ISSUE 21: U
TOPICS:
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Ulysses S. Grant
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US Civil War
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Underwear
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The Underworld in Greek Mythology
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United Kingdom
Ulysses S. Grant
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Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th president of America from 1869-1877. He was raised in Ohio and served in the Mexican-American war and the civil war. He married in 1848 to Julia Dent and had four children, 3 sons called Frederick and Jessie and Ulysses jr, and 1daughters called Nellie. During their childhood, Ulysses and his family lived in poverty for 7 years.
He was born on April 27 1822, and was the oldest of his six siblings. Grant's real name is in fact Hiram Ulysses Grant, but was registered incorrectly when he arrived at west point academy.
Grant was a very good person, he fought to protect freed slaves. He used federal groups to fight terrorism against black people, particulary the KKK (ku klux klan) which had become a big thing after the civil war. He didn't wipe out the kkk, but definitely reduced the numbers which has a huge affect on life for black people now.
Before being president, Ulysses led the Union armies to victory over the Confederacy during the American civil war. Because of this he was considered an American hero and was not long later elected as the 18th president of the United States! After living a wonderful life having helped millions of people, Ulysses sadly passed away on July 23 1855 age 63 of throat cancer.
By: Blossom Santana-Spevick
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US Civil War
Causes of the Civil War:
Slavery
The South relied on slaves to keep the states running efficiently. The Northern abolitionists frowned upon slavery and were able to recognise how wrong it was. The abolitionists believed that slavery should be banned and made illegal across the whole country. This did not sit well with the Southerners who became increasingly concerned that their way of life would end.
Economies
In the Northern states, the economy had changed from agricultural farming to taking on a more industrial approach. Most people in the North preferred to live in large urban cities where they would have a secure job and more busy lifestyles. On the other had, Southern states continued their agrcultral ecomony and relied upon slavery and labour.
Kansas
This was the first state where the were major differences upon opinions about Slavery. In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed which established a vote amongst the people contemplating whether or not Kansas should be a free state or a slave state. Many riots broke out and lots of people were killed. In 1861, Kansas was announced as a free state.
Lincoln
When Lincoln was elected President, many of the Southerners were concerned as Licoln was a part of the anti-slavery Republican Party. Southerners believed that Lincoln’s loyalties lied with the North and that he was against the South. When he was elected President many Southern states believed they were entitled to leave the country and they formed a new one called the Confederate States of America. When Lincoln noticed that these states were all leaving his country thus weakening his power - he decided to send in his soldiers to forcefully stop the states from leaving. This ignited the start of the Civil War and its unrest.
Summary of Events:
In 1861, the Battle of Fort Sumter broke out in South Carolina which marked the start of the Civil War. Within a short period of time, 11 more states including Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Arkansas joined the Confederate States of America. Later that year, Lincoln called for the Union Blockade where he attempted to stop all supplies from entering and leaving the Confederacy which ultimately weakened their strength and power. Between 1861 and 1862, a number of battles broke out between the soldiers from both sides and many casualties and deaths occurred. In 1863, Lincoln introduced the Emancipation Proclamation which freed most slaves from employment and provided the basis for the 13th Amendment which states: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” In 1863, The Battle of Gettysburg was a turning point where the North secured victory and began to win the Civil War. Eventually in 1865, the leader of the Confederate Army, General Robert Lee, surrendered. However a few days later, President Lincoln was assassinated in Ford’s Theatre.
By: Deepa Patel
Underwear
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The leaf loincloth I A bunch of leaves put together by the early men that lived on this planet.
All you have to do is go to a tree and pick its leaves.
The loincloth II The next level of loincloths but this time using animal fur! Use the fur of the animal you hunted down to eat and create this beauty and there’s more than one style to choose from!
Shendyt - The egyptian kilt is an undergarment and outer garment. 2 for the price of 1!
Normally made of cotton. You’ll only be able to buy this if you're rich or the pharaoh otherwise
you’ll have to roam around naked like the other slaves…
Subligaculum and Strophium - Worn in Rome, a loincloth with a fashionable belt around you. Worn by men and women!
