. He wasn’t used to a crowd that does not adore him. He should get out of his comfort zone more often. ** We’re here to overthrow democracy.-Jack Posoblec, a speaker at CPAC.** Trump tried to negotiate one of his penalties in court. 

***** 

Days alert: Bring back Jen Lilley!!** Burnin’ down the Horton house?? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**First , a permanent move to Peacock then Jen then Arianna then burning the Horton  house?? They are just blowing the whole thing up, aren’t they?? I know the people in charge at NBC don’t give a flying fuck about elderly people but I still hear the elderly complain about not being able to see Days on NBC anymore. 

***** 

For the second time, a memorial to the Pulse nightclub victims was defaced. A 19 year old did burnouts on the LGBTQ Pride crosswalk. Of course, the truck had a big American flag on it. Why is it this particular type of person feels the need to prove they are Americans all the time? A 22 year old genius did the same thing at an earlier date. 

***** 

NY Dem Tom Suozzi won the house seat to replace George Santos. 

***** 

Donald Glover has said that the script for the Community movie is finished. 

***** 

The Chiefs won the Superbowl. Usher was the halftime show and that stage sure was bouncing. A 30 second ad went for $7mil. The Super Bowl went into overtime for only the second time in history. The parade to celebrate was interrupted with a shooting and a fan was killed. ** Are men really breaking a lot of tv’s because of sports? 

***** 

Chris Coons tells us that the EU has approved a support package for Ukraine and wonders what the Hell we are doing in the U.S. Europe has already spent more on Ukraine than us. They are very concerned about Trump and his calling out NATO and discarding the hard worked for bill for aid. 

***** 

The Oglala Sioux tribe has banned SD Gov. Christi Noem from their reservation. She told the South Dakota state legislature that she wants to send more state resources to Texas. ** Calling the U.S. southern border in Texas an invasion by illegal immigrants and criminal groups to justify sending South Dakota’s National Guard troops there is a red herring that the Oglala Sioux tribe doesn’t support . They don’t need to be put in cages, separated from their children like during the Trump administration or be cut up by razor wire furnished by, of all places, South Dakota.”- Frank Star 

*****  

King Charles has been diagnosed with cancer. 

***** 

Abortion providers filed a lawsuit in 2019 against the law that prohibits Medicaid from being used to pay for abortions. And now: To treat a woman differently based on a characteristic unique to her sex is to treat her differently because of her sex which triggers the enforcement of our ERA. - Judge Donohue 

***** 

I’m beginning to think that all the hatred evangelicals have towards Taylor Swift is because everyone can see that she’s for more like Jesus than they are. - Chris Kratzer ** Taylor donated $50 mil to truckers, $50 mil to food banks and $20 mil to animals, not to mention that she gave $ to the victims family after the Chiefs parade. 

***** 

Tesla has recalled 2.2 million vehicles to fix a warning light.** The investigation into Tesla is becoming more aggressive as they look deeper into safety problems of crashes with auto pilot. ** According to the NY Times, terrorists may be paying for the blue check mark on twitter. (I refuse to call it X.) -Stephen King.... Stop deadnaming X. respect our transition. - Elon Musk...  Why? You never respected your daughter’s transition. -transgender atty. Alejandra Caraballo..(Musk’s child Vivian Wilson filed for a name change to reflect her gender identity).... twitter twitter twitter and so on. Fuck your need to put your personal brand on everything.- Stephen King.....The NY article went on that X may be violating U.S. sanctions because the company accepted payments from individuals or organization that are forbidden from engaging in business with U.S. companies like state-run media organizations and terrorists from Russia and Iran. ** Leaders of Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels have subscriptions with blue check marks. 

***** 

Tim Burton is to direct the remake of attack of the 50 ft. Woman. We need another one of those? 

***** 

The Grammys came and went. My best dressed were: Taylor Swift (winner! ) , Chrissy Tiegand, Janelle Monae, Coco Jones, Gina Alice Redlinger, Romy Madley Croft, Caroline Polachek, Vic Lentaigne and Dawn Richard was a tree! Miley looked like Cher and Madonna put together. ** Killer Mike was arrested at the show for misdemeanor battery, but soon released. He won 3 Grammys.** Someone else had to make a stink about Beyonce. Her husband called out the voters for not giving all the awards to his wife, I guess?? Jay-Z won the global impact award. Why do all these people feel the need to talk for her. She is a grown woman, I think she can speak for herself. Are we supposed to expect macho declarations at every award show now?? ** Miley yelled at the crowd to get more into her song. What? 

***** 

Look for Unfrosted: The Pop Tart Story with Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Gaffigan, Amy Schumer, Hugh Grant, Bill Burr, Daniel Levy, Jack McBrayer, Thomas Lennon, Bobby Moynihan and Fred Thomas. Did Jerry just call all the funny people he knew? 

***** 

Aneurin Barnard, Hayley Atwell and Jack Lowden will star in Rogue Trooper for Duncan Jones. 

***** 

The SAG awards were great with the fashion. My best were Emma Stone, Lily Gladstone, Da’Vine Joy Randolph,E lizabeth Debicki, Tony Shalhoub, Alex Borstein, Laverne Cox, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Kathryn Hahn, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, Louisa Jacobson and Ali Wong and the dudes from Abbott who were amazing. Tan France had a horizontal tie that I couldn’t stop staring at. ** Jen Aniston presented Barbra Streisand the life achievement award. ** My favorite part was when Tantoo Cardinal was on stage. I adore her!!! ** Pedro got back at Kieran by winning. Succession came back for ensemble drama. The Bear still cleaned up as well as Lily Gladstone. 

***** 

Hooray for Shawn Fain leading the UAW. We need more workers rights and less billionaires. EAT THE RICH!!!!!.. Order this shirt to support the UAW. 

***** 

The Spirit awards were pretty much The Holdovers awards. There was a protestor outside the tent yelling, “Free Palestine” and “Ceasefire now “ all night. 

***** 

The monarch population is down 60%. 

***** 

It looks like the housewives are starting to sue Andy Cohen and Bravo. It was only a matter of time. 

***** 

Aaron Bushnell. A U.S. Air Force member set himself on fire at the Israeli embassy. 

***** 

Amy Poehler and Joe Biden helped Seth Meyers celebrate 10 years on the air. 

***** 

Richard Tornetta sued Elon Musk in 2018 and won when a judge voided the $56 billion pay package.** Bill Maher admitted he can’t help it, he likes Elon. It was too funny that he told jokes about multiple things but when he got to Elon, he said, “just kidding.” What? 

***** 

Larry David caused a stir when he when he grabbed Elmo on the Today show. He also insulted a drummer on Seth Meyers when he told him it was easy and he could do that. Just Larry being Larry. 

***** 

The enhanced games are games with steroids. Peter Thiel is shelling out big $. The things that rich boys find to do with their $ is fucking unbelievable. Their statement is: The athletes will be unencumbered by anachronistic legacy systems that are anti science and stigmatize enhanced athletes. Oh my. Sounds like some people don’t want to believe in themselves. Nothing but phonies. Wouldn’t it be nice if all that $ went to children and animals that really need the help?  

***** 

I was not raised with grown men who whine all the time. I will never understand these people who forever talk about the strength they get from God and then whine about everything in the world. Is God telling you this is the way to solve the problems? What about turn the other cheek? Forgiveness? These people are not like any conservatives or Christians that I knew. Gas prices and unemployment numbers keep dropping and wages are up. Quit bitching and let’s fix the other things that need fixing! ** I see a lot of the red hats that remind me of the brown shirts. Same gang??** A 3 judge panel said that there is no immunity for Trump. ** A judge ordered Trump to pay a $364 mil penalty. He is also barred from serving as an officer or director of any NY corporation for 3 years. ** A year long scheme to dupe banks and others with financial statements that inflated Trump’s wealth. It borders on pathological. - Judge Engoron ** Don Jr. And Eric were fined $4 mil each and are out of the NY biz for 2 years and no bank loans for 3 years. ** The hush money trill will start on March 25. 

***** 

Jacob Elordi got into an altercation with a radio producer. 

***** 

Carson Hocevar is driving # 77 in the Cup Race this year!! And.. Go Bell!!! 

***** 

Tyne Daly was hospitalized and had to drop out of Doubt: A Parable on Broadway. Amy Ryan is taking over. 

***** 

The BAFTA’s were held and Oppenheimer won big as well as Poor Things and Da’vine Joy Randolph. My best dressed were Sophie Ellis Bextor, Daisy Edgar- Jones, Claire Foy and Emma Corrin. 

***** 

George Santos has sued Jimmy Kimmel. I wondered how he was getting away with airing his cameos but I assumed contracts had been signed. No. Kimmel and his staff used fake names to order cameos then put them o the show. And why would you want to give Santos the $? Didn’t he grift enough? 

***** 

New Hampshire’s Chris Sununu is so dismissive of others. He tells us that Trump has done this awful thing and that but I would vote for him. It seems this is a mantra for them. What dicks! ** Lindsey Graham called Zuckerberg and other big tech guys, “bastards.” Others said that after they grilled these guys, the Senators probably patted themselves on the back and went right out and used social media. ** Alex Smirnov, an FBI informant, has been charged with fabricating a multi million $ bribery scheme. Jamie Raskin has called for an end to the impeachment inquiry since Smirnov started all this. His story about the “Biden crime family” and the Ukranian energy company was all Russian BS. Jim Jordan does not care and keeps pushing. Putin must be so happy that he has these operatives in our Government. ** Russia has been hit with 500 new sanctions. 

***** 

Early spring?? 

***** 

Lauren Boebert’s son, Tyler has been arrested. There are 22 counts including theft and trespassing with multiple victims. 

***** 

We are seeing the SNL 1975 cast come together. Cory Michael Smith is Chevy, Matt Wood is Belushi, Ella Hunt is Gilda, Dylan O’Brien is Akroyd, Lamorne Morris is Garrett (that is perfect), Kim Matula is Jane and Emily Fairn is Laraine. ** Is it me or does this cold foam ad seem like a fake SNL ad? 

***** 

Sam Waterston is leaving Law and Order at the end of February and Tony Goldwyn is taking over. 

***** 

For the first time in the republican campaign, Nikki Haley has outraised Trump. A big portion of Trump’s small donors have gone away. 

***** 

DeSantis and company spent over $168 mil on his campaign. ** Could he be Trump’s VP pick?? He is throwing that name around, along with Tim Scott and a few others. ** The difference between humans and animals is animals would never let the dumbest animal lead the pack. ** DHS Secretary Mayorkas was impeached for no reason.* * Trump is always talking about water. That seems like a dementia thing. ** An Illinois judge barred Trump from the Republican primary ballot. Just waiting on the Supreme Court. 

***** 

So.. The Michigan chair of the RNC refuses to accept the results of her RNC election and Trump wants her out. Will republicans ever again accept results when they lose? 

***** 

Word came down that Wendy’s was spending $20 mil to add fluctuating price boards. The goal seemed to be jacking up prices during peak hours. Burger King decided they would use that and give away free whoppers for 3 days. Of course, you have to make a purchase and have an app. So.. A lot of people are left out of that “free whopper.” Wendy’s has since said that they were not using the boards that way. They may use them to give discounts at slow times and they swear they did not use the phrase, “surge pricing.” 

***** 

Karl Jordan Jr. and Ron Washington were found guilty of killing Jam Master Jay after being cut out of a drug deal. 

***** 

El Chapos grandaughter is looking for the Loch Ness Monster. 

***** 

The Geico ad that skewers conspiracies is cute. Insurance company commercials usually suck. 

***** 

A new book about first ladies tells us Melania was much detached from first lady business. A lot of her time was spent with lawyers and finance people. All tvs were tuned to Fox in the White House. 

***** 

The Supreme Court is looking into Bump stocks and Presidential immunity. They will stay paused until April 22. 

***** 

Oprah is leaving Weight Watchers since she admits she is using drugs to lose weight. 

***** 

We now produce more oil that Saudi Arabia. 

***** 

We have sent air strikes to Syria and Iraq after 3 U.S. military deaths. 

***** 

Brian Wilson’s family is looking into conservatorship due to a neurocognitive disorder. 

***** 

Sexual assault news: Kolchiro Ito was arrested on child porn charges. ** Sean Combs has a fifth accuser, Rod Jones. 

***** 

Bob Odenkirk will star in Normal. 

***** 

Beyonce is the first black woman to have a #1 country hit with Texas hold ‘em.!!! 

***** 

A shipwreck showed up on the shore of Newfoundland. Work was proceeding quickly before the waves take it back. 

***** 

R.I.P. Isabelle Thomas, Adele Springsteen, Henry Fambrough, Carl Weathers, Elmore Nickleberry, Wayne Kramer, Don Murray, Chita Rivera, Aston Barrett, Hage Geingob, Hinton Battle, N. Scott Momaday, Pamela Salem, Flaco, Claude Montana, Randy Sparks, Joe Louis Dudley, Dan Wilcox, Chris Gauthier, Jackie Loughery, Lynda Gravatt, Mickey Gilbert, Cecilia Gentili, Kelvin Kiptum, Alexei Navalny, Bob Edwards, William Post, Steven Ostrow, Ben Lanzarone, Alice Mackler, Tony Ganios, Ewen Macintosh, Charles Dierkop, Eddie Driscoll. Anne Whitfield, Toby Keith, Richrd Lewis and Denise I. McCabe. 

“In terms of direct military influence, perhaps the most visible role that certain medieval woman achieved were positions of command over an army or militant force. This fact alone is remarkable, especially given the aforementioned patriarchal nature of society and fact that war was an activity dominated by men at all levels throughout the High to Late Middle Ages, and leads us to ask several questions relating to women’s role as military leaders.

Foremost is the question of how women were able to attain the command of an army or other important leadership position in the first place. What circumstances enabled them to take command? Could they make effective leaders? How did contemporaries respond to such women? The answers to these questions enable a broader understanding and awareness of how women functioned as military commanders.

Firstly, however, it is worth touching upon the position of women with regards to secular law, since such law defined the social limitations of medieval women’s public authority. While these laws varied from one place to another, sometimes significantly, and were also influenced by whether women were single, married or widowed, as well as the level of society to which they belonged (making a full examination of this complex topic beyond the scope of the present work), there can be little doubt that throughout England and France during the High to Late Middle Ages women had a lower legal standing than that of men. They were barred from holding any public office, including any governmental positions and did not have the right to participate in town councils or any representative assembly.

Under these laws women were essentially restricted to the private domestic sphere and were not supposed to serve the king ‘either in the army or in any other royal service’. Indeed, for married women, their legal identity was subsumed into that of their husband, and as a result the husband legally had full control and responsibility for all the possessions of his wife, including all land or property she may have brought to the marriage. Furthermore, married women most often required their husbands’ consent before they could litigate on any matter (except in case of rape or bodily harm) and were represented in law by their husbands – unlike widows or single women, who could litigate on their own behalf and represent themselves in court.

At the same time, however, marriage also had the potential to give women significant military responsibility. In order to appreciate why, it is important to understand how women, as wives, fitted into the particular social structure of the medieval household and also how the system of marriage worked. These elements of marriage are examined briefly below with the focus on women who were part of the upper aristocracy, or nobility, not only because it is possible to form some idea about the married life and responsibilities of noblewomen, but also because war was a profession of the upper class.

As an institution, marriage was an accepted part of medieval life. For noblewomen in particular marriage meant many things, but rarely did it mean love. Marriage was a business conducted between families for political or economic reasons – or both, and in which, at least among the nobility and others in high society, women had little input. Once married, however, noblewomen took on many responsibilities integral to helping run the household and aided in many of the duties necessary for it to function effectively. These duties included everyday activities such as supervising the supplies of the house, directing the activities of servants or serfs, as well as administering household revenues and using them to dispense dues or gifts.

