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nordleuchten · 3 years

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Who was Lafayette friends with throughout his life, and were there people he wasn’t so friendly with? Thanks :)

Hello Anon,

La Fayette was the sort of person who made friends easily. He was not a grumpy person, being on good terms with somebody was his default mood so to speak – but there were also more than enough people with whom he was not on the best terms. During the French Revolution they did not call him “the most hated Man in Europe” for no reason. After all that I have read it strikes me as if you either loved or hated La Fayette and that there was little middle ground. The point that I want to make; I had to draw the line somewhere. The list I am going to present you is by no means complete. There are many names that could (and probably should) be added. Without further ado, lets get started.

Starting in America, we have George Washington. I think there is not much more that needs to be said about their relationship. It is commonly known how close they were and how much their relationship meant for both of them. Beside Washington, there was Alexander Hamilton. He and La Fayette first met early on in the War for American Independence. Hamilton was fluent in French and close in age to La Fayette. Their friendship was quickly formed and grew stronger as time progressed. Back home in France, La Fayette wrote Hamilton with a special proposal. Hamilton should send his oldest boy, Phillip, over to Paris, there to be educated under La Fayette’s guidance, while La Fayette would send his boy, Georges Washington, over to America, there to receive an education with Hamilton as a guardian. This plan never came to fruition, but when Georges Washington had to flee France for America during the French Revolution, Hamilton and his family took him in and tried to help him as good as they could. La Fayette never forgot that. After Hamilton’s untimely death in 1804 he wrote to George Washington Parke Custis that:

“Hamilton was to me, my dear Sir, more than friend, he was a brother. We were both very young, when associated with our common father; our friendship, formed in days of peril and glory, suffered no diminution from time: with Tilghman and with Laurens, I was upon terms the most affectionate; but with Hamilton, my relations were brotherly.”

This quote not only gives insight in La Layette’s with Hamilton but also perfectly sums up his relationship with John Laurens and Tench Tilghmam: most affectionate.

On to some people who are sometimes forgotten - James McHenry and James Monroe. James McHenry first met La Fayette when they both were members in George Washington staff. McHenry later transferred to La Fayette’s staff (March of 1781) and was one of his most trusted aide-de-camps. He often was chosen as La Fayette’s “liaison-officer”. I have three excerpts from letters by La Fayette, detailing his relationship to McHenry. The first one was written by La Fayette to McHenry on February 15, 1781, a few months before McHenry joined his staff:

My tender friendship and affectionate Regard for You, will Not lengthen this letter with Assurances from My Heart While the Heart itself must Be known to You. I intend to write You Again in a few days and with Every Sentiment of Attachement and Esteem Have the Honor to be Yours Lafayette

The second letter was addressed to General Greene on August 12, 1781, concerning a potential transfer McHenry’s in Greene’s staff.

McHenry is So well Acquainted with My Sentiments for Him that He knows My attachement is independant of whatever Steps He Might take on the occasion. He knows I am not of a temper that finds faults with the Measures of My friends, and that I will ever feel an obligation to the Man who obliges General Greene.

The last letter was written to McHenry on December 26, 1783. McHenry at this point had already retired from the army.

As an ardent lover of America I am glad to Hear of the influence You are said to Have in Congress. As Your most affectionate friend I shall Be glad whenever You Have an opportunity to display Your abilities. If Congress do not send me Any Commands, I shall Most Certainly embark in the spring. If they Have Commands for me, I would Be thrice Happy to Receive You along with them, and to Make with you french and European travels. You ought to Make them charge you with some political commission to Courts in Europe, and I would like going as a volonteer with you. [Manuscript torn; part a line missing] Your family and our friends. Most affectionately I am for [manuscript torn; several words missing]. Lafayette

I showed you this many letters for several reason. First, McHenry deserves more attention if you ask me. Second, they show not only their emotional relationship but also their professional relationship and illustrate how convinced La Fayette was by McHenry’s merits - and lastly, I like them all and could not decide. :-) Years later, during La Fayette’s imprisonment, McHenry was among the people who tried to help him gain his freedom.

On to James Monroe. Monroe was, just like Hamilton, close in age to La Fayette (actually, La Fayette was older then Monroe by several months) and spoke French. They both moved in the same social circle during the Revolution and had some common friends. It was also Monroe, who, with the backing of Congress, invited La Fayette to visit America once more in 1824/1825. La Fayette received the rights to some land during this visited and later gifted some of this land to Monroe so that Monroe could start paying off his mounting debts. Here is what La Fayette wrote to Monroe on December 19, 1784:

My dear Sir I Have Received your letter to mr jefferson, and shall very Carefully deliver it. Our old friend Gibbs will give you a Bundle of papers for McHenry which I Beg you will keep for Him untill He Comes to Trenton. To morrow morning, My dear Sir, I set out for Europe, and Before I go, it is pleasing for me once more to assure you of the value I Have By Your friendship, and of the affection and regard I Have the Honor to Be With My dear Sir Yours Lafayette

I may or may not have chosen this letter because McHenry also makes an appearance - but Thomas Jefferson is also mentioned, so the selection is valid, because Thomas Jefferson is the next one on our list. Jefferson’s and La Fayette’s friendship blossomed especially during Jefferson stay in Paris as ambassador to the French. La Fayette even consulted with Jefferson when writing the Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de 1789. Later, when they met again during La Fayette’s last visit to the United States in 1824/25, they embraced each other and cried tear of joy over the fact of being able to see each other again.

With that, I would like to leave America behind and move on to England. More people could be added though. We see in La Fayette’s letter to General Greene for example, how close these two were. La Fayette had a very friendly relationship with most generals, officers and aide-de-camps in the army.

In England, we see something very interesting. Many of his friends there were actually former opponents of his during the War of Independence - when the House of Commons discussed whether the British Government should try to take actions or not, some of La Fayette’s most vocal allies were veterans of the War of Independence. Another noteworthy friend of his was the Whig politician Charles James Fox. Who really stands out among La Fayette’s English friends tough, is a young women. Her name was Francis “Fanny” Wright. I have planed to write on her separately at some near point in the future and because this post is already way too long we keep things brief. Fanny was a feminist, abolitionist and social reformer. I wager that some of her ideas and proposals would even today be considered somewhat controversial. But she and La Fayette grew quite close and she even accompanied him on his tour in America in 1824/25 (although not officially). Their friendship illustrates two things about La Fayette. He had many female friends – not just female friends, but strong and intelligent and outspoken female friends – and he was not at all faced by that. He also had friends that were considered “bad company” – and again, he was not really put off by that. With that being said, let us continue to France.

France was his native country and he had many friends there; starting with his family and his in-laws. With only a few exceptions La Fayette had close and loving relationships with his family members. There is this one lovely quote from a letter he wrote his wife Adrienne on October 29, 1777 that I simply had to quote:

“(...) for my daughter will be always, I trust, my most intimate friend; I will only be a father in affection, and parental love shall unite in my heart with friendship.”

You have to keep in mind that La Fayette was a nobleman from the 18th century. Such affection for your children, especially daughters, was common not as one would like to think. But of course he had also friends outside his family.

First in my mind there is the La Tour-Maubourg family. Three brothers with all three of whom La Fayette was close. Marie-Victor-Nicolas de Faÿ, marquis de La Tour-Maubourg was a General during the Napoleonic Wars and saw a lot of action. For a short time he was imprisoned with La Fayette but then quickly released. I would say that La Fayette was probably the least close with him. Next up is Juste-Charles de Faÿ de la Tour-Maubourg who was also captured by the Austrians but just as quickly released as his brother. He later married La Fayette’s oldest daughter Anastasie. The current King of Belgium is their descendant. The last brother was Charles César de Fay de La Tour-Maubourg and again, as if to continue a family tradition – he was captured together with La Fayette but unlike his two brothers, he was only released in 1787. I would say that La Fayette was the closest with him. After the death of his wife Adrienne, La Fayette wrote him a very, very long letter, basically laying all his grief and pain and anguish bare. Another dear friend was Bureau de Pussy, again one of La Fayette’s fellow prisoners (being in prison or fighting in a war together appear to be La Fayette’s go-to bounding-activities).

