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Henry Ossian Flipper

(1856 - 1940)  Born near Thomasville, Georgia on March 21, 1856, Henry O. Flipper rose to prominence as the first African American graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1877. Despite being born into slavery to Festus, a shoemaker, and Isabella Flipper, Henry was reared in a family that emphasized excellence, and he and his younger brothers all became respected members of their communities.   Commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army upon completing West Point, Flipper was transferred to the l0th U.S. Cavalry Regiment where he became the highest ranking and most famous of the Buffalo Soldiers (African Americans in all-black regiments) stationed at Western military installations.  Flipper's assignments included Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and Fort Elliott, Fort Concho, Fort Davis, and Fort Quitman, all in Texas. Flipper earned distinction during the the Victorio Campaign which pitted the Apache leader Victorio against the U.S. Army in Texas and ...

Brief history of Jamaica

Brief history of Jamaica before, doing and after the Europeans invaded, occupied, colonized and enslaved the Island by the way of Christopher Columbus. You might call this the testing ground for the enslavement of Africans in what we now call the USA. Pre-Colombian Jamaica Prior to the arrival of Columbus in 1494, Jamaica was inhabited by Arawaks, living in simple communities based on fishing, hunting, and small scale cultivation of cassava. The impact of the contact with the Spanish was traumatic, and these communities disappeared in 70-80 years. Plunder, disruption of economic activities, new diseases, and migration decimated the indigenous population. Only a few artifacts-facts, examples of which are on display at the small museum at White Marl, and a few Spanish corruptions of place names (such as Ocho Rios) remain from this period. Otherwise, there is no Arawak influence on the subsequent development of life on the island. The Spanish Occupation, 1494-1655 Disappointed...