The strophium is a piece of leather which goes around a woman’s chest
Shift and braies- This is what would be under a woman’s dress during the middle ages. The men got a soft linen shorts called a braie.
Corset- Worn by men and women during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Made from whalebone. Lifted the breasts and shaped hips.
Codpiece- is a covering flap or pouch that attaches to the front of the crotch of men's trousers.
Very fashionable!
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The Bra - In France, the first modern bra was born, called the corselet gorge. The corset had been split in to two.
The modern knickers had only been invented in the 19th century and the modern pants were created in the 1930s.
By: Henna Nabi
The Underworld in Greek Mythology
The Underworld was the Kingdom of the Dead in Greek Mythology, ruled by the god Hades and his wife Persephone, and it was where the souls of the dead went in the after life.It contained both heaven and hell and was watered by the streams of five rivers (Styx, Acheron ,Cocytus, Phlegethon and Lethe) the Underworld was divided into at least four regions. Tartarus: saved for the worst of criminals ; the Elysian fields, where the best of humanity resided; the Fields of Mourning, for those who were hurt by love; and the Asphodel Meadows, where the ordinary went.
For most part, the underworld wouldn’t have been a very pleasant place, as many ancient authors like Homer, poets like Virgil and philosophers like Plato describe it as no more than a realm where the dead slowly fade into nothing, in preparation for reincarnation.Initially,the Ancient Greeks believed that no matter what one did in one’s past life, all souls ended up in the same place after death. However, this later changed,as according to later authors, they were split into four regions.
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Tartarus,the most famous region, was far below the majority of the Underworld, and was used as the worst of prisons , and the Greeks believed the distance between Tartarus and Hades was the same distance as Earth from Heaven. Tartarus was where the criminals, monsters and gods’ rivals were banished, and the three judges of the Underworld Rhadamanthus, Aeacus and Minos decided who would go to the realm of Hades and who would be banished to Tartarus. It eventually ended up housing the worst of perpetrators , where they were destined to eternally endure punishments to fit their crimes on Earth. Moreover, the majority of the Titans were banished to Tartarus by Zeus , after the Titanomachy( the war between the Titans, the old generation of Greek Gods, and the Olympians ,led by Zeus).
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The Fields of Mourning were reserved for the souls, “whom ruthless love did waste away” and here they, “wander in paths unseen, or in the gloom of dark myrtle grove: not even in death have they forgot their griefs of long ago” according to Virgil in his ‘Aeneid’ . Curiously, only women apparently inhabited the Fields of Mourning, women like Pasiphae; the daughter of the Greek Titan god of the sun,Helios,;sister of the sorceress Circe, wife of the King of Crete, Minos; and Mother to the Minotaur.
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The Asphodel Meadows is the region of the Underworld where indifferent and ordinary souls go after death.It was a plain of Asphodel flowers, which was believed to be the favourite food of the Greek dead.It was also believed that all residents drank from the river of Lethe( a river that anyone drank from,forgot everything) before entering the fields, and would lose their identities, becoming something similar to a machine.This land was also described as one of ‘utter neutrality’. The negative outlook on the Asphodel Meadows was passed down in Ancient Greek culture to encourage militarism, as opposed to inaction, because it was believed that those who took up arms would be rewarded with everlasting joy in the fields of Elysium.
The Elysian Fields or the Isles of the Blessed, was the paradise where the heroes the gods rewarded with immortality, resided. In Homer’s writings, the Elysian Fields was a land of perfect happiness at the ends of Earth, on the banks of Oceanus.This life was free of toils and pains, unlike the other realms of the underworld.
Hades is the Greek deity most closely related to the Underworld, although the Underworld did exist before Hades and the rise of the Olympian gods.Hades only became associated with the Underworld after the Titannomachy, when the sons of Cronus teamed up against their father and the other Titans.After they won, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades had to divide the universe to see what they would each rule.Zeus got heaven and Earth, Poseidon had the world’s waters, and Hades got the Underworld and the Afterlife , the Underworld is often referred to as Hades.
