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| Washington DC (southeast) |
Washington DC (southeast) at the center of the dividing lines. To the west of the Capitol extends the National Mall, visible as a slight green band in the image. The Northwest quadrant is the largest, located north of the Mall and west of North Capital Street.]]
Southeast DC is the southeastern quadrant of the city, located south of East Capitol Street and east of South Capitol Street. It has a rich cultural history, including the historic Anacostia neighborhood, the Navy Yard, the Anacostia River waterfront, the remains of several Civil War-era forts, RFK Stadium and the Congressional Cemetery. It also is plagued by a reputation of having a relatively high crime rate. The population of Southeast is almost entirely African-American, particularly east of the Anacostia River.
Politically, Southeast includes most of Ward 8, as well as much of Wards 6 and 7. Ward 8 is home to former mayor Marion Barry.
It is accessible via the Blue, Orange and Green Lines of the Washington Metro.
Category:Washington, D.C. neighborhoods
National Mall
The National Mall is an open-area public park in downtown Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It is the site of gardens and other greenery along with multiple Smithsonian Institution museums and national monuments and memorials. The National Mall refers specifically to the land stretching from the grounds of the Washington Monument to the United States Capitol directly to the east. However, the term commonly includes the areas that are officially part of West Potomac Park and Constitution Gardens to the west, and often is taken to refer to the entire area between the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol, with the Washington Monument providing a division slightly west of the center.
The idea was adopted and redesigned by the National Park Service, but originally designed by Pierre Charles L'Enfant. The Mall is one of the most popular places in the city for tourism as well as protests and demonstrations (thousands each year, including very large marches and rallies) for its civic and historical significance. The Smithsonian station of the Washington Metro system services the mall, which is administered by the National Park Service.
Landmarks of the National Mall
National Park Service
Other nearby features
National Park Service is visible in the background, with the green dome of the National Museum of Natural History reaching above the trees to the right.]]
National Museum of Natural History, National World War II Memorial, Washington Monument, and United States Capitol are visible in the background.]]
Other attractions within walking distance of the Mall include the Library of Congress and the United States Supreme Court to the east behind the Capitol; the White House (on a line directly north of the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial), the National Archives, the Old Post Office, the National Theater and Ford's Theater to the north; the National Postal Museum, and Union Station to the northeast; and the Jefferson Memorial (on a line directly south of the Washington Monument and the White House), the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, the George Mason National Memorial, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to the south.
The Mall, in combination with the other attractions in the Washington metropolitan area, makes the nation's capital city one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. The Smithsonian (Washington Metro) stop can be used to get to the Mall. Parking is also available south of the mall, accessible directly south of the Lincoln Memorial.
Protests and rallies on the Mall
The Mall's status as a wide, open expanse at the heart of the capital makes it an attractive site for protests and rallies of all types. One notable example is the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a massive rally for African-American civil rights, at which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous "I have a dream" speech. The largest officially recorded rally was the Vietnam War Moratorium Rally on October 15, 1969. Although larger rallies may have occurred since that time, the United States Park Police no longer release official estimates of crowd sizes on the Mall. One later rally that is claimed to have been the largest rally on the Mall was the 2004 March for Women's Lives.
External links
- [http://www.nps.gov/nama/ NPS Official Site of the National Mall]
- [http://www.usbg.gov/ Official Site of the United States Botanic Garden]
- [http://www.nationalgarden.org/national_garden.html The New National Garden] – Is being created between plot 9 and 10 on the satellite image.
- [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=washington,DC&ll=38.889724,-77.031358&spn=0.007060,0.010182&t=k&hl=en National mall] at Google Maps
National Mall
Category:National parks in Washington, DC
Category:Washington, D.C. landmarks
Category:National museums
Anacostia
Anacostia is a historic neighborhood in Washington, DC. Its historic downtown is located at the intersection of Good Hope Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. It is the most famous neighborhood in the Southeast quadrant of Washington, located east of the Anacostia River, which the area is named after.
History
The name "Anacostia" derives from the area's early history as Nacochtank, a settlement of Necostan or Anacostan Native Americans on the banks of the Anacostia River. Captain John Smith recorded in his journals that he sailed up the "Eastern Branch" or Anacostia River in 1608 in his search for the main branch of the Potomac River and was well received by the Anacostans.
Uniontown, the core of the Anacostia historic district, was incorporated in 1854 and was one of the first suburbs in the District of Columbia. It was designed to be financially available to Washington's working class, most of whom were employed across the river at the Navy Yard. The initial subdivision of 1854 carried restrictive covenants prohibiting the sale, rental or lease of property to anyone of African or Irish descent. Abolitionist Frederick Douglass, often called "the sage of Anacostia," bought the home of the developer of Uniontown in 1877 and lived there until he died in 1895. The home is still maintained as an historical site in Anacostia.
Anacostia's population remained predominantly White up until the 1950s, with Whites comprising 87% of the population. During the 1950s, the Anacostia Freeway (I-295) was constructed. The highway imposed a barrier between the Anacostia neighborhood and the Anacostia River waterfront. As well, numerous public housing apartment complexes were built in the neighborhood. With flight of much of the middle class out of the neighborhood during the 1950s, Anacostia's demographics changed dramatically as the neighborhood became predominantly African American.
Present day
As of the 2000 Census, Anacostia's population is comprised of 92% African American, 5% white American, and 3% other. After decades of neglect, the tide is beginning to turn, as Anacostia's citizens are working to revitalize the neighborhood. Anacostia is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The historic district retains much of its mid-to-late 19th-century low scale, working class character, as is evident in its architecture.
In 1959, an Anacostia landmark, the World's Largest Chair, was established at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and V Street, SE. The chair was built by Bassett Furniture for Curtis Brothers Furniture Store, formerly located at this site. In the summer of 2005, the Big Chair – as it's known – was removed for repairs and is expected to return by December 2005.
Anacostia is served by Anacostia Senior High School – a general academic high school part of the District of Columbia public school system.
Transportation
The neighborhood, served by the Anacostia Metro station, is a quick ten minute ride on Washington Metro's Green Line from downtown Washington.
External link
- [http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc90.htm Anacostia Historic District]
Category:National Register of Historic Places
Category:Washington, D.C. neighborhoods
Washington DC Navy YardThe Washington Navy Yard is the U.S. Navy's oldest shore establishment. Located in Washington, D.C., the yard evolved from a shipyard to an ordnance plant and then to the ceremonial and administrative center for the Navy. The yard is home to the Chief of Naval Operations and is headquarters for the Naval Historical Center, the Marine Corps Historical Center, and numerous naval commands.
Origins to Civil War
The land was purchased under an act of 23 July 1798, with two additional lots being purchased in 1801. The Washington Navy Yard was established on 2 October 1799, the date the property was transferred to the Navy. The yard was built under the direction of Benjamin Stoddert, the first Secretary of the Navy, under the supervision of the yard's first commandant, Commodore Thomas Tingey, who would serve in that capacity for 29 years.