Soooo ... after we have scraped the surface of the category “friends” we can move on to the category “not-so-friendly”. Great parts of La Fayette’s live were spend on the public stage ... and as you all can very well imagine, he was bound to make some enemies there. Beside the people with whom he had a personal misunderstanding, there were the ones he enraged with his political opinions. He was a well known supporter of the American Revolution and therefor not too dear to many people on England and to American Loyalists. Things became really interesting though, when the French Revolution gained speed. La Fayette was a centrist, he was searching for a middle path. That actually worked quite well for some time but as soon as more radical factions began to gain influence a middle ground became harder and harder to pursue. He Royalists called him a traitor to the monarchy and a revolutionary while the Revolutionaries called him a traitor to the Republic and a Royalist – he really could not win. While he was not well liked among the leading Revolutionaries (Robespierre, Saint-Just, you name them), few disliked him as much as Doctor Jean-Paul Marat did. I am currently reading Marat’s L’amie de peuple and there a literally complete issues of the paper dedicated solely to La Fayette and all his alleged wrongdoings.

Things were not necessarily better on the side of the Royalists. When La Fayette entered the palace of Versailles after the event that came to be known as the Women's March on Versailles, he had to pass through a crowed of courtiers in order to reach the King and confer with him. Suddenly, a voice rose from the anonymity of the crowed – “Here comes Cromwell”, a courtier shouted. That is how many people at the court saw La Fayette at this time – as a French Cromwell. The Queen Marie Antoinette was on a later occasion reassured that she did not have to worry, La Fayette would protect her and the King. To that the Queen replied: “Lafayette is here to defend us, but who is to defend us against Lafayette.”

La Fayette’s troubled relationship with the Monarchs of France continued after the Revolution. He and Napoléon hat their ups and downs in their relationship – but mostly downs as time progressed. His relationship with Louis XVIII and especially with Charles X also was strained to put it mildly.

As I have said repeatedly, this is just a brief overview of La Fayette’s different relationships. I nevertheless hope that I could help you out with your question.

I hope you have/had a wonderful day!

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anneesfolleshq · 6 years

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Bonjour et bienvenue! Paris welcomes you, our Diva, Anais Veilleux! May we say, you’re the spitting image of Annabelle Wallis! Please make your presence known within 24 hours, and do have a look at our checklist before setting out into the city on your own. À bientôt!

MUN

Name/Alias: Jos

Preferred Pronouns: She/her

Age: 22

Where are you located, and at what times will you be online? : PST, I will be on mostly in the evenings and into the night because I love to lose precious sleep to rping.

MUSE

Chosen Skeleton: The Diva

Muse Name: Anais Veilleux

Muse Age: 35

Chosen FC: Annabelle Wallis

Muse Occupation: Opera Singer

Muse Affiliation & Frequent Haunts: Anais has always loved the Seine. She could remember learning about the history of her great nation, of its early settlements, its origins, its fight for power, for land, for triumph. She remembered reading about the devastations its withstood, the wars, the famines, the politics, the bloodshed. And through it all, through everything France had seen, the mighty Seine ran, smooth, powerful, cold, and beautiful through history. And now it was being reduced to the border between in and out, fortunate, and fashionably lower class. She refused to dance to such frivolous ideas. Anais frequented Montmartre by day for she woke up there each morning in the Hotel Montmartre, and sat in the pews of Basilique du Sacre-Coeur hands clasped around a gold rosary like a good little Catholic girl praying for forgiveness. With its old world charm, and hidden gems, who wouldn’t be drawn to both the quiet streets, and lavish establishments? By day, Montmartre captivates her, but by night Anais is drawn across the sparkling surface reflecting the light of a living, breathing city to the left bank, to Montparnasse. It’s here, with the artists, and drunks, and young vivacious, progressive crowd that Anais feels young, feels alive. The Cafe E’toile is magnetic, and the slow rolling, and swinging rhythm of its jazz pulls her in time and again. Perhaps one day she’ll pull together the courage to take the stage.

Direct from Le Petit Journal: Breathtaking. Divine. Tragic. Audiences were left stunned by Anais Veilleux’ performance last night following her recent return to the Parisian spotlight. The city was left stunned after the death of young Claudine Artis, mourning the loss of such wonderful talent and the gentle soul that graced the stage. With such heaviness in our hearts, the opera seemed a place that would grow cold in the lack of such warmth, but Mademoiselle Veilleux enchanted each and every lady and gentleman in attendance with her heart wrenching tribute to the late Claudine. We have watched her beautiful face capture true emotion with elegance as she all but glides across the stage. Anais Veilleux reminded us once more that the theater is her throne, and we are but mere subjects, blessed enough to hear her voice. Welcome back, Mademoiselle, welcome back.

BIOGRAPHY

They say a true star is born not made, and anyone who has had the privilege of hearing her voice would assert that a star was certainly born on a cold night in early November 1887. The nursery had been empty for quite some time before Anais’ cries filled the Veilleux home. Gold rattlers, ivory mobiles, the finest materials to warm her plump thighs, and golden head– the youngest child and only daughter was given everything she wanted and more from the moment she entered the world. Her older brothers pampered her, her father spoiled her, and her mother coddled her, reminding Anais from an infant of her beauty and worth.

She remembers it vividly; the lights, the vibrant colors, the costumes, the men and women, larger than life. She remembers how their jaws seemed to come unhinged, mouths agape as the most beautiful sound poured forth reaching every inch of the cavernous theater. Anais sat in her blue satin gown, her legs dangling from her seat as she sat on it’s edge, rapt, wide eyes, and in awe of those who commanded the gilded stage. It was from that moment forward that Anais decided no other life would suit her, no other path was open to possibility, and the young girl, who had fallen hopelessly in love with the stage, opened her mouth to sing. Her parents, long time benefactors of the arts encouraged her every step of the way, hiring pianists to teach their daughter, hosting private ballet sessions. But still, money could only buy so much, and the dedication and persistence came from her heart and the young girl’s need to perform. She excelled, and her parents, proud of their talented young daughter, showcased her to their closest friends at a dinner party. All anyone expected to follow was a round of applause before sending her off to bed but what followed the eight year old’s performance was dead silence as everyone stared at her. Anais, red in the face, and afraid she had disappointed everyone, stared back. Her father was the first to stand, clapping, before the rest of the guests joined in. They all surged forward with praise, enveloping the girl in a circle of questions and invitations. Soon Anais found herself with a number of offers to perform at dinner parties among the circuit of her parents’ peers, and she happily obliged. Her passion had found a place in her tier of society, and school by day gave way to performing by night. A sheltered life in high society Paris might lead one to believe that innocence prevailed in the young eyes of those who sat quietly and watched adult’s socialize, but in fact it was quite the opposite. Anais though she was never a quiet girl, knew when to talk and when to listen, and was introduced the game in which they all were players at a young age. Politics, business, fashion, popularity. It was an intricate web of words, and actions, and her introduction to the nightly galas and gatherings led to an early understanding of the world in which she lived. The symptoms of fortune are unforgiving, and if not treated, can become fatal.

It continued for years, and it didn’t take long for buzz to gather, for the city of Paris to become privy to the young talent entertaining the rich and powerful. She was gaining popularity, and offers to perform on theater stages began to find themselves in her possession. Her mother, who had always considered her daughter’s talent a hobby and an asset in finding a husband, forbade her to continue, to take the stage, but Anais had long ago known she would not marry, would not tie herself to the role of a wife, and mother. She would dazzle, enchant, get lost in the music as she did each and every time before coming to to an appreciative audience. She beat her mother with the help of her father, hiring a voice coach, and taking offers to perform. But her mother put her foot down when Anais turned sixteen, forbidding any further dalliance as a showgirl. Her father could no longer stand behind his daughter, and without believing she would throw her fortunate life away, threatened to cut off her allowance if she continued. To Anais there was never too high a price to pay, and the girl took the punishment with swift acceptance.

Her relationship with her mother deteriorated as quickly as her fame grew, and by the time the young woman reached adulthood, she had wealth of her own volition. She traveled to America, England, Germany, Italy, Austria. She performed with renowned artists as she became one herself, beauty, grace, and talent. And when the war came, she continued to sing to keep morale high. She bought out all seats to host free concerts for wounded soldiers, and sang at the funeral of her brother when his Battalion was lost to the Germans. It was only after the war, when the country began to rebuild itself into a fresh new world that she began to see the world she held so dear slip from her grasp. Youth was like sand between one’s fingers, and her loss of it’s vitality was personified in the wonder of Claudine Arits, the girl who went from rags to riches as she took Paris, and France as a whole by storm.

She had gone over with the intention of intimidating the small, pretty thing, but the letter opener was lying there, shiney and impossibly sharp in the girl’s new, white apartment. Cold and metallic in her grasp, it contrasted wonderfully with the warm blood that rushed onto her pale hands as she slit Claudine’s throat. What a pity. What a waste of talent. But there could only be one, true star, and Anais would be damned if it was anyone but her.

POTENTIAL PLOTS/CONNECTIONS

So I have a few plots I’d like to have going, and one of them revolves around the murder of young Claudine Artis. Anais is no professional, and though she is smart, someone might just be suspicious.