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The Greeks also believed there was a journey the soul took after death… Upon death, the soul was taken and led by the Olympian Hermes near the entrance of the Underworld.The soul would be greeted with a boat that took them across either the Styx or the Acheron.This boat was rowed by Charon, the infernal boatman tasked with taking souls to the Underworld; but only those who could pay with coins(obols) were granted passage, and the rest were left trapped between the two worlds. This was a common belief in ancient Greek culture, and when someone died, they would be buried with obols on their eyes,or under their tongues.After the boat ride, the souls enter through the gates of the Underworld.These gates were guarded by the three-headed dog Cerberus, or the “hound of Hades”. Cerberus let everyone through, but ensured that no one ever left. Next, the souls would appear in front of a panel of three judges: Rhadamanthus, Minos, and Aecus. These three judges decided which region the souls would go to ,based on their deeds in their mortal life; and most were sentenced to the Asphodel Meadows.
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Hades and the dead souls weren’t the only inhabitants of the Underworld,there were also many strange creatures, deities, spirits and demi-gods. His ‘bride’, Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter that Hades abducted, joined him in the Underworld for half of the year . Three kings , Minos,Aeacus, and Rhadamanthus ( the three judges) also lived in the Underworld.The goddess of magic and witchcraft, Hecate; the god of darkness ,Erebus; the goddess of the night, Nyx; Thanatos, the god of death; and Hypnos the god of sleep also lived in the Underworld. The Erinyes(the Furies); Charon, the ferryman; and Cerberus the “hound of Hades” also lived in the Underworld.
By: Sophie Lea
United Kingdom
Origins of the U.K.:
The first instances of a leader ruling over more than one piece of land can be found all the way back in the 10th Century, under the rule of Anglo-Saxon king Athelstan. Effectively, he ruled over all of England (or ‘Englaland’, meaning ‘land of the Angles’ as it was known during the Middle Ages) by combining the (forced) loyalty of neighbouring Celtic kingdoms together. This made him the ruler over each of these kingdoms, which, together, made up a large portion of the country at the time.
By the 16th Century, Wales was united with Britain through two ‘Acts of Union’ documents published and officiated in 1536 and 1542. Previously a group of Celtic Kingdoms, now Wales was part of Britain and its laws and policies were shared between them - justices of the peace were installed to help enforce this ‘one rule’ policy.
In 1707, Scotland was also united with Britain (formally, on paper, as it had technically been ruled remotely from London for a while).
With all three countries joined together, they were brought under the umbrella term of the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain’.
The final ‘Act of Union’ was completed in 1800, when Ireland came under (again, formal) British rule. However, like Scotland, Ireland had been ruled by Britain for many years up until this point - since the 1600s, in fact.
Northern Ireland - Divisions and Tensions:
Ever since Ireland came under British rule in the 1600s, there have been tensions boiling between the two nations. There is a split between those who prefer sovereignty (allegiance) to Britain, and like being a part of one, unified nation. On the other hand, there are people who prefer independence, separation from Britain, and instead being their own nation.
The Republic of Ireland has been independent since 1922 after a War of Independence broke out and ceasefire negotiations were made between the countries to prevent more deaths and fighting in the future.
More recently, in the 20th Century, was the 30 year conflict that was dubbed ‘The Troubles’, between the two opposing ideological ‘factions’ mentioned above (the unionists/loyalists and nationalists/republicans). It slowly turned into a guerilla war, with the leading extremist party, the IRA (Irish Republican Army) committing acts of terrorism in order to put forward their views about Irish nationalism.
One of the major spikes in tension during ‘The Troubles’ was ‘Bloody Sunday’ (30th January 1972), where 26 unarmed, Catholic civil rights protestors were gunned down by British paratroopers. A later report showed that the protestors did not ‘pose a threat’ to the armed forces and that the killings were completely ‘unjustified’.
In 1998, the ‘Good Friday’ agreement was created in order to stop the conflict and civilian deaths that had been growing enormously in the 30 years since ‘The Troubles’ started. Voted in a referendum in Northern and the Republic of Ireland, the overwhelming consensus was that the fighting must stop. However, the IRA violated the terms of the agreement with the Omagh bombing, before finally conceding, disarming in December of 1999.
By: Beau Waddell