title: Subduction

text: Subduction typically occurs at a moderately steep angle right at the point of the convergent plate boundary. However, anomalous shallower angles of subduction are known to exist as well as some that are extremely steep.


title: Subduction

text: Flat-slab subduction is ongoing beneath part of the Andes, causing segmentation of the Andean Volcanic Belt into four zones. The flat-slab subduction in northern Peru and the Norte Chico region of Chile is believed to be the result of the subduction of two buoyant aseismic ridges, the Nazca Ridge and the Juan Fernández Ridge, respectively. Around Taitao Peninsula flat-slab subduction is attributed to the subduction of the Chile Rise, a spreading ridge.


title: Subduction

text: The Laramide Orogeny in the Rocky Mountains of the United States is attributed to flat-slab subduction. During this orogeny, a broad volcanic gap appeared at the southwestern margin of North America, and deformation occurred much farther inland; it was during this time that the basement-cored mountain ranges of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, and New Mexico came into being. The most massive subduction zone earthquakes, so-called "megaquakes", have been found to occur in flat-slab subduction zones.


title: Subduction

text: Although stable subduction is fairly well understood, the process by which subduction is initiated remains a matter of discussion and continuing study. Subduction can begin spontaneously if the denser oceanic lithosphere can founder and sink beneath the adjacent oceanic or continental lithosphere through vertical forcing only; alternatively, existing plate motions can induce new subduction zones by horizontally forcing the oceanic lithosphere to rupture and sink into the asthenosphere. Both models can eventually yield self-sustaining subduction zones, as the oceanic crust is metamorphosed at great depth and becomes denser than the surrounding mantle rocks. The compilation of subduction zone initiation events back to 100 Ma suggests horizontally-forced subduction zone initiation for most modern subduction zones, which is supported by results from numerical models and geologic studies. Some analogue modeling shows, however, the possibility of spontaneous subduction from inherent density differences between two plates at specific locations like passive margins. There is evidence this has taken place in the Izu-Bonin-Mariana subduction system. Earlier in Earth's history, subduction is likely to have initiated without horizontal forcing due to the lack of relative plate motion, though an unorthodox proposal by A. Yin suggests that meteorite impacts may have contributed to subduction initiation on early Earth.


title: Subduction

text: Subduction can continue as long as the oceanic lithosphere moves into the subduction zone. However, the arrival of buoyant crust at a subduction zone can result in its failure, by disrupting downwelling. The arrival of continental crust results in a "collision" or "terrane accretion" that disrupts subduction. Continental crust can subduct to depths of or more but then resurfaces. Sections of crustal or intraoceanic arc crust greater than in thickness or oceanic plateau greater than in thickness can disrupt subduction. However, island arcs subducted end-on may cause only local disruption, while an arc arriving parallel to the zone can shut it down. This has happened with the Ontong Java Plateau and the Vitiaz Trench.


title: Subduction

text: Subduction zones host a unique variety of rock types created by the high-pressure, low-temperature conditions a subducting slab encounters during its descent. The metamorphic conditions the slab passes through in this process creates and destroys water bearing (hydrous) mineral phases, releasing water into the mantle. This water lowers the melting point of mantle rock, initiating melting. Understanding the timing and conditions in which these dehydration reactions occur, is key to interpreting mantle melting, volcanic arc magmatism, and the formation of continental crust.


title: Subduction

text: A metamorphic facies is characterized by a stable mineral assemblage specific to a pressure-temperature range and specific starting material. Subduction zone metamorphism is characterized by a low temperature, high-ultrahigh pressure metamorphic path through the zeolite, prehnite-pumpellyite, blueschist, and eclogite facies stability zones of subducted oceanic crust. Zeolite and prehnite-pumpellyite facies assemblages may or may not be present, thus the onset of metamorphism may only be marked by blueschist facies conditions. Subducting slabs are composed of basaltic crust topped with pelagic sediments; however, the pelagic sediments may be accreted onto the forearc-hanging wall and not subducted. Most metamorphic phase transitions that occur within the subducting slab are prompted by the dehydration of hydrous mineral phases. The breakdown of hydrous mineral phases typically occurs at depths greater than 10 km. Each of these metamorphic facies is marked by the presence of a specific stable mineral assemblage, recording the metamorphic conditions undergone but the subducting slab. Transitions between facies causes hydrous minerals to dehydrate at certain pressure-temperature conditions and can therefore be tracked to melting events in the mantle beneath a volcanic arc.


title: Subduction

text: Volcanoes that occur above subduction zones, such as Mount St. Helens, Mount Etna, and Mount Fuji, lie approximately one hundred kilometers from the trench in arcuate chains called volcanic arcs. Two kinds of arcs are generally observed on Earth: island arcs that form on the oceanic lithosphere (for example, the Mariana and the Tonga island arcs), and continental arcs such as the Cascade Volcanic Arc, that form along the coast of continents. Island arcs (intraoceanic or primitive arcs) are produced by the subduction of oceanic lithosphere beneath another oceanic lithosphere (ocean-ocean subduction) while continental arcs (Andean arcs) form during the subduction of oceanic lithosphere beneath a continental lithosphere (ocean-continent subduction). An example of a volcanic arc having both island and continental arc sections is found behind the Aleutian Trench subduction zone in Alaska.


title: Subduction

text: The arc magmatism occurs one hundred to two hundred kilometers from the trench and approximately one hundred kilometers above the subducting slab. This depth of arc magma generation is the consequence of the interaction between hydrous fluids, released from the subducting slab, and the arc mantle wedge that is hot enough to melt with the addition of water. It has also been suggested that the mixing of fluids from a subducted tectonic plate and melted sediment is already occurring at the top of the slab before any mixing with the mantle takes place.


title: Subduction

text: Arcs produce about 10% of the total volume of magma produced each year on Earth (approximately 0.75 cubic kilometers), much less than the volume produced at mid-ocean ridges, but they have formed most continental crust. Arc volcanism has the greatest impact on humans because many arc volcanoes lie above sea level and erupt violently. Aerosols injected into the stratosphere during violent eruptions can cause rapid cooling of Earth's climate and affect air travel.


title: Subduction

text: The strains caused by plate convergence in subduction zones cause at least three types of earthquakes. These are deep earthquakes, megathrust earthquakes, and outer rise earthquakes.


title: Subduction

text: Anomalously deep events are a characteristic of subduction zones, which produce the deepest quakes on the planet. Earthquakes are generally restricted to the shallow, brittle parts of the crust, generally at depths of less than twenty kilometers. However, in subduction zones, quakes occur at depths as great as . These quakes define inclined zones of seismicity known as Wadati–Benioff zones which trace the descending slab.


title: Subduction

text: Nine of the ten largest earthquakes of the last 100 years were subduction zone megathrust earthquakes, which included the 1960 Great Chilean earthquake, which, at M 9.5, was the largest earthquake ever recorded; the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami; and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The subduction of cold oceanic crust into the mantle depresses the local geothermal gradient and causes a larger portion of Earth to deform in a more brittle fashion than it would in a normal geothermal gradient setting. Because earthquakes can occur only when a rock is deforming in a brittle fashion, subduction zones can cause large earthquakes. If such a quake causes rapid deformation of the sea floor, there is potential for tsunamis, such as the earthquake caused by subduction of the Indo-Australian Plate under the Euro-Asian Plate on December 26, 2004, that devastated the areas around the Indian Ocean. Small tremors which cause small, nondamaging tsunamis, also occur frequently.


title: Subduction

text: A study published in 2016 suggested a new parameter to determine a subduction zone's ability to generate mega-earthquakes. By examining subduction zone geometry and comparing the degree of curvature of the subducting plates in great historical earthquakes such as the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, it was determined that the magnitude of earthquakes in subduction zones is inversely proportional to the degree of the fault's curvature, meaning that "the flatter the contact between the two plates, the more likely it is that mega-earthquakes will occur."


title: Subduction

text: Outer rise earthquakes occur when normal faults oceanward of the subduction zone are activated by flexure of the plate as it bends into the subduction zone. The 2009 Samoa earthquake is an example of this type of event. Displacement of the sea floor caused by this event generated a six-meter tsunami in nearby Samoa.


title: Subduction

text: Seismic tomography has helped detect subducted lithosphere, slabs, deep in the mantle where there are no earthquakes. About one hundred slabs have been described in terms of depth and their timing and location of subduction. The great seismic discontinuities in the mantle, at depth and , are disrupted by the descent of cold slabs in deep subduction zones. Some subducted slabs seem to have difficulty penetrating the major discontinuity that marks the boundary between the upper mantle and lower mantle at a depth of about 670 kilometers. Other subducted oceanic plates have sunk to the core–mantle boundary at 2890 km depth. Generally, slabs decelerate during their descent into the mantle, from typically several cm/yr (up to ~10 cm/yr in some cases) at the subduction zone and in the uppermost mantle, to ~1 cm/yr in the lower mantle. This leads to either folding or stacking of slabs at those depths, visible as thickened slabs in Seismic tomography. Below ~1700 km, there might be a limited acceleration of slabs due to lower viscosity as a result of inferred mineral phase changes until they approach and finally stall at the core–mantle boundary. Here the slabs are heated up by the ambient heat and are not detected anymore ~300 Myr after subduction.


title: Subduction

text: Orogeny is the process of mountain building. Subducting plates can lead to orogeny by bringing oceanic islands, oceanic plateaus, and sediments to convergent margins. The material often does not subduct with the rest of the plate but instead is accreted (scraped off) to the continent, resulting in exotic terranes. The collision of this oceanic material causes crustal thickening and mountain-building. The accreted material is often referred to as an accretionary wedge or prism. These accretionary wedges can be identified by ophiolites (uplifted ocean crust consisting of sediments, pillow basalts, sheeted dykes, gabbro, and peridotite).


