The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was negotiated between the USA and Mexico by Nicholas Trist for the United States in 1848, at the conclusion of the Mexican War. By this treaty Mexico ceded to the United States the territory of Texas, New Mexico and Upper California, and agreed upon the Rio Grande River as the boundary between herself and Texas. The United States agreed to pay Mexico $15,000,000 and to assume all claims of its citizens against Mexico arising before the treaty. It reserved to Mexicans in the ceded territory the option to remove or remain and assured protection of their rights of property. Research Treaty Of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Alexander I was King of Scotland from 1107 to 1124. A son of Malcolm Canmore and Margaret of England, he succeeded his brother Edgar in 1107, and governed with great ability until his death in 1124. He was a great benefactor of the church, and a firm vindicator of the national independence.
Alexander I was a King of Yugoslavia. He was born in 1888 and died in 1934. He was of the Karageorgevic dynasty of Serbia, ascending the throne in 1921 he tried to overcome the ethnic, religious, and regional rivalries in his country by means of a personal dictatorship in 1929, supported by the army. In the interest of greater unity, he changed the name of his kingdom, which consisted of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, to 'Yugoslavia' in 1929. In 1931 some civil rights were restored, but they proved insufficient to quell rising political and separatist dissent, aggravated by economic depression. He was planning to restore parliamentary government when he was assassinated by a Croatian terrorist.
Alexander I was an Emperor of Russia. He was born in 1777 and died in 1825. He was the son of Paul I, and is believed to have assisted indirectly in his father's murder. He ascended the throne in 1801 and reigned until 1825. He set out to reform Russia and correct many of the injustices of the preceding reign. His private committee - the Neglasny Komitet - introduced plans for public education, but his reliance on the nobility made it impossible for him to abolish serfdom. His adviser, Speransky, pressed for a more liberal constitution, but the nobles secured his fall in 1812. At first a supporter of the coalition against Napoleon, his defeats by the latter at Austerlitz in 1805 and Friedland in 1807 resulted in the Treaties of Tilsit and in his support of the Continental System against the British.
His wars with Persia from 1804 to 1813 and with Turkey from 1806 to 1812 brought territorial gains, including the acquisition of Georgia and his armies helped to defeat Napoleon's grande armee at Leipzig, after its retreat from Moscow in 1812. In an effort to uphold Christian morality in Europe he formed a Holy Alliance of European monarchs, and became increasingly conservative in his domestic policies. The constitution he gave to Poland scarcely disguised the rule of the military there. He was reported to have died while in the Crimea, but rumour persisted that he had escaped to Siberia and became a hermit. Research Alexander I
Alighieri Dante was an Italian poet. He was born in 1265 at Florence and died in 1321. Of a family belonging to the lower nobility, his education was confided to the learned Brunetto Latini. He is said also to have studied in various seats of learning, and it is certain that either at this time or in the course of his wandering life he made himself master of all the knowledge of his time.
He seems to have been quite a boy, no more than nine years of age, when he first saw Beatrice Portinari, and the love she awakened in him he has described in that record of his early years, the Vita Nuova, as well as in his later great work, the Divina Cornmedia, in terms which make it hard to distinguish the real personality of Beatrice from some ideal power of beauty and virtue of which she is to Dante the symbol. Their actual lives at least went far enough apart, Beatrice marrying a noble Florentine, Simone Bardi, in 1287, and dying three years afterwards; while the year following Dante married Gemma dei Donati, by whom he had seven children. At this time the Guelfic party in Florence became divided into the rival factions of Bianchi and Neri (Whites and Blacks), the latter being an extreme party while the former leaned to reconciliation with the Ghibellines. Dante's sympathies were with the Bianchi, and being a prior of the trades and a leading citizen in Florence he went on an embassy to Rome to influence the pope on behalf of the Bianchi.
The rival faction of the Neri, however, had got the upper hand in the city, and in the usual fashion of the time were burning the houses of their rivals and slaying them in the open street. In Dante's absence his enemies obtained a decree of banishment;
against him, coupled with a heavy fine, a sentence which was soon followed by another condemning him to be burned alive for malversation and peculation.
From this time the poet became, and to the end of his life remained, an exile; and his history, first lost by the indifference of contemporaries and then hallowed by the legends of later generations, becomes semi-mythical. He has told us himself how he wandered 'through almost all parts where this language is spoken,' and how hard he felt it 'to climb the stairs and eat the bitterbread of strangers.' During this period he is said to have visited many cities, Arezzo, Bologna, Sienna, etc, and even Paris.
