"Pudd'nhead Wilson" by Mark Twain

For some reason this is the one book by Mark Twain I never had a desire to read. And now that I have I can say honestly that it is probably his best work. It is, at once, a mystery and a satire. And yet it raises very pertinent questions.

Are we the products of our background and upbringing? Or are we really the by-products of what society makes of us?

This is a very nuanced tale, encompassing a bit of history as well as a grand adventure which takes place in the fictional town of Dawson's Landing on the banks of the Mississippi River in the years before the Civil War. 

Truly, this book proves, literally, that what is black and what is white is not always as it seems. And also, that people are not whom they may appear to be.

"The Day Lincoln Was Shot" by Jim Bishop (1955)

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809. My reading of this book, and the resultant review you see here, are both coincidental to the occasion. But it does lend more of a relevance to the narrative when reading it.

I chose this book from the “stacks” in the library precisely because it is an older book, and as such it was written in closer proximity to the event. The author was writing at a time when these events were less than a century past, and there were a few people still living that had been alive when it occurred. They may have just been children at the time, but they would have remembered the events and the stories told by their parents and relatives.

Over the years the stories have changed. Prior to about 1970 most accounts agreed that Booth uttered his famous “Sic Semper Tyrannus!” as he leapt to the stage from the private box where he had just shot the President and stabbed Major Rathbone. But the contemporary accounts of the time tell a different story. That is, the individual eyewitness accounts. But history on this night would be written by one man; Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War.

Booth said two things after shooting Lincoln. The first was “Sic Semper Tyrannus!”; which was the motto of the State of Virginia, and also “The South has been avenged!” It was after saying these two things that he hung from the ledge of the box and dropped to the stage, breaking his ankle when his foot caught on the bunting draping the President’s box. But, I have to admit, the leap is a great flourish and Booth would no doubt be proud of this added highlight; true or false.

In 1954 and 1955 Mr. Bishop spent 6 months retracing the steps of the assassin and his co-conspirators, traveling from Maine and Canada to Virginia, reading all the old newspaper articles he could find and visiting the locations which were involved.

One of the strangest aspects of his research was in finding that news of the Presidents assassination was on the street the day of the assassination; as far away as Maine and almost 10 hours before he was killed. Even at a time when telegraph was the quickest means of communication, this still does not explain how the reports were so accurate as to name the theater, when at the time the President was himself still unsure of his plans. Remember that Mrs. Surratt’s son John was just then shuttling papers back and forth between Canada and the Confederate government in Virginia.

But this book is not given over to conspiracy theories. Rather, it is more concerned with an hour by hour description of what each of the participants were doing from about 7 AM on Friday April 14, 1865 until the President succumbed to his wound at 22 minutes past 7 AM the following morning. It is of interest to note that had Booth not killed Lincoln on Good Friday the late President might not have gained such stature as a martyr. In a way Booth helped bestow that honor on the man he claimed to loathe.

Each chapter of the book explores not only the events of that hour, but also the prior history of how the events led there. This is as an exciting account of the night Lincoln was shot as you will find. Robert Redford’s film; “The Conspirators”; was a fine film, but it relied on the “smooth” version of events. There is something lacking in the film which Mr. Bishop has captured so well within these pages; the confusion of the night as Booth was getting away.

One example of the contemporary inaccuracies which found it's way into the movie is the scene in Secretary of State Seward's room. The room was in complete darkness. Due to extreme amount of noise made by Lewis Paine as he attempted to shoot, and finally stab the Secretary's son at the top of the stairs, his daughter had extinguished all the lights in the room at the time and even tried to hold the door back when Paine attempted to enter. As a matter of fact he wound up struggling in the dark with two persons, one of whom was the daughter. 

As the streets of Washington filled with throngs of people on foot; and some in carriages; Booth stuck fairly to the script he had planned to make his escape over the bridge at the Navy Yard. That bridge was closed to traffic at 9PM nightly; and so no one really thought that Booth had gone that way. After all, the sentries were there to stop anyone trying to leave or enter the city. But, with the war just about over; General Johnston’s troops had not yet surrendered; the sentries were lax and allowed two of the assassins to pass over the bridge and on toward Surrattsville and the Surratt Tavern where there were guns and binoculars awaiting them.

The book has a sense of immediacy about it which can only come from the careful pacing of the author, as he lets you in on each piece of information as it happens over the course of the night. And even though you know the story; indeed the author references the outcome in several places; the reader is still held captive to the narrative.

Jim Bishop wrote a syndicated column for about 6 years between 1957 and 1963. In 1964 he released ''A Day in the Life of President Kennedy,'' which he had just finished 10 days before the assassination in Dallas. The book had been approved by JFK without revisions. However, Jackie Kennedy asked for 60 minor changes after his death and prior to publication; all of which the author acceded to. 

Mr. Bishop later wrote “The Day Kennedy Was Shot”, which was first released in 1968. TV personality Bill O’Reilly has had a successful run of books about the Lincoln and JFK assassinations, and I’ve even read them. They add nothing to the stories and in some places are very reminiscent of the style which Jim Bishop used in writing his books on the same subjects; only several decades earlier than Mr. O’Reilly. That’s why I like to roam “the stacks” at the library. A lot of “new” things can be found there.

"This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed" by Charles E. Cobb (2014)

White Supremacists take note; African-Americans have the same love affair with the Second Amendment as you do. And more reason to cherish that right. After all, they were actually enslaved, you weren't. In this engaging little book the author has taken on the subject of just what part guns played in the non-violent movement for Civil Rights in the 1960’s.  And you know what? Even Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. kept a loaded pistol handy.

Tracing the story of slavery and the early slave rebellions Mr. Cobb shows just how the mere specter of armed blacks sent cold fear up the spines of their owners. (What a nasty term to apply to another human being – owner!) This is also a book filled with heroes; the ones they never taught you about in school. These were the people behind the headlines; the ones who sheltered the Civil Rights workers from the north when they came down south to help secure the Right to Vote.

Each chapter is filled with new names of ordinary people who; though down at the bottom the pecking order of a racist environment; managed to make not only make a difference, but also maintained some of their dignity in the process. 

How to explain the actions of old Mr. “Joe” McDonald who, after being shown the Constitution for the first time by the author, went into town and demanded that the sheriff return the shotgun which had been confiscated illegally. “I came to get my gun”, was what he said. When the sheriff told him he had no right to it, old Mr. Joe produced the book which the author had given him and said, “This here book says I do.” The startled sheriff returned the weapon without any further ado.

The author also traces the relationship between slavery and the path of gun control in America. The first gun control law was passed in 1640 in Virginia and was aimed at keeping firearms out of the hands of slaves. Since Africans outnumbered the colonists this was of genuine concern. Have you ever seen the film “Mandigo”? This was a real fear to the plantation owners.

African-Americans fighting in the American Revolution faced the hard choice of gambling on becoming free men if they worked for the British, or maybe becoming free men sometime in the future by working for Independence. Surprisingly few slaves actually went over to the British. But their participation in the fight for freedom did nothing to assuage their lot as slaves. As a matter of fact, with the passage of the new Constitution they were enshrined forever as less than whole human beings.

The Civil War was a kind of tipping point for African-Americans and their exposure to weapons. W.E.B. DuBois characterized it like this, “The slave pleaded; he was humble…. And the world ignored him. Then the slave killed white men; and behold he was a man!”

