Free the Land

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Onaci
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Carolina ◽  
Black Americans ◽  
The United States ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
Independence Movement ◽  
Political Struggles ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic

On March 31, 1968, over 500 Black nationalists convened in Detroit to begin the process of securing independence from the United States. Many concluded that Black Americans' best remaining hope for liberation was the creation of a sovereign nation-state, the Republic of New Afrika (RNA). New Afrikan citizens traced boundaries that encompassed a large portion of the South--including South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana--as part of their demand for reparation. As champions of these goals, they framed their struggle as one that would allow the descendants of enslaved people to choose freely whether they should be citizens of the United States. New Afrikans also argued for financial restitution for the enslavement and subsequent inhumane treatment of Black Americans. The struggle to "Free the Land" remains active to this day. This book is the first to tell the full history of the RNA and the New Afrikan Independence Movement. Edward Onaci shows how New Afrikans remade their lifestyles and daily activities to create a self-consciously revolutionary culture, and it argues that the RNA's tactics and ideology were essential to the evolution of Black political struggles. Onaci expands the story of Black Power politics, shedding new light on the long-term legacies of mid-century Black Nationalism.

Indigenous Nations and US Foreign Relations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Parmenter
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Weight Of Evidence ◽  
International Commitments ◽  
Indigenous Nations ◽  
History Of ◽  
American Foreign Relations ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Relationship

The United States has engaged with Indigenous nations on a government-to-government basis via federal treaties representing substantial international commitments since the origins of the republic. The first treaties sent to the Senate for ratification under the Constitution of 1789 were treaties with Indigenous nations. Treaties with Indigenous nations provided the means by which approximately one billion acres of land entered the national domain of the United States prior to 1900, at an average price of seventy-five cents per acre – the United States confiscated or claimed another billion acres of Indigenous land without compensation. Despite subsequent efforts of American federal authorities to alter these arrangements, the weight of evidence indicates that the relationship remains primarily one of a nation-to-nation association. Integration of the history of federal relations with Indigenous nations with American foreign relations history sheds important new light on the fundamental linkages between these seemingly distinct state practices from the beginnings of the American republic.

Santa Anna and His Legacy

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Will Fowler
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mexican War ◽  
Early National Period ◽  
The Public ◽  
Early National ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Alamo ◽  
The U.S

Antonio López de Santa Anna (b. Xalapa, February 21, 1794; d. Mexico City, June 21, 1876) was one of the most notorious military caudillos of 19th-century Mexico. He was involved in just about every major event of the early national period and served as president on six different occasions (1833–1835, 1839, 1841–1843, 1843–1844, 1846–1847, and 1853–1855). U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary Waddy Thompson during the 1840s would come to the conclusion that: “No history of his country for that period can be written without constant mention of his name.”1 For much of the 1820s to 1850s he proved immensely popular; the public celebrated him as “Liberator of Veracruz,” the “Founder of the Republic,” and the “Hero of Tampico” who repulsed a Spanish attempt to reconquer Mexico in 1829. Even though he lost his leg defending Veracruz from a French incursion in 1838, many still regarded him as the only general who would be able to save Mexico from the U.S. intervention of 1846–1848. However, Mexicans, eventually, would remember him more for his defeats than his victories. Having won the battle of the Alamo, he lost the battle of San Jacinto which resulted in Texas becoming independent from Mexico in 1836. Although he recovered from this setback, many subsequently blamed him for Mexico’s traumatic defeat in the U.S.-Mexican War, which ended with Mexico ceding half of its territory to the United States. His corruption paired with the fact that he aligned himself with competing factions at different junctures contributed to the accusation that he was an unprincipled opportunist. Moreover, because he authorized the sale of La Mesilla Valley to the United States (in present-day southern Arizona) in the 1853 Gadsden Purchase, he was labeled a vendepatrias (“fatherland-seller”). The repressive dictatorship he led donning the title of “His Serene Highness” in 1853–1855, also gave way to him being presented thereafter as a bloodthirsty tyrant, even though his previous terms in office were not dictatorial. Albeit feted as a national hero during much of his lifetime, historians have since depicted Santa Anna as a cynical turncoat, a ruthless dictator, and the traitor who lost the U.S.-Mexican War on purpose. However, recent scholarship has led to a significant revision of this interpretation. The aim of this article is to recast our understanding of Santa Anna and his legacy bearing in mind the latest findings. In the process it demonstrates how important it is to engage with the complexities of the multilayered regional and national contexts of the time in order to understand the politics of Independent Mexico.

