How do I Invest in Forex Trading

 Trading Forex

Unlike most financial markets, the OTC (over-the-counter) foreign exchange market has no physical location or central exchange and trades 24-hours a day through a global network of businesses, banks and individuals. This means that currency prices are constantly fluctuating in value against each other, offering multiple trading opportunities.

At City Index, you can speculate on the future direction of currencies, taking either a long or short position depending on whether you think the currency’s value will go up or down. The below video shows you how to trade the EUR/USD currency pair with CFDs.

Forex Trading steps

1. Choose a currency pair

Decide which currency pair you wish to trade. With over 65 currency pairs to choose from, picking a trading opportunity that’s right for you is important. 
City Index’s technical and fundamental research tools can help you spot currency trading opportunities to suit your trading style. We recommend that you take your time to understand the amount of price volatility associated with the currency pair to help manage your risk.




2. Decide on the type of Forex trade 

There are three ways to trade forex with City Index Spread Betting, CFD or Forex Trading. Each has its particular stake size:

In spread betting you trade pounds per point movement

In CFD trading you trade a quantity of CFDs in the unit of the base currency (currency on the left). For example if you trade GBP / USD your stake would be in Pounds, while in USD / JPY your stake would be in US Dollars

In Forex trading you buy lots, in the unit of the base currency (currency on the left)

For example if you trade GBP / USD your stake would be in Pounds, while in USD / JPY your stake would be in US Dollars (the minimum stake size is 1000)




3. Decide to buy or sell 

Once you have picked a market, you need to know the current price it is trading at, which you can do by bringing up an trade ticket in the platform. All forex is quoted in terms of one currency versus another. Each currency pair has a ‘base’ currency and a ‘quote’ currency. The base currency is the currency on the left of the currency pair and the quote currency is on the right. Put simply, when trading foreign currencies, you would:

BUY a currency pair if you believed that the base currency will strengthen against the quote currency, or the quote currency will weaken against the base currency. 

Your profits will rise in line with every increase in the exchange price.

For every point the exchange price falls below your open level, you will incur a net loss.

SELL a currency pair if you believed that the base currency will weaken in value against the quote currency, or the quote currency will strengthen against the base currency.

Your profits will rise in line with each point the exchange price falls.

For every point the exchange price rises above your open level, you will incur a net loss.

Spread - Forex pairs have two prices.
The first price is the sell price (known as the bid) and the second price is the buy price (also known as the offer).  The difference between the buy price and the sell price is known as the spread, and is basically the cost of the trade. 




4. Adding orders

An order is an instruction to automatically trade at a point in the future when prices reach a specific level predetermined by you. You can utilise stop and limit orders to help ensure that you lock in any profits and minimise your risk when your respective profit or loss risk targets are reached.

While not compulsory, given the volatility in FX markets, using and understanding risk management tools such as stop loss orders is essential.

A stop loss order is an instruction to close out a trade at a price worse than the current market level and, as the name suggests, is used to help minimise losses. There are two types of stop loss orders - standard and guaranteed.




A standard stop loss order, once triggered, closes the trade at the best available price. There is a risk therefore that the closing price could be different from the order level if market prices gap. 

A guaranteed stop loss however, for which a small premium is charged upon trigger, guarantees to close your trade at the stop loss level you have determined, regardless of any market gapping.

A limit order is an instruction to close out a trade at a price that is better than the current market level and is used to help lock in price targets.

Standard stop losses and limit orders are free to place and can be implemented in the dealing ticket when you first place your trade, and you can also attach orders to existing open positions. 


5. Monitor and close your trade

Once open, your trade’s profit and loss will now fluctuate with each move in the market price. 

You can track market prices, see your unrealised profit/loss update in real time, attach orders to open positions and add new trades or close existing trades from your computer or app on your smartphone and tablet. 

6. Closing your trade

When you are ready to close your trade, you simply need to do the opposite to the opening trade. Supposing you bought 3 CFDs to open, you would sell 3 CFDs to close. By closing the trade, your net open profit and loss will be realised and immediately reflected in your account cash balance

 Tips to learn forex trading from today 

Follow these steps and you’ll get on the right path to becoming a great trader. Many of the steps listed here:

 

1. Commit to learning everything about forex trading




If you’re starting from the very beginning, it is very likely that you don’t know too much about forex trading.

Sure, you may have decided that of all the instruments to trade, forex is the one for you, but you need to know all the basics.

There are many terms and phrases you need to understand.

Do not make the mistake of thinking that forex trading is like gambling. Forex trading is really a game of probability, and so you need to understand how it works.

You shouldn’t be making trades without understanding your chances of making a profit or a loss.

When it comes to doing your initial research, this may take some time and it is important to be patient at this stage.

A key thing to point out at this stage is that you’ll never really complete this step. The learning process is never-ending, there’s always new stuff to learn about forex trading.

Learning forex trading should be part of your trading routine, you need to make time for it every day, even if you’re a professional.

When you stop learning forex trading, you start putting yourself at risk. People forget things and start getting into bad habits.

 

2. Choose a broker

There are quite literally millions of different forex brokers to choose from and you should look at what each one offers.

If you did the first step right, then you should be able to understand what they are offering and how this compares to other brokers. If not, then you need to do more research!

Ideally, you should stick to a well-known broker, one that many people use and is trustworthy. You should be able to check reviews brokers and see what people are saying.

It is best to avoid lesser-known brokers as it can be harder to tell if they are scams or not. Further to that, they will likely not offer the same quality service a well-known broker will.

You also do not need to pay too much attention to special offers for new traders. If a broker is good, they shouldn’t need to offer you anything extra.

But none of this really matters if the broker you choose is not regulated! This is the most important thing to look for. If you can’t find out who regulates them, stay away.

And preferably, the country that regulates the broker should be the same as the one you reside in.

 

3. Open an account




Brokers typically offer a range of different accounts and at first, it can be difficult to choose what account will suit you because you probably don’t know what trading style you will implement.

As a beginner, it would be wise to open an account that doesn’t require too much money and allows you to trade in small quantities.

You don’t need to worry about leverage or a wide range of forex pairs at this point. Leave these to the professionals.

At Trading Education, we advise against setting up a demo account because this can give you false expectations about how the market moves.

Demo accounts also typically give traders far too much fake money to play with which removes the element of risk, which is always present in real forex trading.

It is important to bear in mind that although choosing the right account is useful, it probably won’t be the last account you open. 

As you perfect your skills, you may consider different options.

 

4. Get a trading platform

Getting straight to the point, many forex traders use MetaTrader 4, widely known as MT4 (and to a lesser extent, MetaTrader 5 - MT5).

In fact, MT4 has pretty much dominated retail forex trading for the last two decades.

