Long before it became ingrained in the cultural lexicon as America’s first “escape proof” prison, Alcatraz Island was “White Rock” to the native Ohlone tribe, due the pelican droppings that littered its surface. With the exception of occasional outings to scout for Murre eggs, they largely avoided the rocky 22-acre islet — the belief being that it was a lair of evil spirits and a portal to the next world. Foreshadowing its future use as a penitentiary, especially pernicious violators of tribal law would we be banished to the island, where they would most certainly die of exposure.
The Spanish first reached the island in the 1769, naming it “La Isla de los Alcatraces” or “Island of the Pelicans,” but assigned little importance to it. The Mexican governor eventually sold it to one Julian Workman in 1849, who, within months, had hawked for it $5000 to a new owner. The United States government sued for ownership, realizing its potential as strategic outpost in the Golden Gate strait and began devising plans for a lighthouse, and later, a fort at Alcatraz.
The island’s fort was completed in 1859 and with it came a squadron of 200 men – and Alcatraz’s first four prisoners, military offenders all. Two years later, the Department of the Pacific designated Alcatraz their official disciplinary barracks and, for the whole of the Civil War, a separate wing would be used to keep Confederate prisoners and sympathizers under lock and key – including one group of that had attempted a raid on Alcatraz with stolen schooner in March 1863 before being apprehended.
On July 13, 1865, the world famous museum owned by adventurous entrepreneur P. T. Barnum burned to the ground ending America’s first and last museum come sideshow in downtown New York. The Barnum legacy remains in the circus circuit today and his involvement in the shape of the modern American museum.
From humble beginnings in Connecticut where Phineas Taylor Barnum was born in July 1810 to a grocery store owner and his wife. He moved to New York in the 1820s and spent time working in Pennsylvania in the 1830s. Barnum was a faithful convert to the Universalism religion and spent much time in prayer and study often acting as a lay preacher at his church.
The museum was not Barnum’s only endeavor and in fact came along quite late in his working life. Early jobs included grocery store clerk and newspaper editor but it wasn’t long before Barnum changed tracks and entered the world of entertainment. Two and three ring circuses were the order of the day with giant elephants, tiny people, bearded ladies being part and parcel of the “greatest show on earth.” Barnum was known for his ability to give audiences more than they ever expected.
The American Museum was the first of its kind, combining thrilling entertainment with natural history education. Created in 1841, the original museum lasted until 1865 when the fire caused Barnum to rebuild a few blocks away. The first museum was located on the corner of Broadway and Anne in downtown Manhattan and gathered for the first time a number of different sources of cultural entertainment.
Over its lifetime the museum housed numerous exhibits from natural history to side show characters. There was a picture gallery, a theatre, a wax room, a lecture room and cases of American collectibles. There were singers and actors, several lecture series, Shakespearean plays as well as every conceivable animal exhibit were available to visitors.
And the museum, in the tradition of all good museums, was a great social leveler. The nominal entrance fee meant that the vast majority of New Yorkers and tourists could visit bringing a range of social classes together. Men and women, children, rich and poor all attended the museum. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until 1861 and the onset of the Civil War that African Americans were given entrance to the museum.
Barnum is an example of American capitalism often under recognized in the history of American entrepreneurs. Selling his unique brand of American entertainment at the reasonable price of 25 cents a visit made Barnum’s show affordable and repeatable. Over the course of the museum’s life over 37 million visitors graced the exhibit floors.
“There’s a sucker born every minute.” That is the famous phrase of P. T. Barnum but it does little to explain the religious man who performed profitable public services and taught a nation how to relax. Barnum’s American Museum was just that, a testament to the capability and ingenuity of a diverse people with infinite needs and a foundation stone in the history of America’s public institutions.
|
Each day we offer nine of our over 10,000 products on sale at savings ranging between 5% to 25% off the regular marked price. These savings remain at the Daily Deal price for only 24 hours - so take advantage of a sale price when you see it…Visit our Daily Deals today and subscribe to receive them automatically via email! | |||||||||||
The novelty of Mosby’s mode of warfare consisted chiefly in the manner of subsisting, quartering and protecting his men. The upper portion of Loudon and Fauquier counties, embracing a circuit of about thirty miles in diameter, was then known as “Mosby’s Confederacy.” By a glance at the map it will be observed that it bordered upon the Blue Ridge Mountains on the west, and the Bull Run Mountains on the east. The valley between is one of the richest, most beautiful, and highly cultivated in the State of Virginia. It was thickly inhabited with old Virginia families, who were loyal and true to the Southern cause. These people received Mosby’s men into their houses as their guests, and neither danger nor want could tempt their betrayal. Robin Hood’s band sought safety in the solitudes of Sherwood Forest, Marion’s men secreted themselves “in the pleasant wilds of Snow’s Island” and other South Carolina swamps, but the Partizan Rangers of Virginia protected themselves by dispersing in an open country among a sympathizing people. They never established a camp; to have done so would have invited capture. Each soldier had his boarding-house, where he lived when off duty, as a member of the family. From these they would come, singly or in groups, bringing their rations with them to some designated rendezvous, march rapidly to and from the point of attack, send their prisoners under guard to the nearest Confederate post, divide the spoil, and disperse. If they were pursued by an overwhelming force as was frequently the case, the evening found them scattered to the four winds, where each man, mounted upon his own fleet steed, could protect himself from capture. If the Federals attempted to follow the chase in small parties, the Rangers, from behind every hill and grove, would concentrate and dash upon them. If they marched in solid column, the Rangers would hang upon their flanks, firing upon them from behind trees, fences, and hilltops. In this way, General Julius Stahel, who had invaded Mosby’s Confederacy with two brigades of cavalry and four pieces of artillery for the avowed purpose of utterly demolishing the Rangers, was so annoyed that he retired, thoroughly disgusted with an enemy “who only fought when they got their foe at a disadvantage.”
