Blacks in the American West

Blacks in the American West Introduction The United States is one land that was discovered by explorers and settled on by almost every people of every color. The US’s population is largely composed of white people of Anglo Saxon origin, Black Americans and people of Hispanic origin.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Blacks in the American West specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More People of African origin popularly referred to as African Americans have the most painful history about their arrival and eventual settlement in the US. Brought in as slaves from Africa, they faced many hurdles in their fight for survival and recognition as normal human beings in the face of brutal slavery, poverty and segregation (Savage, 1977, p. 2). Slave labor was in demand and was widely utilized in the US. Large scale agricultural plantations like the corn, cotton and wheat belts required intensive human labor which was cheaply supplied by black people. Besides the agricultural southern states, labor was also requited in the industrial northern states which slaves supplied. There were also other household jobs and jobs in the military that African Americans did with little or no pay. African Americans have been the subject of stereotypes that seek to explain their lives, activities and way of thinking. They range from the colonial and slave mentalities to media bias. However, some of them are due to the conduct of black people themselves in their personal and public lives (Savage, 1977, p. 7). In the west of the US, the situation is not very different. Black people carry the same negative stereotypes and positive accolades that characterize African Americans. After the antislavery activism increased, black people migrated with ease and settled in all places in the US. However some areas like Washington D.C, New York and California recorded big migrant populations of black people. The west of US where California largely dominates h as been the subject of many books detailing the history and development of the area. However, most of the literature existing on the American West overlooks the contribution of the black community to the development of these areas. Their history, as well as their migration and their leadership are overlooked too (Savage, 1977, p. 1). The current study of the west by most scholars has largely excluded slave states. In the slave states, black contribution was more felt than the non slave states hence any analysis of the African Americans in the west must include them. Migration to the west African Americans and their migration to the West make up an important part of history of the making of the Old West. Most of the documented history is now resurfacing indicating the role African Americans played in the making of the West as it is known today (Savage, 1977, p. 5). Their participation in the Westward movement shows a determined people who wanted to move away form the hostile conditio ns that they were experiencing and also, a people seeking peaceful existence for their families.Advertising Looking for research paper on african american? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Though African Americans migrated to the larger western US area, their numbers were not as many as they were on eastern side. Absence of staple crops and great distance from the center of black populations in the US discouraged a good number of Americans from making the journey westward. States that lie to the West in the US include Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and Missouri where black labor had contributed to considerable development and progress. These states make up part of the cotton kingdom where black presence was prominent. They are part of the seventeen states that formed the Old West which was as a result of the Manifest Destiny (Savage, 1977, p. 2). The US government at the time was urging people to take up land and own home s in the new western states and African Americans saw it as a perfect chance to escape the harsh racist conditions they were subjected to in the South. Black historians have therefore explored it intensively to shed light how it happened and the aftermath. According to Savage, any analysis of the west must include Texas whose black population contributed immensely to the cattle industry. It also includes Wisconsin and Minnesota who reported black populations from as early as 1840. Migration to the west started after the year 1830 and the earliest census reports indicating black population in the West date from 1840. According to Savage many blacks moved to the West because of the Solace it accorded them. This is because some states had laws barring the introduction of slaves and the growing anti-slavery movements. After the civil war, reconstruction began and during the time the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments took place which guaranteed African Americans freedom from slavery, right to citizenship and the right to vote. Southern states could not do without slave labor which led to bad treatment of freed black people (Savage, 1977, p. 2). The harsh conditions in the south greatly contributed to the westward migration of African Americans. Researchers however are quick to point that the movement of black people to the West was by and large influenced by the westward movement in America. States with large populations happened to have big black populations indicating common factors in attracting migrant populations. Blacks also moved to the west looking for political, social and economic emancipation. Acquisition of land and starting businesses was easy for blacks in the period succeeding 1900 hence the surge in their population in the west the 20th century.