Section 377- A Setback to LGBT rights in India

An event in the country of India, has set back LGBT rights tenfold. After a 12 year battle in the Supreme Court, India chose to make same-sex intercourse, a law that existed during the times of British India, illegal. The Delhi High-Court had seen the end to the sodomy law in 2009 was challenged and overturned by the India Supreme Court. The ruling now allows men and women to be arrested and even jailed for pursuing their love. Love that is deemed as "unnatural offenses".

Originally supported as an HIV prevention clause, it was overturned. With this ruling both HIV-activists and LGBT activists are shocked. Even the Indian Health Ministry disagreed with this ruling citing a right to equality and privacy being taken away with the passing of 377.

The Supreme Court tried to brush away human rights accusations by saying that the section does not criminalize any orientation or identity, just any actions deemed an offense.

To find more on the heartbreaking outcry against this ruling by India's LGBT population, you can visit here and here

Egypt (Arab Spring)

The Egyptian Revolution of 2011 was the one of the first of its kind to fully utilize the social media platform as a means to organize. In fact, it had become so powerful that Egypt attempted to eliminate it's internet access to slow down the rebels. Egyptian rebels gathered in major cities and the riots became so serious that President Hosni Mubarak appointed an entirely new cabinet; even appointing a vice president. However on February 10th, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced Mubarak's resignation and that all power was with the Armed Forces of Egypt. The military dissolved the Egyptian Parliament and the Egyptian Constitution. The main goal was to remove the "emergency laws" in place in Egypt for almost 20 years.

In the "emergency laws" the Egyptian people experience heavy censorship, a removal of constitutional rights, and basically forbid all non-governmental political activity. There were no personal freedoms for the people of Egypt.

Mubarak's successor, Mohamed Mursi was the first democratically elected president. However, more protests occurred and Mursi was also removed from power. Demonstrations against the military government still happen in Egypt today, and police brutality is still a problem. 

Revolution in Tunisia (Arab Spring)

       

Mohammed Bouazizi, a man from Tunisia sets himself on fire to protest his treatment by the police coupled with the Wikileaks scandal exposing crimes against Tunisia caused one of the most major uprisings which would eventually lead to the removal of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from the government.

However, it was not just two spontaneous events that caused these riots. Tunisia was plagued with a corrupt government, terrible unemployment, and inflation. So much so, that people could not afford to feed themselves. The Tunisian people lived in poor living conditions and were denied basic and political freedom. Freedom of speech was basically nonexistent. President Ben Ali was in power for almost 23 years, but the socially and politically fueled riots caused him to flee to Saudi Arabia. There hadn't been demonstrations as powerful as this in Tunisia for almost 30 years. Police brutality was common and many of the deaths counted in the process of this revolt was the result of this.

The culprit behind the harried state of Tunisia was the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD), the political party of disgraced President Ben Ali. The effort to appoint members of government outside of the RCD was unsuccessful and the ministers resigned almost immediately. The protests against RCD members became so great, that Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi removed all RCD members from government (other than himself of course), the party was suspended and eventually removed. Beji Caid el Sebsi became prime minister after Ghannouchi resigned.

Arab Spring Timeline

Some may find the events of the Islamic Revolution and where the events took place. Well, you're in luck, because The Guardian created an interactive timelines of the events of Arab Spring!

The timeline starts in 2010 and goes all the way to December of 2011 by outlining every event between those.
The map can be found here

I hope this helps!

Ukraine

     Gleb Garanich / Reuters (taken from BuzzFeed) 


Here is something interesting. Ukraine is currently undergoing some massive riots by the student community in order to protest the policies of President Viktor Yankoyvich. The President has pulled out last minute from financial dealings with the European Union, which has nearly split the country in two. The protesters, mainly based in Kiev are calling for closer ties with the EU, the complete opposite of Yankoyvich's intentions. Ukraine is apparently under the pressure of Russia, and refuses to sign the association agreement with the European Union.

To many of the protestors, being under Russian rule would be the worse fate. Many cite this to be the unfinished work of the Orange Revolution. Citizens have gathered in the city of Kiev in the bitter cold, calling for Yankoyvich's resignation.

You can find picture of these barricades on BuzzFeed here. There are even comparisons to the barricades being similar to those in the French revolution.

