Strengths and Weaknesses of the British and Colonists on the Eve of the Revolutionary War free essay sample

During the 1700s in the New World, the desire for independence and freedom emerged dramatically within the American colonies. As the tensions between Great Britain and the colonies reached their highpoint, the Colonists decided to revolt against Britain, triggering the start of the American Revolution. As the Colonists and the British prepared to engage in battle on the eve of the revolution, they both showed distinct strengths and weaknesses. The British seemed unbeatable. During the previous 100 years, the British had enjoyed triumph after triumph over nations as powerful as France and Spain. Britain had access to more money than colonists and therefore had more money to fund more troops. Their military was the best in the world. Their soldiers were well equipped, well disciplined, well paid, and well fed. The British navy dominated the seas. Funds were much more easily raised by the Empire than by the Continental Congress, and some of those funds were used to hire Hessian mercenaries to fight the Colonists. We will write a custom essay sample on Strengths and Weaknesses of the British and Colonists on the Eve of the Revolutionary War or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page On the other hand, the Colonists had tremendous difficulty raising enough funds to purchase basic supplies for their troops, including shoes and blankets. The British had a winning tradition. Around one in five Colonists, called Tories, openly favored the Crown, with about half of the population hoping to avoid the conflict altogether. Most Indian tribes sided with Britain, who promised protection of tribal lands. At first glance, the odds were clearly against the Colonists, but they had many hidden advantages. On the other hand, the Colonists had many intangible advantages. The British fought a war far from home. Military orders, troops, and supplies sometimes took months to reach their destinations. The British had an extremely difficult objective, and their morale was low. They had no real reasons to continue fighting anymore, and they had to persuade the Colonists to give up their claims of independence. As long as the war continued, the colonists claim continued to gain validity. The geographic vastness of the colonies proved a hindrance to the British effort. Despite occupying every major city, the British remained as at a disadvantage. Colonists had a grand cause: fighting for their rights, their independence and their liberty. This cause was much more just than waging a war to deny independence. American military and political leaders were inexperienced, but proved surprisingly skilled, as compared to the poor leadership performance of Howe and Clinton with Britain. The war was expensive and the British population debated its necessity. In Parliament, there were many American supporters. Finally, the alliance with Spain and France gave Colonists courage and a tangible threat that tipped the scales in Americas favor. As the Colonists and the British prepared to engage in battle on the eve of the revolution, they both showed distinct strengths and weaknesses.

Free Essays on All Schools Should Wear Uniforms

such as â€Å"childish,† â€Å"inconvenience,† and â€Å"inappropriate† come to mind. However, high school teenagers wearing uniforms can be considered to be a good idea if you take the time out to think about the positive outcomes. Outcomes such as eliminating certain distractions and enforcing the importance of real world situations are a few examples of some of the pros of high school students wearing uniforms. Some critics think uniforms can be a bother to both the students as well as their parents, one reason being that the cost of uniforms is too expensive. The leading uniform companies’ prices can tend to be outrageous. Some parents and students also think that wearing uniforms puts a damper on these students’s individuality. One may believe that enforcing the use of uniforms throughout high school will take away from each student’s creativity and uniqueness among their fellow peers. Although some critics think uniforms can be a hassle to both students as well as their parents, other critics will argue that uniforms yield several benefits. Although some critics’ state that uniforms can be too expensive, with proper research and well-kept maintenance the use of uniforms can yield to the conservation of money. There are several manufacturing companies who sell uniforms for reasonable prices. The parents have to take it upon themselves to look around to try and find the better deal. Some critics say that wearing uniforms may also dampen a child’s individuality. Although some people may feel that clothing is a sign of individuality, it is not. It is through ones voice and character, which separates a child from its peers. It is not the shirt on one’s back, or the shoes one’s feet that makes up one’s individuality or uniqueness. The benefits of wearing uniforms are countless. One of the be... Free Essays on All Schools Should Wear Uniforms Free Essays on All Schools Should Wear Uniforms All high school should be required to wear uniforms. When some people think of high school students wearing uniforms the words such as â€Å"childish,† â€Å"inconvenience,† and â€Å"inappropriate† come to mind. However, high school teenagers wearing uniforms can be considered to be a good idea if you take the time out to think about the positive outcomes. Outcomes such as eliminating certain distractions and enforcing the importance of real world situations are a few examples of some of the pros of high school students wearing uniforms. Some critics think uniforms can be a bother to both the students as well as their parents, one reason being that the cost of uniforms is too expensive. The leading uniform companies’ prices can tend to be outrageous. Some parents and students also think that wearing uniforms puts a damper on these students’s individuality. One may believe that enforcing the use of uniforms throughout high school will take away from each student’s creativity and uniqueness among their fellow peers. Although some critics think uniforms can be a hassle to both students as well as their parents, other critics will argue that uniforms yield several benefits. Although some critics’ state that uniforms can be too expensive, with proper research and well-kept maintenance the use of uniforms can yield to the conservation of money. There are several manufacturing companies who sell uniforms for reasonable prices. The parents have to take it upon themselves to look around to try and find the better deal. Some critics say that wearing uniforms may also dampen a child’s individuality. Although some people may feel that clothing is a sign of individuality, it is not. It is through ones voice and character, which separates a child from its peers. It is not the shirt on one’s back, or the shoes one’s feet that makes up one’s individuality or uniqueness. The benefits of wearing uniforms are countless. One of the be...

