The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Republic of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of only two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that are shared by two sovereign states; the Dominican Republic is the second-largest nation in the Antilles by area at 48,671 square kilometers, third by population with 10.5 million people, of whom 3.3 million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city. The native Taíno people had inhabited Hispaniola before the arrival of the Europeans, dividing it into five chiefdoms; the Taíno people had moved north over many years, lived around the Caribbean islands. The Taíno natives had done quite well for themselves and were on their way to being an organized civilization. Christopher Columbus explored and claimed the island, landing here on his first voyage in 1492; the colony of Santo Domingo became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas, the oldest continuously inhabited city, the first seat of the Spanish colonial rule in the New World.
Meanwhile, France occupied the western third of Hispaniola, naming their colony Saint-Domingue, which became the independent state of Haiti in 1804. After more than three hundred years of Spanish rule the Dominican people declared independence in November 1821; the leader of the independence movement José Núñez de Cáceres, intended the Dominican nation to unite with the country of Gran Colombia, but the newly independent Dominicans were forcefully annexed by Haiti in February 1822. Independence came 22 years in 1844, after victory in the Dominican War of Independence. Over the next 72 years the Dominican Republic experienced internal conflicts and a brief return to Spanish colonial status before permanently ousting the Spanish during the Dominican War of Restoration of 1863–1865; the United States occupied the country between 1916 and 1924. From 1930 the dictatorship of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo ruled until 1961. A civil war in 1965, the country's last, was ended by U. S. military occupation and was followed by the authoritarian rule of Joaquín Balaguer, Antonio Guzmán and Salvador Jorge Blanco.
Since 1996 the Dominican Republic has moved toward representative democracy and was led by Leonel Fernández for much of the period until 2012. Danilo Medina, the Dominican Republic's current president, succeeded Fernández in 2012, winning 51% of the electoral vote over his opponent ex-president Hipólito Mejía; the Dominican Republic has the ninth-largest economy in Latin America and is the largest economy in the Caribbean and Central American region. Over the two decades to 2012, the Dominican Republic has had one of the fastest-growing economies in the Americas – with an average real GDP growth rate of 5.4% between 1992 and 2014. GDP growth in 2014 and 2015 reached 7.3 and 7.0% the highest in the Western Hemisphere. In the first half of 2016 the Dominican economy grew 7.4% continuing its trend of rapid economic growth. Recent growth has been driven by construction, manufacturing and mining; the country is the site of the second largest gold mine in the Pueblo Viejo mine. Private consumption has been strong, as a result of low inflation, job creation, a high level of remittances.
The Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean. The year-round golf courses are major attractions. A geographically diverse nation, the Dominican Republic is home to both the Caribbean's tallest mountain peak, Pico Duarte, the Caribbean's largest lake and point of lowest elevation, Lake Enriquillo; the island has an average temperature of biological diversity. The country is the site of the first cathedral, castle and fortress built in the Americas, located in Santo Domingo's Colonial Zone, a World Heritage Site. Music and sport are of great importance in the Dominican culture, with Merengue and Bachata as the national dance and music, baseball as the most popular sport; the "Dominican" word comes from the Latin Dominicus. However, the island has this name by Santo Domingo de Guzmán, founder of the Order of the Dominicans; the Dominicans established a house of high studies in the island of Santo Domingo that today is known as the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo and dedicated themselves to the protection of the native Taíno people, who were subjected to slavery, to the education of the inhabitants of the island.
For most of its history, up until independence, the country was known as Santo Domingo – the name of its present capital and patron saint, Saint Dominic – and continued to be known as such in English until the early 20th century. The residents were called "Dominicans", the adjectival form of "Domingo", the revolutionaries named their newly independent country "Dominican Republic". In the national anthem of the Dominican Republic, the term "Dominicans" does not appear; the author of its lyrics, Emilio Prud'Homme uses the poetic term "Quisqueyans". The word "Quisqueya" derives from a native tongue of the Taíno Indians and means "Mother of the lands", it is used in songs as another name for the country. The name of the country is shortened to "the D. R." The A
Strengthen the Arm of Liberty is the theme of the Boy Scouts of America's fortieth anniversary celebration in 1950. The campaign was inaugurated in February with a dramatic ceremony held at the base of the Statue of Liberty. 200 BSA Statue of Liberty replicas were installed across the United States. As part of the Strengthening the Arm of Liberty campaign to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America, hundreds of scale replicas of the Statue of Liberty have been created nationwide; the Statue of Liberty, by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, bears the classical appearance of the Roman stola and facial expression which are derived from Libertas, ancient Rome's goddess of freedom from slavery and tyranny. Her raised right foot is on the move; this symbol of Liberty and Freedom is not standing still or at attention in the harbor, but moving forward, as her left foot tramples broken shackles at her feet, in symbolism of the United States's wish to be free from oppression and tyranny.
