The events of Bloody Sunday
On January 30, 1972 in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland an incident occurred, “The Bloody Sunday.” The major massacre dealt with The British Army and public responses, critics of Widgerys findings, and the exoneration of the British Army documented in the Widgery tribunal report.
One Sunday morning a civil rights march took place in Londonderry, January 30, 1972. There were around 10,000 people who gathered for this march. In the nationalist Bogside area of the city, the route for the march took place where organizers were sealed off by the British Army which led demonstrators towards “Free Derry Corner”. Stones were thrown at soldiers and though there was an army barricade, people continued on this march. The soldiers responding with water cannons, rubber bullets and a gas known as CS which causes a “burning sensation and tearing of the eyes to the extent that the subject cannot keep their eyes open, and a burning irritation of the nose, mouth and throat mucous membranes causing profuse coughing,” (the stationery office, 2010) When this uprising began to take place, the 1st Parachute Regiment soldiers moved in and captivated as many rioters as possible. Within minutes, open gun fire went into the crowd, killing 13 men and injuring 13 others.
The dead were all male, aged between seventeen and forty-one. Another man, aged fifty-nine, died some months later from injuries sustained on that day. The wounded included a fifteen-year-old boy
Powell’s images show how gasses were used to painfully slow the processes of peaceful protest.
A large number of supporters of the Civil Rights Movement partook in different kinds of peaceful protests. One of the types of protest was marches. At those marches, the participants would be assaulted, wounded, and yelled at by angry onlookers of the protest (Ralph, “Home truths: Dr. King and the Chicago Freedom Movement”). During one protest, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was hit in the head with a rock: that is just one example of some of the things that would happen at those protests (Ralph, “Home truths: Dr. King and the Chicago Freedom Movement”). Other things that would happen would be the protesters getting beat up and getting, for example, broken noses, and wounds do severe that there would be blood streaming out of them (Ralph, “Home
The Impact of Bloody Sunday on Northern Ireland Bloody Sunday has made a very big impact on Irelandand events occurring there since 1972. According to Lord Widgery, the soldiers acted in self-defence, therefore it was not their fault and could not be blamed. Republicans were very annoyed by this verdict, so in 1998 a new inquiry was started called "The Saville Inquiry".
August 6th, 1945. It was just an ordinary day. I woke up early this morning to help a friend move some things. Everything was well until I saw the light. I plunged myself between two large rocks, no questions asked. When I was able to get a glackr of what has happened I saw nothing but destroyed homes and dust. I’ve never seen so much blood, it was unbearable. A lady and her injured boy came my way and I couldn't help but help them and take them to a shelter to get help. As I looked over the city, a thick black smoke filled the air. Then the thought hit me, what about my family? Immediately after I ran to search for my family. On the way to search for them I began to feel guilty. How could all these people be hurt, injured or even dead,
As the march was going on with the veterans, bricks were being thrown at the marchers and gas was used. Some were killed during their march which was not expected to happen. No matter
In the book fighting ground by Avi a 13 year old boy named Jonathan goes to war against the hessians.His family does not know he went to the war.His father was supposed to go but Jonathan took his place in the war.Jonathan was wounded in the war a hessian Shot him in the leg while in the war.Jonathan watched as many new friends be shot and killed in the war.Jonathan was one of the people who buried the Mort people.
Lee starts Crowds and Soldiers in Revolutionary North Carolina by explaining many different types of riots. Lee first examines how British riots compared to riots
On March 5, 1770, two regiments of British soldiers that were stationed in Boston opened fire on a mob of bystanders that wanted the British out of Boston. This protest was for the ending of the quartering of soldiers in people’s homes. On May 4, 1970, the National Guardsmen fired upon the unarmed students of Kent State University who were protesting against fighting in the Vietnam War. The result of this was a change in the policies of the National Guard and to use rubber bullets. These two shootings in American history are examples of Military Representatives actively firing on unarmed citizens. Also, examples of the civilians provoking the Military Representatives for them to shoot. We can use these examples for today’s society to further the developments in non-lethal actions against protesters. But before the lessons learned with these two shootings are highlighted, the history and significance of these events need to be understood.
