Friday, January 24, 2020

Discrimination of Irish Catholic Immigrants During the 1920’s Essay

Discrimination of Irish Catholic Immigrants During the 1920’s   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   During the 1920’s there were many controversial issues.   There was a concern about declining moral and ethical values, which led to restrictions such as prohibition for example.   The concern about these issues seemed most intense when they pertained to religion.   In situations like these it always seems necessary to place the blame somewhere.   One particular group on which this blame was emphasized happened to be the immigrants.   Irish Catholic immigrants were a main focus of discrimination in many ways.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The fight for immigration restriction was fueled by America’s negative view of foreigners.   Protestants especially made it a point to link alcohol with Catholic Irish immigrants.   They were looked upon as immoral and corrupt because of this.   Prohibiting alcohol was an unsuccessful way of trying to counterattack not only the immorality in urban cities, but the immigrants who resided there as well.   This was yet another example of searching for an answer to the deterioration of morals and values.   In an effort to justify prohibition, it was said that Limitation upon individual freedom in matters affecting society is the price that any people must pay for the progress of its civilization.   Personal liberty cannot rightly be claimed for practices which militate against the welfare of others or the interest of the community as a whole.   (http://www.aihs.org.history.htm) The Ku Klux Klan, which was already an established organization increased in number when efforts to prevent and discourage Irish Catholic immigrants from practicing Catholicism were unsuccessful.   The Klan considered itself to be Pro-American, which directly meant anti catholic.... ...for the Irish Catholic immigrants as well as the others, â€Å"the old-stock drive for conformity and community represented attacks on their culture, religion and ethnicity.   Repeatedly their stake in American society, their right to be American citizens, was denied†Ã‚   (Dumenil, 248).   I agree that it was their right to become American citizens.   Discriminating against Irish Catholic immigrants was unjust, especially for the reason that there is no rational or justifiable way to discriminate against which people are allowed to immigrate and which are not. work cited: 1.   http://www.illinoisrighttolife.org/racism.htm.   (7/1/98). 2.   http://www.aihs.org/History/history3.htm.   (6/1/98). 3.   http://www.aihs.org.history.htm.   (3/1/98). 4.   Lay, Shawn.   The Invisible Empire in the West.   Illinois.   1992. 5.   Dumenil, Lynn.   The Modern Temper.   New York.   1995.

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Important factors shaping social relationships under the French

