Posts Tagged ‘slavery’
Enough said…
source: Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez
Tired of those monotonous meetings, those chattering conversations, the cacophony of the city? Mask it all with SimplyNoise— a “flat sound” generator– and choose among white, pink or brown/red noise…
As we seek auditory Zen, we might open our ears selectively in the memory that it was on this date in 1858 that Abraham Lincoln gave his “House Divided” speech in Springfield, Illinois. Playing off of a quote from the Bible (Matthew 12:25, “A house divided against itself cannot stand”), then Senatorial candidate Lincoln prophesied that
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.
Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South.
During the War of 1812, Abigail Adams had written a similar line in a letter from to Mercy Otis Warren– a variation that in its way is as timely today as Lincoln’s:
…A house divided upon itself- and upon that foundation do our enemies build their hopes of subduing us.
Up, Up, and Away…
Your correspondent is headed to the other side of the International Blog-Post Line; so, while occasional missives may emerge over the next several days, regular service will resume on or around Memorial Day.
Lest readers be under-occupied in the meantime, the illuminating illustrations of Nathan Pyle:
Danger Quiz!
The Other Numbers
More at Pyle.
As we commit to continued self-improvement, we might recall that it was on this date in 1856 that a pro-slavery posse led by Sheriff Samuel J. Jones burned the Free-State Hotel, destroyed the equipment of two anti-slavery newspapers, and looted several other businesses in Lawrence, Kansas– an attack known as the “Sack of Lawrence.” Abolitionist John Brown’s nearby Pottawatomie Massacre is believed to have been a reaction to this attack.
Five years earlier– on this same date in 1851– the nation of Columbia abolished slavery.
Eating like it’s your last meal…
A pair of scholarly siblings compared 52 artists’ renditions of “The Last Supper,” and found that the size of the meal painted had grown through the years. Over the last millennium they found that entrees had increased by 70%, bread by 23%, and plate size by 65.6%. Their findings were published in the International Journal of Obesity.
The apostles depicted during the Middle Ages appear to be the ascetics they are said to have been. But by 1498, when Leonardo da Vinci completed his masterpiece, the party was more lavishly fed. Almost a century later, the Mannerist painter Jacobo Tintoretto piled the food on the apostles’ plates still higher.
Read the LA Times story here. (Via Slashdot)
As we think twice about “super-sizing that,” we might recall that it was on this date in 1309 that Pope Clement V (best remembered perhaps for suppressing the Knights Templar, executing many of its members, and thus, securing the career of Dan Brown) excommunicated the City of Venice– all of it, every last resident. Indeed, he decreed that Venetian citizens captured abroad could be sold into slavery “like non-Christians.” He was a pawn of French King Philip IV; still…
Are you sending a text, or are you just glad to see me?…
From Clusterflock, via the ever-illuminating Jason Kottke, “Meat Stylus for the iPhone“:
Sales of CJ Corporation’s snack sausages are on the increase in South Korea because of the cold weather; they are useful as a meat stylus for those who don’t want to take off their gloves to use their iPhones.
It seems that the sausages, electrostatically speaking, are close approximations of the human finger. Here’s the not-entirely-useful English translation of a Korean news article about the soaring sausage sales.
As we head directly for the refrigerated section of our grocery stores, we might recall that it was on this date in 1733 that James Oglethorpe founded that 13th of the original American Colonies– Georgia– and a settlement that has grown to become Savannah. February 12 is still observed as Georgia Day.
Oglethorpe’s idea was that British debtors should be released from prison and sent to the new colony. Ultimately, though, few debtors ended up in Georgia. Rather, colonists included many Scots and English tradesmen and artisans and religious refugees from Switzerland, France and Germany, as well as a number of Jewish refugees. The colony’s charter guaranteed the acceptance of all religions– except Roman Catholicism, a ban based on fears born of the colony’s proximity to the hostile settlements in Spanish Florida.
Oglethorpe also arranged that slavery should be banned by Georgia’s Royal Charter; and the colony was slavery-free through 1750 (after Oglethorpe’s departure back to England). At that point, the Crown acceded to land owners’ desire for a larger work force, and lifted the ban.
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