The original boundaries that were established in 1800, along 9th and M Streets Southeast, are still marked by a white brick wall that surrounds the Navy Yard on the north and east sides. The north wall of the yard was built in 1809 along with a guard house. After the fire of 1814, Commodore Tingey recommended that the height of the eastern wall be increased to ten feet (3 m), since along with the fire, looting by the local populace took its toll.
The southern boundary of the yard was formed by the Anacostia River, then called the Eastern Branch of the Potomac River. The west side was undeveloped marsh land. The land along the Anacostia was added to by landfill over the years as it became necessary to reclaim additional land for the Navy Yard.
The first years saw the Washington Navy Yard become the Navy's largest shipbuilding and shipfitting facility, with twenty-two vessels constructed there, ranging from small 70 foot (21 m) gunboats to the 246 foot (75 m) steam frigate Minnesota. The Constitution came to the yard in 1812 to refit and prepare for combat action.
During the War of 1812, the Washington Navy Yard was important not only as a support facility, but was a vital strategic link in the defense of the capital city. As the British marched into Washington, holding the yard became impossible. Commodore Tingey, seeing the smoke from the burning Capitol, ordered the yard burned to prevent its capture by the enemy. Tingey's own quarters (now Quarters A) and the Latrobe gate were spared from the flames.
Following the War of 1812, the Washington Navy Yard never regained its prominence as a shipbuilding facility. The waters of the Anacostia River were too shallow to accommodate larger vessels, and the yard was deemed too inaccessible to the open sea. Thus came a shift to what was to be the character of the yard for more than a century: ordnance and technology. The yard boasted one of the earliest steam engines in the United States, and was used to manufacture anchors, chain, and steam engines for vessels of war.
Civil War to Present
The Civil War again saw the yard become an integral part of the defense of Washington. Commandant Franklin Buchanan resigned his commission to cast his lot with the Confederacy, leaving the yard to Commander John Dahlgren. President Abraham Lincoln, who held Dahlgren in the highest esteem, was a frequent visitor. The famous ironclad Monitor was repaired at the yard after her historic battle with CSS Virginia. The Lincoln assassination conspirators were brought to the yard following their capture. The body of John Wilkes Booth was examined and identified on the monitor Saugus, moored at the yard.
Following the Civil War, the yard continued to be the scene of technological advances. In 1886, the yard was designated the manufacturing center for all ordnance in the Navy. Ordnance production continued as the yard manufactured armament for the Great White Fleet and the World War I Navy. The 14-inch naval railway guns used in France during World War I were manufactured at the yard.
By World War II, the yard was the largest naval ordnance plant in the world. The weapons designed and built there were used in every war in which the United States fought until the 1960s. At its peak, the yard consisted of 188 buildings on 126 acres (0.5 km²) of land and employed nearly 25,000 people. Small components for optical systems, and enormous 16-inch battleship guns were all manufactured here. In December 1945 the Navy Yard was renamed the U.S. Naval Gun Factory. Ordnance work continued for some years after World War II until finally phased out in 1961. Three years later, on 1 July, 1964, the activity was redesignated the Washington Navy Yard. The deserted factory buildings began to be converted to office use.
The Washington Navy Yard was also the scene of many scientific developments. Robert Fulton conducted research and testing on his clockwork torpedo during the War of 1812. In 1822, Commodore John Rodgers built the country's first marine railway for the overhaul of large vessels. John A. Dahlgren developed his distinctive bottle-shaped cannon that became the mainstay of naval ordnance before the Civil War. In 1898, David W. Taylor developed a ship model testing basin which was used by the Navy and private shipbuilders to test the effect of water on new hull designs. The first shipboard aircraft catapult was tested in the Anacostia River in 1912, and a wind tunnel was completed at the yard in 1916. The giant gears for the Panama Canal locks were cast at the yard. Navy yard technicians applied their efforts to medical designs for prosthetic hands and molds for artificial eyes and teeth.
The Washington Navy Yard was the ceremonial gateway to the nation's capital. In 1860, the first Japanese diplomatic mission was welcomed to the United States in an impressive pageant at the yard. The body of World War I's Unknown Soldier was received here. Charles A. Lindbergh returned to the Navy Yard in 1927 after his famous transatlantic flight. In the 1930s, Britain's King George VI visited the yard during his Washington stay.
As of 2004 the Navy Yard houses a variety of activities. It serves as headquarters, Naval District Washington, and houses numerous support activities for the fleet and aviation communities. The Navy Museum welcomes visitors to displays of naval art and artifacts which trace the Navy's history from the Revolutionary War to the present day. The Naval Historical Center is housed in a complex of buildings known as the Dudley Knox Center for Naval History. Leutze Park is the scene of colorful ceremonies.
External link
- [http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq52-1.htm Washington Navy Yard history]
Category:Shipyards
Category:United States Navy
Category:Washington, D.C.
Anacostia RiverThe Anacostia River is a river that flows about 8.4 mi (13.5 km) from Prince George's County in Maryland, to cut through from east to south in Washington, DC, where it empties into the Potomac River at Hains Point. The Anacostia River was originally known simply as "the Eastern Branch."
Heavy pollution in the Anacostia and weak investment and development along its banks have led to it becoming what many have called "DC's forgotten river." In recent years, however, private organizations, local businesses, and the DC, Maryland and federal governments have made joint efforts to reduce its pollution levels in order to protect the ecologically valuable Anacostia watershed.
The watershed of the river roughly covers 176 mi² (456 km²) in Eastern Montgomery County and Northern Prince George's County, as well as parts of Washington, DC. Tributaries of the Anacostia include Northwest Branch and Northeast Branch, the confluence of which just above Bladensburg forms the main stem of the river; Sligo Creek, Paint Branch, Little Paint Branch, Indian Creek, Beaverdam Creek, Dueling Branch, and Brier Ditch flow into these two tributaries while Lower Beaverdam Creek and Hickory Run flow directly into the river.
Pollution sources
One of the biggest problems facing the Anacostia River is raw sewage that enters the river and its tributaries due to antiquated sewer systems. The sewage creates a public health threat due to fecal coliform bacteria and other pathogens; it also impairs water quality and can create hypoxic conditions that lead to large fish kills.
The Washington, DC Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) was sued by the Anacostia Watershed Society (AWS) in 1999 for allowing more than 2 billion US gallons (7,600,000 m³) of combined sewage and storm water to flow into the river via its antiquated combined sewer overflow system. In settling the lawsuit, WASA agreed to invest $140 million on pump station rehabilitation, pipe cleaning and maintenance and public notices of overflows.
In late 2004, AWS and other organizations announced plans to sue the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission over similar problems with river contamination from the Maryland suburbs. According to WSSC, more than 4 million US gallons (15,000 m³) of raw sewage was released into Anacostia tributaries between January 2001 and June 2004. The discharges are due to breaks in older sewer lines as well as overwhelmed or failing pumps and clogged lines.
Another large source of river pollution is the Washington Navy Yard, which is sited alongside the river and is believed to be a source of PCB contaminants in the river and sediment.