Because of this, there is a lot of documentation available to help you learn to trade forex on their platform and there are plenty of people to ask for help and forums to check.

There is nothing wrong with trying out other platforms, but MT4 will be easier to get started with at the beginning.

You should also check what your broker is compatible with. It is quite rare for a good quality broker not to work with MT4.

That said, your chosen broker may also offer their own platform, and some are fairly good.

As you can imagine, without a platform you basically cannot trade. Ideally, you should dedicate a good deal of time to learn how forex trading works on your trading platform.

 

5. Devise a risk management strategy




Putting together a risk management strategy is a crucial step before starting to trade. 

You are completely free to start trading forex at this point now you have a broker and a platform, though it is highly advised that you spent a little more time preparing yourself.

A risk management strategy is basically a set of rules you apply to yourself to minimise the effects of losses.

A well-known risk management strategy is to only trade 1% of your what’s in your trading account per trade.

By doing this, your trading account will last a lot longer and you will be able to learn more about forex trading from each trade.

Learning to recognise risk goes hand in hand with the next step… 

 

6. Learn how to analyse the forex market

By learning how to analyse the forex market, you will be able to enhance your risk management strategy and improve your chances of making a handsome profit.

You’ll learn what opportunities are worth getting involved in and which ones aren’t.

There are many ways you can learn to analyse the forex market. Most forms of analysis can either be categorised as ‘fundamental’ or ‘technical’.

Fundamental analysis is where you estimate how the market will likely move based on news events.

Typically, such traders will take into consideration things like GDP, unemployment, inflation, etc. Usually, this kind of information is readily available on a forex economic calendar.

Technical analysis is a much broader topic and includes a variety of different market tools, often referred to as ‘indicators’.

They can measure a number of things and many traders feel it is smarter to rely on technical analysis which can be measured more accurately.

To really learn forex trading, you should have knowledge of both technical and fundamental analysis.

 

7. Start making trades




Now you know the basics, it is time to start dipping into a little bit of trading.

You can’t really learn forex trading until you start doing it and for many, this will be the real turning point.

By turning theory to practice, you will see what really works for you and what doesn’t. Any plans you originally made may go right out the window.

Some elements you thought were easy might turn out to be hard and vice versa. You’ll also see how trading affects you mentally as well.

But whatever you do, don’t expect to immediately start winning. You will make plenty of losses. However, this shouldn’t get you down, it is completely normal.

If all you do is make losing trades, don’t worry. Think of these losses as an investment to learn forex trading. If you keep at it long enough, it will pay off.

It is also possible that you may find yourself in the reverse situation; you keep winning. Here you should be cautious and remember that you are still new to trading, you are not invincible!

You may also find that from this point you start to find things that you want to research more in order to improve your trading.

 

8. Learn forex trading styles

Now that you’ve started trading, you can start refining what works for you.

This step will take a long time and just like the first step, never really ends (we repeat that a lot!). You should always be trying new things.

‘Forex Trading style’, for most people, this usually comes down to one specific question; are you a ‘day trader or a ‘swing trader’?

Day trading is essentially a full-time job, you do it throughout the day. Typically, day traders will open positions in the morning and close them in the evening.

Swing trading is more long-term, though it requires less time. Swing traders may close a trade days, weeks or even months after opening them.

Some believe that the ‘real money’ is in swing trading, others disagree and prefer day trading.

As a beginner, you probably have less time to trade and so swing trading may be a better option as you can do it in the evening after work, for example.

Then, as you become more experienced, you can consider day trading.

 


9. Keep a trading journal




Keeping a trading journal is how you learn to perfect your trading style.

With such a journal, you would log all your trades, taking note of why you entered a position, how large your position was and what the outcome was.

By doing this, you can see what works for you and what doesn’t. If you don’t keep a trading journal, you will never learn forex trading and will be doomed to repeat the same mistakes.

You may be familiar with this famous phrase from Albert Einstein:

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results”.

In forex trading, this phrase especially rings true. Without a journal, there are many things you won’t notice about your trading strategy.

Only when you put them on paper will they become obvious, which can hopefully lead to change and improvement.

 

10. Continue to learn forex trading

As we have mentioned throughout this article, learning to trade forex never stops! Even professionals are still learning to trade forex.

You need to continue to dedicate time to learning new things about forex trading. Don’t think that trading is solely the act of trading itself!

But keeping your knowledge sharp, you will be able to find more opportunities to make a profit.

As mentioned in the first step, when you stop learning forex trading you are putting yourself at risk.

Learning forex trading doesn’t always mean to learn something new, sometimes it serves to remind you of things you forgot and must relearn.

 

How to Settle Down and learn the techniques for trading Forex

Forex (FX) trading can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. In the beginning forex trading seems like it is simple. Forex is a marketplace for trading in currencies. Traders will use these trades to speculate and hedge for profit as well as for commerce and other purposes. The FX market is the largest, most traded exchange in the world and is used by individual traders, financial institutions, broker, and institutional investors.

It may seem like your only job as a trader is to pick the direction of a currency pair and collect your profit. However, forex trading takes time, patience, and experience. You will need a combination of fundamental and technical analysis skills and an understanding of the factors that move the currencies traded on the foreign exchange marketplace. Or, maybe you are hoping to find a precise forex trading system on the internet. If only it were that simple.

Hedging Forex

Hedging is a way to reduce risk by taking both sides of a trade at once. If your broker allows it, an easy way to hedge is just to initiate a long and a short position on the same pair. Advanced traders sometimes use two different pairs to make one hedge, but that can get very complicated.

For example, say you decide that you want to go short on the U.S. dollar and the Swiss franc (USD/CHF) because you see it sitting at the top of a recent price range. You decide to initiate your short. After setting up your short, you start thinking that the USD/CHF is looking a little strong, and you think that it might break upward and make your short an expensive one.

To do an advanced balancing act, you start looking at other USD pairs. You find that the euro to dollar pair (EUR/USD) tends to move inversely—opposite—to the USD/CHF. To complete your forex hedge, you go short on EUR/USD. The USD ends up breaking resistance and moves strongly against the CHF. Your short EUR trade becomes a winner, and your USD/CHF trade is a loser, but your risk is limited because they almost even out.

Position Trading

Position Trading is trading based on your overall exposure to a currency pair. Your position is your average price for a currency pair. For Example, you might make a short trade on EUR/USD at 1.40. If the pair is ultimately trending lower but happens to retrace up, and you take another short at say 1.42, your average position would be 1.41. Once the EUR/USD drops back below 1.41, you will be back in overall profit.