title: Subduction

text: Subduction may also cause orogeny without bringing in oceanic material that collides with the overriding continent. When the subducting plate subducts at a shallow angle underneath a continent (something called "flat-slab subduction"), the subducting plate may have enough traction on the bottom of the continental plate to cause the upper plate to contract to lead to folding, faulting, crustal thickening, and mountain building. Flat-slab subduction causes mountain building and volcanism moving into the continent, away from the trench, and has been described in North America (i.e. Laramide orogeny), South America, and East Asia.


title: Subduction

text: The processes described above allow subduction to continue while mountain building happens progressively, which is in contrast to continent-continent collision orogeny, which often leads to the termination of subduction.


title: Subduction

text: Modern-style subduction is characterized by low geothermal gradients and the associated formation of high-pressure low-temperature rocks such as eclogite and blueschist. Likewise, rock assemblages called ophiolites, associated with modern-style subduction, also indicate such conditions. Eclogite xenoliths found in the North China Craton provide evidence that modern-style subduction occurred at least as early as 1.8 Ga ago in the Paleoproterozoic Era. Nevertheless, the eclogite itself was produced by oceanic subduction during the assembly of supercontinents at about 1.9–2.0 Ga.


title: Subduction

text: Blueschist is a rock typical for present-day subduction settings. The absence of blueschist older than Neoproterozoic reflects more magnesium-rich compositions of Earth's oceanic crust during that period. These more magnesium-rich rocks metamorphose into greenschist at conditions when modern oceanic crust rocks metamorphose into blueschist. The ancient magnesium-rich rocks mean that Earth's mantle was once hotter, but not that subduction conditions were hotter. Previously, the lack of pre-Neoproterozoic blueschist was thought to indicate a different type of subduction. Both lines of evidence refute previous conceptions of modern-style subduction having been initiated in the Neoproterozoic Era 1.0 Ga ago.


title: Subduction

text: Harry Hammond Hess, who during World War II served in the United States Navy Reserve and became fascinated in the ocean floor, studied the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and proposed that hot molten rock was added to the crust at the ridge and expanded the seafloor outward. This theory was to become known as seafloor spreading. Since the Earth's circumference has not changed over geologic time, Hess concluded that older seafloor has to be consumed somewhere else, and suggested that this process takes place at oceanic trenches, where the crust would be melted and recycled in the Earth's mantle.


title: Subduction

text: In 1964, George Plafker researched the Good Friday earthquake in Alaska. He concluded that the cause of the earthquake was a megathrust reaction in the Aleutian Trench, a result of the Alaskan continental crust overlapping the Pacific oceanic crust. This meant that the Pacific crust was being forced downward, or "subducted", beneath the Alaskan crust. The concept of subduction would play a role in the development of the plate tectonics theory.


title: Subduction

text: First geologic attestations of the "subduct" words date to 1970, In ordinary English "to subduct", or "to subduce" (from Latin "subducere", “to lead away”) are transitive verbs requiring a subject to perform an action on an object not itself, here the lower plate, which has then been "subducted" (“removed”). The geological term is "consumed," which happens the geological moment the lower plate slips under, even though it may persist for some time until its remelting and dissipation. In this conceptual model, plate is continually being used up. The identity of the subject, the consumer, or agent of consumption, is left unstated. Some sources accept this subject-object construct.


title: Subduction

text: Geology makes "to subduct" into an intransitive verb and a reflexive verb. The lower plate itself is the subject. It subducts, in the sense of retreat, or removes itself, and while doing so, is the "subducting plate." Moreover, the word slab is specifically attached to the "subducting plate," even though in English the upper plate is just as much of a slab. The upper plate is left hanging, so to speak. To express it geology must switch to a different verb, typically "to override". The upper plate, the subject, performs the action of overriding the object, the lower plate, which is overridden.


title: Subduction

text: Subduction zones have also been considered as possible disposal sites for nuclear waste in which the action of subduction itself would carry the material into the planetary mantle, safely away from any possible influence on humanity or the surface environment. However, that method of disposal is currently banned by international agreement. Furthermore, plate subduction zones are associated with very large megathrust earthquakes, making the effects of using any specific site for disposal unpredictable and possibly adverse to the safety of long-term disposal.


title: Math 55

text: Math 55 is a two-semester long freshman undergraduate mathematics course at Harvard University founded by Lynn Loomis and Shlomo Sternberg. The official titles of the course are Honors Abstract Algebra (Math 55a) and Honors Real and Complex Analysis (Math 55b). Previously, the official title was Honors Advanced Calculus and Linear Algebra.


title: Math 55

text: In the past, Harvard University's Department of Mathematics had described Math 55 as "probably the most difficult undergraduate math class in the country." But Math 55 lecturer for 2022 Professor Denis Auroux clarified that "if you’re reasonably good at math, you love it, and you have lots of time to devote to it, then Math 55 is completely fine for you."


title: Math 55

text: Formerly, students would begin the year in Math 25 (which was created in 1983 as a lower-level Math 55) and, after three weeks of point-set topology and special topics (for instance, in 1994, "p"-adic analysis was taught by Wilfried Schmid), students would take a quiz. As of 2012, students may choose to enroll in either Math 25 or Math 55 but are advised to "shop" both courses and have five weeks to decide on one.


title: Math 55

text: Depending on the professor teaching the class, the diagnostic exam may still be given after three weeks to help students with their decision. In 1994, 89 students took the diagnostic exam: students scoring more than 50% on the quiz could enroll in Schmid's Math 55 (15 students), students scoring between 10 and 50% could enroll in Benedict Gross's Math 25: Theoretical Linear Algebra and Real Analysis (55 students), and students scoring less than 10% were advised to enroll in a course such as Math 21: Multivariable Calculus (19 students).


title: Math 55

text: In 2022, on average, students spend a total of 20 to 30 hours per week on this class, including homework. In addition to visiting their professor during office hours, students are encouraged to work together on homework assignments. Many have spent much time together working in the "war room" (a place in the Grays Basement) and have developed long-lasting friendships. Taking many other challenging courses and extracurricular activities in the same semester is ill-advised.


title: Math 55

text: In 1970, Math 55 covered almost four years worth of department coursework in two semesters, and subsequently, it drew only the most diligent of undergraduates. Of the 75 students who enrolled in the 1970 offering, by course end, only 20 remained due to the advanced nature of the material and time-constraints under which students were given to work. David Harbater, a mathematics professor at the University of Pennsylvania and student of the 1974 Math 55 section at Harvard, recalled of his experience, "Seventy [students] started it, 20 finished it, and only 10 understood it." Scott D. Kominers, familiar with the stated attrition rates for the course, decided to keep an informal log of his journey through the 2009 section: "...we had 51 students the first day, 31 students the second day, 24 for the next four days, 23 for two more weeks, and then 21 for the rest of the first semester after the fifth Monday" (the beginning of the fifth week being the drop deadline for students to decide whether to remain in Math 55 or transfer to Math 25).


title: Math 55

text: Numbers of students dropping are due in part to the tendency of undergraduates to "shop around" for appropriate courses at the start of each semester.


title: Math 55

text: Through 2006, the instructor had broad latitude in choosing the content of the course. Though Math 55 bore the official title "Honors Advanced Calculus and Linear Algebra," advanced topics in complex analysis, point-set topology, group theory, and differential geometry could be covered in depth at the discretion of the instructor, in addition to single and multivariable real analysis as well as abstract linear algebra. In 1970, for example, students studied the differential geometry of Banach manifolds in the second semester of Math 55. In contrast, Math 25 was more narrowly focused, usually covering real analysis, together with the relevant theory of metric spaces and (multi)linear maps. These topics typically culminated in the proof of the generalized Stokes theorem, though, time permitting, other relevant topics (e.g. category theory, de Rham cohomology) might also be covered. Although both courses presented calculus from a rigorous point of view and emphasized theory and proof writing, Math 55 was generally faster paced, more abstract, and demanded a higher level of mathematical sophistication.


title: Math 55

text: Loomis and Sternberg's textbook "Advanced Calculus", an abstract treatment of calculus in the setting of normed vector spaces and on differentiable manifolds, was tailored to the authors' Math 55 syllabus and served for many years as an assigned text. Instructors for Math 55 and Math 25 have also selected Rudin's "Principles of Mathematical Analysis", Spivak's "Calculus on Manifolds", Axler's "Linear Algebra Done Right", and Halmos's "Finite-Dimensional Vector Spaces" as textbooks or references.


title: Math 55

text: From 2007 onwards, the scope of the course (along with that of Math 25) was changed to more strictly cover the contents of four semester-long courses in two semesters: Math 25a (linear algebra and real analysis) and Math 122 (group theory and vector spaces) in Math 55a; and Math 25b (real analysis) and Math 113 (complex analysis) in Math 55b. The name was also changed to "Honors Abstract Algebra" (Math 55a) and "Honors Real and Complex Analysis" (Math 55b). Fluency in formulating and writing mathematical proofs is listed as a course prerequisite for Math 55, while such experience is considered "helpful" but not required for Math 25. In practice, students of Math 55 have usually had extensive experience in proof writing and abstract mathematics, with many being the past winners of prestigious national or international mathematical Olympiads (such as USAMO or IMO). Typical students of Math 25 have also had previous exposure to proof writing through mathematical contests or university-level mathematics courses.


title: Math 55

text: Problem sets are expected to take from 24 to 60 hours per week to complete, although some claim that it is closer to 20 hours. Many of those who are able to handle the workload and complete the course become professors in quantitative fields; alumni of Math 55 include Harvard mathematicians Benedict Gross and Joe Harris, Harvard physicist Lisa Randall, Harvard economists Andrei Shleifer and Eric Maskin, and UC Berkeley economist Brad DeLong.


title: Math 55

text: Past students of Math 55 also include business magnate and computer programmer Bill Gates, computer programmer and free-software promoter Richard Stallman, and television writer and executive producer Al Jean.


title: Math 55

text: Contrary to a 2006 article in "The Harvard Crimson" which alleged that only 17 women completed the class between 1990 and 2006, 39 women completed 55a and 26 completed 55b. Math 25 has more women: in 1994–95, Math 55 had no women, while Math 25 had about 10 women in the 55-person course. In 2006, the class was 45 percent Jewish (5 students), 18 percent Asian (2 students), 100 percent male (11 students).


