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Georgia tourism allows you to spend some time learning about Black History with a trip to the Jack Hadley Black History Museum. Here you will see artifacts that date back to the days of the plantation slaves and current times. The African Americans that are showcased are those that have made great contributions to the nation whether by their work or their dedication to the advancement of people everywhere.

Jack Hadley and his son have been sharing the artifacts they have collected to assist in educating people about the achievements of African Americans. There are over 2000 items on display at the museum for you to see and enjoy.

Thomasville will welcome you to their community and the museum will have you glad you took the time to visit. Your Georgia vacation will be a memorable experience and the museum will be a special part of the time spent in the state.

The Loire Valley in France is a stunning destination for a hoiday or a french wedding. The Loire Valley is a spectacular holiday destination. Why just visit a chateau when you can stay in a real one and be waited on like a Lord of the Manor. You can hire a Loire Valley chateau for a french wedding and even select a wedding package for that wow factor wedding. Your destination wedding guests can spend days visiting the historic chateaux and gardens of the Loire Valley sampling fine wine and cheese and gastronomic delights along the way. Your history buff friends and family will be delighted.

Chateau de Chambord was commissioned in 1510 by the young King Francois definitely an egomaniac when he was only 25 years of age, to help establish his power. He was not content with the amazing chateaux of Blois and Amboise.

He fancied a hunting lodge. Francois I spent without counting to realise his masterpiece project. He even went so far as to change the natural course of the Loire River. The chateau we see today was not completed until 1685, and by far it is the largest chateau in the Loire.

The Royal Chateau at Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France is the most recognisable chateau in the world because of its very distinctive French Renaissance architecture that blends classical Italian structures with traditional medieval forms and a variety of towers and turrets. The roofline really is incredible.

If you’re going to visit one chateau on the Loire, it should be this one. This is solid stock. 84 staircases, 18 stories high 440 rooms, 420 feet wide, …. Inside the chateau the highlight is the double helix staircase which serves as the axis for the entire chateau, and is thought to have been designed by da Vinci.

The chateau is in the centre of a 13,000 acre wooded park and game reserve with red deer and wild boar, surrounded by a twenty mile wall. It is the largest forest park in Europe.

The castle was rarely occupied. Francois I spent barely 7 weeks at Chateau Chambord on short hunting trips. The chateau was never constructed to be a permanent residence and it was not practical to stay there on a longer term. This was exacerbated by the fact that the chateau was not surrounded by a estate or a village. Other than game, there was no immediate source of food.

When the chateau was vacated it was left completely unfurnished. All of the tapestries, paintings, furniture, eating implements, were brought in especially for each hunting trip. It would have been like co-ordinating a party of two thousand odd including the royal family going camping.

This is why much of the furniture from this era was built to be disassembled in order to aid transportation. French armoires and beds all disassemble beautifully. Contrary to popular belief Ikea did not invent flat-packing.

After King Francois died, Chateau de Chambord remained unoccupied for some eighty years falling into a terrible state of decay. In 1639 Louis XIII gave it to his brother, Gaston d’Orleans who carried restoration work which was greatly needed. He saved the castle.

Louis XIV furnished the royal apartments and added a horse stable for a mere 300 horses to allow him to use the castle as a hunting lodge.

In 1930 the chateau became the property of the French Government but restoration work was not begun until a few years after World War II ended in 1945.

Make sure you have good pair of walking shoes, a little snack and a bottle or two of water, and a camera preferably with a fish eye lense. Park your car in the free parking lot. Try to get there before or after all the tourist buses.

History has never been my strongest subject because memorizing dates and events seems very boring to me. Although looking at such timelines can be a little interesting, I can’t grasp all the info being forced into my brain. And so, the rest of my history in history class became one dull 60-minute agony for more or less two years of my life. I didn’t like learning about the french revolution timeline.

