Month: April 2019
Power of Citizenship
Over the course of my civic engagement experience, I met and talked with a lot of people. I got trained, and volunteered many hours with the on-campus voter registration drive, attended the Clear the Haze debate, worked with my teammates, and participated in Change Your World Week. interacting with so many people in a relatively small amount of time is always an interesting adventure. Meeting so many different people with many different and sometimes opposing viewpoints, has helped me to expand my own. These experiences gave me new and unexpected insight and connections to the content I learned for class.
As I learned in chapter one, and in my own experience, public policy is very important. Public policy is a purposeful action or actions taken by the government to reach a specific goal or objective. Examples of public policy include the environmental policy and the energy policy. Public policy is essential, it keeps our country from falling into chaos, as it is what regulates most every aspect of our government. When it comes to veterans healthcare, it is very obvious that public policy is very important and closely related to this issue. A change in the policy around veterans healthcare is needed, as I found out not only in my research, but also in talking to veterans themselves. The staff of the Delta College Veteran Services Office and many veterans I talked to at Change Your World Week, agreed that changes needed to be made, the current policy is simply not cutting it.
In reading chapter six, I learned about public opinion and what it is. Public opinion is essentially the opinion of the public, to be straight to the point. Is it the culmination of the attitudes and beliefs of individuals about certain issues or officials. If anything is to get done in our government, a supportive public opinion is very helpful. As we are a democracy, the government is intended listen and respond to public opinion. I received quite a hefty dose of public opinion while taking part in Change Your World Week. most of the students, staff, and passersby were ready and eager to tell me what they thought about the issues currently surrounding veterans healthcare in this country. My group and I also were a part of that public opinion as we shared our thoughts to others. Overall, I learned that the overwhelming public opinion of those on the Delta College campus is that they believe our veterans are being neglected and that needs to change. My proof of that is a certainly shown with all of the signatures we collected over various days.
Chapter eight taught me about interest groups and their purpose. Interest groups are groups of citizens who share a common interest. That interest can range from political opinions, to religious or ideological beliefs, to a social goal, or even to an economic characteristic. Interest groups attempt to influence public policy in order to benefit themselves. My teammates and fellow classmates were basically and effectively interest groups ourselves. We all advocated in our papers, presentations for Change Your World Week, and letters to officials that there is a change or changes that needs to happen with our various issues. We worked as groups to get our topics heard by as many people as we could and to influence as many people as we could as well, which we were able to do because they agreed to sign our petition.
Voter mobilization and what the purpose of it is, is taught in chapter 9. Voter mobilization is efforts made to encourage citizens to participate in elections and other types of voting. As a democracy, voting is the backbone of our government. In order for it to work for the, those citizens need to vote. By participating in getting trained and then volunteering to get people registered to vote, I helped encourage voting. Afterall, if you're not registered, you can't vote at all. It's not a longshot to guess that at least a few of the people I helped register to vote actually did go out and vote. If they hadn't been registered on campus, it is very possible they wouldn't have ended up getting registered at all.
In chapter two, factions are described and defined. Factions are any group that puts its own interests above those of the rest of society. Factions unite people to achieve goals that advance their agenda and position. Factions often become politically aimed and are not limited to political parties. At the Clear the Haze deliberate dialogue, I was able to see factions at work. Each side, for or against the legalization of marijuana, wanted their agenda to be the one that prevailed. The side that was against, mostly ignored the positive outcomes, and of course, the side that was for mainly brushed off the possible negative results. Each side was only interested in what it wanted, regardless of the wants and needs of others.
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Birthright Citizenship
Imagine yourself going to a country you have never been to before, but you know you have some connection to it. You do not recognize their cultures or how the people manifest their lives day-by-day, but you now have to live there since your parents are from there. This situation could happen to people born to parents that are considered as illegal. In the United States, every year about 300,000 to 400,000 children are born to illegal immigrants. Even though the status of the parent is known as illegal, U.S. government immediately recognizes the children as U.S. citizens upon birth. Birthright citizenship has always been an issue that administrations found hard to change. Since it has been placed in the Constitution it needs to be considered a real thing and everyone should be following. Even in today's news, and especially in this political climate, government officials want to remove it since there are a lot of people taking advantage of being a citizen in this country. Being a citizen in the United States entitles you to a lot in this country, and that makes government officials question if they should allow this right to everyone. It makes sense for people that were born here to inherit these rights since it was on American soil. What this paper explores is if birthright citizenship was to be changed or removed and how that affects our country at its already rapid changing state.
Birthright citizenship was first granted in 1868 passing the 14th Amendment to the Constitution letting all slaves be free (Lee 6). At first this topic was supported in 1866 by the Civil Rights Act, and how that went through was Congress passed over President Johnson's veto before proposing the 14th Amendment. Since the ratification, there were court cases that fought against it and government officials that want some kind of change to it or the removal of it from our Constitution. In all of the cases the Supreme Court always showed the 14th Amendment to disregard the change or removal of it (Lee 7). In recent news, President Trump thinks that birthright citizenship should end and how he would do that is with an executive order (Leary). Not only would that take a lot of work to get rid of, it would also be very wrong and unnecessary to have it removed. Most of the country is made up of immigrants, so to go into the logistics of it everyone would have to leave the country except the Native Americans. There is no possible way there could be a drastic change on it since it has been passed for so long. The fear at the moment is that in the Constitution it is stated subject to the jurisdiction thereof and people took it as someone can change it, in due time but in reality, it is not owing allegiance to anybody else (Spalding). Once one goes into the fine print of what it is truly said, one can put together that there is a lot to go in for a drastic change like that. Personally, this situation confused me as well since I thought at one point it could have been easy for Trump to remove birthright citizenship. I for one did not realize how much goes into changing, removing or adding an amendment. Not only with that but many people are involved in the process, and it would take many candidates to declare against it and actually follow it.
In 2015, the candidates of the Republican party declared their opposition to birthright citizenship. When Congress noticed their opposition, they brought up the fact again about two cases that were brought up at the end of the nineteenth century which were Elk v. Wilkins and United States v. Wong Kim Ark (Berger 1185). Both different types of cases but still got their messages across about this topic. Elk v. Wilkins was about an American Indian man was born in the United States but was not considered a citizen under the Fourteenth Amendment. In this trial Elk's case was taken by reformers who wanted to make sure he got something out of it and got him the best attorneys to get his point out there. The main thing Elk wanted Congress to do was to extend citizenship to Indians and for them to received land because of the 1887 Dawes Allotment Act. There was also a need for preparation for Indians to be considered citizens, so they helped justify federal boarding schools and subjection to American law (Berger 1192). Not only that topic was brought up with Elk but also the fact that he needed to go to court to fight for a land that was already theirs, but immigrants came in and called it their own. In the Wong Kim Ark's case it detailed how Wong Kim.Ark would be coming back and forth between the United States and China because he would see his family in China and work in the United.States became a problem since Congress thought he was just going from one country to another. In reality, Wong Kim Ark was born in the United.States from Chinese descent parents, but it was not tracked for Congress to see it as proof. Also, Wong Kim Ark was a subject of the Emperor of China at the time, so it was even more difficult at that point to have him considered as a citizen (Berger 1223). This case had a lot of backlash for the way it was taken care of by Congress. Not only did Wong Kim Ark had the evidence and the people back him up about who he is,and how he is considered in this country, but they treated him like an alien,and almost sent him back to a country that at this point was not his home like the United States has become at that point. Having these insights, the government recognized that the 14th Amendment needed to stay where it was at (Lee 12). They did not know back then, but these cases would come back to defend birthright citizenship and everything it has to offer.
What the United States have recently dealt with over immigration and citizenship policies has always been a recurring theme and is brought up a lot during debates and interviews with public officials. One of the issues brought up was excluding people born here at birth so that way they would not go grow up with the benefits at the United States and just fix the problem right then and there (Lawrence 139). The problem with going through that plan is the person has documental proof that they were born in the United States because of their birth certificate. With a birth certificate people take that as enough proof to show that someone can live here and be a citizen (Lawrence 142). Looking through many articles, books, and news clips, there are a lot of self-contradictions that are made about the topic which gets a little bit confusing. Government officials want people to leave, and they use the Constitution as proof to back up their opinion but at the same time the Constitution states clearly the contrary of what they say (Kim 758). It would be a long and lengthy process to remove an amendment,and add another and get approval from the Senate for an issue that does not have as much weight as something like healthcare. Both equally important topics but some things need to take more drastic measures and effect than the other.
Some people are not getting the big picture and that is how the United States would really be affected if this were to happen. The country is already divided about how the situation with the migrant caravan is being handled and there is talks about how this is the first move or proof about birthright citizenship seizing down (Leary). Why they are considering the migrant caravan as a way to introduce this topic is because there are pregnant woman coming to the United States, so their children can receive citizenship. Birthright citizenship critics describe this phenomenon as birth tourism since pregnant women enter the states with a touring visa and then during their time, that the visa allows them to stay, they have their child and are credited citizenship (Leary). There is a lot of hate towards families that decide to do this but it is a chance for them to get away from their countries that are not doing so well at the moment. When it is put in a perspective, parents want what is best for their children and do whatever they can for them to live a better life.
In conclusion, birthright citizenship has a lot of different opinions and a big topic to weigh in at this time. People need to be more aware and recognize what it is and what problems it can cause if it changes or gets removed from the Constitution. While constructing this paper, not only did I notice how much people weigh in on this topic, but also how much it has been brought up in the past and the representation it has in other countries. It is understandable that there could be some unfairness as to why people who has family from other countries seek out for citizenship here but it is something they do for their own good. They are seeking out what is best for them and they find it easier to come to the United States and see what they have to offer. The United States try to make it seem that we are the only ones that have a really big problem dealing with this but in reality that is not the case. There are debates in other countries that go through the similar logistics of what goes on in the United States but it is looked more down upon here than anywhere else. People who receive birthright citizenship is something that should not be taken so seriously, but in reality, there are more severe situations that should be taken care of before this.
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How to be a Productive Citizen
Hello, in this essay I will be explaining how to be a productive citizen. Lets begin, there are many ways to become a productive citizen, here's a lot we all should know. Get a job, provide for your family, donating to the poor, following laws and rules, volunteer to be active in your community, be honest and trustworthy, be informed about the world around you, respect the property of others and most important of all, take responsibility for your actions.
The benefits of helping your community.
First of all helping your community has been proven to reduce stress combating depression keeping you mentally stimulated as well as providing a sense of purpose as well as making you feel like a better person over all just for helping out the people in your community.
I mean you really have nothing to lose. Okay let's move on.
Ahem, Now we will move onto laws.
Just because there is so many laws and there is no way I can cover them all we'll just cover only a few mostly like 1-3, Okay let's get started. Don't rob don't steal respect police officers and you might end up still alive at the end of the confrontation, another law is to respect sound pollution laws, don't blast music past 11PM cause I have encountered the exact problem especially in the summer as there is more party's and I can say for myself that it's not fun waking up at 12PM to someone blasting very obnoxious music. Lets cover another one, don't speed in a residential zone especially without lights on at night, first off think of the family's you're endangering and your own life your endangering especially if your driving an old car you're just spelling your own death..
Now we're explaining civil duties, Are you still with me?
Okay well who cares cause I'm still going to start.
One that we all know is, obeying laws of the country, paying taxes on time or you'll go to jail. Man it's so funny when you see a kid rushing to be an adult and your like woah kid slow down then they reply, no i can't wait to pay taxes. Okay back on track, serving as a jury or as a witness to a court case. As Well as registering to vote.
I don't care what you say everyone's vote count, people who say, It doesn't matter as I am only one single vote
EXCUSE ME NOW LOOK WHAT YOU CAUSED CAUSE NOW WE GOT TRUMP. Okay okay welp that's all I got hope you enjoyed.
I don't care who I offended with that trump statement.
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How to Become a U.S. Citizen
How do you know the interviewee? She is my mother.
Part A: Questions and Responses Question Notes on Interviewee Response
- What inspired you to become a U.S. citizen?
- What steps did you have to take as part of the naturalization process?
- How would you describe how you felt about the process?
- How has citizenship changed your life?
- Is your daily life different because of citizenship?
- Do you feel the process was worthwhile?
- If you had to, would you do it again? Please explain.
- Would You tell others that they should be citizens as well
I was inspired to become a U.S. citizen for my children, I believed that it would benefit them and their future.
I used to take classes to learn English a couple fo years ago, but I didn’t have time after that. Working has really helped me with my English and practicing it in real life. Before taking my citizenship test, I went to a tutor and made me practice with questions that might have been on the test. This really helped me, because many of the questions were on the actual test.
I was extremely nervous, I have major anxiety, but I was determined to pass it because I have waited so long. I have been prolonging it or years but when the time actually hit to do it, I was a wreck.
Well I travel a lot, so it has affected me in that sense. I don’t have to have an extra stop at the airport in other countries or when I come back because I’m a citizen now. I also believe that in this country I have rights which I didn’t have in Cuba, in Cuba you are limited to the things you can say and do.
I am protected Here in America, because I’m a citizen. If something were to happen I would be protected and given rights. Being a citizen means that I have opportunities that others don’t. For example my brother is still in Cuba and I have to send things over there because him and his family just can’t afford thing that we take for granted here:
Now looking back at it, I did take me a while to actually do the test, but I believe it was worth it because the benefit that I got from it will always benefit me and my children.
If I had to, I would do it again because the opportunities that I have here are greater than the opportunities I would have in my home country.
I would because I believe that it would benefit, everyone involved. Themselves, their children, their other family. If they have the money I would recommend it.
Part B: Write a two-paragraph reflection of the naturalization process. Use the following questions as a guide:
The purpose of the naturalization process is for immigrants to become U.S. citizens. At first the person has to apply for citizenship, they must complete an application, and participate in a interview and then take a civic and English test, this also involves different fees, it is a very long process. I believe that the process works well because it protects the current citizens and doesn’t allow just anybody to become a citizen. The process does achieve its goal becomes it allows you to have rights and opportunities like any other citizens. Even if you start just studying the questions, thats a step in the right direction.
I would not change anything because, I believe that the process will over time just include that people who really want to be a citizen. I would not like to change the process, the process makes it so that only people who are truly motivated will finish it. The process is so long and tiring that It would make anyone who isn’t ready procrastinate it for a long time. The benefits out weigh all the time and effort you have to go and study for. Once you are a citizens you have just as many rights as everyone else, not only human rights but citizen right which not many other countries have. Living a better life and providing for your family will encourage anyone willing to become a citizen.
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Citizen Organizing
When you live in a city, you are recognized as a citizen. From Ancient Greece, Aristotle, the father of political science, considered you a citizen if you had an active part in the states' government. From the textbook, We The People, by Thomas E. Patterson, introduces the responsibilities of becoming a citizen at the beginning of the book. From this book, a couple of tips that may help enhance your feelings of citizenship and activate your engagement in the community are thinking politically and understanding the nation's political culture.
Political thinking is not voicing an opinion, it is critical evaluation to make political judgments on what can be believed from the information that is heard. It enhances responsibility among citizens. Thinking politically is aiming to help students, of all levels, become responsible citizens. Responsible citizenship was what English philosopher John Stuart Mill had in mind when he said that democracy is the best form of government (Patterson 2015, 3).
The citizens should not be concerned only of their rights. They should be equally alive to their duties and responsibilities. John Locke was of the view that if a man has a right to live, he has a corresponding duty not to kill others. In his words, Everyone living in the society is to obey the laws of the society.
