Thursday, November 28, 2019

Adolf Hitler Appointed Chancellor of Germany

Adolf Hitler Appointed Chancellor of Germany On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed as the chancellor of Germany by President Paul Von Hindenburg. Hindenburg made the appointment in an effort to keep Hitler and the Nazi Party â€Å"in check;† however, the decision would have disastrous results for Germany and the entire European continent. In the year and seven months that followed, Hitler was able to exploit the death of Hindenburg and combine the positions of chancellor and president into the position of Fà ¼hrer, the supreme leader of Germany. Structure of the German Government At the end of World War I, the existing German government under Kaiser Wilhelm II collapsed. In its place, Germany’s first experiment with democracy, known as the Weimar Republic, commenced. One of the new government’s first actions was to sign the controversial Treaty of Versailles which placed blame for WWI solely upon Germany. The new democracy was primarily composed of the following: The president, who was elected every seven years and vested with immense powers;The Reichstag, the German parliament, which consisted of members elected every four years and based on proportional representation- the number of seats was based on the number of votes received by each party; andThe chancellor, who was appointed by the president to oversee the Reichstag, and usually a member of the majority party in the Reichstag. Although this system put more power in the hands of the people than ever before, it was relatively unstable and would ultimately lead to the rise of one of the worst dictators in modern history. Hitler’s Return to Government After his imprisonment for his failed 1923 coup known as the Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler was outwardly reluctant to return as the leader of the Nazi Party; however, it did not take long for party followers to convince Hitler that they needed his leadership once again. With Hitler as leader, the Nazi Party gained over 100 seats in the Reichstag by 1930 and was viewed as a significant party within the German government. Much of this success can be attributed to the party’s propaganda leader, Joseph Goebbels. The Presidential Election of 1932 In the spring of 1932, Hitler ran against incumbent and WWI hero Paul von Hindenburg. The initial presidential election on March 13, 1932, was an impressive showing for the Nazi Party with Hitler receiving 30% of the vote. Hindenburg won 49% of the vote and was the leading candidate; however, he did not receive the absolute majority needed to be awarded the presidency. A run-off election was set for April 10. Hitler gained over two million votes in the run-off or approximately 36% of the total votes. Hindenburg only gained one million votes on his previous count but it was enough to give him 53% of the total electorate- enough for him to be elected to another term as president of the struggling republic. The Nazis and the Reichstag Although Hitler lost the election, the election results showed that the Nazi Party had grown both powerful and popular. In June, Hindenburg used his presidential power to dissolve the Reichstag and appointed Franz von Papen as the new chancellor. As a result, a new election had to be held for the members of the Reichstag. In this July 1932 election, the popularity of the Nazi Party would be further affirmed with their massive gain of an additional 123 seats, making them the largest party in the Reichstag. The following month, Papen offered his former supporter, Hitler, the position of Vice Chancellor. By this point, Hitler realized that he could not manipulate Papen and refused to accept the position. Instead, he worked to make Papen’s job difficult and aimed to enact a vote of no confidence. Papen orchestrated another dissolution of the Reichstag before this could occur. In the next Reichstag election, the Nazis lost 34 seats. Despite this loss, the Nazis remained powerful. Papen, who was struggling to create a working coalition within the parliament, was unable to do so without including the Nazis. With no coalition, Papen was forced to resign his position of chancellor in November of 1932. Hitler saw this as another opportunity to promote himself into the position of chancellor; however, Hindenburg instead appointed Kurt von Schleicher. Papen was dismayed by this choice as he had attempted in the interim to convince Hindenburg to reinstate him as chancellor and allow him to rule by emergency decree. A Winter of Deceit Over the course of the next two months, there was much political intrigue and backroom negotiations that occurred within the German government. A wounded Papen learned of Schleicher’s plan to split the Nazi Party and alerted Hitler. Hitler continued to cultivate the support he was gaining from bankers and industrialists throughout Germany and these groups increased their pressure on Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor. Papen worked behind the scenes against Schleicher, who soon found him out. Schleicher, upon discovering Papen’s deceit, went to Hindenburg to request the President order Papen to cease his activities. Hindenburg did the exact opposite and encouraged Papen to continue his discussions with Hitler, as long as Papen agreed to keep the talks a secret from Schleicher. A series of meetings between Hitler, Papen, and important German officials were held during the month of January. Schleicher began to realize that he was in a tenuous position and twice asked Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag and place the country under emergency decree. Both times, Hindenburg refused and on the second instance, Schleicher resigned. Hitler Is Appointed Chancellor On January 29th, a rumor began to circulate that Schleicher was planning to overthrow Hindenburg. An exhausted Hindenburg decided that the only way to eliminate the threat by Schleicher and to end the instability within the government was to appoint Hitler as chancellor. As part of the appointment negotiations, Hindenburg guaranteed Hitler that four important cabinet posts could be given to Nazis. As a sign of his gratitude and to offer the reassurance of his professed good faith to Hindenburg, Hitler agreed to appoint Papen to one of the posts. Despite Hindenburg’s misgivings, Hitler was officially appointed as chancellor and sworn in at noon on January 30, 1933. Papen was named as his vice-chancellor, a nomination Hindenburg decided to insist upon to relieve some of his own hesitation with Hitler’s appointment. Longtime Nazi Party member Hermann Gà ¶ring was appointed in the dual roles of Minister of the Interior of Prussia and Minister Without Portfolio. Another Nazi, Wilhelm Frick, was named Minister of the Interior. The End of the Republic Although Hitler would not become the Fà ¼hrer until Hindenburg’s death on August 2, 1934, the downfall of the German republic had officially begun. Over the course of the next 19 months, a variety of events would drastically increase Hitler’s power over the German government and the German military. It would only be a matter of time before Adolf Hitler attempted to assert his power over the entire continent of Europe. Sources and Further Reading Hett, Benjamin Carter. The Death of Democracy: Hitlers Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar Republic. New York: Henry Holt, 2018.  Jones, Larry Eugene. Hitler versus Hindenburg: The 1932 Presidential Elections and the End of the Weimar Republic. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press, 2016.  McDonough, Frank. Hitler and the Rise of the Nazi Party. London: Routledge, 2012.  Von Schlabrendorff, Fabian. The Secret War Against Hitler. New York, Routledge, 1994.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