But the best part of this book is the section which covers the African-American journey to freedom between the two World Wars and just after. The old song “How You Gonna Keep ‘em Down On the Farm” was never more applicable than it was for African-Americans returning from the First World War. Having been treated on a somewhat equal basis in Europe, the average black soldier was hard pressed to dampen his disappointment upon returning to the United Sates. He had fought for this country and half expected that sacrifice to be acknowledged. It wasn't.

After the First World War the South seemed to double down on restrictions where African-Americans were concerned. Jim Crow became even tighter and lynching’s; which were never uncommon; increased. Night riding KKK members resurrected the old bed sheets and began a reign of terror against the African-American which would continue unabated for the next 50 years.

I must note, here, that there is a common misconception which holds that the average African-American at the time did not consider the Second World War to be of concern to black folk. This belief is common to both black and white people, but the fact of the matter is that the Second World War was all about race; from genocide in Europe at the hands of the Germans, to enslavement in the Far East by the Japanese. Black folk had to have known that. And after fighting against racism abroad they expected some improvement back home. Moreover, they were now willing to fight for it.

At the end of World War Two things really began to stir. In early 1946, in Columbia Tennessee, an ex-serviceman named James Stephenson, along with his mother Gladys, went to a department store to retrieve a radio which had been left for repair. The radio had been sold after 30 days, which was store policy. But the way in which they were treated and even beaten by store employees on the way out created an incident in which Stephenson; who had been a boxer in the Navy; knocked out a white man. The mother and son were arrested, but the arrests caused such outrage that they were released. But it didn't end there.

Fearing reprisals the black residents of the town massed in the section known as the “Bottom” and organized a defense. Many of the men were ex-servicemen and all had rifles or shotguns in their homes. When the local riff-raff showed up, intent on violence, they got it. Caught between cars of sentries posted at both ends of town, the white intruders were allowed to enter and then escape under a withering fire of bullets. They didn’t bother to return. This was probably the beginning of the armed resistance to the outrages of Jim Crow.

By 1949 this scene would be repeated in several locations; and nowhere more dramatically than in Monroe, North Carolina. Monroe was home to a returned serviceman named Robert Williams; no relation to me, unfortunately. I would be honored to have it so.  After another black man in Monroe was beaten for needing a half day off work and asking for his pay, there was a fight and the man was convicted of murder for defending himself. He was executed in 1947. The KKK would not allow the townsfolk to have a funeral. They threatened the undertaker and anyone else who sought to simply bury the man, who was also a wounded ex-serviceman with a Purple Heart.

At this point Mr. Williams began to organize the towns African-American citizens into a defense league. They surrounded the funeral home armed to the teeth. When the KKK showed up they were fired upon. Just as in Columbia, Tennessee, the KKK fled under a hail of bullets. Williams eventually became President of the local NAACP, over the objections of many other blacks, including Thurgood Marshall, who all considered him to be too radical. He was later exiled to Cuba, later returning home to America where he died in 1996. Rosa Parks gave the eulogy.

The story of a man named C.O. Chin is so fascinating and inspiring that I will leave it to you to read the book if you want to know about him. He was a legend in Madison County, Mississippi and had land holdings, night clubs; including the famous Club Desire; and a thriving liquor business. He played an instrumental role in the early life of CORE.

 

The Deacons for Defense and Justice, the SNCC, CORE and all the rest; even Martin Luther King; owe a great debt to the Second Amendment and the people who availed themselves of that right while living under great peril during the time of Jim Crow. Their stories are told here, some for the first time, by the author.

This is a book which is long overdue, written by a man who was actually there with old Mr. Joe McDonald and showed him how to get his gun back. Until you have read this book you cannot have a complete understanding of what the Second Amendment meant to the Civil Rights movement. Simply put, this is a superb book.

Juneteenth - A Brief History

Today is Juneteenth. This is the day when slaves in Galveston, Texas were first informed of their freedom from slavery; over 2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation and the subsequent passage of the 13^th Amendment. It’s sad that this was not part of the curriculum in school when I was a kid. The way things were taught back then held that the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves. Period. That was the correct answer to the question.

It even comes up that way on the Andy Griffith Show, in the episode “Andy Discovers America.” And that was a show which took place in the South! The story of Juneteenth is such a joyful one that I am surprised at how it escaped the attention of most folks until the late 1960’s and the rise of African-Americanism as a recognized field of study. Remember that the next time someone says that we don’t need a Black History Month.

Basically the story of Juneteenth is that it is the day in 1865 when the slaves in Galveston, Texas; and the western states in general; found out that they were no longer slaves. Imagine that. You wake up one day and find out you’re not a slave any longer. Where do you go? What do you do? So, mixed up with all the joy there had to be a certain sense of apprehension about the immediate future. It’s the exact reversal of you and I waking up tomorrow and being told that we are now slaves.  Either scenario is almost unimaginable; though the former is preferable to the latter!

Also known as Freedom Day, or Emancipation Day, it is celebrated to commemorate the Emancipation of the last remaining slaves in America.  General Order #3 which was the legal instrument by which the Federal Government informed not only the newly freed slaves; but also the government of Texas in general, that slavery was at an end. Texas was the last of the former Confederate States to comply with the Emancipation Proclamation, even after hostilities had ended.

This was largely due to the fact that the Confederate States of America had never formally agreed to an end to the war; either by treaty or proclamation. The Confederate States were left without any leadership after their government in Richmond fell and the leaders fled. The effect of that is still felt today. President Johnson would proclaim the War Between the States to be at an end the following year; in May 1866.

On June 18, 1865, General Gordon Granger, along with about 2,000 troops came to Galveston and took control of the state, Primarily the reason for this was the reluctance of the state to end slavery within its jurisdiction. The following day the General issued the Order while standing on the balcony of Ashton Villa.

This is the text of “General Order No. 3” which was read on June 19, 1865;

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”

By the late 1920’s and early 1930’s many African- Americans had begun the Great Migration from the Southern and Western states to the big cities. The decline in Juneteenth celebrations occurred during this period. Just as slavery had robbed them of their African customs in the past; industry in the free world would now rob them of some of their new customs as freed persons.

It was actually the Poor People’s March in 1968 which put this colorful and lively holiday back on the cultural map. Although not an actual Federal Holiday, the date is observed in almost all of the states in some fashion. 

The photo at the top was taken in Galveston on Juneteenth circa 1900.

"Amazing Grace" with Ioan Gruffudd and Albert Finney (2006)

Ioan Gruffudd is outstanding in his portrayal of William Wilberforce, the iconic British statesman whose tireless efforts would end the slave trade in all of the British colonies. Albert Finney; plays former ship’s Captain John Newton;  who has turned to life as a Priest in order to assuage the guilt having transported 20,000 human beings into slavery. That guilt would haunt him for the rest of his life. He also wrote the timeless hymn “Amazing Grace.” Together, the two give stellar performances in this unforgettable film.

Wilberforce is a young man of privilege who, as the youngest Member of Parliament at the time, would have slavery abolished in all of the English territories and possessions. But he is in for a long hard struggle; a struggle which eventually costs him both his health and a good bit of his sanity. He must fight the moneyed interests who ply the slave trade and build the ships which transport that cargo.

