Reconstruction of African Americans Dbq Essay Example for Free

Reconstruction of African Americans Dbq Essay New Societies, new people, and new communities usually originate as a result of migration. People decide to move from one place to another for better opportunities, better lives, and new challenges. This remains true for the African American race as well. It has been believed that the original migration took place in 1619 when African Americans arrived to Jamestown, Virginia. However, the first African Americans migrated to the United States almost a century earlier in the 1500’s coming from Mexico and the Caribbean to the Spanish territories of Florida, Texas, and other parts of the South. African-American Migration Experience Though many migrated to the U. S. voluntarily, most African Americans were victims of massive enslavement. War, slave raiding, kidnapping and political religious struggle accounted for the vast majority of Africans deported to the Americas. African Americans were forced into slavery. Many children were kidnapped and sold as slaves. There were those of which who rebelled by refusing to be enslaved that would be expelled from their homes and families then either murdered or forced to be slaves. Slavery developed because the Northern Africans had a monopoly over spices, gold, and other commodities that the Europeans wanted. Europe would send ships back and forth to Africa to trade goods and in the process they were able to grow comfortable with navigating the seas. As a result, Europe was able to develop very good shipbuilding skills that in turn led to the sending of large vessels. That moved the Portuguese to add an additional commodity to their cargo: African men, women, and children. The Portuguese then used African Americans as slaves to work their sugar plantations. Over time English and Dutch ships preyed on the Portugal vessels for slaves, while raiding and looting the African mainland. Slaves were brought to the United States of America during the triangular trade. Ships were built to handle a maximum of 350 people, but Europeans would transport over 800 men, women, and children under some of the harshest conditions. Slaves would be branded, stripped naked during the entire trip, lying down in the midst of filth, all while enduring unbearable heat. All slaves went through frightening, incredibly brutal and dehumanizing experiences. Women and children were raped for the pleasures of the crew. The sick were tossed overboard unto the sea. People who tried to starve themselves to death were forced to eat by the torturing of scolding hot coal pressed onto their bodies. African-American Migration Experience Those who survived the Middle Passage arrived to America only to encounter more grief. They were sent to plantations and farms for agricultural duties. They were used for mining, and placed in towns as servants. In South Carolina and Georgia they grew rice, cotton, and indigo. In Louisiana they slaved over sugarcane plantations. They labored over tobacco farms in Virginia and Maryland. This went on until 1808 when the United States abolished its slave trade from Africa. However, slave trade went on unabated until 1860. In 1898 the boll weevil ate its way through Texas and proceeded to eat its way East across the South. The cotton was destroyed and slaves were thrown off of the land. After WWI there was an economic boom that resulted in the need for agricultural work, but unfortunately most states in the South passed the Jim Crow laws that discriminated against African Americans and led to segregation. African Americans couldn’t attend the same schools as white Americans. They couldn’t use facilities such as restaurants, theaters, hotels, cinemas, and public baths. Public transportation was also segregated and in some states marriage between white and black people. African Americans were at the mercy of landlords, abusive employers, and almost anyone set on depriving them of their rights. This went on until president Franklin D. Roosevelt was forced to issue an executive order mandating the end to racial discrimination. The Fair Employment Practices Committee was created to enforce this mandate, which acted as the launching pad that would bare dividends in the future. Riots erupted in 1943, leading to beatings, deaths, and arrest. African American then resulted to boycotts and sit-ins during the Civil Rights movement. As a result, the Supreme Court reversed the separate but equal doctrine in 1954, ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. There was also the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act that signaled an attack on Jim Crow. The African-American Migration Experience This report reveals the enormous amount of pain, grief, and violence suffered by my ancestors during slavery. I am so appreciative to all those people who marched, boycotted, and endured the pain and suffering so that my children and I could have the freedom to eat in any restaurant, sleep at any hotel, drink water out of any fountain, and go to school to get a good education. I may not be able to relate culturally to the ethnic group that I have written about because I am way too young, but that doesn’t change the fact that I recognize what they fought and stood for and I plan to make sure that my children are taught the history of how African Americans migrated to the United States, and what they went through to get here. References In Motion. The African-American Migration Experience. Retrieved April 9, 2007, from http://www. inmotionaame. org/home. cfm.

