Daily Archives: February 9, 2022

If your early history education was anything like mine, we didnt learn much about the transatlantic slave trade before college. It was a Very Bad Thing that operated in a triangular fashion, that was made clear, but pedagogically speaking the late 18th through mid-19th century was little more than the quick intake of breath between weeks of waxing rhapsodic on wars for the soul of the nation. Past the ratification of the Constitution, there might be a little Monroe Doctrine here, some slavery and abolition there, occasional forays into the Second Great Awakening and Seneca Falls, but generally the nearly six-decade intermission between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars never seemed to merit more than a few hours of hasty overview.

However briefly, the slave trade did at least come up regularly, or at least biannually, usually in the form of a short reading about the Middle Passage. The images of abolitionist literature that accompanied this homework were likewise perennial: an enslaved man begging his freedom, chained, kneeling, a supplicant (aka Josiah Wedgwoods Am I not a man and a brother) or neatly diagrammed cross-sections of hand-drawn boats, their precise outlines filled to bleeding over with hundreds of cramped Black figures rendered small enough to stay abstractions. Less often, all of this was accompanied by a date, 1808, the year legislation banning U.S. participation in the international slave trade went into effect, the very earliest moment the Constitution would allow. I got my Black American history at home, but if someone had asked Young Me a question as simple on its face as when the slave trade ended, I would have somewhat confidently guessed 1808.

Much has been written detailing what students in the United States dont learn about slavery and the slave trade in school. In our contentious educational landscape, speculating on how history curricula might be reimagined to explicitly discuss the transatlantic tradeboth as context for U.S. slavery and in its own rightmight sound indulgent, or outright laughable. But feasibility can be a dangerous metric. It has the power to replace what ought to be done with individual perceptions of, and limitations on, what can be done. It's the cudgel of the status quo, beating back those who are willing to imagine a different world.

In 1808, ending the United States de facto participation in the transatlantic slave trade wasnt feasible. And it certainly wasnt the end of the transatlantic slave trade, in the U.S. or anywhere else.

There was plenty of political support for the new law, passed in 1807. Most states had banned the international slave trade decades earlier when they were still colonies in revoltby this time South Carolina was the only state that permitted it. For over a decade, ships flying American colors had been prohibited from engaging in the trade. Despite being an enslaver himself, addressing a body filled with plenty more, in 1806 President Jefferson had urged Congress to end the violations of human rights that was the international slave trade as quickly as allowed, acknowledging that, although no law you may pass can take prohibitory effect till [sic] the first day [of 1808], yet the intervening period is not too long to prevent, by timely notice, expeditions which cannot be completed before that day.

If that seems optimistic, it was. Though subsequent legislation would build on and strengthen the 1807 act, adding teeth to policy one law at a time was slow going, and those who couldnt envision a way of life or economic system without enslavement continued trafficking. The international trade in the enslaved to the United States persisted, illicitly, and sharply increased in the decade before 1860. Though building slave ships had been illegal since 1794, the Chesapeake region, particularly in and around Baltimore, was a ready supplier of the best slave ships on the water until at least the 1820s. And even without unlawful international slave trading, the United States maintained an extensive, remorseless domestic slave trade until the Civil War.

Not entirely effective then, and also not firstDenmark abolished the slave trade in 1792, though they opted to gradually phase it out so as not to disrupt colonial plantation economies in the West Indies, meaning the restriction didnt take full effect until 1803. This unlikely pair of early adopters did share one quality, thoughthey both understood that while slave trading was certainly profitable, it was nothing compared to the potential of slave breeding.

And that, at least in the United States, is where cotton comes in.

Harvesting the quintessential crop of U.S. slavery was backbreaking, incredibly onerous work, but sugar, the commodity that ruled plantations in southern Louisiana and farther south throughout the Caribbean and Americas, provided a litany of ways to die. The most vicious driver was arguably not a man in a field, but figures in a distant ledger; sugar planters found it both expedient and profitable to simply accept the maiming, burning, and dying and budget for replacement labor accordingly. (Under the plantation system, the average life expectancy for an enslaved sugar mill worker was seven years, and harvesting remains dangerous work today). Sugar production was also frequently, though not exclusively, regarded as mens work. This perception, alongside the rapid turnover required by all the untimely death and sustained by the ongoing import of the enslaved, created massive gender imbalances on most sugar producing plantations.

By contrast, most states produced cotton, not sugar. Enslavement still murdered untold numbers in the U.S.; it just wasnt producing cotton that killed them. Harvesting and processing cotton did not carry the same risks as sugar, nor was it thought to require exclusively (or even majority) male labor. A balanced enslaved population enabled the United States to maintain and expand its enslaved population through natural increase, meaning that even reproduction rates reduced by the conditions of enslavement were such that a once-trafficked labor force had become self-sustaining. What the blandness of the phrase obscures is a system in which enslaved reproduction was frequently anything but naturalreadily coerced, often forced, and yes, bred. Add to this (a rather tortured interpretation of) the English legal principle of partus sequitur ventrem that which is born follows the wombmeaning in the United States, enslaved women passed their status as human chattel to their infants and, well, no imports required.

Over the course of two and a half centuries British slave traders trafficked well over 3 million enslaved people, second only to Portugal and Brazil combined.

Natural increase wasnt happening for European empires and their increasingly fractious colonial holdingsat least not those whose coffers relied on the production of sugarand many within the planter class wholeheartedly believed they would never, could never, afford to give up enslaved labor. Towards the end of the 18th century, as abolitionist campaigns in Britain surged, slave traders and profiteers in Spain and colonial Cuba, Portugal, and colonial Brazil, even Jamaica, Englands most profitable slaving colony, likely assumed that though a few small reforms to satisfy the rabble-rousers might be forthcoming, not much would fundamentally change.

Though the English werent the first transatlantic slave tradersthat dubious distinction belongs to Prince Henry the Navigator and the Portugueseby the end of the 1700s, they had become the most prolific. John Hawkins ushered England into the slave market in the mid-1500s, snagging a knighthood from Elizabeth I in the process, and over the course of the next two and a half centuries British slave traders trafficked well over 3 million enslaved people, second only to Portugal and Brazil combined. By the beginning of the 1800s, the value added by the slave trade likely exceeded a tenth of the entire British economy. And yet, in 1807, Britain banned the slave trade. If Denmark and the United States, whom Britain slips between in the order of slave trade abolition, were comparatively small players whose shifts lacked much worldwide market impact, Britain was quite the opposite. Despite the timingthe empires ban went into effect little more than a half a year before its former coloniesthe two nations could not have arrived at the new policy more differently.

Nineteenth century African liberation, as conceived of by the British and emulated elsewhere, was not a freedom project.