The scenes in Parliament are well documented exchanges of opinion between those who would uphold the practice of slavery and those who would like to see it gone forever. It is well to note that this film takes place in the period from the late 1700’s through 1833 when the law banning slavery for good was finally enacted. Wilberforce, however, didn’t live to see it put into practice. His tireless efforts to achieve that goal resulted in his death in 1834 just as the law he had championed for so long was taking effect.

This is a superb film, one that is as gripping as Spielberg’s “Lincoln.” The direction is taut, the writing distinguished and the acting flawless. The only criticism that I can find with this movie is that it might leave some with the impression that Wilberforce singlehandedly put an end to the slave trade in 1833. In truth though, the slave practice was halted on English soil in 1772 by Lord Mansfield.

The full story of slavery’s abolition in Britain involves a slave named James Somerset and an English Justice named Lord Mansfield. It is one of the most captivating stories ever told concerning the abolition of slavery, and I would be remiss if I did not recount it briefly here. Not only did it lead to the abolishment of the practice on the English island in 1772; it did so while the American colonies were fighting for their own freedom, which did not include the slaves.

James Somerset was owned by Charles Stewart, an English customs official who made the mistake of bringing his servant with him on his return to England. Once there Somerset escaped for almost 2 months, hiding in the slums of London. When he was captured he was slated to be shipped to Jamaica, and a slow, sure death in the sugar fields.

Only a petition by 3 persons claiming to be Somerset’s “godparents” was Somerset able to obtain a hearing in front of Lord Mansfield, the chief jurist in England at the time. He found that Somerset was a free man by virtue of the fact that he could find nothing in English law that upheld the practice of slavery.

But, to dodge the threat of economic ruin in England’s colonies, he found that slavery was only disallowed on the main island of Britain, and was to continue in all of her possessions, commonwealths and colonies. But, without Lord Mansfield’s decision 60 years earlier, there would have been no William Wilberforce to end the practice for good in all the British Empire.

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

Sarah is 27 years old today. She's also stuck in Washington, D.C. for her birthday! This picture was taken in 1989 at our house in Maryland.  Sarah's grown up; and the sled is long gone; but I still have that fur lined hood to keep me warm. Happy Birthday Sarah, stay warm!

"The Blue Tail Fly" - Politically Incorrect?

We learned this song in elementary school. The other day I was playing it on guitar, getting ready to play it for my granddaughters Molly and Julia, when I stopped as I realized the words and their full import. This song was sung far and wide when I was growing up, and in some places it is still a staple of childhood rhyme schemes. I have no problem with it, as the children singing it usually have no idea of what the lyrics mean. Some folks even think that the lyrics are two separate songs.

The above live performance by Burl Ives is a bit out of synch. I could have used another clip, but this one from 1964 shows just how out of synch most of America was regarding race relations at the same time as the country was experiencing massive racial unrest. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 had yet to be passed, and the events in Selma, Alabama were still a year away.

Some folks have objected to this songs continued use in schools due to the racial overtones of the lyrics. The main character is a slave who tends to his masters every need. Some find that offensive. But listen more closely and you will realize that this song makes sport of the master’s dependence upon his servant, which actually plays a small part in his own unfortunate demise. The last verse is the best, and if you remove the quotation marks from the epitaph the meaning is completely changed. Instead of an epitaph it becomes a confession by the young servant.

As the world evolves, changes get made and things get lost. I hope that the people who object to this song will stop and really hear it for what it is; it’s a satire about the people who only think that they are in charge, but haven’t got a clue. If they did, then the blue tail fly could never hurt them.

“The Blue Tail Fly” by Elie Siegmeister and Walter F. Kerr

When I was young I used to wait

On my master and hand him his plate

And Pass the bottle when he got dry

And brush away the blue-tail fly.

Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care

Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care

Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care

My master's gone away.

And when he'd ride in the afternoon

I'd follow after with my hickory broom

The pony being rather shy

When bitten by the blue-tail fly.

Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care

Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care

Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care

My master's gone away.

One day he ride around the farm

Flies so numerous they did swarm

One chanced to bite him on the thigh

The devil take the blue-tail fly.

Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care

Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care

Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care

My master's gone away.

The pony run, he jump, he pitch

He threw my master in the ditch

He died and the jury wondered why

The verdict was the blue-tail fly.

Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care

Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care

Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care

My master's gone away.

He lay under the 'simmon tree

His epitaph is there to see

"Beneath this stone I'm forced to lie

The victim of the blue-tail fly."

Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care

Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care

Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care

My master's gone away.

"The Hour of Peril" by Daniel Stashower (2013)

The plot to assassinate President-elect Lincoln has always been a source of fascination for me. When I was living in Baltimore, some 30 odd years ago studying for a Coast Guard License, I used to stand opposite the Calvert Street Station and contemplate what would have been if the plot to kill Lincoln had been successful. And, standing on the very spot in the station where Lincoln had once trod held another appeal all of its own. So, naturally, I was eager to pick this book off the shelf at the library where it was presumably waiting just for me. And, what a treat it was to read!

Author Daniel Stashower has taken the oft told story of the attempted assassination of Lincoln en route to Washington and turned it into an all-encompassing saga of such diverse topics as; Scottish immigration, the westward expansion of the United States as a nation, the Abolitionist Movement, Allan Pinkerton’s rise from humble beginnings to his world-wide fame as a premier Private Investigator, his part in the Underground Railroad, his friendship with John Brown, and of course the founding of the Secret Service.

Along the way he introduces the reader to Eugene Vidocq, the former criminal turned law enforcement agent who founded the French Surete, and pioneered the plaster casting of footprints and established one of the earliest criminal data bases of the era. He was the actual inspiration for Victor Hugo’s character Jean Valjean in “Les Miserables.” Even the Lincoln-Douglas Debates are not ignored here, nor their implications concerning the inevitable coming of a Civil War. Oh, and did I mention that this is a book about Abraham Lincoln’s First Inauguration?

In a sweeping style, and drawing upon all sources, the author has penned what could very well become the basis for a movie about Allan Pinkerton. If Steven Spielberg were to undertake this as a companion piece to his current blockbuster “Lincoln”, he could not miss. 

As a member of the Scottish Chartist group; who were early champions of the working class and later tied to Marx and Engels; Pinkerton was also a natural  champion of Abolition. His work with John Brown put him in direct violation of both state and federal laws, but still he persevered . His attitude was expressed in the oft quoted “The ends justify the means, if the ends are for the accomplishment of Justice.”

When the author does get around to the journey by rail from Illinois to Chicago, by circuitous fashion, passing through all the stops on the way to New York, and from there on to Washington, D.C.; including a very dangerous change of stations at Baltimore where the President-elects life was in imminent danger; the narrative actually gets even better, if that is imaginable. 

The smoke filled cars come to life as the train hurtles toward the destiny which will ultimately; some 4 years later; culminate in the President’s death by an assassin’s bullet. That in itself is almost ironic; that he should live through the earlier attempt upon his life, only to die in the same way after holding the country together during a vicious Civil War; seems almost as if history had done with him; and having done so, cast him aside.

This book also explores the role that the railroads were beginning to play in the way Americans lived, worked and even engaged in politics. Filled with rogues, knaves and the world's first female detective, there is something for everyone in this book. It is still early in the year; and the book is just recently out; but I would suggest that if you only read one or two books this year, skipping this one would be a real loss.

