Nanny Of the Moroons: Jamaica's Warrior Queen

Nanny was a leader of the Maroons at the beginning of the 18th century. She was known by both the Maroons and the British settlers as an outstanding military leader who became, in her lifetime and after, a symbol of unity and strength for her people during times of crisis. She was particularly important to them in the fierce fight with the British, during the First Maroon War from 1720 to 1739. Although she has been immortalised in songs and legends, certain facts about Nanny (or “Granny Nanny”, as she was affectionately known) have also been documented.

Read More

From Crispus Attucks to Michael Brown: Race and Revolution

arch 5 marks an important but oft-overlooked anniversary. On a winter’s day 245 years ago, in the year 1770, an angry crowd formed in Boston, then the capital of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. People were enraged by the extortionate taxes imposed by the British Parliament. In order to quell the public furor, the British sent troops, who violently quashed dissent. On that cold day, people had had enough. Word spread after a British private beat a young man with the butt of his musket.

Read More

1st Rhode Island Regiment

The 1st Rhode Island Regiment was a Continental Army regiment during the American Revolutionary War. The 1st Rhode Island Regiment became known as the "Black Regiment" due to its allowing the recruitment of African Americans in 1778. This decision, designed to help fill dwindling ranks among the Rhode Island regiments, is regarded as having produced the first African American military regiment. This is incorrect, however, since its ranks were never exclusively African American. Instead blacks served in their own segregated companies within the larger integrated unit.

Read More

The Great Benin Wall - The Benin Moat

They were a combination of ramparts and moats, called Iya in the local language, used as a defense of the historical Benin City, formerly of the now defunct Kingdom of Benin and now the capital of the present-day Edo State of Nigeria. It was considered the largest man-made structure lengthwise and was hailed as the largest earthwork in the world. It is larger than Sungbo's Eredo.[citation needed] It enclosed 6,500 km of community lands. It was estimated that earliest construction began in 800 AD and continued into the mid-1400s.

Read More