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Blacks in the American West specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Many people in America including blacks moved to the west excited by its newness and eager to acquire land and improve their economic conditions. African Americans moved too both as slaves and freed slave laborers. The blacks proved their worth as cattlemen and protectors of their masters from hostile native tribes. They farmed the land and produced enough food for themselves and their masters. Blacks could easily keep at bay hostile native Indians as they moved westward earning many of them freedom from their masters. Because owning property was a little easier, many black people acquired large land properties in the West especially in the city of Oklahoma (Sylvester, 2001). In the West many of the now emancipated blacks would work as cattle drivers, miners, cooks, soldiers and fur traders. They would also work as unskilled laborers and service workers. Black women too worked as domestic servants, farm workers, seamstress school teachers, operators and nurses. Creativity ensured black people survived in the West. They h ad to use their skills to make furniture and feed their families. They also had to make their own houses. Close-knit black communities developed through sizable numbers of black people gathering to form their own general store, church, a mill factory a bank and a hotel. By 1920 the small communities had settled in over 50 towns where more political organization was born. One such town is Langston Oklahoma. In such towns blacks could easily vote, develop business and easily live in peace. Prominent people in the West The old west brought out all kinds of people who inspired and represented the black agenda in their territories (Sylvester, 2001). Many black people did daring acts that endeared them to their masters and the general population which somehow helped in fostering the belief that all people are equal. Bass Reeves Among the many prominent people was Bass Reeves. He was a US marshal assigned to the expansive Old West where he was to maintain law and order in an area infested by all kinds of outlaws. Though he was born a slave, he learnt to use arms in an early age and that came in handy when executing his duties as a US marshal.Advertising Looking for research paper on african american? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Reeves, was apparently so good at his job that he was never wounded in his thirty year career. The position required tenacity and good skills all of which he demonstrated and in some instances did better than his masters. Though he wasn’t much of a leader, his exploits inspired and encouraged many blacks to hang on to their course in striving for better treatment. There were also women in the old West whose contribution to the wellbeing of the black community stands out. Mary Ellen Pleasant She was a free woman of color whose work in championing freedom of slaves is still revered. She presented numerous cases in Californian courts which she won and managed to gain compensation for numerous black people. She was also instrumental in helping many runaways escape from bondage (Sylvester, 2001). Her work to rescue slaves was widely acknowledged and often received unwavering support from both white and black populations. Henry Ossian Flipper He is one of the most celebrated blacks in the US military. Ossian Flipper was the first black commissioned officer in the regular US army and was the first black man to graduate from WestPoint College (Lutz Tong, 2002, p. 83). His immigration to the West and the connections that he had through his father, a successful businessman in the post war era helped him make history as the first black man from the west to achieve the above in the military. After he was dismissed from the military in the 1880’s, he pursued engineering and later became an editor for one of the leading white owned newspaper in the US. Discussion Black people in the west went through a lot in the course of the westward migration that changed their view of the world and also changed them forever. The characters that they exhibit today are as a result of the adaptations they had to make to survive in the then harsh environment. The artistic nature that they exhibit was born out of the creativity that they needed when they were deprived of any m eans of survival. Similarly, the lowly education status does not necessarily mean black people of the West or the entire US for that matter are generally lowly uneducated. Some of the injustices they had to go through included denial by authorities of the same level of education that white people had. However, the segregation and discrimination that existed at the time is not entirely to blame for the current condition of blacks in the west and US as a whole (Junne, 2000, p. 478). Many of them did carry for a long time (others still do) the mentality that the discrimination they underwent is to blame for their problems. To a considerable level however, black people squandered the chance to progress in the same speed as other minority groups in the US after the constitutional amendments. Conclusion The west by and large represent the situation of black people in the United States. While there may be a misrepresentation of facts about their situation, the old west can be summed as a c rucially unjust environment with limited positives but a place where sheer determination and survival spirit thrived. References Junne, H.G. (2000). Blacks in the American West and beyondAmerica, Canada, and Mexico: A selectively Annotated Bibliography. New York: Greenwood Publishing. Lutz, A.R. Tong, B. (2002).The human tradition in the American West. NJ: Rowman Littlefield Sylvester, M. (2001). African Americans and the Old West. Web. Savage, S.W. (1977). Blacks in the West. Westport: Greenwood Publishing.