The English campaign for slave trade abolition was a contentious, prolonged, and grassroots affair. Beginning in the late 1700s, a diverse coalition of British abolitionists used everything from boycotts, petitions, bills, anti-slavery literature, even the 18th century version of data analytics to try to turn the tide against this vast, inexorable, and well-funded oppression. Winning the legislative battle in 1807 didnt effectively stop the trade; those unwilling to outright defy the law could still profit indirectly. Though the quantity of British slave ships dropped precipitously, they were soon replaced by ships from nations that scrupled less, or not at all. The money was just too good.

Passionate anti-slavery advocates and the policymakers theyd (somewhat) successfully convinced found themselves strangely and suddenly united. Those who believed the trade was a moral wrong and those, less high-minded, motivated by economic concerns agreed that the deed was done and that having given up the British market share in slave trading, other nations should be encouraged to do likewise. If Britain couldnt have a slave trade, nobody could.

Enforcing the law fell to the Royal Navyturns out, for the slave trade to stop, someone had to actually stop slavers. The U.S. ban had authorized their Navy to detain slavers, but there it ended; the States wouldnt even authorize a suppression force until 1819. By contrast, the British had two ships off the African coast within months of their 1807 ban and wished them happy hunting. British ships in the Caribbean didnt even have to be sent patrolling for slavers, as their station was already a major battleground in the Napoleonic Wars. The conflict was the perfect pretext, as slavers flying enemy colors could be boarded and captured under the rules of war.

Of course wars, even wars against Napoleon, do eventually end, and in the wake of Waterloo in 1815, Britain was left with a problem: It didnt actually have the right to board foreign ships, as doing so during peace time was a possible prelude right back to war. The Royal Navy could still detain ships under British colors, but what about everyone else? The Congress of Vienna, begun in November the previous year, presaged years of inducements, cajoling, and threats on the part of Britain to obtain the right to detain, inspect, and condemn slavers, no matter what their country of origin, all while the Royal Navy continued to patrol. The crux was the right of search, the right to police the seas, and though both France and the U.S., still fresh from wars with England, refused outright, treaties would emerge between Britain and an increasing number of countries. Armed with these agreements, a squadron made up of six to eight Royal Navy vesselsand, when those often proved too slow to keep up with their quarry, supplemented by repurposed slave shipseventually coalesced along the coast of Western Africa, a place so inexorably tied up with the trade that it had for centuries simply been known as the Slave Coast.

Suppression still took decades of work on multiple fronts. Support for active suppression from England, though still vocal, waned over the years in the face of the trades seeming indefatigabilitymillions of pounds had been thrown at the problem, the lives of British sailors had been lost, and for what? Crucially, by the mid-19th century, efforts to dismantle the trade coincided with the rise of scientific racism in Europe, and though Britain would treat with some European powers (and the U.S.) as equals, using remuneration to lure the more cash-strapped empires of continental Europe into compliance, there was little compunction about deploying embargo and naval blockade when newly-formed states in the Americas or the leaders of African tribal nations did not comply. By the 1850s, thanks to renewed effort and a hodgepodge of treaties and agreements (both mutual and unilateral) with British hands all over them, the international slave trade could be said to no longer exist on the industrial scale of the previous few centuries, though it did continue on a smaller scale until the first multilateral general treaty to suppress the slave trade was signed in 1890 at the Brussels Conference.

There was no mechanism of enforcement in this new agreement, but other disruptive elements were at play. By the late 19th century, the Scramble for Africathe partitioning of nearly the entire continent between seven European powers (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Britain)was on, and though each of these nations would approve the Brussels Act, the overarching concern of these signatories was less human rights and more colonial might. Its not entirely bleak: Some historians have sourced the origins of the United Nations to the Brussels Conference and found the foundations of international human rights law in the international courts convened to adjudicate the fate of captured slave ships. And what we now think of as the transatlantic slave trade did, ultimately, end. However, the moral ambivalence, the racism, and the greed shared by colonialist powers would ultimately bring nations divided by the battle over continuing the licit slave trade into consensus, patting themselves on the collective back for exploiting the resources and residents of Africa without the expedient of chains.

Its difficult to fathom how men made rich by enslaved people assumed others were keen to give the practice up.

Its not surprising, really, that suppression paved the way for modern colonialism; 19th century African liberation, as conceived of by the British and emulated elsewhere, was not a freedom project. In fact, during the first half of the 1800s, at the height of suppression, those liberated by British suppression efforts soon found that they were actually recaptives, neither technically owned nor free to leave. Their choices if liberated in then-British colony Sierra Leone were resettlement in the colony to be assigned farms or menial work, conscription into a segregated regiment of the Royal Marines (for the men), and apprenticeship. The unfortunates slated for apprenticeship were shipped to where theyd been headed when the British captured their slaver-prisonsthe Caribbean. Held for a term not to exceed fourteen years and often longer, apprenticeship ruthlessly extended the lag between freedom promised and freedom delivered, and these apprentices toiled and died in the sugar cane fields of Britains island holdings until the system was abolished in 1838, five years after slavery was abolished in most of the empire and persisted elsewhere even longer. (In 1833 the British government passed a slavery ban that in 1837 also threw appeasement money at enslavers to compensate them for their losses, passing the bill to British taxpayers, who finally paid it off in 2015.)

So when did the slave trade end? Speaking broadly, the international slave trade never ended. It was driven underground, it changed and evolved and made some geographic shifts, but the trade in non-free people continues to this day.

Looking specifically to the transatlantic slave trade, it depends on how you measure results: by the standards of the treaty-makers or the exploited, according to the law or to realitybut it definitely wasnt 1808. Understanding that the slave trade did not magically disappear with the flick of a few quills and the snap of (American) fingers helps illuminate the long legacy of that oppression, as it manifests in the commodities we consume daily and for those still reckoning with the economic and political repercussions of European mercantilism, capitalism, paternalism, and racism.

There are other things we dont learn when this history isnt taught. The fact that at least some of the American politicians who enacted the 1808 ban believed that it would eventually starve the life out of Southern American slavery is striking in its naivet and shortsightedness. Its difficult to fathom how men made rich by enslaved people assumed others were keen to give the practice up. Its easy to assume why they didnt do more.

When history is gutted of accuracy for comfort or convenience, were robbed of the knowledge that wishing for better isnt enough. Maybe thats the point. But see: no system, no matter how longstanding or entrenched, is inevitable and unchangeable. Systemic problems require multi-faceted solutions, and a less abridged retelling of the transatlantic slave trade demonstrates that even in the face of epic, unmitigated suffering, the effort to craft those solutions is going to be unpopular, contentious, questionably executed, unbearably prolongedand still entirely vital. That were here, even now, is proof that the cost is worth it; its also proof that the work is not done.

Im honestly not sure if its comforting or daunting to accept that that redressing oppression is struggle measured in generations and counted in days.

But it is history.

A.E. Rooks is a two-time Jeopardy! champion with completed degrees in theater, law, and library and information science, and forthcoming degrees in education and human sexuality. Her/their new book THE BLACK JOKE: The True Story of One Ship's Battle Against the Slave Trade is published by Scribner.

