Peculiar Institution Essay

On September 23, 1861 Mrs. E. A. Spaulding of Central Village Windham County wrote Abraham Lincoln about the Peculiar Institution or Slavery. She believed that until it â€Å"is abolished, civilization is impeded, humanity languishes and our boasted land of freedom is a practical lie. † Two prominent persons of the era, John C. Calhoun and James Henry Hammond, thought the contrary. Calhoun and Hammond were strong defenders of Slavery. In his Mudsill Speech of 1858, Hammond justified the use of slaves through the Mudsill theory. He said that in order for the upper class to be able to push the country forward, there had to be a lower class to support it. The lower class was needed to do the dirty job and the easy tasks. They were the ones with less intelligence and talent but had the energy, subservience and loyalty demanded by the job, referring to the Africans. In the North, the laborers were not paid enough. They had to work long hours and some ended up as beggars. There were many beggars in the North, but there were none in the South. The slaves in the South enjoyed lifetime employment and because they were well paid, they did not have to beg, did not go hungry, were never out of jobs and neither did they have to work more than what they can do in a day. The slaves in the South were Blacks. They were from a different and inferior race. In working for slave owners in the South, their life had greatly improved. They had simple desires, little ambitions and they wanted no more than those. Both owners and slaves had no conflicts to disturb the peace of their days. In the case of the North, their slaves were their own race. Hammond believed that such a situation can be humiliating for the slaves, though they are the majority. As this majority had voting rights, they were actually more powerful. With such power they can create the most trouble for their employers. In his Disquisition on Government, Calhoun disagreed with the Founding Father’s idea of the rights of individuals. He believed that it was not true that people were born free and equal. The condition of life of the Blacks, being the inferior, had been improved by Slavery. They had become civilized, and their moral, physical and intellectual circumstances had changed for the better. Historically, there was never a society where part of it did not depend on the efforts of the other. The living and working conditions of the South were much better than those in the North. The Southern slave owners took care of his slaves and their families and were not subjected to the constant and unsettling labor problems in the North. Calhoun’s strongest argument against the Abolitionists was that protection of domestic institutions was granted exclusively to the states. Since Slavery was a peculiar institution to the South, attempts by other states to abolish it was defiance of the Constitution. Pro Slavery advocates cited Biblical references to argue that slavery was allowed by the Lord and intended for it to continue. Exodus 21:5-6, the slave says â€Å"I love my wife, my master and my children, I will not go free. † †¦. nd that â€Å"he (slave) shall serve him (master) for life. In Ephesians 6:5, God instructs â€Å"Servants, obey your masters of this world with fear and respect, with simplicity of heart, as if obeying Christ. † In Genesis 9:26, Noah prayed to the Lord, â€Å"Blessed be Yahweh, God of Shem, let Canaan be his slave. † Titus 2:9 says â€Å"Teach slaves to be subject to their masters †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Colossians 3:22 instructs â€Å"Servants obey your masters in everything not only while they are present, to gain favor with them, but because you fear the Lord. In all these, the advocates believe that slavery did not go against the spiritual teachings. There were also economic considerations in the use of slaves to work in Southern plantations. They were the most cost-efficient, available laborers. Their owners realized big returns of investments that they were able to give their slaves decent and comfortable lives, by way of homes, clothing, medical care and assurance of a stable future. The slave and their owners had a paternalistic relationship where the latter took care of the slaves like family.

