Gilbert M. Stack's Blog, page 145

Today in History: Dred Scott

On this day (March 6) in 1857 the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in the landmark Dred Scott decision. Dred Scott and his wife, Eliza, sued for their freedom in Federal Court on the grounds that they had been taken into free territories by their owners and resided there, becoming free. They further argued that because Eliza Scott had been born on a steamboat between a free state and a free territory, she had been born free and thus was never a slave. The Supreme Court ruled against them stating that African-Americans whose parents were imported as slaves, whether enslaved or free, could not become American citizens and therefore did not have standing to sue in Federal Court. It also ruled that the Federal Government had no authority to outlaw slavery in the Federal territories. This decision was a terrible blow to abolitionist hopes of restricting and eventually ending slavery. It was only the second time that the Supreme Court had ruled an Act of Congress to be unconstitutional. The Court believed that their decision would decisively put an end to the slavery debate but it had the opposite effect, inflaming abolitionist sentiment in the north and helping pave the way to the Civil War.

Today in History: The Boston Massacre

On this day (March 5) in 1770, 5 Americans were killed by British soldiers in an incident that came to be known as the Boston Massacre. The incident began when Americans surrounded and verbally harassed a lone British soldier. As the crowd grew, eight other soldiers came to the assistance of the first soldier. They too were subject to harassment, but the crowd also began to throw snowballs and stones and to hit the soldiers with clubs. Without orders, the soldiers opened fire immediately killing three people. Two others died later from their wounds .The incident was played up by Americans such as Paul Revere and Samuel Adams to encourage rebellion against Britain.

Today in History: A Christian Murdered for His Faith

On this day (March 4) in 306 St. Adrian of Nicomedia was tortured to death for becoming a Christian. Adrian was an officer in the imperial court of Emperor Galerius Maximian whose job involved overseeing the torture of Christians as part of a purge begun under Diocletian. Adrian reportedly asked the Christians what reward God could possibly give them that was worth their suffering. He was told: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." Adrian was so moved that he declared himself a Christian, was arrested and tortured to death.

Today in History: Russia Leaves World War I

On this day (March 3) in 1918, Bolshevik-controlled-Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, withdrawing from World War I and giving to Germany control of the Ukraine, the Baltic States and Belarus. Turkey got Ardahan, Kars and Batumi. The Treaty was considered to be shockingly harsh at the time and would later be used to justify the less harsh Treaty of Versailles. German acquisition of this territory put a serious strain on its military manpower as it moved one million troops in to occupy the territory. Some believe it fatally weakened their 1918 Spring Offensive on the Western Front.

Today in History: Rutherfraud B. Hayes

On this day (March 2) in 1877 an Electoral Commission established by Congress declared Republican Rutherford B. Hayes president in an election marked by substantial fraud and voter intimidation. (For example, 101% of eligible voters in South Carolina had their votes counted.) Hayes’ opponent, Democrat Samuel J. Tilden had won the popular vote, but the Commission of eight Republicans and seven Democrats awarded all disputed electoral votes to Hayes in 8-7 votes. As inauguration day approached, Democrats on the Commission reluctantly agreed to support Hayes in exchange for Republican promises to withdraw all remaining Federal troops from the south (they still occupied South Carolina and Louisiana) and payoffs like railroad subsidies. The taint of the election gave the new president the nickname Rutherfraud B. Hayes.

It’s impossible to determine for certain, but most scholars believe that without the massive suppression of African-American voters, Hayes would have won the presidential election without the need of an Electoral Commission.

Today in History: Ethiopia vs Italy

On this day (March 1) in 1896, Ethiopia defeated an Italian army at the Battle of Adwa to maintain its independence. Ethiopia is the only African nation to successfully resist European imperialism.

The recently unified Italians were trying to catch up with their European neighbors in building an imperial empire. They had already conquered Italian Somalia and Eritrea and sought to improve their position in the Horn of Africa by conquering Ethiopia. The Italian force was a mix of elite Italian troops, new Italian conscripts and local Eritrean soldiers. They were poorly armed and badly outnumbered by the Ethiopian defenders, but apparently this did not concern the Italian generals who could not imagine Africans successfully resisting a European power. (Apparently they had not heard of the Zulu.)

