This Day in History January 22, 1779

I knew nothing of this character until this morning.  Tory outlaw Claudius Smith was born in 1736 in New York.  His nickname was "Cowboy of the Ramapos" due to his use of guerilla tactics against patriots.  It was no secret that his loyalties were with the Tory party, and it does appear that he terrorized many citizens in New York during the Revolutionary War.  His four sons and Mohawk Indian chief Joseph Brant were also on his side.

It does appear that he did not ever kill anyone, but one of his men reportedly did--Major Nathaniel Strong.  New York Governor George Clinton posted a reward of $1200 for his capture.  He was hanged on this date in 1779.  What's the reason for the Robin Hood silhouette?  Many saw him as being kind to the poor and attacking the rich. The legend goes that his skull was filled with mortar and included in the edifice of the Goshen Court House.

For more information:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~frederick/docs/CSmithfact&fiction.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudius_Smith
http://echoesfromthepast.wordpress.com/2013/01/22/january-22-this-day-in-history/

This Day in History June 19, 1953

I found this story interesting in light of all the terrorism and secret sharing issues going on in this country today.  It was on this date in 1953 that Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed.  They had been tried and convicted of passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union.  They claimed innocence even to the point of their execution.

There was much public debate as a result of this conviction and sentence.  Many spoke out against it, and many believed that they were victims of a government who was scared of Communism.  Indeed, this was a period of our history where McCarthyism and the Red Scare was prevalent.  I don't honestly know enough about the case to make a decision about whether they were innocent or guilty.

In my opinion, I don't know if execution in this case was right.  I struggle with giving the death sentence to those convicted of treason.  And Ethel Rosenberg's brother only served ten years in prison for doing the same thing (but he testified against his sister and brother-in-law).  Regardless, it happened, and it is a fact of our history.  There is evidence that they were involved in espionage and passing secrets, but I have no doubt a court case like this would have even happened in this day and age.

For more information, please check out:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/rosenbergs-executed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_and_Ethel_Rosenberg
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/1953/jun/20/usa.fromthearchive

This Day in History May 13, 1497

I am not trying to post tragedies--honestly.  But this one caught my attention.  When people are executed for speaking against the church, I always find myself reading the story with interest.  There were so many.  Here goes.

Girolamo Savomarola is the man pictured above.  He was an Italian Dominican friar (his outfit may have given you an inkling of this).  He was born September 21, 1452, and he initially pursued a career in medicine (following the footsteps of his grandfather).  On April 25, 1475, he made the decision to enter the convent, and he reportedly told his father that he wanted to become a knight of Christ.

The focus of his career was Florence, Italy, and the main tenets of his sermons were that the church needed reform.  He was tired of seeing the excesses of sin inside and outside of the church.  And in 1497, he and his followers burned a lot of these things including fine Renaissance paintings--The Bonfire of Vanities.  He was also vocal about his beliefs.  He spoke about what it really meant to be a Christian and that "tepid" Christians in the church were undermining it.  He also said that Christians needed to love their neighbor as the Bible admonished them to.

It was on this date in 1497 that the Pope excommunicated Savomarola, and it was but a short time later (May 23) that he and his two cronies were tried, found guilty of heresy, hanged and burned till death.  I am always horrified when I read of things like this in history happening.  That a church would put people to death because they chose to speak out against the corrupt church!  I am pretty sure that when I get to heaven, I will see this blessed friar.  He spoke the truth, and the Catholic church could not handle it!

For more information, please check out:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/525815/Girolamo-Savonarola/6450/Trial-and-execution
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Girolamo_Savonarola
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girolamo_Savonarola

This Day in History October 16, 1946

This event I will cover tonight is very somber.  I am sure there are those who would not agree with what action was taken, but I have to admit that I feel it was justified.  When heinous crimes are committed, I am in favor of the ultimate punishment but only when those being executed have been proven guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt.  I do realize that people are sometimes executed in error, but I cannot say that is the case here.

On this day in 1946, ten Nazi War criminals were executed.  The International War Crimes Tribunal had found all ten guilty but two weeks before. The trial had taken roughly ten months, and it was the first trial of its kind in history.  The defendants faced various charges including crimes against peace, crimes of war, and crimes against humanity.

Of the ten that were to be hanged, Herman Goering (one of the leaders) took a cyanide capsule the evening before the execution.  The other nine were executed systematically and quickly. I won't go into details here--if you are interested, you can check out the links at the end of the post.

The horrors that the Nazi party carried out during WWII under the direction of Hitler always anger me.  I don't think I will ever grow callous when I hear the stories.  I still find myself becoming quite emotional whenever I speak of it in a classroom, hear a story, or watch a movie about that time period.  I know that each period of human history has its horrific events, and this was definitely the worst during the 1930's and 1940's--at least as far as the Western World goes.

My earliest memories of the Holocaust stories were when I was in seventh grade.  I was one of the few students who skipped a year in math.  I was taking Algebra instead of Pre-Algebra.  We had a phenomenal teacher, and the school was preparing to go on a field trip to the Holocaust museum.  He prepared us by showing us video footage of the Holocaust.  I will never forget the black and white scenes that showed mass graves and bodies being shoveled into these mass graves.  I can see it crystal clear even as I type this.

I can only hope and pray that we learned something from what happened during WWII.  I sometimes worry that since our students are not learning very much about what happened in history that they may be doomed to repeat it.  But at least I can be encouraged that the majority of students I teach know who Hitler was and are somewhat familiar with what he did.  And they believe that what he did was wrong.  Maybe there is hope??  Of course, there is.  There is one Person who can solve the mess in which our world now finds herself!

If you are interested, check out these links:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nazi-war-criminals-executed
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/nurembergcont.htm