Trading Forex Options

A forex option is an agreement to purchase a currency pair at a predetermined price at a specified future date. For example, say you are long the EUR/USD at 1.40, and you feel that there is a chance that it will fall to 1.38 in overnight trading. Not wanting to risk a deeper reaction, you decide to put a stop at 1.3750, setting up a potential loss of 250 pips.

250 pips sound really painful, so you decide to use a forex option to lessen the pain. You purchase an option for the overnight hours with a strike price of 1.3750. If the EUR/USD goes up and never touches 1.3750 overnight, you would lose the premium that you paid for your currency option.

If the EUR/USD falls and touches your option and your stop loss, you would receive the profit from your option, depending on how much of a premium you paid, and you would realize the loss of your long trade on the EUR/USD. The options profit would make up for some of that loss on your currency trade.

Scalping

Scalping is making a very short-term trade for a few pips usually using high leverage. Scalping typically is best done in conjunction with a news release and supportive technical conditions. The trade can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours. Many beginning forex traders start with scalping, but it does not take long to figure out how much you can lose if you do not have any idea what you are doing. In general, scaling is a risky strategy that does not pay well in comparison it's a risk. If you are going to make scalping trades, it is best to do them in conjunction with your overall trading position, not as a primary method of trading.

Advanced Forex trading is about seeing all your options when you make a trade. Aside from using masterful risk management and extreme caution, advanced trading can be an alternate way to make profits and control losses. Advanced trading techniques are just about using the behavior of the market to your advantage. Learning to use advanced techniques properly is what will give you the edge that will make you stand apart from the average trader.


The Balance does not provide tax, investment, or financial services and advice. The information is being presented without consideration of the investment objectives, risk tolerance or financial circumstances of any specific investor and might not be suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investing involves risk including the possible loss of principal.

King Leopold 11 of Belgium (1835-1909)

 King Leopold 11 of Belgium (1835-1909)

Born in Brussels as the second but eldest surviving son of Leopold I and Louise of Orléans, he succeeded his father to the Belgian throne in 1865 and reigned for 44 years until his death – the longest reign of any Belgian monarch. He died without surviving legitimate sons. The current Belgian king descends from his nephew and successor, Albert I.

Leopold was the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State, a private project undertaken on his own behalf. He used Henry Morton Stanley to help him lay claim to the Congo, the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, the colonial nations of Europe authorized his claim by committing the Congo Free State to improving the lives of the native inhabitants. Leopold ignored these conditions and ran the Congo using the mercenary Force Publique for his personal gain. He extracted a fortune from the territory, initially by the collection of ivory, and after a rise in the price of natural rubber in the 1890s, by forced labour from the native population to harvest and process rubber.

Leopold's administration of the Congo was characterised by atrocities, including torture and murder, resulting from notorious systematic brutality. The hands of men, women, and children were amputated when the quota of rubber was not met. Millions of the Congolese people died: modern estimates range from 1 million to 15 million deaths, with a consensus growing around 10 million. Colonial accounts placed much more stress on Leopold's modernizing changes in the Congo.

In 1908, the reports of deaths and abuse and pressure from the Congo Reform Association and other international groups induced the Belgian government to take over the administration of the Congo from Leopold as a new territory, Belgian Congo.

After succumbing to a fever of some sort in 1705, Irish woman Margorie McCall was hastily buried to prevent the spread of whatever had done her in. Margorie was buried with a valuable ring, which her husband had been unable to remove due to swelling. This made her an even better target for body snatchers, who could cash in on both the corpse and the ring.

The evening after Margorie was buried, before the soil had even settled, the grave-robbers showed up and started digging. Unable to pry the ring off the finger, they decided to cut the finger off. As soon as blood was drawn, Margorie awoke from her coma, sat straight up and screamed.

The fate of the grave-robbers remains unknown. One story says the men dropped dead on the spot, while another claims they fled and never returned to their chosen profession.

Margorie climbed out of the hole and made her way back to her home.

Her husband John, a doctor, was at home with the children when he heard a knock at the door. He told the children, “If your mother were still alive, I’d swear that was her knock.”

When he opened the door to find his wife standing there, dressed in her burial clothes, blood dripping from her finger but very much alive, he dropped dead to the floor. He was buried in the plot Margorie had vacated.

Margorie went on to re-marry and have several children. When she did finally die, she was returned to Shankill Cemetery in Lurgan, Ireland, where her gravestone still stands. It bears the inscription “Lived Once, Buried Twice.”

 

The Pollock Twins Story

On May 5, 1957, Joanna Pollock, 11, and her sister Jacqueline, 6, were killed in a car accident. This left their parent's John and Florence devastated. But on October 4, 1958, Florence gave birth to twin girls, Gillian and Jennifer. Gillian and Jennifer were identical twins, but they had different birthmarks. Jennifer had a birthmark on her waist that matched a birthmark that Jacqueline had. She also had a birthmark on her forehead that resembled a scar that Jacqueline had. The family moved to Whitley Bay when the twins were three months old. Two years later, the girls started asking for toys that had belonged to their elder sisters, despite never having seen the toys before. After the family returned to Hexham, the twins, despite never having been there, pointed out landmarks their older sisters had known. They also began to panic upon seeing moving cars, shrieking, “The car is coming to get us!” After they turned five, their memories of their previous lives faded, and they went on to lead normal lives.

Aguiyi-Ironsi attended school in Umuahia, Calabar, and Kano. In addition to English and Igbo, he could also speak Hausa and Yoruba. He enlisted into the then colonial army at the age of 18 and rose to the rank of a company sergeant-major by 1946.

In 1964, Ironsi became the commander of the entire United Nations Force in Congo, the first African to do so. In 1965, he became a Major-General and Head of the Nigerian army. The first Nigerian to ever attain the rank and the post.

On January 16, 1966, Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi became Nigeria’s First Military Head of State after a military coup d’état had toppled the First Republic a day before.

Of all military Heads of State, Ironsi ruled Nigeria the shortest, a mere 194 days before he was overthrown and killed by his subordinates on July 29, 1966. 

A 22-year-old Russian man, Alexei Roskov drank 3 bottles of vodka,

 

In April 2009, a 22-year-old Russian man, Alexei Roskov drank 3 bottles of vodka, became drunk and jumped out of his 5-storey-building kitchen window the first time, and staggered back up.
When his wife, Yekaterina, started "nagging" him to stop, she watched in horror as he jumped out the second time and staggered back up again.
He was about to jump for the third time when paramedics arrived, restrained him, and treated him for minor cuts and bruises he got after the falls.


When the Jews arrived in Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar spared no effort to humiliate them. He made them march down the riverbank, bound and naked, while he watched from a royal ship on the water.
Among the exiles, there were Jewish youths whose beauty was so striking. Nebuchadnezzar had them executed and their bodies mutilated and trampled underfoot to prevent the Chaldean women from seeing their beauty and desiring it. A daring attempt by some 80,000 young priests to escape ended in tragedy.

