Historical Development The American Dream History Essay

Historical Development The American Dream History Essay The idea of the American dream was evident long before its coinage. However, the idea of the American dream could be traced chronologically, from the discovery of America, especially the Northern part or the Promised Land4 to the modern age. According to Robert E. Spiller, in Literary History of the United States, the idea of the American dream was associated with America. As a state of mind, America has existed long before its discovery.5 Europeans began to come up with all sorts of hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the new and largely unexplored continent. Many of these dreams focused on owing lands and establishing prosperous business and religious freedom. For them, the American dream was the dream of an Earthly Paradise. The Earthly Paradise was strongly believed to be the land of great opportunities. It was a great dream that dominated Europeans imaginations: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦from the time of the first settlement, America was seen from European eyes as a land of boundless opportunities, a place where man, after centuries of poverty, misery, and corruption could have a second chance to fulfill, in reality, his mythic yearnings for a return to paradise.6 The idea of the American dream was as old as the American continent. Europeans were influenced by the Greeks and Classics writings. During the sixteenth century, an English saint and humanist, Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) identified America with Platos Utopia. In his book Utopia (1516), More represented the idea of the heavenly paradise to an attainable paradise. In the nineteenth century, the idea of Utopia changed into an actual paradise. Because of the influence of the French and Industrial Revolutions, the earthly paradise was attainable.7 With the possibility of such a land, the American dream was an attitude of hope and spiritual faith erected to fulfill human wishes, desires, and dreams in the New World. Thousands of European immigrants had moved to the New World to fulfill the versions of the American dream. The New World was a hope of a new life away from frustration and the sense of inferiority. 8 The American dream dealt with the idea of bettering one selfs economy by which one hoped the New World would provide abundant opportunities for ones prosperity and success. The dream was of rising from poverty to fame and fortune i.e. from rags-to-riches.9 Furthermore, it was the dream of a perfect government that would provide immigrants full and equal opportunities. They would go to the New World to set up new religious and political communities, hopefully, based on their ideas.10 The idea of the American dream had developed. It represented the dream of individual success of that of the American Adam whose labors and posterity that one day would cause great change in the New World.11 According to R. W. B. Lewis, the American Adam was: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a radically new personality, the hero of the new adventure: an individual emancipated from history, happily bereft of ancestry, untouched and undefiled by the usual inheritance of family and race, an individual standing alone, self-reliant and self-propelling, ready to confront whatever awaited him with the aid of his own unique and inherent resource.12 This signified the secular dimension of the American dream, which was associated with social success. With the rise of industrialism and the growth of the economic environment and the rapid advance of science and technology in the nineteenth century, America changed from an agricultural into an industrial and a capitalistic country. The idea of the American dream was to achieve economic independence, especially to have a vocation and own a home in order to be happy. This economic development led to class distinctions and created special privileges for certain classes. It was the pursuit of money rather than of happiness. With the development of new knowledge of Darwinian Theory, American people believed in the struggle for existence and the survival of the fittest. To become wealthy, one needed to fulfill his or her dreams by all means, even if the fulfillment was by illegal ways. This dilemma corrupted the principles of freedom and equality of opportunity, and caused great doubt tow ard the American dream as a whole, and engaged more severely against other human beings. 13 A concept often brought into connection with the American dream was the symbol of Melting Pot. The idea of Melting Pot was used in the eighteenth and ninetieth centuries, the metaphor of a Crucible was used to describe the fusion of different nationalities, ethnicities, and cultures.14 It was used together with the concepts of the United States as an ideal republic and a city upon a Hill. It was a metaphor for the idealized process of immigration and colonization by which different nationalities and races were to blend into a new, virtuous community, and it was connected to Utopian vision of the emergence of an American new man.15 It was first used in American Literature, as a concept of immigrants melting into the receiving culture, was found in the writings of J. Hector John de Crevecoeur. In his Letters from an American Farmer (1782), Crevecoeur referred to the problem of the American Nationality that appeared after the Revolutionary Era and the Declaration of Independence. He wrote: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a man whose grandfather was an Englishman, whose wife was Dutch, whose son married a French woman, and whose present four sons have now four wives of different nationsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, [new in part, because of that] strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country. He is an American who, leaving behind him all his ancient prejudice and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holdsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The Americans were once scattered all over Europe; here they are incorporated into one of the finest systems of population which has ever appeared.16 In 1908, a play by Israel Zangwill named Melting Pot, was first performed in Washington, D. C., where the immigrant protagonist declared: Understanding that America is Gods Crucible, the great Melting-Pot, where all the races of Europe are melting and re-forming! [into a new identity] Here you stand, good folk, think I, when I see them at Ellis Island, here you stand in your fifty grounds, your fifty languages, and histories, and your fifties blood hatred and rivalries. But you wont be long like that, brothers, for these are the fires of God youve come to-these are fires of God. A fig for your feuds, and Vendettas! German and French manà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ into the crucible with you all! God is making the American.17 However, the play was soon criticized as unrealistic; because melting and reforming into new American Adam appeared to be heresy that implied that all sides had to give up their culture completely to create a new one. The conflict was that many social classes and groups were excluded from the participation in the earthly life.18 Nevertheless, since the whites (Anglo-Saxon Protestants) were the predominant group in the British Colonies, other cultures and identities were perceived as inferior or even unwanted. African-Americans and Native American Indians were enslaved; Catholic Irish and Southern European immigrants were discriminated against for centureies.19 People from different cultural backgrounds often wrongly interpreted the concept of melting pot as the peaceful living together with people from other ethnic groups. But in reality, ethnic groups or minorities in America were not equal to the white people. African- Americans and Native American Indians were denied civil rights.20 Gradually, the meaning of the melting pot had changed. In response to the criticism of the concept of melting pot, Horace Kallen developed the concept of cultural pluralism in 1915. This concept incorporated that different ethnic groups could keep their cultures and that people would mutually enrich their culture. 21 Multiculturalists asserted that cultural differences within society were valuable, and should be preserved. They proposed the alternative metaphor of the mosaic or salad bowl-different cultures mixed, but remained distinct.22 The question was what, then, is the American, this new man? He is neither European nor the descendant of a European.23 The conflict was between the dreams of the white European Americans, who came to the New World to fulfill their dreams as new men, and the dreams of the other minorities, especially, the black African, who came by force. Like many other minorities, Africans were obliged to abandon their rights of sharing or participating in the American life. According to the assumption that Man was part of the universe, man had the power to improve his own nature by improving his environment through science and education.24 Merle Curti in his The Growth of American Thought affirmed mans natural rights of life, liberty, and prosperity, which were accessible to everyone without discrimination. In order to be a normal American citizen, one should naturally practice these rights. These natural rights could not be alienated from the state, and if the state did violate the natural law of the universe by alienating these rights, then man could and should resort to revolution.25 This basic fact encouraged many people in the United States of America, especially African-Americans to take action and revolt against the injustice. By the turn of the twentieth century, the American dream was described as a nightmare. In the Two World Wars, the dream had begun to lose its glitter. Americans, whites and blacks became disillusioned by the idea of making the world safe for democracy [which] had proved to be blasphemy.26 They believed that they were fighting for a better world, for a world of peace and corporation, for a real and immediate Utopia. Americans had suffered psychological and mental pressures, and the image of death made men lose stability and lose faith in the American dream of establishing a perfect world. Instead, they became neurotic, frustrated, and disappointed; Gertrude Stein described the new youth as a lost generation, because their lives became meaningless, pointless, and agonizing ones. 27 The reason behind the confrontation of dreams, was the misery and suffering caused by the crisis that happened in the first half of the twentieth century. One of the most eventual and memorable decades in American history was, the Great Depression of the 1930s that changed American life, and prepared the country for a post-war era, characterized by pessimism and despair.28 Thus, the American dream of the modern age had been shrouded by doubt and pessimism, as economics faltered and opportunities diminished. The dream became a record of unfulfilled promises and dashed hopes.29 Yet, Americans had consistently, flavored their dreams with dashed skepticism. From the very beginning, this was true, Sir Thomas More was as skeptical as any other man about the promises he entitled in Utopia. When he wrote it, he was playing with an idea.30 This showed that the American dream was first an idea. Then, it was said that the American dream had served as a justification for those who had exploited a virgin country, and it had been the chief argument of those who had tried to equalize all men before the law.31 Consequently, people came to anticipate a generous and friendly New World rather than a lavish heaven.32 The American dream was not the product of a solitary thinker, but evolved from the hearts and burdened souls of millions who came to this nation. To make their dreams come true, James Truslow Adams insisted on the principle of working together, no longer merely to build bigger, but to build better. And that referred to all citizens of the United States whether they were black or white.33 After World War II, the American dream was portrayed as a military power.34 The United States of America became the most powerful nation. The 1950s was the period of American preeminence as a military and economic power that revived the dream after the Great Depression of the 1930s. America was marked by a self-conscious sense of its place in the world. The twentieth century was the American Century, the post-war era was certainly the time when citizens of the United States began to believe that it was, in fact, their century, and that theirs was the greatest country in the world. With the Americans belief of their responsibility for winning World War II, it provided them with self-confidence about the world. 