External links
- [http://www.anacostiaws.org/ Anacostia Watershed Society]
- [http://www.anacostia.net/ Anacostia Watershed Network]
- [http://www.dnr.state.md.us/forests/anacostia/ Maryland Department of Natural Resources Anacostia site]
See also
- List of Maryland rivers
- Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge
- John Philip Sousa Bridge
- Whitney Young Memorial Bridge
Category:Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Category:Geography of Maryland
Category:Geography of Washington, D.C.
Category:Geography of the District of Columbia
Category:Potomac River Watershed
Category:Prince George's County, Maryland
Category:Rivers of Maryland
Category:Rivers of the District of Columbia
American Civil War
The American Civil War (1861–1865) was fought in North America within the United States of America, between twenty-four mostly northern states of the Union and the Confederate States of America, a coalition of eleven southern states that declared their independence and claimed the right of secession from the Union in 1860–1861. The war produced over 970,000 casualties (3.09% of population), including approximately 560,300 deaths (1.78%), a loss of more American lives than any other conflict in history. The causes of the war, and even the name of the war itself, are still debated (see the article Naming the American Civil War).
The division of the country
Naming the American Civil War
The Deep South
Seven states seceded shortly after the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 – even before he was inaugurated:
- South Carolina (December 21, 1860),
- Mississippi (January 9, 1861),
- Florida (January 10, 1861),
- Alabama (January 11, 1861),
- Georgia (January 19, 1861),
- Louisiana (January 26, 1861), and
- Texas (February 1, 1861).
These States of the Deep South, where slavery and cotton plantation agriculture were most dominant, formed the Confederate States of America (February 4, 1861), with Jefferson Davis as President, and a governmental structure closely modeled on the U.S. Constitution (see also: Confederate States Constitution). After the Battle of Fort Sumter, South Carolina, Lincoln called for troops from all remaining states to recover the forts, resulting in the secession of four more states: Virginia (April 17, 1861), Arkansas (May 6, 1861), North Carolina (May 20, 1861), and Tennessee (June 8, 1861).
Border States
Main article: Border states (Civil War)
Along with the northwestern counties of Virginia (whose residents did not wish to secede and eventually entered the Union in 1863 as West Virginia), four of the five northernmost "slave states," (Maryland, Delaware, Missouri, and Kentucky) did not secede, and became known as the Border States.
Delaware, which in the 1860 election had voted for Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, had few slaves and never considered secession. Maryland also voted for Breckinridge, and after rioting in Baltimore and other events had prompted a Federal declaration of martial law, its legislature rejected secession (April 27, 1861). Both Missouri and Kentucky remained in the Union, but factions within each state organized "secessions" that were recognized by the CSA.
In Missouri, the State government under Governor Claiborne F. Jackson, a southern sympathizer, evacuated the state capital of Jefferson City and met in-exile at the town of Neosho, Missouri, adopting a secession ordinance that was recognized by the Confederacy on October 30, 1861, while the Union organized a competing State government by calling a constitutional convention that had originally been convened to vote on secession. (See also: Missouri secession).
Missouri secession
Although Kentucky did not secede, for a time it declared itself neutral. During a brief occupation by the Confederate Army, Southern sympathizers organized a secession convention, inaugurated a Confederate Governor, and gained recognition from the Confederacy.
Residents of the northwestern counties of Virginia organized a secession from Virginia, with a plan for gradual emancipation, and entered the Union in 1863 as West Virginia. Similar secessions were supported in some other areas of the Confederacy (such as eastern Tennessee), but were suppressed by declarations of martial law by the Confederacy. Conversely, the southern half of the Federal Territory of New Mexico voted to secede, and was accepted into the Confederacy as the Territory of Arizona (see map below), with its capital in Mesilla (now part of New Mexico). Although the northern half of New Mexico never voted to secede, the Confederacy did lay claim to this territory and briefly occupied the territorial capital of Santa Fe between March 13 and April 8, 1862, but never organized a territorial government.
Origins of the conflict
:Main articles: Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events
Timeline of events. In their agitation against the South, abolitionists cited the slave codes as an example of the barbarism of Southern society. Above, a woodcut from the abolitionist Anti-Slavery Almanac (1839) depicts the capture of a fugitive slave by a slave patrol.]]
There had been a continuing contest between the states and the national government over the power of the latter, and over the loyalty of the citizenry, almost since the founding of the republic. The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798, for example, had defied the Alien and Sedition Acts, and at the Hartford Convention, New England voiced its opposition to President Madison and the War of 1812.
In 1828 and 1832 the Congress passed protective tariffs to benefit trade in the northern states. It was deemed a "Tariff of Abominations" and its provisions would have imposed a significant economic penalty on South Carolina and other southern states if left in force. South Carolina dealt with the tariffs by adopting the Ordinance of Nullification, which declared both the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 null and void within state borders. The legislature also passed laws to enforce the ordinance, including authorization for raising a military force and appropriations for arms. In response to South Carolina's threat, Congress passed a "Force Bill" and President Andrew Jackson sent seven small naval vessels and a man-of-war to Charleston in November 1832. On December 10, he issued a resounding proclamation against the nullifiers.
On the eve of the Civil War, the United States was a nation composed of four quite distinct regions: the Northeast, with a growing industrial and commercial economy and an increasing density of population; the Northwest, now known as the Midwest, a rapidly expanding region of free farmers where slavery had been forever prohibited under the Northwest Ordinance; the Upper South, with a settled plantation system and (in some areas) declining economic fortunes; and the Southwest, a booming frontier-like region with an expanding cotton economy. With two fundamentally different labor systems at their base, the economic and social changes across the nation's geographical regions – based on wage labor in the North and on slavery in the South – underlay distinct visions of society that had emerged by the mid-nineteenth century in the North and in the South.
Before the Civil War, the Constitution provided a basis for peaceful debate over the future of government, and had been able to regulate conflicts of interest and conflicting visions for the new, rapidly expanding nation. For many years, compromises had been made to balance the number of "free states" and "slave states" so that there would be a balance in the Senate. The last slave state admitted was Texas in 1845, with five free states admitted between 1846 and 1859. The admission of Kansas as a slave state had recently been blocked, and it was due to enter as a free state instead in 1861. The rise of mass democracy in the industrializing North, the breakdown of the old two-party system, and increasingly virulent and hostile sectional ideologies in the mid-nineteenth century made it highly unlikely, if not impossible, to bring about the gentlemanly compromises of the past (such as the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850) necessary to avoid crisis. Also the existence of slave labor in the South made the Northern States the preferred destination for new immigrants from Europe resulting in an increasing dominance of the North in Congress and in Presidential elections, due to population size.
Sectional tensions changed in their nature and intensity rapidly during the 1850s. The United States Republican Party was established in 1854. The new party opposed the expansion of slavery in the Western territories. Although only a small share of Northerners favored measures to abolish slavery in the South, the Republicans were able to mobilize popular support among Northerners and Westerners who did not want to compete against slave labor if the system were expanded beyond the South. The Republicans won the support of many ex-Whigs and Northern ex-Democrats concerned about the South's disproportionate influence in the Senate, the Buchanan administration, and the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the profitability of cotton, or "King Cotton," as it was touted, solidified the South's dependence on the plantation system and its foundation: slave labor. A small class of slave barons, especially cotton planters, dominated the politics and society of the South.
