President Andrew Jackson depicted as a jackass. 

I think this version of Jackson should be put on the $20 bill.

Since his discovery in 1996, scientists, Native American groups, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have fought over his remains. Personally, h-nf first heard about the remains, and the anger around them, in middle school. It has been far too long that this man, whoever he was when he lived, has not been allowed to lay at rest.

Dr. Thomas E. Emerson and Dr. Kristin M. Hedman from the Illinois State Archaeological Survey-Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois present a new case for Cahokia’s demise. The new theory was published in Southern Illinois University Press’ volume, Beyond Collapse: Archaeological Perspectives on Resilience, Revitalization, and Transformation in Complex Societies. Emerson and Hedman contributed a chapter to the volume entitled, The Dangers of Diversity: The Consolidation and Dissolution of Cahokia, Native North America’s First Urban Polity, that explores internal divisions that led to the collapse of Cahokia.

The archaeologists claim internal conflict by social, political, ethnic, and religious factions are a more reasonable description of events that led to Cahokia’s collapse than environmental causes, as is the popular theory. They present new bioarchaeological evidence that demonstrates that as many as one-third of the Cahokian residents were immigrants and that these immigrants likely represented groups that were culturally, ethnically, and perhaps linguistically distinct from local populations. Emerson clarifies further:

“There is no smoking gun if you want to pin Cahokia’s dissolution on environmental factors. …It makes more sense, given the heterogeneous population with differences in language, and social, religious, and political cultures to look to internal dissension at Cahokia as the underlying reason…”

Emerson and Hedman go on to say that Cahokia does not have a clear history of significant environmental degradation that can be linked to dissolution.

“Cahokia may be an interesting example of political experiment in the unification of social and ethnic diversity that failed - probably by design.”

Letting the Past Speak

Hedman and Emerson claim the remains of the inhabitants of Cahokia have a story to tell. Archaeologists have been able to gather information about the lifestyle, diet, health and place of birth of those buried at Cahokia. This information provided vital clues in assessing factors involved in the final demise of Cahokia.

For the past 15 years, ISAS archaeologists have studied curated collections from Greater Cahokia. Evidence from osteological and isotopic analyses and radiocarbon dating was used to establish temporal and cultural context and to assess the population that once occupied the urban center of Cahokia This newly acquired data and reevaluation of existing documentation are continuing to offer new insights about the people of Cahokia and what may have caused the demise of America’s first city.

Waiting to be Filled, 2/11/1916

This illustration entitled, “Waiting to Be Filled”, by cartoonist Clifford Berryman, which appeared 100 years ago in the Washington Evening Star on February 11, 1916, depicts the empty shoes of Secretary of War, Lindley Garrison, who had called for a substantial increase in American armed forces in preparation for what he saw as the growing danger of American involvement in the war in Europe, but had promptly resigned when President Woodrow Wilson disagreed and called for only a limited increase. (via the Scope & Content Note)

I wish Presidential candidates were hit in the nuts with a sledgehammer every single time they mentioned our nation’s “Judeo-Christian foundation”.

Emperor Meiji the Great Got Off To A Rough Start

In the early years of the Meiji Reforms, Mutsuhito aka Emperor Meiji was paraded across the country quite often – 271 times in the first decade of his reign – in order to connect him with his subjects. Before the propoganda campaign, many did not even know that they had an emperor. Erwin von Bälz, a German physician who came to Japan to teach Western medicine, noted in his diary in 1880 that it was distressing to see “how little interest the populace take in their ruler.” People had to be coerced to celebrate Mutsuhito’s birthday: “Only when the police insist on it are houses decorated with flags. In default of this, houseowners do the minimum.”

Meet Prince Konoe, a Japanese politician who was born to aristocratic privilege yet was wildly popular with the masses. A highly educated man, his translation of an Oscar Wilde essay to Japanese was banned for being dangerous to public order – yet he served as Prime Minister twice. Keep reading

rinted ticket for the Trial of Warren Hastings - permit the bearer to pass ans repass (not transferable) session 1793 N.265 Wm Vaugn Esq

The Impeachment of Warren Hastings was a failed attempt to impeach the former Governor-General of India Warren Hastings in the Parliament of Great Britain between 1788 and 1795. Hastings was accused of misconduct during his time in Calcutta particularly relating to mismanagement and personal corruption. The prosecution was led by Edmund Burke and became a wider debate about the role of the East India Company and the expanding empire in India. The trial did not sit continuously and the case dragged on for seven years. When the eventual verdict was given Hastings was overwhelmingly acquitted. It has been described as “probably the British Isles’ most famous, certainly the longest, political trial”.

Obit of the Day: Imagined There’s No Countries

Garry Davis had an easy solution for world peace - eliminate all countries. Mr. Davis, who had fought in the Army Air Corps in World War II, believed that most every world conflict had its foundation in nationalism. If the world were to remove boundaries and dissolve nations then conflicts would ease, and perhaps disappear. He called for the development of a nation-less Earth which he called “One World."

