Known as the Knickerbocker Crisis, the financial panic took place over a three week period during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency. After United Copper Shares plummeted The New York Stock Exchange fell to half of it’s peak from the year before. These events led to the creation of a centralized monetary system able to inject money into the banks and prevent this type of situation from happening again, the Federal Reserve System.
The incident occurred in Brownsville, Texas. The white townspeople resented the fact that the regiment was allowed to be stationed in Fort Brown. Even though the commanding officers could attest to the fact that the regiment was in the barracks all night they were all dishonorably discharged by President Roosevelt.
The townspeople were able to frame the men because of spent shells recovered at the scene of the crime. The source of these shells took some time to be discovered. It turned out that the shells were from a firing range across the country the group had previously been stationed at and, in an effort not to waste any supplies, had been brought along with the regiment to the town. The shells were kept in an open box where any passers-by could conveivably grab a handful. The presence of these shells were the townspeople’s primary evidence. Both white and black Americans were outraged at President Roosevelt’s decision to dishonorably discharge all 167 men.
Su Hui (Fourth Century China) wove the first example of a palindrome poem. At a time when females weren’t respected for their intelletual abilities, this woman created a poem that can be read horizontally, vertically, side-to-side, backwards, diagonally, and within color-coded grids. Not only did she write it, she took the time to weave it into fabric. Unfortunately the orginal didn’t survive but even reproductions have proved too difficult to translate into the English language.
George White, a black man, was lynched in Wilmington, Delaware in 1903. Most people associate lynchings with south of the Mason-Dixon Line and, while this is true for the most part, black men weren’t necessarily safe in the North (the last lynching above the Mason-Dixon occurred in 1930). In 1903, George White was arrested for the stabbing of a white woman. She died while he was in custody. A mob of thousands stormed the prison while White awaited trial. They were able to fight their way past the guards and dragged the black man to a field near the scene of the crime where they burned him at the stake. President Theodore Roosevlet warned that whoever witnessed such an act, and there were young men present in the mob, would never be the same.
There were two Venezuelan crises at the end of the 1800’s and beginning of the 1900’s that pitted the United States against the European Powers.
The first, the occuring in 1895, saw the extension of the Monroe Doctrine by President Grover Cleveland to include all foreign activity in the Western Hemisphere. The Monroe Doctrine, named after President James Monroe, states that America is in opposition to European Colonialism in both North and South America. Venezuela and Great Britian both claimed territory as belonging to them and President Cleveland took the side of the Latin country.
This stance would again be consequential in 1902. Theodore Roosevelt found himself facing the potential wrath of both Great Britian and Germany because Venezuela wouldn’t pay their debt to both countries. America stood on the brink of war when the European powers sent ships to blockade Venezuela and President Roosevelt let them know that any seizure of territory to pay the debt would not be tolerated. Great Britain immediately agreed to the terms set forth by the President but Germany waited until the last day to agree. With all parties in agreement the three countries were able to avoid war across the Atlantic.
The winter of 1886-1887 changed the face of American cattle ranching forever. Up until this point herds were allowed to roam free and the ranchers assumed they would be able to collect the cattle in the spring.
The winter was preceded by a hot, dry summer which reduced the amount of available grass on the prairie. The winter was long and harsh. Humans and animals alike fell victim to the extreme conditions. When the snows thawed cattle carcasses littered the landscape. From this point forward it became common practice to stockpile enough food to sustain one’s fenced-in herd, altering the economy of both farming and ranching alike.
Booker T. Washington was the first black man to dine with the president in the White House. Theodore Roosevelt had a moment of hesitation when before he invited Washington, the country’s most prominent African-American of the era and founder of the NAACP, because of the color of his skin. As soon as he realized how silly it was to be ashamed of such a trivial detail he sent the invite out before he could change his mind. The dinner caused a scandal among Southern Democrats who still lived their lives segregated from their fellow Americans.
On February 14th, 1884, Teddy Roosevelt lost both his wife and his mother. They both died in the same house in New York just hours apart. This double tragedy plunged the future president into such a deep state of work. He was silent about the incidents, preferring to ignore the pain long enough so that it could simply go away.
Teddy Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1904 for his work to end the war between The Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan. The more I listen to this audiobook (The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris) the more I am impressed with America’s 26thpresident.
An Egyptian author named Sayyid Qutb was a source of inspiration for radical Islamist groups such as Al-Qaeda. Their first leader, Osama Bin Laden, was exposed to the author’s body of work from both his mentor, who was a student of Qutb's, and from public lectures given by Qutb's brother. Qutb was anti-American; he detested the violence and sexual nature he claimed America possessed and his words reflected this quality.
