Ready for the ASB's 4th of July Beach Party?
We are – don’t forget the sunscreen, bring all your favorite beach gear and, most importantly, be ready for fun!
We’ve been getting lots of questions about how to get there so we’ve attached below a map of the location. The closest metro stop is Poblenou (yellow line – L4), but it’s still a bit of a walk from there (four long blocks). The bus will get you much closer and you can choose from either Line 26 or Line 41.
See you there!
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Download: 2009-07-04 July 4 Beach Party Map.pdf
After hanging out on the beach with the American Society's Fourth of July party, dust of the sand and head over to Hard Rock Cafe. Show your American passport and get a free hot fudge sundae dessert with purchase of a main course. Also, special Budweiser promotion: 4 beers for 5 euros.
Drawn by employment opportunities in wartime industries, between 10,000 and 12,000 African American people left the south for East St. Louis, Illinois in 1916 and 1917 as part of the Great Migration. Many white citizens of East St. Louis were disturbed by this movement, and by the increase in employment of black people in the city's industrial plants.
On July 1, 1917, a rumor spread claiming that a white man had been killed by a black man, and tensions boiled over. The next day, the city of East St. Louis exploded in the worst racial rioting the country had ever seen. Most of the violence -- drive-by shootings, beatings, and arson -- targeted the African American community. The riots raged for nearly a week, leaving nine whites and hundreds of African Americans dead, and property damage estimated at close to $400,000. More than six thousand black citizens, fearing for their lives, fled the city.
The carnage was all the more shocking because it occurred only shortly after American's entry into World War I. According to historian Winston James, "You have black troops going off to fight to make the world safe for democracy in April and in July you have black people being murdered in the most wanton and barbaric manner in East St. Louis; children being thrown back into flaming houses, people being boarded up in their houses before they're torched so that they couldn't escape. So even by American standards, East St. Louis was a horror."
At the end of a July 8 meeting in Harlem to discuss the violence, Marcus Garvey, recently returned from a year-long speaking tour of the country, asked to say a few words. The crowd stood breathless as Garvey thundered condemnation. "Millions of our people in slavery gave their lives that America might live," he said. "From the labors of these people the country grew in power, until her wealth today is computed above that of any two nations. With all the service that the Negro gave he is still a despised creature in the eyes of white people, for if he were not to them despised, the whites of this country would never allow such outrages as the East St. Louis massacre. ...This is a massacre that will go down in history as one of the bloodiest outrages against mankind for which any class of people could be held guilty."
From www.pbs.org
On July 1, 1917, a rumor spread claiming that a white man had been killed by a black man, and tensions boiled over. The next day, the city of East St. Louis exploded in the worst racial rioting the country had ever seen. Most of the violence -- drive-by shootings, beatings, and arson -- targeted the African American community. The riots raged for nearly a week, leaving nine whites and hundreds of African Americans dead, and property damage estimated at close to $400,000. More than six thousand black citizens, fearing for their lives, fled the city.
The carnage was all the more shocking because it occurred only shortly after American's entry into World War I. According to historian Winston James, "You have black troops going off to fight to make the world safe for democracy in April and in July you have black people being murdered in the most wanton and barbaric manner in East St. Louis; children being thrown back into flaming houses, people being boarded up in their houses before they're torched so that they couldn't escape. So even by American standards, East St. Louis was a horror."
At the end of a July 8 meeting in Harlem to discuss the violence, Marcus Garvey, recently returned from a year-long speaking tour of the country, asked to say a few words. The crowd stood breathless as Garvey thundered condemnation. "Millions of our people in slavery gave their lives that America might live," he said. "From the labors of these people the country grew in power, until her wealth today is computed above that of any two nations. With all the service that the Negro gave he is still a despised creature in the eyes of white people, for if he were not to them despised, the whites of this country would never allow such outrages as the East St. Louis massacre. ...This is a massacre that will go down in history as one of the bloodiest outrages against mankind for which any class of people could be held guilty."
From www.pbs.org
July 2, 1776
The Continental Congress adopts a resolution severing ties with Great Britain although the wording of the formal Declaration of Independence is not approved until July 4.
George Washington's General Orders from New York:
"The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their Houses, and Farms, are to be pillaged and destroyed, and they consigned to a State of Wretchedness from which no human efforts will probably deliver them. The fate of unborn Millions will now depend, under God, on the Courage and Conduct of this army -- Our cruel and unrelenting Enemy leaves us no choice but a brave resistance, or the most abject submission; this is all we can expect -- We have therefore to resolve to conquer or die: Our own Country's Honor, all call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble Actions -- The Eyes of all our Countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings, and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the Tyranny meditated against them. Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and shew the whole world, that a Freeman contending for LIBERTY on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth."
The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799
The Continental Congress adopts a resolution severing ties with Great Britain although the wording of the formal Declaration of Independence is not approved until July 4.
George Washington's General Orders from New York:
"The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their Houses, and Farms, are to be pillaged and destroyed, and they consigned to a State of Wretchedness from which no human efforts will probably deliver them. The fate of unborn Millions will now depend, under God, on the Courage and Conduct of this army -- Our cruel and unrelenting Enemy leaves us no choice but a brave resistance, or the most abject submission; this is all we can expect -- We have therefore to resolve to conquer or die: Our own Country's Honor, all call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble Actions -- The Eyes of all our Countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings, and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the Tyranny meditated against them. Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and shew the whole world, that a Freeman contending for LIBERTY on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth."
