STEPPING STONES 07/02/17 By CHIKE ADULT REHABILITATIONAL INSTITUTE

Volume 3, Issue 27, July 02, 2017

In this issue...

Public Service Announcements

Quote Of The Week:  James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson

Book Of The Month: “The Unseen Hand: An Introduction to the Conspiratorial View of History” by Ralph Epperson

It’s YOUR Health: Racquetball

Historical Fact Of The Week: History Of African Americans Part III

Editorial Commentary: Coming!        

 

Public Service Announcements

• The rechartering for The Head Cornerstone Corporation in the State Of Delaware as well as all updated business licenses and associated issues are forth coming pending litigation. Thank you.
• Visit WWW.Ready.gov at your earliest convenience so that you may be informed of basic protective measures before, during, and after disasters/emergencies, learn disaster prepared activities, training, plans, and what shelters are in or near your community, develop an emergency plan for yourself and your family in the event of an actual disaster/emergency, build an disaster/emergency supply kit including a basic emergency medical/trauma bag in case of an event, and GET INVOLVED!
• Get your CPR (Cardio-Pulomonary Resuscitation) and Basic First Aid/First Responder/Basic Life Support including child birth and Emergency Pediatric Care training today. Check with the American Heart Association at WWW.Heart.org for locations. It may just save a life.
•  It’s a lot of fun and excitement, it’s healthy, it’s a great family activity, and it’s very practical. Find a course in self-defense for you and your loved ones and learn to protect yourselves. You just never know.
•  We have the constitutional right to BEAR ARMS and many states have the CCW (Conceal Carry Weapon) License for when you and your loved ones are outside of your home environment. Search the web for free information concerning the Conceal Carry Laws as well as other valuable information. Get the CCW License today (where applicable) for you and your family members of age and LEARN HOW TO SHOOT. You’ll feel better that you did.
•  WATER; it’s very essential for normal body functions and not only carries nutrients to your cells, but flushes out the toxins in are bodies that lead to diseases such as cancers, diabetes, and heart diseases. According to the Mayo Clinic and the Institute of Health, water consumption varies for each person depending on many factors associated with life styles, such as current health, activities, and where you live. Be informed about what your daily intake should be and “drink up”. It will make YOUR world a better place.

Public Service Announcements

are brought to you by

COMMUNITY INTERNATIONAL 

Within our African American communities, there is a DISEASE; drug gangs as well as other organized criminal organizations. Before and after any conversation and until we remove the disease…

“…we will continue to SUFFER from exceptionally HIGH crime rates (burglaries, extortion, racketeering, money laundering, prostitution/teen prostitution, illegal weapons, auto thefts, etc.), INCREASED violent crimes (murders, assaults, rapes, kidnappings, robberies, gang rapes, child molestations, child endangerment/abuse, etc.), DECREASED land values, decreased BUSINESS INVESTMENTS AND DEVELOPMENT, DECREASED employment opportunities in affected areas, and a “WAR ZONE” environment in which our CHILDREN and elders are FORCED to survive in. A RECLASSIFICATION of these crimes and ALL involved in their OFFENSES to include all persons assisting in any CAPACITY as terrorists will, also, REMOVE many, but NOT all, of the OBSTRUCTIONS for our children as they LEARN, play, and grow during their crucial DEVELOPMENTAL YEARS by significantly REDUCING the VIOLENT CRIMES, eliminating FORCED gang membership, SIGNIFICANTLY reducing teen pregnancy, TEEN drug use, teen dropout rates, SCHOOL ABSENTEISM, illiteracy rates, TEEN SUICIDE RATES, as well as the eradicating of the PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA as well as mental anguish that is PRODUCED by the “war zone” environment. The BY-PRODUCTS of this campaign include, but are not limited to significant REDUCTION in Medical budget expenditures CAUSED by drug related medical and traumatic CONDITIONS (DRUG OVERDOSES, HOMICIDES, SUICIDES, DRUG INFLUENCED/RELATED AUTO ACCIDENTS, DRUG INDUCED PSYCHOLOGICAL PATIENTS, BABIES BORN WITH DRUG ADDICTIONS, THE SPREAD OF SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES, BABIES BORN WITH SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES, TRAUMA RELATED TO DRUGS/GANGS AND VIOLENT CRIME, ETC.).”

(Excerpt from Quote Of The Week 01/01/12)

And our babies will continue to be oppressed until death and all day before they can live. This is not LOVE. This is HATE. Please, STOP!

Brought to you

By

The “From the dirt…” Community Redevelopment Project

A program of

COMMUNITY INTERNATIONAL

 

Tending The Garden; Plucking Poverty By The Roots

By Akil A. Bomani

The most severe form of poverty is ignorance; lack of knowledge or factual, true, and always objective information (as opposed to misinformation or ill knowledge). Only when we breathe, speak, and teach true knowledge to ourselves, each other, and especially to our youth will we begin the work of eradicating the overwhelming abundance of poverty from our minds, our bodies, and most importantly, our spirits; and thus, the world. This alone will heal all plagues, address every societal need, and end suffering the world over and forever. And what is knowledge without wisdom? Just look around you at our world today. Lack of wisdom is the second most severe form of poverty afflicting “Man”. Without wisdom, knowledge is just a loaded gun or an explosive device in the wrong hands. It is the obvious cure for the disease. And then, what will we do with ourselves?

Pedophiliac: The Grip Of Reality Reveals The One And Only Solution 

By Akil A. Bomani

Pedophiliac, Child molester, Child predator, Child sex slaver/trafficker, … In summarizing this…“issue”, what a complete contradiction of nature and even evolution; an abomination. And what an example to the youth of the world we have set in not only not putting an end to such atrocity everywhere it exists, but have allowed it to now be an accepted part of popular culture in some of our societies, continue in others as “tradition”, or incidents and perpetrators have become so common place that one can see them “coming out of the closet”. The damage they inflict on their victims, their victims’ family, friends, school mates, care providers, emergency response personnel, etc. go far beyond bad dreams. Our current problem is this; the DISEASE is spiritual and mental which leads to the actual physical act and crime and THERE IS NO CURE. And so, there is but ONE solution. No matter where you are, no matter your socio-politico, cultural, and/or economic back ground, only those with no reasoning will disagree. And so, no matter where you are…no matter what country, city, township, or village, ethnic group, cultural orientation, or other group, support the enacting and, most importantly, enforcement of internationally standardized laws that reflect and directly address this most serious matter. Until there is a cure, our children are not safe. Seek to initiate the passing of laws that PERMANENTLY remove offenders from society by penalties of either LIFE OF IMPRISONMENT/MENTAL INSTITUTION with NO CHANCE OF PAROLE or RELEASE until a cure is discovered or DEATH BY SOME LETHAL MECHANISM for all perpetrators of this most heinous assault on our youth. We must, also, in a formal setting, teach our youth from the early developmental stages “sex education”, the very best parenting practices among other essential “life skills”, and the need, how, and why to report offenders to assist with their protection and bringing perpetrators to justice. And we must, in a formal setting, teach current parents, educators, as well as all other care providers how to recognize a problem when they encounter it. Please, join this War on Pedophiliacs as we seek all progressive methods to “end this right now”. Why? Pedophiliacs CAN’T help themselves and the next child could be yours. Or how else will our children ever respect us again?  

Brought to you by

 THE BOMANI GROUP

 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“LIFT EV’RY VOICE AND SING”

Also known as: The Black National Anthem and

The Negro National Anthem

Lift ev'ry voice and sing,

Till earth and heaven ring.

Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;

Let our rejoicing rise,

High as the list'ning skies,

Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,

Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;

Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,

Let us march on till victory is won.

Stony the road we trod,

Bitter the chast'ning rod,

Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;

Yet with a steady beat,

Have not our weary feet,

Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?

We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,

We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,

Out from the gloomy past,

Till now we stand at last

Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years,

God of our silent tears,

Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;

Thou who has by Thy might,

Led us into the light,

Keep us forever in the path, we pray.

Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,

Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee,

Shadowed beneath thy hand,

May we forever stand,

True to our God,

True to our native land  

By  

James Weldon Johnson

 (1871–1938)

 Written as a poem in 1899  

John Rosamond Johnson (brother)

(1873–1954)

Composed in 1900

Born and raised on the Southside of the music city of Memphis, Tenn., the artist simply called, “George", is Stone Records' smooth jazz male vocalist, songwriter, and producer. This new comer with the rich voice texture and soulful crooning will soon earn his place among male balladeers within the music industry with his soothing and melodic vocal interpretations. A multitalented and very versatile vocalist, songwriter, and producer, but very humble spirit, "George", is destined to become a contributor to the long musical legacy of Memphis with his brand of music.