Affect of power relations on organizational change and development Essay

Affect of power relations on organizational change and development - Essay Example The consolidation exercises resorted to by the various organizations have made the companies leaner and flatter as management levels are being eliminated. Organizations are now trying to reduce bureaucracy and make the executives directly responsible and accountable for their tasks. Political as well as institutional systems play an important role in the power dynamics during any organizational change process. Some of these forces resist change due to changing dynamics while others stimulate them for the same reason (cited in Boonstra and Gravenhorst 1998). During any change process, CEO and the management along with consultants etc try to use their power to influence the process of change. At times this use of power to influence others can cause resistance while at other times it can facilitate the change process as noted by Fable and Yukl (1992) Power dynamics can be displayed openly or invisibly by the agents involved. For example, Bachrach and Baratz (1962) say that management ca n exclude participation by keeping certain decision from being open to discussions during a change process. In open display of power dynamics, managers hold meeting and discussions where they try to convince and influence others through facts, expertise or experiences. Theories of power dynamics and change management Boonstra and Gravenhorst (1998) look at power dynamics under five different perspectives. They build on the various researches that have studied the bases of power and root their first perspective on these. They say that â€Å"change in organizations is demanded by the top management and they need their position and power in order to effect change† (Boonstra and Gravenhorst 1998). In the second perspective they say that personal power is also used and thought the starting point of change is power, logical arguments and facts to support change are presented. The next two perspectives are based on the research in organization theory and management. In the fourth pe rspective, they see the role of agencies in exerting power to control processes and the various â€Å"interest groups† use power to negotiate the direction in which the change process should go. So far, the use of power was prominently observable in the various perspectives. In the fifth perspective, this is more subtle. The change agents tend to instill values, norms and perceptions through â€Å"management of meaning† and emphasize on the usefulness aspects of the desired change. The fifth perspective is about using the models developed by the organizational learning and organizational schools. They say that these models use the power of discussions and employee participation to bring about the desired change. Earlier literature on power viewed it as the ability of the change agent to influence the subjects to accept that change within a particular reference context (French and Raven 1959). Boonstra and Gravenhorst (1998) say that Bass in 1960 described two sources o f power – personal and position. In the position power, a manager has received authority to act by virtue of his position in the organization. This is the dominating power of the management and any confrontations to proposals put forward by the management are considered as resistance and hence are intolerable as per Hardy and Clegg (1996) quoted by Boonstra and Gravenhorst (1998). Bouwen (1995) describe this authoritarian model of change as â€Å"

Corporate Risk Managemenet Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Corporate Risk Managemenet - Assignment Example This paper seeks to provide an explanation on how to manage risk in a financial industry. Specifically, this paper provides an explanation on how to manage risks of a banking sector, and this is in regard to the taking of an insurance policy. In the banking sector, Risk management practices focuses on the operational risks, liquidity risks, credit risks, market risk and interest rate risk. This paper focuses mostly on the Credit risk of my hypothetical banking organization. The hypothetical name of my bank is the Bank of Venus. This is a bank, with a presence all over the country, and has more than 300 employees. This bank specializes in offering all manner of banking services, and this includes issuance of loans, safe keeping of precious commodities, money transfer and forex exchange. All these areas have their own risks. Credit risk refers to a situation where a borrower may fail to pay a debt, in which he or she is obligated to pay (Olson and Desheng, 51). The risks involved in th is situation include a loss on the interest, and the principal amount given as a loan. Occurrence of this risk also causes a disruption in the cash flow of the bank, and an increase the costs of collecting the debts owed to the bank. Effectively reducing