However, police intervention is constant, and at times violent. Police brutality is a serious problem, even when the reinforcements are told not to touch the protestors. It seems that the police are using force to remove otherwise peaceful protesters. Other than scuffles with the police, the revolt is growing in numbers comparable to the 2004 Orange Revolution.

It is truly an incredible event to see occurring in our day and age. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'd like to take a little break from our usual programming to wish all those who celebrate, a very happy thanksgiving! If you're spending it with family, cherish it. Time with family is the most important of all. 

Anyways, Thanksgiving is probably one of my favorite days of the year just because of the sheer amount mashed potatoes I am allowed to eat without getting weird looks. 

BuzzFeed posted a pretty great master post of all things Thanksgiving. I looked through for much longer than I should have. 

Enjoy!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelysanders/why-thanksgiving-is-the-best-day-of-the-year

What Exactly is a Revolution?

Many of you may be thinking, what exactly makes up a revolution? Every revolution seems to have similar characteristics, and in the same sense every revolution is different.

Most importantly, what makes a revolution succeed?

The reason I began to think about these questions, was because I came across an article analyzing the 1979 revolt in Iran in context with Egypt. Granted this article is almost 3 years old, it still gives valuable insight into the art of revolution.

For your reference, here is the article:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/02/201121393446561799.html

To try to answer some of these questions:

Revolutions do not happen overnight
Certainly it will take time for real change to occur. Expectations are very high at the beginning of a revolution and emotions run high. Caution must be taken when planning out elaborate heists. Everything must go from simple to complicated, not the other way around.

Entrenched Regimes may stay entrenched for a long time
Regimes that have been place for a very long time and hold a very large amount of power will not be removed easily. Even if the leader is removed, their philosophy is not.

Using media not controlled by the state to spread word
This itself is a revolutionary move by itself. It allows the populous of that nation to spread information, and information is key. We've seen the use of this more often in the world, especially in recent years. It is effective in revealing some not very nice information about government practices and the justification of revolution.

Spanish Civil War

Spain, in 1931, had overthrown their monarchy and instituted a weak, provisional government in its place. The government itself was very divided, mainly between monarchists and socialists. This extreme tension between the extreme left and extreme right was very visible and it affected the way the public acted. During elections in 1936, the left-leaning side won majority over the right. As usual, they were furious and in fear that danger and anarchy would reign. They decided to overthrow the government. 

The Nationalists, as they called themselves, announced their intentions to Spain in July of that year and began to attack. However, the rebels inspired by The Nationalists were easily defeated by the Civil Guard present in the area. If there were no Civil Guards, they took over the area with ease. The Nationalists were funded by both Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler who both supported the collapse of the left leaning side of the Spanish Government. The Republicans (who were funded by the Soviet Union), were stationed in a Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona. 

The Republican Army had trouble raising money for their supplies and went to the Soviet Union for support. From this relationship, they acquired jets and tanks superior to German ones, as well as many politically idealistic or bored volunteers to fight. These individuals will feel disillusioned by their experience in the war, not seeing a positive outcome to their struggles. 

In 1937, Guernica was bombed and civilians shot by Nationalists, who would continue this pattern of attack throughout their time fighting until 1939. The Republican Army on the other hand fell prey to corruption, disorganization, and greed causing them to lose Barcelona, Valencia, Catalonia, and Madrid by 1939. The war ended with the defeat of The Republican Army, and the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

The Spanish Civil War managed to encompass more than its borders could hold. Militant members of society became exceedingly wealthy and succeeded in ruining the economy. Many important artists and religious figures were killed or exiled during the war, causing an absence in creative thought and escape. On top of all that, the disillusionment of soldiers who went to fight for a cause, was shown the reality of their war. 

Young Turk Revolution

The Young Turk Revolution, which occurred in the Ottoman Empire in 1908. This movement was primarily a revolution in government practices. The revolution itself was fueled by the furious nationalistic spirit spreading through Europe at the time. This movement called for a multi-national, democratic state. It garnered support form groups like, Bulgarians, Jews, Arabs, and Greeks.

The Sultan Abdul Hamid II had previously suspended the Ottoman parliament in 1878. If one were to summarize this revolution in one sentence, it would be that the Young Turk Revolution caused the reversal of this suspension. The Sultan's irresponsible rule of the Ottoman Empire had angered a vastly diverse group of people, and they formed a union to challenge his power. Many believed the Sultan was the cause of the weak state of their empire.