35 Frederick R. Karl characterized the period: as a time of growth, development, progress, enlightenment, and achievement of goals; as a renaissance of sort and essential to what helped turn the country into a superpower under a benign, grinning, ex-hero of a persistence. The general argument is that man and woman who experienced the depression returned from World War II to rebuild the country. This generation accordingly, is a treasure, for not only did it , revitalize the country domestically, it helped make the United States the beacon of the World, offering financial aid, food, and military muscle wherever required.36 Americans had always had a faith in the new. Critics saw the American dream as a clever political and economic marketing strategy. They wanted people to get away from selfishness, individualism, and materialism, and to return to community spirit and social responsibility.37 The meaning of the American dream had changed over the course of history. The American dream simply indicated the ability, the practice, and the participation in the society and economy, for everyone to achieve prosperity. According to the American dream, this included the opportunity for ones children to grow up and receive a good education and career without artificial barriers. It was the opportunity to make individual choice without the prior restrictions that limited people, according to their class, caste, religion, race, or ethnicity.38 1:2The African-American Experience In the United States of America, the African-Americans experience was unique. It was marked by slavery, segregation, and injustice. It made the quest for the American dream; that was of freedom, equality, and happiness, an essential pursuit.39 It is important to shed light on the African-American struggle in the United States of America. Unlike most of other minorities, the African- Americans were captured in Africa, taken from their homes and lands by force and sent to a strange new land. They were brought chained and enslaved as a result of colonialism.40 In the early colonial days, Black Africans had many opportunities to secure their freedom by escaping or buying themselves out of slavery, and once free, they had a good chance to make their success in the New World. The life of Anthony Johnson41 illustrated the possibility of the blacks early dreams, in the early period of European colonization in American North. He was known as Antonio, a Negro. Johnson was enslaved in 1621, when he was sold to the English Jamestown; he worked with Bennett family (a white family) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ who commended him for his hard labor and known servicesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ He secured his freedom, got married to a freed-slave named Mary and baptized his children. As a freeman, Johnson dreamed of establishing his own farm in Virginia, of 250 acres raising tobacco and cornà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Eventually, his farm was burned, and he was killed, because the colonial legal system had begun to preserve the rights of the whites and deprive blacks of theirs. This period illustrated the fact the era of chattel Slavery had begun. Many Black Africans came to this land having dreams to fulfill. But, many forces spoiled these dreams. The dream of owning a land and successful business for the blacks was limited or weakened by the time and by the force of the law of the Black Codes 42 that was enacted by Virginia, in 1667. Black people had been enslaved with the change of economic conditions. The blacks were denied the opportunity to own land, because they were Negroes and by consequences aliens.43 These Codes made slavery a permanent condition inherited through the mother and defined slaves as property. Such slave Codes robbed the African-American slaves of their freedom and the power of their will. Nevertheless, freedom was always in the mind of the enslaved and how to gain that freedom was the essential question.44 In the New World; African-American slaves were forced to give up their African past and cultivated themselves to being slaves under the white master domination. They were prevented from bringing over their social relations and institutions. These slaves ate what was given to them, not what they wanted, and dressed the clothes that were given to them. In addition, these slaves were treated without any regard or consideration to physical welfare and human dignity.45 In the American South, African-American slaves were described as property. Masters learned to treat their slaves as property. Frederick Douglass, one of the most eloquent speakers against slavery in America, captured the essence of slavery in 1846: Slavery in the United States is the granting of the power by which one man exercises and enforces a right of property in the body and soul of another. The condition of slave is simply that of a brute beast. He is a piece of the master; who claims him[her] to be his property. He is spoken of, thought of, and threaten as property. His own good, his conscience, his intellect, his affection, are all set aside by the master. The will and the wishes of the master are the law of the slave. He is as much a piece of property as a horse. If he is fed, he is fed, because he is property. If he is clothed, it is with a view to the increase of his values as property.46 According to this definition of slavery, an African-American slave was the individual whose movement and activities were under the control of the Whites. Thus, he/she could not leave the controller or the employer without an explicit permission; otherwise, he/she could be punished.47 During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the use of slave labor was cheaper than indentured labor. Slavery was different from one colony to another. On the Eastern Coast and American North, the climate was not supporting extensive farming, slavery, there, tended to be farming slavery, with a few slaves living and working side by side with small farmers or craftsmen. Whereas in the South, the fertile land and warm climates made large-scale cultivation possible, plantation slavery developed. Large numbers of slaves lived and worked on far distances from their owners.48 Another reason for slavery spread was the shortage of indentured servants, which led to resort and to enslave African Americans.49 This meant slavery was essentially an economic institution from which the American nation benefited. More slave labor meant a large measure of prosperity. Many American historians believed that the growth of American economy was not because of slavery. But, Eric Williams, a Caribbean Scholar, charged that black slavery was the engine of that propelled American rise to global economic dominance. In his Capitalism and Slavery, Eric Williams maintained that early Europeans conquest and settlement of the New World depended upon the enslavement of millions of black slaves, who helped amass the capital that financed the industrial revolution. Americas economic progress, he insisted, came at the expense of the black slave, whose labor built the foundation of capitalism.50 In spite of the African-Americans participation in constructing the foundation of this nation, slavery was identified with dark skin.51 By late seventeenth century; slavery and servitude were closely identified with race. White indentured services were limited, voluntary, and had no racial components, whereas, slavery was involuntary, perpetual, and racially defined.52 Hence, indentured servants could be free and had the right to purchase their own freedom or buy completing their period of indenture. At the time of obtaining their freedom, they would pursuit their dreams of property and prosperity. While the African-American slaves did not enjoy these rights and protections.53 