Though influenced by a wide variety of world class vocalists, songwriters, and producers, George is all original in his presentations of what music is; smooth, soulful, sultry, sexy crooning, and melodically interpretive balladry…

"Volume I George", will be an invitation for the listener into a relaxing mood, regardless of your day, with a jazz so smooth, it’s therapeutic. Just listen…There is not a song without a message as "George" enters the industry with "…music for the soul" as his purpose. This is poetry. The look, the voice, his music, the vibe…feel it.

 Have a taste at

Reverbnation.com/Georgethesmoothandsexycrooner

and pick up the debut single,

“I Want To Know”

from

“Volume I George”

when it drops

AUGUST 10th!

“Taste my funk (smile).”

George

Follow George on Twitter:

George

@George_StoneRec

"Strictly business for serious business minds…".

 

BOOK Of THE MONTH

“The Unseen Hand: An Introduction to the Conspiratorial View of History” by Ralph Epperson

ISBN-10: 0961413506

ISBN-13: 978-0961413507   

 

MARY & MODINE'S MUSIC SHOP (BMI)

Whether it’s Soul Contemporary Gospel, Smooth Jazz, Love Ballads, Commercial Jingles, Sound Tracks…

“…we’ve got that song you were looking for”

 

IT’S YOUR HEALTH

Racquetball

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Racquetball is a racquet sport played with a hollow rubber ball in an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek is credited with inventing the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velocity and control. Unlike most racquet sports, such as tennis and badminton, there is no net to hit the ball over, and, unlike squash, no tin (out of bounds area at the bottom of front wall) to hit the ball above. Also, the court's walls, floor, and ceiling are legal playing surfaces, with the exception of court-specific designated hinders being out-of-bounds.

Racquetball is very similar to 40×20 American handball, which is played in many countries. It is also very similar to the British sport Squash 57, which was called racquetball before 2016 (see below for a comparison).

Contents

1 History

2 United Kingdom

3 Governing bodies

4 Equipment

5 Ball colors

6 Rules

6.1 Scoring

6.2 Hinders

6.3 Game variations

7 Shots of the game

7.1 Service

7.2 Offensive shots

7.3 Defensive shots

8 Strategy

9 Major competitions and players

9.1 US Open

9.2 Other championships

10 Comparison to racquetball

11 See also

History

Joe Sobek is credited with inventing the sport of racquetball in the New Britain, Connecticut YMCA, though not with naming it. A professional tennis and American handball player, Sobek sought a fast-paced sport that was easy to learn and play. He designed the first strung paddle, devised a set of rules, based on those of squash, handball, and paddleball, and named his game paddle rackets.

In February 1952 Sobek founded the National Paddle Rackets Association (NPRA), codified the rules, and had them printed as a booklet. The new sport was rapidly adopted and became popular through Sobek's continual promotion of it; he was aided by the existence of some 40,000 handball courts in the country's YMCAs and Jewish Community Centers, wherein racquetball could be played.

In 1969, aided by Robert W. Kendler, the president-founder of the U.S. Handball Association (USHA), the International Racquetball Association (IRA) was founded using the name coined by Bob McInerney, a professional tennis player. That same year, the IRA assumed the national championship from the NPRA. In 1973, after a dispute with the IRA board of directors, Kendler formed two other racquetball organizations, yet the IRA remains the sport's dominant organization, recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the American national racquetball governing body.

In 1974, the IRA organized the first professional tournament, and is a founding member of the International Racquetball Federation (IRF). Eventually, the IRA became the American Amateur Racquetball Association (AARA); in late 1995, it renamed itself as the United States Racquetball Association (USRA). In 2003, the USRA again renamed itself to USA Racquetball (USAR), to mirror other Olympic sports associations, even if Racquetball is not an Olympic sport.

Kendler used his publication ACE to promote both handball and racquetball. Starting in the 1970s, and aided by the fitness boom of that decade, the sport's popularity increased to an estimated 3.1 million players by 1974. Consequent to increased demand, racquetball clubs and courts were founded and built, and sporting goods manufacturers began producing racquetball-specific equipment. This growth continued until the early 1980s, and declining in the decade's latter part when racquet clubs converted to physical fitness clubs, in service to a wider clientele, adding aerobics exercise classes and physical fitness and bodybuilding machines. Since then, the number of has remained steady, an estimated 5.6 million players.

United Kingdom

In 1976, Ian D.W. Wright created the sport of racquetball based on U.S. racquetball. British racquetball is played in a 32-foot (9.8 m) long by 21-foot (6.4 m) wide squash court (8 feet (2.4 m) shorter and 1 foot (0.30 m) wider than the U.S. racquetball court), using a smaller, less dynamic ball than the American racquetball. In racquetball, the ceiling is out-of-bounds. The racquetball is served after a bounce on the floor then struck into play with the racket. Scoring is like squash with point-a-rally scoring of up to 11 points. The British Racquetball Association was formed on 13 February 1984, and confirmed by the English Sports Council as the sport's governing body on 30 October 1984. The first National Racquetball Championship was held in London on 1 December 1984. The sport is now played in countries where squash is played, Australia, Bermuda, France, Germany, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Ireland and Sweden. Currently, racquetball also is played in parts of North America.

In 1988, the British Racquetball Association merged with the Squash Rackets Association. England Squash & Racquetball is now recognized by Sport England as the English national governing body for the sports of squash and racquetball. There is now an established UK Racquetball Tournament Series consisting of 8 events around the UK, which forms the basis of the national rankings along with the National Racquetball championships held annually at The Edgbaston Priory Club.

In 2016, World Squash Federation announced an international 're-branding' of racquetball as Squash 57, the 57 referring to the diameter of the ball, in order to emphasize both its membership of the 'squash rackets' family, and its distinctiveness from the U.S. racquetball.

Governing bodies

The International Racquetball Federation (IRF) governs the World Racquetball Championships, which were first held in 1981 in conjunction with the first World Games. The second World Championships were played in 1984, and since then have been held biennially in August. Players from the United States have won the most World Championship titles.

The IRF also runs the World Junior Racquetball Championships that occur annually in either late October, or early to mid November, as well as the annual World Senior Racquetball Championships for players who are 35 years of age or older.

Racquetball has been included in the World Games on five occasions: 1981, 1989, 1993, 2009 and 2013. The sport has a high appeal in the Americas because this racquetball has been included in the Pan American Games in 1995, 1999, 2003, 2011, 2015, and will be part of the games again in Lima 2019. There are three professional racquetball organizations. The International Racquetball Tour (IRT) is the men's professional organization that began in the 1980s, with the World Racquetball Tour (WRT) starting more recently. The Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) is the women's professional organization.

Equipment

The court dimensions. A racquetball court; fully enclosed indoor or outdoor with a front wall. The standard racquetball court is rectangular: 40 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 20 feet high with red lines defining the service and serve reception areas.

The "service box" is formed by the short line (a solid red line running the court's width parallel to the front and back walls at a distance of 20 feet) and the service line (which runs parallel to the short line and is 15 feet from the front wall). Within the service box there are two sets of lines perpendicular to the short and service lines.

One set of lines is 18 inches from, and parallel to, the side walls. Along with the short line, service line, and side wall these lines define the doubles box, where the non-serving doubles partner stands during the serve; 36 inches from the side wall is another set of lines which, along with the short line and the service line, define an area that the server must not enter if he wishes to hit a drive serve between himself and the nearest side wall. The receiving line is a parallel dashed line 5 feet behind the short line.

Other equipment needed:

A racquetball; a dynamic (bouncy) rubber ball of 2.25 in. (57 mm) diameter

A racquetball racquet; no longer than 22 inches

Racquetball eye guards (mandatory during competitions; some recreational players play without eye guards but this is not recommended, as being hit in the eye by the ball can cause permanent vision damage).

Racquetball differs from other racquet sports as most competitive players wear a glove on their racquet hand for the purpose of getting a better grip on the racquet (similar to golfers using a glove when driving), but gloves are optional equipment. Also, players usually wear a comfortable short sleeved shirt and shorts, as well as racquetball court shoes designed for enabling quick lateral as well as forward and backward movement.