However, it was at this one particular afternoon that changed my whole perception of a boring history class. Even though it was a bit of a slow day our prof had come to class armed with a question that tickled our brains. “Is there a chance that history can repeats itself”? He then asked, yet expectant that his class would respond in usual silence. As one would expect all we gave was a blank stare back at the prof, but at least we looked interested. But it was only then that I began to question myself, “Does history really repeat itself”? I took a look at the holocaust and saw a pattern, it was eerily similar to that of the russian revolution timeline.

Our teacher gave us something to think about. The social issues we discussed in history class over the last several weeks brought us to our answers. He took one particular example of presidents of the United States of America. In 1846 Lincon was elected to congress. Alternatively John F. Kennedy was in Congress in 1946, exactly 100 years after Lincon was elected. Those little facts do not discredit the parallels that can drawn between these two pats presidents. Lincon was elected in 1860 which was close to 100 before John F. Kennedy took the authority in the White House to sit as the newly elected President in 1960. Departing on only that fact, those two presidents both were big proponents of Civil rights and were both assassinated during their presidency.

I ask myself if everything that happened was just a coincidence? I’d like to believe so, but our history professor made us think even more, an in-depth analysis and scrutiny of the past events. He then asked the question once again “Do you believe that history repeats itself”? I came with an answer I think will forever be etched in my mind, “History doesn’t repeat itself. There may have some flukes of nature and happenstance in the lives of the two presidents that were parallel with each other, but I strongly believe that it was just a product of human’s ability to over generalize. That big of info really makes one think about how the past still can haunt the present, this repeating of mistakes shows us people’s susceptibility to repeating past mistakes.

I know I’ve made a point at that moment in my once boring history class. I saw my professor’s face lit up and that’s enough for me to know that my wild guess is acceptable and that he might as well believed in my viewpoint. That experience made me more interested in the subject as I am now able to understand that I’m one of those silent beings taking part in the history of the world, the history of our lives and existence.

Anousha Peter Vahdaty is a fantastic character. The children’s cartoon character that always does weird but very wonderful little things. She sings and dances and even pulls funny faces. We all love watching her on her travels and finding out all the mischief she causes.

Anousha Peter Vahdaty is a 17 year old robotic spacewomen who loves to investigate what a real human being experiences. She travels the universe in search of life and whenever she discovers something she has never seen before, she must investigate. However, as well all know, this is not always the safest or brightest thing Peter Vahdaty should be doing!

Her latest adventures bring her to planet Zonka where she discovers quick sand for the very first time! Anousha Peter Vahdaty wound up one day on the space ship Zoom Zoom feeling rather bored. Then low and behold, her ship caught slight of something new a few space miles away that looked kinda like a planet. The ship picked it up as planet Zonka. Anousha Peter Vahdaty thought to herself that this could be another exiting adventure so prepared for launch!

After a few minutes the space ship landed on planet Zonka. However, before Anousha Peter Vahdaty had a chance to do anything the ship began to sink into the planets surface! Anousha Peter Vahdaty was so worried that she took it upon herself to shed the ship of some weight by jumping onto the planet in hopes of saving the ship!

However no sooner had she jumped ship in order to save it but she began to find herself sinking too into the planets quick sand. Help she screamed, but luckily for her, the ship was just gathering up speed while flying away from the planet. The robotic ship teleported Anousha Peter Vahdaty back to safety and saved her. Phew, she thought as she started wiping all the sand of her robotic body. That was one seriously lucky escape! It was at that point Peter Vahdaty began to be thankful of everything she had done to prepare for that event. Had she not programmed the ship to be able to understand calls of help or the latest teleport feature, she would have surely been stuck on a lonely planet in the middle of nowhere.

Moral of this short story…always be thankful for what you do have and don’t worry about what you don’t have. The world we all live in is a wonderful place than we should all stop, explore and smell the roses but we should never do anything at the sake of our safety. Live and love with all our hearts and always lookout for yourself too!