Fort Sumter - The Outbreak of Civil War

The following was first posted here in 2010. I hope that no-one is bothered by my occasional “re-posts”, but there are new readers who may not have read this before, and of course, I get to have the day “off”.

On April 12, 1861 Confederate batteries opened fire on Fort Sumter, S.C. triggering the American Civil War. The attack came after months of talks and 2 days of demands by the Confederates that the fort be surrendered. When Major Anderson refused, the Rebels attacked. The photograph shown here was taken on April 14th; one day after Major Anderson was forced to evacuate the Garrison.

The battle was not a ferocious one by any standards. It was a bombardment of over 3,000 enemy cannon balls, which severely damaged the fort. There were no actual casualties inflicted by the enemy. One Union artilleryman was killed and two soldiers were injured when their cannon misfired. This was small change in comparison to the carnage that was yet to come.

Although this engagement is often cited as the beginning of hostilities for the Civil War, that is not quite the truth. In December of 1860 South Carolina became the first state to leave the Union. Within 6 days Major Anderson took his men from the badly situated Fort Moultrie and secretly removed them to Fort Sumter. He did so of his own volition and with no authorization from Washington.

By January the Government of South Carolina, as well as Brigadier General Beauregard, were both calling for the fort to be turned over to the Confederacy. On January 9th, 1861 when the Union attempted to resupply Fort Sumter via a shipment aboard the merchant vessel Star of the West, Southern troops opened fire, resulting in the ship turning about without resupplying the fort.

In Washington, President Lincoln was faced with the first serious test of his Presidency and the challenge to his campaign promise that he would keep the Union whole. Fort Sumter had supplies which would hold it until April 15th. By April 6th, with no diplomatic relief in sight, Lincoln dispatched a fleet of ships to resupply and defend the fort. Under the Command of Gustavas Fox, the Cutter Harriet Lane, with the Sloops of War Pawnee and Powhatan, and Steamers Pocahontas and Baltic along with 3 tugs, set sail for Charleston. They would arrive on April 11th at the sand bar which comprises the natural abutment around which Fort Sumter was built.

"Smuggler Nation" by Peter Andreas (2013)

Americans have always had a strange and fascinating relationship with smuggling. From the molasses used for the making of rum, all the way to the present day and the smuggling of illicit drugs; and people; we have changed precious little over the centuries. And in this all-encompassing new book by author Peter Andreas, the reader gets a look at not only the smuggling itself; but the geo-political forces which drive it, making it possible for the drug trade to thrive even as we throw every available resource at the problem.

The author has cleverly divided the book into 5 sections; beginning with “The Colonial Era” and culminating with “The Modern Age.” While much of those two chapters were familiar to me, it was the other 3 which really put the “hook” into this book. During the Colonial Era, the average American did all within his power to avoid paying taxes on anything possible. Molasses was the chief ingredient in the making of rum, and so it was one of the first items to be smuggled to the colonies in order to avoid paying the tax imposed by the British. This is what Samuel Adams, along with many other merchants, did.

The American Revolution sort of set the template for the course of the next 2 centuries as the British threw up their blockade and we immediately began to “run” it. The main political problem which caused the blockade was twofold; first, we were in open rebellion to the Crown; second, the English and French were at war, with both sides attempting to supply their armies from America. There was also another component involved, as the blockade running served the purpose of diverting the other sides’ naval resources in their fight against one another. Of course, this put the newly founded United States in a precarious position, but trade was all important to the new nation.

The French, who were fighting with the British in the Napoleonic Wars, grew increasingly irritated with our new nation over the duplicity of our so-called “neutrality”.  The United States was supplying both sides; resulting in the brief “Quasi War” in 1798. It was also about this time when the British began to board our ships in search of contraband, as well as English citizens who had illegally emigrated to the former colonies. To do so, at the time, was against the law. This led to the War of 1812. And even in that war there was the smuggling of arms and ammunition to be dealt with.

After the War of 1812 came a period of relative posterity for America as she grew from a former colony into a respected nation. But slavery was now the issue. After the importation of new slaves was put in force, smugglers turned to the islands of Jamaica and Cuba to buy slaves illegally, who would then be transported to New Orleans, which had become the center of the illegal slave trade. As a matter of fact, New Orleans, along with the pirate brothers Jean and Pierre Lafitte, had been instrumental in winning that war. It was the first, but not the last time, that our government would turn to criminals for help in a time of war. The War of 1812 also made a millionaire of John Jacob Astor, who was engaged in the smuggling of furs through Canada. Clearly, smuggling was not only a way to make a fortune, but was also an entryway into high society.

During the Gilded Age, that era from the 1870’s through the gay Nineties, some of the most unusual smuggling took place. With “hoopskirts” being the style of dress for most women of fashion, it became commonplace for them to smuggle anything that would fit beneath their skirts. Many women came home from trips abroad with boxes of cigars suspended beneath their skirts. With no female Customs Agents to search them, it was a winning proposition. Yards and yards of silk could be wound around a woman’s body and hidden beneath her fashionable dress. The list of items smuggled in this fashion is endless.

With the end of the Gilded Era came the end of the 19^th Century and many of the taboos that had defined it. The two most prevalent ones were sex and drugs. Prostitution, along with the first forms of birth control, were both banned. So, they both became extremely desirable to obtain. The trafficking in condoms was a big surprise to me. I never thought of it as something illegal, or even out of reach. But, in the later years of the 19^th Century, and on through the First World War, these little devices were not only smuggled, but were also made by bootleggers.

Before latex rubber had been perfected, animal skins were the most prevalent type of condom. When the importation of them was stopped, smugglers simply turned to buying animal skins, and made them here at home. Fortunes were made. And, when the First World War broke out and the United States entered it, the government once again turned to illicit sources to provide the necessary amount of condoms to “protect” our troops while overseas.

Pornography was also a staple of the smuggler in the 19^th Century. With the advent of photography had come the ability to reproduce sexual images, which were in great demand. When the problem got too prevalent, the government made up a campaign concerning “White Slavery”, as a way to scare people away pornography. Meantime, they were getting ready to pounce on liquor as the ultimate evil with an experiment called “Prohibition.” The only thing accomplished with that experiment was a mirror image of the violence and wide spread glamorization that would mark the War on Drugs some 60 years later.

When World War Two rolled around, the United Sates once again turned to the organized criminals and smugglers to help take down the Italian dictator Mussolini. Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano were involved in that effort, and rewarded with being allowed to become the largest distributors of heroin in the United States. It was the Corsican run, Marseilles based, “French Connection”, which operated for over 20 years, supplying the entire eastern coast of the United Sates with their poisonous product.

Vietnam brought new problems to the table, and by the time the United States declared an all-out “war” on drugs in 1980, many people felt the war had already been lost. And to a large extent that is true. With the passage of NAFTA in the 1980’s the distribution of drugs became even more complex and difficult to stem. And when we backed the Afghan rebels against the Soviets in the 1970’s, we really dropped the ball. We never seem to learn that working with the bad guys will always result in a bad return.

With this very thoroughly researched and well written book, Mr. Andreas has once again delivered a powerful insight into the subject of which he writes.