Anais goes to te jazz clubs, and has an itch to perform. Perhaps someone could convince her to get up there and give it a try.

Anais fell in love with music a long time ago, and has failed to ever do so again. But that does not mean it isn’t possible.

Friends, enemies– she needs them!

EXTRAS

BASICS

Full Name: Anais Marguerite Veilleux

Nickname(s): Ana (close friends), Chaton (family)

Age: 35

Date of Birth: November 9th, 1887

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

Place of Birth: Toulouse, France

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Nationality: French, American

Gender: Cis-female

Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

Romantic Orientation: Heteroromantic

Religion: Roman Catholic

Occupation: Singer

Language(s) Spoken: French, English, Italian, some Chinese

Accent: Parisian

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Face Claim: Annabelle Wallis

Hair Color: Blonde

Eye Color: Blue

Height: 5’7”

Weight: 125lbs

Build: Slim

Tattoos: N/A

Piercings: Ears

PERSONALITY

Label: The Diva

Positive Traits: Charismatic, perceptive, resolute, gifted

Negative Traits: Calculating, envious, possessive, fiery

Fears: The ocean, spiders, being forgotten

Hobbies: reading, playing card games, painting, playing piano

Quirks: Ambidextrous, can’t stand even numbers, morning person

Likes: Coffee, art, cars, wine, chocolate, the color red

Dislikes: tradition, even numbers, spiders, hot weather, the British

FAMILY

Father: Bastien Veilleux

Mother: Lydia Veilleux nee Astor

Sibling(s): Jean-Luc, Victor, Emanuel

Pet(s): French Bulldog named Louis

Financial Status: Wealthy

#accepted

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krischuu782 · 3 years

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How to Play 메이저토토사이트추천 by a Las Vegas Dealer #3490

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goldeagleprice · 5 years

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English trade coin failed to satisfy

Queen Elizabeth I

Collectors in the United States are well aware of the Trade dollar that was first issued in 1873. There was too much silver being mined in the American West, and this coinage was an attempt to send the surplus silver to the Orient, especially China.

Within a few years, the British and Japanese governments also issued trade dollars. The most famous trade coin, however, was that issued by Austria, the famous Maria Theresa taler – first struck in the latter part of the 18th century, it was the coin of choice in much of the Middle East for more than a hundred years but today is struck primarily for collectors.

Perhaps the most best known international coin was the Spanish silver 8 reales struck at Latin American mints as early as the 1530s. It soon became a worldwide coin and was heavily used in trade between many countries. It was so ingrained in Colonial American commercial affairs, for example, that the Continental Currency of the Revolutionary War carried a statement that the Spanish milled dollar was its basis.

The English, however, issued a set of little-known silver trade coins in the early days of the 17th century that were originally meant for use in the East Indies but, in a strictly technical sense, this included Colonial America. It means, for example, that the largest piece, equivalent to the Spanish dollar, is a legitimate type coin officially issued for the American colonies even though the stated purpose of this coinage was for use in Asian markets. The story begins in the mid-1500s.

During the time of Henry VIII (1509-1547), English foreign trade was mostly confined to European countries and their colonies, especially the Netherlands, France, and the Spanish possessions in the New World. Trade with the Spanish possessions was a difficult matter, however, as Spain did not want foreign ships in their waters, and there were constant naval battles over these commercial affairs.

During the reign of Elizabeth I, the economic picture showed enormous changes. English vessels now went to many far-off lands and the points in between. London was flexing its economic muscles for all to see, especially its European competitors.

At that time, it was common for royalty to partially fund trading expeditions to distant points around the globe. Elizabeth I was no stranger to this activity and provided money for many of the enterprises, some of which openly flouted Spanish laws. At least the Spanish thought so, but this was of course denied by the queen.

In late 1600, a group of merchants petitioned the queen to issue a royal charter for a trading firm under the name of “The Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies.” On Dec. 31, the queen did in fact issue the requested royal charter. This trading entity made its first voyage to the Indies in 1602 but no doubt visited other points on the way.

The major coins used in trading among nations at that point in time were the Dutch Lion dollars and the Spanish 8 reales. The queen became increasingly irritated at having to use either of these, as England received no publicity for her coinage or government in the process.

Part of the problem was the fact that English law made it a criminal offense to export silver or gold coins from the country. Customs officials were especially vigilant on this point, and the trading companies needed official permission to take silver out of England.

Elizabeth ordered the Treasury to consider a special issue of silver coins that would be used on the trading expeditions, especially to the Far East. She preferred that her portrait be used on the coinage, as it was on the gold and silver coins issued regularly by the London Mint. There was considerable discussion along these lines, but in the end the Treasury persuaded her that a portrait could not be used.

At this time, the London Mint was issuing a large silver coin, the crown, which was a 5-shilling piece. It carried the queen’s portrait.

The reason for the rejection of the portrait was deference to Moslem sensibilities in the East Indies. Rulers and merchants located in that particular region would simply not have accepted coins with a female portrait.

Elizabeth reluctantly agreed but insisted that English symbolism be clearly shown as a mark of sovereignty. On Jan. 11, 1601, she signed a royal warrant authorizing the coinage of four trade coins: 8, 4, 2, and 1 testern. The name “testern” was simply the English name for the Spanish one real, or one-eighth of a dollar.

The actual date of the royal warrant was Jan. 11, 1600, but this was under the old Julian calendar. In England prior to 1752, the new year began with the spring equinox in late March. January 1600, therefore, actually followed December 1600. The date of the warrant is sometimes referred to at present as Jan. 11, 1600/01, to show that the date of 1600 was “Old Style” while 1601 refers to the new calendar (Gregorian) adopted in 1752.

The official weight of the 8-testern coin was 422.8 grains, .925 fine. This means 391.1 grains of pure silver, which compares favorably with the United States silver dollar of 1794-1935; the latter has a pure silver content of 371.25 grains. The 4-, 2- and 1-testern coins were in proportion.

The 1601 silver crown (5 shillings) carries the portrait of Queen Elizabeth I. Her reign ended in 1603.

The silver crown (5 shillings) then being struck at the London Mint was not suitable for international trade because it weighed 465 grains, .925 fine. This meant that each crown was equal to 8.8 testerns and of no practical commercial value, given the use of Spanish silver around the world.

The trading firm was given permission to export up to £30,000 in silver each year for 15 years, and it is assumed they did in fact do so. However, the first trial coinage of testern pieces was to be for only £6,000. We do not have a breakdown of how many there were of each denomination, but it may safely be assumed that the bulk of the coinage would have been of the largest piece – 8 testerns – for convenience in the East Indian trading arrangements.

If the entire £6,000 was in pieces of 8 testerns, there would have been about 26,000 coins. It then seems possible that perhaps 15,000 to 17,000 8 testerns might have been struck with the remaining silver being used for the lesser denominations.

The 1601 8 testerns was equal to the Spanish dollar of 8 reales. The latter coin was universally used in trade in the New Hemisphere.

Each of the denominations bore more or less the same devices and inscriptions. The obverse has the crowned arms of England surrounded by the Latin legend O : ELIZABETH : D. G. ANG. FR ET HIB. REGINA, which translates as “Elizabeth, by the Grace of God, Queen of England, France, and Ireland.”

The crowned letters E and R are in the field and are abbreviations for Elizabeth and Regina (Queen). The claim to the French throne dated back to Edward III in 1337 and had appeared on the coinage beginning in 1344; it was not until the Treaty of Amiens under George III in 1802 that this meaningless claim was abandoned.

The figure “O” at the beginning of the legend is the London privy mark for the year 1600, which in this case means 1601, as the coins in question were actually struck in January 1601 by the modern calendar.

The reverse has a portcullis, the ancient symbol of the gate to a palace or fort, surrounded by the Latin legend O : POSVI : DEVM : ADIVTOREM : MEVM, which means “I Have Made God My Helper.” The figure “0” is again the privy mark for 1600/01 and means the same as the figure on the obverse. The reverse design has caused collectors to name this series the “Portcullis Coinage.”

The moneyers at the London Mint took particular care with these coins. They were meant to show that this mint and government were capable of quality work.

All of the Portcullis coins are today relatively rare, but the smaller denominations are perhaps the easiest to obtain. It would be a remarkable accomplishment to put together a high-quality set of these four coins.

The 1602 trading voyage to the East Indies was a success, but the leading ship captain reported that these special English trade dollars and fractions were not readily accepted in the Indies, even if the queen’s portrait did not appear. Later voyages by this company to the Indies were undertaken in 1604 and 1608, but the special testern coinage was not carried on either of those two trips.