All The Presidents Men Critic essays

All The Presidents Men Critic essays All The Presidents Men Critic All the Presidents Men is the story of the role of the press and Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in the Watergate scandal that forced Richard Nixon from his Presidential office. In the run-up to the 1972 election, Bob Woodward covers what at first appears to be a third rate break-in at the Democratic Party National headquarters located in the Watergate Complex. Five men in business suits, four of whom were Cubans, were caught attempting to electronically bug the office of Mr. OBrien, a Democrat. He is surprised to find top lawyers already on the defense case, and the discovery of names and addresses of Republican fund organizers in the address book belonging to one of the burglars further arouses his suspicions. The editor of the Post, Benjamin C. Bradlee, is prepared to run with the story and assigns Woodward and Carl Bernstein to work on the developments together. The two begin making phone calls and discover that there was a secret security fund collect ed in Maurice H. Stans safe for the purpose of illegal activities by the Committee to Re-elect the President. Woodwards anonymous high-level source called Deep Throat would meet him in a dark parking garage in the middle of the night, and through him, the reporters find the trail leading higher and higher in the Republican Party, and eventually into the White House itself. The ruthless committee hired hundreds of people to sabotage democratic activities and even go as far as ruining the campaign of Edmund Muskie through the Canuck Letter, written by the Deputy Director of Communications in the White House, Kenneth W. Clawson. The reporters attempted to interview the Grand Jury from the previous trials with Liddy and McCord but the members had alerted prosecutors so Judge Sirica called them to court and anonymously condemned their actions and gave them a speech o...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Disc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Disc - Essay Example 1 book (246), there is a gender bias that exists in virtually every aspect of science instruction This results in the under-representation of women in related industries, including education, which only serves to further the problem. Methods to overcome this issue must therefore be focused on removing the bias from the classroom, rather than attempting to eliminate a non-existent weakness among females. This is no easy task, as inequality has permeated practically all fields of science and math, requiring the evaluation of everything from the delivery of education to the validity of the information that is presented. Removing the gender bias in classroom science can (and should) be addressed in many ways. Including a feminist pedagogy to the instruction approach will help to identify problem areas that need to be altered, while ensuring equal considerations to famous females in the field provides a tactical approach. These methods should help all students by setting the example that they do not need to fit a particular stereotype in order to succeed in science and

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Near Earth Objects Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Near Earth Objects - Essay Example However, some asteroids which orbit near the sun can intersect with the earth’s path, and the results could vary from no-effect to catastrophic. Asteroids are floating masses of rocks which can also have a mix of iron and nickel. These irregularly-shaped chunks which can range from boulder-size to that of our very own moon are, thanks to Jupiter’s massive size and pull of gravity, held near the huge planet and Mars. There are different classes or types of NEAs depending on their aphelion distance, perihelion distance, and semi-major axes, namely, Aten, Apollo, and Amor. To show their differences, here is a table from the Near Earth Object Programpage of the NASA portal (â€Å"Neo Groups,† NASA Portal): Chunks of ice, dust, and rocky rubble that travel though space are called comets. Comets go much farther than asteroids do, reaching as far as the orbit of Neptune or even way beyond to a cloud surrounding the outer solar system known as the Oort cloud. Comet size usually ranges from half a mile to six miles across. A comet’s travel around the sun can take from a few years to thousands. Comets sometimes get â€Å"dislodged from their orbits by gravity and flung toward the sun, gases vaporizing off the surface create the familiar ‘tail’† (Wyckoff, â€Å"Asteroids and Comets†) that people see. Although this trail of gas and debris is considered a thing of beauty to behold, we must take note that this is due to a dislodgement in the comet’s orbit and things could certainly turn very ugly once size, speed, and direction come into play. One good example of that is the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. In July of 1994, this catastrophic comet collided with Jupiter—the first collision of two heavenly bodies in the solar system to be observed. The comet was broken into fragments and left huge marks on the planet. Fragment A, for example, â€Å"struck

Monday, November 18, 2019

Cross Cultural Perspectives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Cross Cultural Perspectives - Essay Example To cope with an unpredictable world you mut build an enormou amount of flexibility into your organization. While you cannot predict the future, you can get a handle on trend, which i a way to take advantage of change and convert rik into opportunitie. n today' tidal wave of global economic, technological, and ocial change, that name of the game for you and your organization i urvival. If you are going to withtand relentle and contantly growing global competition, you need to be different and radically change the way of doing buine. You have to give up the old hierarchical, adverarial approach which wate individual talent and ap energy in unproductive conflict. Intead you need to create a new management model, witch from management to leaderhip, manage change, build trut, drive out fear of failure and and create productive partnerhip in which everyone can offer their unique knowledge and talent. If you know how to help your organization to do thi, you can make a deciive difference. How you change a buine unit to adapt to hifting economy and market i a matter of management tyle. Evolutionary change, that involve etting direction, allocating reponibilitie, and etablihing reaonable timeline for achieving objective, i relatively painle. However, it i rarely fat enough or comprehenive enough to move ahead of the curve in an evolving world where take are high, and the repone time i hort. When faced with market-driven urgency, abrupt and ometime diruptive change, uch a dramatic downizing or reengineering, may be required to keep the company competitive. In ituation when timing i critical to ucce, and companie mut get more efficient and productive rapidly, revolutionary change i demanded. When chooing between evolutionary change and revolutionary action, a leader mut purue a balanced and pragmatic approach. winging too far to revolutionary extreme may create "an organizational culture that i o impatient, and o focued on change, that it fail to give new initiative and new peronnel time to take root, tabilize, and grow. What' more, it create a high-tenion environment that intimidate rather than nurture people, leaving them with little or no emotional invetment in the company." Group, ocietie, or culture have value that are largely hared by their member. The value identify thoe object, condition or characteritic that member of the ociety conider important; that i, valuable. In the United tate, for example, value might include material comfort, wealth, competition, individualim or religioity. The value of a ociety can often be identified by noting which people receive honor or repect. In the U, for example, profeional athlete are honored (in the form of monetary payment) more than college profeor, in part becaue the ociety repect peronal value uch a phyical activity, fitne, and competitivene more than mental activity and

