Yesterday 24th September in 1869 – another ‘Black Friday’; it is reported that Gold prices plummeted after President Ulysses S. grant ordered the Treasury to sell large quantities of gold after Jay Gould and James Fisk plot to control the market. They were quite a pair. Fisk was known as ‘Diamond Jim’. He was shot and killed by a business associate. There was, of course, a woman involved in the affair. He was 36 years old. Gould died of Tuberculosis, aged 56, at home, in bed surrounded by his family. He left an estate valued for tax purposes at $72 million in 1892. The current purchasing power of $72 million is apparently $1.78 billion. Gold is on the rise in 2011.
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| Gould |
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| Fisk |
It was also, on the 24th September 1957 that President Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce desegregation. The ‘Little Rock Nine’ consisted of Ernest Green (b. 1941), Elizbeth Eckford (b. 1941), Jefferson Thomas (1942–2010), Terence Roberts (b. 1941), Carlotta Walls LaNier (b. 1942), Minnijean Brown (b. 1941), Gloria Ray Karlmark (b. 1942), Thelma Mothershed (b. 1940), and Melba Pattillo Beals (b. 1941). Ernest Green was the first African American to graduate from Central High School.
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The "Little Rock Nine" are escorted inside Little Rock Central High School by troops of the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army. |
Ernest Gideon Green (born 22nd September, 1940 – one I neglected to mention in the 22nd September blog) was the first black to graduate from the school in 1958. In 1999, he and the other people of the Little Rock Nine were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Bill Clinton.
In keeping with the theme of civil rights, the United States Constitution went into effect on the 4th March 1789, on the 25th September 1789, the United States Congress proposed twelve amendments to the constitution, including what is now known as the Bill of Rights;
1-Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
2- A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
3- No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
4-The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
5-No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
6-In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favour, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
7-In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
8- Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
9- The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
10- The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
It is as well to remember the British Bill of Rights passed by Parliament one hundred years earlier in 1689 - 1 Will & Mary Sess 2 c 2, which included the following:
▪ no royal interference with the law. Though the sovereign remains the fount of justice, he or she cannot unilaterally establish new courts or act as a judge.
▪ no taxation by Royal Prerogative. The agreement of parliament became necessary for the implementation of any new taxes.
▪ only civil courts, not Church courts, are legal
▪ freedom to petition the monarch without fear of retribution
▪ no standing army may be maintained during a time of peace without the consent of parliament.
▪ no royal interference in the freedom of the people to have arms for their own defence as suitable to their class and as allowed by law no royal interference in the election of members of parliament
▪ the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament
▪ "grants and promises of fines or forfeitures" before conviction are void
▪ no excessive bail or "cruel and unusual" punishments may be imposed.
I wonder where the Americans obtained their concept of civil rights? Contrast and compare – nobody’s perfect.
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