Even though the testern series of coins were specifically made for the East Indies, it is still a fact that the weight and fineness of these pieces made them acceptable anywhere the Spanish dollar was used, and this certainly included the American Colonies after 1607, when permanent settlements were established.

The drawings of the coins with this article were originally prepared in the 1740s for a book on English coins written by Martin Folkes. The two coins are each about the size of the United States silver dollar.

This article was originally printed in World Coin News. >> Subscribe today.

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World Cup 2018: England via the ages - how far have you ever seen Three Lions go?

World Cup 2018: England via the ages – how far have you ever seen Three Lions go?

Watching England on the World Cup isn’t simple

Each technology of England followers has a defining World Cup second.

One has the best of all of them however for many it’s one laced with disappointment and heartache.

The nation’s post-war child boomers are essentially the most lucky, brandishing their reminiscence of Bobby Moore lifting the Jules Rimet trophy at Wembley in 1966 as a protect to the primarily distress that adopted.

Since then, England supporters have gone via a succession of early exits, absence from the finals all collectively and penalty shootout woe.

Envy then the youngest technology of English followers, unburdened with reminiscences of Diego Maradona’s “hand of God” in 1986, Paul Gascoigne’s tears in 1990, David Beckham’s flicked boot in 1998 and Cristiano Ronaldo’s wink in 2006 and who’ve solely ever recognized the euphoria of England profitable knockout video games on spot-kicks.

Earlier than Saturday’s quarter-final in opposition to Sweden, BBC Sport faucets into our nice World Cup moments countdown to look again at England on the match and the incidents which have outlined the expertise for English followers of all ages.

‘I do know that was then, but it surely may very well be once more’ – England followers are beginning to consider it may very well be coming residence in 2018

How far have you ever seen England progress?

England haven’t received previous the quarter-finals at a World Cup since 1990, which implies that an English soccer fan would realistically must be of their mid-30s no less than to have witnessed a semi-final that includes the nationwide staff.

To have skilled the one time it received higher than that for England, you’ll both be coming as much as or have already handed your 60th birthday.

The under graphic illustrates how far you might be prone to have seen England progress at a World Cup, together with your complete expertise being something above the indication of your age…

It got here residence

Like a Royal wedding ceremony, there have been road events to greet England’s World Cup win in 1966

It has overshadowed all that has adopted for England – Moore, sitting on the shoulders of his team-mates holding aloft the Jules Rimet trophy at a jubilant residence of soccer in 1966.

You do not have to have been alive at the moment to know that picture, the names of Moore, Geoff Hurst, Bobby Charlton, Gordon Banks et al, or that a Russian linesman performed his half in a 4-2 closing victory over West Germany (voted quantity 4 in your listing of nice World Cup moments).

50 Nice World Cup moments: England win the World Cup – 1966

In 4 tournaments earlier than this, England had solely ever received so far as the final eight, so for these of their late 50s or early 60s they’ve a treasured first World Cup reminiscence, one that may resist the blows which have adopted within the subsequent 52 years.

Again all the way down to Earth

England followers needed to discover one thing else to do through the summers of 1974 and 1978

These born within the rapid years after 1966 have maybe the worst lot of all England followers in relation to early England World Cup reminiscences.

As defending champions, hopes have been understandably excessive for Sir Alf Ramsey’s aspect in Mexico, however West Germany received their revenge for 1966 as Gerd Muller’s extra-time objective gained the quarter-final tie between the edges.

It will be the final any England fan would see of their staff at a World Cup for 12 years. Poland’s Jan Tomaszewski wrote his title into the material of English soccer historical past with one of many nice goalkeeping shows to make sure his aspect edged England and Ramsey – who was quickly to be sacked – out in qualifying.

Jan Tomaszewski – a person beforehand described as “a clown” by Brian Clough – made a lot of saves to disclaim England victory in opposition to Poland at Wembley in 1973

4 years later, following a turbulent interval which noticed Don Revie come and go as supervisor earlier than Ron Greenwood took cost, England have been once more knocked out in qualifying, this time by Italy on objective distinction.

The ‘hand of God’

The conflict between England and Argentina was sufficient to push the followers to battle within the stands

England soccer followers aged 40 and above have a transparent villain and his title is Diego Armando Maradona.

In Spain in 1982, Greenwood’s England suffered the bizarre destiny of exiting the match having not misplaced a recreation. They scored their first objective after simply 27 seconds – Bryan Robson in opposition to France – however failed to seek out the web in any respect within the second group stage and out they went. They’d package, although.

4 years later, they began poorly in Mexico however a hat-trick from Gary Lineker (half of the six he scored within the match en path to profitable the Golden Boot – or Shoe because it was then) in opposition to Poland noticed them via.

50 Nice World Cup moments: Lineker’s hat-trick in opposition to Poland in 1986

Paraguay have been dispatched within the final 16 earlier than two targets – one demonstrating chic talent, the opposite sneaky skullduggery – by Argentina’s Maradona dumped them out.

50 Nice World Cup moments: Maradona’s ‘hand of God’ objective – 1986

50 Nice World Cup moments: Maradona’s ‘magnificent’ second objective v England – 1986

So shut, but thus far

English followers show their flags in assist of their staff through the World Cup in Italy

David Platt’s volley in opposition to Belgium, the comeback in opposition to Cameroon, Gascoigne’s tears, Lineker’s “have a phrase with him” and the penalty shootout defeat that began all of it within the semi-final in opposition to West Germany – Italia 1990 had as many good reminiscences as dangerous, however it’s the latter that persists within the thoughts of these of their mid-30s.

World Cup countdown: Paul Gascoigne’s tears in Italia ’90 semi-final

50 nice World Cup moments: England lose to Germany on penalties at Italia 90

And the actual fact England didn’t qualify for USA 1994 solely will increase their resonance.

Eight years felt like a lifetime to attend, however after qualifying for France 1998, Glenn Hoddle’s England gave us hope, partly because of a younger Michael Owen…

50 Nice World Cup moments: Michael Owen stuns Argentina – 1998

…earlier than Beckham went from hero to villain and the nation suffered penalty heartbreak once more, this time by the hands of Argentina.

World Cup countdown: David Beckham despatched off in opposition to Argentina in 1998

Ronaldinho and Ronaldo

England soccer followers at a central London pub react to England’s penalty shootout loss to Portugal in 2006

Sven-Goran Eriksson’s reign as England boss at World Cups – and the founding reminiscences many of their early to mid-20s have of England on the World Cup – in the end boils all the way down to a lob and a wink.

The primary – Ronaldinho’s free-kick that sailed over David Seaman and in to eliminate England in the quarter-finals in 2002 – nonetheless generates debate over whether or not the Brazilian meant to do it.

50 nice World Cup moments: Ronaldinho lobs England’s David Seaman – 2002

The second – Ronaldo’s wink after his Manchester United team-mate and England’s most important man Wayne Rooney was despatched off within the penalty shootout defeat by Portugal within the final eight – ushers no such debate.

50 Nice World Cup moments: Wayne Rooney despatched off in opposition to Portugal – 2006

Group stage exit and German mauling

England followers had their day at Glastonbury ruined by the defeat by Germany in 2010

Teenage England followers have had little to cheer about till Russia, with the primary half of the 2010s offering not solely disappointment however a high-profile squad turning into ever extra indifferent from their followers. The last decade started with a visit to South Africa for a Fabio Capello aspect who had sauntered via qualifying and nonetheless possessed a wholesome variety of the nation’s so-called ‘golden technology’.

50 Nice World Cup moments: England’s Rob Inexperienced concedes an terrible objective to USA – 2010

Robert Inexperienced’s goalkeeping error within the opening draw against the United States set the tone as England limped out of their group earlier than being put out of their misery by a ruthless and brilliant Germany, who’ve by no means had it really easy in a World Cup recreation in opposition to the previous enemy. Not even the Frank Lampard shot that crossed the road however was not given would have saved England.

50 nice World Cup moments: Frank Lampard’s ghost objective in opposition to Germany – 2010

England made even much less of an influence on the match 4 years later because the acquainted determine of Uruguay and then Liverpool striker Luis Suarez ensured Roy Hodgson’s side went out in the group stage.

World Cup countdown: Luis Suarez’s objective to knock England out – 2014

A complete new world

Younger England followers watch the sport in opposition to Colombia on an property in London

Witnessing the social media movies of fan parks and bars within the aftermath of the last-16 penalty shootout win over Colombia, containing a jubilant sea of arms, legs and spilled plastic pints, you’ll forgive the youngest technology of England followers for questioning what all of the fuss is about.

