The Black Loyalists of Canada

The first Black man,  Pedro Alonso Nino, arrived in the new world with Columbus in 1492, more than 100 years before the English and Dutch appeared.

Pedro Alonso Nino was a navigator and explorer of African ancestry. He traveled with Christopher Columbus' first expedition to the new world in 1492. He was also known as "El Negro"( the Black). Pedro Nino was the pilot of Columbus ship the Santa Maria.

 

In 1493, he also accompanied Columbus on the explorer's second voyage  which discovered Trinidad and the mouth of the Orinoco River in South America while piloting one of the 17 ships in the fleet. This voyage also brought the first African freeman to Hispaniola.

 

Pedro Nino led his own expedition financed by the Council of Castile that was established under Queen Isabella I in 1480 as the chief body dealing with administrative and judicial matters of the realm), to find gold and pearls in areas that were not discovered by Columbus.

Pedro Nino returned to Spain as a very wealthy man but did not live up to the agreement he had with the King to turn over 20% of his treasures (known as the Royal Fifth). He was arrested and died in prison before his trial began.      

In 1605 the first named Black Canadian was Mathieu Da Costa. In the 1600s, he was a member of the exploring parties of Pierre Dugua de Mons and Sameul de Champlain.. He was a gifted linguist and his translations bridged New France between the Aboriginal peoples in Canada and the European explorers.

 

Fourteen years later in 1619, Dutch traders brought African slaves taken from a Spanish ship to Jamestown in North America.

 

In 1628, the first named enslaved African to reside in Canada was a six year  old boy, the property of Sir David Kirke. The child was sold several times, the last time he was sold to Father Paul Le Jeune, where he was baptized  Catholic and given the name Olivier Le Jeune.

 In March 1685, Louis XIV's Code Noir code permitted slavery for economic purposes only, and established strict guidelines for the ownership and treatment of slaves. It was officially limited to the West Indies and, although it was never proclaimed in New France, it was used in customary law.

By May 1, 1689 King Louis XIV of France gave limited permission for the colonists of New France to keep Black and Pawnee First Nations slaves. The colonists had complained about the shortage of available servants and workers. They appealed to the  crown for permission to own slaves and the permission was granted

People of African birth were brought forcibly to the North American colonies to provide slave labor.

This image was taken from a slave memorial in the grounds of the Anglican Cathedral which was built on the site of the former slave market, Charleston, South Carolina. 

Their descendants were caught in the war of American Independence. In the late 1600s and 1700s, the British had established rice, indigo, and tobacco plantations in the southern part of North America. At first the native Indians  were enslaved to work the fields, later, African slaves were brought in to work the fields and perform other various jobs such as domestic workers, or at semi-specialized trades such as lumbering, mining, road making, blacksmithing, shoemaking, weaving and spinning.

When the Royal British Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, lost his colony to the American rebels in the summer of 1775, he issued a proclamation that any slave or indentured person would be given their freedom if they take up arms with the British against the rebels. As a result, over 2000 slaves and other indentured persons joined his forces. Later, other British supporters in the colonies issued similar proclamations.

Many of the enslaved African Americans seized the opportunity to gain their freedom by joining the British side. Some of the Black Loyalists provided military service alongside the British Army, while others served in non-military roles.

Toward the end of the War of Independence most of the Black Loyalists converged  on New York which was home to the British general headquarters. Three thousand of them sailed to Nova Scotia  between April and November 1783, on both navy vessels and private transports chartered by the British.

Black Loyalists and other peoples of African and European decent made up a vibrant part of Nova Scotia's past. They contributed to the fabric and success of today's province. Over 400 years later, many of their ancestors call Nova Scotia home.

When Visiting Nova Scotia, visit the African Nova Scotian Museum and many other historic places in various townships throughout the province.

 

This article was transcribed by Larry Falls who was born in Nova Scotia

THE MYATERY OF MATA HARI'S BODY

In the beginning of 1905, rumors were spreading throughout Paris about a young Oriental girl who danced in a private home. She was wrapped in veils that she gradually removed during her dance. A local journalist who had seen her dancing reported that "a woman from the far east had come to Europe laden with perfume and jewels, to introduce some of richness of the Oriental colour..." Soon, everyone knew the dancers name: Mata Hari.