“…Africa will write its own history and, in both North and South, it will be a history of glory and dignity.” —Patrice Lumumba (July 2, 1925 - January 17, 1961).

Patrice Émery Lumumba was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first Prime Minister of the independent Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Republic of the Congo) from June until September 1960. He played a significant role in the transformation of the Congo from a colony of Belgium into an independent republic.

Ideologically an African nationalist and Pan-Africanist, he led the Mouvement National Congolais (MNC) party from 1958 until his death.

Shortly after Congolese independence in 1960, a mutiny broke out in the army, marking the beginning of the Congo Crisis. Lumumba appealed to the United States and the United Nations for help to suppress the Belgian-supported Katangan secessionists. Both refused, so Lumumba turned to the Soviet Union for support. This led to growing differences with President Joseph Kasa-Vubu and Chief-of-Staff Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, as well as with the United States and Belgium.

Lumumba was subsequently imprisoned by state authorities under Mobutu and executed by a firing squad under the command of Katangan authorities. Following his death, he was widely seen as a martyr for the wider Pan-African movement.

This heinous crime was a culmination of two inter-related assassination plots by American and Belgian governments, which used Congolese accomplices and a Belgian execution squad to carry out the deed.

For 126 years, the US and Belgium have played key roles in shaping Congo's destiny. In April 1884, seven months before the Berlin Congress, the US became the first country in the world to recognise the claims of King Leopold II of the Belgians to the territories of the Congo Basin.

When the atrocities related to brutal economic exploitation in Leopold's Congo Free State resulted in millions of fatalities, the US joined other world powers to force Belgium to take over the country as a regular colony. And it was during the colonial period that the US acquired a strategic stake in the enormous natural wealth of the Congo, following its use of the uranium from Congolese mines to manufacture the first atomic weapons, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs.

With the outbreak of the cold war, it was inevitable that the US and its western allies would not be prepared to let Africans have effective control over strategic raw materials, lest these fall in the hands of their enemies in the Soviet camp. It is in this regard that Patrice Lumumba's determination to achieve genuine independence and to have full control over Congo's resources in order to utilise them to improve the living conditions of Congolese was perceived as a threat to western interests. To fight him, the US and Belgium used all the tools and resources at their disposal, including the United Nations secretariat, under Dag Hammarskjöld and Ralph Bunche, to buy the support of Lumumba's Congolese rivals, and hired killers.

In Congo, Lumumba's assassination is rightly viewed as the country's original sin. Coming less than seven months after independence (on June 30, 1960), it was a stumbling block to the ideals of national unity, economic independence and pan-African solidarity that Lumumba had championed, as well as a shattering blow to the hopes of millions of Congolese for freedom and material prosperity.

The assassination took place at a time when the country had fallen under four separate governments: the central government in Kinshasa (then Léopoldville); a rival central government by Lumumba's followers in Kisangani (then Stanleyville); and the secessionist regimes in the mineral-rich provinces of Katanga and South Kasai.

Since Lumumba's physical elimination had removed what the west saw as the major threat to their interests in the Congo, internationally-led efforts were undertaken to restore the authority of the moderate and pro-western regime in Kinshasa over the entire country. These resulted in ending the Lumumbist regime in Kisangani in August 1961, the secession of South Kasai in September 1962, and the Katanga secession in January 1963.

Declassified documents reveal that the CIA had plotted to assassinate Lumumba. These documents indicate that the Congolese leaders who killed Lumumba, including Mobutu Sese Seko and Joseph Kasa-Vubu, received money and weapons directly from the CIA.

This same disclosure showed that, at that time, the U.S. government believed that Lumumba was a communist and feared him because of the Cold War.

In 2013, the U.S. State Department admitted that President David Eisenhower authorised the murder of Lumumba as the inauguration of President-elect John F. Kennedy in January 1961 caused fear among Mobutu's faction and within the CIA that the incoming administration would shift its favour to the imprisoned Lumumba.

While awaiting his presidential inauguration, Kennedy had come to believe that Lumumba should be released from custody, though not be allowed to return to power. However, Lumumba was killed three days before Kennedy's inauguration on January 20, 1961, though Kennedy would not learn of the killing until February 13, 1961.

Northern Nigeria Ancient History: The Nok Culture.

Terra cotta Is a figure in baked/burnt clay, wouldn't you be surprise to learn that based on radio carbon dating Such civilization was there at the Kaduna area some 3000 years back, yes Some 200-500 years before the Christian era; before the birth of Christ. The culture is the extant evidences of human existence in Nigeria and the earliest iron civilization of that kind in West Africa . It is the deepest verifiable of Nigerian history so far.

The Nok Excavation

It was in 1936 when the British colonist were mining tin in the Nok village in Southern Kaduna when they stumbled on a hard backed clay known as terracotta in human and animal figures, stone and Iron tools, the tin mining was wrapped up, and an expert British archaeologist named Bernand Shaw was brought in to excavate it out, surveying around the axis, the finding was named after the present Nok village beneath which the art works were found since no body knows who did it as the makers mysteriously vanished or migrated. One problem of archaeology is that it can't tell the actual people but rather their culture and it's dating can only be approximate not specific . After all archaeology tell the History of extinct people from The mouth piece of their material remains.

The artefacts are mostly in Human and animal figures made with backed clay with holes in their faces, backed clay hair pleating, a figure of a thinking man and a man riding a horse, along with life human size terracotta. They were designed with elaborated jewelry.

The origin of the people is not yet ascertain but, historians and archaeologist believe that since bones, sorghums and corn, a staple food in Northern Nigeria, were also found, it may suggest that the people were indigenous to the region. The Nok artefacts shows the artistic potentialities of Nigerians in the past. Pottery is never new to Nigerians.

The Nok work is the first serious archaeological exercise in modern Nigeria and The date of the iron works proved to be the extant (oldest) in sub Saharan Africa which make archaeologist to conclude that the Nok people are the first people to use iron tools in black Africa.

Other findings are stone works dated to thousands of years back during the Stone Age, this testified that there were actually people in Kaduna area not only before Christ but since before the discovery of Iron during the Stone Age, thousands of years ago. The stone carving are mostly quartz and granites.

Iron works and horse terracotta proves that there might have been relationship between the North Africans and Central Nigerian people since B.C, because Meroe civilization of Sudan started Iron work in Africa and horses are of the Berber and Arab world. Other areas where the Nok terracotta were found were Taruga in Abuja, Samun Dukiya, Kagara in Niger, Katsina Ala, Jos etc.

