Sunday, February 25, 2007
Posted by Steve Amoia
In an increasingly violent world, we must all practice self-defense. On 21 February 2007, several elderly American tourists turned the tables on three assailants in Costa Rica. When one man put a gun to an American woman’s head, one of her fellow travelers, a military veteran in his 70s, came to her rescue. [...]
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Posted by Steve Amoia
On this day in 1895, Frederick Douglass ended the long journey of a remarkable life. I was able to locate his obituary from the New York Times, and it paid a tremendous homage to Mr. Douglass.
Two years before his death, Mr. Douglass addressed school children in Easton, Maryland. Here is an excerpt, in his own [...]
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Posted by Steve Amoia
In 1773, a former English slave trader, John Newton, penned the lyrics to a song that has resonated two hundred years after his death. On Sunday, 18 February 2007, people from around the world were encouraged to join “Amazing Grace Sunday.”
“Amazing Grace” is a new movie about the life of the British abolitionist, William Wilberforce. [...]
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Posted by Steve Amoia
Frederick Douglass never knew the precise date of his birth.
“By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. I do not remember to have ever met a slave [...]
Monday, February 12, 2007
Posted by Steve Amoia
On this date in 1809, the 16th American President, Abraham Lincoln, was born on Sinking Spring Farm in Kentucky. For many, he was one of the most influential individuals to ever hold the office. He also drafted the Emancipation Proclamation, which was the first step to abolish slavery in the United States. Frederick Douglass met [...]
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Posted by Steve Amoia
In 1620, passengers on The Mayflower escaped religious intolerance in England to settle in Plymouth Colony. This was an area near Cape Cod in the present day state of Massachusetts.
As former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney prepares to campaign for the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination, he will try to overcome a historical reminder of religious preference. [...]
Posted by Steve Amoia
One of the first pieces of legislation of the new Congress was to pass a bill to raise the legal minimum wage to $7.25 per hour. That represents an increase of over 40%, although the new rate will be introduced in steps. The national minimum wage has not been increased since 1997; however, many individual [...]
Posted by Steve Amoia
Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
Introduction
Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born into slavery during February, 1818, on a plantation on the banks of the Tuckahoe River in Talbot County, Maryland. This was an area located on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. He never was told the precise date of his birth. As an adult, he [...]