Instead, African-American slaves were controlled by the laws of Black Codes. On one hand, race was one of the obstacles that prevented African-Americans from achieving their dreams. On the other hand, the worst condition that African-American slaves had to live under, was the constant threat of sale.54 The African- American slaves family stability and security faced severe challenges. Masters, rather than parents, had legal authority over African-American slaves children and the possibility of forcible separation through sale hung over every family. The Southern plantation owners did not care, whether a slave to be sold off had family members, he/she had to leave behind or not. All mattered was that masters encouraged slavery. As masters questioned the humanity of such slaves, they argued that African- American slaves did not mind being sold since they lacked the ability to form stable family life.55 As for African-American women, they were included in the horrible system of slavery. They were persecuted, subjected to the worse kinds of oppression and exploitation. Not only, because being black women had to endure the horror of slavery and living in a racial and sick society. But as women, they witnessed their physical image being defamed and became the object of the white masters lust. As Black African-American, women had to endure the threat and practice of sexual exploitation, and as mothers, they witnessed their children torn from their breasts and sold into slavery.56 One of the ex-slaves, Jennie Hill explained the outlook of the Black African-Americans humanity according to the whites view point: [White] people think that slaves had no feelings, that they bore their children as animals, bear their young and that there were no heart-breaks when the children were torn from their parents or the mother taken from her brood to toil for a master in another state. But, that isnt so.57 For a white woman, providing home was an essential thing to possess. But, for an African-American woman, it was a dream. Black African-American woman had scantly the opportunity to regain her freedom and her own children.58 During slavery, Black African-American women were exploited in two main sectors of economy: in the fields (with full employment), and in the household. Black African-American women were stretched physically, emotionally, and spiritually to the utmost in the slave plantation, as they were forced to labor like men in the fields. Also they had substantial domestic roles. They raised whites children and created a decent and warm home environment for the white American family, while their dream of family unit was uncertain. 59 The Black African-American slaves had no right to live proper family unit. They had no rights which the master was obliged to respect. The master found it cheaper to overwork a slave and to replace him [or her] when died, rather take care of him [or her] when lived.60 The Black African-American slaves were deprived of living their own lives, denied the right of literacy, education, and could not retract, in inevitably distorted ways, the values, morals, and attitudes of the new civilization of which they gradually became a part.61 White Americans believed that the Black African-American slaves were brutal, barbaric, savage, who would present a real danger to the safety, prosperity, and security of the United States.62 Thus, it was in the system of slavery that the genesis of racism was to be found. According to Eric Williams, slavery was not born of racism, rather, racism was the consequence of slavery.63 White Americans fastened onto differences in physical appearance to develop the myth, that African-American slaves were subhuman and deserved to be enslaved. To enhance the Black African-America slaves inferiority, white Americans deliberately used religion to reinforce slavery as well. To support their institutions, the whites relied heavily on the Biblical story, in which Noahs curse of his son Ham (especially, the fourth son, Canaan), who said in the ninth chapter of Genesis: a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.64 This story justified the color of the Black African-American slaves. By the Nineteenth century, many historians agreed to the belief that the Black African-American slaves were the descendants of Ham was a primary justification for slavery among Southern Christians. In other words, the Bible was used to teach the Black African-American slaves a divine, God-given justification for their condition as slaves.65 Hence, white Americans became convinced of white superiority and black inferiority. It was the beginning of hatred and racial discrimination.66 White Americans taught the Black African-American slaves how to despise their African heritage, identity, and culture. They strove to include their own value system into the African-Americans outlook. They believed in Africans inferiority that paralleled self-hatred.67 In general, there were five steps in molding the character of strict discipline, a sense of his [her] inferiority, belief in the whites superiority power, acceptance of the whites standers, and finally, a deep sense of his [her] own helplessness and dependence.68 These facts emphasized the flourishing of the white American culture and completely ignoring of the Black African-American slaves culture. The Euro-Americans were the first who immigrated to the New World by their own free will in search of individual opportunity; their European culture was superior. However, the ignorance diminished the real fact of the importance of the African heritage, not only for the Black African-American slaves, but to mankind.69 For centuries, the Black African-American slaves were ignorant about their own culture and identity. They lacked knowledge, they were illiterates. They were described as people [, who] were no more capable of learning than were animals.70 This indicated that Black African-American slaves were victims and white Americans were victimizers. They were oppressed by the power of the whites. So, they were unable to find a hope to transform their life from slavery into freedom.71 1:3The Declaration of Independence We hold these truths to be self-evidence, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.72 With the setting of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, the most important document in the American history and self-perception, slavery as a moral, human, and economic system challenged the basic principles of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, and proved to be the first great institution that tested the equality doctrine.73 The Declaration of Independence marked not only the independence of the thirteen colonies from Great Britain, it also laid the foundation of womens rights and of struggles for ending slavery: After the American colonies secured their independence from Great