#1805!

[dontbestingybaby]

“An article published in Haiti's Political and Commercial Gazette presciently analyzed the broader significance of the changes U.S.-Haitian trade relations underwent under Jefferson. The author of the article wrote that the United States would one day ‘occupy a distinguished rank among the masters of the sea.’ Foreseeing the inevitable decline of France and England, the writer warned, ‘The same thing will befall the powers that are presently dominant; they will undergo an unmistakable decline, while the United States will assume the rank to which it is destined. But this era will become deadly for the Caribbean. It will simply change masters. It will come under the yoke of the United States.’ As for ongoing U.S. slavery, ‘in the states of the south, [it] is a fire that smolders under the ashes, the eventual explosion of which will one day make tremble the hardened and deaf masters who still maintain it, despite the prudent advice of their fellow citizens of the north.’ Like Boisrond-Tonnerre, who observed that the ‘key to liberty’ for the still enslaved across the Americas could be found ‘in their own hands,’ the writer from the Gazette prophesied that one day ‘some audacious avengers will reclaim with interest their natural rights that have been violated.’ While most Haitians believed that France was their greatest enemy, this article asked the Haitian people not to ignore or dismiss the serious danger next door in North America: 

[France's] attempts will come crashing down like the waves of the sea at the foot of the rock of our independence, and from the mountains our rescue squad will descend upon them. But a more hidden danger, and one far less apparent, because it is still distant for now, threatens us anyway. It will not be from Europe that our ills must come, if we are to ever experience them; it will be from the continent of the United States: their proximity, the constant comings and goings of their citizens in our ports, the ambitions that they will bring with them, if our government does not restrict them, must open our eyes to the plots that they may one day attempt against us. 

“The writer did not seek ‘to place a cloud over the conduct of the Americans, nor do I think at all that, either the present government or the individuals who are linked to it through commercial relations with that country, have thus far had any plans to dominate us, nor to meditate on our enslavement.’ Yet, he said, ‘it is no less true that the possibility of such a combination could arise from a concurrence of circumstances, if ever the United States were to erect itself to become a maritime power.’ [42]

“Imperial rage followed the publication of this astonishingly prescient article. Dessalines ordered Christophe to discover the identity of the author and to have him sent to Marchand/Dessalines immediately. Dessalines worried that openly and publicly criticizing the United States might propel the trade embargo being debated on the floors of Congress. [43] Christophe soon learned from the empire's printer, Pierre Roux, that the author was Joseph Rouanez, the official English translator in the empire and editor of the Gazette. [44] Dessalines must not have punished the newspaperman too harshly. Rouanez continued to work as editor of the Gazette; and despite Dessalines's evident displeasure, events on the ground made it difficult to deny the new geopolitical threat Rouanez outlined.”

from The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe by Marlene L. Daut

Additional citation: "Du Cap," Gazette politique et commerciale d'Haïti, Oct. 17, 1805, 175. 41.

[artschoolglasses]

White Cotton Round Gown, British, 1797-1805

From the Victoria & Albert Museum

[lookingbackatfashionhistory]

• Open robe (dating to about 1790, converted to a round gown).

Date: 1800-1805

Designer/Maker: William Kilburn

Place of origin: England

Medium: Block-printed cotton

[ltwilliammowett]

Many street bollards around London were made from the cannons of ships captured at the Battle of Trafalgar.

Today are still some re-purposed cannons around, including this one that stands outside St. Helen's church in the City of London.

[fashionsfromhistory]

Parasol

c.1805

Europe

LACMA (Accession Number: M.67.8.123)

[nemfrog]

Dissection of a horse, showing the nervous system. Coloured engraving by J. Pass after Harguinier, 1805.

Wellcome Collection

[without-ado]

Be My Valentine l IC 1805 l Adam Jensen

[sictransitgloriamvndi]

The Ruins of Netley Abbey (1805/etching) - James Storer

[questionableadvice]

~ The Pocumtuc Housewife; a guide to domestic cookery, as it is practiced in the Connecticut Valley….especially adapted to the use of young wives who come from outside places and are not conversant with the ways of the Valley, and of female orphans who have not had a mother’s training, by Several Ladies, 1805

Oops.

[schoethe]

Sie, liebster Goethe, sollten jetzt den nächsten Winter in Italien zubringen. Solange Schiller lebte, hätte ich Sie nie recht ernstlich einladen mögen. Sie besaßen sich gegenseitig, keiner von Ihnen hätte für eine lange Trennung Ersatz gefunden. Jetzt, da dies Band zerrissen ist, sollten Sie auf eine Zeit ein schöneres Land, und die Umbegbungen suchen, die Ihnen schon aus dem Andenken her so wert sind.

— Wilhelm von Humboldt an Goethe, 05.06.1805

[historical-fashion-polls]

[shaythempronouns]

IC 1805 - the Heart Nebula (SHO)

A two-panel mosaic of the core of the Heart Nebula, which boasts a gorgeously defined set of clouds amid a field of ionized oxygen (shown here in blue).

Shot at 1600mm f/8 with 1 hour per channel per panel, 7nm bandpass. IMX533 sensor (ASI533MM Pro camera).

Unless otherwise noted, all images on my blog were shot from Bortle 7 skies in my backyard just outside of Boston.

[artschoolglasses]

White cotton dress with white cotton embroidery, American, ca. 1805

From the Philadelphia Museum of Art

[quiltofstars]

The center of the Heart Nebula (IC 1805) // Nico Low

[ltwilliammowett]

Ten facts about the Battle of Trafalgar:

– The youngest sailor to fight at Trafalgar was just 8 years old.

– The oldest was 68.

– A woman called Jane Townshend was onboard one of the ships at Trafalgar and was recommended for a medal for “useful services”.

– Arctic explorer John Franklin was signal Midshipman aboard HMS Bellerophon at Trafalgar.

– Nelson originally wanted “Nelson confides every man to do his duty” displayed as a signal to all ships, but his Signal Lieutenant, John Pascoe, said it would be easier to spell out “expects”.

– Midshipman John Pollard is famed as “the man who shot the man who shot Nelson”.

– One sixth of the Royal Navy’s entire force of 110,000 men fought in the battle.

– Nearly 4,000 of the crews had never been to sea before.

– There were 3,500 Irishmen fighting in the British side at Trafalgar.

– There are records of Chinese, African and American men in the British crews.

[josefavomjaaga]

"Bessières is a lazy fellow whom I'm giving up on. Just imagine that we don't hear a word from him and that he has nothing to do but hunt partridges at Grignon."

From a letter by Duroc to Eugène de Beauharnais, 16 August 1805 - Obviously, Eugène had complained to Duroc about Bessières not writing to him, too.