In cases of emergency (for instance, if besieged) women could also be made responsible for the defence of the castles in which they lived, especially when their husbands were absent or deceased. Moreover, the nature of the union of marriage, in which husband and wife were united as one in the marriage alliance, assured that women, if they took on this additional public responsibility, were not breaking the ‘socio-political or the gender logic of their day’; instead it was merely a ‘natural extension’ of their duties as domina or lady of the household. This social acceptability enabled married noblewomen in this position to circumvent the restrictive nature of their legal rights, as outlined above.

It is also important to consider the relationship between the household and the makeup of militant forces. Western European noblewomen and those in the Holy Land at this time lived in societies where the basic fighting group was small and based on ties of kinship; hence knights, squires and other fighting men were usually drawn from and closely tied to their local lords’ households. Consequently, it has been argued, noblewomen who lived and worked in the household had a greater chance of interacting with these men, as well as possibly overhearing or being part of military discussions, and thus may have had a greater awareness of military concepts.

This in turn may have aided noblewomen when they were called upon to defend their estates and facilitated their acceptance by the men whom they commanded. Conversely, however, it has also been argued that the increasingly centralised nature of government and the rise of professional armies during the thirteenth and especially fourteenth century may have combined to decrease the chances for female political (and consequently military) involvement, although this view has more recently been called into question. In any case, even if this trend did exist, there is still no doubt that throughout the High and Later Middle Ages marriage offered noblewomen an opportunity to assume a legitimate and important military role in defending their husbands’ property when and if the situation arose.

Several medieval accounts within England and France attest to women’s military command in this capacity. In 1075, for instance, the wife of Earl Ralph of Norfolk and Suffolk held his castle at Norwich while he fled for the coast, once he realised that a revolt which he had helped instigate against King William I (1027- 1087) had failed.

Similarly the Norman chronicler, Orderic Vitalis, in his Historia Ecclesiastica, described how in July 1092, Radegunde, the wife of one Robert Giroie, attempted to hold her husband’s fortress at Saint-Céneri in Normandy from an attack by Robert of Bellême, earl of Shrewsbury, whilst her husband was away aiding the future King Henry I of England (c.1068-1135). When rumour spread that her husband had died, defections from her side forced her to surrender, and Orderic placed responsibility for the surrender in her hands.

Likewise, in 1121 Hugh of Montfort’s wife was made responsible by him for defending the stronghold of Montfort-sur-Risle in Normandy against Henry I’s advancing army, while Hugh, who had conspired against the king, fled. Also notable was Margaret of Flanders, who married Baldwin V count of Hainaut in 1169 and was forced to fortify and defend his castles, not just once but many times, due to repeated attacks by unfaithful, ambitious vassals.

Nor were accounts of women left to defend their husband’s possessions limited to France or England. In the Holy Land Lady Eschiva of Tiberias commanded the castle of Tiberias’ defence against Saladin’s forces in 1187 (her husband, Raymond of Tripoli, was absent fighting with the Christian army), the same year that Maria Comnena, widow of King Amalric, defended Nablus from Saladin’s army because she had received the city as dower from Amalric. In all these cases women were forced to take on a military responsibility as a direct result of the marriage alliance, often in the face of considerable enemy pressure and irrespective of whether they were actually able to manage the task ahead effectively.

At the same time, however, it seems some noblewomen did cope ably after having military responsibility thrust upon them by their husbands. In 1148 Countess Sybilla of Flanders, for instance, successfully led her troops against an invasion by Count Baldwin of Hainault on behalf of her husband, while he was absent on crusade. Robert Guiscard’s wife, Sikelgaita, accompanied him on campaign in Italy in the 1080s and supposedly helped prevent retreat of his forces during one battle by charging at them with a spear, convincing them to return to battle.

Simon de Montfort, leader of the Albigensian Crusade, displayed an even greater reliance on his wife Alice de Montfort, whom Laurence Marvin has described as ‘one of his most trusted lieutenants’. Not only was she mentioned bringing a party of knights to meet up with Simon, but she also made up part of his war council and was active in contributing towards its decisions, even acting as castellan to Narbonnais Castle in Simon’s absence during the second siege of Toulouse in 1217. In her case, while it is not known if she commanded men in battle, she does appear to have played an active and important role in supporting her husband’s military strategy.

Most remarkable and successful of all, it might be said, was Nichola de la Haye, hereditary castellan of Lincoln castle. Nichola was the daughter of Richard de la Haye, sheriff of Lincolnshire, from whom she inherited her rights as castellan, and through whom her husbands’ received the title of constable. In 1191, as a response to her husband Gerard of Camville’s quarrel with William Longchamp, Chancellor and Justiciar of England, Nichola was besieged at Lincoln castle while her husband was absent. Commending her efforts, the chronicler Richard of Devizes noted that Nichola, ‘whose heart was not that of a woman, defended the castle manfully’.

Over twenty years later, in 1217, she again led the successful defence of Lincoln castle when it was besieged by forces loyal to Louis VIII of France (1187-1226), as part of his failed attempt to claim the English throne. In a further sign of her resolute nature, she still had to fend off later attempts by, William, the earl of Salisbury, to force her eviction from the castle. These defensive efforts reflect her loyalty to King John (1167-1216) and, at least in the case of the siege of Lincoln in 1217, aided King Henry III’s cause immensely by effectively ending any chance of Louis VIII succeeding in his rival claim to the throne.

Her experiences in defending the castle clearly illustrate that Nichola was more than capable of organising military defensive measures in the face of multiple attacks. Furthermore, though she had to pass on the title of constable to her husbands, her evident suitability as castellan is highlighted by King John refusing a request from Nichola that she be allowed to give up responsibility for the castle on account of her age, following the death of her husband Gerard in 1215. Evidently, even men recognised her capability in her role as castellan.

The offspring of marriage also influenced women who were forced to defend their property. Consider the actions of one Juliana, an illegitimate child of King Henry I by a concubine, after her husband Eustace (a vassal of the king) was incited to claim the ducal castle at Ivry on misguided advice. Henry, wishing to retain Eustace’s trust, sent a hostage to him while keeping the couple’s own daughters as his own hostage, but for reasons unknown Eustace had his hostage blinded. Henry then turned over his hostages to the father of Eustace’s now blind hostage, who took his revenge by putting out the daughters’ eyes.

On learning of this action Juliana and Eustace rebelled, and while Eustace secured their other castles, Juliana fortified herself within their fortress at Breteuil. Henry, learning of these developments, soon laid siege to the castle at Breteuil in February of 1119. Orderic then recounts how Juliana, under the pretence of wanting to meet with her father, fired a crossbow at Henry when he appeared for their meeting, but missed ‘since God protected him’.

Powerless to hold out against the siege and with no help on the way, she surrendered the castle, but being unable to leave freely by the King’s orders, ‘the unlucky Amazon got out of the predicament shamefully as best she could’ by leaping off the castle walls into the moat, before fleeing to her husband. In this case, marriage and family combined to play an important role in driving Juliana to defend her property from other family members. Moreover, the use of phrases such as ‘God protected him’ and ‘unlucky Amazon’ suggest Orderic disapproved of Juliana’s actions, and highlight how chroniclers sometimes used certain emotive words or phrases to portray an incident in a certain light.

This use of emotion by Orderic is well illustrated in a second case involving a woman in an important military position. In 1139, Matilda of Ramsbury, commander of the stronghold of Devizes and mistress to Roger, bishop of Salisbury, was forced into action when King Stephen (c.1096-1154) besieged Devizes on suspicion that rebellious forces stirred up by Roger and his nephews were hiding there. Attempting to force its surrender, Stephen brought out Bishop Roger’s son (by Matilda) and ordered that he be hanged unless Devizes surrender.

According to Orderic, when Matilda saw her son about to be killed she apparently cried out ‘I gave him birth, and it can never be right for me to cause his destruction’, whereupon she handed over the castle to the king, thus forcing the surrender of the castle’s garrison. Orderic’s inclusion of Matilda’s outburst, however, conflicts with other sources which do not mention this incident. William of Malmesbury’s Historia Novella, written only a few years after the incident, omits all mention of Matilda when describing the castle’s surrender, as does the Gesta Stephani, Henry of Huntingdon’s Historia Anglorum, and Roger of Wendover’s much later Flores Historiarum.

Nevertheless, Matilda’s role as guardian of the keep at Devizes reveals that she did have command of the castle and thus would have played a central part in any decision to surrender, even if the actual specifics of her involvement in the bishop’s surrender remain unclear. Given that the other sources omit her outburst, Orderic’s version of events appears less tenable, which only goes to show that we should be aware of possible distortions in chroniclers’ portrayal of women in a position of command.

Amongst the upper nobility, marriage also offered some women an opportunity to demonstrate military leadership of their own initiative. One unusual case comes from 1321, when Isabella of France (c.1295-1358), queen consort to King Edward II of England, was involved in an incident in which she ordered her marshals to force an entry into Leeds castle, after she was denied lodging there for the night by Lady Badlesmere (whose husband had been supporting Edward’s enemies and who held the castle). In response, Lady Badlesmere ordered her archers to fire on Isabella’s men, killing six of them, and forcing the Queen to retreat. Lady Badlesmere and the rest of her family were later imprisoned by Edward for their actions following a siege of Leeds castle.

What make this incident remarkable is that two women were commanding military forces against one another, one defending her husband’s property, the other ordering the attack which began the whole skirmish. For Isabella at least, this was not her only initiative that required military force: just five years later, in 1326, she helped plan an invasion of England with the support of French nobles and disposed of her husband King Edward, ruling as regent for her son Edward III alongside her lover Roger Mortimer.

Perhaps one of the most striking examples of military initiative by a woman forced to defend her husband’s domains, however, is that of Jeanne de Montfort (c.1295-1374), Countess of Montfort and wife to John IV of Montfort (1295-1345), later Duke of Brittany. She is noted for her actions during the siege of Hennebont in 1342, during the Breton War of Succession between the houses of Blois and Montfort for control of the duchy of Brittany. The Countess was in Hennebont along with other lords when an army led by Charles of Blois, the rival claimant to Brittany, laid siege to the town in response to her husband’s refusal to surrender the duchy to Charles, as determined by the judgement of the King and peers.

On the third day of the siege the French lords launched a determined assault on Hennebont, motivating the Countess (who led the defence of the city) to ride through the streets urging on the townsfolk to defend the city, encouraging damsels and other women to ‘cut short their kirtles’ and carry ‘stones and pots full of chalk to the walls’, that they might be cast down on their enemies. Leading by example, the Countess then rode out armed, together with three hundred horsemen, and led the charge into the French camp while its inhabitants were away fighting, destroying it by setting the tents on fires, before escaping to the castle of Brest, rearming, and returning to Hennebont to defend it from another assault. The Countess’s courageous defensive actions proved crucial to allowing the defenders, men and women alike, to hold off the besiegers until English forces arrived by sea and relieved the siege.

Two things are worth noting about this incident. First, the involvement of women – young and old – in the defence of the town, which reflects the support roles medieval women often fulfilled whilst their men-folk were fighting. Second are Jeanne’s efforts in leading the defence of Hennebont as well as the attack on the French camp, for though she may not have actually fought the enemy with her own hands, hers is nevertheless an extremely unusual case in that we have a woman who actively commanded and participated in a military attack.

It is little wonder then that Jean Froissart, the great fourteenth century chronicler, evokes a masculinised image of Jeanne as a woman who had ‘the courage of a man and the heart of a lion’. While his description is intended as a compliment, it nevertheless illustrates how even the most competent of medieval militant women were sometimes described as having male attributes.

Alongside marriage, a noblewoman’s inheritance could also, on occasion, play an important role in facilitating female military leadership. Female inheritance (of land) usually took the form of dowries which the bride’s family gave to their daughters upon marriage. Upon divorce or widowhood, dowries served as women’s inheritance and provided them with a living, since the practise of male primogeniture throughout much of Western Europe made it unlikely that women would inherit all of the family property and any seigniorial (or ruling) power that may have come with it. Even if women did happen to inherit such property, they were certainly not expected to perform military service by involving themselves in its defence.

And yet, some women did exactly that. Shahar gives the example of Mahaut, Countess of Artois (1268-1329), who inherited her father’s county in 1302 and who, according to Shahar, ‘crushed all attempts at rebellion by vassals.’ A more personal struggle was that of the widow of Arnoul II, count of Guînes, who waged war on her own son Baldwin III – Arnoul’s heir – for two years from 1220 to 1222, apparently because he did not cede to his mother control of certain properties to which she was entitled as widow.

Then there was Giralda of Laurac, to whom belonged the castrum (defensive fort) at Lavaur in southern France and who, along with her brother Aimeric of Montréal, led its defence when it was besieged by Simon de Montfort, leader of the Albigensian Crusade, in 1211. Upon its capture by Montfort’s army, Giralda was unceremoniously thrown in a well and crushed by the heavy stones thrown upon her. Marvin has suggested that the reason she was executed was because she actively commanded men during the siege, although Jones believes it is more probable she was executed for heresy instead. In any case, the key point is that while it may not have been common for women to become involved in the military defence of their inheritance, given the means and sufficient motivation, some women did fight to prevent the loss of that inheritance.

At the same time, not all women were limited to defensive actions. Indeed, when a woman’s inheritance was extremely large and entailed extensive ruling privileges, as might occur with a woman of the high nobility, she was more able to exercise leadership and initiate offensive military action. Thus, for instance, in January 1229, Blanche of Castile (1188-1252), widow of King Louis VIII and regent for her son Louis IX, commanded a successful attack on rebels based at the castle of Peter Mauclerc, count of Brittany, as part of her efforts to quell rebellious lords who had allied themselves with the English king Henry III’s supporters in western France.

Further afield in the Holy Land, Melisende (1105-1161), daughter of King Baldwin II, inherited the kingdom of Jerusalem after his death, and ruled the kingdom independently for nearly a decade after her husband’s death in 1143, largely excluding her son – Baldwin III – from government. Even after Baldwin gained power forcefully from Melisende, she still had much influence in government, and in 1157 she played an important part in organising a military expedition to recapture a stronghold across the Jordan, assisted by one Baldwin de Lille. In both these cases, the women involved were able to use the authority derived from their inheritance to take a leading role in a military action.”

- James Michael Illston, ‘An Entirely Masculine Activity’? Women and War in the High and Late Middle Ages Reconsidered

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

On August 21, 1831, Nat Turner, an enslaved American, led about 70 of his enslaved and free Black neighbors in a rebellion to awaken his white neighbors to the inherent brutality of slaveholding and the dangers it presented to their own safety. Turner and his friends traveled from house to house in their neighborhood in Southampton County, Virginia, freeing enslaved people and murdering about 60 of the white men, women, and children they encountered. Their goal, Turner later told an interviewer, was “to carry terror and devastation wherever we went.”

State militia put down the rebellion in a couple of days, and both the legal system and white vigilantes killed at least 200 Black Virginians, many of whom were not involved in Turner’s bid to end enslavement. Turner himself was captured in October, tried in November, sentenced to death, and hanged.

But white Virginians, and white folks in neighboring southern states, remained frightened. Turner had been, in their minds, a well-treated, educated enslaved man, who knew his Bible well and seemed the very last sort of person they would have expected to revolt. And so they responded to the rebellion in two ways. They turned against the idea that enslavement was a bad thing, and instead began to argue that human enslavement was a positive good.

And states across the South passed laws making it a crime to teach enslaved Americans to read and write.

Denying enslaved Black Americans access to education exiled them from a place in the nation. The Framers had quite explicitly organized the United States not on the principles of religion or tradition, but rather on the principles of the Enlightenment: the idea that, by applying knowledge and reasoning to the natural world, men could figure out the best way to order society. Someone excluded from access to education could not participate in that national project. Instead, that person was read out of society, doomed to be controlled by leaders who marshaled religion and propaganda to defend their dominance.