The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799
July 4, 1776
"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
The Continental Congress was the government of the thirteen colonies and, later, of the new nation, from 1775-1788. The fifty-six men who signed the Declaration of Independence were well educated, prosperous, and respected in their communities. Merchants, planters, doctors, and lawyers, most were between thirty and fifty years of age (the youngest was twenty-six; the oldest, seventy). All knew that by attaching their names to what the British considered a treasonable document, they risked lives, liberty, and property. As Benjamin Franklin famously remarked to his fellow delegates, "We must all hang together or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
Only John Hancock of Massachusetts as President of the Continental Congress and Secretary Charles Thomson signed the first copy on July 4. This was sent immediately to the official printer for Congress to be produced for wide distribution. What subsequently happened to the original is unknown.
The majority of the delegates in Congress signed the Declaration in Philadelphia on August 2, 1776. Those who were not present on that day signed during the following months. Most of the members of Congress formally signed the Declaration, but three did not sign at all.
From http://research.history.org/
"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
The Continental Congress was the government of the thirteen colonies and, later, of the new nation, from 1775-1788. The fifty-six men who signed the Declaration of Independence were well educated, prosperous, and respected in their communities. Merchants, planters, doctors, and lawyers, most were between thirty and fifty years of age (the youngest was twenty-six; the oldest, seventy). All knew that by attaching their names to what the British considered a treasonable document, they risked lives, liberty, and property. As Benjamin Franklin famously remarked to his fellow delegates, "We must all hang together or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
Only John Hancock of Massachusetts as President of the Continental Congress and Secretary Charles Thomson signed the first copy on July 4. This was sent immediately to the official printer for Congress to be produced for wide distribution. What subsequently happened to the original is unknown.
The majority of the delegates in Congress signed the Declaration in Philadelphia on August 2, 1776. Those who were not present on that day signed during the following months. Most of the members of Congress formally signed the Declaration, but three did not sign at all.
From http://research.history.org/
July 9, 1776
"The Hon. Continental Congress, impelled by the dictates of duty, policy and necessity, having been pleased to dissolve the Connection which subsisted between this Country, and Great Britain, and to declare the United Colonies of North America, free and independent States: The several brigades are to be drawn up this evening on their respective Parades, at Six OClock, when the declaration of Congress, shewing the grounds and reasons of this measure, is to be read with an audible voice.
The General hopes this important Event will serve as a fresh incentive to every officer, and soldier, to act with Fidelity and Courage, as knowing that now the peace and safety of his Country depends (under God) solely on the success of our arms: And that he is now in the service of a State, possessed of sufficient power to reward his merit, and advance him to the highest Honors of a free Country."
The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799.
"The Hon. Continental Congress, impelled by the dictates of duty, policy and necessity, having been pleased to dissolve the Connection which subsisted between this Country, and Great Britain, and to declare the United Colonies of North America, free and independent States: The several brigades are to be drawn up this evening on their respective Parades, at Six OClock, when the declaration of Congress, shewing the grounds and reasons of this measure, is to be read with an audible voice.
The General hopes this important Event will serve as a fresh incentive to every officer, and soldier, to act with Fidelity and Courage, as knowing that now the peace and safety of his Country depends (under God) solely on the success of our arms: And that he is now in the service of a State, possessed of sufficient power to reward his merit, and advance him to the highest Honors of a free Country."
The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799.
The 5th Barcelona Festival of Song will take place from 2nd – 11th July; an event dedicated to the promotion of the Ibero-American vocal repertoire. Its main attraction is a free concert series in which one can listen to music from all over the Ibero-American region, performed by artists from nine countries. With this initiative, the Barcelona Festival of Song looks to generate spaces for understanding and intercultural exchange and to contribute to the preservation of the Latin American and Spanish musical heritage…
For more info please download the attached file.
For more info please download the attached file.
Download: 2009-07-02 BCN festival of song.jpg
The American Society of Barcelona is now a group on Facebook! Check out our new Facebook group page and add yourself to our Facebook group. You can browse our photos, post suggestions or open a discussion group! Go to: www.facebook.com to find out more!
Did you know that as a member of the American Society of Barcelona you have membership privileges to 30 American clubs worldwide?
Because of it’s involvement with the Association of American Clubs (AAC), the members of American Society of Barcelona are entitled to participate in activities hosted by AAC member-clubs at the host club's member price and to avail themselves of the privileges and use of local club facilities, where available. If you are planning to visit an AAC member city and wish to take advantage of your associate club member benefits, contact us at admin@amersoc.com to receive your letter of introduction.
Because of it’s involvement with the Association of American Clubs (AAC), the members of American Society of Barcelona are entitled to participate in activities hosted by AAC member-clubs at the host club's member price and to avail themselves of the privileges and use of local club facilities, where available. If you are planning to visit an AAC member city and wish to take advantage of your associate club member benefits, contact us at admin@amersoc.com to receive your letter of introduction.