To help students understand politics, there is no right or wrong way to think politically. Everybody's understanding of politics is different. From the work of scholars, as well as political practitioners and writers have helped, political science has developed largely (Patterson 2015, 6). Tools to help broaden an understanding of politics consist of reliable information, have a general idea of major topics, and understand the terms and concepts of everyday politic conversations.
The biggest obstacle citizens face in politics is the effortless act of understanding how to politically think. In this case, this shows the lack of responsibility. When citizens do pay attention, it seems as if its portrayed in an ineffective way. Many Americans get their political information and opinions, from social media and or television. It is concluded, from the University of Maryland, a study represented that the false information is universal in the talk show culture. The information from social media and television are not total lies, but the information does get twisted, as the political reporter ties in their opinion, making it sound politically correct.
A journalist, Walter Lippmann, is concerned about the citizens of the United States that are unprepared to play the role democracy hands them. They live in a real world, but think in an imagined one...it is difficult to understand that citizens are in a self-governing society, but are blind to reality, Lippmann states. Lippmann's concerns have been confirmed by many scholarly studies. To continue confirming American citizens blindness to reality, one thousand American citizens were given the citizenship test that immigrants must pass in order to become a legal citizen. Four of every ten American citizens who took the test failed. With the lack of information given to citizens, that does not keep them from voting in elections, or stating their strong opinions.
Most citizens are unfamiliar with their nation's political stand. Again, there is no right or wrong way to politically think, but the history of the nation's political stand is rarely understood. To understand where your country stands politically, it is important to know your country's political culture. A political culture are the beliefs of its people about politics. These beliefs come from the country's traditions and relationships of citizens to the government.
There are four ideal core values of America's culture that I learned that could help someone enhance their feelings of citizenship and activate their engagement in their community. These four values are liberty, equality, individualism, and self-government. Liberty is the act of each individual to be set free and think as they choose. A popular statement, the United States was born free, states political scientist Louis Hartz. Equality expresses the equal moral worth and treatment of each individual under the law. All men are created equal, from the Declaration of Independence, specifically from Thomas Jefferson. Individualism is self sufficiency. American's are to remain their own masters, from Observers of Tocqueville. Lastly, self-government, is that people should have a voice in their governing and authority. The Americans' belief in self-government developed in colonial America (Patterson 2015, 12).
Starting with an organized community is a way of growing together as a community. From the Village Politics by Paul Rogat Loeb, Loeb explains that motivating your community and coming together as a whole is a way of defeating major issues within the community. Once a community comes together, citizens will support each other and gain trust. Entire communities can grow when challenged (Loeb, 20). From the reading, Making Our Lives Count by Paul Rogat Loeb, Loeb explains how a community can come together to help other citizens in a time in need, which gives that specific community encouragement to grow and succeed together once completing major accomplishments.
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Citizenship Contrast
In the United States of America, there are several ways to become a citizen, the easiest being born on American soil. You can participate in electing our government officials if you wish and enjoy all the rights we are guaranteed. In the film Starship Troopers, which is based upon the science fiction novel by Robert Henilein, citizenship must be earned. By examining the movie and evaluating citizenship from the American and Terran Federation perspectives, finding the meaning of citizenship was both thought-provoking and enlightening.
In the film, Starship Troopers, the setting is Earth, in the future, in an area known as Buenos Areas. The major characters are four young adults, Johnny Ricco, Dizzy Flores, Carmen Ibanez, and Carl Jenkins. The storyline follows these individuals through their journey of obtaining citizenship by signing up for service through the government, known as the Terra Federation. Johnny and Dizzy are assigned to the infantry, Carmen becomes a pilot and Carl is assigned to intelligence. Once this group of friends disperse and enter their training, the prime focus revolves around the bugs of unusually large sizes, who's objective is to colonize all planets, including earth. The main emphasis concentrates on Johnny Ricco, who comes from a wealthy family who is against his decision to join the Federation. His father insists he attend Harvard and orders Johnny to leave when he ultimately chooses service. There are your typical Hollywood add ins dealing with love and loss, particularly with Johnny and Dizzy. There is an accidental death during training which Johnny is partially responsible for. After his harsh punishment, Johnny decides to quit the infantry. Before he leaves, there is word that earth has been attacked by bugs, and Buenos Areas is practically decimated. Johnny decides he needs to stay to fight the bugs that destroyed his home town, helping human civilization prevail.
The bugs outsmart the humans several times, destroying many the infantry, wounding Johnny severely. Once he regains his strength and proves he's an exceptional member of the infantry, Johnny is promoted to a higher rank. The humans wise up and come up with new strategies to take the bugs out, partaking in air attacks to lighten the bug load on the ground. Eventually Johnny finds the main bug called the brain bug, with help from two pilots, one of which being Carmen. They find the bug with its army of protector bugs deep inside a cavern in the mountains on a bug colonized planet. The brain bug is enormous and resembles an actual brain. Its pinkish grey hue, slug like movements and googly eyes should not deceive you, as there is a large tentacle that emerges from the bug that stabs humans in the head to suck out their brains. Johnny, Carmen and a few other infantry members escape the brain bug and its army of other bugs, destroying the ones that did not flee deeper into the caves. Once Johnny, Carmen and members of his platoon exit the caves, they discover that another platoon captured the giant brain bug, which ends up aiding in the human's battles to learn how to take the bugs out more successfully.
Having American citizenship is something that many Americans do not think about, and toady it is taken for granted. Merely being born in America gives you citizenship. Individuals can also apply if they come from another country, however, this process can be rigorous and time consuming. As discussed by Brown and Maloyed, Americas system is closely related to the imperial Roman model, where citizens are guaranteed equal rights under the law, but how we partake is up to us. We are not forced to vote, it is our right to choose to participate. Individuals who elect to take part in voting are allowing themselves to have a voice in who represents us in our government. We are granted certain freedoms that are defined in our Constitution, which is the law of the land. Our only obligations are to follow the laws set up by the government. We have these rights and freedoms because of our Founding Fathers, who are responsible for obtaining them over 200 years ago. Being a citizen in that era was different then what we see today. Our founding Fathers had to fight for the freedoms we take for granted. Breaking free from King George III required sacrifice, courage, and unity from the individuals who were part of the colonies (Morone and Rogan, 2018). The representatives of the colonies rejected following the Supreme Judge of the world, declaring their independence and freedom from the British Crown (Morone and Rogan, 2018). John Locke was also opposed of the Supreme Judge model, stating absolute monarchy is inconsistent with civil society, therefore it can in no way be a civil society (Locke, 1690). Looking back at what our Founding Fathers went through to obtain the freedom they desired, the freedom that we all are granted today, makes American citizenship something we should be proud of.
In the film, Starship Troopers, citizenship is something that everyone must earn. This is achieved through service in the government in an array of fields, the most prominent is joining their military (Verhoeven, Starship Troopers). Completing service (minimum of two years) will guarantee those individuals with citizenship. Then and only then can you run for a political office, vote, apply for a license to have a child and receive financial aid to obtain a higher education (Verhoeven, Starship Troopers). Civilians are not able to participate in these opportunities and they are looked down upon by citizens. Johnny Ricco implies that civilians lack courage when giving a eulogy to one of his fallen soldiers (Verhoeven, Starship Troopers). The act of becoming a citizen is highly encouraged in this society, therefore there is a high enrolment rate. There are obligations that come with gaining citizenship. Citizens can be called back to serve in times of war, to protect civilians and the wellbeing of the planet. (Verhoeven, Starship Troopers).
When observing these two models of obtaining citizenship, there are many areas of similarities and differences. After looking at the design of the Terran Federation, it is quite comparable to our military. We both have a variety of areas for individuals to sign up, there are terms for time you will serve, and you will indeed get assistance in furthering your education if you so choose to. Members of the Terran Federation are proud to serve, much like our military. However, in America we do not have to earn our citizenship by signing up for the military. We are free to have a baby at any time we choose, we do not need to obtain a license. We are able to vote when we are of age and run for political offices. One jarring difference is the crime rate between the two models. In the Terra Federation, crime is extremely low, almost nonexistent. This is attributed to the number of individuals who sign up for service, creating a strong military rule (Brown and Maloyed). In 2017, Our crime rate in America was an estimated 1,247,321( cite website). This figure was just for the violent crimes in that year, it did not include things such as larceny or property crimes.
When it comes to civic virtue, both the Terra Federation and Americans emit civic virtue. We have a wide variety of service members, from military, to police and firefighters, as well as paramedics, doctors, even average civilians who are willing to risk their safety and lives for others. The Terra federation looks at civic virtue from a different lens. It exists, but it is only recognized in citizens, not civilians. Citizens in the Terra Federation have the courage, strength and willpower to uphold civic virtue, they look at it as their personal responsibility (Verhoeven, Starship Troopers).
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Why did the Arawak Tribe Disappear?
As children, we are taught all about Christopher Columbus's voyage to the New World, and how he is the one person responsible for discovering America. Even though we spent so much time on the topic, we were never taught about his destructive tendencies. We were never told that he was responsible for the murder and extinction of Indian tribes, such as the Arawak. Although Columbus is popular for discovering the New World, he brought diseases and slavery that killed tribes such as the Arawak.
Over 520 years ago, Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean on August 3, in search of Asia where he would obtain riches such as gold and pearls. Once his journey began, him and his crew would realize that it would be a much longer voyage then they had imagined. The crew's anxiety was at an all time high by the time October came around, but Columbus promised that if they had not found land in two days, they would go back home. The next day, on October 10, they found land that would be later known as the New World. In Christopher Columbus's replica journal, written by Bartolome de la Casas, Columbus wrote, At two hours after midnight the land was sighted at a distance of two leagues. The vessels were hove to, waiting for daylight; and on Friday they arrived at a small island of the Lucayos, call in the language of the Indians, Guanahani. Presently, they saw naked people. This was Columbus's first encounter with an Indian tribe, known as the Arawak (History).
The Arawak were the original people to live in the Caribbean Islands. Arawak's did not wear much clothing, like Columbus stated in his journal entry. The climate in the Caribbean was always warm, so men usually went without clothes unless it was for a special occasion. Women wore skirts and necklaces. The Arawak people were advanced and quite intelligent, and there ways of life were futuristic. For transportation, they used canoes that could hold up to fifty people, and they were also known as agricultural people. There most important crop was a potato-like root called cassava, and they also grew beans, squash, peppers, and corn. Arawak men would also hunt, primarily catching fish and other seafoods (Redish). The Arawak people were known to have impressed Columbus with their kindness and hospitality. They will give all that they do possess for anything that is given to them, exchanging things even or bits of broken crockery, Columbus noted as he met them. He also stated,They do not carry arms or know them. They should be good servants. (Poole)
In the beginning, the Arawak and the Spaniards had a good relationship. From Columbus's journal he stated,They brought us sticks of the cotton candy thread and parrots and other little things which it would be tedious to list, and exchanged everything for whatever we offered them. After Columbus realized how useful the Arawak could be in the use of work, he wasted no time in establishing his first empire. As the Spaniards and Arawak continued to co-exist, there once good relationship deteriorated. The Spaniards began to remove Arawak men from the villages to work in newly discovered gold mines and colonial plantations. As forced work was pushed onto the Arawak, members of the tribe began to experience starvation, depression, suicidal thoughts, and fell to deadly diseases. (Poole)
As the Arawak worked on the plantations and in the gold mines, the Spanish settled and became physically closer to them. The members of the tribe were not able to plant crops while they were being forced to work, which led to many Arawak's to die due to starvation. Many other members committed suicide so they would not have to be under control of the Spaniards any longer. (Poole) The Arawak were not immune to diseases that came from Europe, specifically smallpox. As time went on and the more settled the Spaniards were, the Arawaks number decreased. In 1531, the number of Arawak was down to 600, from an estimated number of 100,000. Today, there is no trace of the Arawak people, except for archaeological remains. (Corbett)
The arrival of Columbus and the rest of the Spaniards to the Caribbeans caused a genocidal end to the Arawak Indians. Columbus had an idea of dominating that new land he had found, but his only problem was the Arawak. In April, 1493, Columbus wrote a letter to Luis de Santagnel declaring "their Highnesses may see that I shall give them as much gold as they need .... and slaves as many as they shall order to be shipped." Christopher Columbus and his crew took advantage of the generosity and accommodation that the Arawak granted them because they knew how naive they were. After the Arawak were enslaved by the Spaniards, it is said that Columbus went back to Spain, where he celebrated through the street of Seville and Barcelona. (Bourne, pg. 270)
Famous for his New World discovery, Columbus is responsible for the genocidal end of the Arawak tribe. On October 10, 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered what he thought was the New World, but was actually already established by the Arawak people. The Arawak were good willed and gracious people who showed no threat to Columbus or his crew. Columbus took advantage of there humanity and enslaved them to take control of his new domain. Women were not able to plant crops, and the men were not able to hunt for food, so many began to succumb due to famine. I personally do not believe that this conflict evolved in American society, these conflicts have bee covered up as the years have gone on. If they were more popularized, I do not believe Columbus Day would be a national holiday in the United States. I do believe it has impacted the American society instead of evolving it. I believe it impacted it because since we do celebrate Columbus Day, the people who's ancestors and relatives were affected by his actions, see him as a villain and murderer. I also believe it impacted the American society because when people discovered that Columbus was not as gracious and giving, it created a divided opinion on if the holiday should be celebrated.
Biblography:
- Christopher Columbus Discovers America, 1492, EyeWitness to History, https://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/columbus.htm (2004).
- Morgan, Edmund S. Columbus' Confusion About the New World. Smithsonian Magazine, October 2009. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/columbus-confusion-about-the-new-world-140132422/
- Christopher Columbus: The Untold Story. Understanding Prejudice. https://www.understandingprejudice.org/nativeiq/columbus.htm#source8
- Exploring the Early Americas. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/exploring-the-early-americas/columbus-and-the-taino.html
- Redish, L., Orrin, L. Native American Facts for Kids. Native Languages of the Americas, https://www.bigorrin.org/arawak_kids.htm
- Corbett, Bob. Pre-Columbian Hispaniola - Arawak/Taino Indians. World History Archives, https://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43a/100.html
- Poole, Robert M. What Became of the Tarno? Smithsonian Magazine, October 2011. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/what-became-of-the-taino-73824867/
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Transformation of Ships Since Columbus Time
Everybody knows that Columbus made the life changing trip to the Americas on three ships: the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. These ships that Columbus used have evolved greatly over time. The technology of ships today has allowed traveling by sea to be much easier. Columbus' ships and modern ships have few similarities, and they have many contrasting qualities. Ships have a long history, and they have made many technological changes over the years.
The ships that Columbus used were not exactly high tech. They were a fairly simple design and life was basic. These ships traveled at a very slow pace. These ships could travel at speeds between four to eight knots. This speed always depended on the speed of the wind. These ships had multiple sails an masts, and the wind carried them across the water. At this rate, his ships were able to travel at about ninety to one hundred miles on an average day (Pickering, 2018). Knots are simply just the nautical version of miles per hour. A nautical mile is slightly larger than land measured miles. One knot equals 1 nautical mile per hour and 1.15 land measured miles per hour (NOAA, 2013). The Ni?±a, Pinta, and Santa Maria could carry about 120 passengers. These ships were very unsanitary, and people on board had to sleep tightly packed together on the damp deck. Passengers had to pack dry foods such as bread and crackers, and meat was salted to stay preserved for the long trip. Christopher Columbus used the stars and the sun as navigation. There were not many accomodations on these ships compared to what kind of ships are travelling the sea today (Alchin, 2012).