Friday, November 15, 2019

Conservation of historic buildings and monuments

Conservation of historic buildings and monuments Introduction Throughout the renaissance period, preservation and restoration remained an experimental process in which many of the tools, instruments and methods were selected at random. The process was pursued with very little critical or historical understanding. This led to many architects such as Viollet-le-Duc, Sir George Gilbert Scott, John Ruskin and William Morris voicing their perceptions of how preservation and restoration should restore buildings to how they would have appeared in their prime. Most of our modern principles of conservation arose from the ideas of John Ruskin and William Morris from the mid 19th century. They stated how we are merely custodians of the buildings left form our predecessors for our future generations. They also state how our intervention in historic buildings must be kept to a minimum and how continued repair and maintenance of these historic buildings must be valued. These ideas form the basis of modern perception of preservation and restoration of our valued historic buildings and monuments. What is Conservation? Conservation is a way of planning designed to conserve historic buildings, areas and monuments in an effort to connect a places historical background to its population and primarily its culture. Conservation is means of green building, that is, reusing the existing building as oppose to new construction for a modern purpose and use. The four main styles of conservation of historic buildings are preservation, rehabilitation, reconstruction and restoration. Preservation Preservation is the means of keeping an historic building a close as possible to its original state by means of continued repair and maintenance. This focuses on the stabilization and repair of the existing materials in the building and the retention of a buildings state as it has evolved over time. Restoration Restoration of historic buildings involves reconstructing parts of the building that have fallen into decay as imitations of the highest possible quality of the original building. This form depicts a building at one stage in time and often removes any evidence of any other period in which the building existed. Rehabilitation Rehabilitation sees the need to alter or extent to an historic building to meet modern demands while still keeping the historical character of the building. Reconstruction Reconstruction re-creates vanished buildings or parts of buildings by interpretive means. Criticisms of Conservation Like many developments in urban design and planning, conservation has had its share of negative perceptions. Such aspects if this criticism include; Cost Style Mistakes made Cost implications of Conservation There are many costs associated with the preservation or restoration of an historic building. Often they need specialist workmanship which can be both time and money consuming on a construction project. Delicate elements of the building often require propping or some sort of support which can take up valuable space on site. Many of the systems in an old building need upgrading which can be difficult to install. Requirements such as energy rating and fire certificates can be hard to upgrade as often the original design of the building did not consider such modern ideas. Elements such as cavity walls or wood cladding are expensive and difficult to bring up to modern standards regarding these requirements. Structural elements of an historic building are the most endeavouring aspects of the conservation process to get right. Foundations are a recurring issue with many of the buildings as newer structures with deeper and heavier foundations can often cause uplift of the older building. Th e cost of repairing the foundations of these buildings are astronomical so diligent design of new foundations and monitoring of existing buildings is paramount during construction. All this adds up on a construction project which has undesired implicated cost for both contractor and engineer. Modern style construction Due to property price rises and limitation of space in city centres our society has constructed its buildings higher and higher to meet its purposes. This popular style of higher buildings can often cause the older, smaller historic buildings to become dwarfed and ultimately undesirable for its occupants. As the push towards increased numbers of taller sky-scrapers in urban areas is inevitable, this leaves many of the smaller older buildings redundant. Critics also say that the older historic buildings cannot accommodate as many people or businesses as newer developments can. This increases the rent on these buildings and causes low income retailers and residents to relocate. This has a negative impact on a city centre regarding retailing. Mistakes in conservation Another criticism of conservation is that it is very susceptible to mistakes being made which are ultimately to the determent of the building. Inappropriate renovations can cause damage to buildings and put it worse off than it was before. According to the Tipperary county council website some of the most common mistakes made in small scale conservation in the area are; Removal of old 18th or 19th century windows to be replaced with new PVC, plastic or aluminium windows The removal of original slate and the replacement with imitation slate or tiles The removal of the render. The website says how these changes can affect the ventilation systems in the building and can exacerbate any decaying or rotting that is taking place in the building. Removal of render and replacing it with modern Portland cement which is a lot harder can cause cracking, admit moisture and trap it within the wall. This is just an example of a few of the mistakes that can be made during the renovation process. It is clear that a great responsibility is undertaken in conducting a conservation of a building. It is the utmost importance that the right techniques and products are investigated as to preserve the building and not to amplify or created any problems with the building or monument. Sustainability of conservation Historic buildings are inherently sustainable. The correct preservation can maximise the use of the existing materials and infrastructure and in return reduces waste caused by demolition and energy put into the production of new materials and construction. Many of the old buildings were designed with sustainability in mind. Many features of historic buildings were built with aspects like climate and site situation in mind to give a sustainable build. If correctly conserved, many old buildings can serve future generations for many years to come. Conservation versus New Construction Preserving a building is often referred to as the ultimate recycling project. Although, as I have already outlined it has its many sceptics who say that historic buildings are beyond their use and require significant corrective measure to make them viable as a functioning structure. However, Green and sustainable design has become ever more popular in todays new construction and preservation industries. A major aspect to this is the reduction in carbon that conservation brings when compared with new construction. Concrete products, steel, transportation, heating and electricity are the main factors contributing to a projects overall carbon emissions. Conservation of old buildings drastically cuts down on new concrete products and their inherent transportation costs as well as the use of electricity to operate plant that is associated with new construction. Conservation versus Demolition The conservation of old buildings is a much more sensible option than demolition in relation to sustainability. There are many times when a building is deemed structurally unsound and the need for demolition is unrivalled in the interest of public safety but this should not prevent our society from conserving many of our old buildings for continued use. Conserving greatly reduces the amount of construction material being dumped in landfill. Demolition creates vast amount of crushed concrete and stone that is often unusable for construction again. Ethics and conservation I have decided to divide ethics and conservation into two sub-headings that I will discuss, they are Ethics of conservation Ethics within conservation. Ethics of conservation Preservation of historic buildings and monuments plays a vital role in the growth of our civilization. It is oftentimes easy to disregard the accomplishments of past generations as we strive to change our societies and environments to be more suited to our present needs. John Ruskin (1819-1900) was one the first to develop the conservation movement whose ideals were that a historic building, painting or sculpture is a unique creation by an artisan or artist in a specific historic context. He believed that such genuine works of art resulted from personal sacrifice and it was based on mans perception of beauty on nature, where in itself existed as a reflection of god. (Jukka Jokilehto, A History of Architectural Conservation, 1999, page175) Such ideals led to him becoming a pioneer in help organise preservation of historic buildings and monuments writing many works on the subject. His principles form