Monday, December 30, 2019

The Ostend Manifesto, 1854 Proposal for US to Acquire Cuba

The Ostend Manifesto was a document written by three American diplomats stationed in Europe in 1854 which advocated for the U.S. government to acquire the island of Cuba through either purchase or force. The plan created controversy when the document was made public in partisan newspapers the following year and federal officials denounced it. The goal of acquiring Cuba had been a pet project of President Franklin Pierce. The purchase or seizure of the island was also favored by pro-slavery politicians in the United States, who feared a slave rebellion in Cuba might spread to the American South. Key Takeaways: Ostend Manifesto Meeting requested by President Pierce led to proposal by three American ambassadors.Plan to acquire Cuba was rejected by Pierce as too audacious and unacceptable politically.When the proposal leaked to opposition newspapers the political battling over slavery intensified.One beneficiary of the proposal was James Buchanan, as his involvement helped him become president. The manifesto never led to the U.S. acquiring Cuba, of course. But it did serve to deepen the sense of distrust in America as the issue of slavery became a simmering crisis in the mid-1850s. In addition, the crafting of the document aided one of its authors, James Buchanan, whose rising popularity in the South helped him become president in the election of 1856. The Meeting at Ostend A crisis in Cuba developed in early 1854, when an American merchant ship, the Black Warrior, was seized in a Cuban port. The incident created tensions, as Americans considered the fairly minor incident to be an insult from Spain directed at the United States. The American ambassadors to three European countries were directed by President Franklin Pierce to meet quietly in the town of Ostend, Belgium, to come up with strategies to deal with Spain. James Buchanan, John Y. Mason, and Pierre Soule, the American ministers to Britain, France, and Spain, respectively, gathered and drafted the document that would become known as the Ostend Manifesto. The document, in fairly dry language, stated the issues the U.S. government had been having with Spain’s possession, Cuba. And it advocated that the United States should offer to purchase the island. It stated that Spain would likely be willing to sell Cuba, but if it didn’t, the document argued that the U.S. government should seize the island. The manifesto, addressed to Secretary of State William Marcy, was sent to Washington, where it was received by Marcy and passed along to President Pierce. Marcy and Pierce read the document and immediately rejected it. American Reaction to the Ostend Manifesto The diplomats had made a logical case for taking Cuba, and they argued throughout that the motivation was the preservation of the United States. In the document they specifically noted the fear of a slave rebellion in Cuba and how that might pose a danger. Less dramatically, they argued that Cuba’s geographic location made it a favorable position from which the United States could defend its southern coast, and specifically the valuable port of New Orleans. The authors of the Ostend Manifesto were not thoughtless or reckless. Their arguments for what would be a controversial series of actions paid some attention to international law and demonstrated some knowledge of naval strategy. Yet Pierce realized that what his diplomats proposed went far beyond any actions he was willing to take. He did not believe the American people, or the Congress, would go along with the plan. The manifesto might have been a quickly forgotten exercise in diplomatic brainstorming, but in the very partisan atmosphere of Washington in the 1850s it quickly turned into a political weapon. Within weeks of the document arriving in Washington, it had been leaked to newspapers favorable to the Whig Party, the opponents of Pierce. Politicians and newspaper editors directed withering criticism at Pierce. The work of three American diplomats in Europe turned into something of a firestorm as it touched upon the most contentious issue of the day, slavery. Anti-slavery sentiment in America was growing, especially with the formation of the new anti-slavery Republican Party. And the Ostend Manifesto was held up as an example of how the Democrats in power in Washington were devising underhanded ways to acquire territory in the Caribbean to extend America’s slave-holding territory. Newspaper editorials denounced the document. A political cartoon produced by the noted lithographers Currier and Ives would eventually ridicule Buchanan for his role in the drafting of the proposal. Cartoon of four ruffians robbing a respectable man with the Ostend Manifesto, to capture Cuba, written on a nearby wall and caption The Ostend Doctrine. Practical Democrats Carrying Out The Principle. circa 1854. Fotosearch / Getty Images Impact of the Ostend Manifesto The proposals set forth in the Ostend Manifesto never came to fruition, of course. If anything, the controversy over the document probably ensured that any discussion of the United States acquiring Cuba would be rejected. While the document was denounced in the northern press, one of the men who drafted it, James Buchanan, was ultimately helped by the controversy. The accusations that it was a pro-slavery scheme boosted his profile in the American South, and helped him secure the Democratic nomination for the election of 1856. He went on to win the election, and spent his one term as president trying, and failing, to grapple with the issue of slavery. Sources: Ostend Manifesto. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopediaâ„ ¢, Columbia University Press, 2018. Research in Context.McDermott, Theodore, et al. Ostend Manifesto. The Manifesto in Literature, edited by Thomas Riggs, vol. 1: Origins of the Form: Pre-1900, St. James Press, 2013, pp. 142-145. Gale Virtual Reference Library.Patrick, J., Pious, R., Ritchie, D. (1993). Pierce, Franklin. In  (Ed.), The Oxford Guide to the United States Government. : Oxford University Press.