King Cotton
Southern secession was triggered by the election of Republican Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was a moderate in his opposition to slavery. He pledged to do all he could to oppose the expansion of slavery into the territories (thus also preventing the admission of any additional slave states to the Union); but he also said the federal government did not have the power to abolish slavery in the states in which it already existed, and that he would enforce Fugitive Slave Laws. The southern states expected increasing hostility to their "peculiar institution"; not trusting Lincoln, and mindful that many other Republicans were intent on complete abolition of slavery. Lincoln had even encouraged abolitionists with his 1858 "House divided" speech[http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/house.htm], though that speech was also consistent with an eventual end of slavery achieved gradually and voluntarily with compensation to slave-owners and resettlement of former slaves.
In addition to Lincoln's presidential victory, the slave states had lost the balance of power in the Senate and were facing a future as a perpetual minority after decades of nearly continuous control of the presidency and the Congress. Southerners also felt they could no longer prevent protectionist tariffs such as the Morrill Tariff.
The Southern justification for a unilateral right to secede cited the doctrine of states' rights, which had been debated before with the 1798 Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, and the 1832 Nullification Crisis with regard to tariffs.
Before Lincoln took office, seven states seceded from the union, and attempted to establish an independent southern government, the Confederate States of America on February 9, 1861. They took control of federal forts and property within their boundaries, with little resistance from President Buchanan. Ironically, by seceding, the rebel states weakened any claim to the territories that were in dispute, canceled any obligation for the North to return fugitive slaves, and assured easy passage of many bills and amendments they had long opposed. The Civil War began when Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard opened fire upon Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina on April 12, 1861. There were no casualties from enemy fire in this battle.
Narrative summary
1861
Lincoln's victory in the presidential election of 1860 triggered South Carolina's secession from the Union. Lincoln was not even on the ballot in nine states in the South. Leaders in South Carolina had long been waiting for an event that might unite the South against the anti-slavery forces. Once the election returns were certain, a special South Carolina convention declared "that the Union now subsisting between South Carolina and other states under the name of the 'United States of America' is hereby dissolved." By February 1, 1861, six more Southern states had seceded. On February 7, the seven states adopted a provisional constitution for the Confederate States of America and established their capital at Montgomery, Alabama. The pre-war peace conference of 1861 met at Washington, D.C. The remaining southern states as yet remained in the Union. Several seceding states seized federal forts within their boundaries; President Buchanan made no military response.
Less than a month later, on March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as President of the United States. In his inaugural address, he argued that the Constitution was a more perfect union than the earlier Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, that it was a binding contract, and called the secession "legally void". He stated he had no intent to invade southern states, but would use force to maintain possession of federal property. His speech closed with a plea for restoration of the bonds of union.
The South did send delegations to Washington and offered to pay for the federal properties, but they were turned down. On April 12, the South fired upon the federal troops stationed at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina until the troops surrendered. Lincoln called for all of the states in the Union to send troops to recapture the forts and preserve the Union. Most Northerners hoped that a quick victory for the Union would crush the nascent rebellion, and so Lincoln only called for volunteers for 90 days. This resulted in four more states voting to secede. Once Virginia seceded, the Confederate capital was moved to Richmond, Virginia.
Even though the Southern states had seceded, there was considerable anti-secessionist sentiment within several of the seceding states. Eastern Tennessee, in particular, was a hotbed for pro-Unionism. Winston County, Alabama issued a resolution of secession from the state of Alabama. The Red Strings were a prominent Southern anti-secession group.
Winfield Scott created the Anaconda Plan as the Union's main plan of attack during the war.
Eastern Theater 1861–1863
Because of the fierce resistance of a few initial Confederate forces at Manassas, Virginia, in July 1861, a march by Union troops under the command of Maj. Gen. Irvin McDowell on the Confederate forces there was halted in the First Battle of Bull Run, or First Manassas, whereupon they were forced back to Washington, D.C., by Confederate troops under the command of Generals Joseph E. Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard. It was in this battle that Confederate General Thomas Jackson received the name of "Stonewall" because he stood like a stone wall against Union troops. Alarmed at the loss, and in an attempt to prevent more slave states from leaving the Union, the U.S. Congress passed the Crittenden-Johnson Resolution on July 25 of that year, which stated that the war was being fought to preserve the Union and not to end slavery.
Major General George B. McClellan took command of the Union Army of the Potomac on July 26 (he was briefly general-in-chief of all the Union armies, but was subsequently relieved of that post in favor of Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck), and the war began in earnest in 1862.
Upon the strong urging of President Lincoln to begin offensive operations, McClellan invaded Virginia in the spring of 1862 by way of the peninsula between the York River and James River, southeast of Richmond. Although McClellan's army reached the gates of Richmond in the Peninsula Campaign, Joseph E. Johnston halted his advance at the Battle of Seven Pines, then Robert E. Lee defeated him in the Seven Days Battles and forced his retreat. McClellan was stripped of many of his troops to reinforce John Pope's Union Army of Virginia. Pope was beaten spectacularly by Lee in the Northern Virginia Campaign and the Second Battle of Bull Run in August.
Second Battle of Bull Run
Emboldened by Second Bull Run, the Confederacy made its first invasion of the North, when General Lee led 55,000 men of the Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac River into Maryland on September 5. Lincoln then restored Pope's troops to McClellan. McClellan and Lee fought at the Battle of Antietam near Sharpsburg, Maryland, on September 17, 1862, the bloodiest single day in American history. Lee's army, checked at last, returned to Virginia before McClellan could destroy it. Antietam is considered a Union victory because it halted Lee's invasion of the North and provided justification for Lincoln to announce his Emancipation Proclamation.
When the cautious McClellan failed to follow up on Antietam, he was replaced by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside. Burnside suffered near-immediate defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862, when over ten thousand Union soldiers were killed or wounded. After the battle, Burnside was replaced by Maj. Gen. Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker. Hooker, too, proved unable to defeat Lee's army; despite outnumbering the Confederates by more than two to one, he was humiliated in the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863. He was replaced by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade during Lee's second invasion of the North, in June. Meade defeated Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), the largest battle in North American history, which is sometimes considered the war's turning point. Lee's army suffered 28,000 casualties (versus Meade's 23,000), again forcing it to retreat to Virginia, never to launch a full-scale invasion of the North again.
Western Theater 1861–1863
While the Confederate forces had numerous successes in the Eastern theater, they crucially failed in the West. They were driven from Missouri early in the war as result of the Battle of Pea Ridge. Leonidas Polk's invasion of Kentucky enraged the citizens who previously had declared neutrality in the war, turning that state against the Confederacy.