"The Slaves' Gamble" by Gene Allen Smith (2013)

When the War of 1812 broke out, the slaves being held by the American colonists were faced with a very serious choice. Should they stand by their owners (which was/is a horrible way to describe another human being) or, rather, should they align themselves with the British, forming a devastating rearguard action which surely would have altered the course, and fate, of the war in favor of the British. They were promised their freedom in return. And who could blame them if they chose that course of action? Freedom is a very seductive incentive.

It is really very hard to draw any firm conclusion as to the intentions of the slaves during the war. While some of the stories recounted in this fascinating book about a long overlooked chapter of American history would indicate that the slaves were looking to the British for salvation; as with the slaves who fled Washington, unwittingly forming a “rear guard” for the British soldiers; other stories show that many African-Americans; both slave and freedmen; stayed the course with their fellow countrymen.

As a matter of fact, the largest obstacle which faced the British Army as they converged on Washington was the presence of an artillery battery manned by both black and white sailors, who had scuttled their ship and then hauled the guns overland to Washington in defense of the capitol. If the white militias had not run from their posts, Washington may not have been burned.

Filled with the flavor of the era in which the events took place, the author has done a magnificent job in telling the story of historical figures, who, until now, may have ended up lost in the dust heap of history. My favorite character in this whole ensemble has got to be George Roberts, an African-American who worked aboard the privateers who were running the British blockade. Aboard the Sarah Ann, cruising off the Bahamian coast, he was taken prisoner with 5 other men; all chosen at random; by the British, who accused them of being from English citizens. The ships owners in Charleston vouched for him and he was released, and in 1814 became a crew member on the privateer Chausseur until April of 1815, after the war had ended the previous December.

The story of the Chausser would make an excellent book all upon its own merit. For 8 months that ship lurked off the coast of the British Isles, raiding, sinking and capturing a total of 17 ships, impacting the British where it hurt most; in the pocket. At one point Captain Boyle of the Chausseur had a notice posted upon the door of Lloyds of London, which drove up shipping rates. He also declared the British Isles to be under blockade; which indeed they were! Its stories like this which bring history to life, giving it the human dimension which helps to keep it from being lost. While it’s easy to forget the dates of any particular exploit; authors such as Mr. Smith, make certain that the events themselves will live on forever.

Another aspect of this book which was educational, as well as entertaining; was that the burning of Washington by the British was not done out of sheer cussedness; which is how we all learned about it in school; but was, rather, done in retaliation for the Americans having previously burned down part of Quebec.

 

In the final analysis, the slaves were pawns in the struggle between the Americans and the British. The choices which they were forced to make placed them on both sides of the conflict, whether they wanted to be, or not. It would be another 4 decades before African-Americans would get another chance to prove themselves in battle for a country which treated them as chattel. And even that war would not free them from the bondage of their color. That would come later, as men and women began to see one another in terms other than the shade of their skins, and instead by the things they did. These men and women all contributed something of value to a struggle which still continues today.

"Double V" by Rawn James, Jr. (2013)

In this exciting new book by Rawn James, Jr., the author examines the history of the African-American fighting man.  Remember, these were guys who had to fight just to get into the fight! And then when they returned home, they were treated as second class citizens at best; and horrific resentment for their patriotism at the worst.

Author Rawn James, Jr. goes to extraordinary lengths in his recounting not only the exploits of these brave men, but also examines what they hoped to gain by fighting for freedom overseas, while the very freedoms for which they were fighting, were denied to them here at home.

Beginning with the American Revolution and the death of Crispus Attucks in the Boston Massacre, and on through the end of World War Two, when President Truman finally desegregated the Armed Forces, African Americans have contributed greatly to the building of a nation.

From the slaves who built the Capitol city in Washington, D.C., and even on the battlefield, African Americans were a large part of the American Revolution. Officially there were no real “black” troops during the War for Independence, but the hard work of re-supplying the troops, while still working the farms for the sustenance of all, was a very necessary contribution to the Victory at Yorktown in 1781.

General Washington was one of the first to exclude African Americans from the ranks of the Armed Forces. In 1775 the Continental Congress, in an overwhelming decision, voted to bar any blacks; free or slave; from taking up arms in defense of the colonies. The reasoning was simple; since Virginia was the most prosperous colony, with many large plantations supplying the needs of the Continental Army; it was imperative that the slaves remain slaves. The fear of well trained and armed black men was not one that appealed to our founding fathers, who were slave holders.  Any resistance from the northern colonies on the issue of slavery could have scuttled the Revolution before it ever got off the ground.

As a matter of fact, the preceding policy caused John Murray, Governor of Virginia, to proclaim that any African Americans who took up arms against their masters to fight for the Crown would be freed. This action caused the colonies to reverse their course on the ban for African Americans to fight for freedom, and many a Hessian soldier stated that there was hardly a regiment in which African Americans did not take the field, often in the place of their masters.

By the time the War of 1812 rolled around, the Governor of Louisiana would make a direct appeal to President Madison for freed persons of color to be allowed to take up arms in order to oppose the invasion by the British at New Orleans. The permission was granted and hundreds of African American soldiers fought, and died, valiantly under General Jackson at New Orleans. In addition, fully 15%; or more; of all American seamen at the time were black. There was a reason for this.

Just as Crispus Attucks had escaped slavery by becoming a seaman, many other escaped slaves chose this same path to self-emancipation. The reasoning was that if you were aboard a ship at sea, the chances of being caught were slim to none. And; unless you sailed out of a Southern port; you were essentially free wherever you went. It was a form of self-exile, which took many African American men away from slavery, but at the same time denied them a family with a real home ashore.

One of the thornier bumps on the road to integrating the Armed Forces was the dilemma faced by President Lincoln in the Civil War. He was forced to straddle a line between the slave holding northern states of Maryland, Delaware and even Washington, D.C. itself; while attempting to free the slaves held in the Southern states. The reasoning was simple; without the slave labor in the south, the Confederacy would be in short supply of everything imaginable.  The Emancipation Proclamation only freed the slaves in the states under rebellion, giving the northern states an edge in manufacturing and labor to draw upon.

At the beginning of the war, blacks were allowed to work as laborers, blacksmiths, scouts and spies. But by the time the south had gotten as far as Antietam, Maryland Lincoln changed his mind. Within the next year there would be over 50,000 ex-slaves serving in the Union Army.

By the time the United States entered the First World War the nation was reeling under the Jim Crow laws of the south. Lincoln may have freed the slaves, but nothing could legislate the thinking of the people in the South. They remained opposed to African Americans in the military. My own grandfather, while training for service in that war, was witness to a near riot in Spartanburg, S.C. when a black officer entered the lobby of a “whites only” hotel to buy a newspaper. 

The situation was the same in the rest of the country as well, with black soldiers routinely beaten in Houston, Texas.  The soldiers finally had enough and marched out of Fort Logan and before dawn of the following morning, scores of white citizens, and black soldiers were dead.

When these same soldiers returned from combat overseas they expected to be finally accepted as full citizens, having just fought for their country, as well as the cause of freedom. But aside from a parade in Harlem, things quickly went back to normal with a vengeance. By 1925 the Ku Klux Klan would be marching openly down Pennsylvania Avenue, in front of the White House, fully robed. Down south lynching’s were becoming the norm, with many of the African American veterans being openly targeted due to their service in the war.