Between 1949 and 1952 two hundred 100-inch replicas of the statue, made of stamped copper, were purchased by Boy Scout troops and donated in 39 states in the U. S. and several of its possessions and territories. The project was the brainchild of Kansas City businessman, J. P. Whitaker, Scout Commissioner of the Kansas City Area Council; the copper statues were manufactured by Friedley-Voshardt Co. and purchased through the Kansas City Boy Scout office by those wanting one. The statues are 81⁄2 feet tall without the base, constructed of sheet copper, weigh 290 pounds, cost US$350 plus freight; the mass-produced statues are not meticulously accurate: a conservator notes that "her face isn't as mature as the real Liberty. It's rounder and more like a little girl's." Many of these statues have been lost or destroyed, but preservationists have been able to account for about 100 of them, BSA Troop 101 of Cheyenne, Wyoming has collected photographs of more than 100 of them. The Wikipedia list is approaching 150 examples.
Examples of the statues can be found at Birmingham, Fayetteville, Pine Bluff, Greeley, Colorado, at the Mississippi riverfront in Burlington, Iowa, at Overland Park, Kansas and at Chimborazo Park in Richmond, Virginia. Over the years, the copper skins on several of the miniature statues began to take on oxidation resembling the statue from which they are modeled, several more had been renovated, repaired; the statue in Burlington had been taken from its original position in Dankwardt Park renovated and polished, placed on a pedestal at the riverfront, where it sits today. A Strengthen the Arm of Liberty brass pin was produced for civilian wear; the pin is in the shape of the Statue of Liberty superimposed on a fleur de lis. The Robbins Company, which made BSA's Eagle medals for many years, made these pins and the winged "R" hallmark is prominently displayed on the reverse. A commemorative neckerchief slide was made for the Cub Scouts; the following is a list of locations of the replica statues as of 2016.
Birmingham - Linn Park, located on the west side of the Jefferson County Courthouse building facing Linn Park. Corner of Washington Street and Martin Luther King Drive Rome, at Camp Sidney Dew Caldwell, Caldwell Memorial Park, Near Grant Street London Mills, Village Veteran Park, Rolston Park,Benton, Illinois in front of the library Dupont, Camp Louis Ernst, BSA, 75 feet west of Indiana SR 7 Gary, 401 Broadway, City Hall Madison, Jefferson County Courthouse, Northwest corner Peru, Miami County Courthouse, Courthouse square, south side Plymouth, Marshall County Commissioners, Marshall County Courthouse South Bend, Old Courthouse, 101 South Main Street Leitchfield, Grayson County Courthouse Fall River, John F. Kennedy Park, Corner of Bradford and Broadway Avenue Lawrence, Lawrence Public Library Mackinac Island, Mackinac Island Marina Hibbing, City Hall, 401 East 21st Street Columbus, located on Main Street Great Falls, Gibson Park, Park Drive and 2nd Avenue North Lewistown and Main Streets Columbus, Pawnee Park, 33rd Avenue Fremont, Masonic Park, 77 and Highway 30 Gering, U and 10th Grand Island, Pier Park Hastings, 12th Street Lincoln, Antelope Park Norfolk, Central Park, 510 Pasewalk Avenue Scottsbluff, 10th and North 27th Street Las Vegas, New York-New York Hotel and Casino Hudson, Intersection of Columbia and Green Street Le Roy, Wolcott Street, Opposite Woodward Memorial Library Niagara Falls, Rainbow Bridge Plaza Oneonta, Neawha Park Schenectady, Intersection of Erie Boulevard and Union Street Utica, Median between Elm Street and Pleasant Street Wilmington, City Hall, Front lawn, northeast corner of Third and Princess Streets Fargo, Main and 2nd Streets Medford, corner of South Oakdale Avenue and West 8th Street Berwick, Borough Hall, Market Street Bloomsburg, Bloomsburg Memorial Elementary School, West 5th and South Market Streets Ellwood City, Lincoln High School, 5th and Crescent Avenue New Castle, Owen Penfield Fox Park and Grove Streets York, Kiwanis Park, North Newberry Street and Parkway Boulevard, On island in lake Columbia, Realtors Park, Intersection of Barnwell and Devine Streets Dallas, Fair Park, North side
Puck is a defunct magazine, the first successful humor magazine in the United States of colorful cartoons and political satire of the issues of the day. It was founded in 1871 as a German-language publication by Joseph Keppler, an Austrian-born cartoonist, it was published from 1871 until 1918. Puck's first English-language edition was published in 1877, covering issues like New York City's Tammany Hall, presidential politics, social issues of late 19th century to early 20th centuries. A collection of Puck cartoons dating from 1879 to 1903 is maintained by the Special Collections Research Center within the Gelman Library of The George Washington University; the Library of Congress has an extensive collection of Puck Magazine prints online. The Florida Atlantic University Libraries Special Collections Department maintains a collection of both English and German edition Puck cartoons dating from 1878 to 1916; the weekly magazine was founded by Joseph Keppler in St. Louis, it began publishing German language periodicals in March 1871, though the German-language periodical publication failed.