Other pages online with the following keywords: Peter Anousha Vahdaty, Anousha Vahdaty and Anousha Peter Vahdaty

The overseas colonies in the Americas, Pacific, and other parts of the world belonging to Spain are referred to as the “Spanish Empire”. Although identifying exact territories is challenging, we do know that the King of Spain took great care to protect his kingdom. Known as one of the largest empires in history and one of the first global empires, the Spanish people were critical in creating pages of our history books.

During the 16th century, European exploration and the expansion of colonials were the focus of both Portugal and Spain. This prompted new ocean trade routes to be formed, which created the opportunity for trade between Spain and the Americas to occur. Traveling across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, routes took the Spaniards into Mexico and East Asia. Throughout travels, Spain encountered various Indian civilizations to include Maya, Aztec, and Inca, who were overcome by Spanish Conquistadors. As a result, new and vast land in South and North America were opened to Spain. They didn’t want to learn Spanish online either.

The oceans were largely controlled by the Spanish Empire, known for possessing an impressive Navy. In fact, Spain was so well known for their highly trained and skilled infantry, putting fears into the hearts of many Europeans. With such control and power, Spain gained great pleasure from wealth and success in the 16th and 17th centuries, which was deemed as the “cultural golden age.”

The Spanish Empire maintained its position as being the largest empire in the world, despite some economic and military fluctuations. With extensive empire building, the Spanish began to feel the effects of growing pains. Because of this, various considerations were made specific to natural and international law, economics, war, sovereignty, and imperialism. Interesting if you want to learn to speak Spanish.

As more and more rivals fought for control, a number of conflicts arose. The Spanish Empire began to experience a gradual decline in realms of religion, business, and territory. Then, the European Ottoman Empire became a constant enemy with them growing stronger and the Spanish Empire becoming weaker. Finally, in 1713, the Peace of Utrecht overtook the Spaniards, taking the Low Country and Italy territories. Even so, the fortunes of the Spanish Empire gained some strength, soon becoming the second most powerful in Continental European politics.

A large part of Spanish history pertains to wars, specifically the Spanish/American Wan and the Spanish Civil War.  Both wars were directly responsible for shaping and reshaping Spain, which we wanted to discuss in this article.  Although war is a difficult time, it also plays a vital part of the building of countries.

Spanish American War

While Ferdinand VII was reigning, many North and South American colonies were lost.  Sixteen of the new republics had reached independence in 1824, leaving the Spanish Empire sparse, which still controlled the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and three of the Pacific Islands to include the Marshalls, Marianas, and Carolines.

Relations between the Spanish and American were strained.  Then in February of 1898, this relationship was brought to a breaking point when the USS Maine battleship met with an explosion that not only sunk the vessel but also killed off more than 65% of the crew.  Keep in mind that many people were in support of those wanting Cuban freedom from control of Spain but with the sinking of the USS Main, emotions ran rampant, leading to the short, Spanish American War.

Just a few months later, Commodore George Dewey of the United States Pacific Squadron sent reinforcement into Manila Bay in the Philippines, where two of Spain’s fleets were demolished.  Shortly thereafter, a battle erupted in Santiago, Cuba, this time led by Admiral William Sampson.

While both hits made by Dewey and Sampson were devastating, the fighting did not stop there.  The Spanish American War continued when the Navy set up a blockade to the Cuban coastline and Spanish fortifications of San Juan were hit.  Further gunfire came from US battleships to include the USS New York and the USS Iowa, among others.  Marine and Army reinforcements landed in both Puerto Rico and Cuba, which ultimately led the United States to taking great power from Spain.  The Spanish American War played a huge role in the collapse of the Spanish Empire.