the occurrence of these risks, results to the success of the banking institution. This is because the bank’s main source of income emanates from interests it charges on the loans issued (Mehta, 28). To achieve success therefore, the Bank of Venus took an insurance policy to safeguard and protect itself from negative experience in case there was the emergence of risks associated with issuance of credit. However, the insurance company seeks to increase the following year’s premium. This will increase the operational costs of the banking organization; as a result, there will be a reduction of profits. This paper therefore seeks to identify and explain alternative courses of risk management practices that the bank can init iate. This paper also seeks to explain the various thought processes and analysis that the bank should take for purposes of choosing the alternative course of action. Alternative Risk Management Course of Action in Managing Credit Risk: The first alternative method of managing credit risks is referred to as risk based pricing. This is a method in which the bank will charge a very high interest rate to individuals who are most likely to default. Under this method, the bank will look into the credit rating of the individual, the purpose of the loan, and the loan to value ratio (Hopkin, 31). Other factors that the bank will look at before issuing the loan and calculating interests are the employment status of the borrower, the amount of loan under consideration, and the levels of documentation involved during the process of applying for a loan (Hull, 22). Under this method of risk management, the bank will calculate the rate of interest by analyzing the time value of the money, and als o estimating the probability of the borrowing defaulting on the loan. However, this form of managing credit risk has come under a lot of criticisms. One of the major criticism of this strategy emanates from consumers who are of the view that initiating this type of policy in managing credit risk makes it difficult for shopper to locate affordable interest rates from lenders/ banking organizations (Tarantino and Deborah, 12). This is because it is difficult for sho

Rachel Carson in Environmental Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Rachel Carson in Environmental - Essay Example Aside from the environmental problems discussed by Carson, the author also revealed an underlying economic problem that gave rise to the need for pesticides – â€Å"overproduction†. To respond to the ever-increasing appetite of the U.S. population for crops, farmers have abandoned traditional methods of agriculture and adopted faster means of reaping thousands of tonnage of produce in a short amount of time. This economic greed for abundance resulted not just to acreages of land being attacked by pests, but to garbage bins being filled up by excess food dumped by insatiable, bloated citizens. Carson reminds us to take care of the environment and, at the same time, holds a mirror from which we could reflect on our unhealthy consumption practices. Another argument Carson raises to which this paper agrees is the lack of government participation in pesticide use where â€Å"abuses go unchecked in both state and federal agencies†. The government should devote financia l and manpower resources to test the toxicity of pesticides on the market, layout safety guidelines for their use, and, ideally, recommend safer methods of controlling pest infestations. In addition, current agricultural practices should be re-evaluated in order to come up with novel farming methods that are more aligned with the natural cycle of the environment. A strong political will that balances the laws of nature, the needs of the economy, and the interests of citizens is necessary to execute the changes needed in the government.

Essay --

Should we always act rationally? Rationality is the practice of acting by reason, yet reason is variable and individual specific. Reason means in accordance with the facts of reality while the alternative would be acting by impulse. This result is an undesired consequence and in result is irrational due to the action being based upon belief. Reason is man’s mean of survival, having the mindset of not making the right decisions challenges the ability to live. Additionally, a consequence of acting irrationally is that it weakens the ability to act rational in the future. Upon choosing to act irrationally, one is acknowledging a lack of trust within the mind; repeated actions or irrationality will result in a belief of one’s practice. Man’s basic vice is suspension of his consciousness or having an unfocused mind resulting in refusal to know. Also, commonly used terms include stating something is rather rational or quite rational implying that rationality is a matter of degree. Now, we sometimes assess the rationality of a given decision. Indeed, we very often do in the sense that if ...