Ball colors

Racquetballs are manufactured in a variety of colors such as blue, green, purple, black, red, and pink, and some are for specific purposes (e.g., outdoor play and indoor play), but the differences are unlikely to make much difference for recreational play. Beginners are recommended to use a blue ball by Penn, Ektelon, or Wilson. The blue ball is the most commonly used and it is the most neutral ball for average speed and accuracy of contact. Green balls are similar to blue balls. In the USA the main choices of ball are blue and green for tournament play. In some cases the International Pro Racquetball Tour (IRT) will use a purple Penn HD ball as the official ball. A black ball is often used in tournaments for senior players because the ball is designed to be slower moving and allows for longer rallies. The red ball is the fastest in production, and they are known as Red Ektelon Fireballs. This ball is heavier and allows for a quicker pace.

Balls do break occasionally, and will lose their bounce over time even without breaking. To keep balls around for a long time it is best to keep them in a room temperature setting and keep them out of extreme cold or heat because this will cause the balls to become less effective and lose their bounce.

Rules

Play begins with the serve. The serving player must bounce the ball on the floor once and hit it directly to the front wall, making the ball hit the floor beyond the short line; otherwise the serve counts as a fault. The ball may touch one side wall, but not two, prior to hitting the floor; hitting both side walls after the front wall (but before the floor) is a "three wall serve," and a fault. Also, serving the ball into the front wall so that it rebounds to the back wall without hitting the floor first is a long serve, and a fault.

Other fault serves include a ceiling serve, in which the ball touches the ceiling after the front wall, and serving before the receiving player is ready. Also, the server must wait until the ball passes the short line before stepping out of the service box, otherwise it is a fault serve.

If the server hits the ball directly to any surface other than the front wall the server immediately loses serve regardless of whether it was first or second serve.

After the ball bounces behind the short line, or passes the receiving line, the ball is in play and the opposing player(s) may play it.

Usually, the server is allowed two opportunities (called first serve and second serve) to put the ball into play (two serve rule), although elite level competitions often allow the server only one opportunity (one serve rule).

After a successful serve, players alternate hitting the ball against the front wall. The player returning the hit may allow the ball to bounce once on the floor or hit the ball on the fly. However, once the player returning the shot has hit the ball, it must strike the front wall before striking the floor. Unlike during the serve, a ball in play may touch as many walls, including the ceiling, as necessary so long as it reaches the front wall without striking the floor.

Scoring

If the server wins the rally, then the server scores one point and continues to serve. If the opposing player wins the rally, then no point is scored, but that player then takes over serving.

Under USA Racquetball rules, matches are best of three games with the first two games to 15 points and a third game to 11 points, if necessary. USA Racquetball rules do not require players to win by two, so a match score line could read 15–14, 14–15, 11–10. Racquetball Canada matches are also the best of three format, but require a winning margin of at least two points.

International competitions run by the International Racquetball Federation are like the USA Racquetball scoring system: two games to 15 with a tie-breaker to 11, if necessary, and win by one. However, the men's and women's pro tours play matches that are the best-of-five games to 11 points, requiring a two-point margin for victory.

Hinders

Due to the nature of the game, players often occupy the space their opponent(s) want(s) to occupy. This may result in a player blocking his opponent's ability to play the ball. Such occurrences are termed either hinders or penalty hinders. A hinder is a replay of the current rally (the server resumes play at the first serve), while a penalty hinder results in the player who caused the avoidable obstruction to lose the rally. A type of hinder is a screen in which the player is unable to see the ball prior to it passing the opponent.

The difference between a hinder and a penalty hinder (or formerly an avoidable hinder) is that in the latter case a player has missed out on a clear opportunity to make a rally-winning shot due to the obstruction by the player's opponent, while in the former case the opportunity missed would not clearly have led to a winning shot. This difference is almost always a judgment call by the referee (if available).

There is also a "court" hinder in which some part of the playing field caused the ball to bounce untrue. Often this is the door frame or (recessed) handle or a flaw in the floor or walls. In this case, the rally is a re-serve.

Game variations

Racquetball games can be played with two, three or four players, with doubles or singles matches being most common. Two player games are called singles or "one-up" (one vs. one for the entire game), while four player games are doubles with two pairs playing against each other (two vs. two for the entire game). Tournament competitions have divisions for singles or doubles or both.

Three-player games are most commonly called "Cut-throat" and sometimes "Ironman" (two-on-one for the entire game) where each player takes turns serving to the other two, who play as a team against the serving player. Another three-player game is "California", "In-and-Out", or "King of the Court" where play is 1 vs. 1 with the third player remaining in the back court out of play while the other two play a rally; the rally winner then serves to the player who was sitting out, and the rally loser stays out of play. Another three-player variation is "Sevens" in which one player plays against two players as a team, with the game being played to seven points; if the two player team gets to seven first, the game is over, but if the solo player gets to seven first then the game continues to 14; if the solo player again reaches 14 first, then the game continues to 21, where the game ends regardless of whether the solo player or the two player team reach 21 first.

Shots of the game

Service

Serve style varies drastically from player to player. Generally, they are divided into two types: offensive and defensive. Most players use an offensive serve for the first serve, and a defensive serve if they need to hit a second serve. Of the offensive serves, the most common is the drive. The intention with this serve is for the ball to travel low and fast towards either back corner, and to bounce twice before striking either side wall or the back wall. If the opponent is adjusting to the drive serve, the server will throw in any variety of jam serves.

A jam serve is an offensive serve which attempts to catch the opponent off balance by making use of difficult angles and unfrequented play space. The most common jam serve is the Z-serve, which strikes the front wall close to a side wall. The ball bounces quickly off the side wall, then strikes the floor and then the opposite side wall about 30–35 feet back. Depending upon the spin the server gives the Z-serve, the resulting carom may prove unpredictable and difficult to return. Side spin may cause the ball to bounce parallel to the back wall.

A pinch serve is similar to a drive serve; however, the ball strikes a side wall very low and close to the serving box. With the appropriate spin, the ball has little bounce, and is difficult to return. It is possible that a successful serve would strike the sidewall before the short line, and land on the floor after the short line.

If the player faults on the first serve, they will usually hit a defensive serve. Defensive serves do not usually garner aces, but they are designed to generate a weak return by the opponent, thereby setting up the server to win the point. Most defensive serves are any variety of lob serves. A plain lob serve is a ball hit with a long, high arch into either back corner. The goal is to hit the ball so that it lands as close as possible to the back wall, giving the opponent very little room to hit a solid return. A junk lob takes a shallower arch, and lands close to the side wall somewhere between the dotted line and the back wall. This lob is intended to deceive the opponent into thinking he has an easy kill. However, since the ball is in the deep zone, it will more likely set up the server for an offensive shot.

Offensive shots

Straight-in shots are usually meant to hit the front wall as low as possible. If the ball contacts the front wall so low as to bounce twice before it reaches the service line it is called a "kill" shot. Straight-in shots are normally attempted with the idea of hitting toward the area of the court the opponent cannot cover. Straight-in shots hit where the opponent can't return them are called down-the-line and cross court passing shots. Often kill shots are returned very close to the back wall as the ball is moving towards the front wall.

Pinches and splats are shots that strike the side wall before the front wall. This often makes the ball bounce twice quickly to end the rally. Pinches normally strike the side wall towards the front part of the court, often within a few inches from the front wall.

The "splat" shot is an elongated pinch that strikes the side wall towards the back part of the court. It often makes a distinctive splatting sound. A very disorienting shot named the "rayjay splat" after Ray Johnson, a Wyoming state champion, who consistently used this shot by smashing the ball into the sidewall at such an angle that it would "Z" into the opposite front wall, arriving with such minimum momentum that it would "die" at the front wall and not rebound as expected. The best defense is to listen for the splat and anticipate the ball action. The advantage to a splat shot, beyond an unpredictable angle, is that it creates a longer distance to travel forward for the opponent who is held between a tension of going forward and staying back because of velocity of passing shots.

Pinches are classified as front side or reverse. A right-handed player shooting a forehand shot to the right front corner is shooting a front side pinch. A right-handed player shooting to the left front corner is a reverse pinch. A right-handed player shoots a backhand front side pinch to the left corner and a reverse double pinch to the right corner. Everything for a left-handed player would be the opposite.

The dink is another very effective offensive shot designed to end the point. It is a shot very low to the front wall hit very softly so as to bounce twice before the opponent can get to it. Dinks are most effective when the opponent is positioned deep in the court.

