1807: Congress abolishes the African slave trade: The U.S. Congress passes an act to “prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States…from any foreign kingdom, place, or country.”
The first shipload of African captives to North America arrived at Jamestown, Virginia, in August 1619, but for most of the 17th century, European indentured servants were far more numerous in the North American British colonies than were African slaves. However, after 1680, the flow of indentured servants sharply declined, leading to an explosion in the African slave trade. By the middle of the 18th century, slavery could be found in all 13 colonies and was at the core of the Southern colonies’ agricultural economy. By the time of the American Revolution, the English importers alone had brought some three million captive Africans to the Americas. More here
1877: Congress declares Rutherford B. Hayes the winner of the most disputed and controversial presidential elections in American history: Just two days before inauguration, the U.S. Congress declares Rutherford B. Hayes the winner of the election even though Samuel J. Tilden had won the popular vote on November 7, 1876. Samuel J. Tilden of New York outpolled Ohio’s Rutherford B. Hayesin the popular vote, and had 184 electoral votes to Hayes’s 165, with 20 votes uncounted. These twenty electoral votes were in dispute in three states: (Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina); each party reported its candidate had won the state, while in Oregon one elector was declared illegal (as an “elected or appointed official”) and replaced. The twenty disputed electoral votes were ultimately awarded to Hayes after a bitter legal and political battle, giving him the victory. It is generally believed that an informal deal was struck to resolve the dispute: the Compromise of 1877. In return for the Democrats’ acquiescence in Hayes’s election, the Republicans agreed to withdraw federal troops from the South, ending Reconstruction. The Compromise effectively ceded power in the Southern states to the Democratic Redeemers. More here
1965: Operation Rolling Thunder in North Vietnam begins: Operation Rolling Thunder was the title of a gradual and sustained U.S. 2nd Air Division (later Seventh Air Force), U.S. Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) aerial bombardment campaign conducted against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam(North Vietnam) from March 2nd, 1965 until November 1st, 1968, during the Vietnam War.
The four objectives of the operation (which evolved over time) were to boost the sagging morale of the Saigon regime in the Republic of Vietnam, to persuade North Vietnam to cease its support for the communist insurgency in South Vietnam without actually taking any ground forces into communist North Vietnam, to destroy North Vietnam’s transportation system, industrial base, and air defenses, and to interdict the flow of men and material into South Vietnam. Attainment of these objectives was made difficult by both the restraints imposed upon the U.S and its allies by Cold War exigencies and by the military aid and assistance received by North Vietnam from its communist allies, the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). More here
2002: Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan begins: Operation Anaconda took place in early March 2002 in which the United States military and CIA Paramilitary Officers, working with allied Afghan military forces, and other NATO and non NATO forces attempted to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in theShahi-Kot Valley and Arma Mountains southeast of Zormat. This operation was the first large-scale battle in the United States war in Afghanistan since the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001. This was the first operation in the Afghanistan theater to involve a large number of U.S. conventional (i.e. non-Special Operations Forces) forces participating in direct combat activities.
Between March 2 and March 16, 2002 1,700 airlifted U.S. troops and 1,000 pro-government Afghan militiabattled between 300 to 1,000 al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters to obtain control of the valley. The Taliban and al-Qaida forces entrenched themselves in caves and ridges in the mountainous terrain and fired on U.S. forces attempting to secure the area with mortars and heavymachine guns. Afghan Taliban commander Maulavi Saifur Rehman Mansoor later led Taliban reinforcements to join the battle. U.S. forces had estimated the strength of the rebels in the Shahi-Kot Valley at 150 to 200, but later information suggested the actual strength was of 500 to 1,000 fighters. The U.S. forces estimated that they had killed at least 500 fighters over the duration of the battle. More here
2004: The Ashura Massacre in Iraq: The Ashura massacre of March 2, 2004 in Iraq was a series of planned terrorist explosions that killed at least 178 and injured at least 500 IraqiShi’a Muslims commemorating the Day of Ashura. The bombings brought one of the deadliest days in the Iraq occupation after the Iraq War to topple Saddam Hussein. More here
2005: Bush honors the Boston Red Sox: On this day in 2005, at a White House ceremony, President George W. Bush congratulates the 2005 World Champion Boston Red Sox baseball team for winning their first World Series since 1918. Massachusetts Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, and former Red Sox players were among those on hand for the event. Before saluting the Red Sox, Bush also paid tribute to one of baseball’s greatest African-American players, Jackie Robinson.
During the ceremony, Bush teased the team about the long overdue championship, asking What took you so long? and quipping You know, the last time the Red Sox were here [at the White House], Woodrow Wilson was president. He then recalled what someone had said to him regarding the Red Sox’s long-overdue win: “Now we just have to wait for the other six signs of the apocalypse.” More here
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