As there were no civil officers commissioned by either party in all that section of Virginia, the people naturally turned to Mosby as their only representative of law and order. It was not unusual for them to submit their property controversies to him for decision. In this way he acquired a civil jurisdiction in connection with his military dictatorship. Being a lawyer by profession, educated at the University of Virginia, his civil administration became as remarkable for its prudence and justice as his military leadership was for magnanimity and dash. I heard an old citizen remark, “For two years Mosby was our ruler, and the country never was better governed.” He protected the people from stragglers and deserters, who pillaged friend and foe alike. Every captured horse-thief was promptly executed. He required his own men to treat the citizens with fairness and courtesy, and any violation of this rule was punished by sending the offender to the regular service. Its observance was more easily enforced than would appear possible at first glance. The men were scarcely ever off duty, except for necessary rest. The officers were then distributed among them, and by their example and authority controlled, when necessary, the deportment of their men. The citizens with whom they lived also exercised a healthy influence over them. These relations engendered many attachments that ran like golden threads through the soldier’s life and outlived the rough usages of war.
It thus became no easy matter to drive the Rangers from a territory so dear to them, and in which they were befriended by all. On two occasions the entire Federal army operating against General Lee passed through Mosby’s Confederacy, and yet his men did not abandon it. They hid themselves in the mountains during the day, and descended upon the enemy at night. They thus observed every movement of the Federal army, and all valuable information was promptly sent to the Confederate general. On one of these occasions, June 17, 1863, Mosby found himself at ten o’clock at night between the infantry and cavalry commands of General Hooker’s army. Observing three horses hitched near a house, with an orderly standing by, he left his command with the prisoners already captured, and taking with him three men, rode up to the orderly and was informed by him that the horses belonged to Major William E. Sterling and another officer. In a whisper he said to the orderly:
Many people are not familiar with the American Civil War Battle of Hampton Roads until it is referred to as Monitor vs. Merrimack. It was one of the most important Civil War naval battles because of the development of navies it influenced. The battle was fought during the two days of March 8-9, 1862 in Hampton Roads Virginia which is a place where the Elizabeth and Nansemond Rivers connect to the James River and open into the Chesapeake Bay. The battle was an effort of the Confederacy to break the Union blockade which stopped international trade for the large Virginia cities of Richmond and Norfolk. The battle is important because it was the stage for a new type of ship called the ironclad. The confederate ironclad was the CSS Virginia built using the remains of the scuttled Union ship the USS Merrimack and some support ships and during the first day of battle they were confronted by some wooden-hulled ships of the Union Navy. The CSS Virginia destroyed two ships and threatened a third, the Minnesota, but darkness and low tide stopped the action so the Virginia returned to port to take care of the few wounded sailors and fix the small amount of damage it had sustained.
The Virginia returned on the morning of March 9 to finish the destruction of the Minnesota which had run aground but the ironclad USS Monitor had arrived during the night and was defending the U.S.S. Minnesota.The two ironclads slugged it out for three hours but neither could significantly damage the other and the fight ended in a stalemate so the CSS Virginia returned to her home port for repairs and the USS Monitor returned the defense of the Minnesota. The ships did not battle again and the Union blockade stayed in place but the battle got worldwide attention and had an immediate impact. The premier naval powers of Great Britain and France stopped building wooden hulled ships and started building new warships, the monitor, which was based on the design of the original. A small number of heavy guns installed so they can fire in any direction which was featured on the USS Monitor became standard. These improvements were adopted by navies around the world and changed the course of naval combat forever.
During the early stages of the war between the States, the Confederate Congress enacted a statute known as the Partizan Ranger Act, which provided for independent bodies of cavalry to be organized as other government troops. The officers were to be regularly commissioned and the men to be paid like other soldiers. The distinctive features were, that the rangers should operate independently of the regular army and be entitled to the legitimate spoil captured from the enemy.
His first exploits had been so noised abroad that the young men from the neighboring counties and the soldiers at home on furloughs would request permission to join in his raids. He could easily muster fifty of these, known as “Mosby’s Conglomerates,” for any expedition. The opportunity for developing his ideas of border warfare was thus presented. With great vigor he renewed his attacks upon the Federal outposts. As a recognition of one of his successful exploits, the Confederate government sent him a captain’s commission with authority to raise a company of partizan rangers. The material for this was already at hand, and on June 10, 1862, he organized his first company. This was the nucleus around which he subsequently shaped his ideal command. The fame of his achievements had already spread throughout Virginia and Maryland, and attracted to his standard many kindred spirits from both States. No conscripting was necessary. Those for whom this mode of warfare possessed a charm would brave hardship and danger for the privilege of enlisting under his banner. His recruits from Maryland, and many of those from Virginia, were compelled to pass through the Federal pickets in order to join his command. Yet great care had to be exercised in the selection of his men, and not every applicant was received. If an unworthy soldier procured admission, so soon as the mistake was discovered he was sent under guard as a conscript to the regular service.
Mosby reserved the right to select all of his officers, who were invariably chosen from those who had already demonstrated their fitness for this particular service. It has been said of a great military hero that the surest proof of his genius was his skill in finding out genius in others, and his promptness in calling it into action. Mosby, in his limited sphere, displayed a similar talent, and to this faculty, almost as much as any one thing, may be attributed his success with his enlarged command. When a sufficient number of men had enlisted to form a new company, he would have them drawn up in line and his adjutant would read to them the names of those selected for officers, with the announcement that all who were not in favor of their election could step out of the ranks and go to the regular service. Of course no one ever left. In order to comply with the law, the form of an election was then gone through with, and their commander’s choice ratified. In no other body of troops were all the officers thus unanimously elected.