Ships today are much more innovative than the ships used back in 1492. Things are always evolving over time, and this was no different for these boats. Cruise ships today have restaurants, bars, and even sports. The typical cruise ship weighs more than 70,000 tons. Not only are these ships very large, they can also travel at speeds between 21 and 24 knots per hour. They can even reach speeds of up to 30 knots per hour or more. They are powered by a diesel engine and have propellers that slice the water to accelerate the boat. Cruise ships have a very low fuel efficiency as it takes 10 miles of gas to move only hundreds of feet (Tysdal, 2013). An unbelievable amount of people can board a cruise ship. Royal Caribbean has the largest cruise ship ever, and it has a maximum capacity of 4,370 people. Today ships are used to carry cargo from place to place. The most common use for boats in modern times is for vacations. There are multiple cruise ship companies, such as Carnival and Royal Caribbean. The cruise lines provide families with entertainment and travel all over the world to give people an enjoyable and relaxing vacation.
Columbus's ships and the ships of today have many differences when it comes to technology. Not only are the technology of these ships different, but the are also very different when if comes down to how they work. Ships today can travel up to 20 knots faster than Columbus's ships. Columbus was making one of the most impactful expeditions of all time, and made it all the way from Spain to the Americas by traveling at the speed of the wind. Another obvious difference is the capacity of these ships. Columbus's ship could barely board more than one hundred people, while modern day cruise ships are carrying thousands of people across the ocean. During Columbus's time people were taking foods that were easily preservable to eat on the long voyage. Now anyone can get on a cruise ship and be served high class meals from actual restaurants. The use of technology such as GPS and phones has also allowed traveling by sea to be much different. The sleeping arrangements on the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria were one of the most dreaded parts of the trip.
Today, families are spending weeks on the ocean living in luxury. The rooms on these ships are comparable to a five star hotel. Columbus had to use astronomy to navigate his way to the western hemisphere. In today's world, we have the world right at our fingertips and can easily find out any needed information. Over the span of many years, ships have evolved greatly from Columbus's time to today. Things changed from living with minimal accommodations to spending vacations on a boat.
Ships have a long history, and they have made many technological changes over the years. Travelling by sea has evolved greatly. The three ships used by Columbus, the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria were very different than any of the boats that will be found in the ocean today. Today, ships travel the ocean more efficiently than they did in the past. The use of boats has changed so much since the great voyage made by Christopher Columbus.
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Christopher Columbus: a Hero or a Villain
Christopher Columbus was a Italian explorer. He was born between August 26 and October 31. He was born in Genoa, Italy and was known for his exploring across the Atlantic. People also believe that he is the first person to find the Americas. Throughout his whole life, he took 4 big voyages and a lot more that were smaller and not as important. He was determined to find a direct water path from Europe to Asia. He didn't achieve that goal but this is when people believe he stumbled across the Americas.
Christopher Columbus started his exploring at an early age. He was the son of a wool merchant. When he was just a teenager, he got a job on a merchant ship. He was sailing until 1470, when French privateers attacked his ship and continued north along the Portuguese coast. The boat sank but Christopher got back to shore on a small plank of wood. This is where he began studying and finding out what he would do for his future. He was in Lisbon, and this is when he began studying mathematics, astronomy, cartography and navigation. This is where he would meet his wife and have his kids.
While Columbus was in Lisbon he met his wife, Filipa Moniz Perestrelo. She was a Portuguese noblewomen from Porto Santo Island, in Madeira Portugal. The two of them got married in 1479 and they would soon have a kid. Diego Columbus was their child and he was a navigator just like his father. Again just like his father, he was very successful in life as he was the 2nd Admiral of the Indies, 2nd Viceroy of the Indies and 4th Governor of the Indies as a vassal to the Kings of Castile and Aragon.
At the end of the 15th century, it was very near impossible to reach Asia from Europe by land. If you tried to take this trip, you would encounter a lot of hostile armies that were hard to get around. The Portuguese explorers found that it would be quite easy to do this by sailing. They sailed along the West African coast and around the Cape of Good Hope. Columbus didn't agree with this. He felt like it would be easier to sail down across the Atlantic instead of going around the African continent. His thought was very logical but his math was off by a lot. He thought that the earth's circumference was much smaller than what it actually was. He not only thought that this trip would be possible but ratherly quite easy.
He showed his plan to the Portugal and English officials and it wasn't until 1491 when he finally got an audience and recognition. Columbus wanted to be famous for the thing he loved and he wanted to get rich while doing it. He wanted to spread Catholicism around the world. Columbus had a contract with the Spanish officials and it was promising that he could keep ten percent of whatever he found. Also gets noble titles and governorship of any land he encounters.
On August 3, 1492, him and his crew set sail in three ships; the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria and on October 12, they made it to land. He wasn't on Asia as he assumed but he was on one of the Bahamian Islands. For months, he sailed from island to island looking for things that were worth good money. He promised the Spanish patrons that he would return with something worth value. He didn't find much. In March of 1493, he left behind 40 of his men behind in a makeshift settlement in Hispaniola which is present day Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
After waiting only a few months, Columbus took sail for the second time. He went and explored most of the Caribbean Islands. When he arrived at Hispaniola, him and his crew discovered that the Navidad settlement was destroyed and with all of his sailors killed. The queen didn't like idea of slavery but Columbus found a way around it and made a forced labor policy to help rebuild the settlement and help find golds and other things worth money. The labor only led him to find a small amount of gold and only make things worse between him and the native population. Before going back to Spain, Columbus left his two brothers behind, Diego and Bartholomew, to govern and watch over Hispaniola. As he was sailing back to Asia, he went around the Caribbean Islands and this made him think that he had went around the outer islands of China.
In his third voyage, he finally reached the mainland of South America. He explored the Orinoco River which is in present day Venezuela. The conditions in Hispaniola were becoming really bad to the point near mutiny. Settlers claiming that they have been misled by Columbus claims and riches and complaining about the poor management of his brothers. A Spanish Crown sent a officer to go and arrest Columbus. The officer stripped him of his authority. Columbus returned to Spain in chains to face royal court. Later his charges were dropped but he lost his ability to govern the Indies and most of the money he earned during his voyages.
On his fourth and final voyage Columbus convinced King Ferdinand to let him take this voyage and promised that he would return with a lot of riches. This all took place in 1502. He travelled across the eastern coast of Central America in an unsuccessful search for the Indian Ocean. A storm wrecked one of his ships leaving the captain and the sailors stranded in Cuba. During this time, the local islanders were tired of Spaniards, poor treatment, and the obsession for gold, they refused to give the captain and his crew food. Columbus then got an idea, he was going to design a punishment for the islanders. He was planning to take away the moon from them. On February 29, 1504, a lunar eclipse alarmed the islanders enough to re-establish trade with the Spaniards. A rescue party finally arrived, sent by the royal governor of Hispaniola in July, and Columbus and his crew returned to Spain in November of 1504.
A quick recap on all of Christopher's voyages, there were a lot of events that happened that made his future turn out the way it did. During his first voyage he went down into the Atlantic instead of going around the African continent. If he would've went around Africa then there was a small chance that he would have been caught and could've lost his life early. On his second voyage, when he discovered that Hispaniola was destroyed; if he never got the labor policy up and running then he could've lost profit and maybe get in trouble by the queen for leaving the place a mess. In his third voyage he had a chance of getting killed by the people in South America. This would've ended his legacy early and he probably wouldn't be as popular has he is now. And in his final voyage, when the islanders refused to give him and his crew food could've ended his life early as well. So after all of his voyages he made it out alive but if it wasn't for some of the events that took place, his life and legacy could've been a lot different.
Columbus had a crazy life leaving him with a more crazy legacy. He is credited for finding the Americas and showing them to the European people. He was sadly credited with destroying the native people when he explored their islands. To complete the sum up, he actually never met his goal of finding a ocean route to Asia and coming back with riches. Known as the Columbian Exchange, during all of his voyages, he spread a lot of his people, plants, animals, and diseases that affect the world that we live in now. Columbus brought over horses, which had a huge affect on the Native Americans. This allowed the tribes that were living in the Great Plains of North America to shift from a moving nomadic lifestyle to a staying still hunting style. Wheat from the Old World got moved to North America and would soon become one of their biggest food sources. There were a lot more things following the Columbian Exchange.
Fast forward to May of 2014, Columbus made the news again. A group of archeologists claimed they found the Santa Maria off the coast of Haiti. The leader of the group told the head of the newspaper all geographical, underwater topography archaeological evidence strongly suggest this wreck is Columbus' famous flagship, the Santa Maria(Clifford). After further investigation, the U.N. agency UNESCO, it was determined to be too far off the coast to be the Santa Maria.
Now time to discuss if Columbus was a hero or a villain. There are many key points for each side. I will discuss the things that made him a hero rather than a villain. He brought things around the world that wouldn't have ever been possible to get if he didnt do this. He gave the Natives many things; he gave them their transportation, food, and shelter when he had them doing labor work. Columbus also found many different places for the Europeans to expand to. He opened up a whole new door of possibilities. He discovered parts of South America, some of the Caribbean Islands, more places in Europe and Africa. This allowed people of his kind to expand out for their life and live in different areas. He was a great father and trained his son to be exactly like him, which is a leader. Some people say his son almost had as great as a legacy as his father did.
Now for the things that made him a villain. Columbus was known for doing things that he had to do to get what he wanted. Columbus killed a lot of the Native Americans and took their land. While he was doing all of that, he even made them his slaves to help him succeed in his life. If it wasn't for the Native Americans, he wouldn't have ever had as much riches as he did. Hispaniola would have stayed a mess and he would've got in trouble for that. Columbus was known for rapping women and beating them. He did all of this to his wife. People believe we are celebrating Columbus day because he found the Americas. But did he really? We are supporting a villain, a rapist, a perpetrator of genocide, and a murderer of millions.
Now I will state my opinion on if I think he was a hero or a villain. In my eyes I see Christopher Columbus as a hero. My back up on this would be that he did more good things than bad. Columbus did what he had to do to achieve his dream. Even though he never actually found a sea route from Europe to Asia he still found more places for people to expand and start new life there. Without Columbus there could have been places that we still never knew about. He influenced many other people to follow his path and become an explorer. He trained his son to be a hero to many. At the end of it all, he was a hero too.
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A Reason of the Native American Extinction
Christopher Columbus background
Christopher Columbus was a wool merchant, was born in Genoa, Italy who was born around 1451. When he was a teenager he got a job on a merchant ship. He remained at seeing until 1470 when French privateers attacked his ship as it sailed north along the Portuguese coast. The boat sank and Christopher Columbus floated on a piece of wood. He then ended up in Lisbon, where he studied mathematics, astronomy, cartography, and navigation. In the back of his mind was a storm brewing that would change the world forever.
Christopher sailed to Northern America in 1842. When he arrived he was met by American Indians. Spanish and Portuguese explorers were in the south so English explorers focused on North America. A new world Christopher Columbus first sailed to the Americans in 1742 in hopes of reaching India to trade with them. He was intrigued by the hopes of reaching the rich lands of India by not traveling around the whole continent but by going across the globe. He had trouble convincing royalties to accept his ideas. His idea was finally granted when he was in Spain and asked the Royals. Spain wanted to get ahead in the race to India because of the tall tales about their wealth.
First Colony
La Navidad was the first European encampment established when one of Christopher Columbus's ships hit a coral reef and sunk. Christopher Columbus left 39 men. He packeted with the local shift to let the men stay there until he returned. Colobus entrusted his cousin Diego de Arana with running the settlement. The goal was to collect gold and wait for colobus to return. When Christopher Columbus and his new fleet returned the encampment was found burned and all men were killed. The personal belongings were found in local tribes homes. The chief said other tribes buried it. To the contrary, the chiefs man's brother said La Navidad went in search of women and mistreated them to there personal gains.
Later evidence proved the people of La Navidad fought between themselves talking as much gold and women as they could. The camp was set alight after the tribes retaliated. La Navidad was believed to be located in Haiti. Columbus brought back many things from his first trip. He had to bring back items to prove that the Americas were worth exploring and by exaggerating the richness he would become more famous. One important thing Christopher Columbus brought back was twelve kidnapped Native Americans, two escaped. Christopher also brought back small amounts of gold, native birds, and plants to show the richness of the land. Later the people of Ontario(where La Navidad was)were extinct from enslavement and disease.
Columbus's second voyage was in 1493 with a fleet of 17 ships and twelve hundred men and supplies to permanently establish colonies. The logistics of the second voyage where huge because they had to bring cattle, sheep, and horses. On board were priests, farmers, and soldiers. One of Christopher Columbus's goals on his second journey was to convert the nativist Christians. He stopped and explored many islands, Christopher captured and kidnapped many women. He brought back thirty Native American slaves and their chief who died on board.
Colobus was having governing issues, he was mentally and physically exhausted. He has arthritis and his eyes had ophthalmia. He sent two ships to Spain asking the royal commissioner to help him give the colonies. The royal government handed all the power over to Francisco de Bobadilla. When numerous complaints from returning settelers because of mismanagement Columbus and his brothers were put in jail.
Disease
The main diseases that impacted the Native American people were Smallpox, Plague, Chicken Pox, Cholera, The Common Cold, Diphtheria, Influenza, and Malaria. Diseases is a huge reason why some Native American tribes died out.Native Americans had not been exposed to these illnesses there immune system was weak and sick people were not quarantined do diseases spread quickly. Some researchers believed since Native Americans did not domesticate animals they were not exposed to some of the sicknesses. Some native American tribes though because they were not Christian they were being punished. This belief came up because the Europeans were not getting sick. Native Americans had this belief that if they took a sweat bath.
Trading Lasting effects
Christopher Columbus was an influential person in shaping history. He did not discover America but he was the person who started decades more of exploration. Without Christopher Columbus, the world would have been a very different place. Native Americans might be the leading race in the Americas or disease later wiped out more of the Native Americans. Besides the controversial things Christopher Columbus did, he brought extinction to many groups of people. He opened the gate for many great explorations to America.
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Christopher Columbus and the Discover of America
They were times of discovery. The new caravels looked like the safest ships you could think of. Together with the newly invented compass and the sextant, they urged sailors to venture into the seas. On the other hand, in 1453, the Turks entered Constantinople (and since then they called it Istanbul), closing the Mediterranean for trade with the Indies. This event represented a blow to the European kingdoms, as it meant the consolidation of a powerful empire that controlled part of the Mediterranean Sea and even represented a threat to them.
Closure of trade routes
In addition to seizing Constantinople, the Turks closed the path of European merchants who sought to acquire goods from the East and established strict control over these products. From that moment, finding a new route to the Indies became a vital necessity. Portugal already had much invested looking for the route to the Indies traveling east, bordering the coast of Africa, where they had even found some gold. Travel to India was a very good business, they gave profits of 1,000 percent. But investing in looking for the road to the Indies traveling to the West was very risky. Historians investigate who financed the first trip of Columbus. Queen Isabel had already spent all her jewels in the war to drive the Moors out of Spain. The historian Salvador de Madariaga mentions two important loans from new Christians, one from the Pinz?n family, another from the Sanngel bank.