When the Second World War broke out the country was still of the mindset that blacks were inferior to whites. Indeed, the Supreme Court still upheld “Separate but Equal” as the law of the land.  It made no sense then, and boggles the imagination now. From the very first day of the war, and the attack on Pearl Harbor, African-Americans distinguished themselves countless times in the face of the enemy; both in the Pacific, as well as in Europe.

When the Japanese began bombing and strafing Pearl Harbor, Steward’s Mate Doris Miller, aboard the West Virginia, saw what needed to be done, and without training, or orders, he did it. He manned an anti-aircraft gun and shot at the Japanese planes, even as his white shipmates lay dying around him. For those actions, he became the first black man to be awarded the Navy Cross. It was pinned upon Doris Miller by Admiral Nimitz in Pearl Harbor on May 27, 1942. He died while still serving his country on Thanksgiving Day 1943.

With the outbreak of the Second World War the military needed to rethink its policies concerning race, and on June 1, 1942 the United States Nave began to accept black recruits. They were trained at Camp Smalls, adjacent to Great Lakes in Illinois. This was the first major step in the desegregation of the entire Armed Forces.

No account of the desegregation of the military can be complete without an accounting of President Harry Truman and his Executive Order formally ending segregation in the services. Born in a border slave state to a viciously prejudiced family, the future President had served in the First World War and seen black troops in service to their country. Although he was not without racial prejudices of his own, he was nowhere near as short sighted about racial issues as many of his fellow countrymen.

On July 26, 1948 Harry Truman signed Executive Order Number 9981 which essentially stated that the Armed Forces of the United States needed to reflect the values we fight for; namely; equal opportunity. What made this so fantastic is that Harry Truman was in the midst of a re-election campaign which no one thought he would win.  Indeed there may have been a political component to Truman’s decision; he wanted the black vote. But there can be no denying that his Executive Order, and the resultant Fahy Committee, were the spears which broke the back of institutionalized racism in the Armed Forces.

The Fahy Committee accomplished the task of desegregation in the Navy and the Air Force in short order.  Both of those branches were ready, and willing, to accept the change. With the Marines and the Army it would be a different matter; a matter of time.

By the outbreak of the Korean War the Army was finally on board with the program and the Marines reluctantly followed in the next decade. Today the Armed Forces are fully integrated, with about 38% of the combined services made up of African-Americans. Has racial prejudice completely disappeared from the military? Not likely; but it’s no longer institutionalized, nor accepted. It took too long, but as they say, “You’ve come a long way baby!” Now it’s on to the newest challenge; women in combat. 

"The Fire of Freedom" by David S. Cecelski (2012)

The story of Abraham Galloway is not one which we were taught as kids. It is the true tale of a man who wanted his freedom badly, and went to extraordinary lengths to acquire it. With a deft hand, author David Cecelski takes the reader along on a journey which begins with Abraham’s birth in 1837 as a slave in Smithville; near the mouth of the Cape Fear River in North Carolina; and through his younger years apprenticed for a time as a brick layer.

It is fitting; in a way; that he was named Abraham, for he too would lead his people to freedom, just as Abraham had led them from Ur to Canaan in the Old Testament. In a way, this is the story of two Abrahams; one a slave; the other the President of the United States. That the two would meet in person, at the White House, in the midst of the Civil War is not surprising, as they were both exceptional men, and both would die far too young.

Abraham Galloway was a firebrand for freedom. He breathed it, spoke it and fought for it. He took his grievances all the way to the White House in 1864; and in between he organized African-American troops who would fight the Confederate army in the slave state of North Carolina. And when the war was through, he embarked upon a political career, becoming one of the first black men ever elected to the Legislature in North Carolina.

Most of the story takes place in the area of New Bern, North Carolina and the battles in the area of Wilmington. But the book goes far beyond the simple story of Mr. Galloway’s quest for freedom. In the spring of 1864 it became apparent that the Confederate troops were being massacred in the field when captured. For Galloway, these reports hit very close to home. At the Battle of Plymouth in early 1864, Confederate General Ransom’s brigade had taken no prisoners after encountering African-American troops in the field. They even killed the women and children hiding in the woods. This was the catalyst for Galloway’s meeting with the President.

After meeting with Lincoln, Galloway embarked on a tour of the North to raise money to supply the African-American brigades. A soldier, statesman and a spy for the North, Abraham Galloway’s story is a must read for anyone who is seriously interested in the history of the Civil War. The sheer determination, and will to persevere, against overwhelming odds; all while facing the loss of his own life to further what he saw as justice; will forever stand tall among the stories of war and those who gave more than was expected of them.

Mr. Galloway passed away at the age of 40 in 1870, just as the Ku Klux Klan began their 100 year denial of South's defeat. Had Galloway lived there is no telling what else he might have contributed to the advancement of Civil Rights in an era which begat Jim Crow Laws and institutional segregation.

With a skilled eye for detail, as well as the politics of the era, Mr. Cecelski has given us a piece of history long forgotten. And, in doing so, he has underscored the importance of the role which African-Americans played in taking their first steps toward obtaining their own freedom.

"Snow-Storm in August" by Jefferson Morley (2012)

The City of Washington D.C. springs to life in the hands of author Jefferson Morley’s book “Snow-Storm in August”. Billed as a biography of one man, Beverly Snow; a free man of color living in D.C. at the time; the book is so much more. Mr. Snow’s story is merely the vehicle by which the author has painted a very accurate; and fascinating; portrait of Washington only 3 decades after it was founded. There were times, while reading this book, in which Mr. Snow became the furthest thing from my mind.

The book delves into the history behind the decision to locate the Capital City where it stands today; and not in another Northern state, such as New York, or Philadelphia, both of which had already been home to our fledgling national government. The District of Columbia was chosen because it was acceptable to the Southern states, being surrounded; as it was; on two sides, by the slave holding states of Maryland to the North, and Virginia to the South. The district was filled with African- Americans, some free, and some enslaved.

Mr. Snow was of mixed race; referred to at the time as “mulatto”; and owned an oyster house on the James River in the town of Lynchburg, Virginia. He took for a wife a free woman of color named Julia, and the couple moved in with Beverly’s owner Susannah Norvell. Susannah’s father had left her Beverly in his will. Sussanah was a forward thinking woman who disliked the institution of slavery and manumitted Beverly, enabling him and Julia to open their very prosperous oyster house. Each month some of the profits would be kept by Beverly and his wife, while the rest went to Sussanah.

Before long, the lure of the Capital City, and the profits to be made there, called to Beverly. He settled all accounts with his mistress and her husband, and then he and Julia moved; as free persons of color; to the District. There, Beverly went to work for Jesse Brown, who owned a fine restaurant.

The author also introduces us to a Mrs. Anna Thornton, a Washington widow who owned some property and several slaves. She allowed her driver, George Plant to live in Georgetown with his wife of color, who was also a free woman. This was not an unusual arrangement at the time in Washington. So long as the servant showed up at the master’s home at the appointed time, there was no trouble.

On the night of August 4^th, 1835, one of Mrs. Thornton’s servants; a young man named Arthur Bowen; who was also the son of her most trusted maid, tried to kill her. His own mother awoke just in time to stop her son from killing her mistress. The boy fled and a city erupted in violence. This was the first race riot in Washington, D.C., a city which was divided in its customs and viewpoints concerning slavery. Anna Thornton’s assailant was sentenced to death by hanging, and only her impassioned plea for clemency; made by Mrs. Thornton out of her fondness for the boy’s mother; caused President Jackson to pardon the young man.