Link:

Did You Study the Slave Trade in School or Were You Out That Day? - The Daily Beast

SARATOGA SPRINGS Good things come to those who wait just a little bit.

Jacqueline Madison, president of the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association (NCUGRHA), made a pitch for a documentary about the historic Haff/Smith property in Peru to the John B. Moore Documentary Studies Collaborative (MDOCS) hosted second Community Pitch Session in November 2021.

The historical documentary will span across the generations of the Union Road farm inhabitants/abolitionists, the Rev. Abraham Haff, son of an enslaver, and Stephen Keese Smith, a documented Underground Railroad station master and Quaker.

Although we dont have any documentary evidence that shows Abraham Haff used the facilities, if he was an abolitionist, my guess is that some place on that farm was used to hide slaves, Madison said.

Even if it was just temporary.

CREATIVE PITCHES

Ten community organizations and collectives vied to become the new MDOCS Co-Creation Initiative Round I Partners.

With so many excellent pitches, it was a difficult decision, Angela Beallor, Documentarian in Community Co-Creation, MDOCS, said in a press release.

The selection committee was comprised of representatives of MDOCS along with Jamel Mosely, an award-winning visual storyteller in the mediums of video and photography, and co-founder of Collectiveffort, a Troy-based creative agency and coworking space, and Krystle Nowhitney Hernandez, deputy director of LifeWorks Community Action in Saratoga Springs.

We are excited to announce the new MDOCS Co-Creation Initiative Round I partners, Beallor said.

The MDOCS Co-Creation Initiative supports collaborations that connect community groups with Skidmore faculty and staff as they pursue documentary projects.

SUPPORTED GROUPS

The four organizations that will join the first Round I partner cohort and will work closely with MDOCS and other Skidmore faculty/staff in the coming year:

Harm Reduction Works - HRW a project of HRH43, Harm Reduction Works-HRW is a fully scripted, harm reduction-based self-help/mutual aid group originally conceived as an alternative to abstinence only types of organizations like 12 step etc.

Kanatsiohareke Mohawk Community the sustainable, living Onkwehon:we community grounded in Rotinonhsionni culture - its language, land, and social structure.

North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association a center that researches, preserves and interprets the history of the Underground Railroad, slavery and abolition in upstate New York.

The Peoples Voice a not-for-profit news media group addressing the concerns of marginalized groups in Saratoga Springs, NY and the greater Capital Region.

These organizations will receive $5,000 to support a year of collaborative documentary project development alongside relationship building with Skidmore faculty and staff, Beallor said.

MDOCS will also provide other in-kind support including production resources, facilitation, consultation from members of the MDOCS team, and participation in other CCI programming.

ADDOMS HISTORY

NCUGRHA will use its monetary award to publish an update of late Clinton County Historian and Beekmantown Town Historian Addie Shields 1979 book on the the Rev. John Townsend Addoms (1782-1869) homestead and the Underground Railroad in Clinton County.

We wanted to update that book because more information has come out. In doing so, because the book sort of parallels what were doing with this documentary video, Madison said.

We will take those funds and utilize them for publishing the book, so kind of a joint effort in that case. The book, though, will showcase others. It will not focus on John Haff or even Stephen Keese Smith. It will talk about the area before Europeans arrived, which will include the Indigenous people who lived here, and move into the proprietors and those who were enslavers and from there to those individuals that participated in the Abolitionist Movement and finally into people of color, free and enslaved, in the area. This will be all up until the Civil War ended, so around 1865.

This will be an expansion of what we have learned since Addie wrote the book, which really focused on John Townsend Addoms. He was an abolitionist in the Beekmantown area.

Shields mission was to get the Addoms homestead listed on the National Historic Register.

But unfortunately, the house burned down around that time, Madison said.

In addition, MDOCS will support collaborations by Sanctuary Radio | Hudson Mohawk Magazine related to the oral history of labor and radio production as well as a documentary collaboration between Saratoga Black Lives Matter and Professor Yelena Biberman-Ocakli.

OTHER PROJECTS

The Co-Creation Initiative invites community members, organizations, collectives, and interest groups of any stripe or type to form a collaborative working group or cluster collaborative with Skidmore faculty or staff partners, to brainstorm and ultimately develop projects that:

1. Have an element of nonfiction storytelling in any medium photo, video, theater etc.

2. Enrich and complicate our local, regional and global dialogues, by addressing important issues and especially those that need a deeper examination

3. Bring people into new relationships, across disparate organizations, communities and other lines of difference, cemented by making together, or co-creating.

Ultimately, we will have a documentary, Madison said.

It can be used not just for us to do presentations, but it can be utilized and available to schools and places that want to learn about the local history and maybe even beyond because like I said, this is a complete story that goes from enslaver all the way down to protector.

Email Robin Caudell:

rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

Twitter:@RobinCaudell

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Documentary on historic Peru farm in the works - Plattsburgh Press Republican

Students awarded financial aid for PE classes received reduced-cost 3-day passes to Jiminy Peak. (Kira Hernandez/THE WILLIAMS RECORD)

During the chilly weeks of Winter Study, time is no longer a major obstacle to embracing the outdoors but for some, wealth inhibits access to winter activities that require extensive gear and experience. The Williams Outing Club (WOC) aims to increase accessibility for their Physical Education (PE) winter programming, which allows for financial aid students who are beginners in skiing or snowboarding to receive aid for ski passes and rental equipment.

Skiing is something that people love to do, and its a great winter activity, but its also incredibly exclusive and expensive, WOC President Charlotte Jones 22 said. Were able to make things more accessible.

Since WOC began providing financial aid for its winter PE classes in 2016, the financial aid program has grown from awarding aid to 40 students to 78 this year. This is the first time since the creation of Facilitators for Allocating Student Taxes (FAST) that the College has held a winter study, and therefore the first time that WOC has requested funds for this program from FAST the student body in charge of distributing funds to registered student organizations (RSOs) since it replaced College Council (CC) in March 2020. But this year, an increase in the number of students pursuing this resource caused complications, and WOC was nearly unable to provide aid.

WOC Director Scott Lewis emphasized the importance of this years WOCs winter PE offerings as an outlet for students during a Winter Study that saw heightened COVID-19 restrictions.This is not only physical education this is wellness, he said. If we can offer something to get people out, I think thats a great thing for everyone.

Students in WOCs financial aid program this winter, the majority of whom were first-years and sophomores, were covered either fully or partially based on demonstrated financial need, and received aid for a three-time ski pass to Jiminy Peak, transportation, and rental equipment. Provided that they attended all three sessions, they could earn one PE credit toward fulfilling the Colleges four-credit graduation requirement.

