St. Louis Riots

[LongBlade]

A couple of thoughts.

A few years back I remember seeing some kind of docudrama about a book that apparently had quite an influence on Abraham Lincoln. If I'm not mistaken it's James Riley's Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce:

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/27786655?uid=2&uid=4&sid=21104871906051

https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=-Q9FAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA18

http://www.amazon.com/Authentic-Narrative-Loss-American-Commerce-ebook/dp/B00BF2YXEQ

The docudrama explained how this ship was lost off the coast of North Africa, the crew enslaved, and how horrifically treated the survivors were treated. It is almost beyond description.

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Way back when, I dated a German girl for a time. At some point in our many conversations I remember her explaining to me that Slavs were called so because they at some point had been slaves.

I have no idea whether this story has any merit, but I did find it interesting. I doubt it's true, but it could be one of those things that might have a grain of truth.

Or not.

[Gusington]

I have read that same thing many times. As a jew of slavic background I feel some connection to that. Now gimme my reparations!

[BanzaiCat]

I have read that same thing many times. As a jew of slavic background I feel some connection to that. Now gimme my reparations!

You have far closer a claim for reparations than I. I don't know how the Potato Famine affected my family, but clearly Irish governmental incompetence caused this mass migration to America in the late 1800s, so I'm expecting my check in the mail any day, now. What do the Irish use for money, anyway? Four leaf clovers? Empty beer bottles? My own people and I don't know...

[JasonPratt]

I'm pretty sure the "Slav" thing was the other way around. Sort of like the Berbers being called Berbers.

Epic retort, Star!  O0

It might be even better if they insist that the Egyptians at the time must have been black because "Africans" are always black, right? SO WHO WAS ENSLAVING AND GENOCIDING WHOM BACK THEN!?  ::)

My family on my mother's side (English/Irish immigrants who helped settle West TN) definitely owned slaves.  :-[ Her grandfather was alive back then, so that wasn't many generations ago. The log cabin they lived in, like a lot of log cabins in this part of the country (not all for slaves of course, most date back farther than that), is buried in an equipment shed: people built on top of the log cabins until we have houses today which look like they date from around the 50s (because they do) and the owners may not even realize there's a log cabin inside the house somewhere!

I doubt my Dad's side of the family ever owned slaves -- they were immigrants from France, maybe near the Germanic border areas. ("Pratt" has linguistic connections to the English word "prattle" which must be from the pre-English Germanic language group. Amusingly, my mother's father was from a family of "Reed"s. "Reed" and "pratt" mean basically the same thing, tall stiff grass!  Thus the clacking sound of the seed pods at the top of the marsh reeds became a metaphor for jabbering on, or prattling, AND YES I GET THE IRONY IN THAT THANK YOU!  ::)  :)) )

[BanzaiCat]

Goodness, JP. I have no idea to what you're referring to.  ;D

[Ubercat]

A couple of thoughts.

A few years back I remember seeing some kind of docudrama about a book that apparently had quite an influence on Abraham Lincoln. If I'm not mistaken it's James Riley's Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce:

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/27786655?uid=2&uid=4&sid=21104871906051

https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=-Q9FAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA18

http://www.amazon.com/Authentic-Narrative-Loss-American-Commerce-ebook/dp/B00BF2YXEQ

The docudrama explained how this ship was lost off the coast of North Africa, the crew enslaved, and how horrifically treated the survivors were treated. It is almost beyond description.

----------

Way back when, I dated a German girl for a time. At some point in our many conversations I remember her explaining to me that Slavs were called so because they at some point had been slaves.

I have no idea whether this story has any merit, but I did find it interesting. I doubt it's true, but it could be one of those things that might have a grain of truth.

Or not.

The Ukrainians and Russians were a big source of slaves for centuries before Peter the Great finally brought the Crimean Tatars in line. At one point there were so many Slavic rowers on Ottoman galleys (the Tatars biggest customer), that a western diplomat in Constantinople once asked if there were any left in their own country.

Moscow paid tribute to the Crimeans for years which was supposed to stop the raids, but it never quite seemed to work. When Peter captured Azov and then put an impressive fleet into that tiny sea, the Sultan was so impressed that he formally acquiesced to Peters refusal to pay any more tribute to the Khan (his vassal) in the treaty of Constantinople.

[GDS_Starfury]

the treaty of Constantinople.

Istanbul  ;)

[Ubercat]

Apparently it was still being called Constantinople at that point, at least by westerners.

[GDS_Starfury]

I know but I find it funny. 

[BanzaiCat]

Been a long time gone, Constantinople; why did Constantinople get the works? That's nobody's business but the Tuuuurrrrrrks...

[Gusington]

Why they changed it I'll never know. And all that.

[JasonPratt]

(...and boobs are finally introduced to this thread via belly dancing to the "Istanbul not Constantinople" reference in 3... 2...)

[GDS_Starfury]

dont be a turkey, this is to serious for boobs.  ankara you see that.

[BanzaiCat]

Gasp

NOTHING is too serious for bewbs!

[JasonPratt]

^^ That is some impressive editing in that gif, btw! Every time I think I've figured out where the loop starts, I watch it again and decide I'm wrong.

And again. And again. And again...