Oscar Wildes The Picture of Dorian Gray Essays

Oscar Wildes The Picture of Dorian Gray Essays Oscar Wildes The Picture of Dorian Gray Paper Oscar Wildes The Picture of Dorian Gray Paper Essay Topic: Call of the Wild Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Into the Wild Literature The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wildes The Picture of Dorian Gray tells the story of corruption and how it can easily spread. It focuses strongly on art and decadence and it definitely alludes to degeneration and decay throughout. Characters, especially Dorian Gray, often focus on beauty as the leading quality in the world. He also forms a double life, much like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in the sense that has a more civilized public life with a malicious, corrupt secret life full of sin. One of the major gothic topics displayed in this text portrays civilizations lapse into corruption and barbarism while seeming still civilized on the surface. The story begins with Basil Hallward, a somewhat successful artist, painting a portrait of Dorian Gray. Basil completely worships the beautiful, pure, young Dorian Gray, and in fact even admits it to his close friend, Lord Henry. Basil paints such a vivid picture of Dorian that he convinces himself that he has put some of his own soul into the piece. This alludes to the somewhat supernatural qualities of the painting. Basil explicitly explains that he doesnt want Henry spoiling Dorian Gray, but nonetheless fails to prevent the two from meeting. Lord Henry immediately starts exerting his infectious influence on Dorian Gray. Dorian is astonished at how beautiful he looks in the portrait, but instantly starts to panic with his newfound Lord Henry outlook: Lord Henry Wotton is perfectly right. Youth is the only thing worth having. When I find that I am growing old, I shall kill myself' (26). After meeting Henry, Dorian sees the portrait as a mockery and immediately wishes for it to age and decay in his stead. This incident marks the beginning of Dorian Grays downward spiral into corruption and malice. Another intriguing detail to note about this quote relates to its foreshadowing content. Dorian mentions killing himself, which he ultimately does at the conclusion of the plot. He attains everlasting youth and beauty and still ends up slaying himself, only to return to a decayed hideous form. Dorian Grays first major act of tyranny pertains to his first love, Sibyl Vane. Sibyl Vane dazzles her audience and captivates Dorian Gray with her marvelously whimsical performances on the stage. Dorian becomes infatuated with her acting as an art, rather than her as an actual person. Sibyl, much like Dorian prior to corruption, is innocent and naive towards real life and real emotions. She lives her life through the stage and feels more alive as her characters than she does in the real world. Dorian, Dorian, she cried, before I knew you, acting was the one reality of my life. It was only in the theatre that I lived. (74). After coming into contact with Dorian, she realizes true love and begins to see her true world on the theatre as nothing more than a farce. Her realization of authentic emotions corrupts her art and she no longer possesses her beautiful eminence. The corrupting taint that eventually encompasses the life of Dorian Gray begins to manifest itself with the ruining of Sibyl Vane. Sibyls inability to continue her marvelous performances on stage infuriates Dorian Gray and he breaks her heart by basically calling her worthless. He leaves the girl with nothing but his harsh words. This devastating incident causes Sibyl Vane to commit suicide, and the first stain of degeneration that should have marked Dorian Gray, shows up on his portrait instead. The Picture of Dorian Gray contains several interesting incidents of foreshadowing. Basil remarks to Lord Henry quite early on in the story that Dorians good looks will most likely cause severe tragedy in the future. Indeed, I should be sorry to look like him. You shrug your shoulders? I am telling you the truth. There is a fatality about all physical and intellectual distinction, the sort of fatality that seems to dog through history the faltering steps of kings (7). Obviously this premonition by Basil comes true as Dorians looks eventually become the sole driving motivation for his vindictive actions, and eventually drive him to self-destruction. The other intriguing note is that Basil claims to have put himself in the portrait of Dorian Gray. Thus one could derive that this indicates a similarity to Dorian and could explain his demise as well. Another part of the novel that seemed so dreadfully obvious that I almost pinpointed its exact occurrence, pertains to Basils untimely murder by Dorian Gray. The story reveals on page one that Basil would most likely be murdered, and since Dorian Gray is the protagonist, I assumed that he would be the executioner. Basil Hallward, whose sudden disappearance some years ago, caused at the time, such public excitement, and gave rise to so many strange conjectures (1). Oscar Wilde would not have put this line into the text if we were meant to presume that Basil would eventually pass away peacefully due to old age. A sudden disappearance in a gothic story typically alludes to a murder or death. As for the actual assassination scene in the novel, Wilde spent time describing the particular night just prior to the incident, as a cold, foggy night and mentions that Dorian tries to avoid interacting with Basil in several ways. This attempt at avoidance already brings about a sense of tension. Once inside the mansion Basil repeatedly irritates Dorian with preaching which helps to increase the anxiety. Basil reveals that he was meant to catch a train to Paris later that night and points out that he has missed it. This provides Dorian Gray with an alibi as well as a period of time before Basils disappearance will be noticed. Dorian becomes increasingly agitated until he eventually sets the series of events into motion with a crazed sensation: A bitter laugh of mockery broke from the lips of the younger man. You shall see it yourself, to-night! he cried, seizing a lamp from the table. Come: it is your handiwork. Why shouldnt you look at it? (129). This quote shows that Dorian blames Basil for the corruption as well as Dorians malicious determination to suddenly show it to him. Dorian had always been dreadfully frightened at the notion of someone seeing the corruption of his dual life, and yet with the increased confrontation almost instantaneously determines to show Basil. Once Basil naively agrees to follow Dorian, I knew that he would soon meet his demise. No living soul has ever seen the corrupted version of Dorians portrait aside from Dorian, and it seemed highly likely that it was going to remain that way. Dorian Gray continually attempts to maintain a civilized front in his public life despite his increasingly tarnished dual life of sin. The magical properties of the portrait allowed his true self to be hidden on the canvas while he paraded around in a beautiful serene guise known to the public. He continually endeavors to maintain his fraudulent civilized appearance by dressing luxuriously as an aristocrat and attending fancy dinner parties with other civilized people. And yet his true contaminated self persistently acted out in barbarous ways. He murders Basil Hawthorne in a barbaric rampage, and then attempts to cover up the entire incident by blackmailing a former colleague, Alan Campbell, whose life has been ruined by Dorians corrupting influence. This wicked deed for self preservation forced upon Alan eventually places so much pressure on Alan that he eventually commits suicide, thus bringing the known Gray murder rate to a total of three. Dorian enjoys the malevolent sensation in private and feels the pleasure of his barbaric double life. Eventually Dorian Gray requires frequent trips to the opium dens of London to erase the barbaric incidents from the mind of his untainted body. Although the corrupted incidents remain as physical memoirs on the portrait that reflects Dorians secret barbaric dual life, the opium attempts to wipe clean the mind of the pure, civilized life represented by the physical body that he shows to the public. When Dorian finally confronts his savage life and attempts to dispose of the portrait by barbaric means, the two lives merge and Dorian ends up killing himself via the same means as he murdered Basil. The civilized life is ended while attempting to end the barbarous life, showing which one truly prevailed.

