The Effects of European Imperialism on the Current Day Democratic Republic of the Congo

Karl Jasulavic Mrs. Neuhaus Eng 111 4 September 2004 The Effects of European Imperialism on the Current Day Democratic Republic of the Congo It is a well known fact that the areas of central Africa have long suffered from poverty, death, disease, and lack of technology, but what is responsible for this? No one can say for sure what the cause of the areas misfortune is, but one possible explanation can be linked all the way back to King Leopold's time. Specifically, European imperialism lead by King Leopold in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. King Leopold planted seeds in Central Africa that in turn lead to these long-term hardships that plague the area to this day. Before exploring the notion that European imperialism is the reason for Central Africa's strife the word imperialism needs to be discussed. Imperialism is a tricky subject with no real definition; however there are ideas and social phenomena that can be used for explanation. Depending on what the situation is imperialism can mean several different things. For the most part, in modern times, imperialism has included the aggressive establishment of political control by one state over another through different methods. Colonies and protectorates are two major means by which states take force upon other states, this is also known as "formal imperialism." Not only is brute force used

  • Word count: 1320
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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What in your view was the short term significance of Malcolm X?

History coursework: Part A What in your view was the short term significance of Malcolm X? Malcolm X was much different from any other civil rights activists who were participating in the civil rights movement. His violent policies often led him into trouble, none more so when he was assassinated by members of his own organisation at the age of 39. Before his assassination he was well known for being a strong speaker and for his attempts at raising the awareness of the situation blacks faced in the ghettos of the USA. This led to X becoming a significant figure within the civil rights movement in the short term. A primary source taken from a quote from The New York Times newspaper states how Malcolm X 'had the ingredients for leadership', although his 'ruthless and fanatical belief in violence' prevented X from becoming the sort of leader which he had hoped. However the source is from around X's time and therefore the relevant information has not been yet gathered to perhaps evaluate his leadership skills, it does prove to be a rather accurate take on X's leadership. Malcolm firstly did take a violent approach within the civil rights movement, and as the source goes on to comment he was then met by 'a violent end'. Malcolm's end came at the hands of his own people, which proves that he was perhaps too far involved with the violent side of the civil rights movement, and his

  • Word count: 2013
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Wilson's Peace Conquest

"Even after he asked Congress for a declaration of war, President Wilson could argue that his foreign policy was still committed to peace." Assess the validity of this statement. Wilson's Peace Conquest President Wilson's foreign policy was committed to peace throughout WW1, even after he requested a declaration of war from Congress. Although some might argue that the very action of asking for a declaration of war opposes the argument that Wilson was steadfast in his search for peace, such is not the case. For one, it took a combination of repeated offences for the United States to formally break off relations with Germany and proclaim that the United States had entered the war. Furthermore, idealist President Wilson hoped for a uniform peace, one without the winning country punishing the defeated, and made a list of "Fourteen Points" that he believed would help in creating an everlasting peace in the world. Contrary to the belief that he was all talk, Wilson valiantly lobbied for the inclusion of his "peace without victory" ideals and his "Fourteen Points" in the Treaty of Versailles. Before the United States joined WW1, President Wilson's policies leaned toward peace. He did everything in his power to try and prevent the United States from entering the First World War. Wilson did not support Germans interference with the right of American merchants to sell goods not

  • Word count: 1233
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Throughout his presidency (1912 " 1920) Woodrow Wilson(TM)s foreign policy was a failure Explain why you agree or disagree with this opinion

"Throughout his presidency (1912 - 1920) Woodrow Wilson's foreign policy was a failure" Explain why you agree or disagree with this opinion Wilson faced many big events in his time in office. He had to deal with a Mexican civil war, the first world war and the peace talk after this. In my opinion the statement is partially correct as he failed to complete many of his aims. In 1913, Mexico fell into a bloody revolution when Mexican general Victoriano Huerta overthrew the nation's government and declared himself its military dictator. Wilson immediately denounced Huerta, declaring that the United States could not and should not recognise violent dictators. The President attempted to initiate peaceful negotiations between Huerta and the old government, but both sides refused to submit to his proposal. Unsure how to proceed, Wilson permitted Huerta's enemies, the Constitutionalists, to purchase military equipment and arms in the U.S. in order to stage a counterrevolution. With America's help, the conflict was eventually resolved. Huerta fled the country, and a new government was established in 1915 under the leadership of Constitutionalist President Venustiano Carranza. Soon after Carranza was instated as Mexico's new president, one of his chief generals, Pancho Villa, led a second revolution to depose Carranza. A second bloody civil war erupted in Mexico barely after the first

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Personal Motives during the Civil War

Per. 2 American History 5/22/2011 "If you will call your troubles experiences, and remember that every experience develops some latent force within you, you will grow vigorous and happy, however adverse your circumstances may seem to be." ~John Heywood The Civil War was a culmination of over four decades of intense sectional conflicts between the north (Union) and south (Confederacy) regarding economic, social, and political issues. A widespread Civil War broke out when eleven southern states seceded from the Union. Although the South ceded from the Union to stand up for their economic and political independences, the individuals who fervently fought in the war had drastically different motives which drew them to war. This is the driving question which led Jeffrey Shaara to write the book Gods and Generals, a historically accurate account of four highly influential men: General Robert E. Lee, General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Officer Winfield Hancock, and Colonel Joshua Chamberlain. Shaara delves deep into the personal lives of these four men, showing how their personal lives greatly influenced their moral and philosophical positions in the war.motifs which drove each of these men in the course of war. Robert E. Lee's deep-seated duty to God and duty to Virginia are the reasons why Lee fought and pushed so fervently in time of war. Robert E. Lee returns home, a