Mesopotamia Case Essay

HISTORY OF MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION The name Mesopotamia, is a Greek name which means ‘the land between the rivers’, refers to the geographic region which lies near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and not to any particular civilization. The land of Mesopotamia is made fertile by the irregular and often violent flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. While these floods aided agricultural endeavors by adding rich silt to the soil every year, it took a tremendous amount of human labor to successfully irrigate the land and to protect the young plants from the surging flood waters. Given the combination of fertile soil and the need for organized human labor, perhaps it is not surprising that the first civilization developed in Mesopotamia. Sumerians were the first settlers in Sumeria. By c.3500 BCE, the Sumerians had developed many of the features that characterized subsequent civilizations. Cuneiform was a system of writing established by the Sumerians which became the dominant system of writing in Mesopotamia for over 2000 years. Mesopotamia is widely recognized as one of the regions in the Near East first experiencing the developmental transition to hydraulic and urban civilization, duly celebrated as a â€Å"cradle of civilization† and the eastern segment of the Fertile Crescent. Mesopotamian religion is the religious beliefs and practices of the Sumerians and Akkadians, which were noted the first developed civilizations and religions; and later of their successors, the Babylonians and Assyrians. (Lindemans, 2007). In general terms, it constitutes the greater part of what is now Iraq, eastern Syria, and south-eastern Turkey. The deities of Sumer were usually associated with aspects of nature, such as fertility of the fields and livestock. Among the most important of the many Mesopatamian gods were Anu, the god of heaven; Enki the god of water; and Enlil, the earth god. Deities were often associated with particular cities. Astral deities such as Shamash and Sin were also worshipped. The Mesopatamians are skilled astrologers who studied the movements of heavenly bodies. Priests also determined the will of the gods through the observation of omens, especially by reading the entrails of sacrificed animals. The king functioned as the chief priest, presiding at the new-year festival held in spring, when the kingship is renewed and the triumph of the deity over the powers of chaos was celebrated. In Mesopotamia, each city state had its own god who owned it, and although other gods were admitted, they were always subordinate to the city god. Everyone had to belong to a temple, whatever rank they had in society. If they belonged to the temple of Marduk, they considered themselves ‘the people of the God Marduk’. The god was the lord and the people served him as slaves or at least as servants. Part of everyone’s produce belonged to the god and had to be brought as a sacrifice. The land itself belonged to the god and had to be leased from him. God have never been any good at signing agreements so the contracts were signed on his behalf by the priests. The main festival in Mesopotamia was the New Year Festival held in spring or in autumn. Its significance was the renewal of the land through the sprouting of new buds or the end of the summer scorching. The Sumerian drama focused on Dumuzi or Tammuz, the creative power of Spring while the Goddess was Inanna, the fertility of nature. The drama went this way: the earth goddess conceived a handsome son who later became her lover and begat the next son – a ritual performed by the king and his consort or the head priest and priestess in a ritual coupling. The son died and everyone wailed but the new son was born and everyone rejoiced. In the tropics the vegetation died in the summer heat but in northern climates it died with the onset of frost, so the times were not necessarily the same. (Amytas, 2002) In an article of Sumerian Religion it was said that reincarnation is a concept suitable for Mesopotamians because it was so real and explicit that it was not worth reporting the striking obvious. The Mesopotamians, took painstaking notes of the coming of the sunrise and sunset every day, the return of the seasons, the planets and the stars, always revolving and returning to chartered points in the skies. Thus, they did believe that everything was cyclic, and probably considered life and death as such as well (cited in Adapa). MESOPOTAMIAN MYTHOLOGY The two following stories are one of the descent and ascent stories of Mesopotamian Religion (Amytas, 2002) Descents to the underworld are a constant theme in Mesopotamia and tell about the triumph of the spirit over desire, wrong doings or guilt. Descent stories always contain the warning that one should not venture to ‘the Land of No Return’, that the laws of ‘Great