Nashville, Tennessee, fell to the Union early in 1862. Most of the Mississippi was opened with the taking of Island No. 10 and New Madrid, Missouri, and then Memphis, Tennessee. New Orleans, Louisiana, was captured in May 1862, allowing the Union forces to begin moving up the Mississippi as well. Only the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, prevented unchallenged Union control of the entire river.
Braxton Bragg's second Confederate invasion of Kentucky was repulsed by Don Carlos Buell at the confused and bloody Battle of Perryville and he was narrowly defeated by William S. Rosecrans at the Battle of Stones River in Tennessee.
The one clear Confederate victory in the West was the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia, near the Tennessee border, where Bragg, reinforced by the corps of James Longstreet (from Lee's army in the east), defeated Rosecrans, despite the heroic defensive stand of George Henry Thomas, and forced him to retreat to Chattanooga, which Bragg then besieged.
The Union's key strategist and tactician in the west was Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, who won victories at Forts Henry and Donelson, which seized control of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers; Shiloh; Vicksburg, Mississippi, cementing Union control of the Mississippi and considered one of the turning points of the war; and Chattanooga, Tennessee, driving Confederate forces out of Tennessee and opening an invasion route to Atlanta and the heart of the Confederacy.
Trans-Mississippi Theater 1861–1865
Though geographically isolated from the battles to the east, a number of military actions took place in the Trans-Mississippi theater, a region encompassing states and territories to the west of the Mississippi River. In 1861 Confederates launched a successful campaign into the territory of present day Arizona and New Mexico. Residents in the southern portions of this territory adopted a secession ordinance of their own and requested that Confederate forces stationed in nearby Texas assist them in removing Union forces still stationed there. The Confederate territory of Arizona was proclaimed by Col. John Baylor after victories at Mesilla, New Mexico, and the capture of several Union forces. Confederate troops were unsuccessful in attempts to press northward in the territory and withdrew from Arizona completely in 1862 as Union reinforcements arrived from California.
:The Battle of Glorieta Pass was a small skirmish in terms of both numbers involved and losses (140 Federal, 190 Confederate). Yet the issues were large, and the battle decisive in resolving them. The Confederates might well have taken Fort Union and Denver had they not been stopped at Glorieta. As one Texan put it, "if it had not been for those devils from Pike's Peak, this country would have been ours".
:This small battle smashed any possibility of the Confederacy taking New Mexico and the far west territories. In April, Union volunteers from California pushed the remaining Confederates out of present-day Arizona at the Battle of Picacho Pass. In the eastern part of the United States, the fighting dragged on for three more years, but in the Southwest the war was over. [http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/117glorietaraton/117facts3.htm]
The Union mounted several attempts to capture the trans-Mississippi regions of Texas and Louisiana from 1862 until the war's end. With ports to the east under blockade or capture, Texas in particular became a blockade-running haven. Referred to as the "back door" of the Confederacy, Texas and western Louisiana continued to provide cotton crops that were transferred overland to Matamoros, Mexico, and shipped to Europe in exchange for supplies. Determined to close this trade, the Union mounted several invasion attempts of Texas, each of them unsuccessful. Confederate victories at Galveston, Texas, and the Battle of Sabine Pass repulsed invasion forces. The Union's disastrous Red River Campaign in western Louisiana, including a defeat at the Battle of Mansfield, effectively ended the Union's final invasion attempt of the region until the final fall of the Confederacy. Isolated from events in the east, the Civil War continued in the Trans-Mississippi theater for several months after Robert E. Lee's surrender. The last battle of the war occurred at Palmito Ranch in southern Texas—ironically a Confederate victory.
The End of the War 1864–1865
Palmito Ranch
At the beginning of 1864, Grant was promoted to lieutenant general and given command of all Union armies. He chose to make his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, although Meade remained the actual commander of that army. He left Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in command of most of the western armies. Grant understood the concept of total war and believed, along with Lincoln and Sherman, that only the utter defeat of Confederate forces and their economic base would bring an end to the war. Therefore, scorched earth tactics would be required in some important theaters. He devised a coordinated strategy that would strike at the heart of Confederacy from multiple directions: Grant, Meade, and Benjamin Butler would move against Lee near Richmond; Franz Sigel would invade the Shenandoah Valley; Sherman would invade Georgia, defeat Joseph E. Johnston, and capture Atlanta; George Crook and William W. Averell would operate against railroad supply lines in West Virginia; and Nathaniel Banks would capture Mobile, Alabama.
Union forces in the East attempted to maneuver past Lee and fought several battles during that phase ("Grant's Overland Campaign") of the Eastern campaign. An attempt to outflank Lee from the south failed under Butler, who was trapped inside the Bermuda Hundred river bend. Grant was tenacious and, despite astonishing losses (over 66,000 casualties in six weeks), kept pressing Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. He pinned down the Confederate army in the Siege of Petersburg, where the two armies engaged in trench warfare for over nine months.
After two failed attempts (under Sigel and David Hunter) to seize key points in the Shenandoah Valley, Grant finally found a commander, Philip Sheridan, aggressive enough to prevail in the Valley Campaigns of 1864. Sheridan was sent in response to a raid by the aggressive Jubal Early, whose corps reached the outer defenses of Washington before withdrawing back to the Valley. Sheridan proved to be more than a match for Early, and defeated him in a series of battles, including a final decisive defeat at Cedar Creek, Sheridan then proceeded to destroy the agricultural and industrial base of the Valley, a strategy similar to the scorched-earth tactics Sherman would later employ in Georgia.
Meanwhile, Sherman marched from Chattanooga to Atlanta, Georgia, defeating Generals Joseph E. Johnston and John B. Hood. The fall of Atlanta on September 2, 1864, was a significant factor in the re-election of Abraham Lincoln. Leaving Atlanta, and his base of supplies, Sherman's army marched with an unclear destination, laying waste to much of the rest of Georgia in his celebrated "March to the Sea", and reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Savannah, Georgia in December 1864. Burning towns and plantations as they went, Sherman's armies hauled off crops and killed livestock to retaliate and to deny use of these economic assets to the Confederacy, a consequence of Grant's scorched earth doctrine. When Sherman turned north through South Carolina and North Carolina to approach the Virginia lines from the south, it was the end for Lee and his men, and for the Confederacy.
Lee attempted to escape from the besieged Petersburg and link up with Johnston in North Carolina, but he was overtaken by Grant. He surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House. Johnston surrendered his troops to Sherman shortly thereafter at a local family's farmhouse in Durham, North Carolina. The Battle of Palmito Ranch, fought on May 13, 1865, in the far south of Texas, was the last land battle of the war and ended, ironically, with a Confederate victory. All Confederate land forces surrendered by June 1865. Confederate naval units surrendered as late as November 1865, with the last actions being attacks on private New England whaling ships by the CSS Shenandoah in the Bering Strait through June 28, 1865.
Analysis of the War
Why the Union prevailed (or why the Confederacy was defeated) in the Civil War has been a subject of extensive analysis and debate. Advantages widely believed to have contributed to the Union's success include:
- The more industrialized economy of the North, which aided in the production of arms and munitions.