Another important shot type is the "Z" shot. This shot is effective at confusing and tiring out your opponent. To hit a "Z" shot one hits the side wall hard and up high causing the ball to hit the front then the other side wall then back to the original side wall. If done correctly, the path of the ball will be Z shaped. This shot can have confusing bounces which can frustrate opponents. If done correctly, a "Z" shot will apply spin to the ball as well on the final bounce, causing it to rebound perpendicular to the second wall and fall parallel to the back wall, the closer the better. This makes the "Z" shot very difficult to return.

An interesting and surprise attack shot is the "CB Pinch", named after Charlie Beram, a Colorado state champion who is credited with this unique style. The CB Pinch occurs where the player responds to a ceiling shot quickly, in front of the service line and right after the floor bounce. The shot is basically a redirected floor bounce (knee to waist high), where the ball is directed very softly but quickly to either corner from a position in front of the service line. The fact that the shot is taken right after a ceiling shot-floor bounce usually leaves the opponent in the rear of the court defenseless against the CB Pinch, when the player has suddenly rushed forward to take the shot.

Defensive shots

Defensive shots are defined as shots which are not returned low to the front wall.

The ceiling ball shot is the primary defensive shot. This is a shot that strikes the ceiling at or near the front wall. The ball will bounce once in the forecourt and should then travel in a high arc to arrive as close to, and as vertical to, the back wall as possible. Often this is aimed at the corner which would require a backhand return by the opponent. This makes it difficult for the opponent to return the ball as he cannot make a full arc of the racquet. However, if the ball comes down too long or too short of the back wall, this can allow the opponent a kill shot.

Another defensive shot is the high Z. Used when the defensive player is near the front wall, the high Z is hit ten feet high or higher into the front wall near a corner. The ball then bounces from the side wall all the way to the opposite side wall, usually traveling over the top of the opponent, hitting the opposite side wall with spin. The spin will cause the ball to leave the opposite wall almost perpendicular to it. This may confuse inexperienced opponents but importantly, if very close to and parallel to the rear wall, makes for a difficult return shot.

The "around the world" or "3 wall" defensive shot is hit like a pinch shot but high on the wall toward the ceiling. It travels around the court in a high trajectory and is an alternative to hitting a ceiling ball.

Two other defensive shots are used but are less effective. If the defensive player is in the backcourt but unable to position himself for a non-defensive shot, he may need to hit the ball off of the back wall. The ball often returns without much force and is easily returned. The round-the-world shot is hit high into the side wall first so the ball then hits the front wall and then the other side wall, effectively circling the court. It can be easily cut off and is rarely used anymore.

Strategy

The primary strategy of racquetball is to command the center of the court just at or behind the dashed receiving line. This allows the player to move as quickly as possible to all areas of the court and limit open court areas which are difficult to defend. After a shot, return quickly to center court. The antithesis of this is to be against a wall which severely limits the player's movement and allows the opponent an open court.

Keep an eye on the opponent by glancing sideways to anticipate their return shot and move appropriately in the court. Learn the typical return shots of the opponent and move appropriately in the court for a return shot. Attempt to not be predictable with your return shots.

Other more obvious strategies are to keep the returned ball as low on the front wall as possible, keeping the ball moving fast (limiting reaction time) and to keep your opponent moving away from center court by the use of lobs, cross court shots, and dinks.

Major competitions and players

Organized competitive racquetball began in the 1970s. The best male players of that era were Charlie Brumfield and Marty Hogan, as well as Bud Muehleisen, Jerry Hilecher, Steve Keeley, Davey Bledsoe, Steve Serot, and Steve Strandemo. Hogan continued to be a dominant player into the 1980s, and was rivaled on the scene by Brett Harnett, Dave Peck, and Mike Yellen.

In the 1990s, Ruben Gonzalez, Cliff Swain and Sudsy Monchik dominated pro tournaments, and other great players like Andy Roberts, John Ellis, and Drew Kachtik were often left out of the winner's circle. In the 2000s, Kane Waselenchuk, Jack Huczek, Jason Mannino, Ben Croft, and Rocky Carson have all excelled, but Waselenchuk has been dominant the last two seasons losing only once since September 2008.

The first great woman player was Peggy Steding in the 1970s. She was succeeded by Shannon Wright, who was then rivaled by Heather McKay, a great Australian squash player who made the transition to racquetball when living in Canada. McKay then developed a great rivalry with Lynn Adams, and after McKay moved back to Australia, Adams dominated women's racquetball for the better part of the 1980s.

The 1990s belonged to Michelle Gould (née Gilman) whose drive serve was a huge weapon against her opponents. In the late 1990s and into the 2000s, Jackie Paraiso and then Cheryl Gudinas were the dominant players. Then in the mid-2000s, Christie Van Hees and Rhonda Rajsich were the dominant players, but Paola Longoria finished #1 at the end of the 2008–2009 and 2009–2010 seasons.

US Open

Held annually in October, the US Open is the most prestigious professional racquetball event. First held in 1996, the US Open was in Memphis, Tennessee until 2010, when it moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. In men's play, Kane Waselenchuk (Canada) has won the most US Open titles with ten ahead of Sudsy Monchik (USA) with four, while Jason Mannino (USA) and Cliff Swain (USA) have both won the title twice, and Rocky Carson (USA) once.

In women's play, Paola Longoria (Mexico) has the most US Open titles with five, Rhonda Rajsich (USA) has four, one more than Christie Van Hees (Canada) with three. Michelle Gould (USA), Cheryl Gudinas (USA), and Jackie Paraiso (USA) have each won two US Open titles. Kerri Wachtel (USA) won the title once.

Other championships

Racquetball is included in the Pan American Games, World Games and Central American and Caribbean Games. Also, the regional associations of the International Racquetball Federation organize their own continental championships: Asian Championships, European Championships and Pan American Championships.

Comparison to racquetball

Racquetball is very similar to the British sport of 'racquetball', which was patterned on racquetball in 1976. The main differences are that the British ball is smaller, denser, and less bouncy; the British sport's court is a squash court, which is substantially shorter and somewhat wider; and the ceiling in the British game is out of bounds.

See also

List of racquetball players

American Handball

One wall paddleball

Racquet sports

Squash

International Racquetball Tour

Women's Professional Racquetball Organization

U.S. intercollegiate racquetball champions

Tennis

Frontenis

 

HISTORICAL FACT OF THE WEEK

AFRICAN AMERICANS

“A People Of The Many Descendants Of Afrika”

Part III

William Lloyd Garrison

William Lloyd Garrison (December 10, 1805 – May 24, 1879) was a prominent American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. He is best known as the editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, and was one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society. He promoted "immediate emancipation" of slaves in the United States. Garrison was also a prominent voice for the women's suffrage movement.

William Lloyd Garrison was born on December 10, 1805, in Newburyport, Massachusetts, the son of immigrants from the British colony of New Brunswick, in present-day Canada. Under the Seaman’s Protection act, Abijah Garrison, a merchant sailing pilot and master, had obtained American papers and moved his family to Newburyport in 1806. With the impact of the Congressional Embargo Act of 1807 on commercial shipping, the elder Garrison became unemployed and deserted the family in 1808. Garrison's mother, Frances Maria Lloyd, was reported to have been tall, charming and of a strong religious character. At her request, Garrison was known by his middle name, Lloyd. She died in 1823, in the town of Springfield, Massachusetts.

Garrison sold home-made lemonade and candy as a youth, and also delivered wood to help support the family. In 1818, at 13, Garrison began working as an apprentice compositor for the Newburyport Herald. He soon began writing articles, often under the pseudonym Aristides, taking the name of an Athenian statesman and general known as “the Just.” After his apprenticeship ended, he and a young printer named Isaac Knapp bought their own newspaper, the short lived Free Press. One of their regular contributors was poet and abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier. In this early work as a small town newspaper writer, Garrison acquired skills he would later use as a nationally known writer, speaker and newspaper publisher. In 1828, he was appointed editor of the National Philanthropist in Boston, Massachusetts, the first American journal to promote legally mandated temperance.

At age 25, Garrison joined the Abolition movement. For a brief time he became associated with the American Colonization Society, an organization that believed free African Americans should emigrate to a territory on the west coast of Africa. Although some members of the society encouraged granting freedom to slaves, the majority saw the relocation as a means to reduce the number of free African Americans in the United States and thus help preserve the institution of slavery. By late 1829–1830

"Garrison rejected colonization, publicly apologized for his error, and then, as was typical of him, he censured all who were committed to it."