During that winter, small and select audiences gathered in a salon filled with Indian  and Java relics while an orchestra played music inspired by Hindu and Java melodies. After keeping the audience waiting and wondering, Mata Hari would suddenly appear in a white-cotton costume that covered very little of her body. It was covered with Indian-type jewels, jeweled bands at the waist, and bracelets up her arms. Then she would dance in a style no one had seen in France before, her whole body swaying as if she were in a trance. She told her curious audience that her dances told stories from Indian mythology and Javanese folktales. Soon the cream of the crop from Paris and ambassadors from different countries were competing for invitations to the salon, where it was rumored that Mata Hari was actually performing in the nude. 

The public was curious and wanted to know more about her. She told journalists that she was Dutch in origin and had grown up on the island of Java. She spoke of her time spent in India and how she had learned sacred Hindu dances. By the summer of 1905, everyone 

heard of Mata Hari.

As she gave more interviews, the story of her origins kept changing: She grew up in India, her grandmother was the daughter of a Javanese princess, she had lived on the island of Sumatra where she had spent her time "horseback riding, gun in hand, and risking her life.

Journalists compared her to an Indian goddess.

In August 1905, Mata Hari performed for the first time in public. On opening night, crowds rushing to see her caused a riot. She had become a cult figure. One reviewer wrote, "Mata Hari personifies all the poetry of India, its mysticism, its voluptuousness, its hypnotizing charm." Another noted, "if India possesses such  unexpected treasures, then all Frenchmen will emigrate to the shores of the Ganges."

Soon the fame of Mata Hari and her sacred Indian dance spread beyond Paris. She was invited to Berlin, Vienna and Milan. Over the next few years she performed throughout Europe , mixed with the highest social circles, and earned an income rarely enjoyed by a woman of the period.

Near the end of World War I, she was arrested in France, convicted and executed as a German spy.

Mata Hari's real name was Margaretha  Zelle born in Leeuwarden, Netherlands on August 7, 1876. Her parents were both Dutch. She had a lavish childhood, and at the age of 18 she answered an add in the local paper by a Dutch Army Captain Rudolf MacLeod looking for a wife. They married  in Amsterdam and then moved to Malang on the east side of the Island Java, where he was stationed. They had two children, Norman-John MacLeod and Louise Jeanne MacLeod. MacLeod regularly beat his wife who was twenty years younger, and he openly kept a concubine. She temporarily left him and moved in with another Dutch Officer. 

She studied the Indonesian traditions for several months and joined a local dance company at that time. In correspondence to her relatives in the Netherlands in 1897 she revealed her artistic name of Mata Hari.

At MacLeod's urging Zelle returned to him but his behavior did not change. She escaped her situation by studying the local  culture. In 1999 their children fell seriously ill from complications related to the treatment of syphilis contracted from their parents.  Jeanne survived but Norman died.  At age 21 Jeanne also died possibly  from complications related to syphilis. 

 

In 1903 Zelle moved to Paris where she performed as a circus horse rider using the name Lady MacLeod much to the disapproval of the Dutch MacLeods. In 1905 she began to win fame as a dancer.

On February 13th, 1917, Mata Hari was arrested in her room at the Hotel Elyee Palace on the champs Elyees in Paris. She was put on trial on 24 July, accused of spying for Germany, and consequently causing the deaths of at least 50,000 soldiers. Although the French and British intelligence suspected her of spying for Germany, neither could produce evidence against her. The excuse was secret ink was found in her room. She contended that it was part of her makeup.

After the execution her body went missing and still remains unaccounted for.

                     Eyewitness account to the Execution of Mata Hari

 

                         http://eyewitnesstohistory.com/matahari.htm

 

A Fascinating Look At The Origin Of Easter

The origin of Easter is based on ancient pagan celebrations before the emergence of Christianity. When western religions became recognized  by state laws in the first century CE, Easter celebrations were transferred to Christian holidays and the commercialization by non-Christian traditions like the Easter bunny, Easter parades, and Easter egg  hunting. Although, the ideas of commercial enterprise can be traced back to ancient times along with religious beliefs.

Originally, the celebration of Easter began in the gardens of Adonis, a mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite in Greek mythology. Seeds were sown on the grave of Adonis in early spring. The seed symbolized the dead and risen god. In later centuries at the approach of Easter , Christian women would sow wheat, lentils, and canary seed in plates, which they kept in the dark and watered every two days. Once the plants began to grow, the stalks were tied together with red ribbons and the plates containing them were placed on a monument  with the effigies of the dead Christ that were displayed in Catholic and Greek churches on Good Friday, just as the gardens of Adonis were placed on the grave of the dead god.