- The Union significantly outnumbered the Confederacy, both in civilian and military population partly due to African Americans and Immigrants.
- Strong compatible railroad links between Union cities, which allowed for the relatively quick movement of troops. (It should be noted, however, that the Confederacy had more railroads per capita than any other country at the time.)
- The Union's possession of the U.S. merchant marine fleet and naval ships, which led to its successful blockade of Confederate ports.
- The Union's more established government, which may have resulted in less infighting and a more streamlined conduct of the war.
- The Confederacy's possible squandering of resources on early audacious conventional offensives and its [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HZY/is_1_14/ai_78397581 failure] to fully use its advantages in guerrilla warfare against Union communication and transportation infrastructure.
- The Confederacy's failure to win military support from any foreign powers, mostly due to the Battle of Antietam, and the well-timed release of the Emancipation Proclamation.
- Despite the Union's many tactical blunders like the Seven Days Battle, those commited by Confederate generals, such as the Lee's miscalculations at the Battle of Gettysburg and allowing the battle plans to fall into Union hands before the Battle of Antietam, were far more serious — if for no other reason than that the Confederates could so little afford the losses.
- The Confederacy vastly overestimated the dependence of Great Britain and France on Southern cotton and an early decision by the Confederate government to cut production may have only weakened their hand as it forced the British to seek new supplies in Egypt, ultimately making an alliance less attractive.
Major land battles
The ten costliest land battles, measured by casualties (killed, wounded, captured, and missing) were:
Battle of Antietam
Other major land battles included First Bull Run, The Seven Days, Perryville, Fredericksburg, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, the Siege of Petersburg, and the battles of Franklin and Nashville. There was also Jackson's Valley Campaign, the Atlanta Campaign, Red River Campaign, Missouri Campaign, Valley Campaigns of 1864, and many coastal and river battles.
Major naval battles
Major naval battles included Battle of Island Number Ten, Battle of Hampton Roads, Battle of Memphis, Battle of Drewry's Bluff, Battle of Fort Hindman, and Battle of Mobile Bay. In addition to this, a Union blockade of Confederate ports throughout the war managed to deny supplies to the CSA.
Civil War leaders and soldiers
Union blockade at Vicksburg National Military Park.]]
One of the reasons that the US Civil War wore on as long as it did and the battles were so fierce was that most important generals on both sides had formerly served in the United States Army — some including Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, during the Mexican-American War between 1846 and 1848. Most were graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point, where Lee had been commandant for 3 years in the 1850s.
Significant Southern leaders included Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Joseph E. Johnston, Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, James Longstreet, P.G.T. Beauregard, John Mosby, Braxton Bragg, John Bell Hood, James Ewell Brown (JEB) Stuart, William Mahone, Judah P. Benjamin, Jubal Early, and Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Northern leaders included Abraham Lincoln, William H. Seward, Edwin M. Stanton, Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, George H. Thomas, George B. McClellan, Henry W. Halleck, Joseph Hooker, Ambrose Burnside, Irvin McDowell, Philip Sheridan, George Crook, George Armstrong Custer, Christopher "Kit" Carson, John E. Wool, George G. Meade, Winfield Hancock, Elihu Washburne, Abner Read, and Robert Gould Shaw.
Five men who served as Union officers eventually became presidents of the United States: Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, and William McKinley.
After the war, the Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternal organization open to Union war veterans, was founded in 1866. Confederate veterans formed the United Confederate Veterans in 1889. In 1905, a campaign medal was authorized for all Civil War veterans, known as the Civil War Campaign Medal.
According to data from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the last surviving Union veteran of the conflict, Albert Woolson, died on August 2, 1956 at the age of 109, and the last Confederate veteran, John Salling, died on March 16, 1958, at the age of 112. However, William Marvel investigated the claims of both for a 1991 piece in the Civil War history magazine Blue & Gray. Using census information, he found that Salling was born in 1858, far too late to have served in the Civil War. In fact, he concluded, "Every one of the last dozen recognized Confederates was bogus." He found Woolson to be the last true veteran of the Civil War on either side; he had served as a drummer boy late in the war.
Women were not allowed to fight — though some did fight in disguise. Clara Barton became a leader of the Union Nurses and was widely known as the "Angel of the Battlefield." She experienced the horror of 16 battles, helping behind the lines to heal the injured soldiers. Barton organized a relief program that helped to better distribute supplies to wounded soldiers of both the North and South. After 1980 scholarly attention turned to ordinary soldiers, and to women and African Americans.
The question of slavery
As slavery and constitutional questions concerning states' rights were widely viewed as the major causes of the war, the victorious Union government sought to end slavery and to guarantee a perpetual union that could never be broken.
During the early part of the war, Lincoln, to hold together his war coalition of Republicans and War Democrats, emphasized preservation of the Union as the sole Union objective of the war, but with the Emancipation Proclamation, announced in September 1862 and put into effect four months later, Lincoln adopted the abolition of slavery as a second mission. The Emancipation Proclamation declared all slaves held in territory then under Confederate control to be "then, thenceforth, and forever free", but did not affect slaves in areas under Union control. It had little initial effect but served to commit the United States to the goal of ending slavery. The proclamation would be put into practical effect in Confederate territory captured over the remainder of the war.
Foreign diplomacy
Because of the Confederacy's attempt to create a new state, recognition and support from the European powers were critical to its prospects. The Union, under Secretary of State William Henry Seward attempted to block the Confederacy's efforts in this sphere. The Confederates hoped that the importance of the cotton trade to Europe (the idea of cotton diplomacy) and shortages caused by the war, along with early military victories, would enable them to gather increasing European support and force a turn away from neutrality.
Lincoln's decision to announce a blockade of the Confederacy, a clear act of war, enabled Britain, followed by other European powers, to announce their neutrality in the dispute. This enabled the Confederacy to begin to attempt to gain support and funds in Europe. Jefferson Davis had picked Robert Toombs of Georgia as his first Secretary of State. Toombs, having little knowledge in foreign affairs, was replaced several months later by Robert M. T. Hunter of Virginia, another choice with little suitability. Ultimately, on March 17, 1862, Jefferson selected Judah P. Benjamin of Louisiana as Secretary of State, who although having more international knowledge and legal experience with international slavery disputes still failed in the end to create a dynamic foreign policy for the Confederacy.
The first attempts to achieve European recognition of the Confederacy were dispatched on February 25, 1861 and led by William Lowndes Yancey, Pierre A. Rost, and Ambrose Dudley Mann. The British foreign minister Lord John Russell met with them, and the French foreign minister Edouard Thouvenel received the group unofficially. However, at this point the two countries had agreed to coordinate and cooperate and would not make any rash moves.
Charles Francis Adams proved particularly adept as ambassador to Britain for the Union, and Britain was reluctant to boldly challenge the Union's blockade. The Confederacy also attempted to initiate propaganda in Europe through journalists Henry Hotze and Edwin De Leon in Paris and London. However, public opinion against slavery created a political liability for European politicians, especially in Britain. A significant challenge in Anglo-Union relations was also created by the Trent Affair, involving the Union boarding of a British mail steamer to seize James M. Mason and John Slidell, Confederate diplomats sent to Europe. However, the Union was able to smooth over the problem to some degree.