William E. Cain, William Lloyd Garrison and the fight against Slavery: Selections from the Liberator

Garrison began writing for and became co-editor with Benjamin Lundy of the Quaker Genius of Universal Emancipation newspaper in Baltimore, Maryland. Garrison's experience as a printer and newspaper editor allowed him to revamp the layout of the paper and freed Lundy to spend more time travelling as an anti-slavery speaker. Garrison initially shared Lundy's gradualist views, but, while working for the Genius, he became convinced of the need to demand immediate and complete emancipation. Lundy and Garrison continued to work together on the paper in spite of their differing views, agreeing simply to sign their editorials to indicate who had written it.

One of the regular features that Garrison introduced during his time at the Genius was "The Black List," a column devoted to printing short reports of "the barbarities of slavery — kidnappings, whippings, murders." One of Garrison's "Black List" columns reported that a shipper from Garrison's home town of Newburyport, Massachusetts—one Francis Todd—was involved in the slave trade, and that he had recently had slaves shipped from Baltimore to New Orleans on his ship Francis. Todd filed a suit for libel against both Garrison and Lundy, filing in Maryland in order to secure the favor of pro-slavery courts. The state of Maryland also brought criminal charges against Garrison, quickly finding him guilty and ordering him to pay a fine of $50 and court costs. (Charges against Lundy were dropped on the grounds that he had been travelling and not in control of the newspaper when the story was printed.) Garrison was unable to pay the fine and was sentenced to a jail term of six months. He was released after seven weeks when the antislavery philanthropist Arthur Tappan donated the money for the fine, but Garrison had decided to leave Baltimore and he and Lundy amicably agreed to part ways.

In 1831, Garrison returned to New England and founded a weekly anti-slavery newspaper of his own, The Liberator. In the first issue, Garrison stated:

“I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or to speak, or write, with moderation. No! No! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; – but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest – I will not equivocate – I will not excuse – I will not retreat a single inch – AND I WILL BE HEARD. The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal, and to hasten the resurrection of the dead.”

Initial circulation of The Liberator was relatively limited; there were fewer than 400 subscriptions during the paper's second year. However, the publication gained subscribers and influence over the next three decades, until, after the end of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery nation-wide by the Thirteenth Amendment, Garrison published the last issue (number 1,820) on December 29, 1865, writing in his "Valedictory" column,

“Commencing my editorial career when only twenty years of age, I have followed it continuously till I have attained my sixtieth year—first, in connection with The Free Press, in Newburyport, in the spring of 1826; next, with The National Philanthropist, in Boston, in 1827; next, with The Journal of the Times, in Bennington, Vt., in 1828–9; next, with The Genius of Universal Emancipation, in Baltimore, in 1829–30; and, finally, with the Liberator, in Boston, from January 1, 1831, to January 1, 1866;—at the start, probably the youngest member of the editorial fraternity in the land, now, perhaps, the oldest, not in years, but in continuous service,—unless Mr. Bryant, of the New York Evening Post, be an exception. ... The object for which the Liberator was commenced—the extermination of chattel slavery—having been gloriously consummated, it seems to me specially appropriate to let its existence cover the historic period of the great struggle; leaving what remains to be done to complete the work of emancipation to other instrumentalities, (of which I hope to avail myself,) under new auspices, with more abundant means, and with millions instead of hundreds for allies.

In 1831, Garrison founded the New-England Anti-Slavery Society. The next year, he co-founded the American Anti-Slavery Society. That same year, 1833, Garrison also visited the United Kingdom and assisted in the anti-slavery movement there. Garrison had a strong influence on the ideas of Susan Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Lucy Stone and other feminists who joined the society. He intended that the Anti-Slavery Society should not align itself with any political party and that women should be allowed full participation in society activities. These positions were seen as controversial by the majority of Society members and there was a major rift in the Society. In 1839, two brothers, Arthur Tappan and Lewis Tappan, left and formed a rival organization, the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society which did not admit women. A segment of the Society also withdrew and aligned itself with the newly founded Liberty Party, a political organization which named James G. Birney as its Presidential candidate. By the end of 1840, Garrison announced the formation of a third new organization, the Friends of Universal Reform, with sponsors and founding members including prominent reformers Maria Chapman, Abby Kelley Foster, Oliver Johnson, and Bronson Alcott (father of Louisa May Alcott).

Meanwhile, on September 4, 1834, Garrison married Helen Eliza Benson (1811–1876), the daughter of a retired abolitionist merchant. The couple had five sons and two daughters, of whom a son and a daughter died as children.

In 1853, Garrison credited Reverend John Rankin of Ohio as a primary influence on his career, calling him his "anti-slavery father" and saying that Rankin's "... book on slavery was the cause of my entering the anti-slavery conflict." (Hagedorn, p. 58)

Garrison made a name for himself as one of the most articulate, as well as most radical, opponents of slavery. His approach to emancipation stressed non-violence and passive resistance, and he attracted a vocal following. While some other abolitionists of the time favored gradual emancipation, Garrison argued for "immediate and complete emancipation of all slaves". On July 4, 1854 he went so far as to publicly burn a copy of the Constitution condemning it as "a Covenant with Death, an Agreement with Hell," referring to the compromise that had written slavery into the Constitution. His earlier alliance with the famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass disintegrated over their incompatible views regarding the Constitution: Douglass insisted that the document could be interpreted as anti-slavery, whereas Garrison was convinced that slavery had tainted its essence.

Garrison and The Liberator were ardently supported by the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, which held meetings, sponsored lectures, and helped to strengthen the female anti-slavery network throughout the Northeast. Garrison was an important contributor to the suffrage movement.

 One of the most controversial events in pre-Civil War Boston history resulted from an Anti-Slavery Society lecture. In the fall of 1835, the society invited George Thompson, a fiery British abolitionist, to address them. When Thompson was unable to attend, Garrison agreed to take his place. An unruly mob threatened to storm the building in search of Thompson. The Mayor and police persuaded the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society members to leave. The mob, however, pursued Garrison through the streets of Boston, and upon seizing him, tied a rope around his waist and dragged him through Boston's streets. Garrison was rescued from lynching and lodged overnight in the Leverett Street Jail before leaving the city for many weeks.

In 1849, Garrison became involved in one of Boston's most notable trials of the time. Washington Goode, a African American seaman had been sentenced to death for the murder of a fellow African American mariner, Thomas Harding. In The Liberator Garrison argued that the verdict relied on "circumstantial evidence of the most flimsy character ..." and feared that the determination of the government to uphold its decision to execute Goode was based on race. As all other death sentences since 1836 in Boston had been commuted, Garrison concluded that Goode would be the last person executed in Boston for a capital offense writing, "Let it not be said that the last man Massachusetts bore to hang was a colored man!" Despite the efforts of Garrison and many other prominent figures of the time, Goode was hanged on May 25, 1849.

Garrison's outspoken anti-slavery views repeatedly put him in danger. Besides his imprisonment in Baltimore, the government of the State of Georgia offered a reward of $5,000 for his arrest, and he was the object of vituperation and frequent death threats. On the eve of the Civil War, a sermon preached in a Universalist chapel in Brooklyn, New York, denounced

"the blood thirsty sentiments of Garrison and his school; and did not wonder that the feeling of the South was exasperated, taking as they did, the insane and bloody ravings of the Garrisonian traitors for the fairly expressed opinions of the North."

Garrison occasionally allowed essays in The Liberator from a select few, including 14-year-old Anna Dickinson, who in 1856 wrote an impassioned article pleading for emancipation of the slaves.

After the abolition of slavery in the United States, Garrison continued working on other reform movements, especially temperance and women's suffrage. He ended the run of The Liberator at the end of 1865, and in May 1865, announced that he would resign the Presidency of the American Anti-Slavery Society and proposed a resolution to declare victory in the struggle against slavery and dissolve the Society. The resolution prompted sharp debate, however, by critics — led by his long-time ally Wendell Phillips — who argued that the mission of the AAS was not fully completed until African American Southerners gained full political and civil equality. Garrison maintained that while complete civil equality was vitally important, the special task of the AAS was at an end, and that the new task would best be handled by new organizations and new leadership. With his long-time allies deeply divided, however, he was unable to muster the support he needed to carry the resolution, and the motion was defeated 118–48. Garrison went through with his resignation, declining an offer to continue as President, and Wendell Phillips assumed the Presidency of the AAS. Garrison declared that "My vocation, as an Abolitionist, thank God, has ended." Returning home to Boston, he told his wife resignedly, "So be it. I regard the whole thing as ridiculous." He withdrew completely from the AAS, which continued to operate for five more years, until the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. (According to Henry Mayer, Garrison was hurt by the rejection, and remained peeved for years; "as the cycle came around, always managed to tell someone that he was not going to the next set of [AAS] meetings".)