Social relationships were important components of the French absolute monarchy. Historians agree that to achieve supreme control and national unity, Kings relied heavily on military strength. There is little question that absolutist France came to posses the largest standing army Europe had ever seen. Armies made France a powerful state, and the King a powerful ruler. However kings also controlled through non military means, establishing bureaucratic and legal systems and developing an absolutist culture with the King at the centre.These manifestations of absolutism, at raying degrees of significance, helped shape social relationships, and in turn, enforced the absolutist regime. Contrastingly, other historians maintain that the absolute system worked within pre-existing social codes, which were more influential in shaping social relationships. Historians herald the significance of these different factors because they take a variety of historiographer's approaches. Absolutism redefin ed the socio-political structures and language of court society. Court cabals and courtesies became important factors that influenced social relationships.Emmanuel Eel Roy Ladies uses the court memoirs of Duct De Saint Simons, to explain the system of court cabals. Ladies explains how the King placed himself at the top of the court hierarchy, and held a number of favorites. L Lower courtiers would group around these powerful Individuals, such as King Louis Xiv wife Madame De Imitation, to gain power, wealth, status and other privileges through association. 2 Saint Simony's court memoirs are a more traditional historiographer's source, detailing friendships, marriages and patronage relationships that formed and separated court cabals. However Lauder himself admits the limitations of the source, stating that It has a tendency to be subjective with some bias, and Inaccurate facts. 4 But as Ladler states, his purpose was not statistical detail, but to present a ‘model' for the net work of social relationships in court society, and to reveal that they placed the king in an enormous position of influence to determine courtier's social standing. 5 Rest Raman consults similar sources and concludes that courtesies were a new political language that redefined the way courtiers socialized and communicated, while also being a political tool for negotiating the cabal system.Raman analyses Theodore Goddesses Grand Ceremonial De France from 1619, one of the many courtesy manuals written for courtiers. 6 Absolutist monarchies did not invent courtesies, but Raman argues that these manuals justified and systematized these social codes. 7 Courtesy rules dictated the nature of social affiliations and interactions, becoming a vital political language in court society, as a means of showing or denying respect or favor to individuals and cabals. For example â€Å"hat doffing†¦ And lowered eyes† became the language of respect that carried on along the hierarchy, with the King at the top. Ere â€Å"insults to God himself, † enforcing enormous regal authority. 9 Moreover, under Louis XIV, all topics except frivolous small talk, were branded ‘discourteous,' in an attempt to repress uprisings. 10 Both historians analyses similar sources and share the conclusion that absolutism created a new social order, designed to enforce the Kings power. Sarah Hanley however, argues bureaucratic models, established by the absolutist state, were important factors shaping family and gender relationships.Hanley investigates the ‘Family State Compact,' revealing that it enforced distinct gender oleos and enshrined the patriarchal family model in legislation. This model was in turn used to explain and Justify absolutism. 11 Hanley approaches her study with an â€Å"ethnographic† perspective. 12 She states that conventional historiography has always been a uniform process of selecting documents to confirm a point, but more recent scholarship on social history now seeks to gain greater scope and depth by viewing a range of non-traditional sources. 3 From these historians may distill messages about social life. 14 Hanley use of primary government legislation and court case documents, are examples of expanding historical sources. The Marriage Regulations, Reproduction Rules and Marital Separation Arrangements ensured family finances remained under paternal authority, helped guarantee the legitimacy of children and made it harder to break up marriages and families. 1 5 But as Hanley indicates, the underlying purpose of these laws was to constitutionalism patriarchal control over all family affairs. 6 It was a key bureaucratic factor that helped enforce male social and economic dominance, within the family. Furthermore, the patriarchal family worked to Justify and naturalist the appointment of an absolutist ruler, who could be seen as he â€Å"husband† and â€Å"father† of the state. 17 Furthermore, Hanley exam ination of court cases exposes legal limitations on female political and economic privileges within their marital and civic relationships.Women gained social and economic status through marriage and childbearing, but the Compact put men in greater control these activities, disemboweling women and forcing them to break laws for economic and social survival. 18 In the Diagram- du Piqued case for example, Barber- Francoise Diagram was charged with â€Å"supposition attendant† because she faked the birth of a child to avoid becoming a childless widow and losing socioeconomic status. 9 Furthermore, this source reveals that legal structures shaped collaborative relationships between women of different social classes, as Barber sought the assistance of midwifes, paupers and a prostitute. 0 Thus while primary accounts such as Saint-Simony's Memoirs explain social and genealogical connections at their surface, Handless wider variety of social records reveals in greater depth, the gend ered social constructions that defined social relationships in the absolutist monarchy, as well as unexpected cross-class relationships. Cultural manifestations of absolutism in art, gardens and entertainment were further significant factors shaping social relationships. Diverging from traditional and social historiographers, Peter Burke, Chancre Muskier and Craig Callously take an art historical concepts to court social life.He argues that the language of allegory, hyperbole and euphemism in songs, literature, sermons, painting and other mediums communicated a lofty ‘high style' that associated the King with exalted figures and ideas. 21 For example Louis XIV was pained as SST John the Baptist and Apollo. 22 Courtiers learnt these references and conducted themselves accordingly, with grandeur and dignity. 3 In turn, this new language displayed, magnified and rationalized the King as a sublime and spiritual ruler. 24 In contrast, Muskier applies geopolitical concepts to unders tanding social relationships.Muskier references historian Michel Faculty's theory that 17th century society began to view material possessions as indicators of wealth and power. 25 Increasing trade, scientific and technological innovations made material items more prominent in social gatherings and conversations. 26 Muskier argues absolutism worked within this materialist culture, valuing land the most as a material item. 7 In a geopolitical way, Kings enforced power by appropriating and manipulating land into formal gardens. In turn, this established material ownership as a language of power. 8 Material goods came to dominate social and political relationships during the 17th century. 29 Callously similarly seeks specialized research on theatre and festivals, alongside primary accounts. However he argues the political purposes of nocturnal entertainment were significant factors shaping court life. 30 For example, Baroque night time theatre developed and through its illusionist's li ghting, performances such as Louis Xiv Ballet De la Unit,† physically presented Louis as a ‘radiant' King. 1 Furthermore, court diaries from Versailles reveal an increase in concerts, balls, and billiards, offering different opportunities for solicitation. 32 Nocturnal activities changed and began to characterize social life. 33 Memoirs by Louis XIV and absolutist critic Jean De La Buyer (1645-96) also divulge that night time entertainments were deliberate distractions from political issues. 34 Callously maintains Kings communicated and secured their power through nocturnal spectacles, which consequently transformed court social relationships. 35However unlike other historians discussed, James Afar argues social relationships were shaped by concepts of ‘Honor' that pre-dated absolutist expressions of power. Like other historians, Afar relies on a primary source: Farther Lame's eye witness account of the trial and execution of disgraced nobleman Philippe Group. Unco nventionally, Group did not confess his crime, thus preserving honor but damning his soul. 36 More important to him was maintaining honor for his family and young son. 37 Honor defined people's positions of power and status. 38 It was treated as an item that could be appropriated through displays of respect. Lame's text, confirmed by trial records, reveals Group bowed and spoke respectfully to colleagues and onlookers, to earn back some of the honor he had lost. 40 Through displays of respect, Group also sought favor with his patron the Prince of Condone, who could gain him a Kings pardon. 41 Fear's study revises primary documents and challenges past historians such as Ladies and Rest, previously discussed. Courtesy codes, and court cabals were not Just to gain political power, but were part of a possible, albeit largely speculative, that Kings consciously manipulated this established framework of honor to their political advantage.But what Group's trial reveals is honor was a preci ous commodity, and was central to the way people conversed and connected. The majority of historians discussed, agree that the most important factors shaping social relationships under the absolute monarchy, were essentially the absolute monarchy itself. Absolutism established a new laws, social customs, entertainment and art that had a dramatic impact on social relationships involving gender, class, marriage, family ties and friendships. But in contrast, historians also argue that, as in any society, there were already complex social codes that absolutism worked within.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