In any case, to anybody youthful than 10, England reaching the quarter-finals and profitable penalty shootouts on the World Cup is all you’ve got recognized.

World Cup 2018: England’s historic penalty shootout win in opposition to Colombia in full

And it could get higher but. One other victory on Saturday and Gareth Southgate’s aspect will equal the achievements of the category of 1990 and arrange a semi-final showdown in opposition to both Croatia or hosts Russia. Win that and there is just one aspect left to emulate – Ramsey’s winners.

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shakespearesglobe-blog · 6 years

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The Development of Human Rights

Human rights are the fundamental rights that humans have just for the fact of being humans. These rights are neither created nor can be abrogated by any government. They are based on the principle of respect for the individual. Each moral and rational person deserves to be treated with dignity – no matter who they are or where they live – because they are alive. Nowadays, however, the recognition thatevery person has equal rights whatever his sex, wherever he lives and independently from his ideas, his religion and his personal and social condition is a fairly recent. And it arises from the blood, the fights and the suffering of the previous generations.

The first legal instrument which guaranteed basic civil rights was the Magna Charta Libertatum, commonly called Magna Charta (the “ Great Charter”) and written in 1215. When John Lackland became king after Richard I “the Lionheart”, he started a war in France to defend his territories and this was only possible by raising the taxes. This measure adopted by the king created discontent among the English and Norman barons, who protested against the king’s decision. The English army lost France and in 1215 the barons revolted and defied the king. At this point the king was forced to seal a legal document that would put a limit on his powers: the Magna Charta. It called for a guarantee of protection to all free men from illegal imprisonment (Habeas Corpus) and seizure of property. It also asked for swift justice and scutage limitations and established a committed of twenty-five barons with a mandate to wage war on the king if he failed to respect the agreement. The charter represented a small step forward in the limitation of the king’s power, even if it recognized rights only to certain categories of people, such as nobles, merchants and clergymen. However, King John only sealed the Magna Charta because he was forced to, but he didn’t agree with any of its principles; so, after a short period, he returned to war against the barons. Although the Magna Charta had been re-issued by John’s successors, in later centuries, it was almost forgotten, but it was still looked upon with pride by the people as evidence of a supposed history of legal rights in their country.

This, even though the Magna Charta represented a solution to a specific situation rather than a declaration of rights for all people, it came to be seen as a kind of Bill of Rights. When the latter kings violated or put aside the Magna Charta, as James II and his brother Charles did (he tipped the scales by dissolving the parliament on several occasions) the parliament and the people revolted, causing the Glorious Revolution to happen. The Glorious Revolution refers to the series of events in 1688-1689 that took place after a long period of crisis characterized by violent fights and by the attempt of making England an absolutistic monarchy. It has been seen as a turning point in the development of a modern and democratic state which guarantees social and political rights to citizens. The term “Glorious Revolution” is used to describe the peaceful way in which Parliament asserted its right over the monarchy in 1688. In fact it was also called “Bloodless revolution” and celebrated the lack of bloody fights in the period between 1685 and 1689, starting with the death of Charles II and culminating in the Bill of Rights in 1689. In 1685 Charles II died and was succeeded by his brother James, who was a professed Catholic with strong ties to the Pope and to King Louis XIV of France. He soon tried to give the Catholic Church of Rome the same dignity as the Anglican Church. Protestants were worried, so a group of Protestant nobles invited William of Orange to come over with an army. William of Orange was the husband of king James’s older and Protestant daughter Mary. He was a kind of homo novus, because he was the first of his name to ascend to the English throne. In those times the nationality of the monarch was irrelevant, it was the religion that mattered. In England James II was seen as a threat to Protestantism in England. The success of France under Louis XIV made absolute monarchy look like the way of the future. James II admired France and tried to create a centralized authority, with a large standing army to strengthen his authority. English people, therefore, saw William as their liberator. In fact, after James II was exiled, William of Orange and his wife Mary were established as joint monarchs. Certainly the most important thing that the new king did was sealing one of the first form of modern constitution: the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights was written by the English parliament to avoid a monarchy where the king could rule without limitations as in France, at the time of Louis XIV. The Bill of Rights ratified some of fundamental rights:

The freedom of a speech in the parliament;

The prohibition to the king to abolish laws or impose taxes without the parliament’s consent;

Free election for the parliament;

The prohibition to the king to keep an army in time of peace without the consent of the parliament;

The refusal to be submitted to a Catholic king;

The parliament must meet frequently.

So the Glorious Revolution was important because it established British Parliament’s authority over monarchy and the supremacy of the Anglican Church over Catholic interests in England. In wider terms, we can say that this revolution was one of the most important in history, because it was also a demonstration of the right of people to change their form of government, if they believed that government no longer protected their rights. The Glorious Revolution, moreover, had been inspired by two philosophers of that period:

John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, who argued in opposite ways, one for absolute kingship and one against. In their works, they both wrote about a State of Nature, in which man exists without government, and both speak about risks in this state. The philosopher John Locke was one of the main supporters of human rights, which were proclaimed with the Glorious Revolution in England in 1689. Initially, Locke agreed with the absolutistic theories formulated by Hobbes, but later - after the fall of the Stuarts - he understood that absolutism doesn’t help men to live peacefully and to respect the state. Locke believed that in the State of Nature all men are equal and can accumulate money and properties in order to fare well. However, as the human being tends to gather up these things quite egoistically, he excludes others. In this case, the pacific cohabitation of human beings is transformed into anarchy, a completely chaotic situation. For this reason Locke didn’t believe that to avoid this danger there had to be an absolutist monarchy, but what was necessary was a state that would ensure peace among men and that would wisely and equally distribute riches among the citizens. However this does not mean that the state is authorized to violate human rights, but it has to safeguard public Welfare, always respecting these rights. Locke wants that all men would keep their rights except one: the right to self-justice. The office of justice pertained to the State. Locke considered fundamental the rights to freedom, to private property and to life. In order to let this happen, Locke asserts that a constitutional monarchy works better, as the joint monarchy of William of Orange and his wife Mary II. By contrast, Thomas Hobbes, who lived before Locke, instead believed that if human beings wish to fare well they have to give up all of their rights retaining the right to life. In Hobbes opinion, on this basis it is possible to build a civil and political society, because only the king can rule, who sits above laws and any form of authority. In fact, in the State of Nature there was a war of all against all (bellum omnium contra omnes), caused by the natural animal-like instincts of men (homo homini lupus). This, according to Hobbes, in the State of Nature the only possible condition is anarchy. To tackle this, Hobbes proposes an absolutistic form of government because it is better than no government. So, Hobbes theorizes that a good State should be held by a single person who administers all the powers. Moreover, regicide is not permitted, under any circumstances. But does an absolutistic monarchy really bring about order and peace? From this point of view absolutism is inadequate because people lose their rights and they are completely subject to the king. Moreover, if the monarchy becomes tyranny, there could be a situation where people are angry and unsatisfied.

As during the Glorious, a following revolution had been inspired by philosophers: the French Revolution. In particular, it was the followers of Jean-Jacques Rousseau who prevailed during the French Revolution. The revolution had started with the nobility which spotted the weakness of the French monarchy. This resulted in the nobles forcing a meeting of the “Etats Generaux”, an institution they usually controlled, by which some of the nobles had hoped to enhance the power of the nobility at the expense of the monarchy, and some had hoped to institute Enlightenment reforms. Edmund Burke was one of the first to suggest that the philosophers of the Enlightenment were somehow, responsible for the French Revolution. The philosophic and political doctrines of the “ Enlightenment” had a great influence in Europe and constituted a model for similar documents drawn up during the French Revolution. The most important among the revolutionary documents was the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizens (La Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen), adopted by the National Constituent Assembly as the first step toward writing a constitution for the Republic of Frence. It states that “…ignorance, forgetfulness or contempt are the only causes of public misfortunes and the corruption of governments…” and proclaims that all citizens are to be guaranteed the rights of “liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression”. Men, in fact, have a tendency to forget their natural rights and rulers have a tendency on take advantage of that. So, it just reminded citizens what their right are and made sure that these rights could be respected by any authority. We can say that from that moment on, people broke free from the king’s absolute power and founded a state in which powers were divided and in which there weren’t subjects anymore, but just citizens. As said before, the Declaration and its contents are at the basis of the French Constitution of 1751, which marked the end of the absolute power and the start of a constitutional monarchy. A lot of efforts were made to discuss its own originality and, for example, to connect its substance to the Declaration that the English colonies of America voted during the struggle for independence. However it mustn’t be said that without them the French Declaration wouldn’t have existed. The French philosophical movement in the XVIII century could be summarized in that act; the thoughts of Montesquieu, Voltaire and Rousseau collaborated towards this. The basic concepts of the French Revolution were the same as those of the Glorious Revolution, namely “freedom for all free people” (Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité). Even if the French Constitution was very important, the first truly democratic constitution was approved in Germany and inspired all the following constitutions and passed on 11 August 1919, after the end of World War I. One of the members of the committee that drafted the Constitution was Max Weber, a German sociologist who was best known for his political ideas, in particular for his enormously influential definition of the state as community “that successfully claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory”. At the beginning of the World War I, Weber supported enthusiastically the German aims and volunteered for the Army. In 1915, he changed his mind and became a pacifist. After the war, Weber founded the German Democratic party and helped to draft the constitution of the Weimar Republic. At that time, it counted as one of the most progressive constitutions of the world, providing an extensive catalogue of fundamental rights. It also provided the intervention of the state in areas such as health, education, social security, economy. With these constitutions the so-called Welfare State kicks off and spreads in all European countries. The Welfare State is a concept of government based on the principle of equality, in which the state guarantees and promotes the social and economic well being of its citizens. It is made up of three components:

financial services (pensions, benefits)

social services (health care, education)

non cash benefits (medications)