After his withdrawal from AAS and the end of The Liberator, Garrison continued to participate in public debate and to support reform causes, devoting special attention to the causes of women's rights and of civil rights for African Americans. During the 1870s, he made several speaking tours, contributed columns on Reconstruction and civil rights for The Independent and the Boston Journal, took a position as associate editor and frequent contributor with the Woman's Journal, and participated in the American Woman Suffrage Association with his old allies Abby Kelley and Lucy Stone. While working with the AWSA in 1873, he finally healed his long estrangements from Frederick Douglass and Wendell Phillips, affectionately reuniting with them on the platform at an AWSA rally organized by Kelly and Stone on the one hundredth anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. When Charles Sumner died in 1874, some Republicans suggested Garrison as a possible successor to his Senate seat; Garrison declined on grounds of his moral opposition to taking government office.

Garrison spent more time at home with his family, writing weekly letters to his children, and caring for his increasingly ill wife, who had suffered a small stroke on December 30, 1863, and was increasingly confined to the house. Helen died on January 25, 1876, after a severe cold worsened into pneumonia. A quiet funeral was held in the Garrison home, but Garrison, overcome with grief and confined to his bedroom with a fever and severe bronchitis, was unable to join the service downstairs. Wendell Phillips gave a eulogy and many of Garrison's old abolitionist friends joined him upstairs to offer their private condolences. Garrison recovered slowly from the loss of his wife, and began to attend Spiritualist circles in the hope of communicating with Helen. Garrison made a final visit to England in 1877, where he visited George Thompson and other old friends from the British abolitionist movement.

Garrison, ailing from kidney disease, continued to weaken during April 1879, and went to live with his daughter Fanny's family in New York City. In late May his condition worsened, and his five surviving children rushed to join him. Fanny asked if he would enjoy singing some hymns, and although Garrison was unable to sing, his children sang his favorite hymns for him while he beat time with his hands and feet. On Saturday morning, Garrison lost consciousness, and died just before midnight on May 24, 1879. Garrison was buried in the Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood on May 28, 1879, after a public memorial service with eulogies by Theodore Dwight Weld and Wendell Phillips. Eight abolitionist friends, both Caucasian and African Americans, served as his pallbearers. Flags were flown at half-staff all across Boston. Frederick Douglass, then employed as a United States Marshal, spoke in memory of Garrison at a memorial service in a church in Washington, D.C., saying "It was the glory of this man that he could stand alone with the truth, and calmly await the result."

Garrison's son, also named William Lloyd Garrison (1838–1909), was a prominent advocate of the single tax, free trade, woman's suffrage, and of the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act. A second son, Wendell Phillips Garrison (1840–1907), was literary editor of the The Nation from 1865 to 1906. Two other sons (George Thompson Garrison and Francis Jackson Garrison, his biographer) and a daughter, Helen Frances Garrison (who married Henry Villard), survived him. Fanny's son Oswald Garrison Villard was a prominent journalist and a founding member of the NAACP.

Honoring Garrison's 200th birthday, in December 2005 his descendants gathered in Boston for the first family reunion in about a century. They discussed the legacy and impact of their most notable family member.

Garrison is honored together with Maria Stewart a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on December 17.

Works online

?      Address to the Colonization Society, a Fourth of July oration delivered in 1829 at the Park Street Church in Boston. This was Garrison's first major public statement against slavery.

?      An Address Delivered in Marlboro Chapel, a Fourth of July oration delivered in 1838, discussing Garrison's views of slave rebellion and the prospects for violence. From the Antislavery Literature Project.

?      To the Public, Garrison's introductory column for The Liberator (January 1, 1831).

?      Truisms, from The Liberator (January 8, 1831).

?      The Insurrection, Garrison's reaction to news of Nat Turner's rebellion, in The Liberator (September 3, 1831).

?      On the Constitution and the Union, from The Liberator (December 29, 1832).

?      Declaration of Sentiments, adopted by the Boston Peace Convention (September 18, 1838), reprinted in The Liberator (September 28, 1838).

?      Abolition at the Ballot Box, from The Liberator (June 28, 1839).

?      The American Union, from The Liberator (January 10, 1845).

?      Selections from the Writings and Speeches of William Lloyd Garrison: With an Appendix. Boston: R.F. Wallcut, 1852.

?      The Tragedy at Harper's Ferry, Garrison's first public commentary on John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, from The Liberator (October 28, 1859).

?      John Brown and the Principle of Nonresistance, a speech given for a meeting in the Tremont Temple, Boston, on December 2, 1859, the day that John Brown was hanged. Reprinted in The Liberator (December 16, 1859).

?      The War—Its Cause and Cure, from The Liberator (May 3, 1861).

?      Valedictory: The Final Number of The Liberator, closing column for The Liberator (December 29, 1865).

?      No Union With Slaveholders

?      William Lloyd Garrison works Cornell University Library Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection

?      William Lloyd Garrison works reprinted by Cornell University Digital Library Collections.

?      The Liberator Files, Horace Seldon's collection and summary of research of William Lloyd Garrison's The Liberator original copies at the Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts.

?      Reading Garrison’s Letters, Horace Seldon's insight into the thought, work and full life of Garrison, based on "Letters of William Lloyd Garrison" edited by Walter M. Merrill and Louis Ruchames, from the Belknap Press of Harvard University.

 Uncle Tom’s Cabin

The most influential abolitionist tract was Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), the best-selling novel and play by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Outraged by the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 (which made the escape narrative part of everyday news), Stowe emphasized the horrors that abolitionists had long claimed about slavery. Her depiction of the evil slave owner Simon Legree, a transplanted Yankee who kills the Christ-like Uncle Tom, outraged the North, helped sway British public opinion against the South, and inflamed Southern slave owners who tried to refute it by showing some slave owners were humanitarian. It inspired numerous anti-Tom novels, several written and published by women.

Irish Catholics

Irish Catholics in America seldom challenged the role of slavery in society as it was protected at that time by the U.S. Constitution. They viewed the abolitionists as anti-Catholic and anti-Irish. Some have argued that Irish Catholics were well received in the South. However, the voting patterns of the southern states in the 1856 presidential election tell a different story. The results of the 1856 election indicate that the South was the most anti-Catholic and anti-Irish region in the United States. Millard Fillmore ran as the presidential candidate on the anti-Catholic platform of the American Party and won the State of Maryland and also carried 23% of the rest of the southern votes. Addressing the rise of the Know Nothing's anti-Catholic platform in the South, the former governor of Tennessee William B. Campbell wrote in 1855, "I have been astonished at the widespread feeling in favor of their principles—to wit, Native Americanism and anti-Catholicism—it takes everywhere."

However, Daniel O'Connell, the Catholic leader of the Irish in Ireland, supported the abolition of slavery in the British Empire and in the United States. O'Connell had played a leading role in securing Catholic Emancipation (the removal of the civil and political disabilities of Roman Catholics in Great Britain and Ireland) and he was one of William Lloyd Garrison's models. Garrison recruited him to the cause of American abolitionism. O'Connell, the African American orator, abolitionist, and military organizer during the Civil War, Charles Lenox Remond, and the temperance priest Theobald Mathew organized a petition with 60,000 signatures urging the Irish of the United States to support abolition. O'Connell also spoke in the United States for abolition.

The Repeal Associations in the United States mostly took a pro-slavery position. Several reasons have been suggested for this: Irish immigrants were fiercely competing with free African Americans for low-end jobs, and did not want more free African Americans to deal with. They disliked having the same arguments used for Irish and for African American freedom; they were Democrats who destructed moralistic reformers; they were loyal to the United States Constitution, which defended their liberties while upholding slavery, and disliked the fundamentally extra-constitutional position of the Abolitionists. They perceived abolitionism as Protestant, and were suspicious of them. In addition, slaveholders had no hesitation in voicing their support for the freedom of Ireland, a European nation outside the United States. The Draft Riots in New York in 1863, led by ethnic Irish against African Americans, demonstrated their position.