title: Math 55

text: Demographics of students taking this course over the years have been used to study the causes of gender and race differences in STEM.


title: Jallianwala Bagh

text: Jallianwala Bagh is a historic garden and ‘memorial of national importance’ close to the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar, Punjab, India, preserved in the memory of those wounded and killed in the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre that occurred on the site on the festival of Baisakhi, 13 April 1919. The site houses a museum, gallery and several memorial structures. It is managed by the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Trust. It was renovated between 2019 and 2021.


title: Jallianwala Bagh

text: Jallianwala Bagh or the garden of the Jallah-man, with its well, implies that it was once green and flowering. Over the years it had become popular as a recreation ground and an area of rest for those visiting the nearby Golden temple. In 1919, it was a dried out plot and was surrounded by tightly packed multi-occupancy buildings dividend with some narrow streets and holding only one entrance and exit route. It was unoccupied and surrounded by a wall. The place derives its name from that of the owner of this piece of land during the rule of the Sikh Empire. It was then the property of the family of Himmat Singh Bains, who originally came from the village of Jalla district of the Punjab in India. The family were collectively known as "Jallewalle".


title: Jallianwala Bagh

text: In 1919, in response to excluding Mahatma Gandhi from visiting Punjab, the secret deportation of Saifuddin Kitchlew and Satyapal on 10 April and the reactions to the Rowlatt Act, Punjab had witnessed attempts of Indians to gather and protest. On the morning of Baisakhi, 13 April 1919, to the sound of military drums by the cities town criers, 19 locations around the city were read out Brigadier General R.E.H. Dyer's new rules. He had placed restrictions on leaving the city without a permit, banned all "processions of any kind" and any congregation of more than four people, and announced that "any person found in the streets after 8 pm will be shot". The announcements came on a background of noise and unusual heat, missing key locations around the city, meaning that the notice was not widely disseminated. Dyer was subsequently informed at 12.40 pm that day, that a political gathering was to be held at Jallianwala Bagh. By the time Dyer arrived with 90 Sikh, Gurkha, Baloch, Rajput troops from 2-9th Gurkhas, the 54th Sikhs and the 59th Sind Rifles, there was a crowd of 20,000; a mix of speakers, listeners, picnic makers, men, women and children of all ages, including Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and Christians. Dyer then ordered his troops to fire at the crowds. 1,650 rounds were fired and the number killed and injured have since been disputed.


title: Jallianwala Bagh

text: In 1920, as a result of the massacre, a Trust was formed with the aim of creating a memorial at the massacre site. During the troubles of 1947 several surrounding buildings were destroyed. In 1951, the government of India established the site as a ‘memorial of national importance’.


title: Jallianwala Bagh

text: The site was renovated between 2019 and 2021. The central government had earmarked in 2019 for the commemoration of the centenary of the massacre. The memorial was closed to the public in February 2019 for the work and reopened in August 2021. The renovation was criticized by various historians, political leaders and some of the kin of the martyrs. Many claimed that the renovations were improper and had erased the tragedy of the massacre.


title: Jallianwala Bagh

text: The entrance to Jallianwala Bagh is via a narrow passage, the same passage that was the only entry and exit point at the time of the massacre and the same route that General Dyer and his troops took to reach the grounds. At the entrance is a statue of Udham Singh. Once entered, some old trees can be seen in the garden with some buildings at the back. With the words 'Vande Mataram', a flame titled "Amar Jyoti" (Eternal Flame) is seen burning to the right under a domed meditation area.


title: Jallianwala Bagh

text: The 'Martyrs Well' is surrounded by the Martyr's memorial, a large structure with a sign giving a figure of "120" as the number of bodies that were recovered from the well. It was designed by American architect Benjamin Polk and inaugurated in 1961.


title: Jallianwala Bagh

text: A number of the bullet holes in the walls are preserved. One of the walls with bullet holes has a plaque reading:


title: Jallianwala Bagh

text: The wall has its own historic significance as it has thirty-six bullet marks which can be easily seen at present and these were fired into the crowd by the order of General Dyer. Moreover, no warning was given to disperse before Dyer opened fire which was gathered here against the Rowlatt Act. One Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty Rounds were fired


title: Jallianwala Bagh

text: This site is saturated with the blood of thousands of Indian patriots who were martyred in a nonviolent struggle to free India from British domination. General Dyer of the British army opened fire here on unarmed people. Jallianwala Bagh is thus an everlasting symbol of non-violent & peaceful struggle for the freedom of India


title: Jallianwala Bagh

text: The Flame of Liberty is represented by a central pylon. It is white and shaped like a flame. Engraved are faces of 'martyrs' and below are given their names.


title: Jallianwala Bagh

text: The Martyr's gallery contains a number of paintings including some of political leaders and a painting of the inside of Jallianwala Bagh, showing a number of people dead on the ground. The addition to the painting of the Gurkha's was painted in at a later date. The names of those killed are not included. A portrait of Udham Singh is on display in the gallery. One of the seven urns containing his ashes are kept in the museum.


title: Jallianwala Bagh

text: Using newspaper clippings and letters from Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and others, 45 panels depicting the Amritsar massacre are displayed.


title: Jallianwala Bagh

text: The site is managed by the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Trust formed under the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Act, 1951 passed by the Parliament of India. The initial trustees of the Trust were named as Jawaharlal Nehru, Saifuddin Kitchlew, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the President of the Indian National Congress, the Governor of Punjab, the Chief Minister of Punjab and three people nominated by the Central Government.


title: Jallianwala Bagh

text: In November 2019, the act was amended thus removing the President of the Indian National Congress as a trustee and replacing that position with the Leader of Opposition in Loksabha (lower house of Parliament) or in absence of Leader of Opposition, the leader of the single largest opposition party in the Loksabha. It also amended that a nominated trustee may be removed by the Central Government before the end of five years term.


title: Jallianwala Bagh

text: Since the massacre, Jallianwala Bagh has been the site of a number of official and publicized visits. One of the earliest was during the public enquiry by the Indian Congress, when Jawaharlal Nehru visited the site in the immediate aftermath of the massacre. His investigation revealed 64 bullets in one part of the wall.


title: Jallianwala Bagh

text: The site was visited by the Queen Elizabeth II in 1961, 1983 and 1997, and British Prime Minister David Cameron visited in 2013. During Prince William and Kate's official visit to India, Jallianwala Bagh was not on their itinerary. Others from Britain include Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London in 2017, and Dominic Asquith and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby in 2019.


title: Jallianwala Bagh

text: India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the grounds in 2015 and politician Kiren Rijiju visited in 2016 as part of an India-Pakistan border visit. Proposed renovations to Jallianwala Bagh were presented to India’s vice president Venkaiah Naidu, the governor of Punjab V.P. Singh Badnore and other officials when they visited the site in April 2019 to attend a commemoration ceremony organised by the Ministry of Culture. Other visitors in 2019 included Rahul Gandhi.


title: Volvo S80

text: The Volvo S80 is an executive car produced by the Swedish manufacturer Volvo Cars from 1998 to 2016 across two generations. It took the place of the rear-wheel-drive S90 as Volvo's flagship sedan.


title: Volvo S80

text: The first generation (1998–2006) was made available for the 1999 model year. It has since been built at the Torslanda Works in Gothenburg, Sweden, with a few 1999 model year cars for the North American market built at Volvo's Halifax Assembly plant. Unlike most Volvo models, it did not have a station wagon version for its first generation.


title: Volvo S80

text: The second generation (2006–2016) was released in 2006 as a model year 2007 car. It has an estate version, the third generation of the Volvo V70. In June 2007, the S80 scored the highest "good" rating in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) crash test performance for frontal, side, and rear impacts, earning it the IIHS Top Safety Pick.


title: Volvo S80

text: The design takes styling cues from the Volvo ECC concept. The first-generation S80 is based on the Volvo P2 platform. Over 368,000 first-generation S80s were built. The S80 featured a straight-six engine in a transverse engine mounting. No existing manual gearbox would fit in the engine bay with the six-cylinder engine, so Volvo had to develop their own, the M65. It featured also an environmental specification, covering aspects such as allergens from textiles, fuel economy and the life cycle of the car from production to dismantling.


title: Volvo S80

text: Volvo continued its safety tradition, offering front and rear integrated crumple zones, driver and front passenger dual threshold airbags with a collapsible three-stage steering column, Side Impact Protection System (SIPS) supplemented with air bags for driver and front passenger, along with a side curtain airbag for front and rear passengers, anti-submarine seats, five padded head restraints with Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), and automatic seat belt pretensioners while front belts also have height adjustment.


title: Volvo S80

text: The S80 was initially available with four different engines. Starting the range was a detuned 2.4-litre five-cylinder. This was also available as a compressed natural gas (CNG) and as a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) version. The fully tuned version produced . Next up was a 2.9-litre six-cylinder, then T6, and finally, the 2.5-litre Volkswagen-sourced Turbocharged Direct Injection (TDI) diesel engine. The 2.9 has a straight-six engine, while the T6 was powered by a destroked twin-turbocharged version. The S80 used CAN bus multiplexing wiring to simplify the various electronic components and safety systems and linking the various ECU to save complexity and weight.


title: Volvo S80

text: In 2000, there was the addition of the 2.5T, available with standard all-wheel drive. The 2.5T model featured a light-pressure turbocharger. and addition of the 2.3T, available in Thailand Version. Late 2001 introduced the five-cylinder common rail diesel D5, detuned to and sold as 2.4D in some markets. In some European countries, the entry level S80 came with a 2.0-litre five-cylinder turbocharged engine producing and a T5 badged S80 with the same engine but tuned to with the help of the Mitsubishi TD04-16t high pressure turbo also found in the early S60 T5s. These were sold in countries such as Portugal where larger capacity engines were penalized by heavy taxes.