One-child Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

One-child Policy - Essay Example The advantages and disadvantages of one-child policy could, however, be argued in the light of the results obtained over the years. Thesis Statement The one-child policy is an effective way of controlling the birth rate and to alleviate social, economic and environmental problems in the long term. Arguments on the policy of one-child The one-child policy was first proposed and introduced by the government in China from the year of 1979 by looking at the huge population base and possible population explosion in future (Newbold 35). The government was concerned about the social, economic and the environmental issues that could pose adverse consequences due to the rising population of the country. This is true for the other large democracies in the world like the US, India, Indonesia, etc. The one-child policy is aimed to bring about stability in the social and economic environment of the country. With the ever increasing population, the income level of the people is likely to suffer (D SCPG 67). The limitations in the employment opportunities and the distribution of limited opportunities among a large number of common people are supposed to pull down the standard of living and gross capital formation in the economy. The discrimination between the members of the society is likely to create situations of conflict among the common masses. Thus the increasing population with no control on the child birth rate is likely to bring about social imbalance and degradation of the national environment. The one-child policy was believed to be effective in addressing these social and economic problems (Fong 39). The one-child policy, however, has not been able to achieve the desired goals of attaining social and economic stability to the extent it desired. This has been due to the fact that the Population and Family planning Commission has implemented it in provincial levels and has been a matter of unequal enforcement. The relaxation of the policy in areas of the country which is densely populated has resulted in cancelling out the benefits of the policy achieved from other parts of the country. The families have been fined on the aspect of non-adherence to one child policy depending on their income levels. This led to the rise of hidden income and illegal money in the economy. The one-child policy has also been viewed a steps leading to human rights violation. The couples in the civilized societies have, however, started to realize the need of one-child with the rising expenditure from time to time and the decreasing gap between the income level and the cost of livelihood. It has been estimated that 33% of the US families had one child or kid thirty years back. Now, the number has been raised to 43%. This reflected a rise in awareness of the people in resorting to one child so that the household expenses could be met with the prevailing income level. The implementation of one-child policy and rise in awareness among the masses has helped to prevent mill ions of birth over the last thirty years. The family planning measures have helped to create a social and economic balance by reducing the level of poverty in the countries, increasing the standard of living with the available resources. The demand and supply equilibrium in the economies were maintained as good effects of the one-child