Below’ cannot be changed and it designs the foremost. Nevertheless, Inanna descended to meet Her other Self, the Great Judge and Queen of the Underworld, Ereshkigal, and She who is the Lover and Beloved resurfaced as the vision of triumphant humanity that transcends all deaths. Enlil descended after having raped Ninlil, who immediately took matters in her hands and went down after Him to conquer Her beloved back, achieving major growth along the process herself from maiden to Consort of Lord Air. Even Enlil, the most important of the young Anunnaki gods, had to undergo punishment for a terrible act in the most romantic and intense of all descent stories. However, Ninlil, as the Beloved and Hardest Judge Enlil could have ever had, flew after him for the rescue to bring him back to the Heights Above, to become Enlil’s partner in all levels. All of them faced awesome trials and returned back to the Heights after achieving much healing and growth. It is therefore clear that returns from the Underworld, despite all warnings against venturing over there, can be achieved, but only by the triumph of the spirit, by conquering one’s own weaknesses, by a necessary loss to achieve a major growth. In the myth of Adapa, Adap ascends to the Heavens to meet Anu so that he could justify himself in front of the Skyfather for having been disrespectful to the South Wind. Adapa is the proto-Solomon, the sage and the priest-king of Eridu. He refuses immortality to come back to the Middleworld instead of remaining with the Great Gods in the Great Above, as Anu had given him the opportunity to stay there by eating and drinking from the table of the gods. Adapa refuses the offering, because Enki, Adapa’s personal god, had warned him not to, if Adapa did not want to die. A possible experience for this passage is the following: in the end Adapa understood that he would have eventually eternal life after living a full life in the physical world, and not in the moment he had been offered the gift by Anu. He did not need eternal life when he was offered it by Anu, because he was needed on earth, he was the priest-king the foundation of the state which was being built in Eridu, the place where kingship descended from the heavens. Again, it is a Mesopatamian ascent story with a return, whose mystery show the cycle and the link between heaven and earth, the Great Above and the Great Below not as opposite worlds, but matching complements, in a never-ending cycle. PHOENICIAN LETTERS (Amytas, 2007) The Phoenician Letters is a piece of mystery teachings in a written form from a master to a devoted acolyte in the Mesopotamian tradition, a sort of retro-Caballa. It involves 10 letters, each involving a god/goddess (Rimon-Adad, Nabu, Ishtar, Nergal, Shamash, Marduk, Anu, Enlil, Ea-Enki, Sin-Nana) by the master to the acolyte exchanged during the period of two years. The letters cover the training of a future-priest king by a master kept unknown up to the last letter. The quotations on the chapter of Nergal on the next paragraph are about reincarnation, the Eternal Return. Notice that the piece of metal that is left from the burning of what should be burnt may refer to that part of matter in us that is primeval and without blemish, the seed of the Great Mother that they all carry within, represented by the metal attributions of Mesopotamians deities, or the imperishable in them, their Personal Gods. On Ishtar, â€Å"But Ishtar is all this and more. She is the reborn†¦Know, o Prince, that death is the source of life, life is the cause of death. Dumuzi her lover must die in order to live. She is the rhythm, and all rhythms have an end, this is death, all have a beginning (pages 34-35).   On Nergal: â€Å"There are many forms of heroism. There is that form that represents a magnificent stupidity, where the hero achieves nothing, saving neither his people nor his own life, but taking with him down into death as many of the enemy as possible. He will fight in the underworld that battle which he did not win, for it is sad that as a man dies, all that he has done is presented to him, to see if he regrets his actions or not. If he regrets and pines for the things that he failed to do or the errors he has made, then this is a weight he must carry into his next time of living (Lishtar’s emphasis). Herein is the tale of justice: the assessors of hell visit upon each man his crimes, and according as he loves them or hates them, he will be attracted to the same events, time without end, till the actions of his life be without blemish† (page 41). CREATION OF MAN (and WOMAN) SUMERIAN VERSION Enki, the Magician, and Ninhursag, the Earth Mother, create humankind from the fertile waters of the Abzu and a pinch of clay, breathing into the mix the spirit of a slain god. It is in the myth that the spirit of the slain god resonates in each and every being as a drumbeat, life force, to remind them of its