title: Volvo S80

text: In 2004 PremAir was introduced as a standard feature to the exterior radiator surface which converts up to 75 percent of ground level ozone in the radiator cooling air into oxygen, while the Interior Air Quality System cleans the air inside, detects for pollutants and automatically recirculates in comparison to the air outside. The upholstery was available in taupe, light sand or graphite and the leathers were tanned using natural plant materials. The S80 sheet metal content can be recycled, along with other metals that achieved an 85 overall percentage. Dual zone climate control and heated front seats along with a three position drivers memory setting were optional, and anti-smash and grab laminated side windows were available. Retractable sunshades for the rear side door windows and an electronically extendable rear window sunshade were available


title: Volvo S80

text: The S80 came standard with Volvo's own radio unit, the HU-613, the HU-803 and was later upgraded to the HU-650 and an optional extra HU-850 unit. The HU-850 unit features a 225 or 335-watt power output (depending on optional external amplifier) with three presets: 2CH, 3CH and Dolby Digital Pro Logic II Surround Sound. The Four-C electronically modified suspension became an option on some S80s.


title: Volvo S80

text: Minor exterior design changes occurred between 2003 and 2004 versions, and in 2005 the Haldex-sourced AWD was available with the 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo. In 2006 The AWD system was upgraded with a pre-charged, electronically controlled all-wheel drive system called Instant Traction, which consisted of constant hydraulic pressure that would divide available traction to the wheels as needed.


title: Volvo S80

text: They tested a left-hand drive, 4-door saloon, registered in 2000, with front seatbelt pretensioners, seatbelt load limiters, as well as front, side, body, and head airbags:


title: Volvo S80

text: Scores given for the car showed pedestrians' legs facing a very aggressive front end, resulting in only 2 stars of 4 for pedestrian safety. Despite this Euro NCAP did state "This large Volvo is very safe and gave a good all-round performance" due to the good adult protection inside the car in the event of a collision.


title: Volvo S80

text: The second generation S80 was unveiled at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show on 28 February, with sales beginning in June 2006. The new S80 features a new 3.2-litre straight-six engine or 4.4-litre V8 engine, in combination with available four-wheel drive. The second-generation S80 is the first Volvo saloon model to become available with Volvo's compact, transversely fitted B8444S V8 with a power output of and of torque developed jointly by Volvo Cars engine unit Skövde and Yamaha, but built by Yamaha of Japan. The engine features four catalytic converters and advanced electronics. The structure featured high strength boron steel for safety.


title: Volvo S80

text: The second generation S80 received the IIHS 2007 Top Safety Pick Award in overall safety protection. Also again in November the IIHS awarded the 2008 Volvo S80 with Top Safety Award.


title: Volvo S80

text: The new S80 is based on the Ford EUCD platform, also used for vehicles including the Ford S-Max, third generation Ford Mondeo, and Ford Galaxy large MPVs. Volvo's Personal Car Communicator (PCC) remote control will also be an optional feature with the new S80.


title: Volvo S80

text: The S80 is available with optional adaptive cruise control (ACC) with collision warning with auto brake (CWAB). Brake support offers additional assistance by preparing the braking system so that the car can begin stopping faster and preparing for panic brake application. S80 is also equipped with an adaptive brake light as standard which is active at speeds above , and can sense the difference between normal and panic braking. Ready alert brakes (RAB) are also available to anticipate severe braking. It prepares for this by moving the brake pads closer to the discs.


title: Volvo S80

text: The S80 is available with a Blind Spot Information System as well as Lane Departure Warning, it can be turned on from .


title: Volvo S80

text: The T4 variant features the 1.6L turbocharged EcoBoost engine and is exclusively available in Asia and parts of Europe.


title: Volvo S80

text: The S80L is a long-wheelbase variant designed and sold only in China. Wheelbase and overall length have been increased by 14 cm. The 2011 version has a wheelbase of and is powered by a turbocharged 2.0 or 3.0L engine. The S80L is one of two Volvo models produced under a joint-venture with Changan Ford Mazda Automobile (CFMA). CFMA production of the S80L commenced in 2009 and ceased in late 2015 when the joint-venture ended.<ref name="CFMA news 2016/01 just-auto.com"></ref> The S80L has since been succeeded by the S90L.


title: Volvo S80

text: New features for 2010 include a choice of five-cylinder 2.4-litre D5 twin-turbo diesel, 2.4-litre diesel, or 1.6-litre diesel engine. Also the 2.5T and 2.5FT were modified to produce more power and have a lower fuel consumption. The update marked the last year of the Yamaha-based V8 engine. An option was added for California on the 3.2L Inline-6 to meet PZEV emissions standards. It had 225 bhp, 10 less than the non-PZEV engine. The car's exterior was modified to give the S80 a lower, longer and wider stance. More chrome trim was added to the front, the rear end, and the doors to look like the S80 Executive. The 2010 Volvo S80 facelift also comes with a choice between a comfort-enhancing standard chassis, or a sport one that offers better handling dynamics. The 2010 S80 will be available with a S80 R-design interior package to give the inside a sportier look. The interior package contains a new sports steering wheel, sports pedals, Dynamic leather seats, sports gearshift knob, and a new instrument with blue background.


title: Volvo S80

text: The 2011 Volvo S80 lineup now includes the Inscription Package. Features Include: Sovereign Hide leather seats, high gloss walnut wood inlays, and special trim. The 3.2L was re-tuned, power and engine speed differ. The Dynaudio Premium Sound option is downgraded to 'Premium Sound'.


title: Volvo S80

text: The 2012 Volvo S80 now features turn signals on the outside mirrors, a new 7-inch Sensus infotainment system in the center of the dash, genuine wood interior trim and Bluetooth audio streaming. Volvo's City Safety technology is also now standard. Premier Plus and Platinum trims are added for the 2012 model year.


title: Volvo S80

text: The 2013 Volvo S80 now features standard headlight washers, rain sensing wipers, and push button start ignition. The Premium Plus edition adds xenon headlamps.


title: Volvo S80

text: The 2nd half of year 2014 introduced a new facelift with new front and rear bumpers, new lower front fascia, new grille style, the 7-inch infotainment system becomes standard, City Safety becomes standard, new optional digital gauge cluster, and additional interior ambient lighting.


title: Volvo S80

text: The base 2015 Volvo S80 is powered by a new turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with 240 horsepower, which is the same output as the 3.2-liter six-cylinder in the 2014 model. A new eight-speed automatic transmission comes standard, and the base S80 also gets a new auto start/stop feature, which turns the engine off when the car is stopped to conserve fuel. The 2015 S80 achieves an EPA-estimated 25/37 mpg city/highway, which is a notable improvement over the 2014 model's 20/29 mpg rating. T6 AWD models come with a turbocharged 3.0-liter six-cylinder engine that produces 300 horsepower. A six-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive are also standard on T6 models. The T6 gets slightly better fuel economy than the 2014 model T6.


title: Volvo S80

text: An optional climate package includes heated front and rear seats, a heated windshield and a heated steering wheel. The 2015 Volvo S80 went on sale in early 2014 and starts at $40,500 in the US.


title: Volvo S80

text: Introduced in late 2014, midyear changes introduced for the 2015.5 model include new standard Sensus Connect and Volvo On-Call with 6-month complimentary subscriptions, new Sensus Navigation with Map Care, and a new optional Harman/Kardon Premium Sound System. Most notably, the new 2015.5 model has significantly better fuel economy due to the more efficient "Drive-E" engine, new 8-speed "Geartronic" automatic transmission, and new ECO+ functionality with modified Start/Stop technology, ECO-coast and ECO-climate. The 2015.5 Volvo S80 starts at $41,450 in the US.


title: Volvo S80

text: The Volvo S80 offered an expanded array of standard features for 2016 which includes heated front seats, Interior Air Quality System (IAQS), power glass sunroof, and 18-inch "Magni" alloy wheels. The S80 T5 Drive-E Platinum trim gains Volvo's Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) as standard. New S80 options include a wood steering wheel and 19-inch "Bor" alloy wheels with a lowered Sport Chassis. The T6 six-cylinder engine and all-wheel-drive model have been discontinued for the 2016 model year. The 2016 Volvo S80 T5 FWD Drive-E started at $43,450 in the US. 2016 was the last model year for the S80. The S80s successor, the S90, was unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show in January 2016.


title: Volvo S80

text: The S80 is also used as a base for specialised cars such as lengthened limousines, hearses, and ambulances. One company producing such models is "Nilsson Special Vehicles", based in Laholm, Sweden. Ambulance models receive a completely new body from behind the b-pillar as well as a raised roof. A sliding side door is installed on the right hand side (sometimes on both sides) and the tailgate is enlarged to allow easier access. Nilsson only manufactured ambulances based on the first generation S80. Nilsson has built limousines and hearses based on both generations of the S80. They also manufacture the official state car for a few heads of state, including for the King of Sweden and the King of the Netherlands.


title: Volvo S80

text: Armored versions were also available. The first generation could be ordered from the factory, with the actual armoring done by an outside company. The second generation armoured version was available from Czech specialists SVOS and no factory armoring was offered.


title: Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough

text: Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, (13 November 1871 – 30 June 1934), styled Earl of Sunderland until 1883 and Marquess of Blandford between 1883 and 1892, was a British soldier and Conservative politician, and a close friend of his first cousin Winston Churchill. He was often known as "Sunny" Marlborough after his courtesy title of Earl of Sunderland.


text: Born at Simla, British India, Marlborough was the only son of the then Marquess of Blandford (who succeeded as The 8th Duke of Marlborough in July 1883) and Lady Albertha Frances Anne, daughter of The 1st Duke of Abercorn. He was a nephew of Lord Randolph Churchill and a first cousin of Sir Winston Churchill, with whom he had a close and lifelong friendship. He was educated at Winchester College and Trinity College, Cambridge.