The historian Cecil Roth also found other loans to the kings of Spain before the first trip of Columbus, the Genoese bankers Spinola, Di Negri and Berardi. The Genoese were not descendants of converts, but they liked to invest in maritime discovery companies. The Discovery of America is a historical event that has marked the history of both Spain and America. It is also called "the meeting of two worlds". It was on October 12, 1492, when Christopher Columbus, a Genoese navigator, discovered a new continent without realizing it.During the time of Christopher Columbus, fifteenth century it was believed that there was only one way to reach the Asian continent.
Christopher Columbus, as a child, was always interested in geography, navigation, maps and other aspects that made Columbus curious to discover another way to reach the East Indies and find great wealth. The idea of Columbus was that, because the Earth was round, it could reach the west. He presented his plan to the King of Portugal, but he rejected it, saying that he demanded too much. Columbus did not give up, he was still looking for a way for someone to support him with his trip. The friar Juan Porez, who had a lot of influence with the Catholic Monarchs in Spain, helped them give him financial help for his trip.
Finally, on April 17, 1492, the Catholic Monarchs and Christopher Columbus signed "The Capitulations of Santa Fe "And Columbus begins to prepare his fleets to start the expedition. Colon had everything ready, 3 boats that I baptize" La Nia "," La Pinta "and" La Santa Mara "the only thing they needed were sailors to accompany him and they will help him during the trip. Colon needs at least sixty men, eighty would be even better and one hundred would be ideal. And, to be able to be, not novice sailors but men with experience. But since the proclamation of the decree of the Queen in the Church of St. George Martyr, the men of sticks remain on the defensive; nobody wants to accompany him.Everyone is afraid to trust that stranger whose fantastic ideas circulate all kinds of rumors.
Finally, Columbus was able to get his crew. Around 100 sailors decided to be part of the expedition. Many of them were afraid, others worried about their families, fearing never to return. The trip began on August 3, 1942, and it was until October 12 when the sailor Rodrigo de Triana shouted "Tierra!". They disembarked on an island, baptized by Columbus as San Salvador. They had reached the American continent but Columbus thought it was the West Indies. They were surprised by the attitude that the so-called "Indians" had with the Spaniards. The navigator Marco Polo had mentioned that in the Indies there were very civilized people, great palaces and a lot of wealth. But, because Columbus did not know it was a new continent, everything he saw did not make much sense with what he had already heard.
For Christopher Columbus, it was a great "Cultural Shock" to get to a new place, new people very different from the Spaniards, they wore little clothes and spoke a language they did not understand at all. For the same reason that it was something completely different from what he was used to, it was hard for him to adapt. Columbus ordered six men to be loaded into the boat where they were going to visit the new islands, and they had to learn four phrases in Spanish and serve as interpreters and explorers in other islands.Columbus and the other navigators continued to explore the new island discovered by sailing on the rafts built by the natives. They guided the Spaniards and they were getting to know the different Islands. Columbus always thought that he was in China and when the Indians showed them the places where there was gold, he thought that some king lived nearby and that's why there were so many riches. But as they advance, Columbus and the sailors realize that there was no gold and needed him to take it to the queen and to pay him what he gave her for his expedition.
After continuing touring different islands such as Hispaniola, today is known as Haiti and the Dominican Republic until finally arriving in Cuba, where the Indians said that they would find gold there. During their trip, Columbus was getting to know the Indians more. He tried to adapt to his way of life and realized they were good people. In all the islands, and always according to Columbus, the inhabitants seem hospitable, happy and innocent. So in their huts hang some things of spun cotton and nets in which they slept what they called hammocks. But even though the Europeans admired the simplicity of the Indians, they were worried, upset and offended. Innocence never ceases to offend, never stops inviting the attack, and the Indians seemed the most innocent people anyone has ever seen.
Without the help of Christianity or civilization, they had achieved virtues that Europeans liked to think were the right result of Christianity and civilization. The fury with which the Spaniards assaulted the Arawaks even after enslaving them must surely have been in part a blind impulse to crush an innocence that seemed to negate the Europeans' prized assumption of their own civilized and Christian superiority over barbarous nudes and pagans. After several days of being on different islands, Christopher Columbus decides to return to Spain to tell the Catholic Monarchs about his arrival in the Indies.
Thanks to the trip of Columbus they begin to develop different trips but never one like the first one. Christopher Columbus, for his great interest in wanting to show the world that there were different ways to get to the Indies, discovered a new continent. At first, everything was different. Nothing coincided with what he had been told about the Indies. Christopher Columbus died on May 19, 1506, in the city of Valladolid in Spain without knowing that he had discovered a new continent.
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Accidental Discovery of Christopher Columbus
Many important figures have contributed to our understanding of marine exploration though not as pivotal as Christopher Columbus and his accidental discovery. Columbus is considered to be one of the greatest and well-known mariner of all time for challenging and developing ideas which allowed him to become successful. He is the reason that Europeans had come to a realization of undiscovered land of the Americas. Christopher Columbus took a voyage westward in search of Asia to look for an efficient way to trade by sea. The outcome of the westward voyage resulted in an accidental discovery of the New World. The first voyage leads to a deep exploration of the newly discovered Americas and their native inhabitants causing a devastating effect on their civilization. After the first voyage, Columbus leads three more expeditions to the New World which highly impacts the course of history in a significant manner.
The renowned Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy in the year 1451. He learned how to sail at an early age and was self-taught. He would often read navigation and astronomy books which sharpened his skills to become a well-known mariner. Columbus was a strong believer of a spherical earth and suggested the idea of finding a more efficient way of conducting trade for a profit by sailing West to end up East (Hale pp.7). He suggested his idea to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain who surprisingly agreed and financed his expedition after being turned down by other Kings. Little did they know; the expedition would change the course of history.
Christopher Columbus prepared for the Great Voyage readies three ships known as the Nia, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. He sets sail westward on August 3rd, 1492 from the Canary Islands in hopes to find the Eastern lands. After the eighth day of being at sea Columbus and crew had lost sight of the land they had left and had not seen land for a period of thirty days. The voyage was not as easy as Columbus had expected it to be, and it was uneventful as well consisting of disputes among crew members and harsh living condition. Columbus was faced with a sudden rebellion by the crew members as they had become anxious and truculent (Philips pp.147).
According to Columbus's diary, he had made two sets of calculations evidently to deceive the crew into believing that they had sailed less to avoid gaining their distrust and being thrown overboard for their lack of patience (Hale pp.20-21). Then came the thirty-third day, Columbus and his crew come across land since their departure. They discovered the Caribbean Islands on October 11th late at night where they eagerly waited until morning to explore the island (Philips pp.153).
As Columbus arrived at the island with his crew members he believed he had landed in India, therefore, calling the habitants Indians. He also began naming the islands that surrounded him and named the one he arrived to after their savior, San Salvador. Documents and letters written by Christopher Columbus himself drew a vivid picture of what he came across in San Salvador. He befriends the natives of the island and gave them treasures that gave them pleasure and amusement, but Columbus had something else planned. He converted the Natives into Christian Spanish speakers through harsh and forceful ways. In his diary, he states, As soon as I reached that sea, I seized by force several Indians on the first island, in order that they might learn from us (Columbus pp.7). Columbus discovers the Americas yet sails throughout the islands in search for gold and other valuable goods that may interest the King and Queen and comes across Cuba, Haiti and other Caribbean islands. His intentions with the natives were not good since his arrival to the islands as stated in a letter he wrote, I might induce them to take an interest in seeking out, and collecting, and delivering to us such things as they possessed in abundance, but which we greatly need (Kishlansky pp. 302). His desire was to obtain anything valuable that they possessed in abundance to take back to Spain.
After returning to Spain Columbus had plans of taking back a bigger fleet to the Caribbean. He exaggerated reports and documents involving the islands of China he had discovered knowing that he had a profitable future ahead of him. Although he faced hardships and mutiny during the first voyage, Columbus was determined to bring back valuable goods, materials and native slaves. He became greedy and wanted to make a profit off the islands he had discovered which prompted him to launch the second voyage to the Americas. On September 25th, 1493 Columbus sailed back to the Americas with a bigger fleet than the first voyage (Philips pp. 194).
Columbus's second voyage back to the Americas was relatively faster than the first but still faced hardships from his crew members because he ordered for small rations until land was sighted and many of the members became ill. Columbus and his crew spotted land on November 4th, 1493 and he came across many new islands which he named Dominica, Virgin Islands, Santa Maria and many more. He returned to Hispaniola where he had left crew members from the first voyage to build a fort, but all were brutally killed by the natives of the island. Diego Alvarez Chanca a witness who sailed with Columbus wrote many letters regarding the voyage and experience. Many of those letters contained brutal and disturbing experiences involving; cannibal Indians, treatment on other conquered Indians, as well as the slaughter of other Indians by the Europeans. A huge amount of the native population was dying of diseases as they were not immune to the diseases the Europeans had brought. Columbus continues to explore the newly discovered islands further and left more men behind in a small settlement called La Navidad. He also found nuggets of gold that he would then take to the king and queen. He also tries to raise funds for importing and exporting goods from the Americas by taking a great number of Indians back to Europe to sell them into slavery (Philips pp. 196-202).
Not long after the second voyage, Columbus was still determined to look for valuables as well as new land that they could discover further along the already explored islands. The reason Columbus was desperate was because he was growing poor, and his slave trade was condemned by the queen which cost him a lot. On May 30th, 1498 Columbus sets sail to the new world for the third time. Sailing westward Columbus sends three ships to Hispaniola where the settlements his brother Bartholomew had been in charge of were located. Meanwhile Columbus and the rest of the fleet traveled towards the Island of Trinidad and eventually made their way to the Paria Peninsula present day Venezuela. This was Columbus first time landing on South American soil. He briefly explored Venezuela and found natives that showed him the way to find gold and pearls. Columbus in poor health returned to Hispaniola where he encountered chaos and disaster after Indian and European uprisings had occurred. Columbus was unable to take control of the problem which led to settlers leaving the colony as soon as possible. Columbus had again exaggerated and lied in his reports stating that everything was going well in Hispaniola. However, when Columbus arrived back to Spain, settlers complained about him and his brother, framing them for injustice actions and oppression towards them and the Natives. All these people that stood up against Columbus cost him his royal property as governor, his ships and houses. The royal officer of the King and Queen put Christopher Columbus into custody right after his return (Hale pp. 67-73).
During the time Columbus was in custody he wrote letters to the King and Queen stating that he had really found the mainland of Asia and he's the reason for Spain's increase in wealth. The King and Queen then responded by ordering him to be released from custody and sent him to court in Granada. They also gave him back some of his property as well as the permission for one last voyage. On May 11th, 1502 Columbus and his fleet of old ships made way towards the new world for one last expedition. Christopher Columbus's last voyage was rough throughout. The fleet had was hit by strong storms and hurricanes, they landed in Panama where they decided to leave settlers behind to build a settlement, but they were all attacked by the natives of the area. Columbus and the crew managed to escape the attacks but lost major numbers of people. When sailing back they were hit by another storm that stranded them, they seeked help from the Natives that admiringly helped them giving them sustenance and shelter. The whole trip was a disaster for Columbus and the crew. They managed to get to Hispaniola with help from the natives and were able to get back home on November 7, 1504, which marked the end of Christopher Columbus' journey. He died on May 20th, 1506 and left behind a legacy that has become controversial in our society today (Philips pp. 230-235) (Hale pp. 81-83).
The four voyages led by Christopher Columbus one of the most important marine explorers changed the course of European and later to be American history. His accidental discovery of the Americas brought centuries of marine exploration to Europe and neighboring countries it brought forward the Columbian exchange, friction between colonies and the death of huge populations of Natives. His discovery was overwhelmingly beneficial to Europe but had a negative impact on the natives in the Americas. Written accounts of Columbus himself state, In the name of the Holy Trinity, we can send from here all the slaves and brazil-wood which could be sold .... In Castille, Portugal, Aragon ... and the Canary Islands they need many slaves (Mark and Tink pp. 41). Columbus had no good intentions after the discovery of the Americas which dooms the Natives and their native inhabitants but marked the beginning of New World explorations.
Bibliography
- Columbus, Christopher. The Letter of Columbus On the Discovery of America. Printed by
Order of the Trustees of the Lenox Library. New York: [The De Vinne Press], 1892. - Hale, Edward Everett. The Life of Christopher Columbus: His Own Letters and Journals. G.L
Howe & Company, 1891. - Kishlansky, Mark A. Sources of World History: Readings for World Civilization. Wadsworth,
vol. 1, no. 5, 2012. - Philips, William D., and Philips Rahn Carla. The Worlds of Christopher Columbus.
Cambridge University Press, 1992. - Tinker, George E., and Mark. Freeland. Thief, Slave Trader, Murderer: Christopher Columbus
and Caribbean Population Decline. Wicazo Sa Review, vol. 23, no. 1, 2008, pp. 25“50.
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A Man, who Changed World History
Christopher Columbus was a great philosopher. He wrote a letter to the Civil War Reconstruction which happened following the civil war from 1865 to 1877 (Levine 59). The reconstruction aim was to reform the south for the states that were previously rebellious to rejoin the union and give equal rights to the former slaves. His efforts are recognized globally in today's world of history (Levine 60).
He was an Italian navigator and explorer born in the year 1451 in the Genoa Republic which is now known as Italy but unfortunately died in 20th May 1506 (Phillips and Phillips 433). He sailed from Spain throughout the Atlantic in Santa Maria with the Nina and Pinta ships alongside with a hope of finding a different route heading to India. His exploration career began at a very tender age. He was an educated man full of vigor and knowledge about the water transport industry. Despite this, he was also a political influencer since he carried out a commission from the queen and king of Spain who empowered him to acquire and discover certain mainland and islands in the sea ocean though his political energy was later revoked by the king. (Phillips and Phillips 403) This special letter was directed at a specific group of people.
The destined audience was the aristocratic Lord Raphael Sanchez who was the treasurer to their most unconquerable majesties together with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of the Spanish citizens. He communicated in a simple language that everyone could understand since his letter is used in the modern day analysis, interpretation and understanding of the American civil war. His assumption that the reader would conceive whatever he wanted to convey has been greatly achieved (Phillips and Phillips 409). He wrote this document by himself on 15th February in the year 1493 while still at sea returning to his voyage (Levine 61). The writing was very instrumental in news spreading in Europe about his adventure. In his book Stave, he claims to have taken possession and revealed several islands on the Indian ocean edge in Asia. He describes the journey saying that he traveled for thirty-three days arriving in the Indies islands inhabited only by the Indians. He also describes how he disposed six new names to the islands and sailed for a spell across the Cuba northern coast seeking for cities and their rulers but only found minute villages without any form of government (Phillips and Phillips 466).
He faced challenges of getting information from the natives since they usually fled away when he approached. Therefore, he decided to go back to the southeast where he located the Hispaniola Island and explored its northern coast reporting that the Islands were suitable for colonization in the future since the natural habitat was very suitable for cultivation, livestock breeding and building of farms and towns. He preferred the Hispaniola than mountainous Cuba due to its spices, great gold mines and a lot of water. He characterizes the Indies inhabitants as innocent, primitive, unthreatening and unreasonable because the natives are unreligious, naive, generous and ready to exchange valuable goods for cheap ones.