In past years, WOC has received funding for its year-round programming from a variety of campus organizations, including FAST. According to the Sector Allocations tab of the FAST website, WOC is designated under the Club Sports and Competitive Teams category, which is collectively 31 percent of FASTs total budget. WOCs programming and equipment have historically been funded by the Athletic Department, CC, FAST, and WOC Membership sales, Jones wrote in an email to the Record. Some larger programs, such as the new bouldering facility, are financially supported by endowments managed by the Development Office.

FAST came into existence in March 2020, sandwiched between the Colleges move to remote instruction due to COVID and the abolition of CC. Essence Perry 22, an at-large representative for FAST who was involved in dismantling CC and forming FASTs procedures, cited issues of transparency and equity as reasons for CCs dissolution.

Perry said that in one instance, CC denied funding for Black Previews, a 2019 program that allowed current Black students to introduce the College to prospective Black students. Thats not equity, Perry said. People were concerned that [CC] was denying groups who rightfully deserve the money they pay into the system. Part of the effort was to redistribute funds and make it transparent.

She also expressed discontent with CCs lack of transparency after reviewing old CC accounts during the change to FAST. [CC] could tell a group that there was no money left but there was so much money left, she said. Transparency and equity were the main reasons This has gone through iterations but weve really tried to make it as easy as possible.

Perry said she sees FASTs constitution and bylaws, which are public on the FAST website, as a way that allocating funds has been made more transparent. For us, its a yes process, she said. If we cant say yes based on our bylaws, we want to work with you to make it a yes somehow.

Jones, who was serving as WOC treasurer during the switch from CC to FAST, explained how the immediacy and scale of WOCs needs made funding complicated under both governing bodies. For example, WOC did not receive approval for funding for new bikes and bike racks in time to use them last fall. We were able to ask from FAST, but we werent able to use [the bikes] in the fall she said. And we were hoping to, but it took a while to get through the system.

One initiative built into FAST are office hours, which have taken place on Zoom this year due to COVID, where student treasurers of RSOs can meet with the five FAST student representatives to ask questions about budget requests, reimbursement forms, and other concerns. Spencer Huang 24, the FAST representative in charge of allocating funds for club sports and competitive teams, sees office hours as a way to foster communication with FAST. Its easier for people, he said. Usually we dont get too many, but we get a couple people per meeting who come in and ask questions, and we clarify.

But some students say that they still struggle to communicate with FAST. According to Sam Holmes 22, WOC Vice President and Treasurer, office hours were less convenient because of his practice schedule for the mens crew team. It was hard because I couldnt make a lot of meetings, and I couldnt be the only treasurer that was doing an athletic [commitment at that time], he speculated. To interact with FAST, you dont have to go to office hours you can submit a request without going but its a little more difficult, because you cant answer any questions, and they have their due diligence and they have to make sure your [proposals] are real.

According to Jones, WOC and FAST were in conversation with each other during FASTs formation to communicate changes that might occur in the switch from CC, including potential changes in allocations for financial aid. We were informed that FAST would not be funding financial aid for skiing, but that they said they had spoken to the financial aid office and that financial aid would cover the cost of skiing, Jones wrote in an email to the Record. FAST claimed that we could no longer use FAST funds to pay student equipment room workers under the same principles. We followed up with Financial Aid almost immediately after the meeting, and we were told that a) FAST had not confirmed skiing financial aid with them and b) the Financial Aid Office is not able to cover skiing financial aid, as they cover so many other things.

She continued by outlining the communications that have occurred to ensure that financial aid for winter programs could still be provided. The Financial Aid [Office] is incredibly helpful in helping us determine how much aid WOC members receive, and we are really grateful to be working with them, she wrote. We have repeatedly emailed and spoken with FAST representatives about solidifying a new source for aid over the past two years, and we have never gotten a clear answer. As a result, we have been meeting with other offices by ourselves over the past six months as we think that skiing financial aid is really beneficial to the student body.

Lewis and Holmes characterized a similar understanding of FASTs policies but the FAST bylaws and constitution make no mention of provisions or limits on providing financial aid. In response to the Record inquiry, Perry wrote in an email Im not aware of the financial aid bylaw, but FAST can provide funding for groups to run events of all types, especially events that are geared towards affinity groups, such as low-income students.

Despite initially seeming like FAST would not be able to provide the funding needed to provide aid, in December 2021, Holmes secured funding for the Winter Study PE classes in a last-minute bargaining meeting with FAST, in which FAST agreed to provide $4000 if WOC subsidized costs with $3500 of membership sales; an agreement that enabled the financial aid program to continue this January. That call was very easy, and it worked out really well, Holmes said. But it just happened very late.

Jones also mentioned inconsistencies with communicating with receiving funds from FAST across WOCs offerings. We tried all of our options and really needed [the financial aid] to happen, Jones said. [Holmes] went back in, and within a half hour had the funds. But with [funding] new bikes, it took us almost a month.

Its just really hard to tell what youre going to get, Jones said. Its unclear to me what the system is.

Perry provided rationale for FASTs initial decision to defer the funding. [During] conversation in December, we did not force WOC to subsidize this themselves, they actually came to us with the proposed amount of $4500, she wrote in an email to the Record. We tried to find alternative funding sources (such as reaching out to financial aid and OCL), but unfortunately, we could not find funding.

This led us to give them funding in December when they reached back out, she wrote. In addition, the fact WOC collects dues is against FASTs bylaws, as all events funded by us should be free, we still provide WOC funding, Jones wrote. We have, however, made an exception for WOC, and in return, they use some of their collected funds to help offset high-cost items. Unlike any club, WOC has access to funds from multiple places such as student dues, Athletics, and FAST. Just this year, WOC has already received over $20,000 from FAST.

Since FAST and WOC split the cost of funding for the program, the funding that they were both able to provide has had tangible effects. Liv Chambers 25, who received financial aid for beginner downhill ski lessons, characterized her experience skiing in the WOC program this winter as a positive one.

Id only ever been skiing twice before the program, Chambers said. I had fun doing [the lessons] with my friends It made me feel more connected to them and the outdoor experience at Williams.

Perry expressed hope in FASTs ability to better represent the student population. Ive been really proud to say that FAST has been a majority POC organization for the last few years, she said. I want that to keep happening and for students to feel like this is their money, and they are paid for their labor and can effectively do their job.

In the future, Perry says she envisions students shaping the trajectory of FAST. I want more transparency and for [FAST] to be even easier for students to navigate, she said. FAST is not supposed to be like an old document that is sedentary if students are uncomfortable, its something that is intentionally designed so that they can change it, and students have extreme autonomy in making those changes.

Read more from the original source:

WOC, FAST provide financial aid funding for winter programs but not without complications - The Williams record

A bill proposed last year in the Massachusetts state legislature would enact a five-year moratorium on the design and construction of prisons and jails in Massachusetts. The bill was reported out favorably from the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight on Jan. 24 and is now being considered by the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, bringing it one step closer to Governor Charlie Bakers desk.

