The World's Columbian Exposition 1893: "Liberty"

The Original Republic 1893

The Statue of the Republic aka "The Golden Lady" was completed in 1918 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago's Jackson Park.  The Golden Lady is 24 foot bronze statue gilded in gold.  She is a much smaller version of the original gilded plaster Statue of the Republic that soared to 100 feet and erected at the Columbian Exposition in 1893 (and burned in 1896).

Famous sculptor Daniel Chester French designed Republic...he designed over 2 dozen notable works including Abraham Lincoln at The Lincoln Memorial.

Republic holds a globe with a perched eagle with outstretched wings in her right hand (a symbol of our nation's influence on a worldwide presence...1918 was a very imperialistic era) and a banner inscribed "LIBERTY" on a staff in her left hand (yet very little true liberty existed in America at the time).  

The original Republic had a Phrygian Cap on top of the staff (subject of the next post). 


So much talk of Liberty...

The World's Columbian Exposition 1893: American "Exceptionalism" #2

The Columbian Exposition, a 6 month long World Fair was held in Chicago to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the "New" World.  DeJure Segregation was the practice of the fair which was totally white (except for the custodians).

There was one racist day in August that was designated as "Colored People's Day".

There were many black people at the fair and like Native Americans, they were on display.

In a series of exhibits to illustrate Frederick Jackson Turner's "Frontier Thesis" (see previous post),
Black Americans were displayed as inhabitants of African villages, former slaves, sharecroppers, etc. in order to show the evolution from savagery to "civilization".


Frederick Douglass' responded, "to shame the Negro, they exhibit the Negro as a repulsive savage."

Not much different than how the Black community is regularly displayed on the evening news or discussed as a pathological problem by politicians...progress?

The World's Columbian Exposition 1893: American "Exceptionalism"

The World's Columbian Exposition was a world fair held in Chicago to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the "New" World.  The fair took place on nearly 700 acres on Chicago's Southside and was nicknamed "The White City" after the coloring used to cover the temporary buildings.

Over 27 million people attended the exposition which was dedicated to celebrate the exceptionalism of America.  Many topics were explored throughout the exhibits at the fair including architecture, transportation, science, horticulture, art, weapons, music, electricity, new inventions, new foods, and human anthropology.

One of the featured speakers at the fair was Frederick Jackson Turner, a young historian from Wisconsin.  He was becoming known/ discussed for his newly proposed "Frontier Thesis".  In his thesis he suggested that America was great because of the western frontier.   The West had brought civilization to meet directly with the savagery of the wilderness and in this juncture had created a new type of people (Americans) who were unique in their strength, independence, initiative, and rugged, individual spirit.  They longer relied on their old, European ways, institutions, and politics, etc. and evolved into a better American...thus forming Democracy and the true spirit of America.


Turner's America included phases that evolved from:

Savages of the Wilderness to...

European Fur Trappers and Traders to...

Homesteaders to...

Development of Cities and Factories to the highest form of civilization...

Democracy and Capitalism.

So civilized that over 400 Native Americans were put on display in what was basically a human zoo.


Talk about full circle...from the savagery of Christopher Columbus to the Savagery of the "Exceptional" Americans.

Needless to say, I do not agree with Turner's thesis.

BLACK LIVES DID NOT MATTER: LATASHA HARLINS

Latasha Harlins, a 15 year old girl, was shot and killed on March 16, 1991.  She was murdered 13 days after the videotape of the Rodney King beating was released.

The owner of the store (Soon Ja Du) saw Harlins place a bottle of orange juice in her backpack. Du believed that Latasha was attempting to steal the juice, but didn't see the money that Latasha had in her hand to pay for the juice. 

A struggle ensued between Du and Latasha which ended with Latasha throwing the dropped juice bottle on the counter as she began to leave the store.  Du then took out her gun and shot Latasha in the back of the head, killing her instantly.

In November, Du was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and was recommended by the jury to spend 16 years in prison.  Unfortunately, Judge Joyce  Karlin ignored the recommendation and in a true travesty of justice sentenced Du to 5 years probation, 400 hours of community service, and a $500.00 fine.  This injustice in tandem with the Rodney King beating (the result of longstanding systemic racism, classism, racial profiling and police brutality, etc.) is often cited as a major catalyst of the 1992 Los Angeles "Riots".

Frederick Douglass on U.S. History

Many historians choose to tell the "Story of America" as a positive story of freedom, equality, and progress.  Frederick Douglass (several quotes to follow) insisted that an accurate representation of our nation must focus on truth.

"The rich inheritance of Justice, Liberty, Prosperity, and Independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me.  The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me.  This Fourth of July is yours, not mine, you may rejoice, I must mourn."