The Revolution itself restored the Ottoman parliament and a policy of decolonization was promised. However, the process of restructuring old policies with new ones was easier said than done. Although it had ended the First Constitutional Era, and launched itself into the Second Constitutional Era, but replacing original monarchial structures with democratic processes was difficult to implement. The taking of the regime was relatively bloodless, but the implementation of regime was an entirely different situation. The new government found themselves concerned with colonialism and the borders of their country becoming splintered as other local revolutions took place. In addition to this chaos, their original allies of Britain and France had more plans on what to do with the land rather than help the government. However, this led to a alliance with Germany, which would lead to their eventual defeat in World War I.

Even the failure of the Ottoman Empire does not go forgotten. The Young Turk philosophy stayed with the region, and the construction of Turkey was led by a Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who also prided himself a Young Turk.

Whiskey Rebellion

The Whiskey Rebellion - Washington at Carlisle 1794

In 1794, nearly twenty years after the American Revolution, the United States was having a difficult time finding a steady source of revenue. Without this revenue, it would be impossible for the U.S. to be self-serving and truly independent. In order to create a more effective government, it was Alexander Hamilton's (who was treasury secretary at the time) idea to impose taxes as a means to revenue. He suggested an excise tax of whiskey in 1791, which enraged the producers of the product. 

The Revolutionary War had caused the United States people to be extremely of anything involving taxation. Constant paranoia was present due to fear of their personal liberties being taken away. Hamilton was also intent on the idea of central government power, which also scared the population into thinking the government would become far too powerful and as a result begin to take away their rights just as they believed the British had. However, because Hamilton had taken on war debts of other states, it was crucial for him to find a way to fun this pursuit. Taxation seemed the only way. 

The farmers in Western Pennsylvania, who earned their living through the distillation and production of Whiskey were enraged at the government for this law, and expressed their hostility. In 1794 affected farmers completely destroyed the home of a tax collector. Almost 500 men attacked his home. President George Washington after observing this alarming act of aggression from men who claimed to be fighting for "Revolutionary principles" decided to nip the rebellion in the bud. If this rebellion was treated lightly, copycats would start to occur all over the country. Even the peacekeepers he sent to negotiate with the farmers proved to be ineffectual. To permanently discourage any acts of rebellion against the government, he sent a large militia force f 13,000 troops led by Governor Henry Lee and Hamilton to quell the rebellion. This act of intimidation was indeed effective, most of the rebels had faded, and two men who were convicted of treason were later pardoned. 

Many view this rebellion as the start of solidified government power in the U.S. The relatively new government had finally shown authority. 

October Revolution

Also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution or Red October, the October Revolution occurred in 1917 as part of the Russian Revolution. However, the October Revolution is especially important, because it would lead to the creation of the largest socialist state in the world.

Until now, the Russian Revolution had wiped out the Tsar Nicholas II and had replaced his government with a provisional government. This makeshift political system was very weak and encountered much conflict from within. There was great confusion and disagreement in industry and communication which made it difficult for civilians and soldiers to obtain everyday amenities. There was much unrest within the country, and everyday life was difficult. In addition to internal struggles, World War I was still being waged and much of the population found the war to be unnecessary and the cause of their strife. Russia's national debt increased dramatically and their worker's wages decreased by almost half. The nation's population was in chaos and in serious danger of bankruptcy.

Increased tensions between workers and landowners heightened resulting in spontaneous acts of protest, demanding that power be given to the soviets. On August 31, the Bolsheviks won majority in the Petrograd Soviet and then again in the Moscow Soviet. Vladmir Lenin, who was at the time in hiding, called for another revolution to finally rid Russia of the provisional government. The government meanwhile was planning on the creation of a Constituent Assembly in hopes of a republican government. Lenin took this as a sign to speed up the revolution process.

The Bolshevik Party leaders also known as the Central Committee met in Petrograd to discuss the nature of their uprising. Although there was no clear plan in place, Lenin managed to convince 12 hesitant men to go through with the attempt to overthrow the provisional government. Most of the party was nervous, and still reluctant  due to the unclear nature of Lenin's words. In order to foster faith in the party, they created a Second Congress of Soviets, and only chose those who would support the cause. In this way, it would seem they had overwhelming support and are therefore making the correct decision.