As the war continued, in late 1862, the British considered initiating an attempt to mediate the conflict. However, the Union victory in the Battle of Antietam caused them to delay this decision. Additionally, the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation further reinforced the political liability of supporting the Confederacy. As the war continued, the Confederacy's chances with Britain grew more hopeless, and they focused increasingly on France. Napoléon III proposed to offer mediation in January 1863, but this was dismissed by Seward. Despite some sympathy for the Confederacy, ultimately, France's own concerns in Mexico deterred them from substantially antagonizing the Union. As the Confederacy's situation grew more and more tenuous and their pleas increasingly ignored, in November 1864 Davis sent Duncan F. Kenner to Europe to test whether a promised emancipation could lead to possible recognition. The proposal was strictly rejected by both Britain and France.
Aftermath
Duncan F. Kenner depicts a Union and Confederate soldier shaking hands.]]
The border States of Missouri and Maryland moved during the course of the war to end slavery, and in December 1864, the Congress proposed the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, barring slavery throughout the United States; the 13th Amendment was fully ratified by the end of 1865. The 14th Amendment, defining citizenship and giving the Federal government broad power to require the States to provide equal protection of the laws was adopted in 1868. The 15th Amendment guaranteeing black men (but not women) the right to vote was ratified in 1870. The 14th and 15th Amendments reversed the effects of the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision of 1857, but the 14th Amendment, in particular, had unanticipated and far-reaching effects.
From the election of 1876 until the election of 1964, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas gave no electoral votes to the Republican Party, with South Carolina and Louisiana making an exception only once each. Most other states that had seceded voted overwhelmingly against Republican presidential nominees also, with the same trend predominantly applying in state elections too. This phenomenon was known as the
Congressional Cemetery
The Congressional Cemetery is a historic cemetery located near the Anacostia River in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, DC.
It is the final resting place of many members of the United States Congress, most of whom died in Washington while Congress was in session or afterwards when they were too ill to return to their homes. Other burials include former members of Congress, as well as members of their families.
In recent years, very few members of Congress have been interred at this location. There are several reasons for this. One is the improvement in transportation; most members of Congress who become gravely ill are able to be taken to their home area for treatment. Another is a result of advances in preservation of human remains; if members die suddenly, their remains are usually embalmed and then returned to their home state. An additional factor is the area of the city in which the cemetery is located. Anacostia has long been considered an undesirable area with many low income residents dwelling in public housing. Even daytime visitors to the historic graves often feel intimidated. As a consequence, very few affluent families, from which nearly all members of Congress are drawn, desire the remains of their loved ones to be interred in the cemetery.
Other persons who have served the United States Government are also eligible for interrment there under certain circumstances. One of the more celebrated incidences in recent years was the burial of Leonard Matlovich, a gay U.S. Air Force Vietnam veteran who was an early activist for gay rights with regard to military members.
Those interred there include:
- Joseph Anderson, Comptroller of the U.S. Treasury
- Theodorick Bland, U.S. Congressman
- Thomas Blount, Revolutionary War soldier, U.S. Congressman
- Mary Fuller, silent film actress
- John Gaillard, U.S. Senator
- Elbridge Gerry, U.S. Vice President
- James Gillespie, Revolutionary War soldier, U.S. Congressman
- Archibald Henderson, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps
- J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Director
- Joshua Humphreys, shipbuilder
- Adelaide Johnson, sculptor, social reformer
- Horatio King, U.S. Postmaster General
- Joseph Lovell, Surgeon General of the U.S. Army
- Alexander Macomb, Jr., Revolutionary War officer
- James Noble, U.S. Senator
- William Pinkney, statesman, diplomat
- Push-Ma-Ha-Ta, Native Chief
- Edith Nourse Rogers, reformer, U.S. Congresswoman
- Alexander Smyth, lawyer, soldier, U.S. Congressman
- Richard Stanford, U.S. Congressman
- Thomas Tingey, U.S. Navy officer
- Clyde Tolson, associate director of the FBI
- Joseph Gilbert Totten, military officer, regent of the Smithsonian Institution
- Abel P. Upshur, lawyer, U.S. Secretary of State
See also
- List of cemeteries in the United States
- List of other famous cemeteries
External links
- [http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/ Congressional Cemetery Website]
Category:Cemeteries in Washington, D.C.
Category:Legislative Branch of the United States Government
Marion Barry:For the U.S. Representative from Arkansas with a similar name, see Marion Berry.
Marion Berry
Marion Shepilov Barry, Jr. (born March 6, 1936) served as Democratic mayor of Washington, D.C. from 1979 to 1991. He was forced to leave office during his third term as a result of his arrest and conviction on drug charges, but afterward again elected to the D.C. council and ultimately to the mayoralty, serving a fourth term from 1995 to 1999. Today, Barry serves on the Council of the District of Columbia, representing Ward Eight, which comprises Anacostia and Congress Heights.
Early life and activism
Barry was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi. He grew up in Memphis, Tennessee and graduated from LeMoyne College (now LeMoyne-Owen College) in 1958. Barry also graduated with a Masters of organic chemistry from Fisk University in 1960. Afterwards he joined the American civil rights movement during a movement to eliminate racial segregation of bus passengers, and was elected the first chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He abandoned his doctoral chemistry studies at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee for his new duties. During his time leading SNCC, Barry heavily lobbied against racial segregation and discrimination.
Barry is a prominent member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the oldest intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.
Washington, D.C. political career
In 1965, Barry moved to Washington, D.C. to open a local chapter of SNCC where he was heavily involved in coordinating peaceful street demonstrations. He served on the first city school board to implement school board elections, in 1971, and served as Board president during his tenure. He was elected a member of Washington's first elected city council in 1974, and while serving as a council member, he became chair of the Committee on Finance and Review.
While serving on the D.C. city council in 1977, Barry was shot by radical Hanafi Muslim terrorists when they overran District Building. Barry was shot near his heart during a two-day crisis in which hostages were held by the terrorists, and which was finally defused by the FBI, and Muslim ambassadors.
In 1978, Barry was elected mayor of Washington, DC. He was only the second person elected to this position. Barry was elected to three consecutive terms as mayor and held the position for over a decade.
After being released from prison, Barry was successful in his 1992 bid for a city council seat. In 1994, Barry was elected to his fourth and final term as mayor, serving until January 1999.
From 1997 onwards, the federally imposed Control Board reduced Barry's power to allocate and manage funds for city projects. The mayor was also involved in further scandals, eventually leading to his decision not to run for a fifth term in office. He was succeeded by Anthony A. Williams, the former Chief Financial Officer of the Control Board. After leaving office, Barry performed consulting work for an investment banking firm.