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Short Story - 1519 Words

The mental struggle to move was overpowered by physical restrictions, but the fight of determination was forceful, his words broke free of the strain and he finally managed to answer the voice that repeatedly called his name. But the voice was not the only call for his attention, someone was touching his foot. â€Å"Runny? Runny?† The voice projected barely above a whisper and the contact on his left leg became ignorable. He tried to sit up, but sharp unbearable pains rushed through his body. He fought to become fully alert and was unable to contrast the variation of voices that called out his name. Seconds later, the room was filled with staff members who were moving about in a panicking manner. Among the attendees was, Dr. Gwen, who bent the†¦show more content†¦The doctor turned to start the process, but Mini clutched his arm, almost startling the doctor. The doctor eye’s travel to Mini’s grip that tightly held his arm, making him quite uncomfortable. His eyes meet Mini’s eyes. â€Å"Doc, please don’t let me die.† Chapter 2 â€Å"Mr. Clem?† Dr. Gwen entered the hospital room, his eyes rapidly moved over Mini’s entire body, observing his patient like the eyes of a hawk. He grabbed the medical chart and examined it thoroughly, he looked over the chart before he dropped it and spoke. â€Å"I’m going to be discharging you today. I’m prescribing you pain pills to alleviate any pains. I’ve also sent in an order to the county jail for physical rehabilitation.† Mini looked the doctor squarely in his eyes, his gaze commissioned for the truth. â€Å"So how long will it be before I’m able to walk?† â€Å"Copy that.† The deputy sheriff’s radio announced its presence. Both Mini and the doctor turned to the sheriff who was sent to escort Mini, he reached to his side and lowered the volume. The doctor turned back to Mini. â€Å"Well, Mr. Clem. That all depends on you and your determination. You are all set to go. I should see you again in six weeks,† He reached his hand out to shake Mini’s hand. â€Å"Good luck, Mr. Clem.† The doctor turned toward the officer. â€Å"Give me a moment and I will have the nurse summon an ambulance to transportShow MoreRelatedshort story1018 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Short Stories:  Ã‚  Characteristics †¢Short  - Can usually be read in one sitting. †¢Concise:  Ã‚  Information offered in the story is relevant to the tale being told.  Ã‚  This is unlike a novel, where the story can diverge from the main plot †¢Usually tries to leave behind a  single impression  or effect.  Ã‚  Usually, though not always built around one character, place, idea, or act. †¢Because they are concise, writers depend on the reader bringing  personal experiences  and  prior knowledge  to the story. Four MajorRead MoreThe Short Stories Ideas For Writing A Short Story Essay1097 Words   |  5 Pageswriting a short story. Many a time, writers run out of these short story ideas upon exhausting their sources of short story ideas. If you are one of these writers, who have run out of short story ideas, and the deadline you have for coming up with a short story is running out, the short story writing prompts below will surely help you. Additionally, if you are being tormented by the blank Microsoft Word document staring at you because you are not able to come up with the best short story idea, youRead MoreShort Story1804 Words   |  8 PagesShort story: Definition and History. A  short story  like any other term does not have only one definition, it has many definitions, but all of them are similar in a general idea. According to The World Book Encyclopedia (1994, Vol. 12, L-354), â€Å"the short story is a short work of fiction that usually centers around a single incident. 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In the short stories â€Å"Miss Brill† and â€Å"Frau Brechenmacher attends a wedding† written by Katherine Mansfield, the themes which are relevant to real life in Miss Brill are isolation and appearance versus reality. Likewise Frau Brechenmacher suffers through isolation throughout the story and also male dominance is one of the major themes that are highlighted in the story. These themes areRead MoreShort Story and People1473 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿Title: Story Of An Hour Author: Kate Chopin I. On The Elements / Literary Concepts The short story Story Of An Hour is all about the series of emotions that the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard showed to the readers. With the kind of plot of this short story, it actually refers to the moments that Mrs. Mallard knew that all this time, her husband was alive. For the symbol, I like the title of this short story because it actually symbolizes the time where Mrs. Mallard died with joy. And with thatRead MoreShort Story Essay1294 Words   |  6 PagesA short story concentrates on creating a single dynamic effect and is limited in character and situation. It is a language of maximum yet economical effect. Every word must do a job, sometimes several jobs. Short stories are filled with numerous language and sound devices. These language and sound devices create a stronger image of the scenario or the characters within the text, which contribute to the overall pre-designed effect.As it is shown in the metaphor lipstick bleeding gently in CinnamonRead MoreRacism in the Short Stor ies1837 Words   |  7 PagesOften we read stories that tell stories of mixing the grouping may not always be what is legal or what people consider moral at the time. The things that you can learn from someone who is not like you is amazing if people took the time to consider this before judging someone the world as we know it would be a completely different place. 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The story follows through first person narration by a group member named Holden. This story would be considered a gothic short story because of its use of setting, theme, symbolism, and literary devices used to portray the horror of a missing six-year-old girl. Plot is the literal chronological development of the story, the sequence of events