Finally, Columbus promises to bring back lots of gold, cotton, slaves and other valuable things only if his command to return with a bigger fleet is supported by the Catholic Monarchs. He urges the church and the Spanish people to thank God for giving him a chance to seek many souls to eternal salvation (Levine 68). The aim of writing this document was to reclaim the rights of the slaves who were captivated during the time of conflicts. He tried to pass a message to those in power to find a way of helping them and bringing them back home especially the women and children who passed through more challenges as compared to men. Moreover, this document is not only a random note but a scholarly thesis since it is used by political scientists and other scholars in explanation of past history in comparison to contemporary issues.
It can be described as a political letter written to discuss governmental issues as it was dedicated to the rulers and the heads of the state concerning the lives of the indigenous residents of the land and the fight against the violation of their freedom. Furthermore, the writer made basic assumptions about the reader in that he assumed the consumer of the information could understand the native language since it was first printed in Spain. On his arrival on 4th March 1493 in Lisbon, he added a post-script and dispatched two more copies to the court (Levine 58). The first print was done in April 1493. Later, a Latin translation specifically devoted to Gabriel Sanchez was reprinted in Rome and then disseminated to several other locations for consumption by other people (Phillips and Phillips 500). These conversions made it easier for other interested readers to get a chance of reading it in an understandable way. The author also assumed that all the readers could understand the terms that are mostly used in the seas and oceans and presumed the consumers understanding of all the available holms.
To testify, the reliability of this letter is not debatable at all. This is because the facts depicted out are very real and cannot be doubted. It announces the first exploration of Christopher that set out in 1492 and eventually reached the Americas (Phillips and Phillips 513). He also gave new names to the Indies Islands such as the Sant Salvador, Guanaham, Ferrandina, Hysabellam, Joanam and Hispana which exist up to date (Phillips and Phillips 465). (Levine) states that the society that produced this document seems to be very conservative since it values the rules of the country by addressing burning issues to those in power (72).
In addition, it is war-oriented as there was a civil war that occurred which made the writer to direct the crisis to the right channel. In contrary, it is a rights-seeking kind of culture since a solution was being sought to release those who had been subjected to slavery. To add on, from the background of the story this social setting is religious as the creator of this primary source talks about the supreme being who granted to human exertions. Remarkably, this writing is very important to history as the whole world comes into prominence and play and the universe changes overnight.
Undoubtedly, Columbus revived the ancient by setting up new territories for the imperial powers of the Europeans to conquer and colonize revealing the end of the western civilizations that collapsed introducing other products such as potatoes, tobacco and many others to the new states. Finally, this document is very meaningful to me since it lays a foundation for the modern day ways of handling conflicts by following the right protocol in order to solve issues that matter to us.
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Imperialism in the Tempest
Analyzing the Tempest through the eyes of imperialism reveals an underlying, separate narrative that manifests a form of social apology from Shakespeare. When gazing through this lens, it becomes evident that many of the characters and locations are in fact symbols embodying key components of colonization. Take Prospero for example. He portrays the role of a European invader who comes to rule a foreign, primitive land enshrined in an atmosphere of mysticism. He achieves this outcome through the exploitation of his relatively superior knowledge over the natives, the most notable of which is Caliban, and coerces them into doing his bidding.
Shakespeare, shortly before writing The Tempest, read a contemporary travel account depicting the 1609 Virginia Company's new world exploration circa Bermuda. This source of information, which would have been readily available to Shakespeare, would be instrumental in shaping the plot of the play as well as providing an explanation as to why the topic of imperialism was being discussed in 1611. Colonization holds a general significance as there exists harmful, lasting social and geopolitical effects seen today, as well as promoting avarice and greed, cruelty, and engendering a cultural superiority view as demonstrated by the colonizers in The Tempest.
Shakespeare demonstrates the corrosive effects of imperialism by generating an atmosphere inscribed in avarice and greed. The chief example of this can be seen through the interactions between Antonio and Prospero. Antonio betrays Prospero with his taking control over the government. Prospero is shocked, stating My brother and thy uncle, call'd Antonio “ I pray thee, mark me “ that a brother should be so perfidious (1.2.4).
With the introduction of the element of colonization, greed becomes the driving force behind the motivations of many of the characters. Even a familial relationship is tarnished in the wake of greed. He thinks me now incapable; confederates --/So dry he was for sway “ wi' the King of Naples/To give him annual tribute, do him homage(1.2.5). Without regard for the consequences of the other people of Milan, Antonio forces Milan to become subservient to Naples.
In this case, greed comes in the form of a power hungry man. As prospero laments regarding this situation, the reader is reminded of the irony involved in this series of events. He refers to the island as his. This attitude underlines a key issue with imperialism. Prospero enslaved and colonized a foreign land and its inhabitants. Despite doing the same thing to others, he subsequently decries the invasion of his newfound paradise by Antonio. This is further enhanced as the role a shipwreck plays into the introduction of the interlopers into his world.
It is inevitable that, through the process and enforcement of imperialism, some form of cruelty will present itself. A typical median for this to occur is through the enslavement of a group of people, and enslavement does produce itself in Prospero's domain. Caliban is assaulted with pinches and cramps by the Grand Wizard to keep him under control, and he restrains with fetters the young prince Ferdinand's neck and feet together (2.2.3-4). These actions demonstrate the unnatural relationship between captor and unwilling subservient. Magic is seen as unnatural or supernatural, and its use as a forceful restraint can be likened to that of shackles.
Further analyzing this, it can be stated that the shackles that hold a slave are both physical and imaginary as thoughts or beliefs. Shakespeare utilizes this double meaning to subliminally criticize beliefs and ways of thinking that promote enslavement. As seen throughout history, violence only begets violence. This is clearly illustrated in the Tempest. This unnatural relationship brews a growing, festering resentment towards Caliban's overlord.
This eventually leads to the spawn of Sycorax calling upon nature to castigate his tormentor. He calls for "all the infections that the sun sucks up/From bogs, fens, flats on Prospero fall." (2.2.1-2). Retaliation may be justified, but no such measure would be required absent the presence of a foreign entity in one's native homeland. A clear example of what the novel says about colonization is depicted in Prospero's direct threats towards Caliban.
To prephase, he refuses a command to retrieve sticks in order to build a fire. Prospero bluntly tells Caliban If thou neglect or dost unwillingly What I command, I'll rack thee with old cramps,Fill all thy bones with aches, make thee roar That beasts shall tremble at thy din (1.2.17). Prospero willingness to utilize magic for cruel purposes reminds the reader of a slavemaster with a whip. His continual use of it further indicates both a lack of remorse and respect for Caligan. Shakespeare likens Prospero to a witch when he states that he will make Caliban suffer just like Ariel did at the hands of Sycorax.Thy groans / Did make wolves howl and penetrate the breasts / Of ever angry bears (1.2.16).
Racism and cultural superiority are both drivers and results of colonization. The main native of the island, Caliban, is characteristic of a great deal of typical thoughts held by European people in relation to the natives of the new world. Following these common held beliefs, Caligan represents a person without any moral restraint.
This is seen specifically in his lustful ways. He is a dangerous despoiler of virtuous white women such as Miranda. Another belief was that natives had an intimate relationship with alcohol. In the Tempest, its introduction to Caligan causes him to exclaim "Freedom, high-day" (2.1.186). This encounter led him to meet the characters of Stephano and Trinculo. Similarly to tribes who favored different colonizers based on defining aspects such as country or origin, Caliban becomes disenfranchised with Trinculo as a master and claims that he will only serve Stephano.Stephano chastises Trinculo for his maltreatment of Caliban, saying that "the poor monster's my subject, and he shall not suffer indignity" (3.2.36-37).
All of this closely resembles some aspects of European colonialist stereotypes of the New World's peoples and of their historical subjugation of Indians for their own good. Shakespeare's attitude toward European colonization of the New World amounts to criticism of the non-harmful, but misguided the view Gonzalo has toward the state of nature in a primitive commonwealth. Gonzalo's "ideal commonwealth" speech (Act II, scene i., ll.143-164), in detail, shows the depiction of the primitive society contained in the French philosopher Montaigne's essay "On Cannibals" in which Shakespeare was certainly familiar.
In that piece, Montaigne described Native-American society as being without "traffic" (i.e., commerce), without "letters" (i.e., literacy and knowledge) and without "toil" (i.e., vocational work). But, when Gonzalo speaks in glowing terms of a society (without sovereignty) and, even more remarkable (without sweat or endeavor), Prospero's brother, Antonio, asserts that under such conditions, the citizens would soon become idle (whores and knaves) (l.167). It is this belief that can be seen in Hakluyt's Reasons Goyen 5.
For Colonization. In his first reason he states that one of the reasons to colonize is to spread the glory of God by planting of religion among those infidels (Hakluyt, 125). The word symbolizes a major belief that if you are not part of the European culture, or refuse to adopt it, you are inferior. This second part leads to Hakluyt's nineteenth point.
He states If we find the country populous and desirous to expel us and injuriously to offend us, that seek but just and lawful traffic, then, by reason that we are lords of navigation and they not so, we are the better able to defend ourselves by reason of those great rivers and to annoy them in many places (Hakluyt, 125). There is a clear belief that the European travelers have the right to infringe on other nations land. Inversely, the European Nations would seldom, if ever allow natives to step foot onto their land.
In conclusion, Shakespeare issue a subtle, benign rebuke of imperialism in his last solo authored play, the Tempest. There is a general repentive tone that points out the misdeeds of many of the European colonizers. However, he does fully condemn these practices. This type of thinking, even from one of the most introspective and cognizant writers in recorded history, allowed for the continuation of such practices well into the future.
In general, the justification for colonization was held up by a culturally superior outlook of European civilization. Ultimately this mindset lead to the propagation of cruel and humanistic practices fueled by the desire for wealth and recognition. Despite colonization effectively ceasing at the end of World War 2, there are still many lingering effects today. Specifically this is represented by the African Continent, Israel, and the Indian subcontinent existing in continued states of disarray.
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Economic Causes of Imperialism
Reasons and Motives for Imperialism
During the late 19th century to the early 20th century, Western Europe soughed the aim of imperialism, which is known as New Imperialism. But what is Imperialism? Imperialism is when strong nations dominate the weaker ones by political, economic or cultural life. In Europe, the countries’ ambitions focused on Africa, although China and Australia were also partially occupied. The main causes for countries to seek expansion of their territories were military and political reasons, humanitarian and religious goals, social Darwinism, Western technology and especially economic motives. The nations that started undergoing an industrial revolution, such as Britain, led to the acceleration of European Imperialism. The industries required large quantities of raw materials and in order to sell the products, they had to expand and create new markets. All of this created an increase in the competition of trade around the world.
What Imperial governments and private companies wanted was a high-profit margin, they realized that such profits could be achieved through a greater abundance of raw materials at a cheaper price. Economic expansion demanded cheap labor, trade and natural resources, such as precious metals and land. After the arrival of the industrial revolution, dependent colonies often provided to European factories and markets a steady supply for raw materials in order to manufacture products, such as oil, rubber and manganese for steel. This required that industrial nations had to maintain firm control over the unexplored areas, forced to look somewhere else as their own nations didn’t have enough resources for their country. The special attraction of many countries was that they offered many raw materials needed, which were mainly Africa and Asia, who offered cotton, silk, vegetable oils and the rarer minerals. All these products of the tropics were very welcomed to Europe, although many of them were got by trading without political control.
Colonies not only provided cheap raw materials but also new markets where industrialized countries could sell the manufactured goods which were produced at home and could not be sold domestically on the continent. Only by controlling some countries or areas, which meant establishing territories under their direct control, could the commercial economy function to all intents and purposes. The financial profits of the new imperialism were restricted because the new colonies were too impoverished to spend money on European merchandise. By 1910, Britain’s manufacturing capacity reached 14.7%, while the United States had 35.5% and Germany at 14.9%.
As some countries became more profitable, they started to become more implicated in imperialism, resulting others to have some difficulties in maintaining a high amount of trade and investment overseas. Businessmen were ambitious for new destinations for selling abroad and pressured the government to secure enslaved markets in Africa. As the European market was limited, some businessmen and government leaders, concluded that overseas markets would solve problems of low prices. Many industrialists wanted to accelerate the process of colonialism securing colonies before they strictly needed them. These thoughts were that markets might be soon become oversupplied and a nation’s economic survival would depend on being able to unload the extra products elsewhere.
The augment in trading opportunities also stimulated imperialist greed, European countries sought to open up new trade routes that gave them places to sell their products. However, the chase for new markets speeded up as the continuous production of new goods increased. As well as the competition of trade and other economic factors, the European nations were motivated by competition for power. The United Kingdom and France, both top imperial powers took issue over the control of India and North America and the European powers extended their influence whenever an opportunity presented itself.
The weakness of China was exploited by European powers who forced it to sign treaties opening up the country to trade. The prestige of having a great empire was also a key factor in motivating European governments and nations. For a nation to be seen powerful, it needs to have land through the world to have many military bases in those and as people felt pride for their country when it took more land, nationalism developed. In addition, many imperialist empires wanted to establish their empire because it helped them gain influence in the diplomatic field.
Sometimes certain nations Sometimes nations are in need of strategic places in other countries, so they establish their control over them. In the past, the British had control over Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus and Aden, because form strategic point of view, these areas were very important. For example, an American cartoonist in 1888 depicted John Bull, representing England, like the octopus of imperialism grabbing land on every country.
In conclusion, I strongly believe that the main reason for conquering lands during the New Imperialism was the greed for economic gain. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for a man’s greed”. Even China that had almost everything and didn’t have to pass through Imperialism was pushed by his neighbours and blinded by political and economic power. The others were also fooled, making more money but hurting others such as the Africans, which were exploited.
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Imperialism in Africa
The people of the Non-Western World encountered an agonizing emergency of identity because of European radicals, fundamentally because of the power and in addition the haughtiness of their white gatecrashers. The underlying reaction of the general population of Africa and Asia was to endeavor to drive out the gatecrashers. Unfortunately, fierce enemy of outside response was put down brutally by the unrivaled military innovation of the Europeans.
Unfit to crush the Europeans militarily, many vanquished individuals attempted to protect their very own way of life from westernization; while others, for example, Ismail of Egypt, presumed that the West was in reality prevalent, and that his general public ought to be improved as needs be. After some time, the individuals who wished to modernize their way of life instead of safeguard it won out. The majority of individuals in Asia and Africa were acquainted with doing as they were told by their pioneers; thus they frequently easily pursued the standard of European slave drivers.
All things considered, European control was a structure based on sand, as there were in every case some decided identities who contradicted European mastery. The quiet masses tailed them to shifting degrees. Purposes behind resistance were: An inborn want for human nobility. Adversaries of government felt that they were looted of that nobility by their remote rulers. Radicalism and its cases of common freedom and political self-assurance, signs of the Western world, were grub for those contradicted to outside principle. Neighborhood adversaries were ready to grasp current patriotism; each had the privilege to control its very own predetermination.
Despite the fact that the Industrial Revolution and patriotism formed European culture in the nineteenth century, colonialism”the control by one nation or individuals over another gathering of individuals”drastically changed the world amid the last 50% of that century. Colonialism did not start in the nineteenth century. From the sixteenth to the mid nineteenth century, a period overwhelmed by what is presently named Old Imperialism, European countries looked for exchange courses with the Far East, investigated the New World, and set up settlements in North and South America and also in Southeast Asia.
They set up exchanging posts and picked up dependable balance on the shores of Africa and China, and worked intimately with the neighborhood rulers to guarantee the security of European monetary interests. Their impact, be that as it may, was constrained. In the Period of New Imperialism that started during the 1870s, European states built up tremendous domains for the most part in Africa, yet likewise in Asia and the Middle East. (Michael B. Bishku, Professor of history at Augusta State University in Augusta, Georgia).