"I make no pretension to patriotism...I will hold up America to the lightning scorn of moral indignation.  In doing this, I shall feel myself discharging the duty of a true patriot; for he is a lover of his country who rebukes and does not excuse its sins."  

The History of the United States "involves the necessity of plain speaking of the wrongs and outrages endured, and of rights withheld, and withheld in flagrant contradiction to boasted American Republican liberty and civilization."


How can we continue to peddle comfortable lies and whitewashed history to our students...no wonder they fall asleep in class...they know many of us are liars too!

The Business Plot to Overthrow FDR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc6kw6N1_kw

Do the big banks, corporations, Wall Street power brokers, lobbyists, and greedy capitalists have the ability to control (overthrow) the American government/ the American people?

Watch the link above (from The History Channel - 42 minutes) if you are interested in a detailed look at an attempt to overthrow FDR.

Many historians believe that a plot to overthrow FDR/ the American government in favor of a Fascist-style government existed and was uncovered in 1933.

With the backdrop of:

• The Bonus Army March
• The Great Depression
• Nationalism and War in Europe
• Disillusionment of WWI Vets and the lower/ working class Americans
• The threat of widespread labor union strikes
• Fear of Socialism
• Fascist (Mussolini and Hitler) economic success in Europe
• Fear of the rich (bankers, corporate leaders, etc.) that they would lose everything

The American Liberty League (Corporate America and political enemies of FDR) forms to conspire to overthrow the American government using disillusioned American veterans as their para-military coup d'etat. 

Smedley Butler

This corporate plot was uncovered by Major General Smedley Butler who had been approached by The American Liberty League to lead the overthrow because of his popularity with American veterans.

So again I ask...Do the big banks, corporations, Wall Street power brokers, lobbyists, and greedy capitalists have the ability to control (overthrow) the American government?

It would be wise to study the effects of PAC's, Super PACS, lobbyists, campaign finance laws, and organizations like the American Legislative Exchange Council, etc. before you formulate an answer based on your critical thinking skills!

William Monroe Trotter:Freedom Fighter

William Monroe Trotter, born in 1872, was a civil rights activist who (in my opinion) carried the torch of civil rights after Frederick Douglass passed away in 1895.

Trotter was famous for launching an attack on Booker T. Washington and the Tuskegee Movement. He also was an inspiration for the founding of the NAACP (1896), the owner and editor of The Boston Globe (1901), and was a major leader of The Niagara Movement (1905).

But, in this post I will only focus on two of his most boisterous protests against Black accommodation and White racism...The "Boston Riot" of 1903 and The Birth of a Nation protest marches of 1915.

The Boston Riot

In July of 1903, Booker T. Washington traveled to Boston to speak to the National Negro Business League.  Trotter's plan was to shout out a set of nine prepared questions as Washington spoke.  These questions were basically "calling out" Washington on his status as the so-called spokesman for Black people and for his accommodations/ capitulation to White America in regard to education, voting, civil equality, etc.

As Washington was about to speak, the gathering turned into a small "riot" and as Trotter attempted to shout the provocative questions to Washington he was arrested for disorderly conduct.  He was convicted of the "crime" and spent thirty days in jail as punishment.

Booker T. Washington used many tactics (legal actions against Trotter, economic and vocational pressure against Trotter supporters, sending spies to infiltrate Trotter's organizations, started newspapers to counter Trotter's message, etc.) to try and silence Trotter's "radical" agitation, but Trotter and others (especially W.E.B. DuBois and Ida B. Wells) were undeterred from their quest for equality.

Birth of a Nation Protest

In 1915, William Trotter mobilized the Black Community to protest against the newly released film Birth of a Nation.  This epic silent movie retells the "history" of the Civil War and looks at the person of Reconstruction in the post-Civil War era.  The movie demonized Black people as inferior, lawless, and violent while it glorified the KKK in a re-imagined America where North and South would reconcile to bring back White Power as the answer to all of America's economic and social woes.

Trotter lobbied politicians to ban the movie, but ultimately lost his battle to stop the screening of the controversial movie.  When the film opened in Boston, Trotter and a large crowd of African Americans demanding to purchase tickets, he was punched by a police officer and placed under arrest.  Protests (and violent clashes) continued for months, but was eventually "silenced" as the wave of  Jim Crow segregation and White Power drowned any possibility that America would follow their greatest creed that "All Men Are Created Equal".


Let us not be washed away by capitulation and systematic racism today!

''My vocation has been to wage a crusade against lynching, disenfranchisement, peonage, public segregation, injustice, denial of service in public places for color, in war time and peace''. 

--William Monroe Trotter