sacrifice. According to Amytas, the myth was a wondrous metaphor that shows incarnation as a gift from Divine Consciousness bestowed upon all humankind, all that lives and breathes. The bond that was thus established between heaven and earth from the beginning of Sumerian religion, whereby from this moment on humankind is called upon to continue for the gods the workings of existence and faithful servants. This metaphor shows the truth all initiates have experiences from times immemorial. Spirit can only incarnate through love, the same way we can only ascend to the heights of religious and visionary experience by giving spiritual body to our soul’s design. Slain in this context may very well mean the necessary loss to achieve higher consciousness, the disrobing and vulnerability needed to enter both Great Above and the Depths Below enforced. Furthermore, the myth of the ‘Creation of Man and Woman’ can be interpreted according to the Sumerians as the never-ending miracle of spirit entering matter and for those of them who live their lives in the light of the Mesopotamian tradition. From the beginning of Sumerian Religion, from the creation of man and woman it is therefore present the everlasting bond between matter and spirit. As concluded by Amytas,† the part of us who belongs to the everlasting spirit will be then confronted by our life achievements and judged by the Annunaki of the Underworld. These deities will be the judges of our souls and decide when we are ready to return from the ‘Land of No Return’. It is for all these reasons that we suggest that the Eternal Return might have been a core understated principle of Mesopotamian religion.† THE BABYLON AND ITS PEOPLE Many scholars believe the first great historian, Herodotus, a Greek who traveled widely over the ancient world several centuries before the birth of Chris, visited the city of Babylon in its decline. He has left a description of the city but, because he could not speak Babylonian, his remarkable statements must come largely from the lips of the guides. The harvest was, Herodotus says, twice or thrice as bountiful as in other lands, the ears of wheat and barley growing to a phenomenal size. Rich groves of palm trees waved in the breeze all over the plain and so expert were the food growers that from the fruit of the palm they got bread, wine and honey. From their scattered villages they looked with pride toward Babel – the Greeks called it Babylon – or the gate of the God. They had no physician. Marriage, he says, was by purchase or auction sale. His most famous statement about the morals of ancient Babylon is to the effect that every woman had once in her life to prostitute herself in what Herodotus calls ‘the court of Venus’, meaning the court of the temple of the goddess Ishtar. There she was compelled to stand until some man threw her a coin, saying, â€Å"the goddess Mylitta prosper thee,† and taking her away to his couch. (Shirlie) On the contrary, in regard to its morals and its women he totally misunderstood his informants. There was no auction of wives in Babylon, and there was no such law as the prostitution of every woman at the temple of Ishtar. By that time, Ishtar was a patroness of virtue and the chief refuge of sinners. Women had in ancient Babylon a position of respect and prestige scarcely lower than they have won in modern times and the law of sexual purity was most drastically enforced upon both sexes. The Babylonian code of laws was compiled by King Hammurabi. This code was found carved on a black diorite column seven feet high in the ruins of Susa in 1901. A conqueror of Babylon about 1100 BC had stolen it and carried it off to the hills. On the upper part of it is a figure of Hammurabi in an attitude of worship before the sun-god, Shamash. The king says he made the code himself. Babylon, supposed to have been a sink of iniquity, in which chastity was unknown, an example followed the clauses of the next paragraph in the Hammurabi Code of four thousand years ago. MESOPOTAMIAN CONCEPTS OF DISEASE AND HEALING Mesopotamian diseases are often blamed on pre-existing spirits: gods, ghosts, etc. Each spirit corresponds or is responsible for a specific disease. For example, ‘Hand of God X’, of the stomach corresponds to what is called a disease of stomach. A number of diseases simply were identified by names, ‘bennu’ for example. Also it was recognized that various organs could simply malfunction causing illnesses. Mesopotamian uses plants as treatment for diseases although this cannot be relative for magical purposes. In addition, specific offerings are made to a particular god or ghost when it was considered to be a causative factor, but these offerings are not indicated in the medical texts, and must have been found in other texts. There two distinct types of professional medical practitioners in Mesopotamia, the ashipu known as the ‘sorcerer’ and the