In 1858, South Carolina Senator James Henry Hammond explained that society needed “a class to do the menial duties, to perform the drudgery of life. That is, a class requiring but a low order of intellect and but little skill.”

But when they organized in the 1850s to push back against the efforts of elite enslavers like Hammond to take over the national government, members of the fledgling Republican Party recognized the importance of education. In 1859, Illinois lawyer Abraham Lincoln explained that those who adhered to the “mud-sill” theory “assumed that labor and education are incompatible; and any practical combination of them impossible…. According to that theory, the education of laborers, is not only useless, but pernicious, and dangerous.”

Lincoln argued that workers were not simply drudges but rather were the heart of the economy. “The prudent, penniless beginner in the world, labors for wages awhile, saves a surplus with which to buy tools or land, for himself; then labors on his own account another while, and at length hires another new beginner to help him.” He tied the political vision of the Framers to this economic vision. In order to prosper, he argued, men needed “book-learning,” and he called for universal education. An educated community, he said, “will be alike independent of crowned-kings, money-kings, and land-kings.”

When they were in control of the federal government in the 1860s, Republicans passed the Land Grant College Act, funding public universities so that men without wealthy fathers might have access to higher education. In the aftermath of the Civil War, Republicans also tried to use the federal government to fund public schools for poor Black and white Americans, dividing money up according to illiteracy rates. But President Andrew Johnson vetoed that bill on the grounds that the federal government had no business protecting Black education; that process, he said, belonged to the states—which for the next century denied Black people equal access to schools, excluding them from full participation in American society and condemning them to menial labor.

Then, in 1954, after decades of pressure from Black and brown Americans for equal access to public schools, the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren, a former Republican governor of California, unanimously agreed that separate schools were inherently unequal, and thus unconstitutional.

Immediately, white southerners lawmakers launched a campaign of what they called “massive resistance” to integration. Some Virginia counties closed their public schools. Others took funds from integrated public schools and used a grant system to redistribute those funds to segregated private schools. These segregation academies dovetailed neatly with Ronald Reagan’s rise to political power with a message that public employees had gotten too powerful and that public enterprises should be privatized.

After Reagan’s election, his Secretary of Education commissioned a study of the nation’s public schools, starting with the conviction that there was a "widespread public perception that something is seriously remiss in our educational system." The resulting report, titled “A Nation at Risk,” announced: “the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people.”

Although a later study commissioned in 1990 by the Secretary of Energy found the data in the original report did not support the report’s conclusions, Reagan nonetheless used it to justify school privatization. He vowed after the report’s release that he would: “continue to work in the months ahead for passage of tuition tax credits, vouchers, educational savings accounts, voluntary school prayer, and abolishing the Department of Education. Our agenda is to restore quality to education by increasing competition and by strengthening parental choice and local control.”

The drive to push tax dollars from public schools to private academies through a voucher system has remained a top priority for Movement Conservatives eager to dismantle the federal government, although a recent study from Wisconsin shows that vouchers do not actually save tax dollars, and scholars do not believe they help students achieve better outcomes than they would have in public schools.

Calling education a civil rights issue—as President Barack Obama had done when calling for more funding for schools—former president Trump asked Congress to fund “school choice for disadvantaged youth, including millions of African-American and Latino children. These families should be free to choose the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school that is right for them.” (In fact, most of those using vouchers are already enrolled in private schools.) His education secretary, Betsy DeVos, was a staunch supporter of school choice and the voucher system; she and her family gave $600,000 to promote school choice ballot laws in the decade before 2017.

The coronavirus pandemic sped up the push to defund public schools as Trump pushed hard to transfer funds from the closed public schools to private schools. In December 2020, he signed an executive order allowing states to use money from a federal anti-poverty program for vouchers, and as of mid-2021, at least 8 states had launched new voucher programs. A number of Republican governors are using federal funds from the bills designed to address the pandemic to push vouchers.

In 1831, lawmakers afraid of the equality that lies at the heart of our Declaration of Independence made sure Black Americans could not have equal access to education.

In 1971, when segregation academies were gaining ground, the achievement gap between white and Black 8th grade students in reading scores was 57 points. In 1988, the year of the nation’s highest level of school integration, that gap had fallen to 18 points. By 1992, it was back up to 30 points, and it has not dropped below 25 points since.

—-

Notes:

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3h500t.html

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/12/in-southern-towns-segregation-academies-are-still-going-strong/266207/

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-visiting/nation-risk-and-re-segregation-schools

https://progressive.org/magazine/private-school-vouchers-levin/

https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2021/05/07/tracking-the-growing-cost-to-taxpayers-of-private-school-vouchers/

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/governors-federal-virus-aid-expand-school-choice-79563407

https://www.news-herald.com/2021/08/08/ohio-public-schools-plan-lawsuit-to-challenge-edchoice-program/

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona-education/2021/08/17/arizona-gov-doug-ducey-offers-incentives-reject-mask-mandates/8169357002/

https://www.courthousenews.com/devos-family-donated-600k-school-choice-ballot-efforts/

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/12/07/504451460/school-choice-101-what-it-is-how-it-works-and-does-it-work

https://www.npr.org/2017/02/28/516717981/watch-live-trump-addresses-joint-session-of-congress

https://edreform.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/A_Nation_At_Risk_1983.pdf

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/28/trump-private-schools-pandemic-451757

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/12/07/504451460/school-choice-101-what-it-is-how-it-works-and-does-it-work

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-visiting/nation-risk-and-re-segregation-schools

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

Events 5.22

192 – Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu. 760 – Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. 853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt. 1176 – The Hashshashin (Assassins) attempt to assassinate Saladin near Aleppo. 1200 – King John of England and King Philip II of France sign the Treaty of Le Goulet. 1246 – Henry Raspe is elected anti-king of the Kingdom of Germany in opposition to Conrad IV. 1254 – Serbian King Stefan Uroš I and the Republic of Venice sign a peace treaty. 1370 – Brussels massacre: Hundreds of Jews are murdered and the rest of the Jewish community is banished from Brussels, Belgium, for allegedly desecrating consecrated Host. 1377 – Pope Gregory XI issues five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of English theologian John Wycliffe. 1455 – Start of the Wars of the Roses: At the First Battle of St Albans, Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England. 1520 – The massacre at the festival of Tóxcatl takes place during the Fall of Tenochtitlan, resulting in turning the Aztecs against the Spanish. 1629 – Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and Danish King Christian IV sign the Treaty of Lübeck ending Danish intervention in the Thirty Years' War. 1762 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Hamburg. 1762 – Trevi Fountain is officially completed and inaugurated in Rome. 1766 – A large earthquake causes heavy damage and loss of life in Istanbul and the Marmara region. 1804 – The Lewis and Clark Expedition officially begins as the Corps of Discovery departs from St. Charles, Missouri. 1807 – A grand jury indicts former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr on a charge of treason. 1809 – On the second and last day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling (near Vienna, Austria), Napoleon I is repelled by an enemy army for the first time. 1816 – A mob in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England, riots over high unemployment and rising grain costs, and the riots spread to Ely the next day. 1819 – SS Savannah leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, United States, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. 1826 – HMS Beagle departs on its first voyage. 1840 – The penal transportation of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished. 1848 – Slavery is abolished in Martinique. 1849 – Future U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is issued a patent for an invention to lift boats, making him the only U.S. president to ever hold a patent. 1856 – Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina severely beats Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate for a speech Sumner had made regarding Southerners and slavery. 1863 – American Civil War: Union forces begin the Siege of Port Hudson which lasts 48 days, the longest siege in U.S. military history. 1864 – American Civil War: After ten weeks, the Union Army's Red River Campaign ends in failure. 1866 – Oliver Winchester founded the Winchester Repeating Arms 1872 – Reconstruction Era: President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Amnesty Act into law, restoring full civil and political rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers. 1900 – The Associated Press is formed in New York City as a non-profit news cooperative. 1906 – The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their "Flying-Machine". 1915 – Lassen Peak erupts with a powerful force, the only volcano besides Mount St. Helens to erupt in the contiguous U.S. during the 20th century. 1915 – Three trains collide in the Quintinshill rail disaster near Gretna Green, Scotland, killing 227 people and injuring 246. 1926 – Chiang Kai-shek replaces the communists in Kuomintang China. 1927 – Near Xining, China, an 8.3 magnitude earthquake causes 200,000 deaths in one of the world's most destructive earthquakes. 1939 – World War II: Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel. 1941 – During the Anglo-Iraqi War, British troops take Fallujah. 1942 – Mexico enters the Second World War on the side of the Allies. 1943 – Joseph Stalin disbands the Comintern. 1947 – Cold War: The Truman Doctrine goes into effect, aiding Turkey and Greece. 1948 – Finnish President J. K. Paasikivi released Yrjö Leino from his duties as interior minister in 1948 after the Finnish parliament had adopted a motion of censure of Leino with connection to his illegal handing over of nineteen people to the Soviet Union in 1945. 1957 – South Africa's government approves of racial separation in universities. 1958 – The 1958 riots in Ceylon become a watershed in the race relations of various ethnic communities of Sri Lanka. The total deaths is estimated at 300, mostly Tamils. 1960 – The Great Chilean earthquake, measuring 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale, hits southern Chile, becoming the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. 1962 – Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashes in Unionville, Missouri after bombs explode on board, killing 45. 1963 – Greek left-wing politician Grigoris Lambrakis is shot in an assassination attempt, and dies five days later. 1964 – Lyndon B. Johnson launches the Great Society. 1967 – Egypt closes the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. 1967 – L'Innovation department store in Brussels, Belgium, burns down, resulting in 323 dead or missing and 150 injured, the most devastating fire in Belgian history. 1968 – The nuclear-powered submarine USS Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard, 400 miles southwest of the Azores. 1969 – Apollo 10's lunar module flies within 8.4 nautical miles (16 km) of the moon's surface. 1972 – Ceylon adopts a new constitution, becoming a republic and changing its name to Sri Lanka, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations. 1972 – Over 400 women in Derry, Northern Ireland attack the offices of Sinn Féin following the shooting by the Irish Republican Army of a young British soldier on leave. 1987 – Hashimpura massacre occurs in Meerut, India. 1987 – First ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. 1990 – North and South Yemen are unified to create the Republic of Yemen. 1992 – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia join the United Nations. 1994 – A worldwide trade embargo against Haiti goes into effect to punish its military rulers for not reinstating the country's ousted elected leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. 1996 – The Burmese military regime jails 71 supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi in a bid to block a pro-democracy meeting. 1998 – A U.S. federal judge rules that U.S. Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the Lewinsky scandal involving President Bill Clinton. 2000 – In Sri Lanka, over 150 Tamil rebels are killed over two days of fighting for control in Jaffna. 2002 – Civil rights movement: A jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murder of four girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. 2010 – Air India Express Boeing 737 crashes over a cliff upon landing at Mangalore, India, killing 158 of 166 people on board, becoming the deadliest crash involving a Boeing 737 until the crash of Lion Air Flight 610. 2010 – Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2–0 in the Uefa Champions League final in Madrid, Spain to become the first, and so far only, Italian team to win the historic treble (Serie A, Coppa Italia, Champions League). 2011 – An EF5 tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people and wreaking $2.8 billion in damages, the costliest and seventh-deadliest single tornado in U.S. history. 2012 – Tokyo Skytree opens to the public. It is the tallest tower in the world (634 m), and the second tallest man-made structure on Earth after Burj Khalifa (829.8 m). 2014 – General Prayut Chan-o-cha becomes interim leader of Thailand in a military coup d'état, following six months of political turmoil. 2014 – An explosion occurs in Ürümqi, capital of China's far-western Xinjiang region, resulting in at least 43 deaths and 91 injuries. 2015 – The Republic of Ireland becomes the first nation in the world to legalize gay marriage in a public referendum. 2017 – Twenty-two people are killed at an Ariana Grande concert in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing. 2017 – United States President Donald Trump visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and becomes the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Western Wall. 2020 – Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 crashes in Model Colony near Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 98 people.

Heather Cox Richardson:

August 10, 2020 (Monday)

The most striking news of the day was not that Trump has suggested he wants his image on Mt. Rushmore but rather that such an outrageous statement has garnered so little attention. That says something about his presidency.

This weekend, the New York Times ran a story by Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman laying out Trump’s apparent interest in adding his face to those carved on Mt. Rushmore. He’d like to be up there next to Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. After Trump told the governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem, that he hoped to have his likeness there next to his predecessors, an aide reached out to the governor’s office to learn about the process of adding an additional face. When Trump visited the monument last month, Noem greeted him with a four-foot replica of the monument with his faced added.

This entire concept is moot. The rock face cannot support more carving, which answers the question definitively. Even if it could, though, the sculpture is carved on a mountain that is part of land that the United States government took illegally from the Lakota people in 1877. The monument remains embroiled in the legal dispute over this land grab. The chance that anyone would now attempt to add a new carving to it is pretty close to zero.

Not to be deterred, on Sunday night Trump tweeted a picture of himself positioned in such a way that his face was superimposed on the structure, beside Lincoln. Yet the story that the president wanted his likeness added to Mt. Rushmore had no sticking power.

A similar fate met Trump’s statement that last week’s devastating explosion in Beirut, caused when an estimated 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate blew up, was a “terrible attack.” “I've met with some of our great generals and they just seem to feel that it was not a -- some kind of manufacturing explosion type of event. This was a -- seems to be according to them, they would know better than I would, but they seem to think it was an attack. It was a bomb of some kind.” U.S. Defense Department officials said there was no indication that the explosion was an attack. The statement came and went.

This afternoon, at his press conference, Trump told reporters that “the Obama campaign spied on our campaign, and they've been caught, all right?.... It's probably treason. It's a horrible thing they did.... They used the intelligence agencies of our country to spy on my campaign, and they have been caught." This is a statement Trump has been making since June 22, and it is an astonishing lie. And like Trump’s other outlandish statements recently, people didn’t pay a great deal of attention to it.

During his first three years in office, Trump could command headlines with outrageous statements. They often distracted us from larger stories. But that power has waned from overuse, and now outlandish stories—Trump’s face on Mt. Rushmore, a deadly attack in Beirut, Obama committing treason—barely make a ripple.

That we are no longer shocked by his outrageous comments weakens Trump’s ability to control the narrative. It also badly weakens the office of the presidency. Increasingly, he seems to be sidelined from any real decision making, which makes it hard to run for reelection with the argument that he will accomplish anything in a second term.

The White House dropped Trump’s three executive memorandums and one executive order on Friday evening, clearly expecting to set up a situation in which Democrats challenged their legality and Republicans argued that Democrats were keeping ordinary Americans from getting coronavirus relief payments. Trump’s people came out swinging as soon as Trump signed the actions, suggesting that Democrats would oppose them and it would be their fault Americans were suffering from the economic crash.

While even some Republicans opposed Trump’s redirection of congressionally-appropriated money—Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska called the actions “unconstitutional slop”-- Democratic leaders took a different approach. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed that the executive announcements were “absurdly unconstitutional,” but she and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer challenged them not on legal grounds, but on their effectiveness.

On “Fox News Sunday,” Pelosi said they were “illusions,” and listed, point by point, their weaknesses. The relief memo relies on state money that states don’t have; the payroll tax cut only defers the tax until next year, meaning employers will be reluctant to implement it since they will have to claw it all back after the election. Schumer told ABC’s “This Week” that Trump’s executive actions were “a big show, but they don’t do anything.” They both called for Republicans to return to the table for negotiations.

This threw Trump back on his heels and he is trying to spin the exchange as a victory. “The Democrats have called,” Trump said on Sunday night. “They’d like to get together. And we say if it’s not a waste of time, we’ll do it…. They’re much more inclined to make a deal now than they would’ve been two days ago.” This morning, he tweeted: “So now Schumer and Pelosi want to meet to make a deal. Amazing how it all works, isn’t it. Where have they been for the last 4 weeks when they were “hardliners”, and only wanted BAILOUT MONEY for Democrat run states and cities that are failing badly? They know my phone number!”