the basis on conservation in todays world where we see historic buildings and monuments as a link to our past and our culture. With ongoing development of our city centres and transportation networks it would be very easy to demolish the outdated and often useless buildings and monuments that get in our way. Therefore, the question arises why dont we? Conservation is an ethical subject with the decision to neglect our revered buildings and monuments a conscientious one. As John Ruskin said many of our monasteries and churches alike are works of art in the reflection of god. It is often said that age in itself contributes to beauty. Age is a thing that is associated with wisdom and many of our historic buildings add a feeling of intellect and enlightenment to an area. Often, historic conservation of city centre can help them become more competitive with regard to retailing and business as historic, unique buildings give areas more prominence in comparison to the homogeneous skyscrapers that dominate the skylines of many of our large cities. Ethics within conservation There are many ethical values within conservation itself that regulates the nature of the industry. As one would expect it is a delicate subject whether or whether not to intervene with the natural state of a revered building or monument. Therefore, many charters and polices have been developed and implemented over the years. The first time that an international agreement was made on the principles of conservation was the Athens charter of 1931. The charter was later review and update with the Venice Charter in 1964 which relates to historic buildings, the Burra charter which deals with places of historic significance and the Washington Charter which is relates to historic towns and districts. These charters were drafted by The International Committee for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). Conservation is regarded as the work done to prevent further decay of a building and to extend its life. Conservation can often be undertaken with the greatest of enthusiasm and best intentions. However, the conservation process should be carried out so that no damage is done to the building and no falsifying or destruction of historical evidence occurs. Lack of information or the use of incorrect in inappropriate techniques can often unintentionally cause both, aesthetic and structural damage. According to (http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/Heritage), the main principles in these charters to help prevent unintentional damage from occurring are; Retention or restoration of historical significance Conservation process based on research Minimum physical intervention Maintenance of visual setting These are the basic principles outlined in the charters which help instil ethical practice of conservation works. Case Studies In this section I will report on two case studies which I researched which will highlight mistakes made in the past, ethics in conservation and the sustainability of conservation. The leaning Tower of Pisa The leaning tower of Pisa is one of Italys most infamous land marks. It attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. Construction of the tower began in 1173 after a period of prosperity in Pisa. The tower began to sway soon after the beginning of construction due to a poorly laid foundation and loose substrate that has allowed the foundation to shift direction. The tower was built in three stages over 177 years. The tower began to sink after construction was completed on the third floor. In 1272 construction was resumed with architect Giovanni di Simone deciding to build one side taller than the other to compensate for the tilt. This caused the tower to lean the other way resulting in the tower having a curved shape. The curve and 3.97o angle to the vertical at which the tower leans caused inherent damage to structural elements of the tower as well as aesthetic damage. This led to the Italian government to seek international aid to prevent the tower from collapsing on February of 1964. They did, however, declare that they desired to retain a certain degree of the towers tilt because of it tourism viability. Many attempts were made to rectify the foundations. Deformations were made in the soil through vertical anchorages and forces were applied using weights. This was one of the most simplistic solutions but also the most ineffective as it only resulted in inducing further compression on the soil. This caused extensive damage to the tower where cracking and splitting of many of the mall columns occurred. In 1993 900 tonnes of lead weights were applied to oppose the tilt of the structure. Additional provisional strengthening of the structure was applied with a series of circumferential steel cables. The final measure in the stabilization of the structure is to be a new technique called under-excavation. This technique consists in pulling out, about 5 m under the upstream border of the foundation, small amounts of soils, through a series of casings drilled into the soil. (www.sciencedirect.com). This it is hoped will gently cause the tower to tilt towards its desired inclination without disturbing the fragile columns in the structure. The leaning tower of Pisa is an example of restoration attempts where experimental methods were used with almost dire consequences for the building. However, an ethical approached was undertaken which was based on research and an effort to minimize distortion of the appearance of the building. The Parthenon Besides the pyramids at Giza, the Parthenon is one of most revered monument in the world. It was built between 447 432 BC by Greek architects Ictinus and Callicrates. The structure underwent extensive damage over an extended period time. In 296 BC gold from the statues in the building was removed by the general Lachares to pay his army. In the 5th century AD the temple was converted into a Christian church. In 1460 it housed a Turkish mosque and in 1687 gun-powder stored by the Turks inside the temple exploded and destroyed the central area. (www.archive.com). A recent major influence in the increased deterioration of the monument has been the expansion and development of nearby Athens. Urbanization has caused increased amount of carbon dioxide in the air which has contributed to more intense acid rain. This has seriously affected the monument more so in the last 30 years than in the previous eighteen centuries. In 1975 the Greek government made a special effort to try and restore the Parthenon to some of its former glory. After some delay, a committee was set up in 1983 which later received funding from the European Union to carry out its works. It was investigated that some of the earlier works were incorrect and therefore carefully dismantled and a restoration process commenced. The preservation firstly involved rectifying mistakes made by conservationists in the past. Steel beams were places within the stone structure to help support it but these were not coated in lead and inevitably rusted. The rusted beams expanded and cause the stone to crack more than it was so previously. It is impossible to restore the building to exactly how it was built first day but the aesthetics of the building were preserved by replacing any missing columns and lintels with precisely cut marble from the original quarry. The overall idea behind the conservation attempt is to replace all missing pieces of marble in the structure where they would have been preserving the structural integrity of the building by supporting these with modern materials. The preservation of the Parthenon shows a standard of ethics that Ruskin and Morris adhered to. Although there were mistakes made in the past, a willingness to restore the monument to its former glory while still keeping the style of the original building intact is the way it should be done. Preserving this monument is paramount as it has a clear link to the nation of Greece and its culture and past. Future Ideas From researching this project it is clear to see that conservation of old buildings could prove extremely beneficial to society with regard to sustainable living. With a recent push towards eco-living, conservation of some of our older building as oppose to demolishing them and erecting a new structure would be a way forward. In my opinion, future policies could incorporate full structural analysis to look for potential conservation processes before any building is demolished. This could be especially beneficial in city centres where construction of new multi-storey buildings is quite challenging. Also, regular maintenance checks of all buildings, historic or recently built, should take place on a regular basis as to provide any preservation techniques that may need be applied. This would greatly help sustain the buildings we have and reduce the need for any new construction which would have a positive impact for the environment. References Websites http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main http://www.wbdg.org/resources/sustainable http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/Heritage/ArchitecturalHeritage/ Conservation of historic buildings by Bernard m feilden, 1982 http://www.culture.gr/h/2/eh251.jsp?obj_id=912 Ioanna Venieri, archaeologist www.preservationnation.org

