1400s
South London stress - Practical History
Leaflet distributed at a Reclaim The Streets party in South London in June 1998, to place the event in context, and explain the radical history of the South London area.
Reclaim the Streets,
Today Reclaim the Streets are planning to turn part of South London into a free festival zone for the day. Most non-residential streets in South London are dominated by bumper to bumper traffic with nothing much to do except shop. RTS parties are about creating our own space where we can dance, play, eat and drink - all without any money changing hands.
1. Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress
Arawak men and women, naked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged from their villages onto the
island's beaches and swam out to get a closer look at the strange big boat. When Columbus and his
sailors came ashore, carrying swords, speaking oddly, the Arawaks ran to greet them, brought them
food, water, gifts. He later wrote of this in his log:
The Peasant War in Germany
The 1848 uprisings in Germany put Engels in mind of the last great peasant rebellions of of 1500s. As he would later write: "The parallel between the German Revolution of 1525 and that of 1848-49 was too obvious to be altogether ignored at that time."
