Daily US History

August 21 is the anniversary of the start of Nat Turner's slave rebellion in 1831. This is perhaps the most famous slave rebellion in US history. Although unsuccessful, it sent waves of fear through the US. Even today, the shock of black slaves rising against their masters is present in historical records, as the vast majority emphasise the violence of the uprising.

The reasons for the uprising I believe are quite clear. The plan was to kill white people indiscriminately for a few days, in the hopes of sparking enough fear in the slavers that more black slaves would rally to their cause. After an atmospheric event that caused the sun to change colour, they took it as a sign, and Nat Turner and about 40 other men began the revolution. The first night, they slaughtered the slaver families living at three plantations. But unfortunately, their recruitment efforts were mostly unsuccessful. The next day, news of the revolt had caused the slavers to flee to the woods, and the militia was called in. Due to overwhelming numbers and firepower, the revolt was quickly crushed after killing only a few dozen slavers.

The slavers were indeed shocked by this, and throughout the country, slavers would take out their fears on their own slaves. Hundreds were killed. The surviving slaves from the rebellion were quickly put to death by what the US calls their "justice" system. Nat Turner himself was butchered like an animal, and by some reports, his skin was tanned and used as leather to make handbags and other items.

The legal system was also updated to make education of black people illegal, further restricting the activities that slaves could take part in, and easing the path to re-enslaving black people. The surviving slavers petitioned the government for repayment for the loss of their "property" after the executions. Propaganda was issued to detail the benevolence and "positive good" of slavery.

There were some movements at this time to end slavery. Genocidal US president Andrew Jackson described them as "monsters who should atone with their lives". The United States still features this man on their $20 bill at the time of this writing.

Media reporting of the incident:

Mr. Travis, cruelly murdered by his own Slaves

August 20 is the anniversary of the start of the investigation into journalist Daniel Schorr in 1973. The corrupt dictator Richard Nixon had assembled a list of political enemies, and today was the day that Daniel Schorr ("a real media enemy") was set to receive his dose of "use of the available federal machinery to screw [with Nixon's] political enemies."

Schorr had drawn Nixon's ire through reporting of inconvenient truths about the government and the US' many social problems. After Nixon's order, the FBI began an investigation to try to dig up some dirt under the cover of a background check for consideration of a government position. Eventually this obviously lie was uncovered, but the administration reframed it as a one off miscommunication, and eventually managed to sweep it under the rug. Aside from some additional embarrasment for Richard Nixon during the Watergate incident, nobody in government paid any sort of price for this.

Daniel Schorr was fired from CBS a few years later after revealing additional crimes committed by the FBI, CIA, and NSA. There's a shorter analysis published by The Village Voice

It's a very good read, but I want to highlight two paragraphs:

It may surprise some to discover that the largest single category of covert activity concerned tampering with free elections around the world. These election operations make up a full 32 percent of the covert action projects approved by the Forty Committee since 1965. The report says the operations usually mean “providing some form of financial election support to foreign parties and individuals. Such support could be negative as well as positive.” Most of the money has gone to developing countries and generally “to incumbent moderate party leaders and heads of state.” One “Third World leader” received $960,000 over a 14-year period.

The second largest covert action category is “media and propaganda.” The committee found that 29 percent of the covert projects approved by the Forty Committee fell under this heading. The report says: “Activities have included support of friendly media, major propaganda efforts, insertion of articles into the local press, and distribution of books and leaflets. By far the largest single recipient has been a European publishing house funded since 1951.… About 25 percent of the program has been directed at the Soviet Bloc, in the publication and clandestine import and export of Western and Soviet dissident literature.”

Over 50% of the CIA budget is spent on lying to the people of the world. All of this is a clear showing of the corrupt (and often hilariously incompetent) regime's repression of the media in order to serve its own interest and preserve its own power. The truth is the enemy. Those who expose their lies are removed, and buried under more lies as the lies are quickly forgotten and forgiven by their flag waving populace.