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

To Build a Fire - Man is Foolish :: London To Build a Fire Essays

To Build a Fire - Man is Foolish How many times have you seen birds flying south for the winter? They do not read somewhere or use some computer to know that they must fly to survive. In Jack London's "To Build a Fire", we see how that man is sometimes foolish. The man, who is walking in seventy-five degrees below zero weather, lets his learned behavior override his instinct. Therefore, he dies. London's theme is that no matter how intelligent society becomes, we as a species should never discard our basic instincts. In the beginning of the tale we see that the man realizes it is cold, but only sees this as a fact and not a danger. The man spit on the ground to test how cold it was. His test taught him that it was colder than he had first thought, but he never thought of that as a danger only as a reality. "That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head" (119). To many times modern man plods along oblivious to the reality that lies one moment or misstep away (Votleler 272). The man sees that he is feeling the effects of the cold more and more as he goes along, but more than ever he pushes on. Several times he comments that the cold is making his hands and feet numbed, and frostbite is killing his cheeks. He thinks "What were frosted cheek? A bit painful, that was all. . ." (120). Again he chose to ignore an instinct that would have saved him. The dog, on the other hand, although guided by his learned behavior still retains his instincts. The dog follows the man throughout his ill faded journey, but after the man perishes he relies upon his instincts to survive. This is witnessed in the last paragraph by the statement "Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew, where there were other food providers and fire providers" (129). The theme of London's "To Build a Fire" is how we should all take heed