With a deft style that will keep you turning the pages, the author rolls back the curtain on a time in our nation’s history when slaves built our national monuments, while great statesmen spoke of “freedom for all.” This is one of the most neglected chapters of our history; how a nation; truly divided, and on the brink of civil war; managed to hold together for so long before the issue of slavery finally ripped it in half.

The book also explores the career of Francis Scott Key after he wrote the “Star Spangled Banner”. He was the District Attorney in Washington at the time of these events. He waged a campaign against vice, mainly the many brothels which proliferated in Washington at the time. He also wrote erotic poetry and was tone deaf, and never got to hear his immortal poem sung to music.

As a matter of fact, the author has packed so much information into this work, that Beverly Snow’s story gets a bit lost in it. This book is so wide in its scope that it will take a second reading to truly enjoy it fully. That’s a compliment.

Cotton

Last year Sue and I were riding around Mooresville, looking at the pumpkin fields just before Halloween, when we saw the most beautiful field of cotton. Stopping the car I managed to pick a few bolls, feeling very much like a sharecropper as I did. It was, after all, someone else’s crop which I was picking.

I have grown cotton before; just a few plants on my back porch. I love the way it grows so patiently, with the buds giving way to the white flowers; which quickly turn pink; eventually become hardened bolls of the coveted white fluff.

We live in North Carolina, a state known for tobacco and cotton, both during the days of slavery, as well as after. Most of the tobacco is gone now, but cotton is still grown in the area. The beauty of the crop, as with opium, belies the pain behind the façade; the pastoral image of the Old South, with slaves singing in the fields as they harvested the crop.

In reality, when this time of year came, and the plants flowered so beautifully; creating fields of white flowers mimicking a snowfall; the slaves were very cognizant of what that beauty meant to them. This was the yearly lottery; when whole families could be separated from one another, never to meet again.

From late November, after the last of the crops were in, until the first of March, was the usual time when slaves were hired out for the winter; if they were lucky; or sold outright if they were not. The difference between the two lots is staggering; as with the former there was at least a chance of being re-united with your family after your “hiring out” was done. But, with the latter, there was no way of predicting what your fate would be, or even where that future lay. When you were “sold”; a vulgar term when used in conjunction with human beings; you were simply gone, most likely never to be seen again by your family or friends.

So, when I look at the beautiful plant which I have grown, or drive about looking at the fields of soon to be harvested cotton, I am very much aware of the “social” history of this pretty little flower. All of the cotton raised in this area is now harvested by machine, although many adults my age, both white and black, have picked cotton at some point in their lives.

There is no point to this post. It’s just me, looking past the flower.

"The One" by R.J. Smith (2012)

Author R.J. Smith has done a superb job in this stunning biography of the Godfather of Soul, James Brown. As a matter of fact, he almost eclipses James Brown's "I Feel Good" in this painstakingly researched analysis of one of the most remarkable show business careers.

The author begins the book with a brief, but compelling, introduction, which he uses to explain the historical background of slavery in the Charlestown area of South Carolina. He further extends this introduction as a means of explaining the origins of Rhythm and Blues, as well as Soul Music. It's all in the Upbeat, not the downbeat. James Brown called it "The One", from which the title of this book is taken.

Born in Barnwell, South Carolina; a cotton growing area that was pretty much played out when James Brown was born; the roots of oppression were still palpable in the Jim Crow South of his youth. These roots would have a profound effect on his life, and later, his career. This background is where he got his toughness from, and that quality would serve him well for his entire life.

Born on May 3rd, 1933, Mr. Brown described his birth as "stillborn". His mother wept, while the midwife blew the breath of life into him, taking precious minutes to bring life to the motionless body that had emerged from his mother's womb. Technically, the term "stillborn" describes a baby that is already dead in its mother’s uterus, but the implications to Mr. Brown were the same; he was born dead; and perhaps that is why he worked so hard to live his life to the fullest.

Variously, Brown claimed to be Cherokee, Japanese, and even believed himself to be descended from Geronimo. By the time he passed away, he was undoubtedly related, in some way, to everyman. His music cut across boundaries and created new sounds, with his inimitable style fostering the Soul music of the 70's, along with ushering in Funk, the precursor of today's Rap/Hip Hop music.

James Brown was undoubtedly one of the most complex of individuals. His thoughts, and beliefs, are all given great scrutiny by the author, while not falling prey to the over examination which can turn a good book into a boring one. But, then again, how can James Brown ever be described as boring. This man was on the road for months at a time, working about 300 days a year for decades. His travels took him from the Chitlin' Circuit of his native America, to the jungles of Vietnam; and later to the jungles of Africa with Muhammad Ali; and near the end of his life to the great opera house in Milan, where he sang with Luciano Pavarotti in a stirring combination of musical styles.

His politics, like the man himself, were a puzzle in many ways. He was patriotic, during a time when that emotion could cost a star some of his fan base. He supported the War in Vietnam, even as he realized that the draft affected the black community in a disproportionate way.

This is the man who took a young Harlem preacher named Al Sharpton under his wing, teaching the younger man how to talk, walk, and even how to wear his hair.

When Martin Luther King was killed in April 1968, it was James Brown who kept the peace in Boston. In a scheduled concert, which was also aired on local TV as a way to keep the younger people off the streets, his fans took to the stage, causing the Police to make an attempt to protect him. He waved them off, while at the same time scolding the audience not to embarrass him, or their own race. There was no trouble in Boston that night.

During the 1968 Presidential primaries; after the assassination of Robert Kennedy; he gave his endorsement to Hubert Humphrey, a man who had been spearheading Civil Rights in Congress, and the Senate, for almost 20 years before attaining the office of Vice President. But even as Brown endorsed the man, he challenged him to deliver on his promises.

Creatively, James Brown opened the doors for much of the music we hear today. His landmark live recording, "James Brown Live at the Apollo", recorded in 1962 with the singer's own money, is still one of the best live recordings ever made. The story of how it almost didn't get recorded is a tribute to the guts that defined the life of this musical giant.

Long known for his excesses with women and drugs, this book is a more accurate look at the man beneath the hype. Carefully researched, and filled with the words of those who knew him best; as well as his own; the author has drawn the most complete portrait of James Brown written to date. Future biographers will undoubtedly be quoting from Mr. Smith's extraordinarily researched work in order to tell the story of James Brown's life in a fair and balanced way.

The Virgin of Charity of El Cobre

When the Pope visits Cuba this week he will be stopping by the Iglesia El Cobre Santiago de Cuba, pictured here, where the Virgin of Charity has a shrine. This shrine has a long history in Cuba, dating back over 400 years. The story is quite simple; the Virgin of Charity is a statue of the Virgin Mary (La Virgen de la Caridad) located in the town of El Cobre, just outside the mining town of Santiago. This shrine is probably the single most important religious place in all of Cuba. Our Lady of Charity is also called by the name of Our Lady of Cobre, and is the patroness of Cuba. Reading of the Pope's visit to Cuba this week and of his planned visit to this site sent me looking for more information about it.