  • Word count: 1959
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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The Style and Times of Jack Kerouac

The Style and Times of Jack Kerouac Jack Kerouac led a crazy and exhilarating life separated from the normal scope of realm of mainstream American life. Still On the Road and The Dharma Bums remained Kerouac's only profitable successes, not only through these work, but through many others he changed modern American Literature and culture. Kerouac essentially shaped a life-style dedicated to music, art, literature, and poetry. When the "Beat" movement flourished out of his personal management, he became came to loathe it, and ended up living a lonely, desperate life on the end of what was once a movement he had valued and loved above everything else. Through this life journey though, he had created a style of writing that incorporated many elements of all the distinguished writers before his time. He created this style through common and swift language, real identities, and the experiences of everyday life. He began reading excitedly in junior high school. During his English classes he succeeded greatly, unlike his social status. Mark Twain and Jack London were two writers that greatly influenced his early writing. Kerouac developed his own imaginary world in his mind. He then documented this creation in newspapers. The short articles then led to his first novel entitled, The Town and the City, which was a based on a summary of a news article in the New York Times (Maher

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Reasons for the Missouri Compromise

How far was the Missouri Compromise driven by economic rather than moral reasons? When Congress was presented with the problem of Missouri, an area within the Louisiana Purchase requesting permission to form a constitution in preparation for admission to the Union as a state, it had to quickly seek a compromise in order to prevent already stale situations within the US getting exacerbated. Jefferson described the incident as "like a fire bell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror" for it opened up the issue of slavery being an economic v moral issue. Missouri already had a slave-owning population of more than 10,000 (16% of the total) and they wanted a further increase of slaves, as they believed it was needed due to the vast spread of cotton cultivation and the slave owning which was spreading rapidly up the Mississippi river from Alabama, Louisiana and Arkansas. Those within Missouri wanted more slaves to be allowed in so that they could capitalise on the economic advantage which the other agricultural states in the south had been able to gain from. However, James Tallmadge (a Republican) believed that for moral issues, the introduction of new slaves should be prohibited and that the children of slaves already in Missouri should be freed when they turned 25. The proposed motion divided Congress; however, the House of Representatives managed to pass the motion

  • Word count: 735
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) How was his character formed?

"The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced...that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), from The Gettysburg Address How was his character formed? To understand Lincoln's character and the influences on it, we must comb through his life and find the people and experiences that affected its result. As we travel from the small log cabin in Kentucky to the simple townhouse in Washington, D.C. where Lincoln breathed his last breaths, we will see a pattern of a life that was lived to its utmost capacity in honesty, truth, and integrity. Abraham Lincoln was born in 1908 in a small farmhouse in Kentucky. A year after Abraham's mother (Nancy Lincoln) died of milk sickness, his father, Thomas Lincoln, realized that he couldn't support the family and parent them. He was quickly married to the widow Sarah Bush Johnston, who was a widow herself and

  • Word count: 1216
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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a) "How far do these sources support the view expressed in source one that, in the years 1067-1075, William had favoured conciliation in his attempts to establish peace in England?"

A-Level History Coursework a) "How far do these sources support the view expressed in source one that, in the years 1067-1075, William had favoured conciliation in his attempts to establish peace in England?" The view of William I favoring conciliation in his attempts to establish peace, to a certain extent, do agree with a number of the sources. This is only to a degree due to events that occurred between the years 1067 and 1075 that pushed William into more brutal and violent methods of subduing the English and securing his authority over England. Sources that do agree with William I using peaceful procedures to establish peace are sources three and four. Both sources to a great extent agree with the first source. Source three depicts how appeasement established authority. The source describes the naval and land levies, proving that William favoured conciliation. William had enough trust with the English to take them to war with him, and that they would not mutiny. This trust can be linked with source four; William felt strong enough to leave England in the hands of William fitz Osbern and go to Normandy. However, did the English really have a choice? With the erection of castles, the use of cavalry, and Norman landholders, the English may have been forced to fight for him; there is little detail of the events or others before or after. Source four also agrees,

  • Word count: 3272
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Shay's Rebellion

Olha Kolesnykova APUSH-3rd 10-8-08 For the critics of republicanism, Shay's Rebellion was a chilling vision of the future. Describe the economic troubles, many of which first developed in the revolution that subsistence farmers (along with others) in the post-revolutionary era faced. With regards to Shay's Rebellion, discuss how it could be interpreted as proof of the fallibility of republicanism. In the post war era many economic troubles developed. The war debt- was agreed to in the Treaty of Paris in 1783 had to be paid back to the English. The debt was large a hefty sum of 35 million (much of it needed to be paid to French and Dutch bankers). Under the republican system, and the newly ratified Articles of Confederation the Congress of the new nation couldn't tax. Congress had to borrow money- and as exhibited later on borrowing is a very unfortunate concept. Therefore, the states had to have the willingness to meet their financial obligations. The states needed to find way to get all the money, so they started raising taxes. Again, the states borrowed money from merchants and investors. The people complained about the taxes, and tried to pay in paper money- which the government wouldn't accept because the value fluctuated all the time. Other issues also added to the financial crisis. The English, Dutch or French wouldn't trade with the Americans- this brought

  • Word count: 688
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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