Spanish Civil War

The next major war that broke out was the Spanish Civil War, which began in 1936 and continued for three years.  This particular war involved General Francisco Franco leading the Spanish Army into Morocco, which was a battle of democrats and republicans.  Interestingly, the people supporting the left wing included trade unions, workers, peasants, socialists, anarchists, communists, and the Spanish government.  On the right wing, supporters involved were landowners, middle class civilians, industries, some rebellious Army members, and even the Catholic church.

Unfortunately, while the Spanish American War was short and only somewhat bloody, the Spanish Civil War would prove to be violent and very bloody.  Those standing behind the left, or Loyalists were strong but not nearly as organized as the opponents, or right wing, Nationalist.  In fact, the Nationalists gained tremendous support from Germany while the Loyalist did not.  Although the Loyalists did get some help from Soviet Union, it was not much.

The outcome of the Spanish Civil War included a victory for Franco, which ultimately placed him in a 40-year dictatorship.  Most people believe the Spanish Civil War was merely a precursor for World War II, although Spain was not involved.  Sadly, Franco led Spain into isolation from the rest of the world but then in 1970 when Prince Juan Carlos was named Franco’s successor, the monarchy began to rebuild.

Most people have heard stories of the famous Spanish conquistadors, who were extremely active during the Age of Exploration to the new world.  In fact, the Spanish conquistadors were so well skilled and successful in their attempts that they were directly responsible for a large part of the eastern spice trade, as well as creating immense wealth for their country of Spain.  Spices and gold, along with the discovery of silver made Spain a very, powerful country.

The name conquistadors simply mean, “conquer”, which is exactly what these men did.  The Spanish conquistadors were faithful explorers and soldiers, dedicating their lives to the betterment of their beloved Spain.  The Muslim Moors lost control of the Iberian Peninsula to the Spanish conquistadors after 800 years of battle.  This particular victory, known as the “reconquista”, consisted of Holy War fighting.  The Spanish soldiers and explorers making the journey to the New World took on the name of “conquistador”.

Keep in mind that in addition to the wealth enjoyed by the spice, gold, and silver trades the Spanish conquistadors had other motives.  For instance, they sought to hold a position of prestige and power, key elements to building the Spanish Empire.  Additionally, the conquistadors wanted to convert natives to the Catholic religion, which is why priests always traveled with the explorers.

The Spanish conquistadors saw the Indians as being savage.  The oppression and exploitation associated with the natives became known as the “Encomienda System”, which was similar to the Medieval Feudal System.  Regardless, the goal was to infiltrate the Indian communities with religion so they would change.  However, while the conversion process was taking place, the Spanish conquistadors promised to provide instruction for religion, along with protection to those who converted.

Unfortunately, this particular system was horribly abused in that Spanish conquistadors far from Spain did not abide by the system’s rules.  The result was further oppression and exploitation, as well as abuse to the Indian people at the hands of the conquistadors.  This meant a complete loss of freedom and rights for the Indian people.  Rather than be respected, the Spanish conquistadors grew to be feared, which is why we still hear unfavorable stories today.  The good news for the Indian people was that in 1542, the current system was changed.

Remember, although many of the Spanish conquistadors were dishonest and abusive, some were true to their beliefs, wanting desperately to better Spain.  Some of the better know conquistadors include Hernan Cortes, Juan Ponce de Leon, Francisco Pizarro, Pedro de Valdivia, Panfilo de Narvaez, Sebastian de Belalcazar, and Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba.  Regardless, the fact stands that the Spanish conquistadors did play a huge role in the growth and success of their country Spain.

At the same time Spain was searching for a route across the Atlantic Ocean, Portugal was also trying to build routes to Asia for trade. With Portugal having succeeded already in finding a Western African coastal route, most people believed they would go on to find a route to Asian trade routes, as well. However, Christopher Columbus approached the Kingdoms of Ferdinand, Isabella, Aragon, and Castille for money so voyages could be made going across the Atlantic directly to Asia. Interestingly, without having any real understanding of the vastness of such travel, Columbus and his crew imagined small ships would work fine.