Social Security

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry DeWitt ◽  
Edward D. Berkowitz
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Older People ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
The United States ◽  
Critical Question ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
History Of ◽  
Government Benefits

This chapter considers the history of Social Security, arguing that the 1950 amendments represented the fundamental adjustment that allowed the program’s long-term survival. It analyzes current issues in Social Security related to gender, race, and the program’s long-term solvency. It concludes that Social Security has legitimized the receipt of government benefits among many Americans and changed the nature of old age in the United States by providing older people with a guaranteed means of support. A large and costly program, Social Security has evolved into the United States’ major antipoverty program. Nonetheless it faces the criticism of those who argue that it favors older people over other age groups and that it represents an inefficient form of government coercion. Whether the program will be sustained in the future or modified in a significant way remains a critical question.

scholarly journals Citizenship and structured dependency: the implications of policy design for senior political power

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
GEMMA M. CARNEY
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Older People ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
The United States ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
Target Populations ◽  
The Republic

ABSTRACTThis paper argues that the structured dependency thesis must be extended to incorporate political power. It outlines a political framework of analysis with which to identify who gains and who loses from social policy. I argue that public policy for older people is a product not only of social structures but also of political decision-making. The Schneider and Ingram (1993) ‘target populations’ model is used to investigate how the social construction of groups as dependent equates with lower levels of influence on policy making. In United Kingdom and European research, older people are identified as politically quiescent, but conversely in the United States seniors are viewed as one of the most influential and cohesive interest groups in the political culture. Why are American seniors perceived as politically powerful, while older people in Europe are viewed as dependent and politically weak? This paper applies the ‘target populations’ model to senior policy in the Republic of Ireland to investigate how theoretical work in the United States may be used to identify the significance of senior power in policy development. I conclude that research must recognise the connections between power, politics and social constructions to investigate how state policies can influence the likelihood that seniors will resist structured dependency using political means.

The War With the United States and the Crisis in Mexican Thought

1957 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles A. Hale
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
The United States ◽  
Peace Treaty ◽  
National Defense ◽  
The North ◽  
Military Revolutions ◽  
Mexican Government ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic

After a border skirmish at the Rio Grande on April 25, 1846, A Mexico and the United States were at war, and within a few months Zachary Taylor’s troops had overrun the north, reaching Monterrey and Saltillo. At the same time an expedition under Winfield Scott landed at Vera Cruz and pushed inward along the ancient road of conquest, reaching the gates of Mexico City by August, 1847. Mexican resistance was heroic and determined in spots, but disorganization and poor leadership played havoc with any attempt at national defense. The capital fell and was occupied by the invaders, the Mexican government fled to Querétaro, and an ignominious peace treaty was negotiated and accepted by the helpless Mexicans, though not without serious opposition from the radical (puro) element which favored a last-ditch resistance. With the rapid subjection of the country and the loss of more than half its territory, the once proud and optimistic nation of Iturbide was left stunned; and it turned to bitter reflection upon its paralyzed condition and its flagrant display of weakness when faced by a small and not too efficient force of invaders.The very independence of Mexico was now threatened. Such an easy victory by a powerful neighbor would mean that Mexico might at any time be absorbed by the United States, especially when there was a movement for that purpose already afoot north of the Rio Grande. The easy optimism of the early days of the republic had now vanished. The shock of military disaster, after the dismal decade of mediocrity and humdrum military revolutions, accentuated a crisis in Mexican thought. Both liberals and conservatives now saw the necessity of imposing radical changes upon the course of independent Mexico. Since the overthrow of the radical Gómez Farias government in 1834, the country had been allowed to drift, and when the Americans invaded, its vigor appeared to be gone. In spite of the presence of a sizable moderate party, the factions became sharply differentiated as they had never been before in the history of the republic, except perhaps for the year 1832. Liberals and conservatives appealed to their traditional programs for solutions to Mexico’s crisis of 1847, and the seeds were sown for a great conflict.