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Airline Industry: Pricing Structure and Strategies Essay

ABSTRACT The profitability of an airline industry depends on filling seats, and on the company’s ability successfully to anticipate the cost and price structures of their competitors. However, many airline carriers have a hard time accomplishing this because the average airline passenger just needs to travel from one destination to another in the most convenient and shortest amount of time at a reasonable price. Therefore, customers in this market are not as loyal to one specific airline (brand) in the industries. The reason for this is that airline carriers provide the same services at similar prices. In addition, the passenger will only incur high switching costs if they choose to take another mode of less desirable transportation. Airline carriers have overcome these problems by using the strategy of â€Å"Price discrimination.† That is a strategy that allows them adequately to segment their potential passengers, and to offer different pricing structures that match passengers’ sensitivity to price and value differences in cost to serve, and their different competitive positions (Stern, 1989). While it also allows passengers to maximize their â€Å"expected utility† when flying with the airline carrier that meets their needs. The 1978 deregulation of the airline industry has resulted in airline carriers being unable to make a profit by filling seats, and successfully to anticipate the cost and price structures of their competitors (Bailey, David, Graham, Kaplan 1985). According to statistic, the airline industries’ profits declined in 2001 through 2003 by $23.2 billion (Smith Jr. & Cox). During this time the average airline passenger just needed to travel from one destination to another in the most convenient and shortest amount of time at a reasonable price. However, because all airline carriers provide the same services at similar prices, the passengers in this market are not as loyal to one specific airline (brand). For, example, any passengers not able to purchase a flight plan that they value, will not necessary buy the next best plan offered. Instead, these price-sensitive passengers will gravitate toward a lower-cost competitor  airline (Smith Jr. & Cox). This is especially true in this particular industry because a passenger will only incur high switching costs if they chose to take another mode of less desirable transportation. Therefore, many airline carriers had a hard time making a profit or breaking even (Brady, & Cunningham, 2001). In addition, this same deregulation of the industry provided new companies the opportunity to enter an already competitive market (Bailey, David, Graham, Kaplan. 1985). This stressed the market because pricing strategies that airlines used in the past did not adequately different between price sensitive passengers and price insensitive in this market (Sterns, 1989). Therefore, many airline carriers could not â€Å"capitalize on opportunities that [would] influence customer and [their] competitor responses (Stern, 1989). Because of this lost of profit, many airline carriers were force to file bankruptcy (Brady, & Cunningham, 2001). Therefore, as a reaction to these, external pressures many of the remaining companies (American, United, Continental, Northwest, US Air, and Delta) developed complex pricing strategies that would help them to outmaneuver their rivals (Smith Jr. & Cox). Different pricing structures were developed that allow them to match passengers’ sensitivity to pr ice and value differences in cost to serve, and their different competitive positions (Stern, 1989). In addition, sense airline carriers offer a product that is homogenous; to be successful they had to offer a product that potential passengers would view as different from their competitors’ product (Westermann, 2005). One strategy that airline carriers’ use is â€Å"differentiated pricing, which is a form of â€Å"price discrimination.† That is a strategy, which many companies’ uses because it allows them to charge different prices to different customer. However, airline carriers use this strategy by offering fare discounts.[1] This strategy allows the airline carriers to get as much consumer surplus as possible from each group of passengers, given his or her utility functions and income. Once they have determine their potential passengers expected utility from flying and income â€Å"Pricing ladders† are then used to charged for seats on a flight by segmenting travelers by their identity, destination, number of days between the day of reservation, the day of travel, the day, and time of departure, the day and time of return (Currie,  & Simpson, 2009). Many airline carriers and other companies are able legally to accomplish price discrimination and use pricing ladders because not all passengers have the ability or willingness to pay the higher or lower prices when they are offered (p.331 ). Identifying price discrimination Placing restrictions on purchase and use â€Å"Price discrimination† is a way to increase prices to improve profit margins by offering substantial discounts on bundles (McAfee, 2008). Price discriminate is accomplished by airline carriers’ when they offer potential passenger that satisfy certain demographics considerations a range of packages, or combinations of fares and restrictions attached to the purchase of their tickets (Stavins, 1996 & Anderson, & Renault, 2008). This pricing discrimination strategy â€Å"†¦ is known as second-degree or self-selection price discrimination (Stavins, 1996). Under this strategy, the airline is able perfectly to segment potentials passengers into groups according to their willingness to pay (Currie, & Simpson, 2009). Airline carriers are then able to offer them the highest fare in the ladder that they are happy to pay (Currie, & Simpson, 2009). While at the same time allowing passengers â€Å"†¦to choose [other] preferred versions of a product based on their willingness to pay for specific attributes of the good (e.g., time, convenience, flexibility)† (Stavins, 1996) [The citation for a direct quote needs the page number] . The pricing strategies is successful because it allow airline carriers to match â€Å"†¦the passengers relative ‘utility’ across competing products (where multiple factors are considered, including price, departure times, elapsed times, etc† (Ratiiff & Vinod). Therefore, companies were able to charge passengers on the same airline flight different prices for the same service and product. Nevertheless, several practices that involve selling services and or products for different prices can be viewed discriminatory (Anderson, & Renault, 2008). Airline carriers however justified this price discrimination by their cost differences and their demand-base (Anderson, & Renault, 2008). That includes â€Å"†¦the service quality/price sensitivity of various air travelers and offer differential fare/service quality packages  designed for each† (Smith Jr. & Cox). The second type of price discriminations that airline carriers use is the rationing and limiting of the supply of the cheaper goods (Stavins, 1996). One way airlines accomplish this is by adding various restrictions to cheaper or discounted tickets (Stavins, 1996). The discounted ticket is offered to passengers willing to stay at their destination a specific amount of time (Saturday-night stay over) or willing to purchasing their ticket in advance (Stavins, 1996). They also offer their potential passenger a discount or cheaper rate for their bundle roundtrips tickets. These are strategies that allows airline carriers to further separate â€Å"†¦price-sensitive passenger [that have a low disutility] from travel restrictions from price-inelastic [passengers that have a] high disutility from ticket restrictions† goods (Stavins, 1996). However, not all passengers value these types of discounts, especially business travelers. This is because even though this segment of passengers is less price sensitive, they are also less flexible concerning their flight arrangement (Stavins, 1996). Therefore, airline carriers can charge this segment of travelers premium seat fees because they prefer the flexibility that their one-way tickets offer. They also offer them frequent flier plans to help induce them to favor their particular carriers, even when ticket prices and restrictions are higher than their competitor (Stavins, 1996). â€Å"yield management† systems have also enabled airline carriers effectively to determine how many last-minute business travelers will show up willing to pay whatever it takes to get on a given flight (MCCARTNEY, 1997). Whereas, they charge this segment of passengers for their seats, leisure travelers on the same flight are offered a discount price, which is not necessarily based on the price of their ticket, but instead on the flight itinerary (Stern, 1989). These discounts and cheaper tickets are an economic value that this segment of passengers will obliviously value. This is because these potential passengers are more concern about price than the flight schedule (McAfee, 2008 Stavins, 1996). It is a pricing policy that allows airline carriers to provide a wider range of choices, which allow  potential passengers to determine the products and services that best meet their needs. Thereby, passenger satisfaction and loyalty is increased, and the airline carrier is also able to optimize their revenues by up charging different prices for the same seat on their airline (Stern, 1989). However, it is important to note that in today airline hyperturbluent environment airlines ticket prices change frequently in response to supply and demand and to changes in the prices of competitors’ fares (http://www.airlines.org/products/AirlineHandbookCh3.htm). This has resulted in many airline carriers unbundling services that traditionally came with the purchase of a seat, such as baggage checking, seat reservations and even the ability to pay by credit card. The benefits of these strategic practices have increased the revenue of airlines. It has also resulted in some passengers paying only for what the use. While for others that need to check a bag, and do not pay with cash, the cost of the seat will be more. Nevertheless, no company can price discriminate successfully, if they do not have some market power to charge prices above marginal cost (Stavins, 1996). In addition, they must have a diverse population of potential passengers, which they can adequately segment (Stavins, 1996). The â€Å"†¦product resale must be impossible or costly, to prevent arbitrage† (Stavins, 1996) [Needs page number] . The airline carriers’ industries however can accomplish price discrimination because of their hub-and-spoke systems (Stavins, 1996). These system allow different airline carriers to differentiate among themselves by â€Å"†¦occupying different slots in flight schedules, and by offering different route networks† (Stavins, 1996) [Needs page number] . These differentiation in flight routes, flight frequency, and airport dominance has allow many airline carriers obtain â€Å"†¦market power even on relatively competitive routes† (Stavins, 1996) [Needs page number] . Therefore, airline carriers may have market power in some market segments, but in others they do not, which results in higher price discrimination on their more competitive routes (Stavins, 1996). Conclusion Price discrimination is usually thought of as a way to extract as much consumer surplus as possible from each group of consumers, given his or her  utility functions and income. It is a strategy therefore associated with raising prices for less elastic consumers. But in the case of airline carriers, price discrimination is exhibited [Passive voice] through fare discounts. Consumers maximize their expected utility from flying. They choose between various price restriction packages, such as between low price-high inconvenience and high price-no restrictions combinations. The choice depends on the consumer’s elasticity of demand with respect to convenience, time, or money REFERENCES Anderson, Simon P., & Renault, Rà ©gis. August 2008. Price Discrimination. Retrieved 20 April 2010 from http://www.virginia.edu/economics/ Bailey, Elizabeth E., David R. Graham, and Daniel P. Kaplan. 1985. Deregulating the Airline. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Brady, Stephan, Cunningham, William. Predatory Pricing in the Airline Industry. :Transportation Journal; Fall2001, Vol. 41 Issue 1, p5, 11p Currie, Christine S.M., and Daniel Simpson. â€Å"Optimal pricing ladders for the sale of airline tickets.† Journal of Revenue & Pricing Management 8.1 (2009): 96+. Academic One File. Web. 20 Apr. 2010. Graham, David R., Daniel P. Kaplan, and David S. Sibley. 1983. â€Å"Efficiency and Competition in the Airline Industry.† Bell Journal of Economics, vol. 14 (Spring), pp. 118-38. McAfee , R. , Preston , PRICE DISCRIMINATION, 1 ISSUES IN COMPETITION LAW AND POLICY 465 (ABA Section of Antitrust Law 2008) McAfee , R. , Preston, & Vera te Velde. Dynamic Pricing in the Airline Industry. http://www.mcafee.cc/Papers/PDF/DynamicPriceDiscrimination.pdf MCCARTNEY, SCOTT Airlines Rely on Technology To Manipulate Fare Structure The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition November 3, 1997. http://www.nd.edu/~mgrecon/datafiles/articles/airlinefarestructure.html Ratiiff, Richard& Vinod, Ben. FUTURE OF REVENUE MANAGEMENT Airline pricing and revenue management: A future outlook Stavins, Joanna. Price Discrimination in the Airline Market: The Effect of Market Concentration. November 25, 1996 Stavins, J. (2001) â€Å"Price Discrimination in the Airline Market : The Effect of Market Concentration†, The Review of Economics and Statistics, 83, 1, 200-202. Stern Andrew, A. Pricing and Differentiation Strategies. Planning Review. Sep/Oct 1989, 17, 5. Retrieved 20 April 21, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Westermann, Dieter, (Realtime) dynamic pricing in an integrated revenue management and pricing environment: An approach to handling undifferentiated fare structures in low-fare markets: Journal of Revenue & Pricing Management; Jan2006, Vol. 4 Issue 4, p389-405, 17p, 4 http://www.airlines.org/products/AirlineHandbookCh3.htm