Written by formerly incarcerated women at Families for Justice as Healing and the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, and filed by State Senator Jo Comerford of the Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester district, the bill aims to reallocate funds from prison construction to restorative justice efforts and specifically halt plans to build a new womens prison in Massachusetts that is estimated to cost over $50 million.

This bill is tremendously timely, as the state has already signed a contract for a strategic plan and study and design of a potentially new womens prison in Massachusetts, Comerford said in testimony to the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight. I respectfully say we must act now.

While it would prevent any expansion of existing facilities, the moratorium would not interrupt funding for routine maintenance and repairs on existing prisons and jails.

Between 2011 and 2019, the incarcerated population decreased by 21% while spending on prison construction and maintenance increased by 25%, according to a fact sheet from the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls and Families for Justice as Healing.

Comerford testified that Massachusetts prisons operate only at around half their capacity and that the states incarceration rate has dropped by 43% between 2012 and 2021.

Instead of borrowing and paying interest for a new prison, the commonwealth should invest in proven and effective community-based alternatives to address the root causes of incarceration, she said.

State Representative Erika Uyterhoeven of the 27th Middlesex District, a petitioner of the bill, said that the moratorium on prison construction is one of her top priorities in the area of criminal justice.

My view is that prisons dont actually solve the problems that their proponents seek to solve, if we really are concerned about public safety, and particularly our communitys health, as well as creating a world where we actually address the root causes of these issues, she told the Daily. We know that prisons, in every possible way, actually make the problem worse.

Uyterhoeven, who advocates for prison abolition, said that her opportunities to visit prisons and speak with incarcerated people are one reason she supports the moratorium so strongly. She cited cases like the one uncovered by the Boston Globes Spotlight investigative team at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, a maximum security prison.

The Globe reported numerous instances of retributionary abuse of prisoners by correctional officers in the wake of an assault on officers in January 2020 and found a severe lack of public access to information about correctional practices.

When you look at the Department of Corrections and what they do, particularly at the state level, the complete lack of accountability and how they treat the incarcerated and people behind the wall is, just frankly, immoral and atrocious, Uyterhoeven said. [Giving] more state money to this unaccountable entity is just a complete non-starter.

Uyterhoeven said she recognizes that many people disagree with her on the right way to solve the issues related to mass incarceration and that the bill makes space for problem solving.

I think everyone can agree that to continue this system as it stands without any sort of oversight, accountability or change is absolutely unacceptable, she said. We have to stop, we have to put the brakes on [what were doing] and were not moving forward until we figure out a better way.

Mallory Hanora, executive director of Families for Justice as Healing, said that the bill offers a chance for the state to try new methods of preventing incarceration and improving outcomes for families and communities.

We have to pass the Jail and Prison Construction Moratorium Bill this session to stop the new womens prison and shift our states focus to investing in what women, our children, and our families need to thrive, Hanora wrote in an email to the Daily.

Families for Justice as Healing leads the Building Up People Not Prisons Coalition, which works to oppose increases in spending on incarceration and advocates shifting resources toward Black and Brown communities.

Hanora echoed Uyterhoevens characterization of the bill as an opportunity to buy time to discover new solutions.

Passing the Moratorium Bill gives us the breathing room to let this work take root and flourish, Hanora wrote. It frees up the resources we must then reallocate to housing, healing, education, and economic development to stop the flow of women and girls into incarceration.

Read more:

Proposed bill would pause prison construction in Mass. for 5 years - Tufts Daily

Gov. Greg Abbott is seeking a third term in office but will first need to overcome 7 primary opponents, while 5 Democrats battle in their primary race. A Democrat has not won a governor's race in Texas since 1990.

The Wichita Falls native and former Texas Attorney General is seeking a third 4-year term in office. If he wins, he'll tie the record for a Texas governor. Abbott has made border security and defending law enforcement his top priorities as he faces the most competitive Republican primary of his 30-year career in politics.

A retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, West served one term in Congress in Florida and was the chairman of the Republican Party of Texas last year. A strident critic of Gov. Abbott, West has taken a strong stance against COVID-19 restrictions and mandates.

The Dallas native runs a commercial real estate business and served one term in the Texas Senate. He has been calling for tougher border policies and the abolition of property taxes.

An attorney from Wise County who has never run for office before and has advocated loosening Texas restrictions on gambling to produce revenues that could lower property taxes.

The Humble High School graduate runs Harrison Landscape and Design in Plano and is pitching himself as an independent, anti-establishment candidate who will support legalized marijuana and expanding gambling in Texas.

The Morgans Point resident is a medical marijuana advocate who has never held elective office.

Not the former governor, but a computer engineer from near Fort Worth who had never run for office and does not appear to have a campaign website.

The New Jersey native is a comedian and entertainer who is campaigning as a political outsider.

The former Congressman and city council member from El Paso narrowly lost to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018. ORourke has focused his campaign on fixing the power grid, attracting jobs and improving education.

A retired Seguin resident who has never run for public office before.

The Beaumont pastor has previously run for lieutenant governor and U.S. Senate and is the president of the Beaumont branch of the NAACP. Hes said education and helping teachers will be his priority.

The former journalist with KUT radio in Austin is making her first run for public office. She was raised in Mexico where her parents were American missionaries.

Incumbent Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is facing a handful of opponents in the GOP primary for his seat, but hes widely considered the favorite with a commanding fundraising lead. Three Democrats, meanwhile, are facing off for the chance to oppose him.

The Texas radio host-turned-lawmaker is seeking a third term at lieutenant governor. Patrick has championed some of Texas most conservative legislation over the years and has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

Bullis hopes to bring a biblical worldview back to Texas through conservative legislative action, his website states.

Miller is the founder of the Texas Nationalist Movement, which has advocated for the secession of Texas from the United States since 2005. He has published two books on the subject, including 2018s TEXIT: Why and How Texas Will Leave the Union.

Bradford most recently served as president of the Texas Eagle Forum, a conservative grassroots organization that engages and trains activists across the state.

Sorrells is a small business owner whose campaign is centered on individual rights.

Vance is a retired Marine and Purple Heart recipient who most recently worked at an Austin cable news station.

Beckley, a pet shop owner from Carrollton, is a two-term member of the Texas House of Representatives. She is ranked among the most liberal members of the chamber.

Brailey, a longtime educator and social justice activist, is the vice chair of the Texas Democratic Party.

Collier, a Houston accountant, is vying for a rematch against Patrick after losing to the lieutenant governor by fewer than 5 percentage points in 2018.

Paxton is contending with serious challengers from his own party for the first time in his career, plus four Democrats. His foes cast Paxton's ongoing legal troubles as a liability and proof that he lacks integrity. Still, Paxton remains popular with primary voters.

Former Harris County criminal court-at-law judge who switched parties in late 2018 after he broke with members of his party to support poor defendants advocating for affordable or cash-free bond for low-level offenders.