Elimination of discrimination in modern educational system Essay

Elimination of discrimination in modern educational system - Essay Example More than 40 years ago, the nations of the world asserted the right to education through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human rights are those fundamental rights, which are crucial to live and develop as human beings with dignity (World Declaration on Education for All, 1990). But in 1990 they observed that despite remarkable efforts around the globe to ensure the right to education for all, more than 100 million children, including at least 60 million girls, have no access to primary schooling; more than 960 million adults, two-thirds of whom are women, are illiterate, and functional illiteracy is a significant problem in all countries, industrialized and developing; more than one-third of the world's adults have no access to the printed knowledge, new skills and technologies that could improve the quality of their lives and help them shape, and adapt to, social and cultural change; and more than 100 million children and countless adults fail to complete basic education programs; millions more satisfy the attendance requirements but do not acquire essential knowledge and skills. The Jomtien World Conference on Education for All (1990), thus, set the goal of Education for All. UNESCO, along with other UN agencies, and a number of international and national non-governmental organizations, has been working towards achieving this goal - adding to the efforts made at the country level (UNESCO 2003). Human Rights Day 2009 observed on 10 December focused on non-discrimination. "Discrimination targets individuals and groups that a vulnerable to attack: the disabled, women and girls, the poor, migrants, minorities, and all those who are perceived as different" (Ban Ki-moon, 2009). UN reports about an estimated 650 million persons with disabilities worldwide, or 10 per cent of the global population, with approximately two-thirds living in developing countries. Despite encouraging developments there are still an estimated 113 million primary school age children not attending school. 90% of them live in low and lower middle income countries, and over 80 million of these children live in Africa. Of those who do enroll in primary school, large numbers drop out before completing their primary education (UNESCO 2004). The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, often referred to as CRC or UNCRC, is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of children. They are founded on respect for the dignity and worth of each individual, regardless of race, color, gender, language, religion, opinions, origins, wealth, birth status or ability and therefore apply to every human being everywhere (UNICEF, 2008). As of November 2009, 194 countries are signatories to this and they have ratified, accepted, or acceded to it. EXCLUSION UNESCO leads the global 'Education for All' movement, aiming to meet the learning needs of all children, youth and adults by 2015. According to UNESCO, today, 75 million children are excluded from the realm of education mainly due to poverty, gender inequity, disability, child labor, speaking a minority language, belonging to an indigenous people, and living a nomadic or rural lifestyle. 72 million children are still not enrolled at all in school and of this more than half are girls. Children in the rural areas and urban slums have hardly any