Friday, November 8, 2019

Free Essays on Women In History

I. The Differences between â€Å"Rosie† and the Woman in â€Å"That Damned Fence† During the time of World War Two, there were hard working women taking over the jobs in industry that were usually held by men. But these women working as welders and miners were not the only women in America. There is a tendency in American history scholarship to generalize. Not only does taught history tend to be nonspecific when it comes to women, in most cases, some women are never mentioned at all. The reasons for this ignorance may include the embarrassment that Americans feel for horrid realities like slavery and internment camps and the fact that our society is male dominant. Whatever the cause may be, it is necessary to reveal the truths of our histories as Americans and as American women. In the song â€Å"Rosie the Riveter†, written by two men, Redd Evans and Jacob Loeb, a woman is described heroically as she is protecting her â€Å"Charlie† (husband). The depiction of Rosie the Riveter was to symbolize the working women of the war. Men created Rosie to build excitement for women to want to enter the work force. Essentially, Rosie was war propaganda that lead many women to earn a living and maintain the economy while the men were serving in the military. Rosie was a woman who led by example. She was making history and proud to be a true patriot working as hard or harder as men doing the same job. With the money that the â€Å"riveters† earned, they could buy nice things like fur coats and pretty dresses. This gave them a sense of independence never before experienced. However, behind the faà §ade of perfect working situation, there was much conflict between the women workers. Not all of these women earned great wages. Black women were left to do the dirtier less paying positions and weren’t allowed the same privileges as white women. For example, they were not encouraged to use the showering facilities after working hard labor. Black wome... Free Essays on Women In History Free Essays on Women In History I. The Differences between â€Å"Rosie† and the Woman in â€Å"That Damned Fence† During the time of World War Two, there were hard working women taking over the jobs in industry that were usually held by men. But these women working as welders and miners were not the only women in America. There is a tendency in American history scholarship to generalize. Not only does taught history tend to be nonspecific when it comes to women, in most cases, some women are never mentioned at all. The reasons for this ignorance may include the embarrassment that Americans feel for horrid realities like slavery and internment camps and the fact that our society is male dominant. Whatever the cause may be, it is necessary to reveal the truths of our histories as Americans and as American women. In the song â€Å"Rosie the Riveter†, written by two men, Redd Evans and Jacob Loeb, a woman is described heroically as she is protecting her â€Å"Charlie† (husband). The depiction of Rosie the Riveter was to symbolize the working women of the war. Men created Rosie to build excitement for women to want to enter the work force. Essentially, Rosie was war propaganda that lead many women to earn a living and maintain the economy while the men were serving in the military. Rosie was a woman who led by example. She was making history and proud to be a true patriot working as hard or harder as men doing the same job. With the money that the â€Å"riveters† earned, they could buy nice things like fur coats and pretty dresses. This gave them a sense of independence never before experienced. However, behind the faà §ade of perfect working situation, there was much conflict between the women workers. Not all of these women earned great wages. Black women were left to do the dirtier less paying positions and weren’t allowed the same privileges as white women. For example, they were not encouraged to use the showering facilities after working hard labor. Black wome...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Ovids Account of Aphrodite and Adonis

Ovid's Account of Aphrodite and Adonis The love goddess of the Greeks, Aphrodite, usually made other people fall in love (or lust, more often than not), but sometimes she, too, was smitten. In this story of Adonis and Aphrodite, which comes from the tenth book of, the Roman poet Ovid summarizes Aphrodites ill-fated love affair with Adonis. Aphrodite fell in love with lots of males. The hunter Adonis was one of these. It was his good looks that attracted the goddess and now the very name Adonis is synonymous with male beauty. Ovid says that by Aphrodites falling in love with him, the mortal Adonis avenged the incest between his parent Myrrha and her father Cinyras and then he caused Aphrodite intolerable grief when he was killed. The original act of incest was provoked by unquenchable lust caused by Aphrodite. Note the geographic locations of cult sites that Aphrodite is accused of neglecting: Paphos, Cythera, Cnidos, and Amathus. Also, note the detail of Aphrodite flying with swans. Since this is part of the work on physical transformations by Ovid, the dead Adonis is turned into something else, a flower. Also worth noting: Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite V. This hymn tells the story of Aphrodites love affair with the mortal Anchises.Aspects of Venus (Aphrodite) Ovids Story The following is Arthur Goldings translation from 1922 of the section of the tenth book of Ovids Metamorphoses on the love story of Adonis and Aphrodite: That son of sister and grandfather, whowas lately hidden in his parent tree,just lately born, a lovely baby boyis now a youth, now man more beautiful825 than during growth. He wins the love of Venusand so avenges his own mothers passion.For while the goddess son with quiver heldon the shoulder, once was kissing his loved mother,it chanced unwittingly he grazed her breast830 with a projecting arrow. Instantlythe wounded goddess pushed her son away;but the scratch had pierced her deeper than she thoughtand even Venus was at first deceived.Delighted with the beauty of the youth,835 she does not think of her Cytherian shoresand does not care for Paphos, which is girtby the deep sea, nor Cnidos, haunts of fish,nor Amathus far-famed for precious ores.Venus, neglecting heaven, prefers Adonis840 to heaven, and so she holds close to his waysas his companion, and forgets to restat noon-day in the shade, neglecting the careof her sweet beauty. She goes through the woods,and over mountain ridges and wild fields,845 rocky and thorn-set, bare to her white kneesafter Dianas manner. And she cheersthe hounds, intent to hunt for harmless prey,such as the leaping hare, or the wild stag,high-crowned with branching antlers, or the doe.850 she keeps away from fierce wild boars, awayfrom ravenous wolves; and she avoids the bearsof frightful claws, and lions glutted withthe blood of slaughtered cattle.She warns you,855 Adonis, to beware and fear them. If her fearsfor you were only heeded! Oh be brave,she says, against those timid animalswhich fly from you; but courage is not safeagainst the bold. Dear boy, do not be rash,860 do not attack the wild beasts which are armedby nature, lest your glory may cost megreat sorrow. Neither youth nor beauty northe deeds which have moved Venus have effecton lions, bristling boars, and on the eyes865 and tempers of wild beasts. Boars have the forceof lightning in their curved tusks, and the rageof tawny lions is unlimited.I fear and hate them all.Wh en he inquires870 the reason, she says: I will tell it; youwill be surprised to learn the bad resultcaused by an ancient crime. But I am wearywith unaccustomed toil; and see! a poplarconvenient offers a delightful shade875 and this lawn gives a good couch. Let us restourselves here on the grass. So saying, shereclined upon the turf and, pillowingher head against his breast and mingling kisseswith her words, she told him the following tale: Story of Atalanta My dear Adonis keep away from allsuch savage animals; avoid all thosewhich do not turn their fearful backs in flightbut offer their bold breasts to your attack,1115 lest courage should be fatal to us both.Indeed she warned him. Harnessing her swans,she traveled swiftly through the yielding air;but his rash courage would not heed the advice.By chance his dogs, which followed a sure track,1120 aroused a wild boar from his hiding place;and, as he rushed out from his forest lair,Adonis pierced him with a glancing stroke.Infuriate, the fierce boars curved snoutfirst struck the spear-shaft from his bleeding side;1125 and, while the trembling youth was seeking whereto find a safe retreat, the savage beastraced after him, until at last, he sankhis deadly tusk deep in Adonis groin;and stretched him dying on the yellow sand.1130 And now sweet Aphrodite, borne through airin her light chariot, had not yet arrivedat Cyprus, on the wings of her white swans.Afar she recognized his dying groans,and turned her white birds towards the sound. And when1135 down looking from the lofty sky, she sawhim nearly dead, his body bathed in blood,she leaped downtore her garmenttore her hair and beat her bosom with distracted hands.And blaming Fate said, But not everything1140 is at the mercy of your cruel power.My sorrow for Adonis will remain,enduring as a lasting monument.Each passing year the memory of his deathshall cause an imitation of my grief.1145 Your blood, Adonis, will become a flowerperennial. Was it not allowed to youPersephone, to transform Menthes limbsinto sweet fragrant mint? And can this changeof my loved hero be denied to me?1150 Her grief declared, she sprinkled his blood withsweet-smelling nectar, and his blood as soonas touched by it began to effervesce,just as transparent bubbles always risein rainy weather. Nor was there a pause1155 more than an hour, when from Adonis, blood,exactly of its color, a loved flowersprang up, such as pomegranates give to us,small trees w hich later hide their seeds beneatha tough rind. But the joy it gives to man1160 is short-lived, for the winds which give the flowerits name, Anemone, shake it right down,because its slender hold, always so weak,lets it fall to the ground from its frail stem.