text: Marlborough entered the House of Lords on the early death of his father in 1892, and made his maiden speech in August 1895. In 1899, he was appointed Paymaster-General by Lord Salisbury, a post he held until 1902. He was then Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies under Arthur Balfour between 1903 and 1905. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1899.


text: He again held political office during the First World War, when he was Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries between 1917 and 1918 in David Lloyd George's coalition government. He made his last speech in the House of Lords in December 1931.


text: Shortly before the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, Marlborough was invested as a knight of the Order of the Garter (KG) at Buckingham Palace on 30 May 1902. He subsequently served as Lord High Steward at the coronation the following August (the coronation had originally been scheduled for June).


text: The Duke of Marlborough was Mayor of Woodstock between 1907 and 1909, and Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire from 1915 until his death.


text: He was President of the National Fire Brigades Union and founded the British Cotton Growers Association. He was also, after his father, a prominent member of the Ancient Order of Druids, and patron of the prestigious AOD Albion Lodge based at Oxford. On 10 August 1908, in the park of Blenheim palace, he welcomed the ceremony of initiation of his cousin, Winston Churchill as a Druid.


text: Marlborough was appointed a Lieutenant in the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars in 1897. After the outbreak of the Second Boer War, he was in January 1900 seconded for service as a Staff Captain in the Imperial Yeomanry serving in South Africa, and received the temporary rank of Captain. He arrived in Cape Town in March 1900, and left for Naauwpoort in Northern Cape Colony with the Oxford company of the Imperial Yeomanry.


text: He was subsequently appointed Assistant Military Secretary to Lord Roberts, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in South Africa, and was aide-de-camp to Lieutenant-General Ian Hamilton.


text: He was mentioned in despatches and promoted to Major on 7 December 1901. After the formation of the Territorial Army he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in 1908.


text: He was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel of his yeomanry regiment in 1910, serving until 1914. He was awarded the Territorial Decoration (TD) in 1913. He rejoined during the First World War, when he served as a Lieutenant-Colonel on the General Staff in France. During a visit at the Western Front to his cousin Winston who was then serving in the trenches, both narrowly missed being killed when a piece of shrapnel (now displayed at Blenheim Palace) fell between them. He was later Honorary Colonel and commandant of the Oxfordshire Volunteer Regiment of the Volunteer Training Corps from 1918 to 1920.


text: Marlborough was married twice. His first wife was the American railroad heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt, whom he married at Saint Thomas Church in New York City on 6 November 1895. The marriage was a mercenary one. Inheriting his near-bankrupt dukedom in 1892, he was forced to find a quick and drastic solution to the financial problems of his family. Prevented by the strict social dictates of late 19th-century society from earning money, he was left with one solution; to marry money.


text: The marriage was celebrated following lengthy negotiations with his bride's divorced parents: her mother, Alva Vanderbilt, was desperate to see her daughter a duchess, and the bride's father, William Vanderbilt, paid for the privilege. The final price was $2,500,000 (worth about $77m in 2021) in 50,000 shares of the capital stock of the Beech Creek Railway Company with a minimum 4% dividend guaranteed by the New York Central Railroad Company. The couple were each given a further annual income of $100,000 for life. The bride later claimed she had been locked in her room until she agreed to the marriage. The contract was actually signed in the vestry of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, immediately after the wedding vows had been made. Whilst they honeymooned in Europe, Marlborough told Consuelo that he actually loved another woman but had married her to "save Blenheim".


text: They had two sons, John Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of Blandford, eventually the 10th Duke of Marlborough, and Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill. Their mother famously referred to them as "the heir and the spare".


text: The Vanderbilt dowry was used to restore Blenheim Palace and replenish its furnishings and library, for many of the original contents had been sold over the course of the 19th century. Many of the jewels worn by subsequent Duchesses of Marlborough also date from this period. The 9th Duke employed noted landscape gardener Achille Duchêne to create the water garden on the terrace at Blenheim. In 1934 he owned 19,685 acres of land.


text: However, Consuelo was far from happy; she recorded many of her problems in her autobiography "The Glitter and the Gold". Consuelo was also unfaithful; her liaisons included her first love, Winthrop Rutherfurd (who was alleged to be the father of her second son, Lord Ivor, since he allegedly bore no resemblance to either the Duke nor his brother), and three of her husband's cousins: Hon. Freddie Guest (son of Ivor Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne, and Lady Cornelia Spencer-Churchill), Hon. Reginald Fellowes (son of William Fellowes, 2nd Baron de Ramsey, and Lady Rosamund Spencer-Churchill) and Charles, Viscount Castlereagh.


text: The couple shocked society by separating in 1906. In order to facilitate the divorce, Alva Vanderbilt testified that she had coerced her daughter into marrying the Duke. The couple were divorced in 1921; the marriage was annulled by the Vatican on 19 August 1926, no doubt facilitated by the Duke's wish to become a Roman Catholic. Consuelo subsequently married a Frenchman, Jacques Balsan. She died in 1964, having lived to see her son become Duke of Marlborough; she frequently returned to Blenheim, the house she had found uncomfortable and inconvenient when living there.


text: In the late 1890s, the Duke invited to Blenheim Palace Gladys Deacon, another American, who became friends with Consuelo. Deacon, the daughter of Edward Parker Deacon, became the Duke's mistress soon after moving into the palace. She and Marlborough were married on 25 June 1921 in Paris, shortly after his divorce from Consuelo.


text: Later in life the Duke converted to Catholicism in 1927, around which time the couple began drifting apart and Deacon took to keeping a revolver in her bedroom to prevent her husband’s entry. He moved out of the palace, and two years later evicted her. The couple separated but never divorced.


title: Tradescantia zebrina

text: Tradescantia zebrina, formerly known as "Zebrina pendula", is a species of creeping plant in the "Tradescantia" genus. Common names include silver inch plant and wandering Jew. The latter name (also sometimes used for the related species "T. fluminensis") is controversial, and some now use the alternative wandering dude. The plant is popular in cultivation due to its fast growth and attractive foliage. It is used as a groundcover in warm winter climates, and as a houseplant elsewhere.


title: Tradescantia zebrina

text: "Tradescantia zebrina" has attractive zebra-patterned leaves, the upper surface showing purple new growth and green older growth parallel to the central axis, as well as two broad silver-colored stripes on the outer edges, with the lower leaf surface presenting a deep uniform magenta. The leaves are bluish green and usually have two longitudinal stripes that are silvery on the surface and purple on the underside. The leaf sheaths are thin and translucent, 8 to 12 mm long and 5 to 8 mm wide, at the mouth they are long, otherwise glabrous or slightly hairy.


title: Tradescantia zebrina

text: The low-lying, slightly succulent, perennial, herbaceous plant often forms dense mats or colonies. This is done primarily by natural formation of sinkers. On the nodules of the shoot are root approaches, from which roots develop in permanent contact with water or a sufficiently moist substrate under favorable conditions within a day. The shoots are glabrous or hairy. The stalked, parallel-veined leaves are mostly ovate, 4 to 10 cm long and 1.5 to 3 cm wide, pointed towards the tip, rounded to the base. The upper surface is glabrous to mildly hairy, the underside hairless to averagely hairy, ciliate towards the leaf base. The structure of the flower - usually from the three pink petals and the white sexual organs - is similar to that of the other "Tradescantia", but unlike what happens in those, the plant branches off thanks to new buds whose attachment starts below that of the leaf (and not above)


title: Tradescantia zebrina

text: The flowers are in groups, supported by two large foliage-like, narrow, ciliate bracts. The hermaphrodite, radial-symmetrical flowers are threefold. The three overgrown sepals are 2 to 3 mm long. The three only grown at the base petals are ovate-blunt, pink to purple and 5 to 9 mm long. The six equally sized stamens are violet hairy. Three carpels have become a top permanent ovary grown. They form capsule fruits that contain gray-brown seeds.


title: Tradescantia zebrina

text: Skin irritation may result from repeated contact with or prolonged handling of the plant — particularly from the clear, watery sap (a characteristic unique to "T. zebrina" as compared with the other aforementioned types).


title: Tradescantia zebrina

text: "Tradescantia zebrina" is native to Mexico, Central America, and Colombia, but can also be found on the Caribbean islands. It is naturalized in parts of Asia, Africa, Australia, South America, and various oceanic islands.


title: Tradescantia zebrina

text: The plant grows in thickets in the wetland and rainforest, often on stones in shady and open areas or on river banks at altitudes of 2000 meters or below, but mainly at lower altitudes.


title: Tradescantia zebrina

text: It is commonly available and used as a houseplant and groundcover, aggressively colonizing new areas when left undisturbed. Propagated by cuttings, this plant can be moved or manipulated easily as its runners cling lightly to the ground (if used as cover). It tends to become an invasive species if not properly maintained. The plant is not frost-resistant but can be kept indoors during the winter months in colder climates. It is hardy in USDA hardiness zones 9, 10 and 11.


title: Tradescantia zebrina

text: The species, and the cultivars 'Purpusii' and 'Quadricolor' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


title: Tradescantia zebrina

text: It is classified as a Category 1b Invasive Species in South Africa, and thus may no longer be planted or propagated. All trade in seeds, cuttings or other propagative material is prohibited. It may not be transported or be allowed to disperse, either in rural or urban areas. It is also an invasive species in the Galápagos Islands.


title: 2021 US Open – Men's singles

text: Daniil Medvedev defeated Novak Djokovic in the final, 6–4, 6–4, 6–4 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2021 US Open. It was his first major title and he only lost one set en route (against Botic van de Zandschulp in the quarterfinals). Medvedev became the third Russian man, after Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin, to win a major singles title, and the first to do so since Safin at the 2005 Australian Open.


title: 2021 US Open – Men's singles

text: Djokovic was aiming to become the second man in the Open Era, after Rod Laver in 1969, to complete a Grand Slam. He was also attempting to win an outright record 21st major singles title and surpass his Big Three counterparts, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. By reaching the final, Djokovic tied Federer's record of 31 men's singles major finals contested, and repeated his 2015 achievement of contesting the maximum-possible 28 major singles matches in a season. This marked Djokovic's record sixth runner-up finish at the event.