Free Essays on MY Epiphany

â€Å"My Epiphany† In my sixteen years, I’ve heard the saying â€Å"the truth hurts† more times than I can count. I agree with this statement, for I believe my greatest moment of truth caused me the greatest pain. This is when I realized that my first love was my worst love. Unfortunately, it took a year and a half to become conscious of this. Almost two years of good times and bad times, then finally, the event that led to my realization. I must confess the good times were worth remembering. I met him through friends of friends, while hanging out. Soon, we were a couple and no one ever saw us apart. He was really great; he got along with my entire family and spent almost every single moment of his free time with me. We went out for a year and a half and then broke up for such a ridiculous reason that I can’t even evoke what it was now. Sadly, it seems so much easier to remember the bad times. The only bad thing, I can call to mind that he did while we were going out, was occasionally tell me that I needed to lose weight or try to change me physically. However, it was after we broke up that he really hurt me. He would say he wanted to work things out and that he would come over, and then would never show up. He started dating other girls consequently I started having weekly dates with alcohol. It got worse when I found out he slept with my best friend. I couldn’t stop drinking but I hid it so well not my friends or family knew how serious my problem was. I continued this for about a year but permanently stopped after I drank way too much, followed by a plethora of pills. Three days later, I woke up in the Bradley Center, and noticing how my family was distressed, hit me enough to recognize the type of person my ex proving that he didn’t care. One night, he called and said he was at a party and that he made a big mistake in letting me go and he still loved me and wanted to see me right away. I agreed to m... Free Essays on MY Epiphany Free Essays on MY Epiphany â€Å"My Epiphany† In my sixteen years, I’ve heard the saying â€Å"the truth hurts† more times than I can count. I agree with this statement, for I believe my greatest moment of truth caused me the greatest pain. This is when I realized that my first love was my worst love. Unfortunately, it took a year and a half to become conscious of this. Almost two years of good times and bad times, then finally, the event that led to my realization. I must confess the good times were worth remembering. I met him through friends of friends, while hanging out. Soon, we were a couple and no one ever saw us apart. He was really great; he got along with my entire family and spent almost every single moment of his free time with me. We went out for a year and a half and then broke up for such a ridiculous reason that I can’t even evoke what it was now. Sadly, it seems so much easier to remember the bad times. The only bad thing, I can call to mind that he did while we were going out, was occasionally tell me that I needed to lose weight or try to change me physically. However, it was after we broke up that he really hurt me. He would say he wanted to work things out and that he would come over, and then would never show up. He started dating other girls consequently I started having weekly dates with alcohol. It got worse when I found out he slept with my best friend. I couldn’t stop drinking but I hid it so well not my friends or family knew how serious my problem was. I continued this for about a year but permanently stopped after I drank way too much, followed by a plethora of pills. Three days later, I woke up in the Bradley Center, and noticing how my family was distressed, hit me enough to recognize the type of person my ex proving that he didn’t care. One night, he called and said he was at a party and that he made a big mistake in letting me go and he still loved me and wanted to see me right away. I agreed to m...