By 1870, it ended up essential for European industrialized countries to grow their business sectors comprehensively with the end goal to move items that they couldn't move locally on the landmass. Agents and brokers had abundance cash-flow to contribute, and outside ventures offered the motivation of more noteworthy benefits, in spite of the dangers.
The requirement for shoddy work what's more, an enduring supply of crude materials, for example, oil, elastic, and manganese for steel, required that the mechanical countries keep up firm command over these unexplored zones. Just by specifically controlling these districts, which implied setting up states under their immediate control, could the modern economy work adequately”or so the settlers thought. The financial additions of the new dominion were restricted, be that as it may, on the grounds that the new settlements were excessively poor, making it impossible to burn through cash on European merchandise.
Imperialism in Africa
Africa was known as the Dark Continent and stayed obscure to the outside world until the late nineteenth century since its inside”desert, mountains, levels, and wildernesses”debilitated investigation. England's control of Egypt and Belgium's infiltration of the Congo begun the race for pilgrim belonging in Africa.
Suez Canal
In 1875, Britain got a controlling energy for the Suez Canal from the bankrupt pioneer of Egypt who was unfit to repay progresses that he had contracted for the trench and modernization of the country. The French, who dealt with the working of the Suez Canal under Ferdinand de Lesseps in 1859, had substitute offers. The Suez Channel was basic since it condensed the course from Europe to South and East Asia. The channel also gave an assistance to India, which Britain had made bit of the British Empire in 1858.
In 1882, Britain set up a protectorate over Egypt, which inferred that the organization pioneers were experts of the Ottoman Empire, be that as it may were genuinely controlled by Great Britain. The British control of Egypt, the most unrestrained and most made land in Africa, set off "African fever" in Europe. To ensure its control and consistent quality in the zone, Great Britain widened its control over the Sudan too. (By Mohit | In: Maritime History | Last Updated on April 16, 2018)
Exploration of the Congo
In 1878, Leopold II of Belgium (b. 1835, ruled 1865“ 1909) sent Anglo-American newspaperman Henry Stanley (1841“ 1904), to investigate the Congo and set up exchange concurrences with pioneers in the Congo River bowl. Stanley, in 1871, had "found" the incomparable Scottish adventurer and preacher David Livingstone (1813“ 1873), who had voyage all through Africa for more than thirty years. At the point when quite a long while go without a word from him, it was expected that he was dead. Stanley was procured in 1869 by the New York Herald, an American daily paper to discover Livingstone.
His acclaimed welcoming, "Dr. Livingstone, I assume" wound up unbelievable, despite the fact that there is some inquiry concerning its genuineness. Stanley's record of their gathering stood out as truly newsworthy around the globe and helped make him acclaimed. Stanley in the long run sold his administrations to Leopold II, who had shaped a money related syndicate entitled The International African Association. A solid willed ruler, Leopold II's interruption into the Congo territory brought up issues about the political destiny of Africa south of the Sahara. Other European countries were dreadful that Belgium needed to broaden power over the whole zone. (Dorothy Middleton, Encyclopaedia Britannica)
The Scramble for Africa
Otto von Bismarck (1815“ 1898), Chancellor of Germany, and Jules Ferry (1832“ 1893), Premier of France and thought about the developer of the cutting edge French Empire, sorted out a universal gathering in Berlin to set down the essential standards for colonizing Africa. The Berlin Conference (1884“ 1885) set up the rule that European control of An African area must be founded on successful occupation that was perceived by different states, and that no single European power could guarantee Africa.
The Berlin Conference prompted the "Scramble for Africa." Somewhere in the range of 1878 and 1914, European forces separated up the whole African mainland with the exception of the autonomous nations of Ethiopia and Liberia. Liberia was settled by free slaves from the United States and turned into an autonomous republic in 1847. Ethiopia, which was at that point free, directed an Italian attack in 1896. Crushing the Italians guaranteed that the nation would remain free. European nations separated Africa as pursues:
France
The French had the biggest frontier domain in Africa, more than 3 1 ??„2 million square miles, half of which contained the Sahara Desert. In 1830, France had vanquished Algeria in North Africa. Somewhere in the range of 1881 and 1912, France procured Tunisia, Morocco, West Africa, and Equatorial Africa. At its stature, the French Empire in Africa was as extensive as the mainland United States.
Great Britain
England's property in Africa were not as vast as France's but rather it controlled the more populated districts, especially of southern Africa, which contained important mineral assets, for example, precious stones and gold. In 1806, the British dislodged Holland in South Africa and ruled the Cape Colony. In any case, the British before long clashed with the Boers (ranchers), the first Dutch pioneers who despised British standard. During the 1830s, the Boers left British domain, moved north, and established two republics”the Orange Free State and Transvaal. The Boers soon collided with the incredible Zulus, a local African ethnic gathering, for control of the land.
Whenever the Zulus and the Boers were not able win a definitive triumph, the British ended up associated with The Zulu Wars and in the end demolished the Zulu realm. In 1890, Cecil Rhodes (1853“ 1902), who was conceived in Great Britain and had turn into a precious stone mine tycoon, ended up leader of the Cape Colony. He needed to expand the British African Empire from Cape Town to Cairo and chose to attach the Boer Republic. In the Boer War (1899“ 1902), the British, with extraordinary trouble, vanquished the Boers and added the two republics. In 1910, Britain consolidated its South African provinces into the Union of South Africa. Whites ran the legislature, and the Boers, who dwarfed the British, expected control. This framework established the framework for racial isolation that would last until the 1990s.
Germany
Late unification postponed Germany's imperialistic endeavors, yet it likewise needed its place in the sun. Germany took arrive in eastern and southwestern Africa.
Italy
Italy was another late section into the imperialistic endeavor. Italy took control of Libya, Italian Somaliland, and Eritrea, which is the north-most area of Ethiopia, close to the Red Sea. Italy's endeavors to pick up control of Ethiopia finished in severe thrashing.
Portugal
Portugal cut out vast provinces in Angola and Mozambique. (Matt Rosenberg Updated September 24, 2018)
Imperialism in Asia
India
The British took control of India in 1763, subsequent to vanquishing the French in the Seven Years' War (1756“ 1763). The English controlled India through the British East India Company, which ruled with an iron hand. In 1857, an Indian revolt, driven by local fighters called sepoys, prompted an uprising known as the Sepoy Mutiny. In the wake of smothering the defiance, the British government made India part of the domain in 1858, as referenced beforehand.
The British presented social changes, pushed instruction, and advanced innovation. England benefitted extraordinarily from India, which was known as the "Crown Jewel of the British Empire." The Indian masses, in any case, kept on living near starvation and the British had little regard for the local Indian culture. The Dutch held the Dutch East Indies and expanded their authority over Indonesia, while the French assumed control Indochina (Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam). The Russians additionally got included and expanded their authority over the territory of Persia (Iran). (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Oct 26, 2018)
China
Since the seventeenth century, China had confined itself from whatever is left of the world and declined to receive Western ways. The Chinese allowed exchange yet just at the Port of Canton, where the privileges of European traders were at the impulse of the ruler. Colonialism in China started with the First Opium War (1839“ 1842), when the Chinese government attempted to stop the British from bringing in opium. This brought about a war in which Britain's unrivaled military and mechanical may effectively pulverized the Chinese military powers.
The Treaty of Nanking (1842) opened up five ports to the British, gave Britain the island of Hong Kong, and constrained China to pay a vast reimbursement. In 1858, China was compelled to open up eleven more bargain ports that allowed exceptional benefits, for example, the privilege to exchange with the inside of China and the privilege to administer the Chinese custom workplaces. Nonnatives moreover gotten the privilege of extraterritoriality, which implied that Western countries kept up their very own courts in China furthermore, Westerners were attempted in their very own courts. Somewhere in the range of 1870 and 1914, the Western countries cut China into authoritative reaches, territories in which outside powers guaranteed select exchanging rights.
France obtained an area in southwestern China, Germany picked up the Shandong Peninsula in northern China, Russia got control of Manchuria and a leasehold over Port Arthur, and what's more, the British took control of the Yangzi valley. The United States, which had not partaken in cutting up China since it expected that ranges of authority may hurt U.S. trade, advanced the Open Door Policy in 1899. John Hay, the American Secretary of State, suggested that equivalent exchanging rights to China be took into consideration all countries and that the regional uprightness of China be regarded. The majestic countries acknowledged this arrangement in standard yet not generally by and by. For the United States, in any case, the Open Door Policy turned into the foundation of its Chinese approach toward the start of the twentieth century.
By the 1900s, China was in disturbance. There was rising supposition against outsiders since China had been constrained to surrender such a large number of political and financial rights. This enemy of remote opinion detonated into the Boxer Rebellion or then again Uprising (1899“ 1901). The Boxers were a mystery Chinese patriot society bolstered by the Manchu government, and their objective was to drive out all nonnatives and reestablish China to segregation. In June 1900, the Boxers propelled a progression of assaults against nonnatives and Chinese Christians.
They likewise assaulted the remote government offices in Beijing. The imperialistic forces sent a universal power of 25,000 troops to squash the insubordination, which finished inside about fourteen days.
The Boxer Rebellion flopped, however it persuaded the Chinese that changes were vital. In 1911, unrests broke out the nation over and the Manchu head was toppled. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen (1866“ 1925), the dad of current China, declared a republic and was named the new president. He pushed a three-point program of patriotism (liberating China from majestic control); majority rules system (chose government authorities); and vocation (adjusting Western mechanical and agrarian techniques). The Chinese republic confronted numerous issues and for the next thirty-seven years, China would keep on being at war with itself and with outside intruders. (Notes by Shih Shun Liu 1925)
Japan
Japan was the main Asian nation that did not turn into a casualty of government. In the seventeenth and eighteenth hundreds of years, the Japanese removed Europeans from Japan and shut Japanese ports to exchange with the outside world, permitting just the Dutch to exchange at Nagasaki. In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry (1866“ 1925), an American maritime officer, drove an endeavor to Japan. He persuaded the shogun, a medieval-type ruler, to open ports for exchange with the United States.
Dreadful of mastery by outside nations, Japan, in contrast to China, turned around its approach of segregation and started to modernize by obtaining from the West. The Meiji Restoration, which started in 1867, tried to supplant the medieval rulers, or the shogun, and increment the intensity of the sovereign. The objective was to make Japan sufficiently able to contend with the West. The new pioneers reinforced the military and changed Japan into a modern culture. The Japanese embraced a constitution dependent on the Prussian model with the head as the head. The administration was not expected to elevate majority rule government but rather to join Japan and make it equivalent to the West. The pioneers developed a cutting edge armed force dependent on a draft and built an armada of iron steamships.
The Japanese were successful to the point that they turned into a royal power. In the Sino-Japanese War of 1894“ 95, Japan vanquished China and constrained her to surrender her cases in Korea. Japan likewise picked up control of its first states”Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands”and stunned the world by overcoming Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904“ 1905. Japan's triumph was the first occasion when that an Asian nation had vanquished a European power in more than 200 years.
Europe and the Islamic World, 1600-1800
Toward the start of this period, the European nearness in the Islamic world was to a great extent dependent on exchange. Dutch, French, English, and Portuguese dealers previously landed in the late fifteenth century, pulled in by the riches that could be procured in sending out extravagance things to the European market, and energized by the Mughal and Safavid governments, which wanted exchange accomplices to invigorate the economy. Strategic ties later authoritatively solidified these associations. The principal British agents landed in Persia in 1622 and the French in 1638.
The Portuguese arrived in India in 1498 and the French soon a short time later, however the British, under the aegis of the East India Company, would turn out to be the central power in the subcontinent. Sir Thomas Roe facilitated the primary exchange settlement in 1615. The Ottoman domain was at first more secluded as it had a solid household exchange arrange, however in the eighteenth century it started to get European vendors and delegates and also to convey its own. One mission from Turkey visited the court of Louis XV of France during the 1720s.
As the Europeans were acquainted with numerous new sorts of materials, covers, flavors, and attire, so too was the Islamic world advanced. European craftsmanship flowing among court craftsmen changed painting under both the Mughals and the Safavids. By deliberately duplicating the inscriptions in sixteenth-century represented Bibles displayed by Jesuit teachers, Indian craftsmen learned procedures of demonstrating and spatial subsidence that they at that point connected to their own works. Delineations in books of herbals influenced the manner in which blooms and plants were portrayed.
In Persia, oil works of art had a more noteworthy impact, the life-size representations of Louis XIV sent to Isfahan in the end transforming into Zand and Qajar state pictures. In spite of the fact that compositions, for example, the Bellini Album (67.266.7.8r) bear witness to that European illustrations were known in Turkey, it was presentation to the French Baroque that caught the nearby creative ability. Not long after the arrival of explorers to Versailles, colorful engineering trimming started to show up on both imperial private structures and mosques.
Before the finish of the period, European frontier interests had disturbed this impartial social trade.
The British East India Company built up an armed force to ensure its business advantages in India; its 1757 annihilation of the nawab of Bengal prompted additionally outfitted clashes lastly to the 1858 presentation of British power over the nation. The British likewise ended up engaged with interdynastic clashes in the Arabian Peninsula and built up a military post in Muscat, Oman. Napoleon attacked Egypt in 1798, and however he was compelled to pull back from the region in 1801, the French would later possess parts of North Africa. The Dutch ended up associated with grounds further east, particularly in the Indonesian archipelago, where islands controlled by various Muslim rulers were joined as one state.
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Imperialism has Significantly Influenced
Throughout the 19th to 20th century, imperialism has significantly influenced the economic, political, and social lives of the Europeans. It encompasses the extension of rule and authority to an empire over other foreign countries. Although many countries lost their freedom and independence as a result of imperialism, they were still able to develop new technologies and advancements. An enduring issue that has conflicted with many societies across time is the impact of competition for power.
The possession of control ensures growth in human behavior, human interactions, and economy. The competition for such control influences our perception of the world, belief in superiority, and belief in nationalism. Overtime, the shift and redistribution of economic power creates instability, influenced by the developments in new technologies.
Competition for power has shaped the way we look at the world and different religions. Before the 18th century, Islamic scholars believed it was unacceptable for people living on Muslim property to be treated the same way as nobles, chiefs, and scholars (Document 1). They continued to state how non-Muslims shouldn’t be able to clothe themselves in the same manner because they would offend the Muslims and they aren’t worthy of riding a noble symbol, such as the horse. The non-believers should not be given the same opportunities and rights as the believers. The Islamic scholars imply that Muslims should be in power because God had glorified them, and God would never let the unbelievers be superior to the true believers.
The believer’s desire for power depict the Islamic people’s determination to fight for their beliefs and fear that the non-Muslims would negatively change the believers’ faith in their religion. In the Ottoman Empire, from 1825 to 1914, the number of Muslims increased while the number of non-Muslims decreased (Document 2). Initially, Jews and Christians were often discriminated and were viewed as inferior subjects. The graph of religious composition suggests that the non-Muslims assimilated to the Muslim religion to receive certain privileges. Here, the competition for control depicts human interactions with assimilation and the non-Muslims’ desires for more power.