The provisional government did not the Bolshevik's exact plans, but they knew to be prepared. They shut down Bolshevik newspapers, Prime Minister Kerensky called for every Bolshevik to be arrested, and even sent students from local military academies to guard government buildings. On October 24, Lenin disguised himself and his troops and quietly took over all strategic locations. All guards were disarmed and every government building was occupied by them. Even the army headquarters were taken. There was virtually no resistance, and absolutely no gunfire. Finally the Bolshevik troops surrounded the Winter Palace which had all the ministers of the provisional government. Prime Minister Kerensky had fleed in a car taken from the U.S. Embassy and he other ministers waited for his return. The Palace was again guarded by military cadets from academies and the Bolsheviks were unwilling to fight them. Instead, all of them were talked down and convinced to let them in. There was no recorded violence that occurred.

Although Lenin wanted to finish the revolution before the Second All-Russia Congress of Soviets, he was not able to clear out and fully capture the Winter Palace. Despite this, the congress was considered open and there was much disagreement about the purpose of the revolution, and who would be considered the leaders of Russian now. Lenin passed the Decree on Land, which distributed all the land among peasants. The Soviet of the People's Commisar's was established as a provisional government needed after the eradication of the previous provisional government. It was led by Lenin and consisted of Bolsheviks.

The Revolution caused chaos in Russia. The countryside was in literal anarchy, with no structure and people seizing land from each other. The city governments were disorganized and there was no plans for the long-term. They were improvising government policies.



  

Cuban Revolution

(originally posted October 8 2013)

The Cuban Revolution took place from 1953 to 1959 led by Lawyer/Revolution Leader Fidel Castro against the home government of Fulgencio Batista the president of Cuba. Batista became president of Cuba after seizing power from Carlos Prio Socarras and then cancelled all elections. Fidel Castro became angered at these events, and led multiple attacks in attempts to overthrow the government over the next seven years. This revolution is another example of revolutions beginning to correct a system of government that it will then revert to once the revolution ends (much like The French Revolution).

Although Batista had seemed like a progressive president in his first term, he soon became dismissive or indifferent to the concerns of his people. Cuba lacked proper infrastructure and suffered from unemployment and American companies dominated their economy. Batista's rule became near dictatorial as he ignored the suffering of his country and instead worked with groups in organized crime to make more money. During a large part of his term, Batista was supported by the communist party, but due to his strong ties with the United States he became a staunch Anti-Communist to win the favor and as a result get political and economic support from the U.S.

Fidel Castro expressed his dissatisfaction with the Batista's way of government first by petitioning against it. He accused Batista of being a tyrant and his illegal means of making money. His arguments were brushed off in the Cuban courts and his constitutional arguments were rejected by Cuban officials. He decided the only way to better Cuba was by leading a revolution by force; this meant he would be leading an armed force. Castro and his brother Raul created a group called "The Movement" which was a militant organization recruiting members from the angry, dissatisfied working class.

Castro and 160 other Movement members launched their first attack on Batista's government in 1953. They planned a series of attacks on military barracks belonging to him. Castro and his troops first attacked the Moncada Barracks. They were defeated, and most of them were captured. Fidel Castro was tried in an intensely political trial where he uttered that "history will absolve me,". He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but was pardoned by Batista in 1955 when he freed all political prisoners in Cuba, including others captured at Moncada. Castro and the rest of his recruits set off to Mexico to plan their next move. There, they met other dissatisfied revolutionaries including Camilo Cienfuegos and Ernesto "Che" Guevara. In 1956 they again set sail to Cuba. Batista's troops already heard of their arrival and ambushed them. A small number of rebels including Castro and his brother made it to wooded areas surrounding them and staged full on guerrilla attacks on Batista's troops. No matter how they tried, the troops could not find the rebels. After this event, Castro grew more powerful with other rebel groups in cities allying themselves with him and carrying out attacks, one almost killing Batista. From December 28-30 in 1958, they led an attack capturing small villages and finally defeating a large force in Santa Clara. 

After observing Castro's inevitable victory, Batista fled from Cuba in fear of his life. The people of Cuba were overjoyed, they celebrated the rebels and congratulated Castro. He then went to work prosecuting and executing over 550 of Batista's associates. As prime minister in the first 10 years Castro was progressive in his reforms, calling for equality for Black Cubans and women. He also introduced proposals to improve medical facilities, health, and communication. Castro also advocated for education  and by the end of the 1960s Cuban children were receiving some type of education and unemployment was decreasing. 