In 1314 he found shelter with Can Grande della Scala at Verona, where he remained until 1318. In 1320 we find him staying at Ravenna with his friend Guido da Polenta. In September 1321 his sufferings and wanderings were ended by death. He was buried at Ravenna, where his bones still lie.
His great poem, the Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy), written in great part, if not altogether, during his exile, is divided into three parts, entitled Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. The poet dreams that he has wandered into a dusky forest, when the shade of Virgil appears and offers to conduct him through hell and purgatory. Further the pagan poet may not go, but Beatrice herself shall lead him through paradise. The journey through hell is first described, and the imaginative power with which the distorted characters of the guilty and the punishments laid upon them are brought before us; the impressive pathos of these short histories - often compressed in Dante's severe style into a couple of lines - of Pope and Grhibelline, Italian lord and lady; the passionate depth of characterization, the subtle insight and intense faith, make up a whole which for significance and completeness has perhaps no rival in the work of any one man.
From hell the poet, still in the company of Virgil, ascends to purgatory, where the scenes are still mostly of the same kind though the punishments are only temporary. In the earthly paradiseDante beholds Beatrice in a scene of surpassing magnificence, ascends with her into the celestial paradise, and after roaming over seven spheres reaches the eighth, where he beholds 'the glorious company which surrounds the triumphant Redeemer.' In the ninthDante feels himself in presence of the divine essence, and sees the souls of the blessed on thrones in a circle of infinite magnitude. The Deity himself, in the tenth, he cannot see for excess of light.
There are many notable translations of Dante's great poem. Amongst English versions we may mention those of Gary, Longfellow, and Dean Plumptre, and an excellent prose translation by Dr. John Carlyle. The Vita Nuova has been admirably translated by D. G. Rossetti in his Early Italian Poets.
Dante's other works are: Il Convito (the Banquet), a series of philosophical commentaries on the author's canzoni; Il Canzoniere, a collection of poems; a Latin treatise, De Monarchia, a work intended to prove the supremacy of the head of the holy Roman Empire; a treatise on the Italian language entitled, De Vulgari Eloquio; and an inquiry into the relative altitude of the water and the land, De Aqua et Terra. Research Alighieri Dante
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish explorer. He was born in 1507 and died in 1559. He went with Narvaez to Florida in 1527, and accompanied him on his westward march and voyage. He was wrecked near Matagorda Bay in Texas, captured by Indians among whom he became a medicine-man, and after finally escaping reached Mexico and discovered the Rio Grande. Afterwards he was the first European to explore Paraguay. Research Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca
Alvise Da Cadamosto was a Venetian explorer. He was born in 1432 and died in 1477. He explored the west coast of Africa as far south as the Rio Grande, and discovered the Cape Verde Islands in 1457. Research Alvise Da Cadamosto
The Carthusians were a religious order instituted by Saint Bruno in 1084. He built several hermitages four leagues from Grenoble in south-east France, and, with six companions, united the ascetic with the monastic life. They practised the greatest abstinence, wore coarse garments, and ate only vegetables and the coarsest bread. From their original seat they were called Carthusians. Their fifth general, Guigo (died 1137), prescribed, besides the usual monastic vows, eternal silence and solitude. In the following centuries they received additional statutes, which forbade altogether the eating of flesh, and allowed them to speak only during certain hours on Thursdays and the days on which the chapter met. With increasing wealth some modifications were introduced in their silent and solitary life. Their habit is a hair-cloth shirt, a white tunic, a black cloak, and a cowl. The Carthusians were introduced into England about 1180, and built the Charterhouse (a name corrupted from Chartreuse) in 1371. Their chief house was long La Grande Chartreuse. Research Carthusians
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado was a Spanish explorer. He was born in 1510 and died in 1542. He was sent out expeditions in 1539 and 1540, which explored the regions of the Gila, the Little Colorado and the Rio Grande. Research Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian patriot and liberator. He was born in 1807 at Nice and died in 1882. His father being a poor fisherman, he received little education, and for a number of years was a sailor on various trading vessels. In 1834 he became a member of the 'Young Italy' party, and being condemned to death for his share in the schemes of Mazzini, escaped to Marseilles, took service in the fleet of the Bey of Tunis, and finally Went to South America. In the service of the Republic of RioGrande against the Brazilians he became known as a brilliant leader, and with his famous Italian legion he subsequently gave the Monte Videans such effective aid against Buenos Aires as to earn the title of 'hero of Monte Video.'
