Voyage Cuba

2 Oct 1962 -- U.S. ports are closed to nations allowing their ships to carry arms toCuba, ships that have docked in a socialist country are prohibited from docking in theUnited States during that voyage, and the transport of U.S. goods is banned on ships ownedby companies that trade with Cuba. ... [Read More]

The Trent Affair

Confederate President Jefferson Davis, seeking support against the North, sent diplomats James Mason of Virginia as minister to Britain and John Slidell of Louisiana as minister to France. Eluding the Union blockade, the Southerners reached Cuba, where they boarded a British mail steamer, the Trent, for passage across the Atlantic Ocean. On November 8, 1861, Captain James of the USS San Jacinto, halted the Trent 300 miles east of Havana with two shots across the bow. A boarding party from the San Jacinto seized the Confederate diplomats and their secretaries but then allowed the Trent to resume its voyage. This decision became a source of controversy, with the British claiming that the San Jacinto had violated international law by removing persons from a ship without taking the ship to a prize court for adjudication. ... [Read More]

Costa Rica (08/04)

In 1502, on his fourth and last voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus made the first European landfall in the area. Settlement of Costa Rica began in 1522. For nearly three centuries, Spain administered the region as part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala under a military governor. The Spanish optimistically called the country "Rich Coast." Finding little gold or other valuable minerals in Costa Rica, however, the Spanish turned to agriculture. ... [Read More]

U. S. Embassy, Nigeria: Arab Immigrants To America Are Part Of Ellis Island History

Moreno said the museum staff has taped interviews with immigrants from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Tunisia. In those interviews, the immigrants speak of their stay on Ellis Island, their voyage to America, life in their countries of origin, and their assimilation into American society. ... [Read More]

U. S. Embassy, Nigeria: Sustainable Development Is Compelling Issue For The United States

Moreno said the museum staff has taped interviews with immigrants from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Tunisia. In those interviews, the immigrants speak of their stay on Ellis Island, their voyage to America, life in their countries of origin, and their assimilation into American society. ... [Read More]

The Caribbean

The BahamasI. Summary Because of its geographic location, The Bahamas continues to be utilized as a major transit country for cocaine and marijuana bound for the U.S. from South America and the Caribbean. The Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas (GCOB) cooperates closely with the United States Government (USG) to stop the flow of illegal drugs through its territory, to target Bahamian drug trafficking organizations, and to reduce the domestic demand for drugs within the Bahamian population. An important bilateral milestone was achieved in June 2004 with the signing of a Comprehensive Maritime Agreement to provide law enforcement officers a ... [Read More]

Saint Kitts and Nevis (08/04)

At the time of European discovery, Carib Indians inhabited the islands of St. Kitts and Nevis. Christopher Columbus landed on the larger island in 1493 on his second voyage and named it after St. Christopher, his patron saint. Columbus also discovered Nevis on his second voyage, reportedly calling it Nevis because of its resemblance to a snowcapped mountain (in Spanish, "nuestra senora de las nieves" or our lady of the snows). European colonization did not begin until 1623-24, when first English, then French colonists arrived on St. Christopher's Island, whose name the English shortened to St. Kitt's Island. As the first English colony in the Caribbean, St. Kitts served as a base for further colonization in the region. ... [Read More]

Outline of American Literature - Chapter I

William Bradford was elected governor of Plymouth in theMassachusetts Bay Colony shortly after the Separatists landed. Hewas a deeply pious, self-educated man who had learned severallanguages, including Hebrew, in order to "see with his own eyesthe ancient oracles of God in their native beauty." Hisparticipation in the migration to Holland and theMayflowervoyage to Plymouth, and his duties as governor, made him ideallysuited to be the first historian of his colony. His history,Of Plymouth Plantation (1651), is a clear and compellingaccount of the colony's beginning. His description of the firstview of America is justly famous: ... [Read More]

Grenada (10/04)

Before the arrival of Europeans, Carib Indians who had driven the more peaceful Arawaks from the island inhabited Grenada. Columbus landed on Grenada in 1498 during his third voyage to the new world. He named the island "Concepcion." The origin of the name "Grenada" is obscure, but it is likely that Spanish sailors renamed the island for the city of Granada. By the beginning of the 18th century, the name "Grenada," or "la Grenade" in French, was in common use. ... [Read More]

USIA - Portrait of the USA, Ch. 10

Hawthorne's fiction had a profound impact on his friendHerman Melville (1819-1891), who first made a name for himself byturning material from his seafaring days into exotic novels.Inspired by Hawthorne's example, Melville went on to write novelsrich in philosophical speculation. In Moby-Dick, anadventurouswhaling voyage becomes the vehicle for examining such themes asobsession, the nature of evil, and human struggle against theelements. In another fine work, the short novel BillyBudd,Melville dramatizes the conflicting claims of duty and compassionon board a ship in time of war. His more profound books soldpoorly, and he had been long forgotten by the time of his death.He was rediscovered in the early decades of the 20th century. ... [Read More]