Pelosi and Trump haven’t spoken since October 16, when she walked out of a meeting where he railed at her and called her a “third-rate politician.” She told reporters he had a “meltdown.”

Meanwhile, the country’s governors today issued a statement outlining their concerns about Trump’s executive actions. Five days ago, the National Governors Association, a nonpartisan organization of the 55 states, territories, and commonwealths, unanimously elected New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, as their chair. Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, is the NGA vice chair. Their statement calls out “the significant administrative burdens and costs this latest action would place on the states.”

“The best way forward is for the Congress and the Administration to get back to the negotiating table and come up with a workable solution, which should provide meaningful additional relief for American families. NGA has requested $500 billion in unrestricted state aid and NGA continues to urge Congress and the White House to reach a quick resolution to provide immediate assistance to unemployed Americans. This resolution should avoid new administrative and fiscal burdens on states. It is essential that our federal partners work together to find common ground to help restore our nation’s health and protect our economy.”

Today Trump has floated yet another outrageous idea: the notion that he will make his speech accepting the Republican nomination for his reelection either at the White House or at “The Great Battlefield of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania,” which is a national park. Both locations run into both ethical problems and optical problems, since both are federal property and iconic sites.

Federal law prohibits federal employees from promoting political positions at work. The law does not cover the president, but it does cover all the other federal employees who would need to be present to make such an event possible.

Either choice also has optical problems for Trump. The White House is the people’s house, and giving a partisan speech there will not play well. And Gettysburg? It will invite comparisons the president might not like.

It was during the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, where the dead of the 1863 battle were laid to rest, that Lincoln rededicated America to “the proposition that all men are created equal.” He reminded his listeners that the men who had died there to save the Union had given “the last full measure of devotion” to their country. And he charged Americans to “here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

30 Rock’s Best Running Jokes

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

When 30 Rock drew its final breath in 2013, yards of column inches were devoted – deservedly so – to praising the work of creator Tina Fey. Article upon article applauded the characters, cast, performances and seven seasons of energetic, inventive, satirical comedy.

More than anything else though, 30 Rock was always about the gags. It was fruitcake-dense with jokes, regularly fitting in more quotable laughs before its opening credits than many shows manage in a full half-hour. As it returns for a one-off reunion special, join us in celebrating the many, many running gags of its seven-season history, from the fake movies, to the terrible yet incredibly catchy songs, Frank’s hats, and those godawful TGS sketches…

The fake movies 

The presence of Tracy Jordan (a bonafide Martin Lawrence meets the Wayans Brothers-style movie star) in the TGS cast opened up the world of film parody to 30 Rock.

Admittedly Jenna Maloney also enjoyed a movie career of sorts, but while she was being offered the part of “any blonde actress” in torture porn flicks by the producers who watched and rented Saw, Tracy was turning down the lead in Garfield 3: Feline Groovy to pursue his serious acting career. The latter climaxed with the release of spot-on Precious parody Hard To Watch (Based on the novel Stone Cold Bummer by Manipulate), for which Tracy received the O in his EGOT plan. Sheer class.

Over the years though, who couldn’t not smile at Tracy’s blaxpoitation-filled back catalogue, from the timeless romance of A Blaffair to Rememblack, to Sherlock Homie, Who Dat Ninja?, The Chunks 2: A Very Chunky Christmas, and last but by no means least, Honky Grandma Be Trippin’. The man is a chameleon (in that he’s always a lizard).

Two of Jenna’s TGS projects however, bring back the fondest memories of 30 Rock’s stinging movie satire: small-town legal drama The Rural Juror (based on a Kevin Grisham novel), and her GE-produced life rights-avoiding Janis Joplin biopic, Sing Them Blues White Girl: The Jackie Jormp Jomp Story.

The TGS sketches 

The quality of TGS’ output was never under question in 30 Rock; the sketch show was unremittingly bad (when the absence of their star meant a ‘Best of TGS’ series had to be run in lieu of live shows, Legal objected to their use of the word ‘Best’, and when a review dubbed it the worst comedy ever made, Liz was thrilled they’d defined it as a comedy). Liz Lemon’s opus was a fluorescent collection of fart gags, dodgy caricatures, Jenna’s songs, and misjudged celebrity impressions.

Beginning life as, in Kenneth’s words, “a real fun ladies comedy show for ladies”, TGS was Saturday Night Live’s idiot brother, the unsophisticated thorn in NBC’s side, under constant threat of controversy and cancellation. Forced to synergise backward overflow, advertise parent company products and promote GE interests, 30 Rock’s show-within-a-show satirised both the TV industry and tired trends in comedy (the always hilarious combination of a fat woman who’s sexually confident! Old ladies are crazy! Farts!).

Lemon may have seduced pilot Carol (Matt Damon) with her Fart Doctor skits, but TGS failed to win many hearts. With sketches like Pam the Overly Confident Morbidly Obese Woman, Ching-Chong Man Who Loves to Play Ping-Pong, Fat Hillary Clinton, Bear vs. Killer Robots, Me Want Food, and Gaybraham Lincoln, why it wasn’t more successful is a mystery.

Astronaut Mike Dexter 

Lemon may have ended up with James Marsden’s Criss Chros, but fictional boyfriend Astronaut Mike Dexter will always hold a special place in her heart. Handsomer than Dr Drew, less British than Wesley Snipes, less living-in-Cleveland than Floyd, and a million times better than Dennis Duffy, Astronaut Mike Dexter had it all… except of course, a corporeal self. 

The fake songs 

Over the years, Jenna Maroney’s singing career has vomited up some truly dreadful creations, and topping the list has to be Muffin Top (a big hit in the king-making music markets of Israel and Belgium). Seguing from its pop insanity chorus “My muffin top is all that, wholegrain, low-fat” into a Madonna-style spoken-word rap “I’m an independent lady, so please don’t try to play me. I run a tidy bakery. The boys all want my cake for free”, the song is a battery assault on the senses.

But is it worse than Jenna’s summer dance jam, Balls, which earned her the princely sum of $50 in royalties? Or her computer generated, generic benefit song in aid of an unspecific natural disaster, which urged viewers to donate to “help the people the thing that happened, happened to”? How about the Jackie Jormp Jomp performance she gave of Chunk Of My Lung, written by Jack five minutes before the show, containing the classic line “You know you’ve bought it if life makes you sweet food”? Or Fart So Loud, the un-Weird Al-able song she and Tracy wrote after he parodied the theme to Avery Jessup TV movie Kidnapped? Such riches…

It’s not only Jenna who’s provided 30 Rock’s musical intervals of course. Season three finale Kidney Now! welcomed an eclectic collection of stars including Sheryl Crow, Mary J Blige, Elvis Costello, Moby, two of the Beastie Boys, Wyclef Jean, and Cyndi Lauper to perform a We Are The World-style anthem at the Milton Green benefit gig. Angie Jordan famously released a fifteen-second single My Single Is Dropping, to ride on the wave of her reality-show fame, Frank and Pete’s Sound Mound came up with unforgettable rock anthem Weekend Woman, and in the very same episode, even Tina Fey got in on the action by providing excellent Joni Mitchell parody, Paints and Brushes.

The legacy award though, as in the 30 Rock fake song that will continue to bring joy to the hearts of fans decades from now, has to go to one song, and one song only: Tracy Jordan’s Werewolf Bar Mitzvah.

Frank’s hat slogans 

Off-set, stand-up Judah Friedlander favours his ‘World Champion’ trucker hat, the one he claims to have been awarded as the winner of the World Championships of pretty much all sports, martial arts, and that time he karate kicked Chuck Norris’ beard off his face and forced him to legally change his name to Charles.

On-set as Frank Rossitano though, Friedlander wears a series of self-designed trucker hats, each bearing a different gnomic slogan. Often incongruous, sometimes suggestive, and always odd, Frank’s hat slogans are part of the bricks and mortar of 30 Rock. In terms of favourites, we’re quite fond of ‘Alabama Legsweep’, or the laconic enigma of ‘And’, though ‘Shark Cop’, ‘Half Centaur’ and ‘Space Gravy’ also caught our eye over the seasons.

Jenna’s Mickey Rourke sex stories 

Like Dot Com’s intellectualism, this running gag may have been introduced late into proceedings, but Jenna’s torrid sexual history with putty-faced beefcake Mickey Rourke gave J-Mo some of her best lines. Jenna’s allusions to Rourke’s sexually deviant and murderous attempts on her life paint a fascinating picture for 30 Rock fans. Here are some of the finest:

“Your new vibe is a double-edged sword, much like the kind Mickey Rourke tried to kill me with”, “Nice try Hazel, but you made the same mistake Mickey Rourke made on that catamaran. You didn’t kill me when you had the chance.”, “I’m going to have to reinvent you. Break you down completely and build you up from scratch. Just like Mickey Rourke did to me sexually.” “Next time you’ll tell me Mickey Rourke catapulted you into the Hollywood sign.” “You know what they say, if you can’t stand the heat, get off Mickey Rourke’s sex grill.” Wise words.

Kenneth the immortal page 

To this day Kenneth Ellen Parcell remains something of an enigma to 30 Rock viewers. In later seasons, Jack McBrayer’s character went from being a simple country rube from Stone Mountain, Georgia to  the flesh vessel for a mysterious immortal with no reflection, no age, and links to a world beyond our own.

Plenty of reference has been made to Kenneth’s ageless and supernatural state over the years, including the suggestion that not only is he unable to die, but he’s also an angel, sent to oversee the transition of souls from one world to the next.

The fake TV shows 

It’s either a credit to the 30 Rock team or a condemnation of our times that Jack Donaghy’s hit reality viewer vote show, MILF Island, no longer feels like a parody. In generations to come, time will no doubt erode the boundaries between fact and fiction, and we 30 Rock fans will be telling our kids about the time we watched Deborah beat her competitors and claim MILF victory in the same breath as educating them about those people who ate kangaroo anuses for public approval.

MILF Island stands head and shoulders above the rest of 30 Rock’s fake TV shows (including TGS itself, lest we not forget), but that doesn’t mean that Gold Case, Los Amantes Clandestinos, Black Frasier, Homonym, or the inimitable Bitch Hunter deserve any less respect. Our fallen brothers, we salute you.

We could go on indefinitely listing the recurring jokes that made 30 Rock great, from Liz’s sandwich lust and desire to go to there, to Jack’s gloriously thatched head of hair and Republican conspiracies. As the show prepares to return, which of the above will live again?

30 Rock: A One-Time Special lands on NBC on Thursday July 16th at 8pm in the US.

The post 30 Rock’s Best Running Jokes appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2WjIevB

One moment sets the course of destiny.

But what if that one moment was changed in the smallest of ways?

What if one madman's plan actually were to succeed beyond our known history?

Darker Hue Studios presents its second project:

Haunted West, A Historical-Fiction, Weird-Western, Spaghetti-Action Game.

This is a game about hope through struggle. It is a game that pieces together the stories of the largely forgotten people of the Old West, the people who have been whitewashed by history. Discover the American experience in the Weird West.

Grab your rifle, jet pack, and spurs to battle traitorous rebels in the defense of freedom, join the fight against temporally displaced dinosaurs, rustle cattle to make ends meet, and hijack a train full of illicit Confederate gold!

I hope you’ve got the grit and gumption to see this through.

Head 'em up. Move 'em out.

                                               The Train Heist

The Old West—The Wild West, The American Frontier—is one of the world’s most familiar modern myths. The time was draped in ruggedness; there was an idealized dream of freedom, and a notion that just one person could shape the world. That myth belongs to all of us. Yet so many stories of truth, justice, and the American Way have been stolen, erased, and never recorded. Haunted West aims to tell many of those stories, to shine a light on the proud people who shaped America and fought for her just as much as those people whose stories are central to widely-known American folklore.

Haunted West honors the many forgotten voices of the American Frontier, tips its hat to the Weird West genre, rides the trails with the Spaghetti and Hollywood Westerns, and drinks at the saloon with historical truths. It’s a game about our real-world history that does not whitewash it, but instead amplifies the voices that shaped the West, and thereby America, helping define the world. We’ve taken an entirely new approach to the Weird West genre in gaming, with a system built from the ground up to enable you to tell the kind of stories you want, and accurately represent the history of the Old West while running games as gritty or as pulpy as you want.

Haunted West approaches the Weird West in a unique way, riding the rails toward something new. This is fertile ground for all. Haunted West explores the true history of the American Frontier with a focus on the tales of the forgotten, unknown, and overlooked, and all through Weird-West-goggles.

When I was young, growing up in the deep South of Alabama, I would watch Westerns with my grandmother on our one television in the house. Though we weren't always close, we huddled around that TV and explored the great Old West together, and that's how my love for the genre began. The only problem? No one looked like me unless they were cast as the villain or, sometimes, the butt of the joke. Haunted West aims to change that.

In Haunted West you'll battle the Weird, take side jobs to get by, and help shape a nation one step at a time. Experience adventures in the vein of Deadwood, High Noon, Gallowwalkers, Hell on Wheels, The Magnificent Seven, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., and more.

This is a role-playing game inspired by real-life icons such as Bass Reeves, Belle Star, Cathay Williams, Tom Threepersons, Ah Toy, Nat Love, Kate Warne, Jerome Crow Dog, Joaquín Murieta, John Henry Holliday, Lucy Eldine Gonzalez Parsons, Jackson Sundown, Mary Fields, and Fee Lee Wong.

Haunted West hears the voices of the past and amplifies them for all to hear.

"We need to haunt the house of history and listen anew to the ancestors' wisdom." - Maya Angelou

The world of Haunted West: Reconstruction begins close to our known history, but branches off a few years into the Reconstruction era following the Civil War, dropping you in the middle of an evolving historical timeline. The War’s aftermath burns bright in people's minds, no matter if they or their kin fought with the victorious North or the traitorous South.

In our known history, John Wilkes Booth assassinates Abraham Lincoln, which accidentally elevates Andrew Johnson, a Southern former slave owner, into the presidency. He goes on to fight against every change the people, their country, and fallen soldiers had earned.

Haunted West: Reconstruction creates a timeline in which, in addition to killing Lincoln, Booth's assassination plot also kills Johnson as he had originally intended. Lafayette Foster becomes President, and without presidential opposition, the Southern confederates are not allowed back in congress. The land is divided and given to the enslaved people as was actually planned in our known history, changing the power dynamic of America, with black landowners battling against traitors who are terrorizing them and trying to steal their legally-owned land.

We've worked with historians to help us imagine how that new dynamic plays out in our alternate timeline.

We think you'll love exploring the alternate timeline. As a gamer, I love world meta plots but I also like having the ability to run my own game. So in Haunted West we give you options. The game is layered, empowering you to run a purely historical game including many of the forgotten voices of the Old West, where you're more likely to die of dysentery than a bullet; or you may choose to take a turn toward the Spaghetti and Pulp Western; or, my hope is you'll want to take the ride into the alternate timeline which can be played in either gritty or pulp style—your choice.

That’s right, this is an entirely new system specifically designed with the Narrator's and players' enjoyment in mind. The system’s core mechanic is a 1d100 based system with some new twists. It’ll feel familiar and easy while having a level of complexity to appeal to old school gamers.

The rules themselves layer on top of each other for ease of use and can be applied in many ways.

Why a New System?: We created a new system to provide exciting versatility of play styles, a system that is tailored to create iconic stories of the West, and a consistent way for you to tell your stories. For me, it was important to have something fresh to empower the player and Narrator alike. The system is easy to pick up for new gamers and has levels of complexity for old school gamers looking for that. But at the heart of it, it’s built to aid in telling stories.