Britain, [the] black[s] hoped that the same leaders who had yearned for their own freedom would end slavery.74 The Declaration of Independence rested not upon particular grievances, but upon a broad base of individual liberty that could command general support throughout America.75 It served a purpose far beyond that of a public notice of separation. Its ideas inspired mass fervor for the American cause, for it instilled among ordinary folk a sense of their importance, inspiring them to struggle for personal freedom, self-government, and a dignified place in society.76 The United States of America started to shape itself as the Empire of Liberty and Prosperity, as a new entity, Black African-American slaves continued to play a significant role. Despite the continuation of violence against Black African-American slaves, who challenged the long standing tradition of racial discrimination and oppression in the South, the ex-slave and free-black people stepped forward into a new identity, a new reality, and a new sense of agency in public life. Many Black African-American slaves fought in the war of Independence, and they took to the heart assertion of the right of individual freedom that was so a part of the American Colonial and Revolutionary eras.77 Hence, the Declaration of Independence, as Jim Cullen, a historical critic thought it was not only an important document that shaped the way of Americans lives, but it à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦was born and lived the character of the American dream.78 This dream was profound, eloquent, and unequivocal expression of the dignity and worth of all human personality. In his A Struggle for Power, Theodore Draper, a historian summarized the revolutionary era as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ a struggle for power -between the power the British wanted to exercise over the Americans and the power the American wished to exercise over themselves.79 This fact suggested the most important question of Slavery. The Declaration of Independence made Americans want nothing more than freedom and to assume a separate and equal station among the power of the earth, Great Britin.80 The problem was, however, that the founding fathers (Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and George Washington, etc.,) of the nation defined freedom in terms of its opposite: Slavery. When they used the term Slavery, however, they were not referring to a peculiar institution, whereby many of the founding fathers themselves brought and sold Black African-American slaves as property. They referred to what they felt Great Britain was doing to their lives and livelihood.81 The unself-conscious comparison between freedom and slavery made other people in the United States call for their freedom as well. A British essayist, Samuel Jonson in 1775, asked, but How we [white people] hear the loudest yelp for liberty among drivers of Negroes?82 This paradoxical state made the founding fathers fear that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the attainment of their dream could encourage others to pursuit theirs.83 And this was true, because the success of the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence, gave Americans the opportunity to give legal form to their political ideals as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, and to remedy some of their grievance through state constitution. Americans were accustomed to live under written constitutions that they took them for granted.84 Therefore, the Black African-Americans experience with the American dream in the United States started with the announcement of the Declaration of Independence. Yet, the founding fathers never thought about women, slaves, and Natives as having equal rights like white Americans (Anglo-Saxon American descents), or did not even recognize them as human beings. Thus, the Declaration of Independence was not the subject to change disagreement, because its content never changed.85

Maurya Dynasty Essay

Chandragupta Maurya (born 340 BCE, ruled 320 BCE – 298 BCE) was the founder of the Maurya Empire. He succeeded in conquering most of the Indian subcontinent and is considered the first unifier of India as well as its first genuine emperor. Prior to Chandragupta’s consolidation of power, small regional kingdoms dominated the northwestern subcontinent, while the Nanda Dynasty dominated the middle and lower basin of the Ganges. After Chandragupt’s conquests, the Maurya Empire extended from Bengal and Assam in the east, to Afghanistan and Balochistan in the west, to Kashmir and Nepal in the north, and to the Deccan Plateau in the south. His achievements, which ranged from conquering Macedonian satrapies in the northwest and conquering the Nanda Empire by the time he was only about 20 years old, to achieving an alliance with Seleucus I Nicator and establishing centralized rule throughout South Asia, remain some of the most celebrated in the history of India. Over two thousand years later, the accomplishments of Chandragupta stand out in the history of South Asia. Bindusara was the second Mauryan emperor (born 320 BC , ruled. 298 BC – 272 BC) after Chandragupta Maurya. During his reign, the empire expanded southwards. He had two well-known sons, Susima and Ashoka, who were the viceroys of Taxila and Ujjain. The Greeks called him Amitrochates or Allitrochades – the Greek transliteration for the Sanskrit word ‘Amitraghata’ (Slayer of enemies). He was also called ‘Ajatashatru’ (Man with no enemies) in Sanskrit. He also went by the title Deva-nampriya. Ashoka Maurya or Ashoka(304–232 BC), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from 269 BC to 232 BC. One of India’s greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests. His empire stretched from present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan in the west, to the present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of Assam in the east, and as far south as northern Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. He conquered the kingdom named Kalinga, which no one in his dynasty had conquered starting from Chandragupta Maurya. His reign was headquartered in Magadha . He embraced Buddhism from the prevalent Hindu tradition after witnessing the mass deaths of the war of Kalinga, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. He was later dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism across Asia and established monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Gautama Buddha. Ashoka was a devotee of ahimsa (nonviolence), love, truth, tolerance and vegetarianism. Ashoka is remembered in history as a philanthropic administrator. In the history of India, Ashoka is referred to as Samraat Chakravartin Ashoka – the Emperor of Emperors Ashoka . The emblem of the modern Republic of India is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka.