“… It Was Highly Desirable They Should Be Illustrated”

Nuncius ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catalina Valdés ◽  
Magdalena Montalbán
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Social History ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
The United States ◽  
Panoramic Vision ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Prestige

Abstract The purpose of this article is to study the images included in the report made by the U.S. Navy Astronomical Expedition in the Southern Hemisphere between 1849 and 1852, directed by Navy lieutenant and astronomer James Melville Gilliss (1881–1865). Together with astronomical studies, the expedition addressed different aspects of the natural and social history of the Republic of Chile setting down in six volumes a pioneering panoramic vision of the young nation. Considering the different aspects of the culture of printing as it developed in the main cities of the United States in the mid nineteenth century, this article proposes general reflections concerning the impetus given in this field by scientific expeditions. In the specific case of Gilliss’s Naval Astronomical Expedition, this impulse manifests itself in terms of the technological renewal and the prestige of the lithographers taking part in the publication. This contrasts with the subsequent scarce success of Gilliss’s volumes – the books came close to being ignored – both in the United States and in Chile.

All for Liberty

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Strickland
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
South Carolina ◽  
American South ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pivotal Role ◽  
Slave Rebellion ◽  
Slave Revolt ◽  
History Of

Jeff Strickland tells the powerful story of Nicholas Kelly, the enslaved craftsman who led the Charleston Workhouse Slave Rebellion, the largest slave revolt in the history of the antebellum American South. With two accomplices, some sledgehammers, and pickaxes, Nicholas risked his life and helped thirty-six fellow enslaved people escape the workhouse where they had been sent by their enslavers to be tortured. While Nat Turner, Gabriel Prosser, and Denmark Vesey remain the most recognizable rebels, the pivotal role of Nicholas Kelly is often forgotten. All for Liberty centers his rebellion as a decisive moment leading up to the secession of South Carolina from the United States in 1861. This compelling micro-history navigates between Nicholas's story and the Age of Atlantic Revolutions, while also considering the parallels between race and incarceration in the nineteenth century and in modern America. Never before has the story of Nicholas Kelly been so eloquently told.

The Charleston Imperative: Why Feminism and Antiracism Must Be Linked

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
African American Policy Forum
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Carolina ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Black Men ◽  
The United States ◽  
The South ◽  
Women And Girls ◽  
The Republic ◽  
White Womanhood

<p class="p1">As antiracists, we know that the struggle against racial terror is older than the Republic itself. In particular, we remember the work of Ida B. Wells, who risked everything to debunk the lies of lynchers over one hundred years ago. Today, we see that fierce determination in Bree Newsome, who scaled the thirty-foot flagpole at the South Carolina State Capitol and brought down the Confederate flag. As feminists, we recognize how racism has been—and is still—gendered. Patriarchy continues to be foundational to racial terrorism in the United States, both in specious claims that justify the torture of Black men in defense of white womanhood, and in its brutal treatment of Black women and girls. We also recognize that while patriarchy and racism are clearly intertwined, all too often our struggles against them are not.</p><p class="p2">If the reaction to the Charleston massacre is to be realized as something beyond a singular moment of redemptive mourning, then neither the intersectional dynamics of racism and patriarchy that produced this hateful crime nor the inept rhetorical politics that sustain the separation of feminism from antiracism can be allowed to continue. </p>

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