...Civil War Essay Sofia Gravina Pd. 6 The American civil war had a huge impact on the literature of its time. Because of the preceding literature, it caused people to become unhappy with their surroundings. They wanted to cause a Renaissance-like movement. Many works were written very hostile to convince people of the horrors of the war. Some works also brought out the romance of the war and glorified it. The civil war transformed American literature. Literature works before the war were extremely sterile. Most of the popular works came from foreign countries, like England. There was almost no originality in writing at the time. Every American author wrote like an English author. Because of this, Americans were viewed as inferior. Even Americans themselves felt inferior. They were basically devoid of a literary culture. A feeling of inadequacy caused people to have a need to create something entirely their own. Americans felt like they had a completely different situation which called for a completely different idea of American literature. Iambic pentameter and rhyme schemes in poems were effectively forgotten and intentionally not used. American poets especially wanted to do something different with their writing. They felt very rebellious toward the English way of writing. One theme as American writing became one of a kind was a want for a moral revolution in a reader. The writer wanted the reader to look at something and think about how they could incorporate...
Words: 492 - Pages: 2
...AMSTUD Essay During the Progressive era of the United States, Florence Kelley, a social reformer of the time, delivered a speech to the National American Woman Suffrage Association advocating the need to change the working conditions for the children of America. With multiple uses of hortative sentences, anaphora, parallelism, and diction that is meant to make the reader feel that they are part of the problem, Florence Kelley effectively appeals to the audience's pathos and emotion in this speech to call her listeners to action and to join the bandwagon against the issues addressed. Though women of the time couldn’t vote, Kelley purposefully used the diction “we” and “our” to explain to the audience that it was still there problem. Though, politically, they had no power, Kelley asks the audience the question “what can we do,” to emphasize that regardless of voting, they still must find a way to take action. By pairing parallelism with competitive and critical diction, Kelley effectively pits different states against each other, such as when she claims that “Alabama does better in this respect than any other southern state.” This is...
Words: 344 - Pages: 2
...aggressive and barbaric acts that grew out of it.” (Martin Luther King pg 90). Martin was an extremely bright student and skipped right through his high school years and on June 1944 he entered Atlanta’s Negro Morehouse College at age 15.His father encouraged him to study ministry though his heart was set on medicine or law. During his studies at school and as a minister , two very important people came into Dr. King’s life .One of these men was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi; who was a leader in India which had a similar situation to Dr. King. Lower class of India lived in poverty and hunger while the upper class Indians and British led a separate life. Gandhi saw the need for India to gain its independence from Britain in order for all the horrors of the lower class to stop (Haskins 32). Gandhi performed strikes, boycotts and fasts against the British government and he did it in a nonviolent way. King would use Gandhi’s nonviolent tactics in much of his involvement with the civil rights movements. He called for nonviolence not only because of his dedication to the teachings of Christ but also because it was the only practical way of changing the ‘Negro; condition. (Coretta Scott King pg...
Words: 1125 - Pages: 5
...Thematic Essay Practice – Reform Movements US History/Napp Name: __________________ From the August 2004 New York States Regents/ U.S. History & Government THEMATIC ESSAY QUESTION Directions: Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs addressing the task below, and a conclusion. Theme: Reform Movements Task: Some suggestions you might wish to consider include the abolitionist movement, Populist movement, Progressive movement, women’s rights movement, civil rights movement, and the labor movement. Gathering the Facts: 1- The Abolitionist Movement • “The goal of the abolitionist movement was the immediate emancipation of all slaves and the end of racial discrimination and segregation. • Advocating for immediate emancipation distinguished abolitionists from more moderate anti-slavery advocates who argued for gradual emancipation, and from free-soil activists who sought to restrict slavery to existing areas and prevent its spread further west. • Radical abolitionism was partly fueled by the religious fervor of the Second Great Awakening, which prompted many people to advocate for emancipation on religious grounds. • Abolitionist ideas became increasingly prominent in Northern churches and politics beginning in the 1830s, which contributed to the regional animosity between North and South leading up to the...