August 19 is the anniversary of the Grattan Fight in 1854. This was the starting point for the first of a series of wars that would take place over the next few decades, killing countless thousands of native peoples. To this date, the Sioux people had been willing to coexist peacefully with the invading forces.

The war begins with a mormon wagon train passing through Lakota territory the day before. One of their cows was lame, and fell behind. A Sioux warrior by the name of "High Forehead" found the animal, and since food was scarce due to the influx of white settlers, slaughtered the animal and fed the tribe. Fearing that the racist government would use it as an excuse to make life even worse, Chief Conquering Bear reported the event to the military fort, and offered a horse or a mule as reparation for the theft. As was the treaty procedure for situations like this, the local Indian Agent was summoned to negotiate a deal.

However, before the Indian Agent could arrive, Lt. Grattan of the US military insisted upon illegally arresting High Forehead personally. The commanding officer gave his approval, and 31 men were dispatched with artillery support and perhaps the most racist, drunk, and unqualified interpretter that could be found. Upon arrival in the village, Grattan treated the Sioux with contempt, and demanded that High Forehead be turned over. Chief Conquering Bear knew that the army had no jurisdiction per the Horse Creek Treaty and refused. Negotiations continued at gunpoint until one of Grattan's men shot someone. Chief Conquering Bear still tried to maintain the peace, but he was mortally wounded and the US artillery opened fire. All 31 fascists and their racist interpretter were swiftly killed. Grattan was later identified by his pocket watch.

The US government framed this as an unprovoked massacre committed by the natives, and vowed revenge. The Lakota went to war. This would lead to more bloodshed and misery for the Lakota people and more broken treaties that I will talk about in other days. In modern times this is framed as an unfortunate incident that happened because hungry people ate a sick cow. But given the long history of broken treaties and ethnic cleansing from the American government, I think this would have happened anyway. I wrote about the Second Sioux War and the Sell or Starve Act earlier.

August 18 is the anniversary of Operation Starlite in 1965. It was the first major offensive attack on North Vietnam from the imperialist forces in South Vietnam. The battle lasted for days, and hundreds were killed on both sides.

This marked the official beginning of a decades long war that would kill millions of Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian people The vast majority of them civilians. The US dropped more bombs on Laos alone than all the ordinance expended in World War II. These bombs are still killing people to this day. During the war, the fact that Laos was attacked at all was concealed from the American people.

The war started because US was concerned with communist ideology spreading, and sought to forcibly stop it at gunpoint. Vietnam was recently liberated from French colonial rule, and was in turmoil. The Americans knew that if there were an election in Vietnam, the communists would win by a landslide. In order to prevent such an election from happening, they falsely claimed that the North Vietnamese had attacked them in International Waters, and deployed troops to prop up the illegitimate and dictatorial South Vietnamese government.

Millions of people were murdered due to the US regime's dogmatic hatred of communism.

August 17 is the anniversary of the start of The Dakota War in 1862. This is one of the worst instances of the many genocides in US history.

The US government had forced the Dakota people onto a reservation in Minnesota and the US government had agreed to supply food and money in exchange for keeping the peace. The US then started sending settlers there, which destroyed the Dakota's hunting grounds. When the US Civil War broke out, the US government stopped sending food to the Dakota.

Faced with starvation and no means to feed themselves, on August 17, a group of Dakota hunters stole eggs from a white settler, and bloodshed ensued. Since reprisals were likely anyway, and dying fighting is better than starving quietly, the Dakota rose up. The war was quick, only lasting a few weeks before US militia groups had won.

Afterward is where it really gets messy. After a series of show trials, the US held the largest mass execution in its history. The men, women, and children who weren't executed outright spent years imprisoned in terrible conditions, causing hundreds of more deaths. And just to be sure, being Dakota in Minnesota was made illegal, and a bounty was placed on the head of every Dakota.

"The state reward for dead Indians has been increased to $200 for every red-skin sent to Purgatory. The sum is more than all the dead bodies of all the Indians east of the Red River are worth."

August 16 was the day that House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) began hearings on anti-Vietnam War protestors in 1966. The idea was that anti-war protestors were providing aid to the Viet Cong, which would be very unamerican and therefore very bad.