The Essential Mechanics: The ‘Ouroboros System’ is unique in its approach to modular play and has a number of easy-to-apply rules. The core mechanic is a 1D100 roll under system with degrees of success and failure that have different impacts. Skilled Paragons are able to invest a portion of their successes into ‘The River’ and use that portion for a later challenge when the chips are down. Each skill is associated with 1 of 7 different attributes that confer a starting percentage in the skill.

Paragons:  Paragons are our system's player characters. We chose the term 'Paragon' because they are iconic, modeling an aspect of the Old West and larger than life.

                                     Mock Up of Character Sheet

Skinwalkers, vampires, werewolves, aliens, clockworks, monstrosities, magic, and more await you here!

The Weird populates Haunted West on the fringes. People may know about it but rarely discuss it; it's not proper, and if you name it, you give it power. The Weird is rarely in plain sight and anyone that has a touched it is forever changed by it. These folks have seen beyond the horizon and understand the world is more, more dangerous, and more wonderous than anyone imagined. But unlike a Mythos protagonists, the people of the West are made of stern stuff. They don't faint or break easily.

Haunted West builds its Weird from myths, stories passed down from generations, real-world sightings, and from the recesses of our minds. We've got supernatural horrors, science fiction aliens with technology to astound, and more. Stepping out of your door into the world isn't for the faint of heart.  

                                         Artwork: Battling the Weird

Haunted West is a core book containing everything a Narrator needs to run scenarios in the Weird and Wild West. The book itself is an exquisitely designed hardcover 8.5” x 11” book clocking in at well over 130,000 words. Haunted West will be printed in two editions. The first will be available via offset printing for our US customers and the second will be available through DrivethruRPG for our overseas fans which will help to minimize the cost of shipping. Both versions of the book will be FULL COLOR! Our goal is to deliver the book to you Summer 2020.

                            Mock-up cover. Final design is pending.

This hefty tome would give any cowpoke pause from its hidden secret and arcane lore of the past. If you’ve got the resolve, I’ll tell you a bit about it and hold back a few prizes for a surprise when you open the book. Rest assured it’s not a snake in your boot.

A brief, “Howdy, partner!” We’ll chat around the campfire about history, how to apply the Weird, the horrors and wonders of the West, and the new system.

Then we sit a spell at the trading post to make some characters, what we're calling Paragons, and you'll have your choice of 10 distinctive archetypes that cover a lot of ground, enabling players to make any character they can think of. The creative posse has built a detailed Life Path system to guide character creation from your lineage, to your crew, to a few antagonists that don’t fancy your face.

Each Paragon has a couple of aptitudes making them more than a run-of-the-mill town person. Maybe they can shoot a little straighter, train horses a little faster, or rumor has it that some sawbones can bring the dead back to life.

Skills are the salt-of-the-Earth of what a Paragon can do. Qualities are those small traits that make you stand out. It could be something like striking looks, a 500-dollar bounty, or an intimidating gaze that forces any law officer to keep walking.

You can’t have the weird without a little magick. We start the ball rolling with four historically-based Western theme magicks of the time. They've been researched and gamified for those looking to meet at the crossroads to barter with a demon.

                                                     Book excerpt

We'll delve into an engaging narrative about the true West from before time until the early 1900s. Our story is sprawling with unknown visages and we touch on a lot of them, like an old friend buying the first round at the saloon. We’re storytellers crafting a tale that has never been told.

Haunted West takes the reigns and gives you all of the West, above and below to explore. Paragons may be dueling clockwork gunslingers in Deadwood, trading for supplies with the Lakota, holding the line with Texas Rangers against an unknown army, debating Southern politicians in halls of power on the East Coast, or stealing aboard steam-powered cities in the heavens. We are boundless.

The book comes primed with over 50 historical folks for the Paragons to meet, call out, run from, or with whom to posse up. These are real-life icons pulled from history, and their voices are waiting for your breath to make them live again.

See 'Methods of Play' for all the gunslinger goodness.

What kind of no-good scallywag would I be without offering a Narrator a helping hand for running games, discussing the careful economic and racial divides you’ll need to navigate? I am not alone; I've got a crew of diverse voices to help tell the tales.

Haunted West: Reconstruction is the world setting. The entire book up until now has been a historical game plus how to apply the Weird, and this section gives you over 10,000 words dedicated to the alternate timeline. In this timeline, in addition to killing Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth's assassination plot also kills Johnson as he had originally intended. The alternate timeline imagines how this new reality plays out.

The world of Haunted West is a grim place of untold horror, the supernatural, sights that shatter even the toughest gunslinger, with wonders beyond description. It is the Old West—the frontier of America—with her people arriving from every corner of the globe, seeking fortune, fame, and a moment in the sun.

The Paragons encounter rumors of some flying machine beyond description that's leaving mutilated cattle in its wake. They need the thing stopped before they go bust. But a deeper horror awaits those who follow the Aerostat.

We present over 40 creatures pulled from folklore and myths, both supernatural as well as alien, to baffle and combat your players' Paragons.

We’ll have a foldout train map of the United States, a reusable town map, and an old west hex map for miniature combat.  

                                            Artwork: Ghost Town

Kickstarter campaign ends: Fri, November 1 2019 3:00 PM UTC +00:00

Website: [Darker Hue Studios] [facebook] [twitter]

Crime Scene Cleanup Lincoln Nebraska - 5 Doubts You Should Clarify About .

Lincoln, NE Crime Scene Cleanup

Our crime scene cleaners in Lincoln, NE supply suicide cleanup and crime scene cleanup at Lincoln, NE Phone Anytime 1-888-477-0015 CSCS is your local Top business for Crime Scene Cleanup in Lincoln, NE Read more : https://acceleratedbioscenecleanup.com/city-NE+Lincoln-crime+scene+trauma+unattended+death+blood+cleanup.html . With almost 20 decades of helping families rebuild out of your CSCS of a death, we really are the cleaning organization for any blood cleanup in Lincoln, NE. Our employers history exhibits us dedicated crime scene cleaners that comprehend just how exactly to wash after having a death and eliminate blood stains and fluids that are human.

As what Lincoln, NE Wikipedia says, A any crime-scene of an murder are the role as crime scene researchers. Subsequent to the crime-scene isn't longer being investigated or the house is launched back into the family your property is discharged straight back into the family members or any time the crime scene isn't longer being investigated, then now is the time for Crime scene clean up in Lincoln, NE to become done. We're not some frequent carpeting cleaners or maid service services in Nebraska, but a true life crime scene cleaning organization which can assist you with blood cleanup and suicide cleanup. Whenever you employ rug cleaners in place of established techniques you risk enabling blood vessels to damage surface area. A crime scene cleanup job is all types of cleaning in which a standard cleaning business in Lincoln, NE cannot precisely clean. This kind of cleaning is typically cleaning a home after a death. The death could be from a suicide, unattended death, or crime for example as for example murders. We're the licensed Nebraska crime scene cleaning corporation in Lincoln, NE and provide a 24 hour service staff for the projects requiring cleanup. Our team that answers will walk you through all facets of the blood cleanup services we provide.

Our Lincoln, NE crime scene cleaners helps you?

Do not picked carpeting cleaners in Lincoln, NE or janitorial services that would not need the appropriate gear for the jobs you require assistance with. Our specialists have been skilled crime scene cleaners and might assist at any measurement work in Lincoln, NE.Crime scene cleaners may come in your house and aid get rid of blood stains along side other human debris help eliminate blood stains together with other individual contaminants and also can enter your home aid remove blood stains together with some other particles which can be human and may arrive at your house aid remove other contaminants which can be human in addition to blood stains and certainly will come into the house. This truly is not as the leaders is crime-scene cleaning throughout he Lincoln, NE we're also who'll help together using the fingerprint dust cleanup. To guarantee you have only the most important crime scene cleanup at Lincoln, NE and nearby cities contact us today at 888 477 0015.

When first responders and law enforcement officials publish a land after a criminal identification, who is accountable for crime scene cleanup? Comprehensive inspection and decontamination of this assumptions is a mentally laborious undertaking, also if perhaps not done, may result in irreversible damage and, even in case of undetected stains and tissue, the potential to get re-traumatization if detected at a later time. When blood drains are not correctly sanitized, there's the possibility of spreading germs, especially the ones that live away from your human body for days, weeks, and months.

Learn more about that our crime scene cleanup operates?

We're a crime scene cleanup company with nearly two decades experience cleaning after trauma, homicides, as well as different biohazard contamination. We have maintained a superior purchaser rating and are pleased to share with you recent testimonials. Our staff is devoted to assigning a house to pre-trauma state at an expert, respectful, and discreet method. We stick to an all-inclusive checklist for cleaning crime scenes infected by gun shot wounds, and Suicides,Homicides,Violent assault,human body decomposition at Nebraska,We also eliminate residue left behind by law authorities and illicit drug use,Tear gas,Mace,Pepper spray, and Smoke grenades,Crime scene detection compounds,Methamphetamine residue and also you grab a little a lot more depth advice on how a crime scene cleanup will work .

CSCS experts will respond instantly and also have the technical trainingand protective equipmentand expertise to securely clean trauma and crime scenes. More over you may check our FAQ area for longer frequently asked query.

Exactly why is we the very best and professional cleanup team in NE?

You won't need to provide with this specific cleaning after having a death without help, CSCS Cleanup Services firm is ready to support you together with our crime scene cleanup Lincoln, NE and neighboring towns. A bio-hazard cleaning company can know what has occurred to in your family and plea for you to find accredited crime scene cleaners to provide the crucial results to your clean up you are searching for. Crime scene cleaning from Lincoln, NE can be obtained to contact us as we operate 2-4 Hours Every day Crime Scene Cleanup Careers and Careers at Lincoln, NE and also our crew has years of experience in Blood Cleanup & Carpet Cleaning Services for Later Death Cleanup.

Engineers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Kennedy Space Center, Fla.,

developed a camera attachment system that makes use of laser technologies to explore the crime scene. The Laser Scaling and Measurement system for Photographic Pictures is made to assist scientists at determining the precise scale of almost any damages to the Space Shuttle's external tank when watching photographs of the spacecraft in its launching pad.

Even the murders, suicide, and death's in Lincoln, NE get Crime scene cleanup together with our professional employees. The crime scene cleanup job currently at Lincoln, NE let for fast cleaning to be done from the circumstances that involve blood remaining at the crime scene shortly after having a deceased body can be located. The decomposed bodies may discharge blood and other fluids that introduces threats. The blood in a residence following a murder, suicide, or murder, suicide, or unattended death takes somebody to cleanup, the folks the Police rely upon the maximum is Crime Scene Cleanup in Lincoln, NE.

Accredited Cleanup Organization in Nebraska

CSCS technicians stick to OSHA and EPA protocols to help alter an unsafe environment back into a clean, protected residence or business. Below a Number of the cleanup services CSCS provides to our customers in Nebraska, USA

Crime scene

Trauma

Blood and blood breeds on carpet/wall

Homicide

Suicide

Unattended Death

Hazmat

Biohazard

Teargas

Their very first attention would be basic safety, considering that crime or injury scenes may involve blood borne pathogens, damaging compounds, along with other threats. CSCS Professionals will consistently care for your property and the people involved in the best empathy and esteem in the face of trying conditions.

Crime Scene Cleanup

At CSCS Crime Scene Cleanup, we're qualified technicians equipped to handle the hazardous cleanup. Our crime scene cleaning agency tries to elevate the expense by dealing with many insurance businesses. To cut back the value and assist you in your own time of need we're ready to respond to the majority of clean up forecasts within a hour and also our services are available in Lincoln, NE.When very first respondent and police force officials release home after having a criminal evaluation, who is responsible for crime scene cleanup? Comprehensive inspection and decontamination of the assumptions is an emotionally taxing endeavor, also if perhaps not done, may lead to irreversible damage and, in the case of undetected stains and tissue, the potential for re-traumatization if discovered at a subsequent time. If blood spills aren't properly sanitized, there is the risk of spreading pathogens, particularly those that survive beyond the body for weeks, days, and sometimes maybe months.

Trauma Cleanup

CSCS Cleanup focuses primarily on all sorts of bioscene cleanup like trauma scene cleanup. Lincoln, NE Trauma scene cleanup is any cleanup involving an incident, crime, or suicide by which you or more individuals has passed out or become badly injured.Trauma cleanup often will involve decontamination, clean-up, removal and legal disposal of their clinical waste contaminants and'OPIM'( Other Potentially Infectious Materials).

Hoarding Cleanup

CSCS gives filth and hoarding cleanup as another service for their usual crime scene cleanup services. With a lot of the very same forms of expertise and equipment necessary to remediation a hoarding residence as a crime scene, they are ideally suited to manage your hoarding cleanup requirements. Mold cleanup, Hoarding refers into this scenario at which a person or persons stays onto or hoards objects that you does not hang on. Such as papers, old foodstuff containers, magazines, cardboard, or more unusual items. This isn't simply a few of these things, but however, chambers filled with old newspapers, or even a kitchen with old food containers that are cluttered. And even old cloths. So many who the person is able to scarcely go and also the full house resembles that. Usually this task goes for several years and results in some health danger in the assumptions from mould and mildew and pests, vermin or rodents who are attracked to the scene. It will become a very unhealthy position for anybody residing out there.

Blood Cleanup

The type of blood cleanup which is necessary to get a death cleanup related to some suicide, homicide, unattended death, or any accident in which blood spill is currently present. Blood clean up will become necessary in order to properly sanitize and wash the scene and provide a complete decontamnination. Licensed agents are wanted as a way to facilitate proper hazmat cleanup strategies after which be able to transport and incinerate the waste that's removed.

As skilled blood sanitation specialists, we now sanitise and restore the safety of industrial, commercial, residential and community places. The services that we offer are cleanup of blood flow, blood flow, gross filthand physiological fluids and contaminated crime scenes.

Good disposal when working with these jobs is essential. Blood has a lot of potential health risks. Unprotected touch without safety equipment can cause the transfer of dangerous and at times deadly implications for those concerned.

When infected with specific trypes of microorganisms, infectious diseases and bloodborne pathogens, then please get immediate assistance to determine the threat level you might be at an increased risk too. Not knowing how significant this contamination could be may lead to unplanned life-changing health situations.

Meth Lab Cleaning

Destroying resides, morals, families...and possessions. Meth houses, medication manufacturing and use results in a great number of dangers, although some are clearly visible, the others could be undetectable at initial . If you've been told the land you are accountable to get surviving in or occupying for any reason was one time a meth laboratory, then you need to know what this way. Most Nebraskas require authorized screening of a area that has been utilised to prepare meth or other medication as the health risks are still present years after the cooking operation has been not absent. CSCS's pros offer you specialist meth lab testing & evaluation and meth lab decontamination services in most fifty Nebraskas. Meth lab cleaning is important to the protection of your family if you find your house formerly placed a Meth Laboratory.

Unattended Death Cleanup

Our Lincoln, NE crime scene cleaners and death clean up experts are readily available twenty four hours, every day of a week, able to aid people who have nationwide offices. Our death cleanup network allows us to be around the scene at less than 1 hour in most court cases, we understands people's emotions in these circumstance and do all cleaning with certified and expert and licensed and trained pros. The death cleanup could involve working with bio poisonous materials as well such as blood and bodily fluids. Our educated professional cleaners can sanitize all details of the area and return it to you personally in a safe condition sticking to each of EPA and OSHA regulations for death cleanup related work.Any site where decomposition takes place needs to become suitably revived by way of professional cleanup staff. Allowing witness into a unattended death is tragic and when it is a loved one, the pain may be overwhelming to say the very least. CSCS delivers unattended death cleanup throughout the U.S. so that families have someone to turn to within their time of desire. All of us Sanitize and deodorize the area where the death occurred is a strenuous job both physically and emotionally -- don't put your self through that.

