Where Were You November 22, 1963 Any And Every American Old Enough To

Where were you November 22, 1963? Any and every American old enough to mourn, to feel sorrow remember where they were and what they were doing when they received the news that President John F. Kennedy had been murdered. My mother was only three and she remembers the day. She was in the living room of her childhood home when a weeping neighbor called my Grandmother and broke the news. The telephone call was the beginning of a chain reaction that sent the entire house into uncontrollable sobbing. The event had that effect on the entire nation. Men and women, Democrats and Republicans, adults and children mourned the loss of their fallen leader. President Johnson, the Warren Commission, and every fascinated watcher-on in the world would closely scrutinize that day and the following events. The facts of the day are still hotly contested even now. Politicians have made their careers on the case. Conspiracy theorists have had a field day writing books, accusing anyone and everyone of planing the assassination. This paper's purpose is to inform you on the known facts of the event, including the reason for President Kennedy's visit, the parade through down-town Dallas, and the emergency trip to the hospital. The Warren Commission's report to the President will be summarized and many conspiracy theories will be established. President and Mrs. Kennedy arrived in Dallas at 11:40AM CST on Friday, November 22, 1963. The couple had been in San Antonio, the first leg of a two day trip through the state, where they met with Vice-president Johnson and Texas Governor Connally. The Texas trip was planned in hopes of reviving the President's popularity in Texas after it was hurt during the election of 1960. Until midmorning, cloudy skies had threatened to cancel the motorcade-style parade that was planned for the day. The motorcade would travel from Love Field, where the President's plane had landed, through Dallas on a previously publicized route to the Trade Mart where a luncheon in honor of the President had been planned, (The Warren Commission, pg. 2). The motorcade consisted of the president's car, followed by a car designate the "Presidential follow-up" which carried secret service members. Behind that was another open roofed car carrying Vice-president Lyndon Johnson and Texas Governor Connally and their wi ves. Following the vice-president's car was another follow-up car and several cars and buses with dignitaries and press representatives. The motorcade followed its designated route, first passing through a residential area of Dallas, and then making its way through the middle of the downtown area. The parade traveled west on Main Street and then made a right on Houston. The motorcade went one block and then made a left-turn on Elm. On the corner of Elm and Houston was the large, ominous Texas School Book Depository, where the fatal shots were later accused of being fired from. When the President's car turned west on Elm and crossed the Depository, three shots were fired at the motorcade. The President was struck by a bullet that entered at the base of his neck, just right of his spine and exited under the lower left portion of the knot in the President's tie. A second bullet struck Kennedy in the rear base of his head, causing the fatal wound. Texas Governor Connally, riding two cars behind the President, was also hit. The bullet hit the Governor on the extreme right side of his back, just below the armpit. The bullet exited below his left nipple and hit him again on the left wrist. Secret Service Agent Roy Kellerman saw that the President had been hit and instructed the driver to get the President to a hospital immediately. Parlkand Memorial Hospital was the closest hospital, just 4 miles away. Awaiting Doctors met the presidential car and immediately began an attempt to resuscitate the dying President. At 1:00PM, just 30 minutes after the President had been shot, Kennedy's heart had stopped and was pronounced dead. Vice-president Johnson left Parkland Hospital after being notified of the President's death and traveled back to the Presidential Plane at Love Field under close guard. Mrs. Kennedy and the President's body followed and boarded the plane shortly after Johnson. At 2:38PM, with the plane on