La Vita E Bella: a Look Into Nazi Concentration Camps

La Vita e Bella: A Look into Nazi Concentration Camps Movie: Life is beautiful. Hitler had a different vision of beautiful, which he shared with others of the Nazi party. They believed their race to be â€Å"pure† and wanted only the so-called â€Å"pure† to remain. Hitler and the Nazis took advantage of their power and tried to execute all people who they didn’t believe to be of their â€Å"pure† race. â€Å"As for the Jews, they are incapable of being enlightened by German culture. Instead, they are destroyers of culture, defilers of Aryan blood, the enemies of all that is noble and pure.Throughout the pages of Mein Kampf, Hitler heaps abuse on the Jews, calling them â€Å"maggots,† â€Å"blood-suckers,† â€Å"vampires,† â€Å"a pestilence,† and â€Å"personifications of the Devil. † The goal of the Jews, he writes, is to defile the German race, dilute the pure Aryan blood, and take control of the world. † (Lace 40, 41) The Nazis’ viewed other cultures as being below their own. Children were taught from the beginning to despise Jews, even in school. Children were enlisted in the Hitler Youth, where they would be taught and trained in Nazi policies.Millions of people were separated from their homes and families, forced to do strenuous labor, tortured, and killed. In the Nazi concentration camps, many people did not make it out with their lives; they were placed in the Nazi’s hands of fate and unfortunately had to endure trials no person should ever be put through. The Italian movie La Vita e Bella is based in the 1930s. The small family of Guido, Dora, and their son Giosue are taken from their home by German forces and put into a concentration camp.Giosue and his father stay together, while his mother is taken to a separate camp for women. To get Giosue to cooperate with the Germans’ demands, his father tells him they are playing a game, and he has to do exactly as they say to win the prize, which he believes to be a tank. Guido tells his son that he has to be quite and follow directions so they can gain more â€Å"points† in the game that they’re playing against the others in the camp, or other â€Å"teams†. When Giosue wants to go home, Guido tells him that they can’t leave now, because they are in the lead.Guido tells his son to hide in a sweatbox until everyone leaves, pretending they are playing a game of hide and seek. While Giosue is hiding, Guido tries to find his wife by dressing up and sneaking into the women’s camp. He is found by a Nazi, shot and killed. An American tank shows up to free the camp when the war is over and Giosue comes out from his hiding spot. He is excited because, after being skeptical of his father’s stories about the game they have been playing, he believes the tank is the prize and he has won. An American soldier takes him into the tank until he is later reunited with his mo ther.He exclaims that they won the game and is overjoyed about the tank, while his mother is simply happy he is alive. Giosue is very young at the time and doesn’t quite realize the sacrifice his father made for him, to spare his innocence and his life. Research: Hitler believed what he was doing, not only to Jews, but other groups as well, was right and acceptable. He tried to justify himself using nature as an example: â€Å"To Hitler, the plan seemed no more immoral than the process of evolution, the survival of the fittest. â€Å"Nature is cruel,† he said in 1940. â€Å"therefore, we, too, may be cruel.If I don’t mind sending the pick of the German people into the hell of war without regret for the shedding of valuable German blood, then I have naturally the right to destroy millions of men of inferior races who increase like vermin. † (Steward 94) What he was doing was unethical and immoral. Between 1942 and 1945, approximately 6 million Jews were m urdered in the Holocaust. More than half of them were exterminated through the gas chamber system. Many times, exhaust fumes from truck or tank engines were pumped into sealed gassing vans, sealed railroad cars or chambers made especially for the task.Others were shot, hanged or beat to death. Between 1933 and 1945, there were about 20,000 Nazi camps established, used for forced-labor and extermination. As the war progressed, the camp system expanded rapidly. However, there was no solid evidence that the prisoners were being murdered in the camps. (http://www. ushmm. org/wlc/article. php? lang=en&ModuleId=10005144) As of January 20, 1942, camps were constructed for the singular purpose of mass extermination of Jews and other groups which were not acceptable for the Aryan race such as Communists, Democrats, Socialists, political criminals, gypsies, and homosexuals.Originally, they were only intended for criminals, security risks, and enemies of the regime. After Germany took over Cze choslovakia, Poland, Austria, Holland, and France, there were hundreds of camps built throughout their land. Soon, the death rates became so high, disposal of corpses became a problem. Conditions in the camps were very bad; many people died from malnutrition, exhaustion, exposure to the elements, and disease. In addition to the gas chambers, there were also gallows and crematoria used for extermination and disposal of the dead.Mentally and physically defective individuals, as defined by the Nazi government, were considered â€Å"undesirable† and â€Å"life unworthy of life†. Operating from the Berlin Chancellery at