Human Anatomy Decomposition Cleaning

An anti virus death, if by a handful of days, or years is classified within an unattended death. Human body decomposition, although pure, is very poisonous to anybody in or across the location once and actually after it's happened; which is why licensed and certified cleanup specialists must always take care of the positioning's cleanup needs. Many situations a decomposing human body will exude a scent in the atmosphere which is difficult never to recognize. The more your system stays, the more damaging the regions all around it will become, as bodily fluids will probably leak out. Decomposition pulls insects, due to the discharge of bacteria that does occur; which may permit the additional spread of those noxious germs, hence also increasing the scent.

Homicide Cleanup

CSCS Homicide Cleanup in Lincoln, NE, is organization devoted to crime scene cleanups, such as this of the homicide cleanup. Having a homicide cleanup there's a violent nature linked to all the scene that will most likely lead to huge areas of blood splatter and other bio poisonous stays that really must be cleaned and should be handled by way of a expert service, Decomposing odor can occur as a result of an unattended death, crimescene, trauma or it can be less malicious and involve animals, food or drinks. In any event, in the event that you're smelling a highly potent scent, chances are it can also cause overall health results; your own body's perceptions are intended to shield us from injury and that odor you are smelling could do a lot more than merely turn stomachs. Bio Recovery has the full group of licensed cleanup specialists that offer human body decomposition odor removal services.

Tear Gas Removal

Tear-gas, riot gas, CS, CN or soda spray is popularly called a non-lethal weapon used to diminish the risks of specified scenarios. Even though riot or tear gas is not thought of as deadly the impacts have proven to be harmful so when the property has been confronted with the gas it gets absorbed to each and every aspect, by the furnishing to the HVAC and venting systems, ceilings to flooring and every inch involving. Bio-Recovery presents certified, professional teargas cleanup recovery, Nationwide. Teargas Clean Up is some thing most homeowners never be prepared you'll have to desire, nevertheless when it does, Bio Recovery is here in order to provide help.

Suicide Cleanup

CSCS Cleanup knows what's necessary for the thriving suicide cleanup of the death scene. It's simply about clearing the debris, so it is also about halting the spread of any possible disorder that might crop up thanks to inappropriate decontamination and disposal of all bio hazardous aspects. Our Lincoln, NE cleaning crew also understand the emotional effect of the situation around the victims loved ones, and whether they could not understand the causes more than you personally, they are going to always be respectful and discreet.If you're needing professional suicide cleanup services,CSCS cleaning crew is simply a phone away. All families, friends, property owners, property owners, and authorities affected by this a debilitating adventure have a seasoned crew onsite. Our licensed technicians and skilled staff know the discreet, affectionate, and also private temperament our customers expect during a suicide cleanup approach. We've more than 16 years' experience in the crime scene cleanup market. As anybody will inform youour reputation was created to"the client comes first" mindset -- this really is the sole way that these incredibly hard cleanup scenarios are managed.

Curiosity to work with CSCS Cleaning Crew?

What's more, you are able to always locate our CSCS crime scene projects in really and apply for the career and combine our cleaners crew. From fingerprint powder and also evidence-gathering compounds to rip gas and pepper spray residues, Nebraska CSCS Professionals can wash and restore your home after a crime scene analysis. Bloodborne Pathogens, CSCS pros take away and eliminate of physiological fluids, including tissue along with other potentially harmful chemicals caused by injury, trauma, crime or death at Lincoln, NE. Qualified CSCS Professionals wash, disinfect and deodorize the construction Meth Lab Cleanup.

Locate CSCS tasks on LinkedIn

From our Official LinkedIn organization webpage Professions and Jobs section for Crime Scene Cleanup in Lincoln, NE should submit your management and Program for Employment in the event that you'll love to use like a tech and cleaner.As the industry leaders for crime and trauma cleaning in Lincoln, NE or firm has continue steadily to surpassed the expectations of their peers and neighborhood organizations we operate with. Besides maximize our local and staff central presence we now have also taken on projects to ensure crime scene cleanup Lincoln, NE connected bio-hazard cleaning is performed on schedule and time. We work to get you the fastest most dependable crime scene cleanup technicians. CSCS crime scene cleanup career aren't jobs for the faint of heart. From medical injury cleaning in Lincoln, NE to supporting using a suicide cleanup, our firm gets your bio-hazard demands covered.

Turning into a crime scene cleaner a easy?

CSCS comprehends many of the compounds utilised in the creation of illegal drugs like methamphetamine are unstable and will render damaging residues during a framework. Yon can also visit or consult with turning out to be crime scene cleaner We offer respectful and professional biohazard remediation and crime scene cleaning services throughout the Nebraska of Lincoln, NE. We are a registered Trauma Scene Waste Management Practitioner, and that means you understand your biohazardous waste is discarded safely and according to Lincoln Nebraska law.Our shipment centers are strategically situated to serve towns and areas all around the state USA.

Con-Tact

CSCS Cleanup Services Nebraska

Lincoln, NE,USA

24/7 Help Line: +1 -888-- 477-0015 / +1 -888-- 629-1222 Get instructions about Maps

If you are searching to get a discreet and private crime scene cleanup corporation then Contact our workplaces at Lincoln, NE or neighboring.

Lincoln, NE Legislation help

CSCS was supplying cleaning services after homicides, suicides, and accidents/injuries for more than 20 years. We are considered as second responders working closely together with Nebraska Law Enforcement as well as also other agencies.

Lincoln Nebraska Authorities

With almost 20 years of cleaning up crime scenes, dealing with all the Nebraska Police division and fire departments, and assisting local community leaders. It isn't any wonder why we have been America's choice for crime scene cleanup.

We Have Been Social

Follow us CSCS Official Face-book Web Page

Inform us on CSCS Official Twitter Account

Follow us on CSCS Official P-interest Board

Follow our Blogs

Check our Official Sites on Moderate , Tumblr & WordPress

Some people are leaving states with anti-trans or anti-LGBTQ+ laws and relocating to LGBTQ+ friendly states like Illinois. They said it's an issue of safety.

A realtor and some local organizations said they've seen an uptick in people looking to move to the Land of Lincoln to escape anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in other states. That includes one father who told the I-Team his family is moving to Illinois because he believes it will help ensure his son's well-being and safety.

"As a parent, you have one job, love your kid. That's your only job and your kids telling you something over and over and over again. If you love them. You believe them," said Mark, who asked that his last name not be used.

His family is moving to Illinois for the sake of his 7-year-old son, who is transgender. To protect his son's identity, Mark is using another name, Connor.

"Connor just wants to be a boy. And so, you know, we weren't dismissive, but we were sort of quiet about it the first couple times Connor said this. And we would listen to him and say, you know, 'We can deal with that later. You're a little young.' But it became sort of a common thing. Maybe once a month, that maybe once a week," Mark said.

Mark and his wife and their son are leaving Kentucky and moving to the Chicago area due to anti-trans legislation recently passed there.

"The first concern is around teachers or other employees of the school being able to deadname my child or misgendering them," he said. "Second concern is use of a bathroom. Either they'll have to use the nurse's bathroom or the bathroom that is not their gender, so that would out them. A third concern is around medication. So doctors in Kentucky will lose their license if they treat my son."

Gender-affirming care for minors will also be banned in Kentucky by late June.

"So that means we have to travel across state lines to get medicine," Mark said. "And my fourth concern is what law comes next. And what harsher penalties and loss of right will my son experience."

Mark is working with realtor June Allen-Smith to find a home in the Chicago area.

"So a lot of people have already done their research and they know that they just have to leave the place that they live in now where the laws have already started to restrict their lifestyle," said Allen-Smith, a lesbian who serves the LGBTQ+ community. She said she has another client moving to Illinois from Indiana to escape anti-LGBTQ+ bills there.

One Indiana bill banning gender-affirming care for minors goes into law July 1.

"I feel that they have an ally, they have someone who understands what they're going through, some of what they're going through, because I can never understand every complexity, but I have an insight into the reality into the community of issues that we face," said Allen-Smith.

The ABC7 Data Team looked at anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the country and found that in 2023 alone, state legislatures have introduced more than 400 anti-transgender bills. About 100 failed in the legislature, more than 60 have passed. The rest are still pending. There are also dozens of other anti-LGBTQ+ bills targeting gay and lesbian rights and bills attempting to limit any discussion of sexuality at school.

"Indiana has 18, Missouri has 48 and these laws range from a variety of different things; outline mentioning of LGBTQ+ history, barring transgender kids from participating in sports, preventing trans people from accessing care to transition, appropriately banning books related to this area and so on, and so on," said Terri Ross, executive director for Illinois Legal Aid Online who has been monitoring anti LGBTQ+ legislation across the country.

Ross's organization helps people legally change their names or gender identity markers. She said some of those clients in other states are also looking to relocate, to get away from anti-trans or anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

"It's definitely real, right. The fear is real. The intimidation is real," Mark said. "Because we have to uproot our family. I was born and raised in Kentucky. I'm less than two hours from the place I was born. And I don't want to leave, but I can't stay."

Mark and his realtor said they have an offer in on a home located in a Chicago area suburb that is LGBTQ+ friendly.

The I-Team also reached out to Equality Illinois, which said it's seeing an uptick in people reaching out to them about relocating to Illinois for similar reasons.

Why Did Radical Republicans Impeach Johnson

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/why-did-radical-republicans-impeach-johnson/

Why Did Radical Republicans Impeach Johnson

Impeachment Trial Of Andrew Johnson Begins

The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

For the first time in U.S. history, the impeachment trial of an American president gets underway in the U.S. Senate. President Andrew Johnson, reviled by the Republican-dominated Congress for his views on Reconstruction, stood accused of having violated the controversial Tenure of Office Act, passed by Congress over his veto in 1867.

At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Johnson, a U.S. senator from Tennessee, was the only senator from a seceding state who remained loyal to the Union. Johnsons political career was built on his defense of the interests of poor white Southerners against the landed classes; of his decision to oppose secession, he said, Damn the negroes; I am fighting those traitorous aristocrats, their masters. For his loyalty, President Abraham Lincoln appointed him military governor of Tennessee in 1862, and in 1864 Johnson was elected vice president of the United States.

READ MORE: How Many US Presidents Have Faced Impeachment?

In 1875, after two failed bids, Johnson won reelection to Congress as a U.S. senator from Tennessee. He died less than four months after taking office at the age of 66. Fifty-one years later, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the Tenure of Office Act unconstitutional in its ruling in Myers v. United States.

Why Were Radical Republicans Angry Over Lincoln And Johnson’s Reconstruction Plans

Radical Republicans were upsetplanswereradicalrepublicans

The key difference between the Radical Republicans and President Andrew Johnson’s plan over Reconstruction is that Johnson wanted a lenient plan, but the Radicals wanted a harsh plan.

Also, what was the Radical Republicans plan for reconstruction? The Radical Republicans‘ reconstruction offered all kinds of new opportunities to African Americans, including the vote , property ownership, education, legal rights, and even the possibility of holding political office. By the beginning of 1868, about 700,000 African Americans were registered voters.

Just so, how did the radical Republicans respond to Johnson’s policies?

They believed the South should be punished for the war. How did radical republicans respond to Johnson’s policies? They passed the Civil Rights Bill which gave african americans citizenship. After Johnson vetoed, the republicans tried to get it written into the constitution as the 14th amendment, and congress approved.

What were the 3 major issues of reconstruction?

Reconstruction encompassed three major initiatives: restoration of the Union, transformation of southern society, and enactment of progressive legislation favoring the rights of freed slaves.

Early Life And Education

Stevens was born in Danville, Vermont on April 4, 1792. He was the second of four children, all boys, and was named to honor the Polish general who served in the American Revolution, Thaddeus Kociuszko. His parents were Baptists who had emigrated from Massachusetts around 1786. Thaddeus was born with a club foot which, at the time, was seen as a judgment from God for secret parental sin. His older brother was born with the same condition in both feet. The boys father, Joshua Stevens, was a farmer and cobbler who struggled to make a living in Vermont. After fathering two more sons , Joshua abandoned the children and his wife Sarah . The circumstances of his departure and his subsequent fate are uncertain; he may have died at the Battle of Oswego during the War of 1812.

Sarah Stevens struggled to make a living from the farm even with the increasing aid of her sons. She was determined that her sons improve themselves, and in 1807 moved the family to the neighboring town of Peacham, Vermont, where she enrolled young Thaddeus in the Caledonia Grammar School . He suffered much from the taunts of his classmates for his disability. Later accounts describe him as wilful, headstrong with an overwhelming burning desire to secure an education.

Read Also: What 7 Republicans Voted To Impeach

The End Of The Movement

The Radical movement was coming to an end, its agenda superseded by concerns about the economy, which had been hit by recession in 1873.

In the Congressional elections of 1874, the Democrats took control. Southern State legislatures gradually reverted to the Democrats as well, and the reforms of the Radical Republicans began to be rolled back.

In the highly controversial 1876 presidential election, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes managed to win power despite losing the popular vote, when he promised Southern States that all federal troops would be withdrawn.

After this, civil rights were no longer enforced in the South, and the former Confederate states brought in the so-called Jim Crow laws.

These laws allowed the segregation of white and black people, and although they did not explicitly state that black people could not vote, the conditions that had to be met in order to vote were disproportionately unfavourable to African-Americans. The inequality imposed by the Jim Crow laws persisted for almost a century.

Image sources:

Road To The Presidency

At the Republican presidential convention the same year in Chicago, the delegates were divided into three principal camps: the Stalwarts , who backed former president Ulysses S. Grant; the Half-Breed supporters of Maine Sen. James G. Blaine; and those committed to Secretary of the Treasury John Sherman. Tall, bearded, affable, and eloquent, Garfield steered fellow Ohioan Shermans campaign and impressed so many with his largely extemporaneous nominating speech that he, not the candidate, became the focus of attention. As the chairman of the Ohio delegation, Garfield also led a coalition of anti-Grant delegates who succeeded in rescinding the unit rule, by which a majority of delegates from a state could cast the states entire vote. This victory added to Garfields prominence and doomed Grants candidacy. Grant led all other candidates for 35 ballots but failed to command a majority. On the 36th ballot the nomination went to a dark horse, Garfield, who was still trying to remove his name from nomination as the bandwagon gathered speed.

Also Check: How Many Republicans Are Needed To Vote For Impeachment

Why Were The Radical Republicans So Powerful

Radical Republicans werepowerful

People Also Asked, What did the radical republicans do?

The Radical Republicans were a faction of the Republican Party during the American Civil War. They were distinguished by their fierce advocacy for the abolition of slavery, enfranchisement of black citizens, and holding the Southern states financially and morally culpable for the war.

Also know, how did the radical Republicans differ from the Republican majority? ? Moderate Republicans, and the majority of the Republican Party, wanted assurance that slavery and treason were dead. Radical Republicans, on the other hand, hoped that reconstruction could achieve black equality, free land distribution to former slaves, and voting rights for African Americans.

Contents

11 Why was President Johnson impeached?

Railroad Subsidies And Payoffs

Every Southern state subsidized railroads, which modernizers believed could haul the South out of isolation and poverty. Millions of dollars in bonds and subsidies were fraudulently pocketed. One ring in North Carolina spent $200,000 in bribing the legislature and obtained millions of state dollars for its railroads. Instead of building new track, however, it used the funds to speculate in bonds, reward friends with extravagant fees, and enjoy lavish trips to Europe. Taxes were quadrupled across the South to pay off the railroad bonds and the school costs.

Also Check: Why Are Republicans Wearing Blue Ties

How Did Lincoln And Johnson Approach Reconstruction Differently

How did Lincoln and Johnson approach Reconstruction differently? Lincoln and Johnson both supported the Ten Percent Plan, which allowed each rebellious state to return to the Union as soon as 10 percent of its voters had taken a loyalty oath and the state had approved the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery.