However, Castro started to go down the same path of corruption and oppressive behavior as Batista had engaged in. He suspended all elections and declared himself "President for life" and established Cuba as a communist government. He sought relations with the Soviet Union and was responsible for exacerbating the Cold War with The Cuban Missile Crisis.

Although many Cuban citizens stay in Cuba and support Castro's communist regime in spirit of the revolution, it begs the question as to whether or not the Cuban Revolution was a true success. Are the principles of the Cuban Revolution still relevant in today's Cuba?

The French Revolution

(originally posted October 4, 2013)

The French Revolution is one of the most influential events in development of democracy and importance of free will. While the revolt itself was a terrible failure and definitely did more harm than good in the short term. From this revolution evoked the ideas of representative democracy and revealing the problems with aristocratic privilege and a total overthrow of political and social norms.

The dissatisfaction with the political and social regime of the time started first with the tax system. This early system favored the "bourgeoisie" or high classes and the clergy. This population of people were not required to pay taxes at all. However, the problem with this system, was that France was deeply in debt. France's involvement in the Seven Years War and the American Revolution had basically drained them of any money they had left. The country was in deep financial trouble. The clergy and noblemen were spending money on material goods and the poor could not feed themselves. The shortage of food caused outrage among the lower classes and made life for the most part, miserable. The Enlightenment was in full swing at the time, causing intellectuals to question the role of government, of monarchy and even the role of God. This was important because the king was supposed to have the "divine right" which they didn't think was relevant anymore.

To make matters worse, when the Estates General convened the "representation" of each class was unevenly matched. The classes consisted of the first Estate which were the nobles, the second estate which was the clergy, and the third was the rest of the population. The nobility and clergy held far more power in government and they refused to give up their privilege to help the country escape financial turmoil. Louis XVI attempts to fix things by even proposing democratic local government, which was soon rejected. He the appoints Charles de Calonne whose ideas are rejected at the Estates General.

Feeling frustrated at the lack of representation, individuals of the third estate left the meeting to an empty tennis court where they swore the famous "Tennis Court Oath" where they swore they would not give up their cause until a new more equal government was established. This was how the National Assembly was created, a brand new government for a brand new set of ideals. Louis XVI responded by sending troops to Paris which angered the National Assembly. On July 14th they stormed the Bastille prison under the pretense of freeing prisoners (there were only seven prisoners at the time), but in reality to acquire weapons. These radical actions continued through to August 26th when the National Assembly, under the leadership of Maximillien Robspierre, finally wrote The Declaration of Man and of the Citizen. This document completely obliterated the original regime of the King and Church partnership, instead proposing ideas of democracy, sovereignty among citizens, and due process.

By this point of the revolution the people's anger was boiling over. The breaking point was surely the food crisis occurring in Paris. Women frustrated by the lack of food to feed their families gathered in Paris and marched to Versailles to the palace of the King and Queen. The royal family was effectively forced to accompany to crowd back to Paris so they could finally "see" the poverty and hardship their people were going through. Many people did not feel as though the King was the cause of their poverty. They were far angrier at the nobles rather than the King. Due to this, they tried to create government systems that would work alongside the King rather than get rid of him completely.

However, after the royal family was basically taken captive by the people, the revolutionary spirit began to sour. The National Assembly felt as though they could not truly be a free country unless the monarchy was abolished. After the National Convention of delegates were elected, they removed the role of the King and found the French republic the next day. This eradication of the royal family apparently was meant literally. Robespierre, along with his colleagues believed the beginning of France could only come with the death of the King. The execution of the figurehead of the bourgeoisie would be the ultimate symbol of revolution. Louis XIV was found guilty of treason and executed on January 21, 1793.

Robespierre, who had seemed like the beacon of hope in the revolution, began to focus on political and economic threats to the Republic. However, under the guis of The Committee of Public Safety, Robespierre began pointing fingers at individuals of different political ideas. Individuals who had different opinion than him. These could be anyone whose political agendas varied slightly from Robespierre's, whether they were counter revolutionaries, his colleagues, or even innocent civilians. Anywhere between 15,000 to 50,000 French citizens were executed during this time dubbed as "The Reign of Terror." Robespierre became increasingly radical, even proposing a move from the morals of Christianity to a "Republic of Virtue." In 1794, Robespierre was arrested and executed.

The French economy continued to struggle after the death of Robespierre, and hunger became epidemic. A new constitution was put into place, but one that favored the rich all while fighting two other wars. A last coup in France resulted in the establishment of Napoleon Bonaparte as the consul of France. Under Napoleon Bonaparte the revolution finally ended.

