Civil War American Essays - Slavery In The United States, Racism

Civil War: American The American Civil War In 1860, arguably the world's greatest nation was locked in Civil War. The war divided the country between the North (Union) and South (Confederate). The war lasted five years and by 1865 the Confederate forces were truly beaten. Out of this horrendous war though, where some 600,000 men died grew a greater sense of nationalism than is today, unrivalled around the world. The American Civil War is interpreted differently by many historians but most see the catalyst as slavery, the motivation as economic, the outcome was a unified national identity. Slavery was a major issue that triggered the American Civil War. Slavery started out, as a few individual slaves coming from England that were generally white. This changed however, and soon the Southern slave traders began 'stealing' blacks to take back to the South. The slaves were forced to work 16-hour days, slave women were only seen as breeders and there were no laws against the rape of a female slave. In 1860 slaves accounted for one third of the South's population and even still they had no rights (see appendix one). The Unionist North many people believed it was immoral to own another human being. These people were called Abolitionists. The South relied strongly on the slave trade and when the North spoke of abolishing it, the South spoke of forming there own country, The Confederate states of America. The South began to see that the North was going to take action against the South's inhumane slave policy. In early 1860, South Carolina formed under a new flag, Confederate States of America flag, so that they could continue to operate their slave trade. What followed was an ordinance of succession which saw the other slave populated states also swear an oath to the Confederate States of America, also so that they could continue their slave trade. This situation was found to be unworkable and it divided the country in two. So in the words of Abraham Lincoln, 'A house divide against itself can not stand. I believe this country can not endure permanently half-slave, half-free.' Slavery formed two opposing societies and could not have been abolished with out the Civil War. The North was very industrialised and had a stable economy in comparison to slave-dependant South. During the mid-1800s immigration to the North skyrocketed. Jones says, 'the immigration (many escaping the Irish potato famine) were willing to work for almost anything and withstand inhumane factory conditions.' Although this exploitation was extremely cruel and much like the treatment of the slaves in the South, the Northern economy profited immensely (Brinkley,1991:264). Come 1860, the Union had an overwhelming advantage over the South. The North played host to 109,974 industrial firms whereas the South had only 18, 026. The Northern States also produced 96%of the locomotives in the entire country, and as for firearms, more of them were made in Connecticut than in all the Southern factories combined ("Civil War", Encyclopedia Americana:1988). The Southerner's believed cotton to be their biggest industry and economic boosted during the Civil War but they had no factories capable of processing the cotton. The cotton was sent to Northern factories to be processed for a fraction of the price the Union sold it back to them for. This cycle alone made a huge idiosyncrasy in the economies. So with all the industrial and many economical advantages over the South was it any wonder that the North were victorious in the Civil War? The cost of the Civil was tremendous not only in money but in lives taken. By 1865, the South surrendered, slavery was abolished and President Lincoln was assassinated the total cost of the War for all American's was around 15 billion dollars but priceless for the 600,000 lives lost. What came out of this war however suprised everyone, in the next centaury America was seen as the strongest nation in the world. The cause of the war was finally resolved when slavery was abolished and because of this many inhumane slave owners went bankrupt with out the slaves running the farms. What followed the American can only be described as the birth of a Unified National Identity. In this period of 5 years in which many people died many of America's major problem have been solved. Since the Civil war towns have been rebuilt, mew industries flourish, and new schools have been erected. Now in America both the North and South live prosperously and peacefully together. Schenck describes America at the close of the war as, 'A developing industrial nation emerged from

Q Words

Q Words Q Words Q Words By Mark Nichol Have you ever noticed the similarity in vocalization when you utter words starting with wh- and those beginning with qu-? Go ahead and try it now. Don’t be embarrassed nobody’s looking. Huh your mouth’s moves are almost identical, right? But that’s not coincidental, because many English words beginning with wh- are akin to Latin terms beginning with qu-, and, of course, many English words beginning with qu- are directly descended from the language of ancient Rome. And others of our wh- words and qu- words have some conceptual kinship, too. Let’s look first at the journalist’s keywords: Who is from the Latin word qui. What, when, where, why, and how, though not derived from Latin (they’re all from Old English), are cognates words related to another by common descent from an ancient language of who, which is. In addition, quite a few words starting with qu- refer directly or indirectly to the concepts behind these basic interrogatives. Note in the etymologies listed after each term and before the definitions below how often the wh- words show up or are implied: Quality (qualis, â€Å"of what kind†): character, air, or nature (â€Å"He had a bookish quality to him†), property (â€Å"The painting has an ephemeral quality†), role (â€Å"She adopted the quality of a mentor†), grade (â€Å"The relative quality of the two brands is indistinguishable†) Quantity (quantus, â€Å"how much† or â€Å"how large†): amount or number (â€Å"The quantity of items in the box is listed on the back†) Quandary (unknown; perhaps informally derived from quando, â€Å"when†): state of doubt or perplexity (â€Å"I’m in a quandary about that†) Quantum (quantus, â€Å"how much†): quantity, portion, or bulk, or a subdivision of energy or matter; usually used in the expression â€Å"a quantum leap,† which technically refers to a submicroscopic event but in popular usage denotes a significant increase or progress Question (quaerere, â€Å"to seek, ask†): an expression of inquiry, or something discussed or disputed; also, possibility â€Å"(â€Å"There’s no question of repairing it†) or objection (â€Å"I have no question about his qualifications†) Quiddity (quid, â€Å"what†): essence (â€Å"The sculpture portrays the quiddity of the subject’s frailty†), or eccentricity or quibble (â€Å"Despite her quiddities, I like her†) Quondam (quondam, â€Å"at one time†): erstwhile, former (â€Å"I heard from my quondam friend Joe the other day†) Quota (quota pars, â€Å"how great a part†): a proportional share or limit (â€Å"They met their quota†) Quotidian (quotidie, â€Å"every day,† from quot, â€Å"many, how many† and dies, â€Å"day†): commonplace, everyday (â€Å"Its quotidian lack of flair bored me†) Quotation (or Quote) (quot, â€Å"how many†): something repeated or referred to, or the process of doing so, but originally referred to numbering (â€Å"Read the quotation from the book†) Also, note quo (â€Å"in which†), which occurs in the ubiquitous â€Å"status quo† (â€Å"the state in which†), the less common â€Å"quid pro quo† (this for that), and â€Å"quo vadis† (â€Å"where are you going?†), based on a verse in the Bible and popularized by a novel by that name and its screen adaptations but seldom used by writers and speakers of English. See the connections in the following words? Quiet is derived from quies, meaning â€Å"rest or silence,† as is while, which can also refer to a duration of time a quantity. Quit (from quietus, meaning â€Å"free† or â€Å"calm†) implies the end of a quantity of time or action, while quite, in the senses of â€Å"very† and â€Å"thoroughly† degrees of quantity has the same etymological origin. And quiz may have a direct link: It’s probably derived from qui es, which means â€Å"who are you?† Not all words beginning with qu- share these origins, of course. Quack and quail are onomatopoeic. Quaint, though stemming from Latin, is not derived from a qu- word. Queer is Germanic (quirk may be related), as are quench and quick, both from Old English. But one thing most qu- words share is some quality, quiddity, or quirk that makes them quite useful to writers. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Avoid Beginning a Sentence with â€Å"With†The Four Sounds of the Spelling OUThe Difference Between "Un-" and "Dis-"