Who ever might had made the Nok terracotta must have been alive during the transition period between the stone and Iron Ages. The people must had been living before the period that those things were made, because one cannot start making things with sophistication, advancement and sophistication are attained from accumulative experience over years of practice, they also took their time to study the environment because their artworks depict the that, for example an elephant terracotta was found which proves they must had seen an elephant, which was not domestic animals which the archaeologist may conclude they were hunters too or elephants might had invaded their territory, because some body that had never seen an elephant can not make it sculpture.

The region was probably moister and more heavily wooded during this period than it is today, but was still north of the zone of dense forests. The people would have subsisted by farming and cattle raising. As the climate gradually became drier, they would have drifted south, so the Nok people may have been the ancestors of people such as the Igala , Nupe, Yoruba and Ibo, whose artwork shows similarities to the earlier Nok artefacts. Other similar artefacts were found in upper Volta.

Professor Murray Last maintained that the Nok people migrated North ward to establish Kangoma kingdom and later Zazzau. Other archaeological sites in the North include: Birnin Kudu, Kwatarwashi, Kufena and Turunku in Zazzau, the great city walls (Ganuwa, Kusarta in Borno, Rop Rock in Jos, Tse Dura in Benue, etc.

Some of the Nok artefacts were looted away, International Art Research concluded that more than 1000 Nok artefacts are in circulation in the arts black market in Europe, North America and Japan, in 2010 French customs arrested a French citizen that was smuggling the Nok artefacts to France.

Omar Mukhtar (The Lion of the Desert) - 89 years since martyrdom.

 

In November of 1733 enslaved Africans in the Caribbean island of St John, led by an Akan princess named Breffu, rebelled against their Danish captors, seized control of the island & established an Akan Kingdom in the Caribbean, in one of longest slave revolts. 

The rebellion was carried out primarily by enslaved Akan from the Akwamu Kingdom in the Gold Coast (Present day Ghana & Ivory Coast). It was masterminded by an Akan princess named Breffu, who was enslaved by Pieter Kroyer, a plantation owner from Denmark.
Breffu approached King June, another enslaved Akan royal from Akwam with her plan to massacre the slave owners & the Danish soldiers on station on the Island.

Together they succeeded in rallying 150 Akan slaves to their cause. Many non Akan slaves refused to join the rebellion
Their plan was to first seize Fort Fredericksvaern, a heavily fortified military stronghold on Coral Bay. After that, a signal would be given to commence the massacre. Breffu & the other rebels began stealing knives & hiding them in firewood bundles.

In the evening of November 23rd 1733, King June & a handful of slaves were allowed through the gates of Fort Fredericksvaern to deliver firewood as they routinely did every week. Once inside the Fort, the Slaves retrieved the knives they had hidden in the firewood bundles.

With the knives, the managed to overpower & kill every single soldier in the Fort, except one who was able to escape. After they had taken control of the Fort, the fired the cannons 3 times to signal to the other rebels that the raid on Fort Fredericksvaern had been successful.

When Breffu & the other rebels heard the signal, they grabbed knives & began killing all their slave masters. Breffu killed her owner Pieter Kroyer & his whole family. She then went to the home of Van Stell, the wealthiest man on the Island & killed him & his whole family.

The Rebels then went from door to door killing every single European in sight. Many other enslaved Africans banded together & started fighting against the Akan rebels to protect their slave masters. As a result, many Blacks were also killed by the rebels.

The rest of the Europeans on the Island fled to the coast, jumped in ships & boats & escaped to the neighboring slave island colony of Martinique, which was under French rule at the time. After the revolt, the rebels declared the Island the new Akwamu kingdom with Breffu as Queen.

When news of the revolt reached Denmark, many Danish merchants & slave traders pleaded with their king to intervene & retake the Island. King Christian VI of Denmark reached out to France, which had the largest & most powerful military in Europe at the time.

The Danish merchants & slave traders successfully negotiated a deal with the French to recapture the island. In April 1734, thousands of French troops from Martinique & launched an assault on St John. After a bloody campaign, the French managed to retake control of the island.

Breffu & the rebels retreated to Fort Fredericksvaern to make their last stand. The Fort was then surrounded & bombarded by French troops. After French troops managed to blow the gates open, Breffu & 23 surviving Rebels committed suicide. The Island was then return to Denmark.

Today the Island of St John is part of the U.S Virgin Islands, & an American overseas territory. Breffu is a national Hero in the U.S Virgin Islands & is fondly remembered as the Queen of St John.

The Osogbo war Revisited where is Barrister Ayo Faniyi to tell us more ???

I wrote recently :

Shame that Ibadan relaxed after liberating Osogbo. They were cutting the tales of abandoned horses. Using it to make juju. They relaxed. Initially, they did not know what to do with the bodies of massacred Ilorin invaders. A Muslim Ibadan commander now said they should be buried immediately bc bodies of dead Muslims must be buried immediately. Nonsense, they should have pursued the remnants to Ilorin and took over Ilorin bc a whole Ilorin army perished in Osogbo.

How did Ibadan win the Osogbo war? It was a beautiful strategy. After the invaders have tied down their horses at night and went to sleep in their camps, Ibadan descended on them. As you know, it was not easy to untie the horses under such circumstances. Thousands trying to mobilise their horses were killed!!! Only a few ran away on legs.


In 1981, Pope John Paul 2 was shot by a Turkish man named Mehmet Ali Ağca, who was later arrested and jailed.

Mehmet Ali Ağca, who had escaped from a Turkish prison after receiving a life sentence for murdering a journalist, fired four shots with a 9-millimeter pistol. Two struck the pope in his lower intestine, one in his right arm and one in his left index finger. Two bystanders were also wounded.

Despite severe blood loss, the pontiff survived, and asked for all Catholics to pray for Ağca, whom he had “sincerely forgiven.”

An Italian court sentenced Ağca to life in prison. The motive for the assassination attempt and its planners remains mysterious — theories and allegations have accused the CIA, the KGB, the Bulgarian government, the Turkish mafia and more.

In 1983, John Paul II visited his would-be assassin. They had a private conversation, and emerged as friends. The pope stayed in touch with Ağca’s family during the latter's incarceration, and in 2000 requested that he be pardoned.

The request was granted. Ağca was released and deported to Turkey, where he was imprisoned for the life sentence he had fled decades prior.

He converted to Christianity while incarcerated, and was finally released in 2010.

In December 2014, he returned to Rome and laid two dozen white roses at the pope’s tomb.

The Bible never said we should pay an eye for an eye.

Omar Mukhtar (The Lion of the Desert) - 89 years since martyrdom.

