Rough Riders

Examples of Rough Riders in the following topics:

• War, Empire, and an Emerging American World Power

  • The Spanish were quickly defeated, and Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders gained fame in Cuba.
  • The 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, known today as the Rough Riders, became national heroes after the United States defeated Spain in the Spanish-American War.

• The Cuban War of Independence

  • During the administration of William McKinley, the USS Maine was sent to Havana on a "courtesy visit", designed to remind the Spanish of American concern over the rough-handling of the insurrection.
  • Chief among them were Commodore Dewey and Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, who had resigned as assistant secretary of the navy to lead his volunteer regiment, the "Rough Riders," to service in Cuba.

• The United States and the World

  • Volunteers, was recruited throughout the United States and known as the Rough Riders because of the large number of cowboys to volunteer.

• The Call to Arms

  • One notable problem that arose in the writing and passage of the bill was former President Theodore Roosevelt’s desire to utilize a wholly volunteer fighting force in Europe, similar to the so-called Rough Riders cavalry regiment in which he served during the Spanish-American War in Cuba.

• Cheap Amusements

  • The 1920s saw the development of many innovations in terms of the roller coaster, which employed extreme drops and speeds to thrill the riders.
  • Counteracting this somatic ailment was a national distraction known as the burlesque show, consisting of a coterie of rough-and-tumble comedians supported by twenty or more chorus girls.

• Sit-Ins and Freedom Rides

  • Led by CORE Director James Farmer, 13 riders (seven black, six white) left Washington, DC, on Greyhound and Trailways buses.
  • Most of the Riders were from CORE and two were from SNCC; many were in their 40s and 50s.
  • The freedom riders encountered little difficulty until they reached Rock Hill, South Carolina, where a mob severely beat John Lewis, a freedom rider who later became chairman of SNCC.
  • The danger increased as the riders continued through Georgia into Alabama, where one of the two buses was firebombed outside the town of Anniston.
  • The second group continued to Birmingham, where the riders were attacked by the Ku Klux Klan as they attempted to disembark at the city bus station.

• Federal Intervention

  • Robert Kennedy played a large role in the Freedom Riders protests.
  • After the bus bombings in Anniston, Alabama, Kennedy sent John Seigenthaler, his administrative assistant, to Alabama to secure the riders' safety.
  • He also forced the Greyhound bus company to provide the Freedom Riders with a bus driver to ensure they could continue their journey.
  • While Kennedy offered protection to the Freedom Riders, he also attempted to convince them to end the Rides.

• The Second Great Awakening

  • The Methodists had an efficient organization that depended on ministers known as "circuit riders," who sought out people in remote frontier locations.
  • The circuit riders came from among the common people, which helped them establish rapport with the frontier families they hoped to convert.

• Lexington and Concord

  • Hoping for secrecy, his troops left Boston under cover of darkness, but riders from Boston let the militias know of the British plans.
  • (Paul Revere was one of these riders, but the British captured him and he never finished his ride.

• The Information Age

  • Library expansion was calculated in 1945 by writer, inventor, and librarian Fremont Rider to double in capacity every 16 years, if sufficient space was made available.
  • Rider advocated for replacing bulky, decaying printed works with miniaturized microform analog photographs, which could be duplicated on-demand for library patrons or other institutions.