The wonderful online history journal
Common-Place is presenting a special issue entitled
"Early Cities of the Americas." Nineteen essays, each concerning a particular incident, person, place or encounter in the early life of a city, together provide a "worm's eye view" of what urban life was like in early postcolonial North and South America. Learn about vigilante justice and press sensationalism in 1856
San Francisco, or about a day in the life of a peasant family in
Lima of the 1760s. Other essays concern the 17th-century "treasure city" of
Havana, searching for salvation as a slave in 1647
New Amsterdam (New York), and capital punishment in colonial
Paramaribo, Suriname. "Reading these essays cannot but help readers gain some historical perspective on the modern condition," especially as you see how many of the issues we associate with modern urban life (poverty, crime,
bowling?) are not exactly recent developments.
posted by arco
on Jul 15, 2003 -
5 comments
An American Tragedy: No
habanos; no
Havana Club; not even a
dram of that lovely new rummy
Glenfiddich malt whisky! Although the embargo is still popular with the Jesse Helms crowd and certain
Cuban immigrés,
resistence is
higher than
ever. Why does it go on? From the outside, it just looks like obstinate stupidity. What is it with the Democrats, especially? Are they still covering up for JFK's mistakes? He, at least, had a
good stock of Cuban cigars [
well, Petit Uppmanns...] with which to sit the
crisis out... What gives? What could possibly justify Americans
missing out on such a massive scale? If for the pleasure of a decent smoke or even proper
mojito or
daiquiri alone?
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Mar 9, 2003 -
22 comments