On June 12, 2004 Barry announced that he was running in the Democratic primary for the Ward 8 council seat, a position he held before becoming mayor. Barry defeated the incumbent councilmember, Sandy Allen, on September 14, 2004, by a margin of at least 60–25%, setting him up to win the Ward 8 council seat in the November general election by a margin of 96–4%.
Legal problems
November.]]
On January 18, 1990, Barry was arrested with a woman in a sting operation at the Vista Hotel by the FBI and D.C. Police for crack cocaine use and possession. The incident – played over and over on television – produced what is perhaps the most memorable quote of Barry's long career: "Goddamn bitch set me up!"
Barry was charged with three counts of felony perjury, 10 counts of misdemeanor drug possession, and one misdemeanor count of conspiracy to possess cocaine; however, he was convicted only of a single misdemeanor count of possessing cocaine in November 1989. He was acquitted on one possession charge and a mistrial was declared on the 12 remaining charges.
As a result of his arrest and the ensuing trial, Barry was forced to step down from his position as mayor. In the midst of his campaign for a city council seat, Barry was sentenced to a six-month federal prison term in October 1990.
In 2002, Barry began a campaign for an at-large city council seat. But the bid was aborted after the U.S. Park Police alleged they had found small amounts of cocaine and marijuana in Barry's car. Barry has insisted the police planted the drugs. Barry's paranoia about being accused of drug crimes was so strong that in one instance, after a car of his was stolen and subsequently recovered by the police, Barry sold it without ever driving it again, claiming he feared police could have planted drugs in the car.
In early October 2005, The Washington Post reported that Barry was under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service for failing to file federal and District of Columbia income tax returns and pay his taxes, from 1999-2004. [http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9593823/]. On October 28, 2005, Barry plead guilty to the misdemeanor charges stemming from the IRS investigation. He awaits sentencing, which will occur in January 2006.[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/28/AR2005102801028.html]
Health problems
In 1995, Barry was successfully treated for prostate cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.
External links
- [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/library/dc/barry/barry.htm Marion Barry: Making of a Mayor]
- [http://www.dccouncil.washington.dc.us/BARRY/default.htm Official website for Councilman Barry]
- [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0963124668/britcomsforev-20/ Unauthorised biography page]
Barry, Marion, Jr.
Barry, Marion
Barry, Marion
Barry, Marion
Barry, Marion
Barry, Marion
Barry, Marion
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Orange Line (Washington Metro)
The Orange Line of the Washington Metro consists of 26 subway stations from Vienna/Fairfax-GMU to New Carrollton. It has stations in Fairfax County and Arlington, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Prince George's County, Maryland. Half of the line's stations are shared with the Blue Line.
History
Service on the Orange Line began on November 20, 1978 between National Airport and New Carrollton, with five new stations being added to the existing network from Stadium-Armory. When the line from Rosslyn to Ballston-MU was completed on December 11, 1979, Orange Line trains began following this route rather than going to National Airport station. The line was completed on June 7, 1986 when it was extended by four stations to Vienna/Fairfax-GMU.
There are plans to extend it by another 24 miles and about nine stations from West Falls Church-VT/UVA, linking Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County, Virginia to the system, known as the Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit Project.
List of stations, west to east
Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit Project
- Vienna/Fairfax-GMU
- Dunn Loring-Merrifield
- West Falls Church-VT/UVA
- East Falls Church
- Ballston-MU
- Virginia Square-GMU
- Clarendon
- Court House
- Rosslyn (Blue Line joins on same track)
- Foggy Bottom-GWU
- Farragut West
- McPherson Square
- Metro Center (Transfer station for Red Line)
- Federal Triangle
- Smithsonian
- L'Enfant Plaza (Transfer station for the Yellow and Green Lines)
- Federal Center SW
- Capitol South
- Eastern Market
- Potomac Ave
- Stadium-Armory (Blue Line splits)
- Minnesota Ave
- Deanwood
- Cheverly
- Landover
- New Carrollton
Planned stations
These names are from the Locally Preferred Alternative (December 2004) of the Dulles Rail Corridor. This branch will emerge from West Falls Church-VT/UVA as the Silver Line, following the Orange Line through downtown Washington to Stadium-Armory.
- Tysons East
- Tysons Central 123
- Tysons Central 7
- Tysons West
- Wolf Trap (Future, not to be built at the same time as the rest of the line)
- Wiehle Avenue (This far is planned by 2009)
- Reston Parkway
- Herndon-Monroe
- Route 28
- Dulles Airport
- Route 606
- Route 772 (This far is planned by 2015)
Source: Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit Project (http://www.dullestransit.com/)
See also: List of Washington Metro stations
Category:Washington Metro
Washington Metro, hub of the system]]
The Washington Metro is the public transportation system of Washington, D.C., and neighboring suburban communities in Maryland and Virginia, both inside and outside the Capital Beltway. In Maryland service is provided in Prince George's County and Montgomery County; in Virginia in Fairfax County, Arlington County, and the City of Alexandria.
The Metrorail (subway) system, as well as Metrobus (bus) services, are owned and operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) - a multijurisdictional, quasi-governmental agency. WMATA also operates a paratransit service for the disabled called MetroAccess. However, the expression "Washington Metro" usually refers to Metrorail exclusively.
Since opening in 1976, the subway network has grown to five lines, consisting of 86 stations and 106 miles (170.5 km) of track. The original plan of 83 stations on 103 miles (165.5 km) was completed on January 13, 2001. There were 190 million trips on Metrorail in 2004, meaning about 520,000 passengers use the system every day. The system is the second busiest in the nation – behind only the New York City Subway.
Washington's Metrorail is well known for its design by Chicago architect Harry Weese. Weese's design is an exemplar of late-20th-century modern architecture. With its heavy use of concrete, and the repetitive nature of its design motifs, it demonstrates aspects of Brutalism, which, in Washington, is also exemplified by the FBI's J. Edgar Hoover Building. Simultaneously, however, with its coffered groin and barrel vaults (seen here [http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?21102] in the Metro Center station), it reflects the neoclassical style of architecture that can arguably be described as the closest thing to an "official" federal style in Washington, D.C., as demonstrated in such buildings as the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the former U.S. Patent Office building (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum), by Robert Mills, the White House, by James Hoban, and the Beaux-Arts Lincoln Memorial, by Henry Bacon. The innovative design of Metro's stations additionally facilitates the cleanliness and safety which are are a hallmark of the system.
Metrorail network
Henry Bacon
The network was designed with a spoke-hub distribution paradigm, which makes the subway ideal for getting from a suburb to any part of the city, or vice versa, but unattractive for suburb-to-suburb travel; a Purple Line has been occasionally proposed to remedy this (see below). The system is also noteworthy as a system with a limited number of lines that nevertheless makes extensive use of interlining (running more than one line on the same track).
There are five lines, described from the south or west towards the north or east:
- Red Line: Runs from Shady Grove in Montgomery County, through downtown Washington, and back into Montgomery County ending at Glenmont. This is the busiest line and the only one which does not share its track with another line.
- Orange Line: Runs from Vienna/Fairfax-GMU in Fairfax County, through Arlington County and central Washington, ending at N | | |