In a march against segregation and barriers for African-American voting rights, peaceful marchers were exposed to harsh treatment by the police, 50 being hospitalized by the terrorism inflicted on them (civilrights.org). The targeted protest became infamous in the Civil Rights Movement, marked “Bloody Sunday” and was crucial to gaining favor of the public (civilrights.org). The two causes went hand in hand in this, rocketing in support and becoming the main goal of the country - the end of segregation was the most dire problem that the Civil Rights Movement needed to solve. And with the 24th Amendment, Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Voting Rights Act of 1965 being ratified, the civil rights movement and the fight to end segregation reached its legal goal (infoplease.com). However, the nation’s mentality needed work - though the popularity of Civil Rights was rising, many riots and racial hate crimes continued to occur throughout the country, with many casualties resulting from them (infoplease.com). The ratification of these laws may have made the “separate but equal” rhetoric illegal for the U.S. but the citizens inside it still battled for their beliefs. As segregation and civil rights become national topics, their
At this point in time, the Vietnam War was in progress; young people were getting drafted left and right, and the troops overseas were getting absolutely slaughtered. There was a multitudinous amount of protest surrounding the war, and when tensions started running too high, protests became dangerous and violent. After extreme aggression through assault on police officers, bonfires, and looting was shown during a student protest at Kent State on May 1, 1970, the Kent mayor was forced to declare a state of emergency the very next day. The National Guard started to arrive on May 2 to keep the peace, but when they got to the scene, they found the Kent State ROTC building on fire. No one knows who started the fire, but there were many protesters around the building cheering. When first responders arrived, they were yelled at, and some people even destroyed their water hoses. The National Guard was forced to use tear gas to disperse the
March 16 saw a demonstration in Montgomery, Alabama in which 580 demonstrators planned to march “from the Jackson Street Baptist Church to the Montgomery County Courthouse” (Reed 26). These protestors included a large number of northern college students. They met a police line a few blocks from the Courthouse and were forbidden from proceeding because “they did not have a parade permit” (Reed 26). Across the street came 40 or so students who planned on joining the group en route to the Courthouse. Eventually a few of the demonstrators dared to cross the street, led by James Forman who had organized the march. When it seemed the whole group would cross, police took action, with mounted officers and volunteers arriving at 1:12 pm. Riding into the small group of protestors, they forced most to withdraw, but a few stood fast around a utility pole where horsemen began to beat them. “A posseman
The riot between these people was “in protest to the abuses that local white civilians had perpetrated against the soldiers and the lack of concern about those abuses shown by the unit’s commanders.” Although this began in 1917, this was not the end of the riots, but instead, it was just the beginning.
It was a cool night in Boston in early march. I was passing by the customs house while a group of boys began to yell and hollering at some British soldiers. As the boys continued the soldiers began to fluster, so much to the point that he strikes one of the boys with his rifle. And as soon as I can blink, I was in the middle of a crowd surrounding the soldier. As the crowd grew, more soldiers came to his side. The crowd started to get out of control so one of the soldiers picked up his musket and fired into the crowd and so his allies followed suit with one of the musket shots nearly missing me. All of the citizens run in all directions and the crowd nearly trampling children. I returned home and later discovered that the soldiers were placed under house arrest and soon after taken to jail and charged for the death of several people.
Violence, terror, suffering and death. The conflict that has been burning in Northern Ireland seems to be an unstoppable battle and it has flooded over the land of Northern Ireland. The struggle for power and the persistence of greed have fueled the raging fires of the opposing groups. The conflict in Northern Ireland has been discussed continually over the past few decades. Ever since the beginning of the “Troubles,” organizations have been scavenging to find a plan that will cease the violence. Throughout my research for this project, the questions of what are the main sources of conflict in Northern Ireland and why have they continued today guided me to many fascinating pieces of evidence that
On August 24th, 1572 approximately 7,000 protestants were murdered in France. This horrific event was named the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. Marguerite de Valois, Queen Catherine de Medicis daughter was arranged to marry Henry of Navarre on August 18th. Marguerite and the rest of the Valois family were extremely Catholic while Henry was a Huguenot (Calvinist Protestants). This marriage was an attempt the break the religious tension and join together the religions in peace, or so they thought. The wedding was held in Paris, France and many Huguenot nobility attended. However, what seemed to be a happy and memorable occasion quickly resulted in a gruesome, and barbaric massacre that would be remembered forever.