The Easter rites of Adonis may have been adapted for the sake of winning souls to Christ. The adaptation probably took place in the Greek-speaking rather than in Latin-speaking parts of the ancient world. The worship of Adonis and The Great Mother, while it flourished among the Greeks, appears to have made little impression  on Rome and the West.

Nevertheless, the death and resurrection of Attis (god of vegetation, in his self-mutilation, death and resurrection) were officially celebrated at Rome on the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth of March. Accordingly, some Christians regularly celebrated the crucifixion on that day without any regard to the state of the moon.

The tradition which placed Easter and the death of Christ on the twenty-fifth of March was ancient and deeply rooted. The inference appears to be inevitable. The passion of Christ must have been arbitrarily referred to planting seeds during the spring, harvest in fall, and death of the sun during winter only to be resurrected again in the following spring. This would have harmonized with an older festival of the spring equinox.  

Socrates, Plato and connection to religion

Socrates, was persecuted by the Athenians for his religious beliefs. When he was over seventy years old he was brought to a public trial and condemned to death. He was accused of looking into the great mysteries of heaven and earth, and corruption of the youth. He did not believe in worshipping the gods of the city because he believed that they were not real. He was accused of introducing new deities.

The last part of this accusation was due to his offering more rational perceptions of the deity than were allowed by the established beliefs of his country. He argued against the corruptions and superstitions that were universally practiced by the Greeks. His opinions were called corrupting the youth who were his students.

Socrates wisdom created many enemies among the general public. The spreading of reports concerning him led to his disadvantage. He was prejudicing himself in the mind of his judges. When he was brought to trial several of his accusers were not named, which led him to complain that it was like fighting a shadow.  Not knowing who his accusers were made it impossible for any such person to answer his questions.  However, he maintained his innocence and said that he did believe in a God. As proof of his belief, he bravely spoke to his judges. I will obey God rather than you, and teach my philosophy as long as I live.

After being condemned for impiety and atheism, he drank a draught of poison rather than allowing the authorities to execute him.

The judges and the accusers were not priests. They were the laity; members of the public. The priests had no share in the accusations, condemnation, and death of Socrates. Nor was there any need of the priesthood in this affair. Religion was written in the constitution of the Athenian Government. It was part of the laws in the civil communities. One such law stated: Let it be a perpetual law and binding at all times, to worship our national gods and heroes publicly, according to the laws of our ancestors. No new gods or doctrines could be introduced without incurring the penalty of death.

When Socrates, pleaded in the Grand Council of Athens in 399 B.C., it reminded the council of the customs and practice of their ancestors. 

The civil establishment of religion in Athens was exclusive. No toleration was allowed to those who differ in beliefs. On this account, the philosophers, by public decree, were banished from Athens for teaching how to think and to give opinions. It was considered to be corrupting the minds of youth in matters of religion. According to the Athenian Constitution, Socrates was condemned for not believing in the gods of his country and presuming to have better understanding of the deities than his superiors.

Socrates was the first great Athenian philosopher. He taught that the key to the good life lay in moral worth and the practice of virtue. He believed it was his duty to make other citizens aware of their ignorance of the true good. He wrote nothing down, and all knowledge of his teaching comes from the philosophy of his pupil, Plato, who was 29 years old when Socrates died. All Plato's major works are in dialogue form, and the foremost speaker was usually Socrates. It is assumed that in the earlier dialogues the real historical speaker was Socrates, while the later dialogues represents Plato's mature development of the teachings of Socrates.

Throughout his career Plato remained convinced by the teachings of Socrates, and continued to identify virtue with knowledge. However, the corresponding belief - that evil is inevitably done by the ignorant - was probably the reason for Plato's distrust of democracy, because he believed democracy had convicted Socrates at the time. However, in Plato's The Republic, he doesn't  mention  the state laws that persecuted  Socrates were based on state laws and pagan religion.

Socrates's thoughts survived through the writings of his pupil, Plato

Surrounded by his pupils, Socrates prepares to take hemlock. He had been condemned for allegedly corrupting the young through his teachings.

The first supersonic airplane was built in Canada

It is no stretch of the imagination to say that the first supersonic airplane was built in Canada. It is one of the most fascinating stories in all of the annals of Canadian Aviation.

The first Arrow took only 28 months from the release of the first drawings in June of 1955 to roll out in October 1957. The cost for the construction of the first aircraft was in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 labour hours per pound, whereas 25 to 40 labour hours were normal under previous methods. When this saving in labour is multiplied by the aircraft airframe weight (20 tons), the saving results was spectacularly effective compared to the old construction methods.