Words: 2348 - Pages: 10
...south flourished, the African slave trade gained momentum. Between the 16 and 19th centuries, America had an estimated 12 million African slaves (Slavery in the United States, Junius P. Rodriguez ). Enslavement of the African Americans formally commenced in the 1630s and 1640s. By 1740, colonial America had a fully developed slavery system in place, granting slave owners an absolute and tyrannical life-and-death authority over their slaves or 'chattels' and their children (Slavery in the United States, Junius P. Rodriguez ). Stripped of any identity or rights, enslaved black men and women were considered legal non-persons, except in the event of a crime committed. Documents and research on the slave era in the antebellum south are awash with horror stories of the brutal and inhuman treatment of slaves, particularly women (Slavery in the United States, Junius P. Rodriguez). Considered 'properties' by their masters, enslaved black women endured physical and emotional abuse, torture, and sometimes even death. By the 1800s, slavery had percolated down mainly to the antebellum south. While a majority of enslaved men and women were designated as 'field servants' performing duties outside the house, a smaller percentage, particularly women were employed as domestics or 'house servants', mammies and surrogate mothers. In the absence of any security, and with laws granting owners full power over their slaves, these women in bondage were frequently harassed, sexually abused and used as long...
Words: 3238 - Pages: 13
...American Civil War Experiences of the American Civil War (1861-1865): Honor, Duty and Death Introduction The following pages are an essay on the cause of the American Civil War (1861-1865) and the effects that the war had upon the soldiers, women and African Americans of the North and the South. In this essay I will write about the following topics and present a view of how the war was witnessed by these different groups of people. In regards to the soldiers of the North and the South, I will answer the following questions: What was the enthusiasm of the soldiers from the North and the South before the war? What was their perspective after the fighting had started? How did the soldiers of the invading armies treat the civil population? The horrors of the Civil War witnessed by the soldiers of the North and the South? Then I will answer some of the following questions about women and the Civil War: What role did women play during the war? What respect did women attain for their role? How did women help the soldiers to endure the hardships of the war? The questions dealing with African Americans are: Did the Civil War change how their comrades in arms viewed African Americans? How did African Americans help in fighting the war? Why did African Americans fight in the war? What did African Americans hope to gain from fighting in the war? The Causes of the American Civil War The American Civil War (1861-1865) occurred because the two principal regions of the country...
Words: 3501 - Pages: 15
...Experiences of the American Civil War (1861-1865): Honor, Duty and Death Introduction The following pages are an essay on the cause of the American Civil War (1861-1865) and the effects that the war had upon the soldiers, women and African Americans of the North and the South. In this essay I will write about the following topics and present a view of how the war was witnessed by these different groups of people. In regards to the soldiers of the North and the South, I will answer the following questions: What was the enthusiasm of the soldiers from the North and the South before the war? What was their perspective after the fighting had started? How did the soldiers of the invading armies treat the civil population? The horrors of the Civil War witnessed by the soldiers of the North and the South? Then I will answer some of the following questions about women and the Civil War: What role did women play during the war? What respect did women attain for their role? How did women help the soldiers to endure the hardships of the war? The questions dealing with African Americans are: Did the Civil War change how their comrades in arms viewed African Americans? How did African Americans help in fighting the war? Why did African Americans fight in the war? What did African Americans hope to gain from fighting in the war? The Causes of the American Civil War The American Civil War (1861-1865) occurred because the two principal regions of the country, the North and...
Words: 3517 - Pages: 15
...slavery. After the release of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, through Stowe’s accounts, Northerners became aware of the horrors of slavery on a personal level. The reaction was astounding, and more than 300,000 copies were sold in the North alone. Many Northerners were outraged, and they began to use the book as a rallying cry in the Abolitionist Movement to end slavery. The reaction to Uncle Tom’s Cabin sent an influential message to the US government that slavery was unjustifiable. Thus, “the fact that Abraham Lincoln decided to emancipate the slaves in 1863 without addressing the related problems of where the freed slaves would live or whether the South would be bankrupt, is a testament to the fact that intense public feeling, rather than logic and negotiation, had made it possible for Lincoln to act unilaterally” (Cumberland). However, even though moderate anti-slavery advocates supported the book for helping it raise awareness, “the most liberal abolitionists felt the book was not strong enough in its call to immediately end slavery, disliked Stowe's tacit support of the colonization movement, and suggested that Stowe's main character Tom was not forceful enough” ("Impact of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Slavery, and the Civil War"). Regardless, Uncle Tom’s Cabin shaped the political scene by causing Northerners to understand how wrongful slavery was, and because of increasing opposition, Southern slave owners now worked even harder to defend their way of life. In the South, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was “met...