The French Revolution, while founded on brilliant ideas that make up the very foundation of our modern government was a failure in its time. It's goal to establish a republic and democracy would go unfinished for years afterwards with a string of constitutional monarchs. However, the principles of the French Revolution were those that were never seen before. The egalitarian approach to wealth and political involvement was incredible for its time. It asked incredible questions about rights of man and the nature of equality. The effects of which are still seen today.

The Haitian Revolution

(originally posted October 1st 2013)

For the next two weeks we’ll be talking about revolutions relating to the French. There are more than a few examples of revolutions taking place under their watch. Today we’ll be covering The Haitian Revolution. 

In 1791, on the island of Saint-Domingue tensions between slaves and white plantation owners came to a boiling point. At the time Haiti was a French colony, where white slave masters kept small isolated camps and controlled large plantations that produced sugar, coffee, cocoa, indigo, and cotton. Along with Jamaica, Saint-Domingue had become the main sugar supplier for the world. This however, came with a price. The slaves living on the island outnumbered the slave masters ten to one. As a result, white plantation owners consistently used brutal tactics and torture methods to "control" and discourage rebellion. Even after Louis XIV passed "Code Noir" to regulate such violence, but to no avail. In fact, there were more slaves on the island than any other colony except Brazil. There were more slaves being imported into the island than the entire white population of the island. They made up almost 90% of the population on that island. These slaves lived and worked in terrible conditions, limiting natural population growth.

The white slave owners and directors often fathered children with the female slaves of the island, leading them to free their mixed race children. This led to almost an equal number of free people of color as white people on the island, which created a unique social structure within the colony. This mixed race population stabilized the society of the island by serving in the militia or even owning plantations of their own. However, these populations were still overwhelmingly outnumbered by the slave population. This led to an almost constant fear of slave revolt by the white owners, which would partly explain the brutal treatment of slaves at the times. 

In 1789, the slave population heard that the Kind of France had freed them. The French Revolution that had been occurring in France at the time produced a document called "The Declaration of the Rights of Man" (Droits de L'homme et du Citoyen), and the conventions and philosophies described in this document terrified the French, but gave hope to the Slaves as well as the Mixed Race people living on Saint-Domingue. Much of the fighting and lobbying occurring in the colony and in France were not in the favor of the slaves, and on August 22nd of 1791, a massive slave revolt occurred. 

The Spanish had supported many a slave revolt in Saint-Domingue in order to weaken the French (whom they were also at war with at the time), and they offered support to the slaves in this case as well. In fact, Toussaint L'overture, a slave of African descent who served as the main leader in this slave revolt became an officer in the Spanish Army. Afterwards, the British also attacked the French. Without seeing a choice, and not wanting to fight the Spanish, the British and the slaves, the French finally decided to pass a decree that freed all slaves in the colony. This led to emancipation and freedom of every slave in the Caribbean. However, this did not end in the independence of Saint-Domingue. 

Under the rule of Napoleon, problems soon began to arise. Napoleon Bonaparte wanted to reestablish the colonies lost during the Seven Years War in North America. This meant, taking money from Saint-Domingue which was technically still part of France. This meant reintroducing slavery to an island that was supposed to be free. Not much conflict on the island occurred until the French tried to take away the population's weapons and reduce their rights. This caused an uprising which eventually would lead to a guerrilla war. Those living on the island were untrained and did not have the resources of the french army, but an outbreak of yellow fever caused by the warm climate killed off many French soldiers. With the Louisiana Purchase made in 1803, Napoleon realized his ventures to reestablish territory in the west was fruitless, and withdrew a majority of troops from Saint-Domingue.

In 1804, the name of the island was changed to Haiti and declared independent of France. The name was what the island was called by natives before the arrival of Europeans in the first place. Haiti became a symbol of anti-colonialism and a rejection of racism. 

Technical Difficulties….

Hello Everyone!

 The original blog under this name has unfortunately encountered some technical difficulties, mostly because there is some type of problem with the e-mail address that blog has been created under. For this reason I have had to delete that blog and I have instead created this one. The blog entries from the old blog will be going on this one periodically over the course of this week, so don't be alarmed if you see 5 or 6 posts on the same day.

Thank you for your cooperation and I am sorry for the inconvenience!