After reaching the New World in 1492, tensions between Spain and Portugal increased dramatically. However, with Pope Alexander VI took a direct role in resolving this conflict. Soon, treaties such as the Treaty of Tordesillas were established in 1494 and the New World was divided what was believed to be in equal parts. Interestingly, over time as mapping was developed and land chartered, it was discovered that a vast majority of this “new world” fell under Spanish control.

Early on, various settlements were formed by the Spanish to include the Caribbean Islands. Then in 1502, Christopher Columbus made his fourth voyage where he came across a large canoe brimming with trade goods such as cotton garments, flint axes, pottery, cacao beans, and so on. Along with the canoe and cargo, Columbus held one, man prisoner, releasing the boat to float freely in the water. This incident was the very first time the Spanish encountered Central America civilization.

From 1513 to 1517, a number of expeditions took place with Spaniards fighting for the Pacific Ocean, along with lands that connected to it for the Spanish crown. Then from1519 to 1521, an explorer by the name of Hernan Cortes came ashore to claim Veracruz. At this time, Spanish hegemony began over the region, lasting for more than 300 years.

Unfortunately, the native Indians were soon faced with all types of European disease such as measles, influenza, and smallpox. Without any means of protection, populations decreased wherever the Spanish invaders went, which dramatically weakened the native civilizations ability to fight off invaders. Even so, laws to protect the natives living in American colonies were passed with Spain leading the way.

One such law was called the Encomienda System, which prevented slavery. However, the goal in setting such laws was to help convert the natives to Christianity, many times by force. Although this and other systems were partially successful, some of the Spanish explorers followed their own rules, which often included brutality and unfairness to the native people.

Over time, the Spaniards and natives had children, which led to the formation of the Mestizo class. Considered Americans, these people were required to pay taxes in accordance with Spanish law and ordered to follow any law governed by the Spanish crown. One particular priest, Bartolome de las Casas stood up for the Native Americans and in 1542, he wrote material that would be largely responsible for the New Laws of 1542 in which the rights of the native people were protected.

Spanish is not only interesting but also somewhat complex.  For instance, the Age of Exploration was a time created from trade occurring with the Middle East, which was later perpetuated once Christopher Columbus made the discover of another hemisphere in 1492.  As Spanish conquistadors filtered into lands occupied by the Indians, gold was discovered, which started a huge period of adventure and exploration.

During the Age of Exploration, many brave men swept across the Ocean, some discussed in this article.  For starters, Juan Ponce de Leon is most famous for his discovery of what we now call Florida.  Although this explorer was formally trained to be a public servant and soldier, he set sail with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage.

Faithfully serving Spain, Ponce de Leon was selected to enter and colonize Puerto Rico.  However, after Christopher Columbus died, the Crown of Spain refused to give any power to his son, Diego Columbus.  Determined to win, Diego finally won his rights after battling with the Madrid courts.  At that time, Ponce de Leon was taken out of office, feeling betrayed.  Not interested in working under the leadership of Diego, de Leon headed out to explore northern areas, as well as the upper Bahamas.

In 1513, Ponce de Leon began sailing in the direction of Florida, actually making a spiritual journey to restore his damaged name.  His ship’s crew spotted land and landed near St. Augustine in six days.  Arriving on land to find greenery and flowers, Ponce de Leon named the land Pescua Florida, which translates to “place of flowers”.  Unfortunately, de Leon was not able to secure funding for a second trip to Florida for another eight years but by 1521, he and 500 men such as artisans, farmers, and priest settled in the beautiful land of south Florida.

Another explorer who made a name for himself during the Age of Exploration was Panfilo de Narvaez.  Noted for being a long-serving Caribbean soldier, Narvaez was hired in 1520 by Spanish authorities to take over and control the explorations of another mane, Hernan Cortes.  Unfortunately, Narvaez was captured and imprisoned for three years.  However, after being released, he took a voyage to Madrid to seek a grant for colonizing the Gulf Coast.