title: 2021 US Open – Men's singles

text: By defeating world No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third round, Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest man to beat a top 3 ranked-player in singles at the US Open since the inception of the ATP rankings in 1973. He became the youngest male quarterfinalist at a singles major since Michael Chang at the 1989 French Open, and the youngest at the US Open in the Open Era; he would go on to win the title the following year. Van de Zandschulp became the first Dutchman to reach a singles major quarterfinal since Sjeng Schalken at the 2004 Wimbledon Championships and the first qualifier to do so at the US Open since Gilles Müller in 2008.


title: 2021 US Open – Men's singles

text: The following are the seeded players. Seedings are based on ATP rankings as of August 23, 2021. Rank and points before are as of August 30, 2021.


title: 2021 US Open – Men's singles

text: As a result of pandemic-related adjustments to the ranking system, players are defending the greater of their points from the 2019 and 2020 tournaments.


title: 2021 US Open – Men's singles

text: † Because the 2020 tournament was non-mandatory, the player was defending 150 points from his 19th best result instead of 90 points from the 2020 US Open.


title: 2021 US Open – Men's singles

text: ‡ The player was also defending points from one or more 2019 ATP Challenger Tour tournaments. Those points were frozen in 2020 as a result of pandemic-related adjustments to the ranking system.


title: 2021 US Open – Men's singles

text: § The player did not qualify for the tournament in 2019 or 2020 and is defending points from a 2020 ATP Challenger Tour tournament (Ostrava) instead.


title: 2021 US Open – Men's singles

text: ^ Because the 2021 tournament was non-mandatory, the player substituted his 19th best result in place of the points won in this tournament.