The desire for power and control ties into the belief of superiority. Social Darwinism is the idea that natural selection and evolution can be applied to not only science, but also to human society. In other words, the “fittest” people were superior to others and possessed wealth and success. Nationalism, on the other hand, is the feeling of superiority over other countries. Because of such ideas and beliefs, Rhodes believed that the Anglo-Saxon was the dominant race (Document 5). Their possession of control depicts growth in the economy because imperialism assisted in colonization. Additionally, the Anglo-Saxon race always viewed themselves at the top of the social-hierarchy.
The competition over power contributes to further beliefs in nationalism. Nationalism, as described above, is the idea of patriotism to one’s country. In Aizawa Seishisai’s New Theses, he warms the Japanese about the distrust of foreigners and allowing them to regularly appear and not driving them away (Document 4). Many fear that the English will unexpectedly exploit the Japanese. The expansion of the British empire depicts growth in the economy. However, the Japanese’s desire for power depicts their determination to fight against Western influence and distrust in the foreigners.
One significant enduring issue present in many societies is the competition over power and control. This conflict has impacted our perception of religion, beliefs in superiority, and beliefs in nationalism. Imperialism plays a role in growth of human behaviors, interactions, and economy. Overtime, the redistribution of power creates instability because of new technologies.
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Imperialism is the Act of a Larger
Imperialism is the act of a larger, stronger country taking over a smaller, weaker country politically, socially, and economically. The 18th and 19th century marked the Age of Imperialism, as European countries strived for more land and power. This was due to many reasons such as economic power, glory, religion, and nationalism. Nigeria is one of the various countries that were imperialized during this time period. Although imperialism happened in 1901, some of its consequences and effects still shape Nigeria today. The long term effects of imperialism in Nigeria include the lack of national identity and terrorism.
Short term effects include the loss of traditional customs and the benefits of unification. Most of the effects of imperialism in Nigeria carried until today are negative. Out of the many effects such as poverty and corruption, the most impactful effects are the lack of national identity and terrorism. However, some argue that imperialism was beneficial to Nigeria. In fact, the country Nigeria itself could not have existed at all if it wasn’t imperialized. After Nigeria formally became a British Protectorate in 1901, it was unified by Lord Frederick, a british governor in 1914. Before, the land of Nigeria included diverse ethnic groups and empires, who in fact, did not get along at all.
However, because Nigeria was forcefully united despite the strong cultural differences and diverse ethnic groups that were not in peace, Nigeria lacks national identity, even today. The main purpose of this idea of nationality is to unite all the social, religious and ethnic groups to make them identify as Nigerians all together despite their distinct differences. This a very hard task for Nigerians to accomplish today for there are many conflicts existing between groups that prohibit them from having peace with each other. Furthermore, this has caused terrorism, especially by Nigeria's militant Islamist group Boko Haram, who are fighting for their desire of Nigeria being Islamic. This group has caused havoc in not only Nigeria, but also in Africa’s most populous countries, through a campaign of bombings and attacks. Not only has this problem caused many deaths, but is further leading the country into poverty.
If the different groups weren’t forcefully unified to be Nigeria, this state of chaos might have been prevented. Both of these long term effects are very harmful and negative, thus suggesting how imperialism in Nigeria was harmful. Some effects that occurred when Nigeria was imperialized include the loss of traditional customs and the benefits of unification. One of the many reasons why Britain wanted Nigeria was to spread christianity. So when Nigeria was colonized, Britain forced its religion and traditions on Nigerians, converting them into Christians. Furthermore, as before imperialism tribal leaders were elected by its people, chiefs were being appointed by a governor who was appointed by a British.
Thus, Britain was controlling all of Nigerian tribes indirectly through their leaders. This way, Britain forced its traditions and cultures on the Nigerian tribes. There were in fact, some positive effects to imperialism in Nigeria. Because Nigeria was united, it was able to gain its independence from Great britain. One of the reasons why it was so easy for Britain to imperialize Nigeria was because it was consisted of diverse tribal groups who were not unified. But as the groups had the same goal and were unified by the British, with them fighting all together, were able to achieve independence.
However, this is a short term effect for Nigeria’s unification was harmful on the long run, as mentioned in the previous paragraph. I believe that effects of imperialism in Nigeria were overall very negative, for Nigeria does not have a stable government. Nigeria is a federal republic whose government operates as a representative democracy. However, the government only looks out for the wealthy, as they strive for wealth and power, ignoring the country’s serious problems such as poverty, and are weak in fighting the terrorists. Nigeria, due to the effects of imperialism, is in crisis today.
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We are Qualified for our Social Liberties
As natives of America we are qualified for our social liberties. They comprise of our straightforward wants for living a happy and secure presence. Creatures yet are not qualified for any rights to guarantee them wellbeing, appropriately wellbeing, and right staying conditions. Creature looking at labs torment and kill innocuous creatures step by step. The research facilities fragrance of synthetic mixes and blanch, and the pens are filthy, and never again legitimately put away.
The horrible scents fill their noses and they're compelled to stroll in their own pee and dung. these creatures are required to experience in these circumstances consistently, this isn't accommodating, and it's far a moderate agonizing demise. keeping a honest creature contrary to their will and tormenting them with perilous materials is creature pitilessness and should be illicit: there are green elective ways to deal with creature testing.
Creature testing is known as the utilization of creatures in analyses and improvement tasks to decide poisonous quality, measurements, and adequacy of test sedates before continuing to human clinical preliminaries. Creature testing is sucha dubious point since it includes utilizing a living life form to test distinctive medications and synthetics and can conceivably have a lethal result. The measure of pressure put onto the creature all through the testing is undesirable and excruciating for the creature.
It is much the same as a creature being mercilessly beaten by their proprietor; lamentably the medications and other terrible substances constrained onto the creature have long haul impacts and influence the creature to endure it to see the consequences of the test. This is so coldhearted and off-base. Creatures ought not need to endure this unbelievable torment.
There are distinctive explanations behind creature testing, the primary ones being for restorative purposes, for example, cosmetics brands and plastic medical procedure strategies like Botox. Researchers utilize the creatures to inquire about various medications and synthetic concoctions and basically are searching for unusual responses from them. Being a female l buy diverse corrective items that I use on an everyday premise.
Beauty care products are articles proposed to be connected to the human body for purging, decorating, advancing allure, or changing the appearance without influencing the body'sstructure or capacities. Probably the most normally realized brands test their items on creatures. Organizations like Johnson and Johnson, Avon, Kleenex, Vaseline, Dove, Giorgio Armani, Maybelline, and incalculable more organizations their items on creatures. Researchers direct skin bothering tests that rub synthetic concoctions onto shaved skin or drop the synthetic compounds at rabbit with no torment prescription.
They are trying items with the synthetics that could conceivably cause the 2 disturbance, for example, cosmetics remover, eye shadow, mascara, and things connected to the eye or eyelid. This test is clearly insensitive and excruciating for the rabbits, yet there are options in contrast to this test are others conscious and should be possible instead of it. Rather than putting the synthetic compounds onto the rabbits, producers can drop the synthetic substances onto gave human corneas (Cosmetics and Household). Ladies wear cosmetics and buy items that are connected consistently to the face and eyes. With those items I am believing that they will upgrade my physical highlights decidedly, however I would not need those items to be tried in such a coldblooded and painful way.
Ailments are another explanation behind testing on creatures. Malignant growth, Down disorder, heart issues, diabetes, and others are a portion of the fundamental infections researchers are attempting to discover solutions for. The opposite side to creature testing can possibly spare lives by discovering remedies for these perilous ailments. This is the reason a few sections of creature testing are so crucial to our wellbeing frameworks and patients.
Numerous colleges utilize creatures to test in various sorts of preparing programs. At the University of Michigan nursing understudies utilized a feline to work on putting a cylinder into its windpipe. The objective of the methodology was for medical attendants chipping away at survival flights to have the capacity to play out the system to patients in basic condition. The feline was later received into a family and was not hurt by any means. In spite of the fact that this specific technique appears to be innocuous to the feline and sounds effortless crusades kept on challenging utilizing live creatures and PETA kept on squeezing the subject.
They needed them to supplant utilizing live creatures with test systems which for all intents and purposes does likewise . Tests like this that are done appear to be so minuet contrasted with others that are utilized for discovering fixes. Creature testing for humarn wellbeing has been said to be perilous, temperamental, and costly. Despite what might be expected there have been situations where creature testing for therapeutic reasons has in reality discovered immunizations and fixes. From 1940 to 1960 polio was a standout amongst the most mainstream and understood illnesses.
Because of the examination led on creatures polio has been dispensed with as an outstanding infection on account of an immunization that nearly everybody has gotten (Use of Animals). Today kids get a lifetime immunization for polio and are additionally vaccinated against typhus, challenging hack, and lockjaw. I can see where the debate comes in. I certainly think discovering remedies for every one of these maladies are something that should be done, and yet creatures ought to have rights to their bodies.
Creatures that are constrained into these offices to be tried on originate from every single distinctive piece of the world. Extraordinarily reproduced rodents and mice are the warm blooded animal in most therapeutic research ('What Types of Animals. Different well evolved creatures ordinarily found in research are guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, and homestead creatures, for example, pigs and sheep (What Types of Animals").
At times it has been reputed that a portion of the creatures are exceptionally reared for specific kinds of testing. This has brought up a considerable measure of issues with respect to how precise the tests really are. Diverse creatures are utilized for specific tests. In past investigations it was demonstrated that specific creatures respond contrastingly to similar tests.
This is the reason such huge numbers of various breeds and sorts of creatures are influenced by this; it includes such a large number of various supplies and hardware which thusly can turn out to be expensive. Creature testing has been known to be an exorbitant and an unscrupulous method for finding precise fixes. A few tests can take months or even a long time to direct and examine. This can bring about burning through many thousands, here and there even a great many dollars on one test ("Costs of Animal").
The wastefulness and over the top expenses related with creature testing makes it unimaginable for controllers to sufficiently assess the potential impacts of in excess of 100,000 synthetic substances around the world ("Costs of Animal").The measure of time expected to lead one straightforward test is excessively extraordinary. The creature is languishing over months to years, for one outcome that isn't ensured. The measure of cash spent on one test isn't justified, despite any potential benefits, when the outcomes are not constantly exact
Elective testing can spare numerous creature lives; they additionally are more affordable and set aside less opportunity to finish. The non-creature strategies are progressively successful and above all, increasingly moral. Organizations should utilize modern PC innovation for testing and medication improvement. Innovation has turned into the most imperative thing in the public eye; it gives researchers the instruments to expand human abilities, so for what reason are organizations declining to utilize the innovation that is exhibited in the public eye? These business rehearses on tormenting creatures are against business morals.
Populace contemplates have indicated what number of irresistible ailments are caused and furthermore what number of can be anticipated. Truth be told, the National Insitutes of Health revealed that in excess of 80 HIV/AIDS antibodies that have passed creature testing have flopped in clinical preliminaries ("Alternatives: Testing without Torture"). Non-creature tests are another incredible option. Non-creature tests incorporate an embryonic undifferentiated organism test, 3T3 impartial red take-up photograph poisonous quality tests and human skin extra from surgeries ('Alternatives: Testing without Torture"). There are such a large number of options in contrast to creature testing that ought to be used as opposed to utilizing live creatures.
Then again creature testing has added to finding a wide range of fixes and medications for various ailments. All things considered in case you're adored one has an infection and the best way to locate a compelling fix is to test it on a creature, at that point you would need it done. Critical assumes an enormous job in why such a significant number of individuals bolster creature testing. Creatures are the best thing to test on in light of the fact that they share indistinguishable qualities from people.
Chimpanzees share 99 % of their DNA with people , and mice are 98 % hereditarily like people (Animal Testing-ProCon). Offering DNA to a creature has such a significant number of constructive outcomes; the likeliness of finding a fix from testing on one of these creatures could spare such a large number of lives. Laws have managed creature testing to keep the savage and unbearable acts from occurring (Animal Testing-ProCon).
There are numerous positive sides to creature testing that could conceivably profit our wellbeing frameworks and patients. Creature Cruelty is unlawful in many states in the U.S. How is tormenting creatures, jabbing them with needles, rubbing hurtful synthetic concoctions onto their bodies and at them legitimate? It is characterized as a similar thing. Holding a blameless creature without wanting to and tormenting them with hurtful substances is creature brutality and ought to be illicit. There are sure options in contrast to discovering fixes and medicines.
In spite of the fact that there are a few positives, the measure of cash, time, and creature remorselessness isn't justified, despite any potential benefits, considering the outcomes are not constantly precise. The measures of pressure they are placed through in these labs are sufficient to execute them without the medications. The misery and torment of these guiltless creatures are not worth ensuring our mascara doesn't make our eyes puffy, or how high of a measurements is protected without overdosing. Finding the options could make a huge difference. All through this exploration I have discovered that creature testing is a pitiless and savage act
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Effects of Poverty
Money is a necessary and vital commodity for all of us. The effects of being poor or simply just substandard can be devastating, and at times life threatening. Throughout this paper I will discuss the effects of being unfortunate. Being one who experiences poverty doesn't necessarily make you mediocre to the rest of society but there are several factors why some people are poor. As a freshman in college I consider my poverty being broke and not being able to eat or buy what I want all the time, but that's far from being in poverty in reality. One effect of poverty hunger.
It is said that money makes the world go around. Having some money, whether a little, or a lot is essential for one to have some quality of living. The effects of not having enough could result in poverty. Poverty can cause a myriad of problems, such as crimes, health and medical problems, relationship breakdowns, and drug abuse. Hunger, is a big part of poverty. While the average person can survive three weeks without food, water is a completely different thing. The average adult body is made up of 60% water. Being poor, homeless or not as fortunate as others leads to this effect. During this stage you're not able to pick and choose what time you want to eat meals and decide on what you want to eat. Not knowing when you'll be able to eat again can cause people to reach what some may call the breaking point. The breaking point is described as the moment of greatest strain at which someone gives way. To get past this breaking point one might find the easy way to relieve the stress such as drugs or alcohol.
Thus being said being hunger can mess with the person's mental and health issues. No man or woman should be hit with this effect or being in poverty period. Things happen in life where we fall and can get back up or we are too far away from the ledge to get back up and therefore be stuck in the pit of poverty. As you can see being hungry affects people in many ways we don't even know. Not only do adults suffer through poverty, but kids of all sizes and ages deal with it and never been able to live a enjoyable life and be a child. Kids who aren't forutane as other kids and live in poverty go through more severe health problems. Majority of children exposed to poverty at a young age tend to have bigger psychological problems down the road. This is because with poverty, you are more likely to be exposed to stress. As mentioned earlier in my paper, crime is often a big problem that stems from poverty. Poverty creates a lack a resources. Therefore one might feel the only option left is to do what they can to survive whether that is stealing food out of grocery store to selling drugs to simply just have money. This connects to another issue I brought up, drug abuse.
In our society, a familiar belief when discussing poverty is that whatever the person did to put themselves in that predicament, can get themselves out. This ideal belief is not always the case. Our socioeconomic status creates more room for error within communities living in poverty. Socioeconomic is dealing with the interaction of social and economic factors. This type of economic environment creates a flight-on-flight process which basically means that one will do what they have to, to survive.
Resources
https://vittana.org/how-poverty-influences-crime-rates
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Child Labor Literature Review
Introduction
Reviewing roughly 13 sources, this paper explains the effects of child labor affecting 250 million kids globally, child labor is an endangerment to society (Elena,2014). This paper exposes the reality of why kids may actively participate. Those who do participate in the work force may even be working to do the one thing they can do to end generational poverty, by educating themselves. Throughout the review I speak about the importance of education and the impact of child labor on young girls.