Huáscar and Atahualpa Inca Civil War

Huscar and Atahualpa Inca Civil War From 1527 to 1532, brothers Huscar and Atahualpa fought over the Inca Empire. Their father, Inca Huayna Capac, had allowed each to rule a part of the Empire as regent during his reign: Huscar in Cuzco and Atahualpa in Quito. When Huayna Capac and his heir apparent, Ninan Cuyuchi, died in 1527 (some sources say as early as 1525), Atahualpa and Huscar went to war over who would succeed their father. What neither man knew was that a far greater threat to the Empire was approaching: ruthless Spanish conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro. Background of the Inca Civil War In the Inca Empire, the word Inca meant King, as opposed to words like Aztec which referred to a people or culture. Still, Inca is often used as a general term to refer to the ethnic group who lived in the Andes and residents of the Inca Empire in particular. The Inca Emperors were considered to be divine, directly descended from the Sun. Their warlike culture had spread out from the Lake Titicaca area quickly, conquering one tribe and ethnic group after another to build a mighty Empire that spanned from Chile to southern Colombia and included vast swaths of present-day Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia. Because the Royal Inca line was supposedly directly descended from the sun, it was unseemly for the Inca Emperors to marry anyone but their own sisters. Numerous concubines, however, were allowed and the royal Incas tended to have many sons. In terms of succession, any son of an Inca Emperor would do: he did not have to be born to an Inca and his sister, nor did he have to be eldest. Often, brutal civil wars would break out upon the death of an Emperor as his sons fought for his throne: this produced much chaos but did result in a long line of strong, fierce, ruthless Inca lords that made the Empire strong and formidable. This is exactly what happened in 1527. With the powerful Huayna Capac gone, Atahualpa and Huscar apparently tried to rule jointly for a time but were unable to do so and hostilities soon broke out. The War of the Brothers Huscar ruled Cuzco, capital of the Inca Empire. He, therefore, commanded the loyalty of most of the people. Atahualpa, however, had the loyalty of the large Inca professional army and three outstanding generals: Chalcuchima, Quisquis, and Rumià ±ahui. The large army had been in the north near Quito subjugating smaller tribes into the Empire when the war broke out. At first, Huscar made an attempt at capturing Quito, but the mighty army under Quisquis pushed him back. Atahualpa sent Chalcuchima and Quisquis after Cuzco and left Rumià ±ahui in Quito. The Caà ±ari people, who inhabited the region of modern-day Cuenca to the south of Quito, allied with Huscar. As Atahualpas forces moved south, they punished the Caà ±ari severely, devastating their lands and massacring many of the people. This act of vengeance would come back to haunt the Inca people later, as the Caà ±ari would ally with conquistador Sebastin de Benalczar when he marched on Quito. In a desperate battle outside of Cuzco, Quisquis routed Huscars forces sometime in 1532 and captured Huscar. Atahualpa, delighted, moved south to take possession of his Empire. Death of Huscar In November of 1532, Atahualpa was in the city of Cajamarca celebrating his victory over Huscar when a group of 170 bedraggled foreigners arrived at the city: Spanish conquistadors under Francisco Pizarro. Atahualpa agreed to meet with the Spanish but his men were ambushed in the Cajamarca town square and Atahualpa was captured. This was the beginning of the end of the Inca Empire: with the Emperor in their power, no one dared attack the Spanish. Atahualpa soon realized that the Spanish wanted gold and silver and arranged for a kingly ransom to be paid. Meanwhile, he was allowed to run his Empire from captivity. One of his first orders was the execution of Huscar, who was butchered by his captors at Andamarca, not far from Cajamarca. He ordered the execution when he was told by the Spanish that they wanted to see Huscar. Fearing that his brother would make some sort of deal with the Spanish, Atahualpa ordered his death. Meanwhile, in Cuzco, Quisquis was executing all of the members of Huscars family and any nobles who had supported him. Death of Atahualpa Atahualpa had promised  to fill a large room half full with gold and twice over with silver  in order to secure his release, and in late 1532, messengers spread out to the far corners of the Empire to  order his subjects to send gold and silver.  As precious works of art poured into  Cajamarca, they were melted down and sent to Spain. In July of 1533, Pizarro and his men began hearing rumors that the mighty army of Rumià ±ahui, still back in Quito, had mobilized and was approaching with the goal of liberating Atahualpa. They panicked and executed Atahualpa on July 26, accusing him of treachery. The rumors later proved to be false: Rumià ±ahui was still in Quito. Legacy of the Civil War There is no doubt that the civil war was one of the most crucial factors of the Spanish conquest of the Andes. The Inca Empire was a mighty one, featuring powerful armies, skilled generals, a strong economy and hard-working population. Had Huayna Capac still been in charge, the Spanish would have had a tough time of it. As it was, the Spanish were able to skillfully use the conflict to their advantage. After the death of Atahualpa, the Spanish were able to claim the title of avengers of ill-fated Huscar and march into Cuzco as liberators. The Empire had been sharply divided during the war, and by allying themselves to Huscars faction the Spanish were able to walk into Cuzco and loot whatever had been left behind after Atahualpas ransom had been paid. General Quisquis eventually saw the danger posed by the Spanish and rebelled, but his revolt was put down. Rumià ±ahui bravely defended the north, fighting the invaders every step of the way, but superior Spanish military technology and tactics, along with allies including the Caà ±ari, doomed the resistance from the start. Even years after their deaths, the Spanish were using the Atahualpa-Huscar civil war to their advantage. After the conquest of the Inca, many people back in Spain began wondering what Atahualpa had done to deserve being kidnapped and murdered by the Spanish, and why Pizarro had invaded Peru in the first place. Fortunately for the Spanish, Huscar had been the elder of the brothers, which allowed the Spanish (who practiced primogeniture) to assert that Atahualpa had usurped his brothers throne and was therefore fair game for Spanish who only wanted to set things right and avenge poor Huscar, who no Spaniard ever met. This smear campaign against Atahualpa was led by pro-conquest Spanish writers such as Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa. The rivalry between Atahualpa and Huscar survives to this day. Ask anyone from Quito about it and theyll tell you that Atahualpa was the legitimate one and Huscar the usurper: they tell the story vice versa in Cuzco. In Peru, in the nineteenth century, they christened a mighty new warship Huscar, whereas in Quito you can take in a  fà ºtbol  game at the national stadium: Estadio Olà ­mpico Atahualpa. Sources Hemming, John.  The Conquest of the Inca  London: Pan Books, 2004 (original 1970).Herring, Hubert.  A History of Latin America From the Beginnings to the Present.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1962.