Friday, December 13, 2019

Poetry Nothing Is beautiful As Spring Free Essays

â€Å"Nothing is beautiful as Spring†. This Italian sonnet was written to describe a natural world. God’s presence is identified as an electrical current that runs through the earth. We will write a custom essay sample on Poetry Nothing Is beautiful As Spring or any similar topic only for you Order Now God’s presence runs like the refracted glinting of light produced by metal foil, whenever it is moved quickly. The sonnet quotes God to be like rich oil. Oil is very rich and thick. Oil is needed every where around the world. If you don’t believe it, drive your car month after month without getting an oil change or even oil in general. With God being identified as oil, he is measured as greatness. Given these strong proofs of Gods divine presence the poet that wrote this particular sonnet how and why do humans fail to recognize his presence and his divine authority. God’s authority is described as the â€Å"rod†. This sonnet also deals with the state of human life. It also deals with human nature. God crated all things in earth and above heaven. This sonnet talks and deals with human life. Why don’t people recognize the things that God has placed in the world? He gave us these things to use for our needs Permeating the world is a deep â€Å"freshness† that testifies to the continual renewing power of God’s creation. The power of renewing is seen during the morning always waits on the other side of the darkness of the night. This final image is one of God guarding the impending of the world and containing within Him the power and assurance of rebirth. Gerard Manley Hopkins is one of the most phenomenal 19th-century poets of religion, of nature, and of inner anguish. His view of nature and the world is like a book written by God himeslf. In this poem God expresses himself completely, and it is y â€Å"reading† the world that humans can approach God and learn about Him. Hopkins therefore sees the environmental crisis of the Victorian period as vitally linked to that era’s spiritual crisis, and many of his poems have become man’s indifference to the destruction of sacred natural and religious order. This poet harbored an acute interest in the scientific and technological advances of his day; he saw new discoveries as further evidence of God’s deliberate hand, rather than as refutations of God’s existence. Hopkins wrote mostly in the sonnet form. He preferred the Italian r Petrarchan sonnet, which contains of an octave followed by a sestet, with a turn in argument or change in tone occurring in the second part. Hopkins normally uses the octave to present some account of personal or sensory experience and then employs the sestet for philosophical reflection. While Hopkins enjoyed the structure the sonnet form imposes, with its fixed length and rhyme scheme, he nevertheless he constantly stretched and tested its limitations. One of Hopkins major innovations was a new metrical form, called sprung rhythm. In sprung rhythm, the poet counts the umber of accented syllables in the line, and places no limit on the total number of syllables. As opposed to syllabic meters (such as the iambic), which count both stresses and syllables, this form allows for greater freedom in the position and proportion of stresses. English verses have traditionally alternated, stressed and unstressed syllables with occasional variation, Hopkins was free to place multiple stressed syllables one atter another or to run a large number ot unstressed syllables together (as in â€Å"Finger of a tender of, O of a feathery delicacy’ from Wreck of the Deutschland). This gives Hopkins great control over the speed of his lines and their dramatic effects. Another unusual poetic resource Hopkins favored is â€Å"consonant chiming,† a technique he learned from Welsh poetry. The technique involves detailed use of alliteration and internal rhyme; in Hopkins’s eyes this creates an unusual thickness and resonance. The close linking of words through sound and rhythm complements Hopkins’s themes of finding a guide and design everywhere. Hopkins’s form is also characterized by a stretching of the convention of grammar and sentence structure, o that newcomers to his poetry must often strain to parse his sentences. Deciding which word in a given sentence is the verb, for example, can often involve significant interpretive work. In addition, Hopkins often invents words, and draws his vocabulary freely from a number of different registers of diction. This leads to a surprising mix of neologisms and archaisms throughout his lines. Yet for all his innovation and disregard of convention, Hopkins’ goal was always to bring poetry closer to the character of natural, living speech. How to cite Poetry Nothing Is beautiful As Spring, Papers