What Is a Commodity in Economics

In economics, a commodity is defined as a tangible good that can be bought and sold or exchanged for products of similar value. Natural resources such as oil  as well as basic foods like corn are two common types of commodities. Like other classes of assets such as stocks, commodities have value and can be traded on open markets. And like other assets, commodities can fluctuate in price according to supply and demand. Properties In terms of economics, a commodity possesses the following two properties.  First, it is a good that is  usually produced and/or sold by many different companies or manufacturers. Second, it is uniform in quality between companies that produce and sell it. One cannot tell the difference between one firms goods and another. This uniformity is referred to as fungibility.   Raw materials such as coal, gold, zinc are all examples of commodities that are produced and graded according to uniform industry standards, making them easy to trade. Levis jeans would not be considered a commodity, however. Clothing, while something everyone uses, is considered a finished product, not a base material. Economists call this  product differentiation. Not all raw materials are considered commodities. Natural gas is too expensive to ship worldwide, unlike oil, making it difficult to set prices globally. Instead, it is usually traded on a regional basis. Diamonds are another example; they vary too widely in quality to achieve the volumes of scale necessary to sell them as graded commodities.   What is considered a commodity can also change over time, too. Onions were traded on commodities markets in the United States until 1955, when  Vince Kosuga, a New York farmer, and Sam Siegel, his business partner  tried to corner the market. The result? Kosuga and Siegel flooded the market, made millions, and consumers and producers were outraged. Congress outlawed the trading of onion futures in 1958 with the Onion Futures Act.   Trading and Markets Like stocks and bonds, commodities are traded on open markets. In the U.S., much of the trading is done at the Chicago Board of Trade or the New York Mercantile Exchange, although some trading is also done on the stock markets. These markets establish trading standards and units of measure for commodities, making them easy to trade. Corn contracts, for example, are for 5,000 bushels of corn, and the price is set in cents per bushel. Commodities are often called futures because trades are made not for immediate delivery but for a later point in time, usually because it takes time for a good to be grown and harvested or extracted and refined. Corn futures, for example, have four delivery dates:  March, May, July, September, or December.  In textbook examples, commodities are usually sold for their marginal cost  of production, though in the real world the price may be higher due to tariffs and other trade barriers.  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹ The advantage to this kind of trading is that it allows growers and producers to receive their payments in advance, giving them liquid capital to invest in their business, take profits, reduce debt, or expand production. Buyers like futures, too, because they can take advantage of dips in the market to increase holdings. Like stocks, commodity markets are also vulnerable to market instability. Prices for commodities dont just affect buyers and sellers; they also affect consumers. For example, an increase in the price of crude oil can cause prices for gasoline to rise, in turn making the cost of transporting goods more expensive. Sources The Economist staff. What Makes Something a Commodity? Economist.com, 3 January 2017.Kennon, Joshua. Definition and Examples of What Commodities Are. TheBalance.com, 27 October 2016.Romer, Keith. The Great Onion Corner And The Futures Market. NPR.org, 22 October 2015.Smith, Stacey Vanek. What Is a Commodity, Anyway? Marketplace.org, 21 November 2013.