More than a philosophy, Mr. Davis went as far as to relinquish his U.S. citizenship in 1948 and declare himself a “World Citizen." He even created his own passport, above, in order that he might travel from country to country spreading his message of peace.

Unfortunately not everyone believed in his high ideals. He was thrown out of several countries (including France and Japan), arrested in others (the United Kingdom), and had his passport rejected (United States). However he drew a loyal following and as of 2013 there are 950,000 “world citizens." 

Mr. Davis is also an evangelist for his cause recently sending World Citizen passports to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and to former NSA employee Edward Snowden.

Mr. Davis, who ran for president of the world on several occasions, passed away on July 24, 2013 at the age of 91. He was living in Burlington, Vermont.

Sources: NY Times and Miami Herald

(Undated photo of Mr. Davis is courtesy of the Huffington Post and copyright Yale Joel//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

1899 cartoon depicting Uncle Sam educating the “uncivilized" nations of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines.  

An interesting cartoon created after the Spanish American War and at the beginning of America’s global ambitions, the racial prejudice’s illustrated depict what was called "The White Mans Burden”, the belief that it was the duty of white European and American society to civilize and Christianize the rest of the world, even by force if necessary. Note the racial attitudes being shown by the cartoon, with people of color being depicted as crude caricatures and stereotypes.  In the background are an American Indian holding a book upside down, a Chinese boy at door, and a black boy cleaning a window. The other white children depicted are US States.  Originally published on p. 8-9 of the January 25, 1899 issue of Puck magazine.

Written on the blackboard: “The consent of the governed is a good thing in theory, but very rare in fact. — England has governed her colonies whether they consented or not. By not waiting for their consent she has greatly advanced the world’s civilization. — The U.S. must govern its new territories with or without their consent until they can govern themselves."

Caption:  "School Begins. Uncle Sam (to his new class in Civilization): Now, children, you’ve got to learn these lessons whether you want to or not! But just take a look at the class ahead of you, and remember that, in a little while, you will feel as glad to be here as they are!"

Under the Georgia Street Viaduct, 1939

There’s been bit of hubbub lately about tearing down the viaducts, and some misuse of history along the way. According to Councillor Geoff Meggs, the guy who’s been championing this project: "We’ll certainly right a historic wrong by removing the viaducts, which as we heard, once threatened to destroy both Strathcona and Chinatown."

And in the same article, Carol Lee says the viaducts have acted as a “Great Wall of Chinatown" and have “significantly contributed to the neighbourhood’s gradual decline over the past 40 years." 

When the viaducts were conceived, they were to be one component of a massive freeway project. The “historic wrong" was that Hogan’s Alley was demolished. How knocking them down for condos “corrects" the destruction of a low income neighbourhood is beyond me, as it’s very doubtful low income or marginalized people will see much benefit from the project. Clearly, most of the benefits will go to billionaire mega-developers Concord (who have been sitting on empty adjacent land for years) and the Aquilini’s, a family dynasty that made a fortune, among other things, building crappy housing and slum lordism.

As for the “Great Wall of Chinatown," this was a completely different component of the freeway project, which would have been an eight-lane highway along Carrall Street to a third crossing on Burrard Inlet, essentially bisecting Chinatown and cutting it off from downtown. This didn’t happen. Chinatown’s decline had nothing to do with the viaducts. What the viaducts replaced was the old Georgia Viaduct, seen here in the 1930s. Its purpose was to provide a way to bypass the western portion of False Creek, which has since been filled in, and the old CPR yards that are also long gone.

As someone who lives nearby, walks and cycles, but doesn’t drive, I’ve generally been in favour of removing the viaducts, because it opens up some exciting new possibilities. But the closer it gets to becoming reality, the stench of politics gets stronger and it’s starting to look more like business as usual of enriching developers at taxpayers expense (they say $115 million, which will probably mean at least $200 million). To me it would make more sense to leave these perfectly solid and not very old structures standing, remove motor traffic, and incorporate them into new development projects, perhaps turning them into an elevated park, like New York’s High Line.

For more on the freeway debacle, see Price Tags, here and here.

Source: Photo by Claude Detloff, City of Vancouver Archives #371-2242

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VIDEO EVIDENCE

CNN is showing a repeat of todays Anderson Cooper talking about the Zimmerman trial...Stupid CNN

The Voting Rights Act of 1965

Signed into law on August 6, 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson, the act outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting.

via OurDocuments

In the 1920s, the prolific Yankee batsman Babe Ruth was having such a great run that he soon scored a $80,000 salary. But when the financial crisis hit home in the early 1930s, Yankees officials asked Ruth to slash his pay by $5000—a request Ruth declined. At a later press conference an intrepid reporter commented that Ruth had a higher salary than current President Hoover: “Maybe so,” Ruth retaliated, “but I had a better year than he did.”