Radical Irish nationalists – those who broke with O'Connell over his refusal to contemplate the violent overthrow of British rule in Ireland – had a diversity of views about slavery. In the minority was outspoken Presbyterian John Mitchel, who spent the years 1853 to 1875 in America, was a passionate propagandist in favor of slavery and the editor of a leading Confederate newspaper. However, the vast majority of Irish American Nationalist leaders like Thomas Francis Meagher, and the great majority of Fenians supported the Union. John Boyle O'Reilly, the famous Fenian poet, political prisoner, and editor of the Boston Pilot, the most influential Catholic newspaper in the United States spoke out forcefully and consistently on the plight of African Americans, immigrants, Native Americans and other downtrodden people seeking a foothold in American life. Meagher and the Fenians proved to be very successful advocates of the North, and men like Brig. Gen. Michael Corcoran, Gen. Thomas William Sweeny, and Col. John O'Mahony and others helped to enlist tens of thousands of Irish-Americans into the Union all-Irish Regiments and Brigades including:

There were 18 Irish American regiments plus the Irish Brigade (U.S.) that volunteered to fight the Civil War for the Union.

The Catholic Church in America had long ties in slaveholding Maryland and Louisiana. Despite a firm stand for the spiritual equality of African American people, and the resounding condemnation of slavery by Pope Gregory XVI in his bull In Supremo Apostolatus issued in 1839, the American church continued in deeds, if not in public discourse, to avoid confrontation with slaveholding interests. In 1842, the Archbishop of New York, while denouncing slavery, objected to O'Connell's petition if authentic as unwarranted foreign interference. The Bishop of Charleston declared that, while Catholic tradition opposed slave trading, it had nothing against slavery.

In 1861, the Archbishop of New York wrote to Secretary of War Cameron:

"That the Church is opposed to slavery...Her doctrine on that subject is, that it is a crime to reduce men naturally free to a condition of servitude and bondage, as slaves."

No American bishop supported extra-political abolition or interference with state's rights before the Civil War. During the Civil War, however, the Archbishop of New York, John Hughes, who was an ally of Lincoln and Seward, would denounce Southern bishops, writing,

"In their periodicals in New Orleans and Charleston, they have justified the attitude taken by the South on principles of Catholic theology, which I think was an unnecessary, inexpedient, and, for that matter, a doubtful if not dangerous position, at the commencement of so unnatural and lamentable a struggle."

McKivigan noted that ritualist churches such as the Catholic Church separated themselves from heretics rather than sinners; he observed that Episcopalians and Lutherans also accommodated themselves to slavery. The Anglican Church had been the established church in the South during the colonial period. It was linked to the landed gentry and the wealthier and educated planter classes, longer than any other church. In addition, while the Protestant missionaries of the Great Awakening initially opposed slavery in the South, by the early decades of the 19th century, Baptist and Methodist preachers in the South had come to an accommodation with it in order to evangelize with farmers and artisans. By the Civil War, the Baptist and Methodist churches split into regional associations over the issue of slavery - the Southern Baptists and Southern Methodists supported it.

After O'Connell's failure, the American Repeal Associations broke up. The Garrison supporters rarely relapsed into the "bitter hostility" of American Protestants toward the Roman Church. Some antislavery men joined the Know Nothings in the collapse of the parties; but Edmund Quincy ridiculed it as a mushroom growth, a distraction from the real issues. Although the Know-Nothing legislature of Massachusetts honored Garrison, he continued to oppose them as violators of fundamental rights to freedom of worship.

Like many Quakers, Lucretia Mott considered slavery an evil to be opposed.

William Lloyd Garrison’s abolitionist newsletter the Liberator noted in 1847,

“...the Anti-Slavery cause cannot stop to estimate where the greatest indebtedness lies, but whenever the account is made up there can be no doubt that the efforts and sacrifices of the WOMEN, who helped it, will hold a most honorable and conspicuous position.”

As the Liberator states, women played a crucial role as leaders in the anti-slavery movement. Angelina and Sarah Grimké were the first female antislavery agents, and played a variety of roles in the abolitionist movement. Though born in the South, the Grimké sisters became disillusioned with slavery and moved North to get away from it. Perhaps because of their birthplace, the Grimké sisters’ critiques carried particular weight and specificity. Angelina Grimké spoke of her thrill at seeing Caucasian American men do manual labor of any kind. Their perspectives as native southerners as well as women, brought a new important point of view to the abolitionist movement. In 1836, they moved to New York and began work for the Anti-Slavery Society, where they met and were impressed by William Lloyd Garrison. The sisters wrote many pamphlets (Angelina’s “Appeal to the Christian Women of the South” was the only appeal directly to southern women to defy slavery laws) and played leadership roles at the first Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women in 1837. The Grimkés later made a notable speaking tour around the north, which culminated in Angelina’s February 1838 address to a Committee of the Legislature of Massachusetts.

Lucretia Mott was active in the abolitionist movement. Though well known for her women’s rights advocacy, Mott also played an important role in the abolitionist movement. Over forty years, she delivered sermons about abolitionism, women’s rights, and a host of other issues. Mott acknowledged her Quaker beliefs’ determinative role in affecting her abolitionist sentiment. She spoke of the

“duty (that) was impressed upon me at the time I consecrated myself to that Gospel which anoints ‘to preach deliverance to the captive, to set at liberty them that are bruised...”

Mott’s advocacy took a variety of forms: she worked with the Free Produce Society to boycott slave-made goods, volunteered with the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women, and helped slaves escape to free territory.

Abby Kelley Foster, with a strong Quaker heritage, helped lead Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone into the abolition movement. Kelley influenced future suffragists such as Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone by encouraging them to take on a role in political activism. She helped organize and was a key speaker at the first National Women's Rights Convention in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1850. (The Seneca Falls Convention, held in 1848, was not national). She was an "ultra" abolitionist who believed in immediate and complete civil rights for all slaves. Since 1841, however, she resigned from the Quakers over disputes about not allowing anti-slavery speakers in meeting houses (including the Uxbridge monthly meeting where she had attended with her family), and the group disowned her. Abby Kelley became a leading speaker and the leading fundraiser for the American Anti-slavery Society. Radical abolitionism became known as “Abby Kelleyism.”

Other luminaries such as Lydia Maria Child, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth all played important roles in abolitionism. But even beyond these well-known women, abolitionism maintained impressive support from Caucasian middle-class and some African American women. It was these women who performed many of the logistical, day-to-day tasks that made the movement successful. They raised money, wrote and distributed propaganda pieces, drafted and signed petitions, and lobbied the legislatures. Though abolitionism sowed the seeds of the women’s rights movement, most women became involved in abolitionism because of a gendered religious worldview, and the idea that they had feminine, moral responsibilities. For example, in the winter of 1831-1832, three women’s petitions were written to the Virginia legislature, advocating emancipation of the state’s slave population. The only precedent for such action was Catharine Beecher’s organization of a petition protesting the Cherokee removal. The Virginia petitions, while the first of their kind, were by no means the last. Similar backing increased leading up to the Civil War.

Even as women played crucial roles in abolitionism, the movement simultaneously helped stimulate women’s rights efforts. A full ten years before the Seneca Falls Convention, the Grimkés were travelling, lecturing about their experiences with slavery. As Gerda Lerner says, the Grimkés understood their actions’ great impact. “In working for the liberation of the slave,” Lerner writes, “Sarah and Angelina Grimké found the key to their own liberation. And the consciousness of the significance of their actions was clearly before them. ‘We Abolition Women are turning the world upside down.’”

Women gained important experiences in public speaking and organizing that stood them in good stead going forward. The Grimké sisters’ public speaking played a critical part in legitimizing women’s place in the public sphere.

The July 1848 Seneca Falls Convention grew out of a partnership between Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton that blossomed while the two worked, at first, on abolitionist issues. Indeed, the two met at the World's Anti-Slavery Convention in the summer of 1840. Mott brought oratorical skills and an impressive reputation as an abolitionist to the nascent women’s rights movement.

Abolitionism brought together active women and enabled them to make political and personal connections while honing communication and organizational skills. Even Sojourner Truth, commonly associated with abolitionism, delivered her first documented public speech at the 1850 National Women's Rights Convention in Worcester. There, she argued for women’s reform activism.

Although there were several groups that opposed slavery (such as the Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage), at the time of the founding of the Republic, there were few states which prohibited slavery outright. The Constitution had several provisions which accommodated slavery, although none used the word. Passed unanimously by the Congress of the Confederation in 1787, the Northwest Ordinance forbade slavery in the Northwest Territory, a vast area which had previously belonged to individual states in which slavery was legal.