This was clearly an attack on political dissident, but in this case it has a happy ending. The Progressive Labour Party staged a massive protest in response. There were at least 17 arrests for disorderly conduct, but the hearing was sufficiently disrupted to the extent that the HUAC never held a public hearing again.

Of course we all know that anti-war protestors are still very much a target for the warmongering regime. But on this day, the people won.

August 15 marks the day that the Sell or Starve Act was signed in 1876. This law required the Sioux people to give up their claims to the Black Hills, or they would be denied food rations. As the Sioux were no longer allowed to live their traditional lifestyle, this would mean starvation.

In 1868, the US government had signed a treaty giving complete control over the area to the tribes in the area. When the famously genocidal General Custer discovered gold in the area, white settlers flocked to the area to mine for gold. The US army violated the treaty and protected the white settlers from reprisal. This finally resulted in the famous Battle of Little Bighorn, which is still a point of pride in native peoples today. General Custer was on his way to massacre a native village, but they were ambushed and every man was killed.

The genocidal government reacted by passing the Sell or Starve act. In February of the following year, they seized the land. The Sioux people still fight for the return of their land to this day. The land is sacred and they demand that the US government cede it back to them as was originally agreed. The courts have awarded them billions in damage, but the Sioux have unanimously refused to collect this money.

August 14 marks the day that the Second Seminole War was declared finished in 1842. It was a war fought by a coalition of native peoples and black slaves against the US government for their freedom and sovereignty. The seeds were set when United States had acquired Florida from the Spanish in 1821. Many native peoples had moved to Florida to escape the USA, and when black slaves had fled there, they were given their freedom by the Spanish. These groups became known as Seminoles (runaways).

When the white settlers moved in, they demanded that something be done about having to live next to . At first they were rounded up and forced onto a reservation (in the first Seminole war). After the passing of the Indian Removal Act the US broke their treaty and demanded that the Seminoles vacate the territory for white settlers. They refused to go. They found allies in the plantation slaves and rose up.

The war went on for over 6 years. They burned plantations and they slaughtered their former owners and oppressors. But in the end, the strength of the invaders was just too strong. The US was forcibly relocating prisoners, and numbers were dwindling. The US then started attacking hidden villages and crops in an attempt to starve the remainder out. It worked. When numbers dropped low enough, the US called a truce, offering to let the remaining Seminoles stay on an unofficial Florida reservation. Most took the offer, and the war was unilaterally declared to be over by the US military. Of course the oppressive US regime would again not keep their word, but that's a story for another day.

August 13 is the anniversary of the Brownsville Raid (AKA Brownsville Affair or Brownsville Massacre) in 1906.

The 25th Infantry Regiment was an all-black military regiment of 167 people which had recently been stationed in the town of Brownsville, Texas. The white residents were less than pleased about having black soldiers living in their town. On the night of the 13th, a local bartender was shot and killed. The racist townspeople accused the black soldiers.

Despite the commander of the regiment vouching for his soldiers and there being no evidence of any the regiment's weapons being used, their commander in chief, the war criminal Theodore Roosevelt chose to give every man in the unit a dishonourable discharge without trial. The white populace was pleased, and the matter was buried.

Due to the work of historian John Weaver, the incident was revisited in the 1970s. The US Army reversed all charges, and gave the sole survivor of the unit (Dorsie Willis) a cheque for $25,000. He died three years later. His comrades did not even get that much.

August 12 is the anniversary of The Forced Annexation of Hawaii in 1898. This was a mere 5 years after a successful coup against the Hawaiian government. Not a long time, but long enough to ban the native Hawaiian language and imprison their former queen for treason. The US now wanted to annex it to aid in their attempts at acquiring Spanish colonies in the Pacific. On this day, the Hawaiian flag was replaced with the US flag, marking the end of any possibility to restore the rightfully elected Hawaiian government.

The racist American regime issued an apology for their actions in 1993, but made no meaningful changes. Hawaii is still occupied to this day, and the Hawaiian people are a minority in their own homeland, which is now a playground for the wealthy.