One Of The Worst Us Presidents

Old School Radical Republicans Would Have IMPEACHED Trump

While Kennedy called the decision to vote to acquit Johnson a profile in courage, the larger narrative of Johnsons presidency is not a good one. He made it easier for Southern states to reenter the Union and pardoned the Vice President of the Confederacy, perhaps helping to sew the nation back together but doing little to address the plight of African Americans in the South. He was a racist who opposed the Emancipation Proclamation and blocked efforts to help Southern blacks find their footing post-slavery.

He utterly failed to make a satisfying and just peace because of his racist views, his gross incompetence in federal office, and his incredible miscalculation of public support for his policies, wrote Elizabeth Varon, a history professor at the University of Virginia. He tried to preempt and then undermine Congressional Reconstruction by deeming the Republican experiment in black citizenship a failure, and by portraying former Confederates as victims of Republican misrule.

It was also an unhappy decision for the seven Republicans who voted to acquit him. They might have saved the powerful executive system, but they lost their jobs. None were reelected to the Senate and they faced personal repercussions as well. According to a Senate history, Ross was ostracized and his family fell into poverty when they returned to Kansas.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that Civil War was not yet over when Lincoln was re-elected.

Don’t Miss: Did Republicans Riot After Obama Was Elected

What Did The Radical Republicans Want

Radical Republicans believed that African Americans deserved immediate freedom from bondage and should receive the same rights as whites. Radical Republicans favored granting civil rights to African Americans for various reasons. Some radicals truly believed that African Americans were equals to the whites.

Attacks Against Native Americans In California And Oregon Country

Taking 16 men, Frémont split his party again, arriving at Sutters Fort in the on December 9. Frémont promptly sought to stir up patriotic enthusiasm among the American settlers there. He promised that if war with Mexico started, his military force would protect the settlers. Frémont went to , to talk with the American consul, , and Mexican commandant, under the pretext of gaining fuller supplies. In February 1846, Frémont reunited with 45 men of his expedition party near , giving the United States a formidable military army in California. Castro and Mexican officials were suspicious of Frémont and he was ordered to leave the country. Frémont and his men withdrew and camped near the summit of what is now named . Headstrong and with much audacity, Frémont raised the United States Flag in defiance of Mexican authority.

Playing for time, after a four-day standoff and Castro having a superior number of Mexican troops, Frémont and his men went north to Oregon, executing the along the way. Estimates of the casualties vary. Expedition members Thomas E. Breckenridge and Thomas S. Martin claim the number of Native Americans killed as 120150 and over 175 respectively, but the eyewitness Tustin claimed that at least 600700 Native Americans were killed on land, with another 200 or more dying in the water. There are no records of any expedition members being killed or even wounded in the massacre., one of the mounted attackers, later stated, It was a perfect butchery.

You May Like: What Republicans Are Running For Governor In Nevada

Answer To Review Question

The Fifteenth Amendment granted the vote to all black men, giving freed slaves and free blacks greater political power than they had ever had in the United States. Blacks in former Confederate states elected a handful of black U.S. congressmen and a great many black local and state leaders who instituted ambitious reform and modernization projects in the South. However, the Fifteenth Amendment continued to exclude women from voting. Women continued to fight for suffrage through the NWSA and AWSA.

Dont Miss: What Republicans Voted To Impeach The President

The Radical Republicans After The Death Of Thaddeus Stevens

Thaddeus Stevens died on August 11, 1868. After lying in the state in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, he was buried in a cemetery in Pennsylvania he had chosen as it allowed burials of both White and Black people.

The faction of Congress he had led continued, though without his fiery temperament much of the fury of the Radical Republicans subsided. Plus, they tended to support the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant, who took office in March 1869.

Also Check: What Is Trump’s Approval Rating Among Republicans

Why Did The Presidential Reconstruction Fail

However, Reconstruction failed by most other measures: Radical Republican legislation ultimately failed to protect former slaves from white persecution and failed to engender fundamental changes to the social fabric of the South. Reconstruction thus came to a close with many of its goals left unaccomplished.

Why Did President Johnson And The Radical Republicans Fought So Fiercely Over Reconstruction

The Radical Republicans opposed Lincolns plan because they thought it too lenient toward the South. Radical Republicans believed that Lincolns plan for Reconstruction was not harsh enough because, from their point of view, the South was guilty of starting the war and deserved to be punished as such.

Don’t Miss: How Many Seats Do Republicans Hold In Congress

Andrew Johnsons Impeachment And The Legacy Of The Civil War

He started as a hero and ended as the impersonation of the tyrannical slave power.

On April 15, six weeks after Andrew Johnson was sworn in as vice president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Had the assassin’s plot gone as planned, Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, and Secretary of State William Seward would have also been killed. As it turned out, co-conspirator George Atzerodt, who had stalked the vice president, lost his nerve at the last minute.

A few hours after Lincoln’s death, Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase swore Johnson in as President of the United States. Republicans were relieved that Johnson had not been killed and could provide continuity; they thought that he would be putty in their hands and would follow the dictates of Republican congressional leaders. They were mistaken. And the resulting conflict between president and Congress led to the first presidential impeachment in American history.

In Johnson’s mind, the issue of what to do with the defeated Southern states was simple: impose conditions upon their return to full standing, such as the irrevocable abolition of slavery but do not impose black suffrage as a condition of readmission.

Journal Universel

Many Senate Republicans had decided to make it a close vote but not a conviction.

Republican Party Presidential Candidate

Why Republicans are whitewashing Andrew Johnson’s racism

In 1856, Frémont was the first presidential candidate of the new . The Republicans, whose party had formed in 1854, were united in their opposition to the Pierce Administration and the spread of slavery into the West. Initially, Frémont was asked to be the Democratic candidate by former Virginia Governor and the powerful Preston family. Frémont announced that he was for Free Soil Kansas and was against the enforcement of the 1850 . Republican leaders , , and were able to get Frémont to join their political party. Seeking a united front and a fresh face for the party, the Republicans nominated Frémont for president over other candidates, and conservative of New Jersey, for vice president, at their June 1856 convention held in Philadelphia. The Republican campaign used the slogan Free Soil, Free Men, and Frémont to crusade for free farms and against the . Frémont, popularly known as The Pathfinder, however, had voter appeal and remained the symbol of the Republican Party. The Democratic Party nominated .

Also Check: When Will Republicans Do The Right Thing

Recommended Reading: Is There Any Republicans Running For President Besides Trump

Why Did Radical Republicans Disagree With This Proclamation

The Radical Republicans opposed Lincolns plan because they thought it too lenient toward the South. Radical Republicans believed that Lincolns plan for Reconstruction was not harsh enough because, from their point of view, the South was guilty of starting the war and deserved to be punished as such.

President Andrew Johnson Impeached

The U.S. House of Representatives votes 11 articles of impeachment against President Andrew Johnson, nine of which cite Johnsons removal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, a violation of the Tenure of Office Act. The House vote made President Johnson the first president to be impeached in U.S. history.

At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Andrew Johnson, a senator from Tennessee, was the only U.S. senator from a seceding state who remained loyal to the Union. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln appointed him military governor of Tennessee, and in 1864 he was elected vice president of the United States. Sworn in as president after Lincolns assassination in April 1865, President Johnson enacted a lenient Reconstruction policy for the defeated South, including almost total amnesty to ex-Confederates, a program of rapid restoration of U.S.-state status for the seceded states, and the approval of new, local Southern governments, which were able to legislate Black Codes that preserved the system of slavery in all but its name.

READ MORE:;How Many U.S. Presidents Have Faced Impeachment?

Also Check: How Did The Republicans Take Control Of Congress

Did The Radical Republicans In Congress Repeatedly Try To Impeach President Andrew Johnson

Who are the experts?Our certified Educators are real professors, teachers, and scholars who use their academic expertise to tackle your toughest questions. Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team.

The Radical Republicans did try to impeach President Johnson. The Radical Republicans believed that President Johnson was blocking attempts to help former slaves as they adjusted to being freed. They were upset that President Johnson had vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 that gave full citizenship to African Americans….

What Did Lincolns 10 Percent Plan For Reconstruction Require States To Do

What did Lincolns 10 Percent Plan for Reconstruction require states to do? Write a constitution that abolished slavery and provided for black education. They wanted to make sure that southern states could only be readmitted into the Union when black rights were protected. You just studied 37 terms!

Recommended Reading: What Are The Republicans Saying About Impeachment

Why Did Radical Republicans Impeach Johnson

Impeachment Trial Of Andrew Johnson Begins

The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

For the first time in U.S. history, the impeachment trial of an American president gets underway in the U.S. Senate. President Andrew Johnson, reviled by the Republican-dominated Congress for his views on Reconstruction, stood accused of having violated the controversial Tenure of Office Act, passed by Congress over his veto in 1867.

At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Johnson, a U.S. senator from Tennessee, was the only senator from a seceding state who remained loyal to the Union. Johnsons political career was built on his defense of the interests of poor white Southerners against the landed classes; of his decision to oppose secession, he said, Damn the negroes; I am fighting those traitorous aristocrats, their masters. For his loyalty, President Abraham Lincoln appointed him military governor of Tennessee in 1862, and in 1864 Johnson was elected vice president of the United States.

READ MORE: How Many US Presidents Have Faced Impeachment?

In 1875, after two failed bids, Johnson won reelection to Congress as a U.S. senator from Tennessee. He died less than four months after taking office at the age of 66. Fifty-one years later, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the Tenure of Office Act unconstitutional in its ruling in Myers v. United States.

Why Were Radical Republicans Angry Over Lincoln And Johnson’s Reconstruction Plans

Radical Republicans were upsetplanswereradicalrepublicans

The key difference between the Radical Republicans and President Andrew Johnson’s plan over Reconstruction is that Johnson wanted a lenient plan, but the Radicals wanted a harsh plan.

Also, what was the Radical Republicans plan for reconstruction? The Radical Republicans‘ reconstruction offered all kinds of new opportunities to African Americans, including the vote , property ownership, education, legal rights, and even the possibility of holding political office. By the beginning of 1868, about 700,000 African Americans were registered voters.

Just so, how did the radical Republicans respond to Johnson’s policies?

They believed the South should be punished for the war. How did radical republicans respond to Johnson’s policies? They passed the Civil Rights Bill which gave african americans citizenship. After Johnson vetoed, the republicans tried to get it written into the constitution as the 14th amendment, and congress approved.

What were the 3 major issues of reconstruction?

Reconstruction encompassed three major initiatives: restoration of the Union, transformation of southern society, and enactment of progressive legislation favoring the rights of freed slaves.

Early Life And Education

Stevens was born in Danville, Vermont on April 4, 1792. He was the second of four children, all boys, and was named to honor the Polish general who served in the American Revolution, Thaddeus Kociuszko. His parents were Baptists who had emigrated from Massachusetts around 1786. Thaddeus was born with a club foot which, at the time, was seen as a judgment from God for secret parental sin. His older brother was born with the same condition in both feet. The boys father, Joshua Stevens, was a farmer and cobbler who struggled to make a living in Vermont. After fathering two more sons , Joshua abandoned the children and his wife Sarah . The circumstances of his departure and his subsequent fate are uncertain; he may have died at the Battle of Oswego during the War of 1812.

Sarah Stevens struggled to make a living from the farm even with the increasing aid of her sons. She was determined that her sons improve themselves, and in 1807 moved the family to the neighboring town of Peacham, Vermont, where she enrolled young Thaddeus in the Caledonia Grammar School . He suffered much from the taunts of his classmates for his disability. Later accounts describe him as wilful, headstrong with an overwhelming burning desire to secure an education.

Read Also: What 7 Republicans Voted To Impeach

The End Of The Movement

The Radical movement was coming to an end, its agenda superseded by concerns about the economy, which had been hit by recession in 1873.

In the Congressional elections of 1874, the Democrats took control. Southern State legislatures gradually reverted to the Democrats as well, and the reforms of the Radical Republicans began to be rolled back.

In the highly controversial 1876 presidential election, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes managed to win power despite losing the popular vote, when he promised Southern States that all federal troops would be withdrawn.

After this, civil rights were no longer enforced in the South, and the former Confederate states brought in the so-called Jim Crow laws.

These laws allowed the segregation of white and black people, and although they did not explicitly state that black people could not vote, the conditions that had to be met in order to vote were disproportionately unfavourable to African-Americans. The inequality imposed by the Jim Crow laws persisted for almost a century.

Image sources:

Road To The Presidency

At the Republican presidential convention the same year in Chicago, the delegates were divided into three principal camps: the Stalwarts , who backed former president Ulysses S. Grant; the Half-Breed supporters of Maine Sen. James G. Blaine; and those committed to Secretary of the Treasury John Sherman. Tall, bearded, affable, and eloquent, Garfield steered fellow Ohioan Shermans campaign and impressed so many with his largely extemporaneous nominating speech that he, not the candidate, became the focus of attention. As the chairman of the Ohio delegation, Garfield also led a coalition of anti-Grant delegates who succeeded in rescinding the unit rule, by which a majority of delegates from a state could cast the states entire vote. This victory added to Garfields prominence and doomed Grants candidacy. Grant led all other candidates for 35 ballots but failed to command a majority. On the 36th ballot the nomination went to a dark horse, Garfield, who was still trying to remove his name from nomination as the bandwagon gathered speed.

Also Check: How Many Republicans Are Needed To Vote For Impeachment

Why Were The Radical Republicans So Powerful

Radical Republicans werepowerful

People Also Asked, What did the radical republicans do?

The Radical Republicans were a faction of the Republican Party during the American Civil War. They were distinguished by their fierce advocacy for the abolition of slavery, enfranchisement of black citizens, and holding the Southern states financially and morally culpable for the war.

Also know, how did the radical Republicans differ from the Republican majority? ? Moderate Republicans, and the majority of the Republican Party, wanted assurance that slavery and treason were dead. Radical Republicans, on the other hand, hoped that reconstruction could achieve black equality, free land distribution to former slaves, and voting rights for African Americans.

Contents

11 Why was President Johnson impeached?

Railroad Subsidies And Payoffs

Every Southern state subsidized railroads, which modernizers believed could haul the South out of isolation and poverty. Millions of dollars in bonds and subsidies were fraudulently pocketed. One ring in North Carolina spent $200,000 in bribing the legislature and obtained millions of state dollars for its railroads. Instead of building new track, however, it used the funds to speculate in bonds, reward friends with extravagant fees, and enjoy lavish trips to Europe. Taxes were quadrupled across the South to pay off the railroad bonds and the school costs.

Also Check: Why Are Republicans Wearing Blue Ties

How Did Lincoln And Johnson Approach Reconstruction Differently

How did Lincoln and Johnson approach Reconstruction differently? Lincoln and Johnson both supported the Ten Percent Plan, which allowed each rebellious state to return to the Union as soon as 10 percent of its voters had taken a loyalty oath and the state had approved the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery.

One Of The Worst Us Presidents

Old School Radical Republicans Would Have IMPEACHED Trump

While Kennedy called the decision to vote to acquit Johnson a profile in courage, the larger narrative of Johnsons presidency is not a good one. He made it easier for Southern states to reenter the Union and pardoned the Vice President of the Confederacy, perhaps helping to sew the nation back together but doing little to address the plight of African Americans in the South. He was a racist who opposed the Emancipation Proclamation and blocked efforts to help Southern blacks find their footing post-slavery.

He utterly failed to make a satisfying and just peace because of his racist views, his gross incompetence in federal office, and his incredible miscalculation of public support for his policies, wrote Elizabeth Varon, a history professor at the University of Virginia. He tried to preempt and then undermine Congressional Reconstruction by deeming the Republican experiment in black citizenship a failure, and by portraying former Confederates as victims of Republican misrule.

It was also an unhappy decision for the seven Republicans who voted to acquit him. They might have saved the powerful executive system, but they lost their jobs. None were reelected to the Senate and they faced personal repercussions as well. According to a Senate history, Ross was ostracized and his family fell into poverty when they returned to Kansas.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that Civil War was not yet over when Lincoln was re-elected.