King Menelik II had an army five times the size of the Italian invasion force, an intimate knowledge of the terrain (as contrasted with the inaccurate maps of the Italians), and had the foresight to play the European powers off of each other so that he could acquire modern weapons for his troops.

Three Italian brigades became separated during a night march on February 29 and so were not in contact when they met Ethiopian forces the morning of March 1. Ethiopian artillery broke the Eritrean brigade. For three hours, the Ethiopians repeatedly charged the second brigade and finally overwhelmed them. The third brigade was slaughtered as it tried to retreat and the final Italian forces were taken apart piecemeal. By the time the Italians had escaped back to Eritrea, they had 7000 dead, 1500 wounded and an additional 3000 taken prisoner.

Today in History: The Secret Service vs Role Playing Games

On this day (March 1) in 1990, the U.S. Secret Service raided Steve Jackson Games and confiscated three computers and more than 300 floppy discs. (Does anyone out there remember floppy discs?) The Secret Service became interested in Steve Jackson Games as part of their investigation into the public posting of a 911-system-related document owned by Bell South. The Secret Service also found the document had been posted on a BBS operated by a man named Loyd Blankenship who also operated the BBS at Steve Jackson Games. The Secret Service used this connection to get a warrant to search and seize computers and emails at Steve Jackson Games and apparently became quite excited when they discovered an about-to-be-released role playing game called GURPS Cyberpunk.

GURPS stands for Generic Universal Role Playing—it’s a role playing system that can be used in any genre—fantasy, super heroes, swashbucklers, time travel, Camelot, the Wild West, Espionage, Space, etc. (I personally own more than 20 GURPS game books including the one that so excited the Secret Service.) Apparently, Secret Service agents in 1990 were both far too cool to actually play role playing games and far too ignorant to understand a game when they saw it. So when they discovered this book that described gaming in a near future world where much of the action revolves around hacking into computers (William Gibson’s novel Neuromancer is an excellent of Cyberpunk fiction—it created the genre.) they confused the game with reality—even though none of the equipment described in the game actually existed. They refused to even give copies of the game files back to Steve Jackson Games causing major problems with the release and helping to drive the company to the brink of bankruptcy.

Steve Jackson Games eventually got some of their equipment and files back and won a lawsuit against the Secret Service.

Today in History: The End of MASH

On this day (February Twenty-Eight) in 1983, 106 million people tuned in for the final episode of MASH. It was the highest watch season finale of all time and one of those viewers was me. If memory served, it wasn’t the best episode of the series, but it also wasn’t a famous disappointment like so many series have delivered.

Today in History: The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge

On this day (February 27) in 1776, American Revolutionaries won the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge in North Carolina. When the Governor of North Carolina called on loyalists to raise a militia to meet a British expedition coming to the Carolinas, American Revolutionaries mustered to block them from reaching the governor. The two forces met at Moore’s Creek Bridge where the primarily Scottish-American loyalist force attempted to charge across the bridge armed only with swords. The revolutionaries responded with concentrated musket fire. Between thirty and fifty loyalists were killed, including their leader, and the force was scattered.

On This Day: Rome Embraces Christianity

On this day (February 27) in 380, Emperor Theodosius I issued the Edict of Thessalonica making Christianity the official religion of Rome. This is a remarkable turnaround as a century earlier Diocletian was persecuting those same Christians. Edward Gibbon argued that embracing Christianity led directly to the Fall of Rome. Scholars have long ago rejected this theory since it is not supported by the evidence, but the Edict of Thessalonica did change the character of the Roman Empire. Where once Romans had been willing to embrace a wide range of faiths, they now viewed uniformity of religious practice as essential to the survival of the empire.

This change in belief was a natural consequence of the spread of Christianity and the conversion of emperors. Until very recently, peoples believed that success was a sign of God’s--or “the gods’”--happiness with an individual or a nation. Military commanders, and Roman emperors were the ultimate military commanders, won battles because “the gods” favored them. Losing battles was considered proof of the gods’ displeasure with a commander or a nation. Pre-Christianity, Roman gods were exceedingly tolerant of other peoples’ deities, but missionary and staunchly monotheistic Christianity could not extend that sort of toleration. Emperors who became Christian quickly came to understand that the religious beliefs of their subjects were a national security issue. This led quite naturally to the Edict of Thessalonica.