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Africa and the Atlantic World free essay sample

Africa and the Atlantic world explores the trials and tribulations of Africans being forced from their homeland and sold into slavery. Africans endured such hardships and conditions that their souls vanished with the site of mother Africa. Europeans sold and forced slaves to cultivate sugar plantations for their own profits. The Americas, Europe and Africa were involved in a cross continental system of human trafficking. African men, woman and children were shipped across the Atlantic to the Americas.Africans who survived being rapped, malnutrition, dehydration and being tortured on the voyage were sold to European masters and forced to be laves on plantations. The first major development comes in 1417, when Prince Henry of Portugal seized the Madeira Islands off the northern part of West Africa. In 1450, Portugal created the plantation system by using slave labor to cultivate sugar cane. This is important because the cultivation Of sugar was the primary reason slavery continued for 400 years. We will write a custom essay sample on Africa and the Atlantic World or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The second major development is the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1492.The expedition lead to Spain gain power over the Portuguese in overseas colonization. Europeans began to then settle in the Americas and cultivated sugar, coffee, tobacco and rice. Mass human labor was needed on their plantations. Europeans referred to African slaves as black gold. European Colonizers transported over 12 million Africans. This is important because it changed the course of the African people and history. The third important development is in the sasss when African rulers negotiated trade treaties with Europeans.The African king Main-Kong agreed to an exchange of gold, iron and slaves for Portuguese guns, knives and goods. The Portuguese orchestrated village chiefs to wage war to increase the slave catch in exchange for guns. This is important because it ignited a civil war in Africa. The fourth major development is Spain and Portugal colonization of the Caribbean and South America in the sixteenth century. Their sugar crop grew just as easily as it did on the islands off the northern part of West Africa. After subduing the native peoples they implemented the plantation system.Thousands of Spanish and Portuguese ships packed with slaves sent out for the New World. By 1 750, nine out of ten West African slaves were exported to the New Worlds sugar cane fields. This is important because it increased the demand for slaves in the Caribbean and South America. The fifth major development is in 1 562, when John Hawkins n Englishman seized a slave ship and sold the slaves to the Spanish. He returned with a fat profit for Queen Elizabeth l. This was important because King Charles II granted a charter to Africa for the sole purpose of carrying slaves to Englands overseas colonies.English slave trading reached 20,000 annually, which made England the foremost slave traders in Europe. The sixth major development is the capture and sale Of slaves in Africa. Slaves marched about 550 miles to the sea, which caused some slaves to commit suicide by eating clay. Slaves died from exhaustion and starvation on the march. African sellers then sold slaves to Europeans. One African male life would be sold for thirteen bars of iron and one female life for nine bars and brass rings. This is important because it marked the beginning of a harsh destiny of the African people.The seventh major development is the middle passage. Africans were trusted into coffin size quarters in the hold of the ship. Pitiful rations led to undernourishment and confinement in iron shackles spread diseases. The need for basic hygiene killed the Africans SE respect. The sailors raped the women. Men suspected of uprising were dismembered in front of the others. This was significant because it tore Africans away from their beloved homeland and their physical and psychological will to live was diminished. The eighth major development the sale of slaves in the Americas.Survivors of the middle passage voyage had to endure another unimaginable outcome of being sold to European masters. This is significant because it marked the heinous fate of slaves in