Don’t Miss: Did Republicans Riot After Obama Was Elected

What Did The Radical Republicans Want

Radical Republicans believed that African Americans deserved immediate freedom from bondage and should receive the same rights as whites. Radical Republicans favored granting civil rights to African Americans for various reasons. Some radicals truly believed that African Americans were equals to the whites.

Attacks Against Native Americans In California And Oregon Country

Taking 16 men, Frémont split his party again, arriving at Sutters Fort in the on December 9. Frémont promptly sought to stir up patriotic enthusiasm among the American settlers there. He promised that if war with Mexico started, his military force would protect the settlers. Frémont went to , to talk with the American consul, , and Mexican commandant, under the pretext of gaining fuller supplies. In February 1846, Frémont reunited with 45 men of his expedition party near , giving the United States a formidable military army in California. Castro and Mexican officials were suspicious of Frémont and he was ordered to leave the country. Frémont and his men withdrew and camped near the summit of what is now named . Headstrong and with much audacity, Frémont raised the United States Flag in defiance of Mexican authority.

Playing for time, after a four-day standoff and Castro having a superior number of Mexican troops, Frémont and his men went north to Oregon, executing the along the way. Estimates of the casualties vary. Expedition members Thomas E. Breckenridge and Thomas S. Martin claim the number of Native Americans killed as 120150 and over 175 respectively, but the eyewitness Tustin claimed that at least 600700 Native Americans were killed on land, with another 200 or more dying in the water. There are no records of any expedition members being killed or even wounded in the massacre., one of the mounted attackers, later stated, It was a perfect butchery.

You May Like: What Republicans Are Running For Governor In Nevada

Answer To Review Question

The Fifteenth Amendment granted the vote to all black men, giving freed slaves and free blacks greater political power than they had ever had in the United States. Blacks in former Confederate states elected a handful of black U.S. congressmen and a great many black local and state leaders who instituted ambitious reform and modernization projects in the South. However, the Fifteenth Amendment continued to exclude women from voting. Women continued to fight for suffrage through the NWSA and AWSA.

Dont Miss: What Republicans Voted To Impeach The President

The Radical Republicans After The Death Of Thaddeus Stevens

Thaddeus Stevens died on August 11, 1868. After lying in the state in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, he was buried in a cemetery in Pennsylvania he had chosen as it allowed burials of both White and Black people.

The faction of Congress he had led continued, though without his fiery temperament much of the fury of the Radical Republicans subsided. Plus, they tended to support the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant, who took office in March 1869.

Also Check: What Is Trump’s Approval Rating Among Republicans

Why Did The Presidential Reconstruction Fail

However, Reconstruction failed by most other measures: Radical Republican legislation ultimately failed to protect former slaves from white persecution and failed to engender fundamental changes to the social fabric of the South. Reconstruction thus came to a close with many of its goals left unaccomplished.

Why Did President Johnson And The Radical Republicans Fought So Fiercely Over Reconstruction

The Radical Republicans opposed Lincolns plan because they thought it too lenient toward the South. Radical Republicans believed that Lincolns plan for Reconstruction was not harsh enough because, from their point of view, the South was guilty of starting the war and deserved to be punished as such.

Don’t Miss: How Many Seats Do Republicans Hold In Congress

Andrew Johnsons Impeachment And The Legacy Of The Civil War

He started as a hero and ended as the impersonation of the tyrannical slave power.

On April 15, six weeks after Andrew Johnson was sworn in as vice president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Had the assassin’s plot gone as planned, Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, and Secretary of State William Seward would have also been killed. As it turned out, co-conspirator George Atzerodt, who had stalked the vice president, lost his nerve at the last minute.

A few hours after Lincoln’s death, Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase swore Johnson in as President of the United States. Republicans were relieved that Johnson had not been killed and could provide continuity; they thought that he would be putty in their hands and would follow the dictates of Republican congressional leaders. They were mistaken. And the resulting conflict between president and Congress led to the first presidential impeachment in American history.

In Johnson’s mind, the issue of what to do with the defeated Southern states was simple: impose conditions upon their return to full standing, such as the irrevocable abolition of slavery but do not impose black suffrage as a condition of readmission.

Journal Universel

Many Senate Republicans had decided to make it a close vote but not a conviction.

Republican Party Presidential Candidate

Why Republicans are whitewashing Andrew Johnson’s racism

In 1856, Frémont was the first presidential candidate of the new . The Republicans, whose party had formed in 1854, were united in their opposition to the Pierce Administration and the spread of slavery into the West. Initially, Frémont was asked to be the Democratic candidate by former Virginia Governor and the powerful Preston family. Frémont announced that he was for Free Soil Kansas and was against the enforcement of the 1850 . Republican leaders , , and were able to get Frémont to join their political party. Seeking a united front and a fresh face for the party, the Republicans nominated Frémont for president over other candidates, and conservative of New Jersey, for vice president, at their June 1856 convention held in Philadelphia. The Republican campaign used the slogan Free Soil, Free Men, and Frémont to crusade for free farms and against the . Frémont, popularly known as The Pathfinder, however, had voter appeal and remained the symbol of the Republican Party. The Democratic Party nominated .

Also Check: When Will Republicans Do The Right Thing

Recommended Reading: Is There Any Republicans Running For President Besides Trump

Why Did Radical Republicans Disagree With This Proclamation

The Radical Republicans opposed Lincolns plan because they thought it too lenient toward the South. Radical Republicans believed that Lincolns plan for Reconstruction was not harsh enough because, from their point of view, the South was guilty of starting the war and deserved to be punished as such.

President Andrew Johnson Impeached

The U.S. House of Representatives votes 11 articles of impeachment against President Andrew Johnson, nine of which cite Johnsons removal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, a violation of the Tenure of Office Act. The House vote made President Johnson the first president to be impeached in U.S. history.

At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Andrew Johnson, a senator from Tennessee, was the only U.S. senator from a seceding state who remained loyal to the Union. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln appointed him military governor of Tennessee, and in 1864 he was elected vice president of the United States. Sworn in as president after Lincolns assassination in April 1865, President Johnson enacted a lenient Reconstruction policy for the defeated South, including almost total amnesty to ex-Confederates, a program of rapid restoration of U.S.-state status for the seceded states, and the approval of new, local Southern governments, which were able to legislate Black Codes that preserved the system of slavery in all but its name.

READ MORE:;How Many U.S. Presidents Have Faced Impeachment?

Also Check: How Did The Republicans Take Control Of Congress

Did The Radical Republicans In Congress Repeatedly Try To Impeach President Andrew Johnson

Who are the experts?Our certified Educators are real professors, teachers, and scholars who use their academic expertise to tackle your toughest questions. Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team.

The Radical Republicans did try to impeach President Johnson. The Radical Republicans believed that President Johnson was blocking attempts to help former slaves as they adjusted to being freed. They were upset that President Johnson had vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 that gave full citizenship to African Americans….

What Did Lincolns 10 Percent Plan For Reconstruction Require States To Do

What did Lincolns 10 Percent Plan for Reconstruction require states to do? Write a constitution that abolished slavery and provided for black education. They wanted to make sure that southern states could only be readmitted into the Union when black rights were protected. You just studied 37 terms!

Recommended Reading: What Are The Republicans Saying About Impeachment

source https://www.patriotsnet.com/why-did-radical-republicans-impeach-johnson/

Name 5 Presidents that you really like/respect and 5 Presidents that you're not a fan of

5 Presidents I like/respect. 

1. John F. Kennedy (my favorite President and I respect him greatly for how he handled the Cuban Missile Crisis and laid the groundwork for the Civil Rights Act of 1964).

2. William Jefferson Clinton (the last modern president to balance the budget and a master negotiator. I could say more but this blog already is testimony enough of why I respect him ).

3. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Longest serving president of the U.S. and I respect the fact that he was able to fix the banking system by passing the Emergency Banking Act and then later the 1933 banking act, I won’t get too much into it but he essentially protected bank depositors from losses caused by a bank’s inability to pay its debts when due. He also established a national minimum wage. Then of course there his great leadership in WW2. It should be noted that I only respect the man’s accomplishments but do not like him on a personal level, he was responsible for the Japanese internment camps). 

4. Abraham Lincoln (kept the Union and the United States intact and managed to help pass the 13th Amendment which prohibits slavery in the United States. I respect him in a pragmatic sense but I do think he is over glorified because the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t technically free slaves as people are fond of saying it only freed slaves in the South which Lincoln had no control over. Lincoln also suspended habeas corpus which is the law that says the government can’t hold you for a crime without bringing you in front of a court and allowing you to have a court procedure to able to prove your innocence). 

5. George Washington (First President of the United States. I respect him in that he was a general in the American Revolution for Independence and that he willingly gave up power and started the two term limit. He also established the United States Navy which was important because Britain had the most powerful Navy at the time). 

5. Presidents I am not a fan of.

1. Donald J. Trump. (yeah so his presidency isn’t over but I am not impressed by what he’s done so far. He hasn’t been able to pass legislation and I’ve spoken before about how I think he is emotionally challenged and acts too much like a child to be president. He also didn’t denounce the Unite the Right White Supremacist event that took place in Charlottesville where he could have had a chance to send the national guard to shut it down just like JFK did when they started having riots and not wanting to let a black student, Meredith, go to a white school in Alabama even though the law stated he could. To me that shows a lack of leadership on his part). 

2. Ronald Reagan (I know he had some accomplishments with the Cold War but he failed miserably with how he handled the AIDs crisis. United States citizens were dying at home and he did nothing to protect or help them and said AIDS came from a lack of “morality.” Then there is Iran-Contra where his administration was involved in arming Middle-Eastern countries that were hostile to the U.S.). 

3. Andrew Jackson (he was responsible for the Trail of Tears which forced Native Americans from their home land. He also had his whole drama with South Carolina by raising tariffs on them and making them want to secede. He was also a vicious racist and slave owner). 

4. Andrew Johnson (an incompetent president and a white supremacist who unfortunately halts reconstruction and the progress made by winning the Civil War. He also opposed the 14th Amendment which prohibits any state from depriving citizens of life, liberty, or property, without due process. He basically tries to get things to be like how they were before the Civil War). 

5. James Buchanan (he is usually dubbed by historians as the worst President and it is true to some extent. He called the territorial issue of slavery “happily, a matter of but little practical importance.“ He was president before Lincoln and he did nothing to stop the coming Civil War which if he had taken more action, could have been prevent. Buchanan said he believed the South’s secession wasn’t legal, but the federal government didn’t have the power to stop it. He supported a Supreme Court decision that denied African-Americans were citizens, and he backed the admittance of Kansas to the Union with a pro-slavery constitution

yeah… so that’s it. Lol sorry this was long but I felt I had to put an explanation and not just give the names without giving the reasons. 

Treason: A Brief Definition And Legal History Of The Highest Crime Of The Land

By Everest Yan, Cornell University Class of 2022

February 16, 2021

The events of January 6th at the United States Capitol and the resultant increased concern over domestic terrorism has brought the topic of treason back into popular discussion. However, there has been great misuse of this charge in public narratives and accusations. The scope of this crime is narrow, and awareness of the true definitions and implications of this crime must be understood to avoid political misuse of this grave charge.

Treason exists as the only constitutionally defined crime, spelled out in Article III, Section 3:  “Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.” The consequences for treason are spelled out in 18 U.S. Code § 2381, being either death or imprisonment of “not less than five years” and a fine of at least $10,000. Notably, the same section of law states that treason can only be committed by one “owing allegiance to the United States”, which excludes foreign nationals without any allegiance to the U.S.

Treason exists as one of the highest crimes one can be charged with under United States law, and thus, treason cases have been few and far between in American history, with even less convictions. Only forty cases of federal treason have been tried since the ratification of the Constitution, and many of those who have been successfully convicted eventually received presidential pardons or commutations of their sentences.

To reduce the ability of treason charges to be politically exploited, the definition of treason under the Constitution was made very narrow in scope. Firstly, the “levying war” portion of the definition only covers concrete actions in wartime against the government of the United States of America. As noted by Chief Justice John Marshall’s opinion in Ex parte Bollman and Ex parte Swarthout, the cases heard by the Supreme Court regarding the alleged treasonous Burr-Wilkinson plot, conspiring to levy war was sufficient to classify as treason, rather an “actual assemblage of men for the purpose of executing a treasonable design” was needed to justify such charges. Safeguards against frivolous use of treason charges were also put into place regarding the “giving Aid and Comfort” portion of the definition of treason in the 1945 Supreme Court Case Cramer v. United States, regarding an American citizen implicated in the Nazi Saboteur Affair. In this case, the Supreme Court established that the constitutional definition of treason requires a conscious intent to betray America; simply favoring or sympathizing with an enemy in wartime is not enough.

Despite the historical reluctance of prosecutors to pursue charges of treason and the numerous legal safeguards against inappropriate usage, the limited history of federal treason convictions has seen some dubious convictions for treason, arguably including the only two executions for federal treason in United States history. The first was that of William Mumford in 1862, who was found guilty of treason, without trial, by a Union Army unit after allegedly removing a flag planted by American Marines in New Orleans, leading him to be immediately hanged. The second execution was that of Mary Surratt, owner of the boardinghouse in which John Wilkes Booth and his conspirators developed their plot to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. Although it was never proven that Surratt had any knowledge of the plot that was developed in her residence, she was still hanged.

Apart from the questionable nature of both treason convictions that resulted in execution, shaky legal footing was used to secure the conviction of Iva Toguri d'Aquino, an American-born daughter of Japanese parents. World War II saw a number of Americans defect to the Axis war efforts, and six in total were convicted of treason for events related to WWII. D’Aquino, also known by the moniker “Tokyo Rose”, was unable to leave Japan for the duration of the war and took up a radio broadcasting job in Tokyo in a station that played English programming, especially American music. Multiple American soldiers would allege that she also used her position to send out demoralizing, subversive messages to Americans who tuned into this channel, and she was arrested upon attempting to reenter the United States after the war. In the 1970s, the testimonies of the GIs were reexamined, and under this scrutinization, it became clear that many of the testimonies either misidentified her or simply imagined the subversive statements attributed to her, products of the psychological trauma that the soldiers had experienced during the war. In light of the newfound confusion surrounding d’Aquino’s conviction, she was pardoned by the Ford administration in 1977.

Treason against the United States of America is a crime extremely narrow in scope and historically one of the rarest charges even made and much less resulting in successful convictions. As spelled out in the Constitution, the crime is limited to only periods in which the United States is at war, and despite the limited scope of the crime and the hesitancy of the executive branch in the past to pursue charges of treason and to fully see out the sentences of those convicted of treason, there have been notable cases of miscarriage of justice in the handful of treason convictions. As the highest crime of the land, treason is not something to be carried lightly.

______________________________________________________________

Crane, Paul T, and Deborah Pearlstein. “Treason Clause.” Interpretation: Treason Clause | The National Constitution Center, National Constitution Center, constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/interpretation/article-iii/clauses/39#:~:text=Treason%20against%20the%20United%20States,on%20Confession%20in%20open%20Court.

KSNV News 3. Performance by Krystal Allen, and Matthew Hoffman, KSNV, 13 Jan. 2021.

M., Morris. “Every American Ever Convicted Of Treason (And What Happened Next).” Grunge.com, Grunge, 7 Mar. 2019, www.grunge.com/147135/every-american-ever-convicted-of-treason-and-what-happened-next/.

Nolo. “What Is Treason?” Www.criminaldefenselawyer.com, Nolo, 12 Jan. 2021, www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/treason.htm.

Walther, Matthew. “A Brief History of Treason in the United States.” The Week - All You Need to Know about Everything That Matters, The Week, 3 Oct. 2019, theweek.com/articles/869173/brief-history-treason-united-states.