Indefinite Article With Initialisms

Indefinite Article With Initialisms Indefinite Article With Initialisms Indefinite Article With Initialisms By Maeve Maddox Note: An initialism is a group of initial letters, each pronounced separately, used as an abbreviation of a name. Many English speakers who probably use the indefinite article an in front of a vowel when speaking seem to encounter a mental disconnect when it comes to writing. The following examples were found on major news sites or on sites offering professional services or advice: Pieces of the bag recovered have been sent to  a FBI  lab for forensic testing.   The 404 or Not Found error message is  a HTTP  standard response code. Step-by-step tutorial on how to add  a LED  to a USB thumb drive. Applying to a MBA program can help you advance in your career or switch careers entirely. A NBC executive indicated that the independent formatted Nonstop channels were doing well but needed separate 24/7 programming.   There are several benefits to being  a RSVP  Volunteer. Did you setup and assign  a STMP server  for this account? The problem lies in an incomplete understanding of the rule for the use of a and an. Many speakers retain the rule as â€Å"Use an before words that begin with a vowel and a before words that begin with a consonant.† The complete rule is â€Å"Use an before words that begin with a vowel sound and a before words that begin with a consonant sound.† The 26 letters of the alphabet are sound symbols, but the symbols have names. And several of the consonant letters have names that begin with vowel sounds: F [ef] H [aitch] L [el] M [em] N [en] S [es] R [ar] Here’s the correct way to write the words and initialisms given in boldface above: Pieces of the bag recovered have been sent to  an FBI  lab for forensic testing.   The 404 or Not Found error message is  an HTTP  standard response code. Step-by-step tutorial on how to add  an LED  to a USB thumb drive. Applying to an MBA program can help you advance in your career or switch careers entirely. An NBC executive indicated that the independent formatted Nonstop channels were doing well but needed separate 24/7 programming.   There are several benefits to being  an RSVP  Volunteer. Did you setup and assign  an STMP server  for this account? In deciding whether to write a or an in front of an initialism, say the name of the first letter. If the letter name begins with a vowel sound, use an. 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 Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Precedent vs. PrecedenceA "Diploma" is not a "Degree"

Buddhism in Tang Dynasty Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Buddhism in Tang Dynasty - Term Paper Example Buddhism appealed to all classes of the Chinese nation. This includes both the nation’s peasantry, as well as the aristocrats. This is primarily because Buddhism offered hope for salvation, which the people of China required, but was not offered by the previous religious settings under Taoism and Confucianism (Orzech, p. 219). This paper will examine the effects of Buddhism on Tang Dynasty’s political standing, describing reasons why emperor Taizong favored Buddhism to Confucian religion. Buddhism has had major impacts on the Asian continent, with Japan and China being the most affected cultures by the religion. The effects of Buddhism are apparent in different areas of different cultures and countries, which entail political, social, as well as cultural influences. The Tang Dynasty of China is perhaps the most interesting history phase of China’s history. The Tang Dynasty, which was under the leadership of the Tang Dynasty, was founded in 618 and culminated in 9 07. The Tang Dynasty was quite flourishing with regard to power and wealth and became the most powerful country in the entire world. During the Tang Dynasty, the region achieved significant might with regard to the economy, culture, military and politics levels. Buddhism had substantial effects on China’s, especially the Tang Dynasty (Mikael, p. 36). However, it is paramount to note that Buddhism’s incorporation into the Chinese society took a relatively long time owing to the people’s difficulty to translate Buddhist text into the Chinese language. This paper will answer the question of how Buddhism was able to stabilize imperial power in political ways during the life of Tang Dynasty. It is undisputed that Buddhism had a huge impact in developing the social, economic, cultural and political environments of China’s Tang Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism brought about major changes in the Chinese political front, especially with regard to stabili zing imperial power of the political aspects of the nation. During the rule of the Tang Dynasty, Buddhist clergy gained massive favor in the royal court of the ruling elite. They even played a role in the control of bureaucratic power. The aristocrats of the Tang Dynasty were charmed by Buddhism doctrines. This is because the model character exemplified by Buddhist doctrines appealed to the political class of the Tang Dynasty, pushing them to adopt the characteristics of the so called model character as defined by Buddhist beliefs. The Buddhist doctrines appealed to the aristocrats of the Tang Dynasty because unlike the Taoist sage, Buddhism allowed for wealth acquisition by the ruling class. An example of such doctrine includes Buddhist beliefs that while a leader should be self disciplined, respectable and critical in his thinking, the leader should not limit his acquisition of wealth or enjoyment of luxuries. This means that Buddhism presented a new model for world-bound life for the aristocrats. However, this gave leeway for aristocrats to acquire massive amounts of wealth, sometimes at the expense of the populace, which remained poor for the most part. The government of Emperor Taizong preferred Buddhism to Confucian because the latter did not approve some of the actions of the aristocrats. For instance, Confucian disallowed the acquisition of luxurious property as it termed it as improper use of power,

Terminologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Terminologies - Essay Example Better communication is mostly the reason as to why there is improved patient outcome, it enhances continued care of the patients which is better understood and communicated with ease among nurses. Further, it is essential in the development of nursing as a body of knowledge which build up to the establishment of nursing as profession with autonomy. However, using standardized nursing terminologies has a great impact on the relationship between nurses and other professional while taking care of the patients. There is a disconnection in communication more so when other professionals go through nurses documentation on a particular patient. Thus, this to some extent is likely to affect patient outcome negatively. It necessitates the institution to utilize more resources to educate other professional on the nurse terminologies used while taking care of patients. For instance, the hospital has to print posters and put on strategic positions to enhance the other professional’s knowledge on the terminologies used by nurses (Wong, 2009). Moreover, it leads to much time wasted as one struggles to comprehend what the nurses are communicating thus compromising the patient care. Hardiker, N. R. (2011). Developing Standardized Terminologies to Support Nursing Practice. In Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (pp. 111–120). Retrieved from http://usir.salford.ac.uk/17895/1/Mastrian_chapter_7_Hardiker_-_pre-print.pdf Wong, E. (2009). Novel nursing terminologies for the rapid response system. International Journal of Nursing Terminologies and Classifications†¯: The Official Journal of NANDA International, 20,

Appropriate Justification for Punishment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Appropriate Justification for Punishment - Essay Example Therefore, punishment is a response to unusual behavior or crimes in societies and usually takes the form of either formal or informal ways of administration. Formally, the authority figures utilize systematized laws such as civil law suits while informally, the society uses social groups such as peer groups to correct an individual (Bonta & Andrews, 2010, p.58). Conversely, at the informal level, social systems are employed and this touches on families, friends or peers. Punishments vary in the severity, depending on the extent of their consequences in the society, and may include reprimands, ostracism, sanctions, incarcerations, fines, death penalties, or deprivation of privileges (Michael, 2001, p.99). Incapacitation, deterrence, education, rehabilitation, and retribution are the principal punishment justifications (Lippman, 2009, p.82). Deterrence, also referred to as prevention is a disciplinary procedure used to avoid offenses. Through deterrence, those who commit offenses are deterred from reoffending while those contemplating the offense are deterred from trying to commit these offenses (David, 2002, p. 11). The goal of this punishment is to scare people from committing crimes or they face the punishment. Authority figures on the other hand, use rehabilitation for reform purposes. This form of punishment rehabilitates the wrong doer and prevents them from committing the crimes again. In this case, the punishment changes the wrong doer’s attitude and makes them realize that what they do is wrong, and helps them stop it. For the sake of protecting the society, law makers use incapacitation as a form of punishment. In this case, the society engages in several methods to remove the ability of the offender to engage in future offenses (David, 2002, p.13), which includes imprisonments, amputations or death penalties. In most criminal activities, the offender usually gains while the victim of the offense looses. For the sake of retributive justice, retr ibution is necessary; to create a balance between the offender and the victim and ensure the offender suffers (David, 2002, p.15). Another reason for punishment is restoration, where the offender makes right whatever they have committed. Penalties for restoration are minor, and may include compensation or community services. In addition to these, there are other reasons for punishments such as education, which instills discipline to the society’s norms and values. Punishment has received much attention from scholars of various fields, specifically, philosophy and psychology. In Psychology, operant conditioning is most associated with punishment. Operant conditioning introduces the aspect of response-stimuli conditioning and learning through reinforcement (Nevid, 2011, p.183). In this context, punishment refers to the act of reducing behavior by applying an adverse stimulus or removing a pleasant stimulus. This concept is useful in understanding the justifications for punishme nts because they basic goal is to reduce or remove unpleasant behavior from the organism (Blackman, 1974, p.77). Over the years, civilization has changed the methods and perception of punishment. The rationale behind every punishment method is that its degree should fit the crime. The consequence of a crime to the society is used to assess and formulate the most suitable punishment (Hugo, 2010, p. 87). Every type of punishment has its purpose and this mainly includes: rehabilitating