Former ACLU attorney from Brownsville whose campaign is focused on health care, voting rights and reproductive rights.

The mediator and former Galveston mayor who wants to create a civil rights division in the office and use the office to lead a statewide effort to legalize recreational marijuana.

Nationally known civil rights attorney who has represented George Floyd's family and other victims of police violence says he wants to address the intersection of untreated mental health and police encounters.

Raynor is a Dallas attorney who wants to improve the office's process for collection of child support. He says he'd advocate to dismiss Paxton's criminal securities fraud case because it's "too distracting."

The two-term incumbent, endorsed by former President Donald Trump, is seeking a third term amid lingering legal troubles, including a more than six-year-old indictment on felony securities fraud charges and an ongoing FBI investigation into bribery and other corruption allegations by his former aides.

The sitting Texas Land Commissioner and son of former Florida governor Jeb Bush has highlighted a need to improve border security and human trafficking prosecution.

Outspoken Tea Party-aligned Congressman and former judge was one of 147 Republicans to vote to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election. He also sued former Vice President Mike Pence to try to force him to reject electoral votes cast for President Joe Biden.

Former justice on the Texas Supreme Court, the highest civil court in the state, Guzman made history in 2016 as the first Latina elected to statewide office with 5 million votes, the most in Texas in that year's election.

Two-term comptroller and longtime state politician Glenn Hegar goes after a third term, hoping his record of fiscal conservancy will vault him over a field of mostly Democratic challengers.

Dudding is a public accountant who previously ran for a Texas House seat in 2020. She has called for diversifying the state's revenue stream by legalizing marijuana, which has brought in new tax dollars in other states.

Hegar is a former state representative and senator first elected as comptroller in 2014. He has been a leading abortion rights opponent and most recently pushed to roll back some transparency measures around the state's large corporate tax break program, Chapter 313.

Goloby owns a wireless remote monitoring business in the oil and gas industry. He has been critical of the 313 program and has also been critical of race-centered curriculum in public schools.

Mahoney is an attorney and writer in Austin who ran against Hegar in 2018. Mahoney has worked for the Texas Observer and served as an Austin Community College trustee.

Born in Puerto Rico, Vega is now a leadership coach in Katy and has volunteered with local voter and community outreach efforts. He originally entered the congressional race for District 22, but dropped out in December to run for comptroller instead.

Eight Republicans and four Democrats are running to succeed Land Commissioner George P. Bush as head of the Texas General Land Office, which administers disaster recovery after major storms, oversees the Alamo, manages Texas' state-run veterans homes and contributes oil and gas royalties to the state's $44 billion public school endowment.

Armenta is a Houston business consultant who says he would work to improve the quality of Texas veterans homes and "fight to ensure the true history of the Alamo is preserved for future Texans."

Avila is a former Immigation and Customs Enforcement agent who in 2020 published a book about his encounter with a Mexican drug cartel that left his partner dead. He has framed himself as an "outsider who is unafraid to take on the establishment."

Buckingham, an eye surgeon from Lakeway who has served in the Texas Senate since 2017, is backed by former president Donald Trump, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and dozens of her fellow GOP state lawmakers. On her website, she vows to "protect our proud Texas history and fight back against the Biden Administration's assault on our state's oil and natural gas industry."

Lopez is a San Antonio attorney who handles real estate, probate and personal injury cases.

Martinez is a conservative activist from San Antonio who has twice run unsuccessfully for the Texas Raildroad Commission. He previously served on the Texas Real Estate Commission and has been endorsed by Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller.

Minton, a Galveston attorney, previously served as a criminal district court judge in El Paso, a position he was twice appointed to by former Gov. Rick Perry.

Spiers is a Houston attorney and former heart surgeon who first ran for public office in 2018, when he failed to reach the runoff in the Republican primary for Texas' 2nd Congressional District.

Westley is a pastor and the historian for the Texas Republican Party. He has twice run for the 15th Congressional District, which stretches from the San Antonio area to the southern border.

Kleberg is a conservationist whose family owns the massive King Ranch property in south Texas. He ran as a Republican in 2010 for a state House seat in El Paso.

Lange is a Houston-area investment manager who previously served as a presidential delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2016.

Martinez describes herself as a "mental wellness policy advocate" who was born and raised in San Antonio, where she still resides. She is a member of the Bexar County Child Welfare Board.

Suh is an Austin attorney, policy advocate and the founder of Immunize Texas, which she describes as a "grassroots network dedicated to supporting pro-vaccine legislation."

Two Democrats and two Republicans are vying to unseat incumbent Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who remains the favorite in public polling on the race despite the recent indictment of his longtime political aide on corruption charges.

Counsil is a professor and rancher challenging incumbent Sid Miller, spurred by what he calls Miller's unethical behavior throughout his political career.

White, a Texas House member, heated up the race with intense criticism of incumbent Miller for his history of ethical scrutiny from the Texas Rangers.

Miller is running for a third term as agriculture commisisoner. An early supporter and ally of Donald Trump, he runs a popular Facebook page where he shares conservative memes with over 800,000 Facebook followers. He has faced scrutiny from the Texas Rangers on several occasions for allegedly mixing his personal and political interests.

Hays is an attorney from rural West Texas who advised prospective Texas hemp producers after the law changed to allow the crop in 2019, and she is centering her campaign around anger at Sid Miller after his political aide was arrested in May 2021 for allegedly soliciting thousands in cash and campaign donations in exchange for hemp production licenses.

Ireson is a businessman whose family has been running cattle in Brazos County for 130 years. He says he's running to refocus the Department of Agriculture away from politics and back toward the nuts-and-bolts of supporting Texas farmers and families.

U.S. House District 1

Four Republicans and four Democrats are vying to represent this deep-red East Texas district long held by Rep. Louie Gohmert, who is retiring to run for attorney general.

Atholi is a former Gohmert staffer, who is billing himself as a "roughneck for Congress" as he runs a campaign with an emphasis on local control.

Kilgore businessman is running as an "outsider" who isn't part of the "Smith County political bubble."

Moran has served as Smith County judge since 2016 and is running with the backing of some big Texas GOP names, including state Sen. Bryan Hughes.

A Dallas-based physician assistant, John Porro is running on a platform calling for a balanced federal budget and against critical race theory in schools. (

Dass is a Tyler native who argues that most voters in the district are politically independent and that without Gohmert on the ballot, there's a chance Democrats could pull off an upset.

Texarkana native Jefferson is an R&B singer running his third race for elected office after most recently coming up short in a 2020 bid to be mayor of Sacramento, Calif.

Running as a progressive Democrat, Kocen says he decided to run for Congress after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.

Dunn is running as a "fiscally responsible" and "compassionately progressive" Democrat, whose website lists his top 3 issues as: "Covid 19, Covid 19, Covid 19."