Tiergartenstrasse 4, they organized government-sponsored killing. Anyone considered to have defective genetic material were euthanized because they were believed to be endangering the Aryan purity. Some could not believe how doctors, who were supposed to be committed to the healing of patients, would even begin to get involved in something such as the euthan ization of mtentally or physically disabled people.It took a gradual course which began with â€Å"mercy killing† and eventually led up to the genocide of millions of Jews and other undesirable racial groups. There was a â€Å"Protective Custody† law passed on February 28, 1933. It allowed police to make arrests on suspicion of criminal activity. People were incarcerated without a trial. (http://frank. mtsu. edu/~baustin/holocamp. html) Auschwitz, the largest concentration and execution camp, located in Poland, was the most efficient camp in carrying out the â€Å"Final Solution†.During the Holocaust, it was the killing centre where the largest number of European Jews were killed. The number of dead from this particular camp will never be known; most of the prisoners were not registered. It is estimated somewhere between one and two and half million were murdered there. A total of about 985,000 Jews were killed in Auschwitz, and approximately 890,000 were gassed on arrival. Women would cut themselves and rub blood on their cheeks to give the appearance of being healthy. If they looked too pale, they were considered unhealthy and killed.Most of the time, children in the camp were killed upon arrival, and children born in the camp were usually killed on the spot. Camp doctors would often times torture children in the camp. They would inflict suffering upon them in many forms, such as being put into pressure chambers, tested with drugs, or frozen to death. They also did a lot of testing on twins. A camp doctor by the name of Josef Mengele did many studies on twins and how they were affected by things such and drugs and surgeries. Not many survived.He performed his experimental operations without anesthesia. He would experiment with their bodies, dissecting them and comparing. Mengele would transfer blood from one twin to the other, see how they reacted to injections of lethal germs, and remove organs and limbs. He also tried injecting chemica ls into children’s eyes, attempting to change their eye color. For the completely absurd and inhumane experiments Mengele conducted on his patients, he was nicknamed the Angel of Death. (http://www. auschwitz. dk/Auschwitz. tm) Between 1933 and 1945 approximately 9 million Jews lived across the 21 countries of Europe which were occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the war, two of every three European Jews had been killed. About 1. 5 million children were murdered, 1. 2 million of them being Jewish. (http://www. deathcamps. info/) Historical Analysis: For the most part, the movie La Vita e Bella is historically accurate. It shows how the people taken captive were taken from their homes and sent to camps where they were treated crudely.It was shown how Guido, representing men in the camps, was forced to do backbreaking manual labor while Dora, representing women in the camps, worked within the camp by doing things such as sorting clothes, sewing, and cook ing. Most children were killed upon arriving in concentration camps. In the movie, all the children were called to take a shower, where they would actually be put into a gas chamber. Giosue refused to take a shower, which in turn saved his life, leaving him as the only child left in the camp. Toward the end of the movie, Guido snuck into the women’s camp in search of his wife.He was going to try to sneak her out of the camp before they could take her to be executed. He was stealthy in hiding from the Nazis keeping watch over the camp, but he was unfortunately caught which lead to his death. Many people in the camps tied to escape and surreptitiously gain back their freedom. However, in the movie they did not portray any of the torturous events that went on in death camps. Many people died, but they were either put into gas chambers or shot. Overall, I saw the movie La Vita e Bella to be a historically accurate and very touching film.In the Nazi concentration camps, many peopl e did not make it out with their lives; they were placed in the Nazi’s hands of fate and unfortunately had to endure trials no person should ever be put through. The Jews and other groups the Nazis targeted were treated carelessly and brutally during the time Hitler was at power. The Nazis’ goal was to create the perfect race, so they thought to simply eliminate all who stood in their way. Did they not see mass-murder as a problem? Once the war was over, and those few still alive in the camps were once again free, they still had all the terrible memories of what they saw, heard, and went through.It is unfortunate that millions of people had to die in concentration camps alone, while a world war was going on where even more lives were taken. During the genocide of the Holocaust at the hands of Hitler and the Nazi party, many gruesome events occurred and people were put under horrid circumstances. We study what happened in the past, and learn of what was inflicted upon t he Jews and other targeted groups so that we can see what grim times they went through and the horrible things a respected leader, such as Adolf Hitler, would turn to when given enough power.