On this day 89 years ago (16th September, 1931), Omar Mukhtar at the age of 73 was executed and hanged by the Italian colonial forces.
Indeed, right from that very day, Omar Mukhtar is recognized as a symbol of resistance in the Muslim world.
Omar Mukhtar, the Libyan resistant hero who took on the Italian Army in the war to liberate his tiny country from colonial occupation.
With horses and chariots, Omar Mukhtar, for two decades, matched his men against a modern army in what was, for all practical purposes, a suicide mission. At the end, he was captured in battle which he led in a blaze of gunfire and blood. But he was defiant and unrepentant to the very end as he showed fidelity to his cause.
Knowing his worth and popularity among the Libyan people who believed in him, the Italians decided that it was better to do a deal with Omar Mukhtar than to execute him. They therefore offered him houses, cars and a life of luxury in retirement if ONLY he would renounce his struggle. He rejected their offer and was subsequently put on trial.
Not surprisingly, the Italian military tribunal convicted and sentenced him to death by execution. But in the hope that he would change his mind, on the eve of his execution, General Rudolfo Graziani, the Italian military leader in Libya, invited him for a talk where the offers were made again. Not surprisingly, he again rejected them. But as the Italian General made to take his leave, Omar Mukhtar said he had a request to make.
General Graziani was so excited. "Ask anything and I will grant you... just like this," snapping his fingers.
Smiling, Omar Mukthar, the old war horse, said:
"Please do not tell the world that in the secrecy of this room, I begged for my life."
Apparently taken aback, General Graziani in an emotion laden voice, replied : "I won't do that. No, I won't do that to you... you are a man of God."
On the day Omar Mukhtar was executed, even some Italian Generals could not hold back their tears. They may not have liked Omar Mukhtar who fought them and killed many of their soldiers, they nonetheless had respect for him. Because he believed in the cause of his people for which he was prepared to lay his life.

"We will not surrender, we win or die."

"And don't think it stops there, even if we die, we have the next generation to fight and the next and the next and the next. And I will live longer than my hanger."

"I'm fighting you because you occupied our land."

"Money or glory has an interesting past."

"Do you know that by giving me bribe, you are insulting me?".

An Amazing story nevertgeless.

 Many people know that already a month after the start of the Great Patriotic War the Germans began to carry out air raids on Moscow. But the fact that in response the Soviet pilots in August-September 1941 repeatedly bombed Berlin, for some reason still not everyone knows. However, it was for this feat that ten pilots of the 1st mine-torpedo aviation regiment of the Baltic Fleet Air Force were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Hitler's propaganda played a cruel joke on its creators: at the airfield near Stettin, the runway lights were turned on - Soviet pilots were invited to land. The Nazis believed that strategic Soviet aviation did not exist and mistook Soviet bombers for German ones.
And the planes proceeded further towards Berlin. And on the night of August 8, Soviet bombers struck at strategic targets in Berlin.

On December 24, 1971, 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke was sucked out of a LANSA flight 508  after it was struck by a bolt of lightning. She fell two miles to the ground still strapped to her seat and survived.

However, Koepcke had to endure an 11-day walk through the Amazon Jungle before being rescued by locals. Out of the 91 passengers and crew, Juliane was the only survivor of the crash that also took her mother's life.


Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), one of the greatest scientists that ever lived, was elected as a Member of Parliament in 1689 and served for exactly one year. Throughout his tenure, he uttered only one sentence; "Close the window, please."


In the 18th century, American slaveowners feared to buy Eboe (Ibo) slaves because they were stubborn, suicidal, and rumored to have poisoned the grandfather of America's 4th President, James Madison (pictured), Ambrose Madison, in 1732.


Arnold Schwarzenegger was paid $21,429 for every single word he uttered in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day". For the 700 words he spoke, he earned $15 million.


This is said to be a true story from Associated Press, Reported by Kurt Westervelt Brilliant - facts are sometimes stranger then fiction!

An Amazing story nevertgeless.

On March 23, 1994 the medical examiner viewed the body of Ronald Opus and concluded that he died from a shotgun wound to the head.

Mr. Opus had jumped from the top of a ten-story building intending to commit suicide. He left a note to the effect indicating his despondency.

As he fell past the ninth floor his life was interrupted by a shotgun blast passing through a window, which killed him instantly.

Neither the shooter nor the deceased was aware that a safety net had been installed just below the eighth floor level to protect some building workers and that Ronald Opus would not have been able to complete his suicide the way he had planned.

"Ordinarily," Dr Mills continued, "A person, who sets out to commit suicide and ultimately succeeds, even though the mechanism might not be what he intended, is still defined as committing suicide."

That Mr. Opus was shot on the way to certain death, but probably would not have been successful because of the safety net, caused the medical examiner to feel that he had a homicide on his hands.

The room on the ninth floor, where the shotgun blast emanated, was occupied by an elderly man and his wife. They were arguing vigorously and he was threatening her with a shotgun.

The man was so upset that when he pulled the trigger he completely missed his wife and the pellets went through the window striking Mr. Opus.

When one intends to kill subject "A" but kills subject "B" in the attempt, one is guilty of the murder of subject "B".

When confronted with the murder charge the old man and his wife were both adamant and both said that they thought the shotgun was unloaded.

The old man said it was a long-standing habit to threaten his wife with the unloaded shotgun. He had no intention to murder her. Therefore the killing of Mr. Opus appeared to be an accident; that is, if the gun had been accidentally loaded.

The continuing investigation turned up a witness who saw the old couple's son loading the shotgun about six weeks prior to the fatal accident.

It transpired that the old lady had cut off her son's financial support and the son, knowing the propensity of his father to use the shotgun threateningly, loaded the gun with the expectation that his father would shoot his mother.

Since the loader of the gun was aware of this, he was guilty of the murder even though he didn't actually pull the trigger.

The case now becomes one of murder on the part of the son for the death of Ronald Opus.

Now comes the exquisite twist!

Further investigation revealed that the son was, in fact, Ronald Opus!

He had become increasingly despondent over the failure of his attempt to engineer his mother's murder. This led him to jump off the ten-story building on March 23rd, only to be killed by a shotgun blast passing through the ninth story window.

The son had actually murdered himself, so the medical examiner closed the case as a suicide."