U.S. House District 2

The redrawn 2nd Congressional District now stretches from Harris County into Montgomery County, picking up The Woodlands, New Caney and Splendora, which had been previously in the 8th Congressional District. By removing parts of Houston and adding more Montgomery, the district has become more Republican.

The self-employed small business owner from Conroe says hes running because the area lacks true Republican representation in Washington, D.C.

The retired Marine is a commercial airline pilot who is critical of what he calls a constitutional overreach throughout the federal government, including vaccine mandates and economic shutdowns.

The retired Navy SEAL who grew up in Katy is seeking his third term in Congress. With a growing national profile, he says in campaign materials he will continue to fight for individual liberty, limited government, and fiscal discipline.

The law school student originally from Uganda has made his Christian faith a core part of his campaign message, and vows to defend the U.S. against socialism and Marxism.

The past president of The Woodlands Democratic Club is campaigning against extremism and promoting pragmatic solutions. She is unopposed in the Democratic primary.

U.S. House District 7

Seven Republicans are vying to take on Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, once seen as one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the House whose West Houston district was redrawn to be much safer for the two-term congresswoman.

Fletcher is a former oil and gas attorney who has represented this West Houston district since she ousted longtime Republican Rep. John Culberson in 2018.

Atencio is making his second run for Congress, this time as a Republican after previously campaigining in Washington as a Whig, a Democrat, and eventually a self-proclaimed gay, liberal Republican. Atencio touts his immigrant father's story and says he is campaigning against "corrupt socialism."

A Houston native, Republican Tina Blum Cohen is campaigning on protecting borders, a powerful energy sector, efficient entitlement programs and more.

Gitau says Democrats are turning Houston into a "hotbed of terror" and has warned of growing national debt, while advocating for personal finance education in schools.

A longtime Republican activist, Rehman is calling for a balanced budget, investment in infrastructure and a stronger military.

Stewart is a Navy veteran who owns two Dickeys Barbecue Pit franchises. He is campaigning against abortion, cancel culture and over-taxation.

A former U.S. Army combat medic, Stroud is running against vaccine mandates and other policies he has deemed too "radical."

A pastor and rancher, Teague is making his second run for Congress after losing to Rep. Al Green in 2020.

U.S. House District 8

A crowded field of Republicans is vying to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, in the newly configured 8th Congressional District. State lawmakers dramatically reshaped the district last year, keeping it solidly red but adding a large chunk of west Harris County while removing part of south Montgomery County. The Republican nominee will face Democrat Laura Jones in the general election.

Jones is a former chair of the San Jacinto County Democratic Party who lists flood mitigation and expanding internet access in rural areas among her priority issues.

Bates is a surgical technician who says she wants to purge the Republican party of its failed leadership that simply can not make the tough choices to put America first.

Burrows, who describes herself as a mother and business woman, says she supports vouchers to offset the cost of private schools and has questioned the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Collins, a conservative activist who has focused on mobilizing young Republicans, previously served as Bradys campaign manager and adviser. He is backed by several conservatives in Congress, including Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Madison Cawthorn.

Hullihan is a former military attorney who now works in commercial litigation at a Houston law firm. He lists border security as a top issue and says he wants to fight for the sovereignty of the United States.

Luttrell is a former Navy SEAL and special adviser at the Department of Energy under former Texas governor and energy secretary Rick Perry. He has drawn the support of Perry, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw.

McKaughan is a former Navy helicopter pilot who works as the vice president of a family construction business. He says America is being systematically dismantled from our classrooms to open borders by forces that hate America and the liberties she stands for.

Mitchell is a pipeliner who wants to resume the Keystone XL pipeline project and abolish the federal agency that regulates firearms.

Montgomery is a Porter resident who says he is self-employed, plans to fund his own campaign and supports term limits for members of Congress.

Philips, a retired telecommunication professional, says he wants to outlaw abortions and pass a constitutional amendment to bar deficit spending.

Wellington is a small business owner who previously served as district director for former congressman Ted Poe.

Whichard, a former drilling engineer, is the director of public works for the city of Willis. He says on his campaign website he is willing to lead the fight, to put America first, and socialists last.

U.S. House District 9

Originally posted here:

2022 Voter Guide: What to know for the March 1 Texas Primary Election - Houston Chronicle

I dont think we should praise the Georgians too much for abolition. I mean this in the sense that it took quite a long time for opinion to change, after quite a lot of education and effort from various groups, including the Quakers, who campaigned against the slave trade. And as the century went on, there were enormous numbers of local pressure groups, societies, associations and campaigners who were trying to alert people to what was happening.

The abolitionists had all sorts of tactics, poems and pictures to change peoples attitudes. There were graphic pictures of bodies stacked in the ships, and an abolitionist token featuring an enslaved man, his hands in manacles, appealing: Am I not a man and a brother?

Meanwhile, a poet called William Cowper wrote an interesting poem about ordinary people who continued to drink rum and eat sugar, knowing at the back of their minds that there might be an ethical problem attached to it, but they didnt consider it day to day because they liked their rum and sugar too much.

Eventually, Britain legislated to stop a trade over which the government had no power it didnt run the trade. So it was just asserting: This cannot happen under our authority. Having taken that step, they then set the British navy to disrupt other traders and to police the high seas.

The moment they got the slave trade abolished, the campaigners moved on to try to abolish slavery itself, which was a bigger issue. Again, they got that through, even though there were big problems in the way that they did it: for instance, generous compensation was paid to slave owners, but not to formerly enslaved people.

So there was a significant change in attitude, and it had taken an awful lot of campaigning to get public opinion which at first was hostile or unaware to swing into putting on the pressure so that eventually the government felt it had to act.

Penelope J Corfield is the author of The Georgians: The Deeds and Misdeeds of 18th-Century Britain (Yale University Press, 2022). Buy it now on:

No, I dont. No British monarch was an emperor until 1876, when Queen Victoria was made empress of India. At that time, there was a lot of debate in the House of Commons over whether she might be empress of Great Britain, and there was a lot of resistance to that because it was considered a more absolute form of rule, and they did not want that in Britain. So, no, there was no sort of masterplan.

That said, there was an expansionist mood. When the young George Vancouver arrived in Hawaii in the 1790s, he planted the flag and claimed Hawaii for the British government. But nobody told Britain, so nothing came from it. That example does show something about their mindset: Georgian explorers represented a confident and assertive power that didnt have any inhibitions, and they were quite ready to claim territory that they thought of as free and available.

The term empire, initially, was used in terms of a commercial empire. There are songs about Britains empire over the seas the Britannia of Rule Britannia rules the waves, but it isnt a worldwide empire. As the British expanded and the different forms of rule had to be organised, it did get more formalised.

I certainly think that the British empire in India in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was far more formalised and socially repressive in terms of relationships between Indians and Britons than it was in the late 17th and early 18th centuries not that it was perfect then, but it was much more free and easy. There was an enormous amount of inter-marriage between Britons and Indians, and a lot of migration to and fro.

