Milestones: December 6, 2023

December 6, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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SLAVERY ABOLISHED — THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ABOLISHING SLAVERY WAS RATIFIED ON DEC. 6, 1865. The 13th Amendment, ratified at the time by three-quarters of the states, reads, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, save as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Congress debated several proposals in 1864, some of which included protections for Blacks against discrimination. The Senate passed the amendment in April 1864, even though Southern Democrats had pushed for a restoration of states’ rights that might have made it possible for them to preserve slavery as the “peculiar institution.” Republican Abraham Lincoln’s re-election victory that year grounded the 13th Amendment in place.

However, four states did not immediately ratify the amendment during the vote: Kentucky, New Jersey, Delaware and Mississippi, which took 148 years to do so. Mississippi ratified the 13th Amendment in 1995 but failed to notify the United States Archivist for this to be official. The oversight was finally corrected in January 2013.

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WHITE MARBLE TOWER — CONSTRUCTION OF THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT WAS COMPLETED ON DEC. 6, 1884 in the nation’s capital, when the workers placed the topping aluminum pyramid inscribed with the words “Laus Deo,” meaning “Praise be to God.” The monument, a tribute to the United States’ first president, Founding Father George Washington, took a century to complete, even though Congress had decided more than a century earlier, in 1783, to erect a statue in Washington’s honor, near the Congressional building. At the time, plans were being mapped for a new federal capitol on the Potomac River, for which land from both Maryland and Virginia were ceded. The Washington National Monument Society was formed to raise the funds, and while schoolchildren and other donors in the drive raised about $230,000, the amount fell short of the requisite $1 million. Finally, on the nation’s centennial, President Ulysses S. Grant authorized construction to be completed.

Today, the Washington Monument, a white marble tower, stands at the western end of the National Mall and faces the Capitol Building at the eastern end.

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EIRE — THE IRISH FREE STATE, NOW CALLED THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND, WAS DECLARED ON DEC. 6, 1921, ending a five-year struggle to gain independence from Great Britain. The Irish Free State comprised four-fifths (80%) of Ireland. It was considered an autonomous nation of the British Empire but was to remain symbolically subject to the Crown as a member of the British Commonwealth. However, the Irish people, particularly Catholics, rebelled after 900 years of English rule dating back to the 12th century. The Irish Free State did eventually sever ties with England and was renamed Eire before becoming the Republic of Ireland.

The centuries leading up to 1921 were fraught with a series of rebellions against absentee landowners and the people existed mainly on a potato diet. The Potato Famine of the 1840s killed a million people; twice as many emigrated to the United States during that time.

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STILL AN ENDANGERED ECOSYSTEM — THE EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK WAS ESTABLISHED ON DEC. 6, 1847 after being authorized initially in 1934. The Everglades comprised a marshland ecosystem on the southern tip of the Florida Peninsula, about 83 miles southwest of Miami. The largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, the Everglades National Park is a World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve protecting the habitats of endangered species from the manatee to the American crocodile and Florida panther. The Everglades were established also in response to the damage to the ecosystem from drainage systems implemented to develop farmland and neighborhoods.

However, the Everglades are still under threat today, according to the National Wildlife Foundation’s website, from non-native plants and animals that were introduced into the ecosystem, some intentionally. These invasive species are both plants and animals and threaten species that are indigenous to Florida.

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PHOTOGRAPHED LIFE — PHOTOGRAPHER ALFRED EISENSTAEDT, BORN 125 YEARS AGO ON DEC. 6, 1898, was an American photojournalist and émigré from Prussia. He became famed for his collection of more than 90 photos that appeared on the covers of Life Magazine, plus thousands in other publications. Probably the most famous photo is the iconic picture of a sailor kissing a nurse — who was a stranger — in the middle of Times Square on V-J day.

Eisenstaedt preferred using a smaller, Leica 35 millimeter camera and used natural lighting which lent easier to extemporaneous shots rather than poses. His particular talent was in shooting candids of people in action.

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JAZZ ICON — JAZZ IMPRESSARIO DAVE BRUBECK, BORN ON DEC. 6, 1920, became a 20th-century legend both as a pianist and composer. One of his groundbreaking albums was ‘Time Out,” featuring the hit “Take Five,” considered by many a sensuous work. Released in 1959, “Time Out” was the first million-selling jazz album and became a symbol of the genre. Brubeck received the National Medal of Arts; he was also the first modern jazz musician to be featured on the cover of Time magazine.

Brubeck died on Dec. 5, 2012, one day before his 92nd birthday.

See previous milestones, here.