Literature Review
The International Labor Organization (ILO) says there is strong evidence that there is some correlation between household poverty and child labor. The ILO speaks about how at least 250 million children within the ages of 5-14 are considered participants in child labor, of this about 120 million of them work full-time (Elena,2014). Of these 250 million, 61% are in Asia, 32% in Africa and 7% are in Latin America (Sharma and Bhatia,2009). Samonova Elena gives the example of a study by Edmons and Pavchnick who found that of rural Vietnam claims that 75% of cross-country variations of child labour can be explained by income variations and conclude that child labour is a symptom of poverty. Poverty, I must say here, is the root cause for many social ills, (Ndienla,2006). Poverty is one of the top reasons why children work in inappropriate jobs for their age. More than one-fourth of the world's people live in extreme poverty rely on their children to help provide for some of the most basic necessities (U.N. statistics ,2005). While some work to assist their families, others work to pay for their own education. In 2006, approximately 75 million kids were not in school, limiting future opportunities for the children and their communities.
In Cameroon, children who don't go to school, like orphans for example, work full-time in places like cocoa and coffee plantations (Ndinela,2006). If children do not have the opportunity to attend school, they will never escape poverty and never achieve upward social mobility. Education and Poverty are not the only reasons for child labor; Family businesses play a factor as well. Large number of children are unpaid workers in their own family businesses, many of which depend on their family's labor to survive. There are many national laws and regulations as well as international laws, like convention No. 138, which makes exceptions in some cases (ILO). Most of these family run businesses are farms, or informal sector workshops which still expose children to several hazardous conditions. Unhealthy family life and economic deprivation are two other leading factors for child labor. Families that battle with financial duties, cannot cope with the persistent demand for their children, and neglect to even provide adequate nutrition. Children with families that are socially disadvantaged, morally bankrupt, or may have family members with alcoholism are more likely to end up on the streets whether it be temporary or permanent. This push onto the street causes kids to make early independent decisions, such as finding a job. Sharma and Bhatia continue to speak about the researchers and practitioners who agree that poverty is the main cause of child labor, and that it increases the probability of survival of a family. The contributions made by these children could be used as a mean of minimizing the impact of job loss, failed harvest and other shocks on the family's income stream (Sharma and Bhatia,2009).
On the microeconomic level of things, child labor is necessary for a family to afford even the key essentials. With children working full-time jobs it has a negative impact on school attendance. Lower attendance in school could create a continues cycle of generational poverty, children should attend school, acquire human capital, become more productive adults, earn higher wages, increase the welfare of their own families and escape the need for their offspring to work(Galli,2001). Sometimes this is not an ideal situation there is a period of transition to take place. Under this assumption of a deduction in child labour both in the informal and formal economy, can leads to a demand for more schooling, which is not automatic (Galli,2001). This would mean that schools need to be available, accessible and affordable for all families. Galli continues speaking that more schooling means higher human capital, in turn leading to higher a more efficient labor market and a higher productivity.
This is an issue for most developing countries, it would also be necessary for the states to make sure schools are in good quality, and the curriculum would need to be ideal for attendees. Schools would also need to be a safe and healthy place to learn, this becomes an issue in some places such as South Africa where there have been reports by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) speaking about sexual abuse by teachers and other students. Several studies have shown that in many countries children attend school and also work; part-time child labor can still be harmful for human capital accumulation since it does compete with other human capital that may be considered developing activities such as studying at home(Galli,2001). On the macroeconomic side child labor is the cause for negative long run growth and social development through a reduced human capital accumulation. States could increase their capital by educating their labor force, through specialization, improving infrastructures and creating competition (Galli,2001).
Gender is one of the key factors on whether a child participates in the work force or not. When this standard definition of work is applied, child labor appears much more common among boys than among girls in most countries. With looking further into the statistics, it shows that this is not always the case. As an example, the 1991 census of India reports that 56.6% of 5 to 14-year-old boys were in school, 5.2% were participants in economic activities, 0.5% were marginal workers, and 37.7% were nowhere. The statistics for girls at the same age were 44.2% in schools, 3.4% participating in the labor force, 1.7% marginal workers and 50.7% nowhere. So more than a third of boys, and one out of two Indian girls did not attend school in 1991; at the same time, they were not considered as child laborers. Galli expresses the definition of employment leaves out work that may be happening in one's home that does not lead to the production of commercial goods. If housework where included in this definition of child labor, there would be a significant increase in the work activity among young girls.
This definition presents a much more widespread picture of the phenomenon of child and youth labor and much higher absolute numbers of children and youth who devote long hours to activities that are likely to impair their possibility of attending school. Young girls tend to start working at a much younger age than boys do as well because of traditional gender roles. Many girls not given the opportunity to gain an education, some girls have no other option than to take on responsibilities of housework, school and managing a job to help support their family. Child labor: Are girls affected differently from boys? gives the example that in Egypt girls are expected to do the majority of work in the home, in the Dominican Republic are compelled to look after their siblings as well as maintain a household. Young women being educated will be seen as a poor investment in some cultures, since girls will be married off and leave home.
Conclusion
The Human Rights Watch reports that child labor rates are dropping, but not fast enough. From the year, 2000 up until 2012 child labor has fallen from 250 million to 168 million. The year 2025 is the year that the ILO has set to end child labor globally, which is a part of the Sustainable Development Goals, but it is struggling to meet their demands because of the slow rates. The first step to ending child labor is increase attendance in schools, as attendance increases child labor will decrease. Since 2000, governments have increased the number of children in school by 110 million, making it much less likely those children will end up in the labor market. The next step would be to implement a strong set of effective laws and enforce penalties for people continuing to exploit children. Becker continues to explain that financial assistance is another route out of child labor. Becker suggests that cash transfer programs could be a major benefit; this would provide poor families with a guaranteed monthly income and relieve the pressure parents may feel to send their child to work. In Morocco, for example, payments of just US$7 a month per child helped reduce child labor rates by one third. Ending child labor will not only be protecting children and their families, but will also strengthen communities and build economies.
References
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Cite this page
Child labor Literature Review. (2019, Apr 15).
Retrieved November 5, 2025 , from
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Policy Making and Poverty
It is evident that a large population in the United States of America still lives in poverty despite the fact that this country has one of the most stable economies across the globe. Those living in poverty experience hardships that are mainly seen via the deprivation of material possessions. The aspect of poverty does not spare either the old or the young ones. From this aspect, childhood poverty has also been prevalent over the years. Childhood poverty, in this case, applies to situations where children are brought up in conditions that deny those stable homes, quality education, and sufficient nutrition. Most of the adults living in poverty are faced by conditions such as lack of skills required for them in order to be termed productive. Moreover, adults living in poverty lack adequate academic qualifications, which causes them to have limited wages. The problem of poverty has led to a situation where people have to forego essential aspects such as healthcare in favor of meeting their basic needs. Statistics indicate that fifteen percent of Americans are living in poverty. This percentage translates to approximately fifteen million children and thirty million adults. This number of people living in poverty cannot be taken for granted since this country has one of the most stable economies across the globe. Additionally, these poverty levels do not only affect the poor, but also affects the stability of the American economy.
According to (Ferman, Louis, Joyce, Kornbluh, and Alan, 116-133) poverty is a problem that can only be overcome via the development of effective policies to tame it. It is also expected that poverty levels in the USA will become extensive under the current administration. This is a clear indicator that the USA government has failed to develop adequate and effective policies that can be used to fight poverty. This means that due to the lack of proper policies most of the Americans will still not be able to enjoy the American dream and also the pursuit of happiness. The declaration of independence was based on the aspect of the American dream and the pursuit of happiness. However, over the years, this statement still remains to be a dream. The real reason as to why the United States of America has failed to address poverty is due to poor planning and the lack of adequate policies to handle this problem. The federal government has failed to come up with incentives and strategies needed to make the USA economy stronger. Instead, the government has been focused on maintaining its status quo of becoming the world's leading economy. In order to reduce poverty, the federal government should work towards ensuring that it puts effective plans in place. In this case, the government should try and focus on aspects such as minimum wage. Minimum wage policies involve looking into aspects such as regulating the labor market. Additionally, the government should also plan on how to handle issues such as the provision of health care, education, and housing. Therefore, having better policies will ensure that there is sustainability in the growth of the economy and this may lead to the reduction of unemployment levels. In conclusion, critical planning and the development of effective policies can help in alleviating poverty in the USA.
Statistics indicate that the poverty rate in the USA is approximately thirteen percent. However, the measures used to calculate the poverty rate levels were developed in the early 1960's. This percentage translates to approximately forty-two thousand people. These statistics indicate that most of the Americans believe that poverty is on the rise. These levels of poverty indicate that inequality in America has been on the rise. Additionally, the statistics indicate that the government has failed in fighting poverty. Also, the poverty levels in the USA has led to calls by IMF to have the federal government tackle this problem. If not tackled in advance the problem is expected to escalate into levels that will be difficult to manage. The statistics on poverty levels also show that the USA government has failed in ensuring equity in income distribution. This data on poverty levels shows that the people considered poor in the USA are those who are not able to meet the various economic needs. Moreover, these people also tend to live minimally when compared to the normal living standards. Additionally, the statistics indicate that poverty has also destabilized the USA economy. These statistics have also led to the federal government come up with measures of combating poverty. The data collected on poverty can be used to deal with this problem. Limited data on poverty can limit the monitoring of data on poverty. However, with this data, the federal government can be able to come with policies needed to handle these problems.
Statistical analysis of poverty can be used to ensure that poverty eradication aid is allocated to the people who need it. Moreover, this data can be used to direct various investments to people who need it. This data can also be used in the implementation of short term and long term policies that can be used to fight poverty. This data can also be used in the identification of the beneficiaries of the various poverty elimination programs. The allocation of aid to people living in poverty can be an overwhelming task. However, through the use of statistical data, the government can be able to formulate guidelines that can be used to aid people living in poverty.
The use of a single data source to deal with poverty is not effective. The use of diverse data helps in ensuring that the data to be used in dealing with this problem is credible. The use of different disciplines, in this case, will ensure that the data to be used for analysis is of quality. Accurate data, in this case, can be used in the development of accurate plans to handle the problem of poverty. Additionally, the use of different discipline will ensure that the policymakers are able to have a clear understanding of the aspect at hand. In conclusion, the use of different sources will also provide an in-depth analysis of poverty. This in return will help in better planning on how to eradicate poverty.
The poverty measures that have been used to determine the poverty index in the USA has been a bone of contention. To start with the different aspects used to determine poverty tend to be confusing. The main approaches used are the threshold of poverty and the family income. To start with the definition of a family can be contradicting. A family is defined as people living in the same household. However, it is evident that the family has a broad definition. Most commonly, the family is defined as people who are related via the aspects of birth or marriage. In some instances, families consist of single parents, multiple parents and at times unrelated people residing together. Such aspects make it hard to measure poverty levels this concurs with the aspects presented in the film this is according to (DewiDewi. What's Eating Gilbert Grape). It is evident that the use of such parameters to measure poverty levels does not put into consideration aspects such as pensions, social security, and taxes to name a few. The current approach used to measure poverty in the USA does not also include noncash benefits that individuals may be entitled to. Also, it does not put into consideration capital gains and aspects such as child support. The downfalls in this system have led to questions and contradictions. For this matter, it is evident that improvements should be done on this measure. The fact that poverty measures in the USA are valuable indicates that reforms should be implemented on the current approach. The measures should also be able to indicate the estimates used and how these estimates influence data interpretation. Poverty measures should mainly focus on income, earnings, and income inequality. These three approaches can be used to come up with an appropriate measure of rating poverty.
The federal government can develop a number of policies that can best address the aspect of poverty. Having a sustainable economic growth is some of the vital factors that can be used to deal with poverty. Economic growth ensures that the general income in a community is able to increase. This results in the creation of employment opportunities. Increases in employment opportunities lead to an equal distribution of income in the society and thus leading to the reduction of poverty levels. However, care should be taken in order to ensure that economic growth does not widen the gap between the poor and the rich. This can only be achieved by ensuring that people living in poverty are empowered.
The development of unemployment reduction policies can also help to deal with the problem of poverty. The development of such policies should mainly focus on empowering aspects such as free training for people who do not possess any skills. This can help such people provide both skilled and unskilled labor to the economy. These policies to reduce employment should focus on the minority groups and women. This is because these two groups are prone to poverty. Therefore, the policies should address specific geographical settings. This is because poverty is mainly associated with specific geographical positions. Moreover, planning to improve the infrastructure in such areas can also lead to the development of economic stimulus. On the other hand, the economic stimulus can help in the reduction of unemployment via the creation of employment opportunities. Employment can also be reduced via the implementation of monetary and fiscal policies. It is evident that reducing the interests rated and cutting on taxes can help in boosting the aggregate demand. The federal government should also introduce plans to make the labor markets more flexible. This will ensure that organizations are able to hire workers easily without facing a lot of setbacks generated by federal regulations.
Implementation of progressive taxation policies can also help deal with poverty. Progressive taxation helps to ensure that people who have a high income are taxed more when compared to those who earn a merge income. Progressive taxation helps to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor. This ensures that there is equality in the generation of national income. Additionally, progressive taxation also helps to ensure that welfare organizations are exempted from taxation. Through this such organizations can be in a better position of empowering the poor people.
Increasing the national minimum wage would be effective in eradicating poverty. This is because the low paid employees will be able to receive more wages and thus helping to cap the wage inequality. However, the implementation of such a policy will require to follow a well-formulated plan. This is because increasing the national minimum wage would result in companies employing fewer people due to the fact that they may be unable to afford labor. In such a case, the government can opt to reduce taxation on companies that tend to employ people at meager wages. Currently, education in the USA is very expensive. This means that a lot of people are not able to pursue their education to their satisfaction. Subsidizing public services such as education can allow many people to access education. This means that a lot of potentials that could have been lost is tapped. Moreover, people can have a chance to become successful in life by investing in their own education. Creating success opportunities for the less fortunate can help in eradicating poverty.
The healthcare industry has also been experiencing a lot of problems. These problems have made it impossible for people living in poverty to access quality healthcare services. This means that such people spend more on their healthcare since they are not in a position to afford healthcare insurance (Ferman, Louis, Joyce, Kornbluh, and Alan, 119). Subsidizing on the cost of healthcare can help such people reduce the amount of money that they spend on their healthcare. The money can alternatively be used in the development of income generating programs. Moreover, spending less money on their health care means that they will have enough to look after themselves and their families. Subsidizing the cost of healthcare will require effective planning. That is the government can develop policies that will allow people to purchase health care premiums based on their income. Lastly, the government should also establish universal basic income. This can be used to ensure that people are able to benefit from government funding despite their income. However, the implementation of such policies should ensure that there are no disincentives that may be associated with such a policy. In conclusion, poverty is a serious problem that requires well-established plans and policies in order to be eradicated in the USA.
Works Cited
DewiDewi. What's Eating Gilbert Grape - Full,Movie'On-line. Full,Movie'On-line. July 12 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VolcME18olM.
Ferman, Louis A., Joyce L. Kornbluh, and Alan Haber. "Poverty in America; a book of readings." (1968).
Cite this page
Policy Making and Poverty. (2019, Apr 15).
Retrieved November 5, 2025 , from
https://studydriver.com/2019/04/page/13/