How advertisement effects peoples lives Essay Example for Free

How advertisement effects peoples lives Essay As Americans we are exposed to advertisements everyday. People are pressured from every direction by advertisements which exploit their deepest fears, attractions, needs, and desires, shaping their behaviors, goals, and thoughts. They are led into believing false information and promises that are mostly never kept, all for the simple reason of selling the product and making profit. We see advertisements everywherein magazines and newspapers, on the radio, on TV, online, in the mail, even over the phone. These advertisements use the basic ideas of either providing an elite status with the possession of the product, or giving a sense of belonging to a group or community. Since the recent military activity in Iraq and Afghanistan, another ever present idea has been made prominent and that is using patriotism to evoke peoples desires. Americans are persuaded into buying unnecessary items everyday; however, we need to realize that no matter what advertisements say we should purchase items for their usefulness, not to fill voids in our lives, so we can help eliminate the problem we face today of being a materialistic society. The patriotic theme affecting peoples hearts, minds and senses, is commonly used to manipulate them into buying things. Since everyone has love for their country, using it to sell products is a brilliant idea, but I believe this is a bad practice. It makes people believe they are not ideal Americans, nor are they similar to the people around them if they do not buy that product. The Palmolive advertisement, in Seeing and Writing 2, is a key example, it appeals to the wives of the men at war in World War II (417). On the top of this advertisement there are three medals which contain picture of three different men in their uniforms and the words For Him appear next to each picture. In the lower part of the advertisement there is a woman looking up at these medals and above her head are the words, I pledge myself to guard every bit of Beauty that he cherishes in me, and finally in the background there are several faces of women also looking towards the medals. This advertisement is basically communicating to the wives the idea of guarding their beauty, by using this soap, just like their husbands are guarding their country. The ironic fact is that soap cannot make someone beautiful, nor do people lose their beauty if they do not use the correct brand of soap. This advertisement is connecting a heroic and patriotic act  to one used for mere beauty, in order to sell the soap. The Palmolive advertisement was run in 1943, but a more current advertisement which uses similar attributes is Chevrolet and its slogan for its recent line of cars, An American Revolution. This slogan is always placed on a blue sky background and the writing is in bold white letters, except for the E in Revolution, this letter is written in red ink. So when you come across this slogan, not only does the slogan sound patriotic to you, it also appears to be patriotic because it incorporates the red, the white and the blue. This phrase says to its audience that every American is buying and driving a Chevy car and so should they. Another detail that could be interpreted out of this advertisement is that since the U.S. is currently at war and fighting a revolution against terrorism, a person living in the U.S. can participate in this patriotic revolution by purchasing a Chevrolet. This would be true only if Chevrolet was funding the war, instead of the US government. Along with this, another advertisement that exploits this concept was the Netzero advertisement run during the time before the elections. In this advertisement the spokesman was running for President under the alias of Candidate Zero. His main goal was to provide cheaper and faster internet to every family and household. In order to get peoples attention, this clever idea was used, and it certainly worked on people like me. Viewers could also connect the advertisement with the actual presidential race and that way the product of the advertisement was stuck in their conscious awareness. The whole patriotic theme is strange because the connection between patriotism and the product does not make the product function better, so why do we feel obligated to pay attention to the advertisement and even purchase that product. Along with patriotism another concept used widely is the elitism the product brings to people with its possession. As Jack Solomon wrote in his essay Masters of Desire, We Americans dream of rising about the crowd, of attaining a social summit beyond the reach of ordinary citizens (1). He is basically saying that Americans want to be better then the people around  them and this belief is what marketers feast on, creating status symbols like Rolex, Mercedes, BMW, etc. One advertisement that crosses my mind in terms of using elitism would be the new U2 iPod Special Edition advertisement. This promotes an iPod with a black cover and laser engraved signatures of the U2 band members; everything else is similar to a regular iPod; whereas, the price is $50 more. People are led into believing that the U2 iPod is better than the regular one only because it is endorsed by U2. Another ironic detail is that a normal iPod itself is a product of elitism, because even though it has similar functions to a Sony or any other MP3 player, it costs $100 more only because it comes with the signature white headphones. These headphones, unique only because an iPod come equipped with them, have made themselves and the iPod a status symbol. Most people only buy an iPod because they want the headphones to show the illusion of superiority and uniqueness. Solomon says, The explanation is quite simple: when an object (or puppy!) either costs a lot of money or requires influential connections to possess, anyone who possesses it must also possess the necessary means of influence to acquire it (3). This explains why the white headphones have made the iPod a status symbol, since its shows possession of an expensive item, even though rationally speaking the color of the headphones does not make the iPod function better, they only make it different. Solomon also talks about another part of the American Dream, in which belonging to a group is important. The Chevrolet slogan connects us to the entire American population; the iPod connects us to other owners of an iPod, and so on. We need a sense of connection and belonging, fulfilling our need for attention and affection. Abraham Maslow, a founder of humanistic psychology, created a triangle in which he placed a persons needs in the order they needed to be fulfilled and the need for love and belonging was the third basic need. Disillusioned by the advertisements, people try to fulfill this need by buying the products. This proves that using this theme advertisers are able to affect the person on much deeper levels then recognizable, yet by no means does the product itself become more useful. It is understandable that advertisers need to appeal to people in order to  sell their product and that is why they use these tactics, but what is not understandable is while knowing the truth people believe the hoaxes and let advertisements dictate what they are going to buy. People need to realize that products should not be used to fulfill our weaknesses; they should be consumed based on our needs, because companies will keep manufacturing status symbols until we accept that products and items are only materialistic and we can never attain all the luxury items around us. We are scammed into buying false promises everyday, after we realize that we have a choice against it, we can choose not to let advertisements or minor details about the product like the endorsements, or the color of headphones, or the catchy slogan persuade us into buying a certain item.

Vaccine :: essays research papers fc

Vaccine Children are one of God's best gifts to people, as watching their children grow is one of the best pleasures people enjoy during their life course. For this reason, parents must take good care of their children during their early years, as they are vulnerable to many diseases due to their weak immunity. There are many diseases, infecting children, that may lead to death such as the polio disease. Scientists found a solution to this problem, by injecting a tiny sample of the virus into the child's blood, in order to stimulate the immune system to fight the disease if the child catches it, which is known as vaccination. However, McTaggart contradicts this by pointing out that vaccination problems far outweigh those of going unvaccinated (1). Therefore, there are many questions concerning the safety and effectiveness of vaccines as opposed to those of going unvaccinated. Vaccines can cause complications that are more harmful than those of going unvaccinated or even the disease itself. Professor of epidemiology at the university of Washington, Dr Russell Alexander, points out that the panel set up to determine the risks of vaccination did not compare it to those of being unvaccinated (qtd in Miller 9). This means that the research done by the panel, which proved vaccination risks to be 'too small to count', contains many weaknesses. McTaggart links the appearance of learning disabilities, autism, and hyperactivity to the beginning of the mass vaccination programs (1). Thus, vaccination is directly related to many diseases, in which some are still unknown. McTaggart adds that the mumps vaccine has proved to be a direct cause of seizures, meningitis, deafness, and encephalitis. (6). These are extremely dangerous and unrecoverable diseases. Dr J Anthony Morris, an immunization specialist formerly of America's 'National Institutes of Health' and 'Food and Drug Administration' says that "In several of the studies, the measles vaccine strain has been recovered from the spines of the victims, showing conclusively that the vaccine caused the encephalitis" (qtd in McTaggart. 5). Thus, this doctor as a medical authority relates the measles vaccine to a deadly disease such as the encephalitis. On the other hand, the risks of catching the disease for unvaccinated children are similar, if not less, to the risks of developing harmful complications due to the vaccine. Therefore, vaccination is more risky to your child than going unvaccinated. In addition to the safety problems, vaccines have also proven to be ineffective among many children. McTaggart reasons the current debate about vaccination to the fact that measles portion of the triple shot is not working (2). This means that children who receive the triple shot, called MMR, which is a short hand for