Monday, November 4, 2019

The Blockbuster as the Defining Characteristic of Post-Classical Essay

The Blockbuster as the Defining Characteristic of Post-Classical Hollywood - Essay Example Bordwell (2006) explains that blockbuster is often used not to denote a genre of film per se but to describe the performance of a movie on the market. In simple terms, blockbuster is often associated with hit or good movies that generate a lot of revenue for filmmakers. One would then ask whether in the pre-blockbuster era there were no good movies. The answer is no. there were good and hit movies but after movies like Jaws started showing the possibility of amassing so many profits from the box office, the focus of filmmakers now shifted to finding the trick of making huge box offices in each and every movie they made and that started the blockbuster era. So in general terms, the writer agrees that blockbuster came to take off as the defining characteristic of post-classical Hollywood. However, the writer refuses to agree to the often negative connotation given to blockbuster as the defining characteristic of post-classical Hollywood. In the opinion of the writer, therefore, blockbu sters came as a good and positive phenomenon and continue to remain so. One of the first reasons why the writer disagrees with the argument that the blockbuster is a negative defining characteristic of post-classical Hollywood is that blockbuster actually came in to serve a dying situation. This is to say that the trend of the blockbuster was very important in saving the Hollywood film industry from absolute and total collapse. Clearly, bankruptcy was taking over the film industry and so there was every justification for a process that would salvage the situation. Two clear examples can be given in the cases of Heaven’s Gate, which was produced in 1980 by Michael Cimino and One from the Heart, which was produced in 1982 by Francis Ford Coppola. Heaven’s Gate actually made a loss of 40.5million USD after earning $3.5 million in box-office as against a $44 million production cost. One from the heart earned merely $636,000 out of $26 million. The said now that such giant players behind the film industry actually run into bankruptcy since those losses. Without any doubt, the industry would have been seriously affected if the pursuit for profit-making through the production of ‘hit’ films was not followed as what was earned in 1975 with the making of Jaws. On the grounds that blockbuster was necessary to rejuvenating the efforts of filmmakers to seek ways of producing films that were good enough to make them stay in the industry is thus a positive rather than a negative phenomenon of the blockbuster as the defining characteristic of post-classical Hollywood. It is even interesting to note that blockbusters do not necessarily have to be of good quality to make profits but there have been newer introductions such as technology backed publicity by the use of social and popular media to ensure that blockbusters sell. The second point that makes the writer take a stand against the idea that blockbuster is a negative defining characteristic of post-classical Hollywood is that not much has changed in terms of concept.  

Friday, November 1, 2019

Life in the Antebellum U.S Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Life in the Antebellum U.S - Essay Example The Native Americans were the initial occupants of land in America. They hunted and gathered to sustain their nutritional requirements. President Thomas Jefferson saw the institution of a policy which allowed Native Americans to retain their ancestral lands east of the Mississippi. The only condition attached to this was that the native population was to assimilate themselves with the rest of the population. They were to supplement their hunting and gathering practices with agriculture. As time elapsed, it became impossible for the government retain their policy. The rapid population increase among the immigrants and Whites in America made it improbable for the government to retain this policy. They, therefore, resorted in the displacement of Native Americans from their ancestral land. The president Andrew Jackson signed 'the Indian Removal Act’ on May 26, 1830 (Keegan 72). The acquired land was to be used to set up plantations. These would ensure large-scale production of cro ps that would be used for food and other industries. It would also provide the immigrants with a place to settle in; where they could begin building their lives. Time ensued, and the Whites encroached on Native American’s land outnumbering the native population. They assumed total ownership of the land and established their own institutions and systems. The Natives signed treaties that guaranteed them equal land West of Mississippi in exchange for their original parcels of land. Tribes that did not co-operate faced forceful eviction from their lands by government officials who abused their power. For example, the Cherokee people experienced forceful eviction from their land. This was after signing the ‘Treaty of New Echota’ by a small part of the entire tribe. The tribal leaders missed out of the entire treaty signing process. This led to the death of estimated 4,000 tribe members in 1835. The march came to be known as the ‘Trail of Tears’ (Keegan 27 ). The government justified their actions by claiming that the natives’ presence disrupts the harmony in the region. They also claimed that the land would benefit the American population. However, this was not entirely true. Many of the government officials were greedy and simply desired sole ownership of the land. This led them to act in inhumane ways that led to the death of many Natives. These officials also did not honor the terms of the treaties in which they coerced the natives to sign. The Antebellum period saw increased manufacturing of products in America. Most manufacturers were, therefore, in need of cheap labor to meet their manufacturing demands. This could only be provided by immigrant workers. There were two categories of immigrant workers in the antebellum period. The first lot is the workers who migrated to America left their homes to search for a means to sustain their livelihood without coercion. The others underwent forceful eviction from their countries w ithout their approval. The zeitgeist of that time supported the expansive use of slave labor. The thriving slave market profited from the sale of slaves acquired from conquered states in the African continent (Keegan 33). A variety of factors worked together to contribute to widespread colonialism; and in turn to slavery all around the world. The superior states were always in constant disagreement as they all rushed to acquire colonial territories overseas. The Berlin conference 1885-1886 came up with guidelines of