Here's a statue we can appreciate: La Mulâtresse Solitude

 

Here's a statue we can appreciate: La Mulâtresse Solitude who in 1802 helped lead a slave revolt in Guadeloupe whilst 8 months pregnant and whose last words before she was hanged would be: "Live free, or die".⁠

⁠
Solitude, was a slave who was initially freed after the abolition of slavery in the French colonies in 1794 after the Haitian Revolution led by Toussaint Louverture. The French government abolished slavery in order to prevent the revolution from spreading and becoming a generalized slave revolt in all its colonies in the Caribbean. However in 1802, Napoleon wanted to reintroduce slavery on Guadeloupe, so Solitude, now pregnant, joined the rebellion led by mulatto leader Louis Delgrès. ⁠
⁠
During the battles, the women showed exemplary courage and fighting spirit. Solitude was said to be a fierce and fearless warrior who pushed herself and her belly into the heart of every battle. From victory to victory, and then from setback to setback, she pushed herself and her womb all the way up into the mountains before the final defeat.⁠
⁠
Unfortunately, the rebels would eventually become outnumbered by French troops, so the rebels decided to make one last stand by letting the French advance in their territory before blowing up stores of gunpowder, thereby killing themselves together with hundreds of French soldiers. ⁠
⁠
Though most of the rebels died, Solitude survived and was captured and sentenced to death. Because she was pregnant at the time of her imprisonment, she was not to be hanged until after the birth of her child, as her child would become the property of a slave owner. ⁠
⁠
The morning after giving birth, Solitude stepped out of jail peacefully while, according to accounts, maternity’s milk stained her nightshirt. ⁠
⁠
"Live free or die" would be her last words before being hanged, becoming a martyr and symbol for all women and mothers who have sacrificed themselves and fought against all odds to defend the ideals of freedom and equality. ⁠
⁠
Almost 200 years later a statue was placed on Héros aux Abymes Boulevard in Guadeloupe in her memory.



This is a memorial in the village of Krasny Bereg in the Gomel region. During the war, one of the most creepy concentration camps of the Second World War was located here. Here the Germans gathered our Belarusian children aged 4 to 15 from the neighboring districts of the Gomel region. Collected in order to pump out their blood. Children's blood was intended for transfusion to wounded Germans in hospitals.

The eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire, the black castrated slaves tasked to guard bedroom doors of royal women.

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At the height of the Ottoman Empire, black eunuchs - rare, castrated slaves imported from Africa - became a key part of court politics.
Eunuchs were castrated African men kidnapped from Darfur, Abyssinia, Korodofan, Zanzibar and other African nations and sent to Turkey, Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries to serve in the courts of sultans.

Young boys, often victims from raids and wars, were subjected to the horrid and inhumane process of castration without anaesthesia which had high mortality

Since they could no longer perform any sexual function, they obtained great privileges as harem guards and palace courtiers. They came into a life of influence and luxury possessing silk garments, Arabian thoroughbreds and jewels which reflected well on their wealthy masters.

Their duties included serving as guards and caretakers of mosques, as well as, administrators.

In the Ottoman Empire, until about 100 years ago, the Black eunuchs played key roles at the courts of the royals. However, their presence for over three centuries seems to be deliberately shielded.

In his 2016 book “The Black Eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire,” Northern Colorado professor George Junne says eunuchs had been present in earlier Islamic households and courts.

However, the Ottomans started the blood-curdling practice of eunuch-making after conquering the Christian Byzantine Empire of Istanbul in 1453.

He writes: “In the Ottoman court and other wealthy households, eunuchs served as neutral, unthreatening, non-gendered emissaries in a moral universe that was highly charged with sexual tension. There was plenty of demand for eunuchs, and a steady supply was guaranteed by Arab horsemen raiding Africa. Most died during the castration process, driving up the price of those who survived”.

According to Prof. Junne, there may have been as many as 800 court eunuchs organized in a hierarchical, well-defined structure, adding that “Eunuchs who served the sultan favorably, plus those who learned Turkish and who converted to Islam, could progress in the system. A few would procure appointment to administrative posts within the empire, some serving in Cairo and Medina.”

While eunuchs who served powerful masters and found favour with sultans were respected and even feared, the unfortunate ones in the Ottoman Empire were slaves who received contempt and ridicule.

The Chief Black Eunuch (Kızlar Ağası) was immensely powerful and carried out overt and covert missions for the sultan and was the only official who had his ear at all times.

“They had the authority to grant favors through which they could add to their riches (which reverted to the sultan after their death as they had no heirs).

“The Chief Black Eunuch also often helped with state appointments, served as a supervisor of the holy places under Ottoman dominion, built and rebuilt mosques in Istanbul and elsewhere, administered the properties and estates of the sultan’s mother and children, helped train young members of the court, and was entrusted with the venerated “Sancak Şerif” (Sacred Standard) of the Prophet Muhammad,” according to Prof. Junne.

The Ottoman Empire was abolished in 1923, replaced with the Turkish Republic.

With a society embarrassed of its cruelty to them yet failing to integrate them, the Black eunuchs seem to have melted into oblivion with Turkish society barely discussing them.

THINGS YOU MUST KNOW BEFORE GETTING MARRIED

12 THINGS YOU MUST KNOW 
BEFORE GETTING MARRIED.

1. No matter how posh your spouse is, just remember that one day, they'll use the toilet and may not remember to flush it well. Yes you'll see his/her faeces. Does that sound nice? Flush it and move on, you won't die.

2. As much as you both will smell nice to occasions with glamourous apparels, sometimes you'd wake up to their bad breaths and body odour! They won't always smell nice.

3. Your wife during dating wore her best panties. In marriage, you might see more of torn panties, and shame won't even catch her. Be ready, that your hubby who changed boxer everyday during dating days might be wearing one for a week in marriage. Lol 

4. For men with blown egos, one day your wife will challenge, beat her hand to her chest, and you won't do anything. Lol. Ntor!

5. Some days you'll fight with your spouse all through the day, but you'll be forced to apologise even when you're not at fault because you'll be horny at night and can't just hold it. Konji will humble your ego.

6. Your seraphic and sanctimonious spouse who you hardly saw any fault in, after honeymoon might be the most annoying thing ever. E dey clear for eyes sometimes. lol

7. As a man who's all passionate about sex now, you can't wait to marry. A time will come in marriage, she'd walk around naked and your d**k won't even erect. “Young woman abeg let me rest I'm tired..”

8. Your wife will provoke you and you'd reject food, thinking she'd beg, and she'd just walk away and go to bed. Las las, you'll hide and go and eat. That's what we call trimming your ego. *Holds laugh*

9. Your spouse might love you, but you'll have to deal with the reality that there might be one of your siblings they won't really like sha.

10. There might be times you'll wake up and feel like, “how did I even marry this person”. You'll feel like you just want to be, not because they necessarily did anything wrong o. But guess what? No exit door.

11. Be ready, what used to trip you about your spouse might wane with time. Marriage comes with a lot of rediscovery and plethora of phases.

12. When you have kids, sometimes you'll just be tired. You'll feel like taking a break from parenting. As in, you'll just want to throw them into the dustbin. But no escape for you. They are products of your orgasm.

