|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
Highlights for March 25
1634 The settlement of Maryland
The first colonists to Maryland arrive at St. Clement's Island on Maryland's western shore and found the settlement of St. Mary's.
In 1632, King Charles I of England granted a charter to George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, yielding him proprietary rights to a region east of the Potomac River in exchange for a share of the income derived from the land. The territory was named Maryland in honor of Henrietta Maria, the queen consort of Charles I. Before settlement began, George Calvert died and was succeeded by his son Cecilius, who sought to establish Maryland as a haven for Roman Catholics persecuted in England. In March 1634, the first English settlers--a carefully selected group of Catholics and Protestants--arrived at St. Clement's Island aboard the Ark and the Dove.
Religious conflict was strong in ensuing years as the American Puritans, growing more numerous in Maryland and supported by Puritans in England, set out to revoke the religious freedoms guaranteed in the founding of the colony. In 1649, Maryland Governor William Stone responded by passing an act ensuring religious liberty and justice to all who believed in Jesus Christ. In 1654, however, the so-called Toleration Act was repealed after Puritans seized control of the colony, leading to a brief civil war that ended with Lord Baltimore losing control of propriety rights over Maryland in March 1655.
Although the Calverts later regained control of Maryland, anti-Catholic activity persisted until the 19th century, when many Catholic immigrants to America chose Baltimore as their home and helped enact laws to protect their free practice of religion.
1879 Cheyenne Chief Little Wolf surrenders
Little Wolf, often called "the greatest of the fighting Cheyenne," surrenders to his friend Lieutenant W. P. Clark.
Little Wolf was the chief of the Bowstring Soldiers, an elite Cheyenne military society. From early youth, Little Wolf had demonstrated rare bravery and a brilliant understanding of battle tactics. First in conflicts with other Indians like the Kiowa and then in disputes with the U.S. Army, Little Wolf led or assisted in dozens of important Cheyenne victories.
Historians believe Little Wolf was probably involved in the disastrous Fetterman Massacre of 1866, in which the Cheyenne cleverly lured a force of 80 American soldiers out of their Wyoming fort and wiped them out. After Cheyenne attacks had finally forced the U.S. military to abandon Fort Phil Kearney along the Bozeman Trail, Little Wolf is believed to have led the torching of the fort. He was also a leading participant in the greatest of the Plains Indian victories, the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.
As with many of the other Plains Indian warriors, Little Wolf was finally forced to make peace during the army's major offensive following the massacre at Little Bighorn. In 1877, the government sent Little Wolf to a reservation in Indian Territory. Disgusted with the meager supplies and conditions on the reservation, in 1878 Little Wolf determined to leave the reservation and head north for the old Cheyenne territory in Wyoming and Montana. Chief Dull Knife and 300 of his followers went with him.
Though Little Wolf and Dull Knife announced that their intentions were peaceful, settlers in the territory they passed through feared attack. The government dispatched cavalry forces that assaulted the Indians, but Little Wolf's skillful defensive maneuvers kept Cheyenne casualties low. When the band neared Fort Robinson, Nebraska, Dull Knife and some of his followers stopped there. Little Wolf and the rest of the Cheyenne continued to march north to Montana.
In the spring of 1879, while still traveling north, Little Wolf and his followers were overtaken by a cavalry force under the leadership of Captain W.P. Clark, an old friend of Little Wolf's. The confrontation might easily have turned violent, but with his force of warriors diminished and his people tired, Little Wolf was reluctant to fight the more powerful American army. Clark's civilized and gracious treatment of Little Wolf helped convince the chief that further resistance was pointless, and he agreed to surrender.
After returning to the reservation, Little Wolf briefly served as a scout for General Nelson A. Miles. However, during this time he disgraced himself among his people by killing one of his tribesmen. The formerly celebrated Cheyenne warrior lived out the rest of his life on the reservation but had no official influence among his own people.
1911 Tragedy at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company
The Triangle Shirtwaist Company was typical of the garment shops that packed New York City's Lower East Side in the early 1900s: staffed primarily by young, female immigrants, the factory lacked basic safety measures like fire escapes and working exit doors (management had a practice of locking all the exits to keep workers from leaving the job for breaks).
These conditions, clearly ripe for disaster, did indeed lead to trouble on this day in 1911. During the afternoon, a pile of rags in the shop burst into flames; the fire quickly, and tragically, engulfed the factory. Effectively trapped inside the flaming building, many of the workers either expired from asphyxiation or leapt from windows, a fatal, ten-story fall. The blaze, which lasted less than an hour, claimed 146 lives, marking one of the worst fire-related industrial disasters in America's history. The Triangle Shirtwaist tragedy shed a harsh light on the hazardous conditions that factory owners had allowed to exist in the name of industrial capitalism. It also galvanized various portions of the public, as reformers, workers, and survivors of the fire banded together to push for factory reform. The state government heeded this call and passed a set of laws aimed at safeguarding workers' health and safety. Along with this landmark legislation, workers also won a modicum of justice: the owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist who were initially acquitted, were eventually found guilty on charges of manslaughter.
If you have other Birthdays or events to add for this day please E-Mail me.
 |
 |
 |
||||||
 |
|
 |
||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
Today | Tomorrow |  |