One of the best features of the Arrow was the ease of converting it to a number of different roles, due to its large and easily exchanged armament bay. The bay was three feet high, eight feet wide and eighteen feet long, larger than the bomb bay of the B-29 Bomber. An armament pack could be hoisted up into the belly of the aircraft and attached at four points. It was also possible to put into three packs a variety of equipment including extra fuel tanks, and possibly bombs. It made the Arrow a very neat and tidy aircraft, compared with the large array of equipment hanging underneath the wings of most modern aircraft, assigned to carry out the same role.

The unveiling ceremonies of the Arrow culminated what had begun six years earlier as the germ of an idea in the minds of a small group of creative Canadian civilian and military engineers. The supersonic delta concept was not new, but these people felt it was possible for Canada, through engineering and production facilities of Avro, to design and produce in quantity an advanced aircraft type to meet the threat of future developments of potential enemy bombers.

About 12,000 people viewed the roll out of the plane, including representatives of Military, Government and industry from NATO countries.

The Honorable George R. Pearkes V.C., Minister of National Defence at the time, unveiled the Arrow with these words: “I now have the pleasure of unveiling the AVRO ARROW – Canada’s first supersonic aircraft – a symbol of a new era for Canada in the air.”  He continues,“this event today marks another milestone – the production of the first Canadian supersonic airplane. I am sure that the historian of tomorrow will regard this event as being equally significant in the annals of Canadian aviation."

The whole objective of the Arrow’s development was a flying weapons system capable of intercepting and destroying a high speed bomber invading Canada.

The aircraft was the delivery system, and the electronic system and weapons were the search and destroy arms. However, this total weapons system that was to be developed for the arrow lacked political will to continue. The system and missile the Canadian Air Staff insisted be developed, were far in advance of anything contemplated at that time and therefore, the projected price tag was enormous. The magnitude of these costs, when projected into production, and squadron service, exceeded the total cost of the aircraft development and procurement program. The combined programs of the aircraft and its weapons quickly became too expensive for the Canadian Government to fund.

Four years later on February 20, 1959, at about 11:00 a.m., the Prime Minister of Canada announced in the House of Commons termination of Arrow.

Following the cancellation of the Arrow Program, a further decision was made to dispose of all the aircraft, spares, etc. Five Arrow 1 aircraft with Pratt and Whitney J-75 engines installed, had already flown a total of 70 hours 30 minutes. One completed Arrow 2 aircraft, partly fitted with Iroquois engines, was almost ready to fly, and other Arrow 2’s in various stages of final assembly were available.

General Electric had announced that they would like to use the Arrows and were prepared to pay a substancial price for them, including purchase of spares, in a straight commercial deal, but the Canadian Government turned them down.

The United Kingdom also offered to buy a few of the Arrows for research and understanding the aero-dynamics. Two Arrows could be used in the various test programs, with the third being held as a spare. It was believed that they would be able to save a great amount of money and thus speed up the development time of the Anglo-Franco aircraft that became “The Concorde.”

The U.K. approached the Canadian Government about acquiring the Arrows. They were told not to pursue the matter, for if they did, the Canadian Government would be in the embarrassing position of having to say an official “No!”… no Arrows would ever leave Canada.!

A short time later the government scrapped all the Arrows.

The Aftermath of Rape

The emotional impact of rape can be profound from the first moments of the attack and for years afterward. The survivor reacts initially with a sense of isolation, helplessness, and a total loss of self. How the survivor handles the severe stress of this crisis usually falls into a recognizable pattern.

The acute reaction phase usually lasts for a few days to a few weeks. Typically,  there is a reaction of shock, fear, disbelief, and emotional turmoil. Guilt, shame, anger, and outrage are commonly seen in those survivors who are able to talk about their feelings. Others adopt a more controlled style, they have an apparent calmness that may indicate that they are forcing an attitude of control or are denying the reality or impact of the experience.. 

This phase is usually followed by a post-traumatic episode  which can last weeks or months. The survivor undergoes a limited degree of coming to grips him/herself and their situation. Superficially, the experience may seem over. They try to relate to their family and friends, return to everyday activities and tries to be relaxed cheerful. But deep down inside the fears, self-doubts, and feelings about the experience are still there. 