title: 2021 US Open – Men's singles

text: ^ Because the 2021 tournament was non-mandatory, the player substituted his 19th best result in place of zero points for this tournament.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: ]The era of piracy in the Caribbean began in the 1500s and phased out in the 1830s after the navies of the nations of Western Europe and North America with colonies in the Caribbean began combating pirates. The period during which pirates were most successful was from the 1660s to 1730s. Piracy flourished in the Caribbean because of the existence of pirate seaports such as Port Royal in Jamaica, Tortuga in Haiti, and Nassau in the Bahamas. Piracy in the Caribbean was part of a larger historical phenomenon of piracy, as it existed close to major trade and exploration routes in almost all the five oceans.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: Pirates were often former sailors experienced in naval warfare. In the 16th century, pirate captains recruited seamen to loot European merchant ships, especially the Spanish treasure fleets sailing from the Caribbean to Europe.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: Piracy was sometimes given legal status by the colonial powers, especially France under King Francis I (r.1515–1547), in the hope of weakening Spain and Portugal's "mare clausum" trade monopolies in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. This officially sanctioned piracy was known as privateering. From 1520 to 1560, French privateers were alone in their fight against the Crown of Spain and the vast commerce of the Spanish Empire in the New World, but were later joined by the English and Dutch.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: The Caribbean had become an important center of European trade and colonization after Columbus' discovery of the New World for Spain in 1492. In the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas the non-European world had been divided between the Spanish and the Portuguese along a north–south line 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. This gave Spain control of the Americas, a position the Spaniards later reiterated with an equally unenforceable papal bull (The Inter caetera). On the Spanish Main, the key early settlements were Cartagena in present-day Colombia, Porto Bello and Panama City on the Isthmus of Panama, Santiago on the southeastern coast of Cuba, and Santo Domingo on the island of Hispaniola. In the 16th century, the Spanish were mining extremely large quantities of silver from the mines of Zacatecas in New Spain (Mexico) and Potosí in Bolivia (formerly known as "Alto Peru"). The huge Spanish silver shipments from the New World to the Old attracted pirates and French privateers like François Leclerc or Jean Fleury, both in the Caribbean and across the Atlantic, all along the route from the Caribbean to Seville.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: To combat this constant danger, in the 1560s the Spanish adopted a convoy system. A treasure fleet or "flota" would sail annually from Seville (and later from Cádiz) in Spain, carrying passengers, troops, and European manufactured goods to the Spanish colonies of the New World. This cargo, though profitable, was really just a form of ballast for the fleet as its true purpose was to transport the year's worth of silver to Europe. The first stage in the journey was the transport of all that silver from the mines in Bolivia and New Spain in a mule convoy called the Silver Train to a major Spanish port, usually on the Isthmus of Panama or Veracruz in New Spain. The "flota" would meet up with the Silver Train, offload its cargo of manufactured goods to waiting colonial merchants and then load its holds with the precious cargo of gold and silver, in bullion or coin form. This made the returning Spanish treasure fleet a tempting target, although pirates were more likely to shadow the fleet to attack stragglers than to engage the well-armed main vessels. The classic route for the treasure fleet in the Caribbean was through the Lesser Antilles to the ports along the Spanish Main on the coast of Central America and New Spain, then northwards into the Yucatán Channel to catch the westerly winds back to Europe.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: By the 1560s, the Dutch United Provinces of the Netherlands and England, both Protestant states, were defiantly opposed to Catholic Spain, the greatest power of Christendom in the 16th century; while the French government was seeking to expand its colonial holdings in the New World now that Spain had proven they could be extremely profitable. It was the French who had established the first non-Spanish settlement in the Caribbean when they had founded Fort Caroline near what is now Jacksonville, Florida in 1564, although the settlement was soon wiped out by a Spanish attack from the larger colony of Saint Augustine. As the Treaty of Tordesillas had proven unenforceable, a new concept of "lines of amity", with the northern bound being the Tropic of Cancer and the eastern bound the Prime Meridian passing through the Canary Islands, is said to have been verbally agreed upon by French and Spanish negotiators of the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis. South and west of these lines, respectively, no protection could be offered to non-Spanish ships, "no peace beyond the line." English, Dutch and French pirates and settlers moved into this region even in times of nominal peace with the Spanish.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: The Spanish, despite being the most powerful state in Christendom at the time, could not afford a sufficient military presence to control such a vast area of ocean or enforce their exclusionary, mercantilist trading laws. These laws allowed only Spanish merchants to trade with the colonists of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. This arrangement provoked constant smuggling against the Spanish trading laws and new attempts at Caribbean colonization in peacetime by England, France and the Netherlands. Whenever a war was declared in Europe between the Great Powers the result was always widespread piracy and privateering throughout the Caribbean.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: The Anglo-Spanish War in 1585–1604 was partly due to trade disputes in the New World. A focus on extracting mineral and agricultural wealth from the New World rather than building productive, self-sustaining settlements in its colonies; inflation fueled in part by the massive shipments of silver and gold to Western Europe; endless rounds of expensive wars in Europe; an aristocracy that disdained commercial opportunities; and an inefficient system of tolls and tariffs that hampered industry all contributed to Spain's decline during the 17th century. However, very profitable trade continued between Spain's colonies, which continued to expand until the early 19th century.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: Meanwhile, in the Caribbean, the arrival of European diseases with Columbus had reduced the local Native American populations; the native population of New Spain fell as much as 90% from its original numbers in the 16th century. This loss of native population led Spain to increasingly rely on African slave labor to run Spanish America's colonies, plantations and mines and the trans-Atlantic slave trade offered new sources of profit for the many English, Dutch and French traders who could violate the Spanish mercantilist laws with impunity. But the relative emptiness of the Caribbean also made it an inviting place for England, France and the Netherlands to set up colonies of their own, especially as gold and silver became less important as commodities to be seized and were replaced by tobacco and sugar as cash crops that could make men very rich.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: As Spain's military might in Europe weakened, the Spanish trading laws in the New World were violated with greater frequency by the merchants of other nations. The Spanish port on the island of Trinidad off the northern coast of South America, permanently settled only in 1592, became a major point of contact between all the nations with a presence in the Caribbean.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: In the early 17th century, expensive fortifications and the size of the colonial garrisons at the major Spanish ports increased to deal with the enlarged presence of Spain's competitors in the Caribbean, but the treasure fleet's silver shipments and the number of Spanish-owned merchant ships operating in the region declined. Additional problems came from shortage of food supplies because of the lack of people to work farms. The number of European-born Spaniards in the New World or Spaniards of pure blood who had been born in New Spain, known as peninsulares and creoles, respectively, in the Spanish caste system, totaled no more than 250,000 people in 1600.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: At the same time, England and France were powers on the rise in 17th-century Europe as they mastered their own internal religious schisms between Catholic and Protestant and the resulting societal peace allowed their economies to rapidly expand. England especially began to turn its people's maritime skills into the basis of commercial prosperity. English and French kings of the early 17th century—James I (r. 1603–1625) and Henry IV (r. 1598–1610), respectively, each sought more peaceful relations with Habsburg Spain in an attempt to decrease the financial costs of the ongoing wars. Although the onset of peace in 1604 reduced the opportunities for both piracy and privateering against Spain's colonies, neither monarch discouraged his nation from trying to plant new colonies in the New World and break the Spanish monopoly on the Western Hemisphere. The reputed riches, pleasant climate and the general emptiness of the Americas all beckoned to those eager to make their fortunes and a large assortment of Frenchmen and Englishmen began new colonial ventures during the early 17th century, both in North America, which lay basically empty of European settlement north of Mexico, and in the Caribbean, where Spain remained the dominant power until late in the century.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: As for the Dutch Netherlands, after decades of rebellion against Spain fueled by both Dutch nationalism and their staunch Protestantism, independence had been gained in all but name (and that too would eventually come with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648). The Netherlands had become Europe's economic powerhouse. With new, innovative ship designs like the fluyt (a cargo vessel able to be operated with a small crew and enter relatively inaccessible ports) rolling out of the ship yards in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, new capitalist economic arrangements like the joint-stock company taking root and the military reprieve provided by the Twelve Year Truce with the Spanish (1609–1621), Dutch commercial interests were expanding explosively across the globe, but particularly in the New World and East Asia. However, in the early 17th century, the most powerful Dutch companies, like the Dutch East India Company, were most interested in developing operations in the East Indies (Indonesia) and Japan, and left the West Indies to smaller, more independent Dutch operators.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: In the early 17th century, the Spanish colonies of Cartagena, Havana, Santiago de Cuba, San Juan, Porto Bello, Panama City, and Santo Domingo were among the most important settlements of the Spanish West Indies. Each possessed a large population and a self-sustaining economy, and was well-protected by Spanish defenders. These Spanish settlements were generally unwilling to deal with traders from the other European states because of the strict enforcement of Spain's mercantilist laws pursued by the large Spanish garrisons. In these cities European manufactured goods could command premium prices for sale to the colonists, while the trade goods of the New World—tobacco, cocoa and other raw materials, were shipped back to Europe.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: By 1600, Porto Bello had replaced Nombre de Dios (where Sir Francis Drake had first attacked a Spanish settlement) as the Isthmus of Panama's Caribbean port for the Spanish Silver Train and the annual treasure fleet. Veracruz, the only port city open to trans-Atlantic trade in New Spain, continued to serve the vast interior of New Spain as its window on the Caribbean. By the 17th century, the majority of the towns along the Spanish Main and in Central America had become self-sustaining. The smaller towns of the Main grew tobacco and also welcomed foreign smugglers who avoided the Spanish mercantilist laws. The underpopulated inland regions of Hispaniola and Venezuela were another area where tobacco smugglers in particular were welcome to ply their trade.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: The Spanish-ruled island of Trinidad was already a wide-open port open to the ships and seamen of every nation in the region at the start of the 17th century, and was a particular favorite for smugglers who dealt in tobacco and European manufactured goods. Local Caribbean smugglers sold their tobacco or sugar for decent prices and then bought manufactured goods from the trans-Atlantic traders in large quantities to be dispersed among the colonists of the West Indies and the Spanish Main who were eager for a little touch of home. The Spanish governor of Trinidad, who both lacked strong harbor fortifications and possessed only a laughably small garrison of Spanish troops, could do little but take lucrative bribes from English, French and Dutch smugglers and look the other way—or risk being overthrown and replaced by his own people with a more pliable administrator.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: The English had established an early colony known as Virginia in 1607 and one on the island of Barbados in the West Indies in 1625, although this small settlement's people faced considerable dangers from the local Carib Indians (believed to be cannibals) for some time after its founding. The two early colonies needed regular imports from England, sometimes of food but primarily of woollen textiles. The main early exports back to England included sugar, tobacco, and tropical food. No large tobacco plantations or even truly organized defenses were established by the English on its Caribbean settlements at first and it would take time for England to realize just how valuable its possessions in the Caribbean could prove to be. Eventually, African slaves would be purchased through the Atlantic slave trade. They would work the colonies and fuel Europe's tobacco, rice and sugar supply; by 1698 England had the largest slave exports with the most efficiency in their labor in relation to any other European imperial power. Barbados, the first truly successful English colony in the West Indies, grew fast as the 17th century wore on and by 1698 Jamaica would be England's biggest colony to employ slave labor. Increasingly, English ships chose to use it as their primary home port in the Caribbean. Like Trinidad, merchants in the trans-Atlantic trade who based themselves on Barbados always paid good money for tobacco and sugar. Both of these commodities remained the key cash crops of this period and fueled the growth of the American Southern Colonies as well as their counterparts in the Caribbean.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: After the destruction of Fort Caroline by the Spanish, the French made no further colonization attempts in the Caribbean for several decades as France was convulsed by its own Catholic-Protestant religious divide during the late 16th century Wars of Religion. However, old French privateering anchorages with small "tent camp" towns could be found during the early 17th century in the Bahamas. These settlements provided little more than a place for ships and their crews to take on some fresh water and food and perhaps have a dalliance with the local camp followers, all of which would have been quite expensive.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: From 1630 to 1654, Dutch merchants had a port in Brazil known as Recife. It was initially founded by the Portuguese in 1548. The Dutch had decided in 1630 to invade several sugar producing cities in Portuguese-controlled Brazil, including Salvador and Natal. From 1630 to 1654, they took control of Recife and Olinda, making Recife the new capital of the territory of Dutch Brazil, renaming the city Mauritsstad. During this period, Mauritsstad became one of the most cosmopolitan cities of the world. Unlike the Portuguese, the Dutch did not prohibit Judaism. The first Jewish community and the first synagogue in the Americas – Kahal Zur Israel Synagogue – was founded in the city.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: The inhabitants fought on their own to expel the Dutch in 1654, being helped by the involvement of the Dutch in the First Anglo-Dutch War. This was known as the Insurreição Pernambucana (Pernambucan Insurrection). Most of the Jews fled to Amsterdam; others fled to North America, starting the first Jewish community of New Amsterdam (now known as New York City). The Dutch spent most of their time trading in smuggled goods with the smaller Spanish colonies. Trinidad was the unofficial home port for Dutch traders and privateers in the New World early in the 17th century before they established their own colonies in the region in the 1620s and 1630s. As usual, Trinidad's ineffective Spanish governor was helpless to stop the Dutch from using his port and instead he usually accepted their lucrative bribes.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: The first third of the 17th century in the Caribbean was defined by the outbreak of the savage and destructive Thirty Years' War in Europe (1618–1648), which represented both the culmination of the Protestant-Catholic conflict of the Reformation and the final showdown between Habsburg Spain and Bourbon France. The war was mostly fought in Germany, where one-third to one-half of the population would eventually be lost to the strains of the conflict, but it had some effect in the New World as well. The Spanish presence in the Caribbean began to decline at a faster rate, becoming more dependent on African slave labor. The Spanish military presence in the New World also declined as Madrid shifted more of its resources to the Old World in the Habsburgs' apocalyptic fight with almost every Protestant state in Europe. This need for Spanish resources in Europe accelerated the decay of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. The settlements of the Spanish Main and the Spanish West Indies became financially weaker and were garrisoned with a much smaller number of troops as their home countries were more consumed with happenings back in Europe. The Spanish Empire's economy remained stagnant and the Spanish colonies' plantations, ranches and mines became totally dependent upon slave labor imported from West Africa. With Spain no longer able to maintain its military control effectively over the Caribbean, the other Western European states finally began to move in and set up permanent settlements of their own, ending the Spanish monopoly over the control of the New World.