Spanish-American Institute
Student Club Newsletter
215 West 43 Street
Times Square, New York 10036-3913 voice: 212.840.7111 fax: 212.719.5922 www.sai.nyc info@sai.nyc
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SKYPE: StudentClub
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February, 2011 |
Vol. 7, No. 2 |
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Presidents’ Day, February
21 Presidents’ Day celebrates the birthdays of
two great American Presidents, George Washington
(left) and Abraham Lincoln (right).
The 1st
President of the USA, Washington led the 13 American colonies during the
Revolutionary War in their fight for independence from Britain [England]. He refused to accept the
title of King from the grateful former American colonies. Elected first in 1789 and again in 1792, he
refused a third term, saying that a longer rule would give one man too much
power. Washington helped shape a form of
government new in human history through the writing of the US Constitution
and the idea of an elected president.
The Constitution provides for a representative government
characterized by checks and balances among three branches of government—the Executive branch (President), the Legislative branch (Congress), and
the Judicial branch (judges and
courts). Lincoln, the 16th
President, served from 1861-1864. He
was re-elected but assassinated in 1865.
Lincoln led the United States through the Civil War, often called the
War Between the States. The more
agricultural Southern states wanted to keep slavery. The more industrial Northern states and
Lincoln wanted to abolish [do away with] slavery. The Civil War started
when the Southern states seceded [left the Union, left the United States to
establish their own government]. In 1862, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves. On the bloody battlefield of Gettysburg that year, he gave the following short but powerful Gettysburg Address. Lincoln’s Gettysburg
Address
Fourscore and seven [87] years
ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived
in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation,
or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a
great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it, as a
final resting place for those who died here, that the nation might live. This
we may, in all propriety [correct behavior] do. But in a larger
sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate [to set aside as holy or sacred], we cannot hallow [to make sacred], this ground. The brave men, living and
dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it, far above our poor power to add
or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here;
while it can never forget what they did here. It is rather for us the living, we here
be dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored
dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the
last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead
shall not have died in vain, that this nation shall have a new birth of
freedom, and that government of the
people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth [emphasis added]. Valentine’s Day, February 14
Americans celebrate Valentine’s Day by giving flowers, candy, and cards to those they
love. No one really knows the origins
of Valentine’s Day. It is often associated
with Cupid. In Roman myth, Cupid is
the son of Venus, the goddess of love.
In Greek legend, he is a naughty boy who shoots both gods and humans
through the heart with arrows, making them fall in love (usually against
their will). Museum of the Chinese in America (MOCA). FREE
Thursdays, 11am-9pm. See Chinese Puzzles:
Games for the Hands and Mind. 215 Centre St. betw.
Howard and Grand one block north of Canal St.
N,R,Q,J,6 trains to Canal St. |
February is Black History Month
In February, the nation recognizes the extraordinary contributions made by African-Americans to this country’s history, culture, and development. The New York Opera Society pays tribute to the legendary Paul Robeson (singer, athlete, actor, etc.) in a FREE concert at the World Financial Center (WFC) Winter Garden on Wed. Feb. 16 at 7pm. Check website or Institute bulletin boards for directions Dedicated to the art, history, technique, and technology
of the moving image in all its forms—film, TV, optical art, etc. in a
stunning new renovated space. Free admission
Fridays, 4-8pm. 35 Avenue at 37 St., Astoria, Queens. Check website
or Institute bulletin boards for directions.
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