But how was the concept of welfare introduced in modern society? To answer this question we may have to go back in time a little bit. The concepts of welfare and pension were introduced in Islamic law in the 7th century under the Rashidun Caliphate (632-661) with the zakat, which means “charity” and is one of the five pillars of Islam, and the Sizya tax which was a fee for protection provided by the Muslim ruler to non-Muslims. These two taxes were collected in the treasury of an Islamic government and were used to guarantee an income for the needy, including the poor, orphans and disabled. Thus, we can consider the caliphate as the first form of Welfare State. In Europe there have been three major phases that led to the birth of the modern Welfare. The first phase traces back to 1563, when Elizabeth I passed her Act for the relief of the poor, which required all parish residents with ability to pay to contribute to poor collections. Elizabeth I continued passing legislations aimed at the relief of the poor until 1601, when the Elizabethan poor law created a national poor relief system for England and Wales. The second phase dates back to 1883, when the German Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck introduced old-age pensions, accident insurance and radical care. These measures adopted by Bismarck formed the basis of the modern European Welfare state. Finally the third phase, the phase of the true modern Welfare, begins in 1942 with the Beveridge Report, called after its chairman, measures to help the needy and recommended that the government would find ways of tackling what the report called the five giants “Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness”. In April 1945, after the World War II, delegates from fifty countries met in San Francisco full of optimism and hope. They gave birth to an international organization in order to promote peace and prevent future wars. The ideals of the organization were stated in the preamble to its proposed charter: “We, the peoples of United Nations, are determinate to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind.” The Charter of the new United Nations, organization went into effect on October 24, 1945, a date that is celebrated each year as United Nations Day. Worlds leaders wanted to guarantee the rights of every individual everywhere. That’s why, at the first session of the General Assembly in 1946, the document, which would later become the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was taken up. After two years of talks within the UN Human Rights Commission, a breakthrough in human rights occurred; the Commission set out to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Roosevelt referred to the Declaration as a sort of international Magna Charta for all mankind. It was adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948.

“Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people… all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”

This is what the Declaration unequivocally proclaims in its preamble and in Article 1.

The Declaration of 1948 is just the final result of many years of fights. At the very beginning, people weren’t aware of their rights and so accepted the abuses of the powerful and social inequalities with resignation. In fact, human rights didn’t develop at the same time, but their development increased as citizens started organizing in order to claim and enforce respect of their natural rights. That’s why we talk about four generations of rights:

The first generation is the generation of civil and political rights, acquired during Enlightenment. Their recognition was solemnly stated in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The main civil rights recognized are: freedom of opinion, freedom of expression and press, personal ownerships, the right to personal security in relation to justice and police, equality before the law. The political rights recognized are: equal access to public, participation in elaboration of laws, control of taxes, citizen control over the administration.

The second generation of human rights is related with the battles fought by workers during the XIX and the XX century. They are fundamentally economic and social rights. They guarantee different members of citizenry equal conditions and treatment. Some of these rights are the right to work, freedom of association, the right to education and learning, the right to insurance for sickness, old age and disability.

In the third generation of rights we can indentify the so called solidarity rights, rights which can not be exerted only by and individual, but only collectively, such as: the right to peace, the right to development, the right to humanitarian assistance, environmental law, the right of sexual minorities, ethnic religious, linguistic, etc.

In the fourth generation of rights are included the so called rights related to genetic engineering, which are based on the doctrinal debate in what regards the recognition or prohibitions of certain activities. One of these rights is the right to euthanasia, which is practice of ending life in a painless manner. Voluntary euthanasia means that a person – who is terminally ill, who feels that their life is not worth living because of intractable pain, who makes their decision freely and voluntarily (and is not suffering from treatable depression) – should have the option, the right of requesting assistance in dying with dignity, instead of being kept alive by machines

But what place do all these rights occupy in the contemporary world? It 's still the preferred/chosen tool to organize social reality and relations between individuals and peoples? If it so, how are the limits changed from its traditional modern use? If these transformations are to be traced in the contemporary world, it is necessary to assume a cross-sectional look through multiple and contemporary dimensions in order to identify them. Already Kelsen, in the twentieth century, had completely revolutionized the theory of law, carrying the concepts of Order - State - Sovereignty in a temporal space. He imposes upon 'time' the nature of conceptual tool. It follows, therefore, Kelsen's definition of the 'disenchantment', which is a process that has led to the weakening of the traditional substantialism of legal concepts. It seems obvious, then, that behind every statement about the rights, there is the will of men, even of leading groups make appeal to natural rights, only to betray the paradigm they impose. The law is delivered to these dynamics, not as a mere instrument of power, rather than as a symbol of an achieved ductility that can only reflect the diverse and contemporary visions of the world. It can be said, paradoxically, that the above process tends - in the new cultural sphere - to become a communis opinio: a widespread attitude about the actual functionality of the right to interests and beliefs different and cohexisting. Let us examine, now, the development of two key concepts: individualism pattern and communitarian pattern. We begin our political and philosophical excursus with Thomas Hobbes who, in his Leviathan, speaks about the 'State of Nature' or the 'legal' concepts that we are dictated by upright reason. But this depends on political stability and on certain social conditions and: Hobbes thus accepts a certain natural-law system, but all the precepts that it expresses are subject to an 'universal law of nature, imposing man, first, to save himself (individualism). By contrast, there is John Locke: he also talks about the 'State of Nature', but understood as a state of law, challenged only by the fact that the individual is called to judge itself; this partial judgment will be cause of disagreements and conflicts. Men, aware of the risk that dangerous conflicts of interest could arise between them, agree that it is desirable to unite them into one political body. This implies that the social body sets up a power to which all men are subject and where the majority is able to decide for the rest (communitarianism). These are the thoughts that, in the past, have animated the discussion about individualism and communitarianism. In the course of time, different opinions have been introduced, among them there is that of a local scholar: Roberto Esposito (Professor of Theoretical Philosophy now at the Italian Institute of Human Sciences in Naples). His merit is to have proposed a new vision of the concept of the community or, more specifically, of communitas: « [...] The community is not the place of contraposition, but that the overlapping between res and nothing. What (men) divide [...] is rather an expropriation of their substance which is not limited to their 'having' but that involves and affects their own 'being subject. » Men, to create communities, share a lack, or their respective community bond. And to get a community, you need to make the category of immunitas shine. Therefore immunization acts on a need to be, rather than on a being given once and for all. To immunize, we must be a community, in order to get that communitarian bond which initially we are lacking. In this way, Ciro Sbailò, in 'The State as an option in a multi-ethnical society. Ways to address the problem of western legal ethnocentrism without adopting cultural relativism ', refers to this very complex process of political and constitutional transition, peculiar of advanced democracies, in relation to' mainland Europe where we compare the main cultural, religious and legal traditions (Common Law and Civil Law, Roman Law and Islamic Law). Therefore, we have to consider the problem of ethnocentrism: according to which one particular ethnic group is seen as somehow superior to all others. The word ethnocentrism derives from the Greek word ethnos, meaning “nation” or “people,” and the Latin word centrum (center). A common idiom for ethnocentrism is “tunnel vision”. In this context, ethnocentrism is the view that a particular ethnic group’s system of beliefs and values is morally superior to all others; anyway, this phenomenon doesn’t only reflect a simple psychological attitude, but a structural element on human rights and legal culture of the West. In fact, as Sbailò says: « […] the conflict between the policies on human rights and the respect for different cultural identities needs an epistemological kind of investigation on our legal culture, in order to distinguish ‘the coefficient of oscillation’ of our conceptual pillars». Sbailò ,therefore, examines the possibility of incorporating ethnocentrism in an integration process, through the interpretation of the state as a 'state of culture'.Regarding this, we have to review the current situation in Europe and the problem of integration of the Islamic community (in fact, the ethnocentrism is highlighted in this community).The Muslim community is the most numerous one formed by no Christians in the Western world, including Europe. In the Western reality, we recognize two of the Islamic settlement patterns: that of ‘Muslimtown’ and that of 'diffusion pattern’. The functional space, in the industrial city, tends to coincide with the physical one and the definition of 'identity' goes hand in hand with spatial demarcation. Conversely, in the post-industrial society, the confinement is presented as 'option': the 'diffusion' pattern in Europe, is supplanting that of the citadel, of the Muslimtown.