Monitoring Internet Communication

The Internet has for many become a symbol of freedom – freedom of communication, human interaction, and flow of information. People all over the world can with ease submit their ideas and feelings to this virtual medium and retrieve from it the equally free ideas of other people. However, some claim that Internet communication does not have to be as free as it is. Instead, it needs to be monitored to prevent its usage as a medium for terrorist organisations, drug dealers, fraudsters, and other criminal or unlawful groupings. Others point out that Internet is virtually the only way for people with oppressive regimes to access information that will present them with an objective picture of the outside world. While there are reasons for both points, free speech should take precedence in democratic nations, and therefore Internet monitoring is a harmful practice. Such monitoring is in fact a violation of free speech, one of the inalienable human rights. Generations of thinkers and revolutionaries lost their lives for the triumph of democracy that is only possible with free speech as one of its cornerstones. If the American journalists, for instance, had been deprived of the right to criticise Presidents, senators, congressmen, and other political leaders, it is hard to imagine what the nation would have turned into. Constant monitoring of political leaders is what gives the nation a chance to remain democratic. On the other hand, nations like China are banning certain websites to blind their citizens to what is going on in the rest of the world. This shows that freedom of speech is a hallmark of a democratic nation, and monitoring Internet communication violates these rights. Giving an individual person the right to know constitutes the respect of the autonomy of an individual. A human being has the right to access information pertaining to different spheres of life and should not be restricted in this ability by the opinion of the few. Since, if Internet communication is to be monitored to ban, for instance, pornographic material, the question arises: who will be the people that will decide what is pornography and what is not? The Ancient Greek statues could easily be termed inappropriate by some medieval priest. Putting access to information at the judgement of a few obscure individuals will make these people make decisions for all, and there is no guarantee that their judgement will help society make better choices. A popular objection that without monitoring Internet content someone â€Å"might unknowingly visit a Web site with this material and cause him- or herself mental harm† does not seem valid either (Garlock, 1999). The problem is that Internet is like life in the sense that it encompasses a great deal of its variety and glory. You cannot shield yourself from harmful influences in life any more than you can on the Internet. If someone is disgusted, for instance, by the site of the sick and the crippled, no one will remove them from streets just to please the person. Similarly, the Internet has to contain images and information about the outside world that reflects its diversity. Therefore, no one can isolate oneself from harmful influence on the Internet since they reflect real life. Thus, monitoring Internet communication is hardly a valid idea. In the political realm, it will lead to restriction of freedom that can bring about the emergence of un-democratic regimes oppressing ill-informed citizens. On the other hand, giving people a free medium is one of the ways to save them from the state’s propaganda machine by letting them see alternative viewpoints. Monitoring is also a bad idea because it will put the individual at the mercy of a select group that will perform the monitoring in accordance with their own ideas and perceptions. Finally, the idea of using Internet as a means of protecting people from undesirable content does not hold simply because no one can hide in a ‘hole’ from real life. The only option is to go to sites that you yourself think proper for you and avoid troublesome content. With respect to others, one can paraphrase Voltaire’s words: â€Å"I disapprove of what you post, but I will defend to the death your right to place it online†. References Garlock, A. (1999). Internet Censorship. Retrieved April 25, 2006 Wollstein, J. Freedom of Speech Under Siege. Retrieved April 25, 2006, from http://www.serendipity.li/cda/freespee.html