America. The ninth major development is the role of Africans in early Spanish America. Estates also known as the Black Arabian with Spanish conquistador De Vacant Were among the first non-natives to enter the interior of North America. Two Africans with Hispanic names Juan Garrison and Juan Gonzales were on De Loons expedition that seized Puerco Rice in 1508.Africans went on to help Cortes during his siege of modern day Mexico and Pizzerias conquest of the Incas in Peru. This is important because it marked the Africans not only as slaves but important navigators and soldiers in the Spanish conquests of the Americas. The tenth major event is first hand account of Aloud Quinoas journey of being forced into slavery and sold I the Americas. In 1 755, after arriving at the old slave fort at Calabash, Equation recalled the harsh conditions of living on a slave ship. When I was carried o board, I was immediately handled and tossed up, to see if were sound, by the crew. The iron shackles aggravated young Equation. The stench of the hold was intolerably loathsome and dangerous to breathe. The shrieks of woman, and groans of the dying made it impossible for him to eat, for whiff he was flogged. Even known sailors to gratify their brutal passion with females not even ten years old, Equation recalled. Equation was to young an weak to be sold on the ship after arriving to the Americas so he was shipped to Virginian plantation to be sold.This is an important text because it is a if detailed account of a slaves journey through the evil slave trade and humankind the so called heathen African stigma. The event that interested me the most is the big part that Africans played in the Spanish Conquest of the Americas. From Garrison and Gonzales helping to seize Puerco Rice to the Africans who helped seize the Capital of Denominational and the conquest of the Incas in Peru. This is the most important to me because it showed the true heart Of the soldier and navigation spirit Of the African people.The event that interested me the least was a fact that Equation recalled on the slave ship. Even known them (sailors) to gratify their brutal passion with females not ten years old. This event showed the true nature of slave ship owners who rationalized human trafficking based on the fact that Africans were heathens, who in fact themselves were the true ungodly people. In the last decade American historians may have considered that Africans were responsible for the Trans Atlantic slave trade because of the facts that African chiefs did in fact sell slaves to Europeans. In my opinion if Europeans did not expand into Africa territories and corrupt the African people with guns and power there ay have never been an African slave trade. The facts under the Course information such as Ancient civilizations unearthed among the ruins of Ancient Nubian, ancient records referring to Ethiopians as Egyptians, Herodotus referring to ancient Egyptians as black Africans, Count Victor Volley stating African people provided basic tenants to modern civilization and the Aryans stating the Sumerians were black people are very interesting points to the history of African culture.Artifacts such as Egyptian architecture, astronomical observatories uncovered in Kenya, the oldest deiced texts in Egypt, the first hospital in the temple of Impotent and the oldest known furnace in Tanzania show a great civilization Of African people. I believe these facts are covered up in todays classrooms and texts because white Europeans founded our country. Perhaps a white superior underto ne was needed to rationalize the slave trade.Also to admit that Africans were the first civilized people would make white Europeans less superior to Africans. These findings show that we need to go back with open hearts and minds to unearth the true facts of planet Earths first civilizations. In inclusion the African people went though an unimaginable hardships being ripped from their home and disconnected from their African roots.European slave traders and plantation owners profited off the blood and labor of the African nation. One can only hope that the lesson has been learned that human trafficking for slavery should have never happened. Hopefully leaders of the world will look back on accounts such as the brave young Aloud Sonorousnesss of being captured and sold, to remind them of the evil of slavery.