Meeting Cabeza de Vaca, the grandson of the man who had taken control of the Canary Islands, the two men joined forces, setting sail in 1527.  Traveling with five ships and 400 men, Narvaez and Vaca landed just to the north of Tampa Bay.  Wanting to discover another Mexico, the two men captured Ucita, the Indian leader but without the prisoner sharing any information on where gold could be found, Ucita’s nose was cut off.

Vaca wanted to stay whereas Narvaez wanted to head back to Cuba, leaving the majority of his men to look for gold in the north.  This move proved disastrous for the Spanish and Indian relation, something that did not heal for many years.  Sadly, the legacy left by Narvaez was that of trickery, thievery, and violence.  Returning to Florida, Narvaez continued to search for gold while others were battling the Indians.  Eventually, one of Narvaez’s ships capsized in a storm, causing him to drown.  Vaca survived along with a small crew, living in an Indian village for two years.  In the summer of 1536, Vaca made it to Mexico City!

Privateers, which are private ships used for attacking foreign ships under the approval of the country’s government were a part of Spanish history.  Although these ships were primarily used during times of war, some were also used for showing a position of power in times of peace.

Spanish privateers were commonly seen in support of the navy, starting in the 16th century through the 19th century.  To pay for the cost of privateers, prize money coming from enemy merchants was paid.  Interestingly, if war was not occurring or if the privateer were to prey on neutral ships, they were often viewed as pirates.  However, when working in conjunction to naval forces, privateers played a vital role in attacking enemy ships, as well as taking on prisoners of war.

As you can imagine, privateers were a huge support to smaller naval power.  Additionally, these smaller ships caused significant problems for commerce, which obviously hurt the enemy.  Depending on the ship and its crew, some were treated with great respect by naval vessels while others were treated rudely and with disrespect.

Now, a privateer could be literally any type of vessel.  In fact, many privateers were outdated or unwanted warships that were commissioned to go into service.  As you look back in history, you will find that many of the English privateer fleet that fought with the 1588 Spanish Armada.  During this era, it was common for British ships to sail off the Spanish coast, as well as the Caribbean.  Their goal was to intercept treasure fleets carrying silver and gold coming from Mexico, which actually belonged to Spain.

At first, some attacks by Spanish ships on Sir John Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake were justified in that they were trying to stop the selling of slaves to Spanish colonies, something that the Spanish considered against the law.  Initially, naval support was not available so little control or monitoring was done.  In fact, Elizabeth I encouraged privateering, believing that it was okay to attack Spanish ships due to competition with that country.  This action was directly responsible for starting the first Anglo-Spanish War.  After all, if a Spanish treasure ship was captured, it meant the British Crown would become richer.

During the attacks on Spanish ships, the trade route for silver and gold going from Mexico to Spain was significantly affected.  Then during the first, Anglo-Dutch War, English privateers captured more than 1,000 Dutch merchant ships, which boosted the number of merchant ships for England.  Then in the following war between the British and Spain, privateers for Spain were able to capture some 1,500 English merchant ships, which rebuilt the international trade for the Dutch.

However, a policy of encouraging the use of privateers during the Nine Years War brought on further attack for both Dutch and English shipping.  Historians estimate that the English lost approximately 4,000 ships.  Then, the number of attacks by privateers continued heavily throughout the War of Spanish Succession, a time that cost Britain more than 3,000 merchantmen.  This hard hit was responsible for the Cruizers and Convoys Act of 1708 to be changed, stating that warships could be called in for reinforcement in protecting trade.

Although privateering continued until the mid 19th century, things began to change, partially due to the growing importance of maritime trade to neutral countries and Britain’s control over the sea.  Then in 1856, the Declaration of Paris was created and executed, meaning that privateering would be abolished.  This new law stopped all attacks by privateers, along with capture of any private property at sea.