The Islamic community lives the so-called 'deterritorialization', a kind of split between its own legal system, in relation to that of the host country.The advent of this phenomenon issues the problem of how to reconsider the constitutional pact in force in the host country.Anyway, in addition to this, the guest community also lives an ambivalent relationship with the legal system of the host country. On the one hand this is a guarantee of freedom, on the other one it can be perceived as a threat to the community because it is based on freedom of conscience. This leads us to feel the Western secular state as a stimulus to a greater awareness of being Muslim. The Western Islam launches to the society a dual challenge: the cultural ethnocentrism and the renunciation to their own identity and values. Is this an Europe where the 'diversity' is an asset and not a threat to the identity? Much of this depends on how Europe will be able to bring to light its legal ethnocentrism and build a political integration project. A linguistic and cultural unity would be desirable, since it is configured in a tool given by the state to overcome all the barriers and build a common cultural heritage.Therefore, the Western Culture awareness of the ethnic ch[i]aracter has originated two opposing and complementary attitudes: on the one hand there is the 'cultural relativism', that is the view that individual beliefs and values systems are culturally relative. According to this theory, no one ethnic group has the right to say that their particular system of beliefs and values, their worldview, is in any way superior to anyone else’s system of beliefs and values. What’s right for one culture might be wrong for another and that’s alright. There is no absolute standard of right and wrong by which to compare and contrast morally contradictory cultural values.On the other hand there is the refusal of the “otherness” in the name of one’s own roots, defended these because they don’t qualify as universal.With regard to this issue, is the acceptance based on the awareness of one's identity possible? Max Weber puts ethnicity among the sources of action and community. He presents the so-called 'ethnic roots' as a means for the realization of political aims and this outlines the concept of 'ethnic honour' or of the specific mass honour, because it is accessible to anyone who belongs to the original putative community. There are differences between nationality and ethnicity. In Weber, nationality is rationalized as an ethnic group, in spite of the same ethnic group is the result of a cultural process.In this way, what’s the definition of ‘nation’? Nation is the term used by the West World to rechristen ethnos, in order to rationalize it. Such as ethnicity, in fact, the nation is an affirmation of the principle of nationality. It is identical with the whole, since it belongs to it: in fact, the nation mediates the relationship between the individual and community. While the ethnos originates from myth and to his native land, the nation originates from the history, and makes so a real project. For this reason, the rediscovery of the national identity against the cultural integration process which we have already discussed, is itself an aporia: national identities (and nationalism) aren’t original, but the result of a historical costruction made by the State.« Law is law […] if it refers to a norm or to a constitutional statement. Law is nothing but a human act with multiple meanings, among them it is possible to choose only one. This means to decide in the sense of a personal assumption of responsability».We conclude our essay with this definition, proposed by Alfonso Catania - professor of Philosophy of Law and Theory of Law at the Federico II University of Naples and at the University of Salerno.

- Ciro Sbailò, The State as an option in a multi-ethnical society. Ways to address the problem of western legal ethnocentrism without adopting cultural relativism - Alfonso Catania, Metamorfosi del diritto - Decisione e norma nell' età globale, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2008, p. 207 - Roberto Esposito, Communitas - Origine e destino della comunità, Torino, 2006, p. 163

#the development of human rights

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donaldrbstuff · 6 years

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11. Irish “slavery” in the Caribbean in the 16th and 17th centuries.

05 May 2018, Saturday. 29 Apr 2018, Sunday, SimpleSite.

This entry was NOT the fate suffered by my mother's mother's Irish ancestors, the Clancy's, even though their story is just as bazzare in its own way. See numbers 3 and 8 for two of grandmother Clancy’s stories.

But this is an interesting and shocking side trip, and I share it in part because none of it was ever mentioned in any history class at any level or grade that I ever took. But then again I was a European history major in college. I have quoted it in part from the following book:

Garcia, Miki. 2015. Ireland's Invasion of the World: The Irish Diaspora in a Nutshell. Dublin: The History Press, Ireland, 2015, p. 86-88. This topic continues on through p. 91, but I have quoted the gist of it.

Although it may not be immediately evident, the Irish connection to the Caribbean is quite strong and it has a long, tangled history. Hundreds of thousands of Irish were shipped to the region as slaves during the ethnic cleansing and genocide instigated by English authorities in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Irish slavery could be called a forgotten part of the history of slavery, as it was already well-established before the advent of the transatlantic African slave trade.

The sixteenth century was a turbulent period in Ireland. English kings wanted to convert Catholic Irish people to Protestantism, as they had successfully done in Wales and Scotland. The Plantations of Ireland had therefore started and the Penal Laws of the English Government — a series of disadvantage laws imposed on Irish Catholics — were in full swing. The planting of English Protestant settlers in Ulster and Munster on confiscated Catholic land had bloody consequences as the English regime clashed with the Gaelic lords.

In order to 'root out the Papists and fill Ireland with Protestant,' King James I of England encouraged the sale of Irish political prisoners to the New World. Under the reign of James II, Charles I and Oliver Cromwell, the ethnic cleansing of Ireland was more systematically carried out. Beginning with Irish Catholic priests, who were the biggest target, hundreds of thousands of ordinary people were killed by sword or disease. Some took refuge by fleeing to Catholic countries in Europe, such as France and Spain. From the early 1600s, many were captured for various reasons and sold as slaves to plantation owners and settlers in the New World — the Caribbean as well as North American British colonies, such as Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and New England.

During Cromwell's conquest of Ireland, or the Irish Confederate Wars (1641-1652), it is estimated that Ireland lost about a third of its population. The impact of Cromwell's population transfers was devastating. 'To hell or Connaught' was the saying of the day, which gave people the choice of either being killed or moving to the barren lands across the River Shannon where it was impossible to make a reasonable living. They were also shipped in large numbers across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. Their only crime was being Catholic.

The English authorities also used the islands as a dumping ground for undesirables such as vagrants, petty criminals, widows and orphans. After being sent there, many women and girls were forced to work as prostitutes.

The British are normally meticulous record keepers, but we do not know how detailed the notes on this atrocity were as the Public Record Office of Ireland lost almost all its records when it was destroyed by an explosion and the resulting fire during the Civil War in 1922. No former slaves who survived the ordeal told their own stories either. Due to the nature of the business, it is hard to estimate the exact number of settlers, but it is believed that up to 400,000 Irish slaves were shipped like cattle during the seventeenth century to work on cotton, sugar and tobacco plantations. As a result, the Caribbean islands were full of Irish slaves, especially in the 1650s, which was the peak decade of Irish slavery. They were scattered all across the region and could be found in Montserrat, Antigua, Barbuda, Barbados, Bermuda, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad, St Vincent, Grenada, Guiana and Haiti. There were more Irish slaves in the Caribbean than any other ethnic group until African slaves arrived in droves.

Although some slaves had generous masters and built prosperous, or at least reasonable, futures, upon attaining freedom, the treatment of the vast majority of Irish slaves was atrociously inhumane most of the time. If they tried to escape, they were branded FT, or fugitive traitor on the forehead. They were whipped, beaten until they bled. strung up by the hands and their feet were set on fire as punishment, African slaves had to be purchased as they were considered an investment, but Irish slaves were more or less disposable and Irish slaves were bought much cheaper — sometimes they were almost free — and treated worse than African slaves.

To increase assets, Irish slave girls were forced to interbreed with African male slaves as mulatto slaves could fetch more money than pure Irish slaves. This allowed buyers to spend less rather than purchasing new African slaves. This practice of producing slaves for sale became so widespread that legislation had to be brought in to ban mating Irish slave women with African slave men. The British Parliament abolished the transatlantic slave trade 1807. As soon as they had the chance, many former slaves and servants moved to the US or elsewhere in search of better life. Some runaway slaves became pirates in the Caribbean.