The basilica, where the shrine is housed, is known as the National Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Charity, or Basílica Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre in Spanish. It was built in 1926 and is located in El Cobre, where a feast is held in the Virgins honor each September 8th. Although the history behind the Virgin of Charity goes back over 4 centuries, she was first declared the Patron Saint of Cuba in 1916 by the Pope.

In 1550 El Cobre was a Spanish copper mine. It was manned by native Indians and slaves, whom the Spanish had brought with them. 58 years later, in 1608, around the same time as we were establishing the first colonies in America, 2 Indian children, Rodrigo and Juan de Hoyos, and their slave, Juan Moreno, set out to the Bay of Nipe for salt. It was there that they saw a small statue of the Virgin Mary floating in the water near the mine. She was carrying a gold cross along with the Baby Jesus. Both the statue and the cross were attached to a board which was inscribed "Yo soy la Virgen de la Caridad", or, "I am the Virgin of Charity", in English.

Since the church in El Cobre at the time was dedicated to St. James, the patron of the Conquest, the statue was stored in a thatched hut, not in the church. It was perceived by the Spanish as a threat capable of inspiring faith in the slaves. It had the potential of making them feel as if better days were coming. But something strange happened to the Virgin in exile from the church.

For three nights in a row the statue vanished from the hut, always to be found atop the hill which overlooks El Cobre. For the next 22 years she would be housed in a series of small shrines made by the local inhabitants of the town in order to protect her. Many people believe that the Virgin actually chose the spot atop the hill in Oriente where the Cubans first began their revolt against their Spanish conquerors.

In 1630 the mines were closed and the slaves were freed. The Virgin then took its place above the statue of St. James in the church, a fitting tribute of hope to the victims of the Spanish conquerors. The Cuban people believe that the Virgin has interceded on their behalf many times since then, most notably in 1731; the year before our own George Washington was even born; as a symbol of emancipation at a time when slavery was being re-introduced to the island. Her intervention, and success, in preventing the practice of slavery in Cuba spread her reputation, and devotion, from one end of the island to the other. It is a fact that in this place, Oriente, the first settlement in Cuba was made; the town of Baracoa; and it was also in Oriente where the slaves were set free for good in 1868. Pretty big accomplishments for such a small statue.

Finally, in 1916, at the behest of the Veterans of the Cuban War for Independence, Our Lady of Charity was made the patroness of Cuba by Pope Benedict XV in 1916. Pope Paul VI elevated her sanctuary to the status of a Basilica in 1977. Each year, in September, a procession is held honoring the Virgin. The statue is carefully removed from the sanctuary and paraded through the streets, much as the Feast of St. Gennaro is celebrated in New York's Little Italy, as well as in Naples, Italy. Whether you believe in these things, or not, they provide hope to oppressed peoples all around the world. And sometimes, hope is all that we, and they, have.

"Lincoln On War" by Harold Holzer

This may be the best book yet written concerning Abraham Lincoln. Actually, it is the closest thing to having Lincoln pen his own memoirs of the years between the War with Mexico and our own Civil War. In some ways it even eclipses the great 2 volume masterpiece by Carl Sandburg, which is considered by many, me included, to be the "Holy Grail" of books about our most mercurial President.

The War with Mexico is of great interest, as the annexation of the state of Texas, aside from having been accomplished illegally, added fuel to the fire that would eventually grow into the conflagration of full blown Civil War. Lincoln saw the annexation of Texas as a way for the Southern States to hold a majority in the Senate and Congress. This was at the time of the great debates concerning the Missouri Compromise, and the Fugitive Slave Act, both of which were mere band aids or attempts in vain, to stave off the bloodshed which was sure to come from the slavery question.

The author has let Lincoln speak for himself by using the President's letters and speeches to make his point. The book is laid out in a way which parallels the career and thoughts of our 16th President on all of the issues leading up to the Civil War. And once that war has begun, this correspondence gives us a new and keener insight into the thoughts behind the actions taken by Lincoln during the prosecution of the War Between the States.

Lincoln, at the outset, wanted only to ban slavery in the new territories being acquired out west. He had no intention of outlawing the institution itself. As late as in his first Inauguration speech, Lincoln was still not calling for the Abolition of Slavery in the Southern States, but only in the newly acquired territories. In his first Inaugural Address he spoke these words; "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the Institution of Slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so." He had made this same declaration in earlier speeches and was re-quoting himself in an effort to allay the fears of the Southern States, which had already seceded from the Union in January of 1861.

By the time that Lincoln issued his duplicitous Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in enemy territory only, the outlawing of slavery in the Southern States became the objective of the war. Previously the chief concern had been one of finances. Lincoln queried, on more than one occasion, whether it was right for the Southern States to leave the Union while keeping the forts and roadways which had been paid for by federal loans. These loans would have to be repaid to the banks, and Lincoln considered it to be an unfair burden upon the remaining states to bear the full brunt of their repayment.

This is an exciting book which lays bare many of the myths that have been pumped into us over the years; Mr. Holzer has presented a new side of one of our most well-known, but often misunderstood Presidents.

"Beyond the Scenes, or Thirty Years a Slave...." by Elizabeth Keckley

Before you read this you need to know that this is my first review of an "electronic" book, or in this case, a book on line. You also need to know the full title, which did not fit above. It is properly known as "Behind the Scenes, or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House" by Elizabeth Keckley, 1818-1907.

Washington, DC has always been a riddle to me. On the one hand it has always been the cradle of modern democracy, while at other times it has been, at best, a city best known for it's hypocrisy. Never was this more true than during the days of slavery.

It is hard to fathom a nation that was founded on the principles of all men being equal by the will of God, while at the same time there were slaves not only working the plantations of the Southern states, but toiling as well, as dosmestics and laborers, in the nations capital city. That some were even held in bondage in the White House itself, is even more astounding.

In this narrative, Mrs. Keckley describes her birth in 1818 as a slave, and also her youth, being abused physically, and later, sexually, at the hands of her owners. She even fathers, unwillingly, a son by one of her "masters." Determined to win freedom for herself and her son by "manumission", she is at first denied this course of action. When her master dies, her mistress allows her to raise the money and buy her freedom. Working as a seamstress, this took three years, from 1852 until 1855 when she and her son were "emancipated." She then went to Baltimore, Maryland where she worked as a seamstress, and also attempted to organize other women of color into the trade. In 1860, when that effort had failed, she moved to Washington, D.C. This decision would both change her life, as well as cement her place in history.

In mid 1860 Mrs. Keckley found herself broke and unable to pay for the license necessary for free Negroes to remain in Washington for longer than 6 months. Remember, this was the capital city of our country. The license was finally given to her, free of charge, by the Mayor. In a strange set of circumstances, she becomes employed to make a gown for Mrs. Robert E. Lee, and after that, she is summoned by Mrs. Lincoln, upon her arrival in the capital, and becomes her seamstress. She also becomes Mrs. Lincoln's life long friend and confidante, which makes this narrative even more interesting.

This is my first experience with a book "on line", the web address is provided below. I invite you to read it and share your thoughts on this remarkable woman and her story. In complete honesty, I must tell you that I found it hard to read the book on line, and will be looking for the book itself to explore it more fully. But just the ability to go on line and find this book is a wonderful use of technology.

http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/keckley/keckley.html