After working with Leslie's Illustrated Weekly in New York—a well-established magazine at the time—Keppler created a satirical magazine called Puck published in German. In 1877, after gaining wide support for an English version of Puck, Keppler published its first issue in English; the first English edition was sold for 16 cents. Puck gained notoriety for its witty, humorous cartoons and was the first to publish weekly cartoons using chromolithography in place of wood engraving, offering three cartoons instead of one. In its early years of publication, Puck's cartoons were printed in black and white, though editions featured colorful, eye-catching lithographic prints in vivid color; the English language magazine continued in operation for more than 40 years under several owners and editors, until it was bought by the William Randolph Hearst company in 1916. The publication lasted two more years. A typical 32-page issue contained a full-color political cartoon on the front cover and a color non-political cartoon or comic strip on the back cover.
There was always a double-page color centerfold on a political topic. There were numerous black-and-white cartoons used to illustrate humorous anecdotes. A page of editorials commented on the issues of the day, the last few pages were devoted to advertisements. "Puckish" means "childishly mischievous". This led Shakespeare's Puck character to be recast as a charming near-naked boy and used as the title of the magazine. Puck was the first magazine to carry illustrated advertising and the first to adopt full-color lithography printing for a weekly publication; the magazine consisted of 16 pages measuring 10 inches by 13.5 inches with front and back covers in color and a color double-page centerfold. The cover always quoted Puck saying, "What fools these mortals be!" The jaunty symbol of Puck is conceived as a putto in a top hat. He appears not only on the magazine covers but over the entrance to the Puck Building in New York's Nolita neighborhood, where the magazine was published, as well. In May 1893, Puck Press published A Selection of Cartoons from Puck by Joseph Keppler featuring 56 cartoons chosen by Keppler as his best work.
During 1893, Keppler temporarily moved to Chicago and published a smaller-format, 12-page version of Puck from the Chicago World's Fair grounds. Shortly thereafter, Joseph Keppler died, Henry Cuyler Bunner, editor of Puck since 1877 continued the magazine until his own death in 1896. Harry Leon Wilson replaced Bunner and remained editor until he resigned in 1902. Joseph Keppler Jr. became the editor. Years after its conclusion, the "Puck" name and slogan were revived as part of the Comic Weekly Sunday comic section that ran on Hearst's newspaper chain beginning in September 1931 and continuing until the 1970s, it was revived again by Hearst's Los Angeles Herald Examiner, which folded in 1989. Over the years, Puck employed many early cartoonists of note, Louis Dalrymple, Bernhard Gillam, Friedrich Graetz, Livingston Hopkins, Frederick Burr Opper, Louis Glackens, Albert Levering, Frank Nankivell, J. S. Pughe, Rose O'Neill, Charles Taylor, James Albert Wales, Eugene Zimmerman; as Thomas explains: n an age of partisan politics and partisan journalism, Puck became the nation's premier journal of graphic humor and political satire, played an important role as a non-partisan crusader for good government and the triumph of American constitutional ideals.
Its prime targets, were not just corrupt machine politicians. The magazine included as well what it, like the letterpress, condemned as the nefarious political agenda of the Catholic Church its new Pope, Leo XIII. Indeed, New York's infamous Irish Tammany Hall, committed to spoils and patronage as the means of dominating the body politic, was all the more dangerous to Puck because, beginning in the 1870s, Irish Catholics dominated it; the hall's Irish Catholic base enabled the magazine to rationalize more its conviction that the Catholic Church, ruled by a foreign potentate dressed in the irrational garb of infallibility, was a menace not only to the nation's body politic but to its democratic soul. If allowed to proceed unimpeded, the pope and his minions, along with Tammany's bosses and supporters, would convert the nation into their personal fiefdom. Puck was not about to let that happen. In cartoons and editorials spanning two decades, the magazine blasted and con