Other books on this topic include at least each one of the following:

Akamatsu, Rhetta. 2010. The Irish Slaves: Slavery, Indenture and Contract Labor among Irish Immigrants. Place?: Creative Space Independent Publishing Platform.

Hoffman, Michael. 1993. They were White and They were Slaves: The Untold History of the Enslavement of Whites in Early America. 4th Edition. Place?: Independent History.

Jordan, D., et al., (eds). 2008. White Cargo: The Forgotten History of Britain’s White Slaves in America. New York: NYU Press.

O’Callaghan, S. 2011. To Hell or Barbados: The Ethnic Cleansing of Ireland. Dublin: Brandon Books. This is the one I'd most likely read next if I decide to further pursue this controversial topic.

McCafferty, Kate. 2018. Testimony of an Irish Slave Girl: A Novel. Kindle edition.

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vmzincscolumn · 7 years

Photo

TO THE POINT – VMZINC’s column

Saga - The fabulous destiny of La Vieille Montagne:

Episode 7 : The inter-war period: the advent of industrial electrolysis

Before the First World War, Vieille Montagne had 7 mining and metallurgical sites in Belgium, 11 in France, 8 in North Africa, 3 in Germany, 2 in Sweden, 4 in England, 4 in Italy and 2 in Spain, as well as commercial consignees all over the Planet, from Mexico to Havana, Tokyo to New York, via Alexandria, Moscow and St. Petersburg!

Several years later, the two largest producer countries, Belgium and Germany, were severely affected by the war, as was France, where the productive potential of the Viviez-Penchot plant in the Aveyron region had been restricted, as activity there had been pushed to its limits to supply the national defence forces with extra-pure zinc (alloys including brass for munitions) and sulphuric and nitric acid (explosives)

The world zinc market was in a state of upheaval, both in terms of ore and primary zinc, marketed mainly in Europe and North America. Indeed, during the war, it was in the United States that zinc underwent its most striking evolution, where production tripled in modern new mechanised plants, some of which were already using the new electrolytic process.

From thermal transformation to electrolytic zinc

At Vieille Montagne, the redevelopment crisis of 1919 to 1921 was very severe as it was marked not only by a decrease in production (*) but also a decrease in prices, profits and employment. At the same time, competition in the North and Pas de Calais regions of France (Compagnie Royale Asturienne des Mines, Pennaroya) was rapidly reviving as each company was rightly focusing on significant development of demand, as demonstrated in America. In any case, company directors in the sector could now make a strong and clearly proven argument: their activity had obviously become crucial for manufacturing arms and explosives!

(*) from 68,000 tons in 1913, French production had decreased to below 19,000 tons by 1920!

So World War I had shown the directors of Vieille Montagne that it would perhaps be wiser to strengthen their activity in the south of France rather than nearby the large ports on the North Sea, which, due to their strategic importance, had become strong factors of power in the case of conflicts and therefore key targets during bombardments!

This relocation would be accompanied by a technological transformation that was to be decisive for the future of the company.

Since 1918, the Vieille Montagne managers had been considering which new orientation to give to this site, but they waited 3 years, and in a healthier context, things gradually became clearer!

At the plant in the Aveyron region, the old process known as the “dry” process had been constantly improved between 1871 and 1917. But although the production volumes and profitability had increased considerably, the engineers were sure and certain on the eve of the war that the potential gains would be very restricted in the future and, despite the efforts made, working conditions could not remain as they were.

So in 1922, Vieille Montagne decided to take a risk on massive investment in industrial electrolysis. For the first time in Europe, this process based on electric energy was being used (*) in the transformation of zinc ore in an ultra modern plant, and the Viviez site was chosen for this!

(*) This process was copied in 1929 by the Norwegian subsidiary (Der Norske Zinkkompani) of Vieille Montagne’s main competitor, the Compagnie Royale Asturienne des Mines. It was envisaged in the Pyrenees in 1925 by Pennaroya, but the idea was rapidly abandoned.

In order to meet its energy needs, Vieille Montagne had to build dams on the river Lot and hydro-electric plants to supply electricity for its electrolysis.

But the adoption of the new process engendered some difficulties. Management at the plant worked in successive adaptation phases between December 1921 (tests on what was called “small electrolysis”) and the beginning of 1928, when the thermal process was completely abandoned.

Finally, the purity of zinc obtained and the improvement of yield and working conditions were so impressive it was decided to use the French experience to install the innovative process in 1935 at the Vieille Montagne plant in Baelen, in the Campine region of Belgium.

(See the 1st photo above: Electrolysis process in Balen - 1935)

(More information on this can be found in the book entitled “L’adoption du procédé électrolytique par l’usine Vieille Montagne de Viviez (1922-1931)”(The adoption of the electrolysis process by the Vieille Montagne plant in Viviez (1922-1931)”) by A. Boscus, published by Editions Siècles – Cahiers du Centre d’Histoire “espaces et cultures” in 2005)

Industrial growth that boosted the zinc market

At the end of the First World War and after the 1929 crisis - two events that significantly destabilised industry and transport - worldwide consumption of zinc enjoyed a phase of strong and lasting growth, due to new uses of the material. One such new use was the fantastic success of galvanisation, making it possible to effectively protect steel in industrial conditions. Galvanisation experienced constant growth in the United States (infrastructures, plants, shopping malls….).

(Editor’s note: the process was reproduced in the same manner recently with the fantastic growth of economies in Asia including China, where growth in zinc consumption soared from the 1990s. We will come back to this.)

The zinc market also benefitted from growth in the use of cars, because zinc is used to manufacture tyres and also in the many moulded parts made using zamak1 (carburettor, window and headlight surrounds, door handles, windscreen wipers, protection grids and radiator caps, etc.).

Second World War: Vieille Montagne opts to continue production from 1940 to 1945, but under certain conditions.

In 1939, drawing inspiration from the experience of the First World War, Vieille Montagne and Union Minière (a company created in 1906 to exploit copper mines in the Congo and Haut Katanga), decided to maintain its activity in France if Belgium was occupied. As a precautionary measure, stocks of metal were stored in Antwerp, Bruges, Ostend and Le Havre, so that they could be rapidly evacuated in the case of an invasion.

(Photo: Destruction of the Bray-et-Lû factory - 1941)

The roll-out of the German troops was beyond all expectations. In just a few days, Belgium was occupied and France capitulated. The occupier immediately set about reopening the plants and wanted to appoint German engineers to manage them. Although Belgian industry refused to work for Germany, there was an imminent threat of famine and deportation of workers. Therefore the only possible option was to start work again under German control, striving to refuse production of war material.

So the Belgian non-ferrous industrial plants continued to produce, but they applied the following principles:

· No specific production outside of the activity previously conducted during peacetime,

· Accept orders while resisting and carry out orders as slowly as possible.

· No production of arms or munitions

· Do not act with a view to financial gain.

(Photo: Visit of the Balen factory by German occupiers - 1940)

Vieille Montagne applied these rules notably at its plants in Baelen and Viviez.

By way of anecdote, in all the European countries they dominated and with a view to supplying their plants, the Germans recovered metal by any means possible, especially non-ferrous metals. This is why they seized and disassembled church bells. In less than three years, Belgium lost two thirds of its church bells, leaving this heritage greatly depleted and church belfries all over the country silent...

(Photo: stock of bells in Hamburg)

Before finishing this 7th episode of the Vieille Montagne Saga, I have to tell you an anecdote that moved me and that very few people know of.

It happened on the VMZINC stand at the BATIMAT trade show in 2013. Amidst architects and roofers, I was presenting our products and speaking with clients when I was shown an older man who wanted to speak to me. He introduced himself and straight away said to me in a very respectful manner: “dear sir, I owe my life to your company. I have great respect for Vieille Montagne!”. I thought he was a former roofer who loved our material and had perhaps been helped by one of our technicians.

But he continued: “if you have a few minutes, I’d like to tell you my story”. And so he began to tell me of the 1940 exodus, his mother who fled Belgium and found herself, pregnant with him, walking the roads of France in the middle of July to escape the Germans. She went from town to town, and happened to end up in Aubin in the Decazeville basin, where she was taken in by the Director of the Vieille Montagne plant and his wife. She gave birth to this little Jewish boy who was to spend most of the war hidden, with a few other children, with this discreet family who had accepted to run all the risks.

He held out his business card and left just as he had arrived, leaving me feeling pensive and proud to work for this company.

In the next episode, I will tell you about Vieille Montagne at the end of the Second World War and the unshakeable optimism of its managers, who were fully determined to pursue the redevelopment of their company.

VMZINC

Article - 2017/05/15

#VieilleMontagne #Zinc #ZincStory