Words: 1283 - Pages: 6
...Naomi Chebii American Culture and Film 2nd Essay: 12 Years a Slave 28-09-2015 Ref: Analysis on 12 Years a Slave The film 12 Years a Slave tells the horrific true story of a free black man Solomon Northup, who was dragged, kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1850s America to suffer years of abuse in the Pre-Civil War South. From start to finish, basic facts about the time, the places, the people, and the practices of the day are incorporated, sometimes in excessive detail, into Northup’s story. He speaks with authority on all subjects of his enslavement, naming names and pointing out landmarks along the way. In doing so, he dares skeptics to refute his story, knowing that public record and common knowledge would defend it. The son of an emancipated slave, Northup was born free. He lived, worked, and married in New York, where his family resided. He was a multifaceted laborer and also an accomplished violin player. In 1841, aged 33, he was tricked into leaving his family behind his wife, and two young daughters, by two white con men, who offered him a job as a fiddler in a travelling circus. So he travelled with them to Washington, D.C., where they dragged him and sold him to a slave trader called Burch. Despite having papers showing he was a free man, Solomon was whipped and beaten and subjected into a brutal torture by his new owner. 12 Years a Slave serves as a timeless indictment of the practice of human slavery. As we saw from the film how Northup’s detailing the abuses...
Words: 770 - Pages: 4
...Summary In the darkest moments of World War II, on July 4 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt reminded the nation that the democratic freedom which was claimed by the citizens has been established for them. According to him, July 4 is a tonic of hope and inspiration for all the nation. So the people should stand stronga and fight for freedom in this dark hour. People received this message as a breath of security, right to liberty for all people, races, and sects to worship God. Frederick Douglass (1818 - 1895) was born with the condition of slavery in the town of Easton, Maryland. He suffered corporal punishment and humiliation for a very long time. He faced sad moments like separation from his mother and his brothers and finally, the horrors of slavery, common to all victims of that system. I will just comment, therefore,...
Words: 988 - Pages: 4
...The Basic Law or Grundgesetz for the Federal Republic of Germany was approved on 8 May 1949, and, with the signature of the western Allies of World War 2 on 12 May, came into effect on 23 May. The authors also ensured that human rights and human dignity was made the central and core part of the Basic Law. Key concepts in the basic law are principles of democracy, republicanism, federalism and social responsibility. These principles are constitutionally entrenched and they cannot be removed or repealed by the normal amendment process. Firstly this essay will look into what lead to the development of the new Basic Law and how the new parliamentary democracy was put into place with separation of powers into different branches of government. Secondly the essay will examine what were the specific changes from pre-1945 Germany and if which areas these changes were most visible. Here it will be important to look at the fundamentally differences from the Weimar Constitution, but also what the new Basic Law chose to keep from the Weimar Constitution. And why the authors of the Basic law felt that this was the safest way to construct a good state for all Germans where the sins of the past would never be repeated. In 1948 the three Western Allied military governors met in Frankfurt with the chief executive of the various states and “recommended” the calling of a constituent assembly by September 1, 1948, which was to draft a constitution for the three Western zones. None of the state...