(Jara)
At some point, you'll be feeling your spouse is the most amazing person in the world till you meet someone else who is 200% better than them. Marriage isn't about having the best, but building your best.

So are you ready mentally and emotionally?

Nigerians demand justice for Uwa, UNIBEN student killed after being raped in a church.   

#JusticeforUwa has become a topic on social media as Nigerians call on the police and government to ensure the culprits are brought to book.

Uwa was killed by some men after she was raped in Benin. (Saharareporter)
Uwa was killed by some men after she was raped in Benin. (Saharareporter)
Following the murder of Uwa Omozuwa, a 22-year-old student of the University of Benin on Saturday, May 30, 2020, Nigerians have been demanding justice for the deceased.

Uwa was reported to have visited the RCCG, Edo Province 10, Ikpoba Hill, Benin to read on Wednesday, May 27, 2020.

She was said to be in the church auditorium when some men attacked her, raped her, hit her head with a fire extinguisher cylinder and left her for dead.

According to The Punch, a security official at the church found her in a pool of blood and informed his superiors at the church.

Uwa, who recently gained admission into UNIBEN was thereafter rushed to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital where she narrated her ordeal.

She, however, died three days after as a result of the injuries she sustained.

The case has been reported at the Oregbeni Police Station, Benin as many Nigerians wonder how the 22-year-old student was raped and killed in broad daylight and inside a church.

There have been calls to the Nigeria Police Force and government to ensure the culprits are brought to book.

Below are Nigerians’ reactions to the tragedy as #JusticeforUwa trends on Twitter.

#justiceforuwa
#justiceforthefemalegender
#letssaynotorape
#wewantjustice

Biography of Abraham Lincoln and his Legacy

(1809-1865)

Abraham Lincoln 

(1809- 1865)

                                         

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. He preserved the Union during the U.S. Civil War and brought about the manumation of slaves.

His rise from humble beginnings to achieving the highest office in the land is a notable story. 

Lincoln was murdered at a time when his country needed him to complete the great task of reunifying the nation. His eloquent support of democracy and insistence that the Union was worth saving embody the ideals of self-government that all nations strive to accomplish. Lincoln's distinctively humane personality and incredible impact on the nation have endowed him with an enduring legacy.

Growing Up


Abraham Lincoln came from humble beginnings. He was born in a single-room log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. His parents were Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln. His father lost everything when Abraham was young and they had to move to Perry County, Indiana where they struggled to get by. When he was just nine years old, his mother died and his sister Sarah took care of him until his father married again.


Abraham had very little formal education, but had a strong interest in books and learning. Most of what he learned was self-educated and from books he borrowed. His family later moved to Illinois where Lincoln would set out on his own.


As a young man, Lincoln worked several jobs including shopkeeper, surveyor, and postmaster. For a time, he even split firewood with an axe for a living. He soon moved into politics and won a seat in the Illinois Legislature when he was 25.

Before He was President


Lincoln served on the Illinois State Legislature for several terms. During that time he studied the law and began to work as a lawyer. He ran for the U.S. Congress in 1845. He won the election and served as a congressman for one term. After serving as congressman he continued to work as a lawyer. Later, Lincoln ran for the U.S. Senate, he did not win but he did gain national recognition for his arguments against slavery, during the debates.


In 1860, Lincoln ran for President of the United States. He was a member of the fairly new Republican party which strongly opposed allowing any of the southern states to secede. The republicans were also against slavery. They said they would allow for slavery to continue in the southern states, but that it would not be allowed to spread to new U.S. states or territories.

Lincoln and Slavery

As a member of the Illinois state legislature in 1834, Lincoln supported the Whig politics of government-sponsored infrastructure and protective tariffs. This political understanding led him to formulate his early views on slavery, not so much as a moral wrong, but as an impediment to economic development.

In 1854, Congress passed the Kanasne-brasker act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise, allowing individual states and territories to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery. The law provoked violent opposition in Kansas and Illinois, and it gave rise to the Republican party.

This awakened Lincoln's political zeal once again, and his views on slavery moved more toward moral indignation. Lincoln joined the Republican Party in 1856.

In 1857, the Supreme Court issued its controversial Dred Scott decision declaring African Americans were not citizens and had no inherent rights. Though Lincoln felt African Americans were not equal to whites, he believed America's founders intended that all men were created with certain inalienable rights. 

President Abraham Lincoln

With his newly enhanced political profile, in 1860, political operatives in Illinois organized a campaign to support Lincoln for the presidency. On May 18, at the Republican National Convention in Chicago, Lincoln surpassed better-known candidates such as William Seward of New York and Salmon P. Chase of Ohio. 

Lincoln's nomination was due in part to his moderate views on slavery, his support for improving the national infrastructure, and the protective tariff.

In the general election, Lincoln faced his friend and rival, Stephen Douglas, this time besting him in a four-way race that included John C. Breckinridge of the Northern Democrats and John Bell of the Constitution Party. 

Lincoln received not quite 40 percent of the popular vote, but carried 180 of 303 Electoral  college votes, thus winning the U.S. presidency.

Abraham Lincoln: Assassination

Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, by well-known actor and Confederate sympathizerJohn wike at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. 

He was taken to the Petersen House across the street and laid in a coma for nine hours before dying the next morning. His death was mourned by millions of citizens in the North and South alike. 

Lincoln's body lay in state at the U. S. Capitol before a funeral train took him back to his final resting place in Springfield, Illinois.

Legacy

Lincoln is frequently cited by historians and average citizens alike as America's greatest president. An aggressively activist commander-in-chief, Lincoln used every power at his disposal to assure victory in the Civil War and end slavery in the United States.

Some scholars doubt that the Union would have been preserved had another person of lesser character been in the White House. According to historian Michael Burlingame, "No president in American history ever faced a greater crisis and no president ever accomplished as much."

Lincoln's philosophy was perhaps best summed up in this Second Inaugural Address, when he stated, "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

SOCIAL NETWORKING

Social Networking

The way of creating, building, and nurturing virtual communities and relationships between people online.

Social networking allows like-minded individuals to be in touch with each other using websites and web-based applications. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and LinkedIn are examples of social networking sites. The definition of the term “social network” is still very loose, as it is still a relatively new technology that’s subject to rapid changes.

Natural stratification and sheer popularity are what defines major social networks today. Users voluntarily connect with each other when they share something in common. For example, two users may know each other personally, or they happen to share a goal. However, these sites have grown to accommodate a multitude of users. FaceBook alone has over a half-billion users. Internet marketers see these two traits as an opportunity to tap their potential.

As social networking is a tool to make our world better in communication and in so many other ways.