In 1848 he returned to Italy, raised a band of volunteers, and harassed the Austrians until the cessation of hostilities and re-establishment of Austrian supremacy in Lombardy. He then retired to Switzerland, but in the spring of 1849 proceeded to Rome to support Mazzini's republic.
He was appointed to command the forces, but the odds were overwhelming, and after a desperate defence of thirty days Garibaldi escaped from Rome with 4000 of his followers. In the course of his flight his wife Anita died from fatigue and privations. He reached the United States, and was for some years in command of a merchant vessel. He then purchased a part of the small island of Caprera, off the north coast of Sardinia, and made this his home for the rest of his life. Latterly the subscriptions of his admirers enabled him to become owner of the whole island.
In the war of 1859, in which Sardinia recovered Lombardy, Garibaldi and his Chasseurs of the Alps did splendid service; and on the revolt of the Sicilians in 1860 he crossed to the island, wrested it after a fierce struggle from the King of Naples, re-crossed to the mainland and occupied Naples, where he was proclaimed Dictator of the Two Sicilies. It was now feared that Garibaldi might prove untrue to his motto - Italy and Victor Emmanuel - but he readily acquiesced in the annexation of the Two Sicilies to Italy, and declining all honours retired to his island farm.
In 1862 he endeavoured to force the Roman question to a solution, and entered Calabria with a small following, but was taken prisoner at Aspromonte by the royal troops. He was soon released, however, and returned to Caprera. In 1864 he received an enthusiastic welcome in Britain. In 1866 he commanded a volunteer force against the Austrians in the Italian Tyrol, but failed to accomplish anything of consequence. Next year he attempted the liberation of Rome, but near Montana was defeated by the French and pontifical troops, and was again imprisoned by the Italian government, but soon pardoned and released.
In 1870 he gave his services to the French republican government against the Germans, and with his 20,000 men rendered valuable assistance in the south-east. At the end of the war he was elected a member of the French assembly, but speedily resigned his seat and returned to Caprera. Rome now became the capital of united Italy, and here in January, 1875, Garibaldi took his seat in the Italian parliament. The latter part of his life was spent quietly at Caprera. After 1870 he wrote two or three novels - very mediocre productions. Research Giuseppe Garibaldi
Zachary Taylor (nicknamed Rough amd Ready) was an American soldier and the twelfth president of the USA. He was born in 1784 at Orange County, Virginia and died in 1850. He received an appointment to the US army as first lieutenant in 1808. In 1812 he defended Fort Harrison against the Indians. After the long period of comparative peace he served in the Black Hawk war of 1832 and the Seminole war in Florida from 1836 to 1837, there, in December, 1837, he won the battle of Okeechobee. On the annexation of Texas the then general Taylor marched to Rio Grande, Colorado and gained victories at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. He was made major-general, and stormed Monterey in September 1846. In the following campaign General Taylor, who had been compelled to detach some of his best troops, was attacked by vastly superior forces under Santa Anna, and gained a brilliant victory at Buena Vista, on February the 22nd to 23rd,1847. The following year the Whigs nominated him as candidate for President over such competitors as Clay and Webster, and he was elected and entered on his duties in 1849. The California question complicated with the absorbing slavery topic was the chief matter in President Taylor's administration; he died before the compromise was completed. Research Zachary Taylor
The Battle of Monterey, Mexico, was a six days' battle and siege during the Mexican War, that took place between September the 20th and 25th, 1846. General Taylor commanded the American army of 6600 soldiers and General Ampudia held the town with 10,000 Mexicans. Taylor began operations by cutting off communications and attempting to storm the western heights, later disposing his troops so as to attack all points at once. During two days his efforts were unsuccessful. Finally CaptainBackus, of the First Infantry, by firing into Fort Teneria from a captured tannery, won that stronghold. La Federacion heights, Forts Obispado and Diablo and the Saltillo road were captured in succession. In unsuccessful attacks on FortDiablo, 394 officers and men were lost. By September the 23rd Taylor practically held the town. On September the 25th Ampudia was allowed to evacuate, carrying one field battery and his small arms. This ended the campaign on the Rio Grande. Research Battle of Monterey
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Abbreviations
Research Treaty Of Guadalupe Hidalgo