How to Give an Impromptu Speech (Public Speaking)

An impromptu speech is a speech that you have to make without much or any time to prepare. In life, this can happen when you attend special events, like weddings or celebrations. In school, teachers use impromptu speeches as  homework assignments to help you develop communication skills and to help you prepare for those future life surprises. While this may seem like a cruel trick from a students point of view, it actually builds confidence and is great preparation for life. Rarely will you be asked to stand and deliver a speech with no warning and no time to organize your thoughts. This would be unusual in the classroom unless the teacher is attempting to make a point about the importance of preparedness. At some point in your life, however, you may be asked to speak without notice. There are a few things you can do to avoid panic and embarrassment. Grab a pen and a piece of paper. If you have a few moments before your speech is expected to begin, grab a writing utensil and something to write on, whether its a napkin, envelope, or the back of a receipt you have on hand, and jot down a few thoughts.Highlight a few interesting or significant points.  Keep in mind, your impromptu speech doesnt have to be long. A little-known fact about effective speeches is that if you start with a good line and then end with a really great punch, the speech will  be perceived as a total success. So the beginning and ending markers are critical. The middle portion of your speech should relate to the event youre attending or the class assignment, but if you have to choose one great moment, your ending line is particularly important. If you can walk away gracefully, your speech will be a hit, so keep your big zinger for last.Try to memorize key points. If you have time before your speech, create an outline of the major themes or points and commit it to memory with a memorization trick, like an acronym. Dont try to remember the entire speech in detail like this; just remember important points.Hijack the topic.  There is an old trick that politicians use when theyre being interviewed on TV, and once you realize this, you can use it yourself. They think of questions ahead of time (or topics to discuss), prepare some talking points,  and talk about those, despite the topic or question theyre given. This is a handy trick when youre facing a hard question or asked to discuss a topic with which youre unfamiliar.Remember youre in charge of this time.  Your goal is to deliver a one-sided conversation, off the cuff, so you are in complete control. Relax and make it your own. If you want to make this a funny story about your pesky little brother who always bothers you during homework time, then do it. Everyone will applaud your effort.Feel free to acknowledge that you have not prepared for a speech. If you are speaking in front of friends or family, it may ease your nervousness to express your lack of preparation. This should not be an attempt to garner pity, but rather a way to put yourself and your audience at ease. Then, take a deep breath before you begin speaking. Zone out the audience or choose someone specific to focus on, whichever makes you more comfortable.Begin with your introductory sentence, elaborate, then start working your way to your ending sentence.  Fill in the middle space with as many points as you can, elaborating on each one as you go. Just concentrate on the zinger youve reserved for the end.As you deliver your speech, concentrate on diction and tone.  If you are thinking about this, you wont be thinking about the eyes watching you. Your mind cant think about too many things at once, so think about breathing, enunciating your words, and controlling your tone, and youll maintain more control. What to Do If You Draw a Blank If you suddenly lose your train of thought or draw a complete blank, there are a few you can do to keep from panicking. Pretend youre pausing on purpose. Walk back and forth slowly, as if youre letting your last point sink in.There is always a jokester or friendly person who will stand out in the crowd. Make eye contact and try to draw a response from him or her while you think.If you need more time to think, you may want to ask the audience a question. Have a few prepared ahead, like Do you have any questions, or Can everyone hear me okay?If you still cant remember what you were going to say, make up a reason to pause the speech. You can say, Im sorry, but my throat is very dry. Can I please get a glass of water? Someone will go to get you a drink, and you will have time to think of two or three points to talk about. If these tricks dont appeal to you, think of your own. The goal is to have something ready for every possible scenario ahead of time. If you know you may be asked to give an impromptu speech soon, try going through the entire preparation process with a few common speech topics. When caught off guard, many people can suffer extreme anxiety about speaking off the cuff. Thats why the best speakers are always prepared.