Words: 1494 - Pages: 6
...Short Essays 1) Describe the three basic types of music heard in original scores during the silent film era and cites specific examples from The Birth of a Nation. (10 points) There are three basic types of music heard in The Birth of a Nation. Each type serves it’s own purpose in the film. The first is adaptations of classical works. These adaptations are extended versions of the original classical piece of work. These adaptations are used for extensive action scenes. For example, Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyrie is the leitmotif for the Klu Klux Klan in the movie. The second type is arrangements of well-known melodies. These well-known melodies are used for emotional appeal. For example, “Dixie”, a very popular song of the South, is used to express Southern patriotism. Also, these well-known melodies were used to set a racist mood. A scene shows slaves dancing to “Turkey in the Straw”. Lastly, the third type is original music. The original music is used to reinforce the characters of the movie. For example, Elsie has a sweet, playful leitmotif. This theme implies her innocence. The original music in The Birth of a Nation is the strongest of the three types, composed by Joseph Carl Briel. 2) What is the role of source music in Casablanca? (10 points) The role of source music in Casablanca is in the development of the character Rick. The source music used is mostly American popular music. All the popular songs used are barrowed. The only exception is “Knock on Wood,” which...
Words: 988 - Pages: 4
...“Stevenson’s parents’ horror at their son’s involvement with a married woman subsided somewhat when she returned to California in 1878, but it revived with greater force when Stevenson decided to join her in August 1879.” Stevenson was devoted and head over hills for the woman he fell in love with, and did not want to leave her side, so he left his family and went off with the married woman.. Fanny Vandegrift Osbourne (David Daiches) In 1881, Stevenson published his first collection of his essays (Virginibus Puerisque), which most had appeared at The Cornhill. Let alone in the 1880’s Robert Louis Stevenson was publishing and writing much more than that essay. “ In April 1882 he left Davos; but a stay in the Scottish Highlands, while it resulted in two of his finest short stories, “Thrawn Janet” and “The Merry Men,” produced lung hemorrhages...He revised Prince Otto, worked on A Child’s Garden of Verses (first called Penny Whistles), and began The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses (1888), a historical adventure tale deliberately written in anachronistic language.”(David Daiches) Although Stevenson was sick, I’ll he did not let that get in the way of any of his writing. Whether it was short stories, essays or book...
Words: 2592 - Pages: 11
...Sarah Moore Grimke and Fredrick Douglass: A Fight for Rights America is the land of the free, but without abolitionists fighting for such freedom, there is no America. This essay is a comparison between Fredrick Douglass and Sarah Moore Grimke and how they fought for African American and women’s rights respectively. Fredrick Douglass was born into a life of slavery, but he learned to read and after a few attempts, escaped. He started out as an agent of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and from then, wrote books and newspapers promoting the cause. He later became a consultant of Abraham Lincoln. Sarah Grimke, on the other hand, grew up in as a daughter of a plantation owner. She had high goals and expectations but her family shot them down. Sarah and her sister fought for slavery and sexism and were expelled from the plantation. They were among the first to fight for women’s rights. Back in the 1800s, African Americans were slaves and treated like property. They were whipped, overworked, starved, and had no freedom. They were denied education and shot if trying to escape. On the other hand, women had very little rights. They were simply housewives who looked after the children. They were not allowed to aspire to anything and forced to simply support the husband. Back then, the worst person to be was an African American female. Some females were chosen as breeding moms and raped repeatedly to bear children to sell. If not, the master would call some women in...
Words: 1001 - Pages: 5
...Uncle Tom's Cabin - change in public opinion of slavery Uncle Tom’s Cabin is the work of Harriet Beecher Stowe. This book is a realistic but fictional perspective of slavery. The key characters in the story include Uncle Tom, George Harris and Eliza. Uncle Tom is slave that is trustworthy and pious. He does not wrong anybody and only hitherto obeys the master. Being a spiritual person, Uncle Tom does his best to do what is right and obey the Bible. On the other hand, Eliza is a very beautiful slave under the ownership of George Shelby Sr., who formerly owns Tom. George Harris is the husband to Eliza and he lives around the nearby plantation. The brilliance of George caused him to invent a machine that was utilized in the factory where he works. Consequently, his owner became so jealous and decided to demote George from the factory and made him to carry out hard labor at the plantation. The setting of the story is across the Mississippi and Kentucky states (Tang, Research & Education Association 6-20). Rarely does a single work of literature transform the society or sets it on the road to a dreadful conflict. One such catalytic story is Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852). Many consider it as being among the most influential American fictional works ever published. The number of copies that Uncle Tom’s Cabin sold were numerous than any other fictional title to have been published before. Five thousand of its copies were sold within its first two days...
Words: 1233 - Pages: 5