asu which may be referred to as the ‘physician’. The ashipu diagnoses the ailment. In the case of internal diseases, this most often meant that the ashipu determined which god or demon was causing the illness. The ashipu also attempted to determine if the disease was the result of some error or sin on the part of the patient. The phrase, â€Å"the Hand of†¦Ã¢â‚¬  was used to indicate the divine entity responsible for the ailment in question, who could then be propitiated by the patient. The ashipu could also attempt to cure the patient by means of charms and spells that were designed to entice away or drive out the spirit causing the disease. On the other hand, asu is the specialist in herbal remedies and deals with were often classifiable as empirical applications of medication. For example, when treating wounds the asu relied on three fundamental techniques: washing, bandaging and making plasters on which appear in the world’s oldest known medical document (c. 2100 BCE). CONCLUSION Mesopotamian religion in accordance with my research clearly implies that it is the foundation of many religions since, Sargon, who founded the Babylon and created the first Mesopotamian empire, lived over two thousand years before Christ and even a thousand years before the presumed time of Moses of the Christian bible. One example would be the comparison in the story of Moses: one of the clay tablets covered with the cuneiform writing of the Babylonians and Assyrians refers to Sargon, the great king. His mother bore him in secret. After the birth she made a little ark or boat of reeds or rushes, coated it with pitch, which is natural there. She placed the baby in it and she set it afloat on the river, doubtless expecting it to die but hoping it might be saved. The child was destined to be a mighty leader and the gods took care of him. A water-carrier found the ark and reared the child, until the goddess Ishtar saw and fell in love with the youth, and made him king over the land. To sum it all up, learning man’s history always is a very interesting subject, it’s like being transported to a different world where oneself could be alienated. For me it would not matter because the most important thing is that you have respect to all men regardless of their religion. Bibliography Williams, Tyler. Ideas of Origins and Creation in Ancient Mesopatamia. 2007 Lindemans, M.F. Mesopotamian Mythology. 2007 Amytas, Voluptua. Sumerian Religion and the Eternal Return. 2002 Shirlie. God or Goddess? The Son Gods. 1999 http://www.oriental.cam.ac.uk/jmc http://www.archaeowiki.org/Mesopotamia

Mexico s Drug Cartel Violence Problem - 1861 Words

The United States role with Mexico’s drug cartel violence problem has been of ongoing help. The cartels are unabashed in trying to continue to run their drug smuggling operations. The Mexican people have had to endure a high number of homicides in their country. Some of these people killed were innocents who were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Many of the homicides were intentional as drug cartels often send messages to people warning others not to interfere in their businesses. Mexican law enforcement officials are killed by the cartel in hopes of serving a message to others that the cartels are to be feared. It might seem that the United States does not have a role in addressing drug cartel violence in Mexico but they are trying†¦show more content†¦La Familia has benefited from Mexico’s crackdown as the turf war with other cartels has made La Familia stronger. La Familia is based in the Mexican State of Michoacà ¡n. As can be seen, the cartels are ba ttling on two fronts. One is against rival cartels for control of important drug smuggling corridors which is a war of familiarity; the other is an unfamiliar war with the government. The cartels had been accustomed to pay law enforcement off with bribes which were probably in their operational budgets as the price of doing their lucrative business, but times have changed. Because of this new war with the government, the cartels such as the Beltran Leyva Organization have employed the Zetas. The Zetas cartel are the best trained and is the first criminal organization in the Americas to have been formed by former military personnel and defectors from the regular army. The Zeta cartel is dangerous to the Mexican Government because this cartel is fully trained to understand and have proficiency with these weapons, which makes the Zetas all the more dangerous. The aim of the cartels is to try and keep business as usual, which it to continue to smuggle drugs into the U.S. border. They do this because it is lucrative; however, the tactics have changed. In order for the status quo to continue, the cartels have to create fear in the Mexican people along with law enforcement and the military. Dailey battles take place where the cartels take on the Mexican military. An example