Theres a real lifting of the lid on peoples sexual interests and behaviours, and its to do with the freeing of the press, and the lifting of the licensing laws. No doubt people were interested in sexuality long before the 1690s, but when the press became freer it could be discussed more overtly and publicly, letting people become explicit about things they would have been hesitant about before. You can find the most amazing things in print in the 18th century some of them would make modern readers blush.

The decline of the powers of the church courts was another big factor. Before the civil wars, these courts had tried to regulate peoples moral behaviour. And although they didnt completely disappear, in the Georgian era their scope and their control over day-to-day business became minimal.

The 18th century was a great era of clubs and societies. They could cover absolutely everything there were learned societies, sports societies, scientific research clubs. Some of them were dedicated to drinking and chatting about and enjoying sex. We have accounts, for example, that say a nude woman might be brought out, and they would be talking about sex and women and so forth.

I dont know whether they brought out nude men in the gay clubs, but we do know that there were specific spaces for gay men. There werent really the same kinds of clubs for lesbians, as their actions were not so public.

Officially, not much. The laws were still very, very tough on this, but over time they were enacted with a little less rigour. Sentences of imprisonment or banishment were more common; although these still seem pretty tough, they were not as severe as hanging. Interestingly, many cases of known gay men in the 18th century did not end up in front of the law. The legal penalties were a great source of uncertainty and anxiety for everybody, because the law was and this is one of the things that reformers point out administered so arbitrarily, and was really unfair. An awful lot of people, including a number of famous people, werent prosecuted.

In the case of legislation on sexual matters, its notable that behaviour tends to change long before the law changes. The law waits quite a long time; the politicians are worried to rock the boat. And theologians, of course, are always strongly opposed. So if you look at the history of something through the legislation, it appears far harsher than it really was.

George IV is a wonderful instance for historians of how inappropriate behaviour in a role can put the whole institution at risk. Republican feeling in Britain was at its height in the 1830s, partly as a result of Georges behaviour and failure to play by the rules publicly during and before his reign [182030]. Plenty of monarchs were playboys in secret, but he was flamboyantly and publicly so, and he was a spendthrift, which people didnt like either. His marriage to Caroline was never a happy one. From the first night, they both expressed displeasure with the others person, so it didnt succeed at any level.

As time went on, their marriage deepened divisions within British society. The more traditional forces tended to rally behind the monarchs, as they were the head of state, head of the army and head of the church. However, those who were more radical and wanted change the sort of people who would favour abolition of slavery, for example were rallying against George, by supporting his wife. Caroline, who had an easy, open, friendly manner, became a public symbol of opposition to monarchy.

She garnered a huge amount of public support, as seen in the reaction to her death. She died in 1821, just after the kings coronation, when she had been denied entry to Westminster Abbey so hammered on the doors trying to get in and join the ceremony before being turned away.

Shed asked to be buried back in Germany and there was a cortge to take her coffin to the ports. It was decreed it should not pass through central London, for fear of huge crowds showing up in support. The crowds did indeed gather and were so outraged that people blocked the intended route and so forced the procession into the city.

This was very much a liberal good cause, stemming in part from the increased education and literacy of the time. The Georgians suddenly realised that disabled people had all sorts of skills, and the right thing was to care for them and improve their education and allow each one to develop to their full potential.

This was in stark opposition to earlier times, when literature was full of jokes at the expense of disabled people. For instance, there were jokes that if you saw a blind man walking, you should direct him into a wall and then laugh as he hit himself. That was supposed to be funny. By the end of the 18th century, people would think that was an absolutely terrible thing to do. In the Georgian era, there were schools for the blind. But again, I wouldnt say that all behaviour changed just like that its not just a simple progress story.

The Gin Craze was partly a product of successful agriculture, because grain was cheap and therefore gin was cheap. So it wasnt that people suddenly all let their hair down and began drinking gin in unprecedented numbers.

This was an era, by the way, when people didnt drink much water because water wasnt cleansed that was something again that was gradually being worked on in the 18th century but they used to drink beer and gin and, in the case of the upper classes, wine. When gin became cheap, consumption of it spread like wildfire. Eventually, they had to bring in regulation of gin shops and raise the excise to control it.

The craze led to accusations that the poor were forgetting to work, forgetting their duty, and forgetting hierarchy by not acknowledging their betters. And, worse still, women and servants were taking to drinking gin. Its quite an interesting episode, both for the history of consumption and the history of social attitudes. Its also part of this longer shift between talking of a society in terms of ranks and degrees and clearly graded hierarchies, into a looser, more general language of class. That is often thought to start in the 19th century, but thats not true: Ive chased it well back throughout the 18th century. For a long period, terms for both ranks and classes were used side by side, but gradually, a looser concept of class emerged.

I would stress that one of the early ideas of class was that classes might co-operate; they werent necessarily viewed in a Marxist sense of class conflict. Yet over time, rather like the Indian empire, this became more formalised and class turned into a source of oppression.

Some of them were quite charming, but in my view its because of historical distance. People love a rogue at a distance. When we read that Horace Walpole was stopped outside London and robbed of his fob watch by a gentlemanly highwayman who quoted some Latin at him, that all seems quite charming. But of course, today, we wouldnt like it if we were held up on the A30 and robbed as we were trying to drive into London.

Ive found about 700 instances of people from the 18th century writing in their diaries and letters: This is an age of, or a century of x, y or z. One example of the sort of thing I mean can be found in the intimate diary of Thomas Turner, a Georgian shopkeeper. If things were going wrong, he would write something like: Oh, what terrible times we live in. The nations in decay and everything is going to the dogs. But then a few days later, hed been in a happier frame of mind and maybe reading some improving book and would say something along the lines of: Ah, what an era of light and progress we live in.

Theres a broad distinction between the optimists and the pessimists, but over time the optimistic narrative came to the fore. The power of Britains global trade was encouraging; Britain was triumphing in war, especially after 1815, and there was a lot of literature of self-congratulation. There was also the spread of literacy, the spread of learning. There were scientific discoveries Newton, Faraday, the first steam engine and people were tremendously aware that they were living through a time of experimentation and invention.

These innovations are, of course, the source of some of our major problems today. This was when the first intensive use of fossil fuels began, which has had huge ramifications on climate change though if we could transport the Georgians to the 21st century, many would likely be involved in debates about climate change and how we can slow it.

The Georgians were always debating their deeds and misdeeds, and trying to get a grip on them. It was such a dynamic time.

Penelope J Corfield is the author of The Georgians: The Deeds and Misdeeds of 18th-Century Britain (Yale University Press, 2022). Buy it now on Amazon, Waterstones or Bookshop.org

This article was first published in the February 2021 issue of BBC History Magazine

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The Triumphs And Scandals Of Georgian Britain - BBC History Magazine