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: Even as the Dutch Netherlands was forced to renew its struggle against Spain for independence as part of the Thirty Years' War (the entire rebellion against the Spanish Habsburgs was called the Eighty Years War in the Low Countries), the Dutch Republic had become the world's leader in mercantile shipping and commercial capitalism, and Dutch companies finally turned their attention to the West Indies in the 17th century. The renewed war with Spain with the end of the truce offered many opportunities for the successful Dutch joint-stock companies to finance military expeditions against the Spanish Empire. The old English and French privateering anchorages from the 16th century in the Caribbean now swarmed anew with Dutch warships.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: In England, a new round of colonial ventures in the New World was fueled by declining economic opportunities at home and growing religious intolerance for more radical Protestants (like the Puritans) who rejected the compromise Protestant theology of the established Church of England. After the demise of the Saint Lucia and Grenada colonies soon after their establishment, and the near-extinction of the English settlement of Jamestown in Virginia, new and stronger colonies were established by the English in the first half of the 17th century, at Plymouth, Boston, Barbados, the West Indian islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis and Providence Island. These colonies would all persevere to become centers of English civilization in the New World.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: For France, now ruled by the Bourbon King Louis XIII (r. 1610–1642) and his able minister Cardinal Richelieu, religious civil war had been reignited between French Catholics and Protestants (called Huguenots). Throughout the 1620s, Huguenots fled France and founded colonies in the New World much like their English counterparts. Then, in 1636, to decrease the power of the Habsburg dynasty who ruled Spain and the Holy Roman Empire on France's eastern border, France entered the cataclysm in Germany—on the Protestants' side. The Franco-Spanish War continued until the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: Many of the cities on the Spanish Main in the first third of the 17th century were self-sustaining but few had yet achieved any prosperity. The more backward settlements in Jamaica and Hispaniola were primarily places for ships to take on food and fresh water. Spanish Trinidad remained a popular smuggling port where European goods were plentiful and fairly cheap, and good prices were paid by its European merchants for tobacco.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: The English colonies on Saint Kitts and Nevis, founded in 1623, would prove to become wealthy sugar-growing settlements in time. Another new English venture, the Providence Island colony on what is now Providencia Island in the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua, deep in the heart of the Spanish Empire, had become the premier base for English privateers and other pirates raiding the Spanish Main.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: On the shared Anglo-French island of Saint Christophe (called "Saint Kitts" by the English) the French had the upper hand. The French settlers on Saint Christophe were mostly Catholics, while the unsanctioned but growing French colonial presence in northwest Hispaniola (the future nation of Haiti) was largely made up of French Protestants who had settled there without Spain's permission to escape Catholic persecution back home. France cared little what happened to the troublesome Huguenots, but the colonization of western Hispaniola allowed the French to both rid themselves of their religious minority and strike a blow against Spain—an excellent bargain, from the French Crown's point of view. The ambitious Huguenots had also claimed the island of Tortuga off the northwest coast of Hispaniola and had established the settlement of Petit-Goâve on the island itself. Tortuga in particular was to become a pirate and privateer haven and was beloved of smugglers of all nationalities—after all, even the creation of the settlement had been illegal.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: Dutch colonies in the Caribbean remained rare until the second third of the 17th century. Along with the traditional privateering anchorages in the Bahamas and Florida, the Dutch West India Company settled a "factory" (commercial town) at New Amsterdam on the North American mainland in 1626 and at Curaçao in 1634, an island positioned right in the center of the Caribbean off the northern coast of Venezuela that was perfectly positioned to become a major maritime crossroads.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: The mid-17th century in the Caribbean was again shaped by events in far-off Europe. For the Dutch Netherlands, France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, the Thirty Years War being fought in Germany, the last great religious war in Europe, had degenerated into an outbreak of famine, plague and starvation that managed to kill off one-third to one-half of the population of Germany. England, having avoided any entanglement in the European mainland's wars, had fallen victim to its own ruinous civil war that resulted in the short but brutal Puritan military dictatorship (1649–1660) of the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell and his Roundhead armies. Of all the European Great Powers, Spain was in the worst shape economically and militarily as the Thirty Years War concluded in 1648. Economic conditions had become so poor for the Spanish by the middle of the 17th century that a major rebellion began against the bankrupt and ineffective Habsburg government of King Philip IV (r. 1625–1665) that was eventually put down only with bloody reprisals by the Spanish Crown. This did not make Philip IV more popular.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: But disasters in the Old World bred opportunities in the New World. The Spanish Empire's colonies were badly neglected from the middle of the 17th century because of Spain's many woes. Freebooters and privateers, experienced after decades of European warfare, pillaged and plundered the almost defenseless Spanish settlements with ease and with little interference from the European governments back home who were too worried about their own problems to turn much attention to their New World colonies. The non-Spanish colonies were growing and expanding across the Caribbean, fueled by a great increase in immigration as people fled from the chaos and lack of economic opportunity in Europe. While most of these new immigrants settled into the West Indies' expanding plantation economy, others took to the life of the buccaneer. Meanwhile, the Dutch, at last independent of Spain when the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia ended their own Eighty Years War (1568–1648) with the Habsburgs, made a fortune carrying the European trade goods needed by these new colonies. Peaceful trading was not as profitable as privateering, but it was a safer business.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: By the later half of the 17th century, Barbados had become the unofficial capital of the English West Indies before this position was claimed by Jamaica later in the century. Barbados was a merchant's dream port in this period. European goods were freely available, the island's sugar crop sold for premium prices, and the island's English governor rarely sought to enforce any type of mercantilist regulations. The English colonies at Saint Kitts and Nevis were economically strong and now well-populated as the demand for sugar in Europe increasingly drove their plantation-based economies. The English had also expanded their dominion in the Caribbean and settled several new islands, including Bermuda in 1612, Antigua and Montserrat in 1632, and Eleuthera in the Bahamas in 1648, though these settlements began like all the others as relatively tiny communities that were not economically self-sufficient.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: The French also founded major new colonies on the sugar-growing islands of Guadeloupe in 1634 and Martinique in 1635 in the Lesser Antilles. However, the heart of French activity in the Caribbean in the 17th century remained Tortuga, the fortified island haven off the coast of Hispaniola for privateers, buccaneers and outright pirates. The main French colony on the rest of Hispaniola remained the settlement of Petit-Goâve, which was the French toehold that would develop into the modern state of Haiti. French privateers still used the tent city anchorages in the Florida Keys to plunder the Spaniards' shipping in the Straits of Florida, as well as to raid the shipping that plied the sealanes off the northern coast of Cuba.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: For the Dutch in the 17th century Caribbean, the island of Curaçao was the equivalent of England's port at Barbados. This large, rich, well-defended free port, open to the ships of all the European states, offered good prices for tobacco, sugar and cocoa that were re-exported to Europe and also sold large quantities of manufactured goods in return to the colonists of every nation in the New World. A second Dutch-controlled free port had also developed on the island of Sint Eustatius which was settled in 1636. The constant back-and-forth warfare between the Dutch and the English for possession of it in the 1660s later damaged the island's economy and desirability as a port. The Dutch also had set up a settlement on the island of Saint Martin which became another haven for Dutch sugar planters and their African slave labor. In 1648, the Dutch agreed to divide the prosperous island in half with the French.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: The late 17th and early 18th centuries (particularly between the years 1706 to 1726) are often considered the "Golden Age of Piracy" in the Caribbean, and pirate ports experienced rapid growth in the areas in and surrounding the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Furthermore, during this time period there were approximately 2400 men that were currently active pirates. The military power of the Spanish Empire in the New World started to decline when King Philip IV of Spain was succeeded by King Charles II (r. 1665–1700), who in 1665 became the last Habsburg king of Spain at the age of four. While Spanish America in the late 17th century had little military protection as Spain entered a phase of decline as a Great Power, it also suffered less from the Spanish Crown's mercantilist policies with its economy. This lack of interference, combined with a surge in output from the silver mines due to increased availability of slave labor (the demand for sugar increased the number of slaves brought to the Caribbean) began a resurgence in the fortunes of Spanish America.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: England, France and the Dutch Netherlands had all become New World colonial powerhouses in their own right by 1660. Worried by the Dutch Republic's intense commercial success since the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia, England launched a trade war with the Dutch. The English Parliament passed the first of its own mercantilist Navigation Acts (1651) and the Staple Act (1663) that required that English colonial goods be carried only in English ships and legislated limits on trade between the English colonies and foreigners. These laws were aimed at ruining the Dutch merchants whose livelihoods depended on free trade. This trade war would lead to three outright Anglo-Dutch Wars over the course of the next twenty-five years. Meanwhile, King Louis XIV of France (r. 1642–1715) had finally assumed his majority with the death of his regent mother Queen Anne of Austria's chief minister, Cardinal Mazarin, in 1661. The "Sun King's" aggressive foreign policy was aimed at expanding France's eastern border with the Holy Roman Empire and led to constant warfare (Franco-Dutch War and Nine Years' War) against shifting alliances that included England, the Dutch Republic, the various German states and Spain. In short, Europe was consumed in the final decades of the 17th century by nearly constant dynastic intrigue and warfare—an opportune time for pirates and privateers to engage in their bloody trade.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: In the Caribbean, this political environment created many new threats for colonial governors. The sugar island of Sint Eustatius changed ownership ten times between 1664 and 1674 as the English and Dutch dueled for supremacy there. Consumed with the various wars in Europe, the mother countries provided few military reinforcements to their colonies, so the governors of the Caribbean increasingly made use of buccaneers as mercenaries and privateers to protect their territories or carry the fight to their country's enemies. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these undisciplined and greedy dogs of war often proved difficult for their sponsors to control.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: By the late 17th century, the great Spanish towns of the Caribbean had begun to prosper and Spain also began to make a slow, fitful recovery, but remained poorly defended militarily because of Spain's problems and so were sometimes easy prey for pirates and privateers. The English presence continued to expand in the Caribbean as England itself was rising toward great power status in Europe. Captured from Spain in 1655, the island of Jamaica had been taken over by England and its chief settlement of Port Royal had become a new English buccaneer haven in the midst of the Spanish Empire. Jamaica was slowly transformed, along with Saint Kitts, into the heart of the English presence in the Caribbean. At the same time the French Lesser Antilles colonies of Guadeloupe and Martinique remained the main centers of French power in the Caribbean, as well as among the richest French possessions because of their increasingly profitable sugar plantations. The French also maintained privateering strongholds around western Hispaniola, at their traditional pirate port of Tortuga, and their Hispaniolan capital of Petit-Goâve. The French further expanded their settlements on the western half of Hispaniola and founded Léogâne and Port-de-Paix, even as sugar plantations became the primary industry for the French colonies of the Caribbean.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: At the start of the 18th century, Europe remained riven by warfare and constant diplomatic intrigue. France was still the dominant power but now had to contend with a new rival, England (Great Britain after 1707) which emerged as a great power at sea and land during the War of the Spanish Succession. But the depredations of the pirates and buccaneers in the Americas in the latter half of the 17th century and of similar mercenaries in Germany during the Thirty Years War had taught the rulers and military leaders of Europe that those who fought for profit rather than for King and Country could often ruin the local economy of the region they plundered, in this case the entire Caribbean. At the same time, the constant warfare had led the Great Powers to develop larger standing armies and bigger navies to meet the demands of global colonial warfare. By 1700, the European states had enough troops and ships at their disposal to begin better protecting the important colonies in the West Indies and in the Americas without relying on the aid of privateers. This spelled the doom of privateering and the easy (and nicely legal) life it provided for the buccaneer. Although Spain remained a weak power for the rest of the colonial period, pirates in large numbers generally disappeared after 1730, chased from the seas by a new British Royal Navy squadron based at Port Royal, Jamaica and a smaller group of Spanish privateers sailing from the Spanish Main known as the Costa Garda (Coast Guard in English). With regular military forces now on-station in the West Indies, letters of marque were harder and harder to obtain.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: Economically, the late 17th century and the early 18th century was a time of growing wealth and trade for all the nations who controlled territory in the Caribbean. Although some piracy would always remain until the mid-18th century, the path to wealth in the Caribbean in the future lay through peaceful trade, the growing of tobacco, rice and sugar and smuggling to avoid the British Navigation Acts and Spanish mercantilist laws. By the 18th century the Bahamas had become the new colonial frontier for the British. The Republic of Pirates at the port of Nassau became one of the last pirate havens. A small British colony had even sprung up in former Spanish territory at Belize in Honduras that had been founded by an English pirate in 1638. The French colonial empire in the Caribbean had not grown substantially by the start of the 18th century. The sugar islands of Guadaloupe and Martinique remained the twin economic capitals of the French Lesser Antilles, and were now equal in population and prosperity to the largest of the English's Caribbean colonies. Tortuga had begun to decline in importance, but France's Hispaniolan settlements were becoming major importers of African slaves as French sugar plantations spread across the western coast of that island, forming the nucleus of the modern nation of Haiti.


title: Piracy in the Caribbean

text: The decline of piracy in the Caribbean paralleled the decline of the use of mercenaries and the rise of national armies in Europe. Following the end of the Thirty Years' War the direct power of the state in Europe expanded. Armies were systematized and brought under direct state control; the Western European states' navies were expanded and their mission was extended to cover combating piracy. The elimination of piracy from European waters expanded to the Caribbean beginning as early as 1600 with the expansion of standing Royal Naval vessels in the Caribbean, numbering 124 by 1718. Other colonial powers soon followed suit and by the beginning of the nineteenth century, France, Spain, and the United States had all stationed ships in the Caribbean.