The final phase, a long-term regrowth and recovery process, varies considerably depending upon the survivor's age, personality, available support systems, the treatment by others. Frightening  flashbacks and nightmares are common. For women, fears about being alone, suspicious men and fear of sexual activity surface with distressing frequency. Proper therapy may be needed to deal with these fears and the depression that often occurs.

One study showed that 22 months after being raped almost half the women reported some form of fear, anxiety, or symptoms of depression; many also had trouble sleeping, feeling of vulnerability, and fear of walking alone, even during the day. 

The most common symptom almost 2 years after the rape was generalized suspicion of others.  Notably, acquaintance rape is just as emotionally devastating as rape by a stranger.

Based on my own research in an isolated community, out of 100 women I interviewed, 90% had been sexually abused by a family member and 75% were under the age of twelve.  

The biggest challenge in all cases is to recognize that it is an act of violence and power over women and children. It has nothing to do with sex.  

The Sex Researchers (Henry Havelock Ellis)

                 

                                         Henry Havelock Ellis (Feb.2, 1859 – July 8, 1938)

Havelock Ellis was an English physician, writer, progressive intellectual and social reformer who studied human sexuality.

He devoted many decades mastering most of what had been learned about human sexuality since the days of the ancient Greeks. As a counsellor and healer, he studied the sex lives of his contemporaries and recorded his findings in a series of volumes, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, which he published and periodically revised between 1896 and 1928.

His research can be summed up in one brief sentence: everybody is not like you, and your loved ones, and your friends and your neighbors. The first chapter he developed called “The evolution of Modesty” enabled men and women to transcend the limitations of the sexual perspective of the Victorian era. It remains today the best introduction to the scientific study of sex. 

As an English Victorian, he accordingly opened his essay on modesty with the generally accepted Victorian belief that virtue consists essentially in keeping the human body, and especially the female human body, adequately clothed. Further, he demonstrated, from a review of the literature of anthropology, that the relations of clothing to modesty, and to modesty to sexual desire, are far more complex than what is supposed. He goes on to cite some examples from his research. For example, in one African tribe women once wore a small triangle of animal skin suspended between their thighs; yet they were so modest that they never removed it. Even during sexual relations they merely raised it. 

Another tribe in the Amazon valley, the men were naked while the women wore a short petticoat. Studying a tribe in North America, Ellis cites in an 1892 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics, some of the females of the tribe were prostitutes, yet they were so modest that one of them, near death during childbirth, refused to let any man –native or white physician or lover-attend her. When a British anthropologist remarked on the nudity of the women in the Congo, a chief replied that “concealment is food for the inquisitive.” Another British anthropologist commented that the more naked the people, the more moral and strict they are in the matter of sexual relations. Ellis’s modesty was concerned primarily with covering the male and female genitals and the female breasts.

He respected his Victorian prejudices by concentrating on non-Europeans. The Victorian attitude was that lesser breeds didn’t really count; they were for the most part neither civilized, nor Christian, nor white. But Ellis even went further. He demonstrated from historical sources that modesty taboos have varied widely from century to century among all tribes and all ancestors.

Ellis knew that he lived in the midst of a pathologically modest society. It was a society where ankles must be shielded from view, and in which guests having chicken for dinner asked for a helping of white meat or dark meat in order to avoid mentioning the chicken’s breast or legs.

Ellis could have brought his account closer to his own time and place. Written documents made as late as 1817 show men and women bathing nude together at English beaches. In 1856, letters to the editor of the London Times complained that the men still bathed nude at Margate. "The exhibition is truly disgusting," one correspondent wrote, "but what is more disgusting still is the fact that these exhibitions are watched daily by large numbers of ladies who spend their mornings in close proximity to scores of naked men." 

The following year a physician visiting another English seaside resort named Brighten, reported that when he opened his bedroom window, "the first sight that greeted me, immediately in front of the hotel, was half-a-dozen men, perfectly naked, wading about with the water not much higher than their knees." 

Additionally, in 1857, Lord Westmeath introduced in the House Lordsa bill which would have prohibited nude bathing. "It is the practice," he told his fellow peers, "for women to go down to the sea-bathing places and dance in the water without any covering whatever, to the great disgust of the respectable inhabitants and visitors." His knowledge of these scenes, he added, came from reports of local magistrates at Margate, Ramsgate, and other coastal resorts. Women also continued to appeared nude in poses plastiques on the London stage during the early years of Victoria's reign.

After about 1860, however, the memory of this earlier Victorian freedom was erased.  Even Havelock Ellis, who was born just as it was vanishing, seems never to have heard of it.