American abolitionism began very early, well before the United States was founded as a nation. An early law abolishing slavery (but not temporary indentured servitude) in Rhode Island in 1652 floundered within 50 years. Samuel Sewall, a prominent Bostonian and one of the judges at the Salem Witch Trials, wrote The Selling of Joseph in protest of the widening practice of outright slavery as opposed to indentured servitude in the colonies. This is the earliest-recorded anti-slavery tract published in the future United States.

In 1777, Vermont, not yet a state, became the first jurisdiction in North America to prohibit slavery: slaves were not directly freed, but masters were required to remove slaves from Vermont. The first state to begin a gradual abolition of slavery was Pennsylvania, in 1780. All importation of slaves was prohibited, but none freed at first; only the slaves of masters who failed to register them with the state, along with the "future children" of enslaved mothers. Those enslaved in Pennsylvania before the 1780 law went into effect were not freed until 1847.

Massachusetts took an opposite and much more radical position. Its Supreme Court ruled in 1783, that an African American man was, indeed, a man; and therefore free under the state's constitution.

All of the other states north of Maryland began gradual abolition of slavery between 1781 and 1804, based on the Pennsylvania model.

The institution remained solid in the South, however and that region's customs and social beliefs evolved into a strident defense of slavery in response to the rise of a stronger anti-slavery stance in the North. In 1835 alone abolitionists mailed over a million pieces of anti-slavery literature to the south. In response southern legislators banned abolitionist literature and encouraged harassment of anyone distributing it.

Abolitionists included those who joined the American Anti-Slavery Society or its auxiliary groups in the 1830s and 1840s as the movement fragmented. The fragmented anti-slavery movement included groups such as the Liberty Party; the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society; the American Missionary Association; and the Church Anti-Slavery Society. Historians traditionally distinguish between moderate antislavery reformers or gradualists, who concentrated on stopping the spread of slavery, and radical abolitionists or immediatists, whose demands for unconditional emancipation often merged with a concern for African American civil rights. However, James Stewart advocates a more nuanced understanding of the relationship of abolition and antislavery prior to the Civil War:

“While instructive, the distinction [between antislavery and abolition] can also be misleading, especially in assessing abolitionism's political impact. For one thing, slaveholders never bothered with such fine points. Many immediate abolitionists showed no less concern than did other white Northerners about the fate of the nation's "precious legacies of freedom."

Immediatism became most difficult to distinguish from broader anti-Southern opinions once ordinary citizens began articulating these intertwining beliefs.

Anti-slavery advocates were outraged by the murder of Elijah Parish Lovejoy, a Caucasian American man and editor of an abolitionist newspaper on 7 November 1837, by a pro-slavery mob in Illinois. Nearly all Northern politicians rejected the extreme positions of the abolitionists; Abraham Lincoln, for example. Indeed many northern leaders including Lincoln, Stephen Douglas (the Democratic nominee in 1860), John C. Fremont (the Republican nominee in 1856), and Ulysses S. Grant married into slave owning southern families without any moral qualms.

Antislavery as a principle was far more than just the wish to limit the extent of slavery. Most Northerners recognized that slavery existed in the South and the Constitution did not allow the federal government to intervene there. Most Northerners favored a policy of gradual and compensated emancipation. After 1849 abolitionists rejected this and demanded it end immediately and everywhere. John Brown was the only abolitionist known to have actually planned a violent insurrection, though David Walker promoted the idea. The abolitionist movement was strengthened by the activities of free African Americans, especially in the African American church, who argued that the old Biblical justifications for slavery contradicted the New Testament.

African American activists and their writings were rarely heard outside the African American community; however, they were tremendously influential to some sympathetic Caucasian American people, most prominently the first Caucasian American activist to reach prominence, William Lloyd Garrison, who was its most effective propagandist. Garrison's efforts to recruit eloquent spokesmen led to the discovery of ex-slave Frederick Douglass, who eventually became a prominent activist in his own right. Eventually, Douglass would publish his own, widely distributed abolitionist newspaper, the North Star.

In the early 1850s, the American abolitionist movement split into two camps over the issue of the United States Constitution. This issue arose in the late 1840s after the publication of The Unconstitutionality of Slavery by Lysander Spooner. The Garrisonians, led by Garrison and Wendell Phillips, publicly burned copies of the Constitution, called it a pact with slavery, and demanded its abolition and replacement. Another camp, led by Lysander Spooner, Gerrit Smith, and eventually Douglass, considered the Constitution to be an antislavery document. Using an argument based upon Natural Law and a form of social contract theory, they said that slavery existed outside of the Constitution's scope of legitimate authority and therefore should be abolished.

Another split in the abolitionist movement was along class lines. The artisan republicanism of Robert Dale Owen and Frances Wright stood in stark contrast to the politics of prominent elite abolitionists such as industrialist Arthur Tappan and his evangelist brother Lewis. While the former pair opposed slavery on a basis of solidarity of "wage slaves" with "chattel slaves", the Whiggish Tappans strongly rejected this view, opposing the characterization of Northern workers as "slaves" in any sense. (Lott, 129–130)

Many American abolitionists took an active role in opposing slavery by supporting the Underground Railroad. This was made illegal by the federal Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. Nevertheless, participants like Harriet Tubman, Henry Highland Garnet, Alexander Crummell, Amos No? Freeman and others continued with their work. Abolitionists were particularly active in Ohio, where some worked directly in the Underground Railroad. Since the state shared a border with slave states, it was a popular place for slaves' escaping across the Ohio River and up its tributaries, where they sought shelter among supporters who would help them move north to freedom. Two significant events in the struggle to destroy slavery were the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue and John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry. In the South, members of the abolitionist movement or other people opposing slavery were often targets of lynch mob violence before the American Civil War.

Numerous known abolitionists lived, worked, and worshipped in Downtown Brooklyn, from Henry Ward Beecher, who auctioned slaves into freedom from the pulpit of Plymouth Church, to Nathan Egelston, a leader of the African and Foreign Antislavery Society, who also preached at Bridge Street AME and lived on Duffield Street. His fellow Duffield Street residents, Thomas and Harriet Truesdell were leading members of the Abolitionist movement. Mr. Truesdell was a founding member of the Providence Anti-slavery Society before moving to Brooklyn in 1851. Harriet Truesdell was also very active in the movement, organizing an antislavery convention in Pennsylvania Hall in Philadelphia. The Tuesdell's lived at 227 Duffield Street. Another prominent Brooklyn-based abolitionist was Rev. Joshua Leavitt, trained as a lawyer at Yale who stopped practicing law in order to attend Yale Divinity School, and subsequently edited the abolitionist newspaper The Emancipator and campaigned against slavery, as well as advocating other social reforms. In 1841 Leavitt published his The Financial Power of Slavery, which argued that the South was draining the national economy due to its reliance on slavery.

 John Brown (1800–1859), abolitionist who advocated armed rebellion by slaves. He slaughtered pro-slavery settlers in Kansas and in 1859 was hanged by the state of Virginia for leading an unsuccessful slave insurrection at Harpers Ferry. Historian Frederick Blue called John Brown "the most controversial of all 19th-century Americans." When Brown was hanged after his attempt to start a slave rebellion in 1859, church bells rang, minute guns were fired, large memorial meetings took place throughout the North, and famous writers such as Emerson and Henry David Thoreau joined many Northerners in praising Brown. Whereas Garrison was a pacifist, Brown resorted to violence. Historians agree he played a major role in starting the war. Some historians regard Brown as a crazed lunatic while David S. Reynolds hails him as the man who "killed slavery, sparked the civil war, and seeded civil rights." For Ken Chowder he is "the father of American terrorism."

His famous raid in October 1859, involved a band of 22 men who seized the federal Harpers Ferry Armory at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, knowing it contained tens of thousands of weapons. Brown believed that the South was on the verge of a gigantic slave uprising and that one spark would set it off. Brown's supporters George Luther Stearns, Franklin B. Sanborn, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Theodore Parker, Samuel Gridley Howe and Gerrit Smith were all abolitionist members of the Secret Six who provided financial backing for Brown's raid. Brown's raid, says historian David Potter,

"was meant to be of vast magnitude and to produce a revolutionary slave uprising throughout the South."

The raid was a fiasco. Not a single slave revolted. Lt. Colonel Robert E. Lee of the U.S. Army was dispatched to put down the raid, and Brown was quickly captured. Brown was tried for treason against Virginia and hanged. At his trial, Brown exuded a remarkable zeal and single-mindedness that played directly to Southerners' worst fears. Few individuals did more to cause secession than John Brown, because Southerners believed he was right about an impending slave revolt. Shortly before his execution, Brown prophesied,

"the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away; but with Blood."

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