Cold War Book Review Essay -- essays research papers

Political and economic perspectives should not dominate the analysis of communist rule. Analysis of the social aspects and results of communist rule are necessary to achieve a full understanding of the effects of such government. Slavenka Drakulic produced How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed, an appealing work with this fresh social approach. This nonfiction work combines the author’s own recollections with the stories of other women of the Eastern Bloc. Drakulic, a renowned journalist and writer, utilizes her keen eye for detail and truth in this quest that shows how communism has devastating effects on the common citizen. She provides insight into the conditions of life for women within a communist system. Several points of view from those living under such a regime are documented in this collection of 19 essays. The author highlights the unimportant aspects of life and how they are important as symbols of recurring injustice under this communist regime in Eastern Europe. Her travels to Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and East Germany result in adequate research of several personalities and experiences. This extensive research abroad, coupled with Drakulic’s own background experiences, provides a solid groundwork for the author’s thesis. However, any amount of research cannot surmount to the experiences Drakulic faced growing up with the lifestyle that comes with communist rule. If she is discussing the perils of doing lau...

Comparison Between Chinese and American Food Culture

Lee Hiu Man Instructor Wynn ESLG 1001 29 November 2012 Comparison of Chinese and Western Food Culture Food is closely related to people's lives and it is considered the most important element in Chinese culture. Chinese food is famous all over the world too. American Chinese cuisine differs significantly from the traditional Chinese cuisine and even though the variation in taste can be so it is still attractive to many people. When it comes to food, Chinese people always care about the color, taste, smell and shape of Chinese dishes.In 1784, a group of passengers on the ship Empress of China became the first Americans to land in China and they were also the first group of people to eat Chinese food; it was the first time the American palate encountered eastern cuisine(Coe 45). There are many differences in food culture between China and the United States. Strong differences exist regarding cooking methods, ingredients, desserts and cutlery. There are many cooking methods in Chinese f ood and it may be confusing by terms such as saute, marinade, stir-fry and deep-fry especially for someone new to Chinese food (Travel China Guide).Boiling is the most common form of Chinese cooking; Chinese boiling means cooking food in boiling water. It wastes fuel. It does not cook the food any faster and it tends to make the food break up and so spoils the appearance. Frying is divided into deep-frying, slippery-frying, quick-frying, and several types of stir-frying; this method mainly deals with vegetables. One cooking method that American dishes seldom use is steaming. It is a kind of slow process and time consuming.Chinese cooking uses two methods of steaming, which are basic steaming(zheng) and placing one tightly-closed pot inside a larger pot(steaming dun) (Lee 3). The product is usually very soft because the pot is half-immersed in boiling water for two to three hours. One of the famous traditional Chinese foods is Chinese rice dumplings and it is made of glutinous rice s tuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves. On the other hand, the cooking methods in American cuisine were affected by the European countries (Cuban Cuisine, 1).Grilling meats and spit roasting over a pit fire are both common even today. Americans use barbecue smokers to cook chicken, pork and corn. Frying is the most common in Western countries because almost every famous dish is related to frying. Examples include fried chicken, French fries, burgers and fries, etc. Local families in America like to do baking, which is generally applied to breads, lasagna, manicotti, pastries and other sweet confections. There is a big difference between Chinese and American cooking methods. One is mainly concentrated on the color, smell and shape.The other is always speedy, convenient and cheap. Secondly, the ingredients in Chinese and American food are different. Chinese cuisine involves rice, flour, beans, and vegetables. American cuisine is relatively simple and mainly includ es meat, bread and vegetables. For the Chinese one, most dishes include rice, because it is the main crop of many Asian countries and is used in almost every capacity. Not only steamed rice, but rice paper and noodles can be included in a meal. Second, tofu is often used in vegetarian meals, because it is high in protein.It is used heavily in regions with a tradition of Buddhism. Third, sauces are important to flavor rice and stir-fry. Soy sauce, oyster sauce, black bean sauce, and fish sauces are easy to keep on hand (Yang 3). Rice is a major staple food for people from rice farming areas in southern China and Chinese people always use rice to produce by-products like vinegars and wines (Mashpedia, 3). Noodles are important to Chinese people too and they usually come dry or fresh in a variety of sizes, shapes and textures and are often served in soups or fried as toppings.Some varieties such as  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Shou Mian† are literally noodles of longevity, are symbolic of long life and good health according to Chinese tradition. Noodles can be served hot or cold with different toppings and broth. On the other hand, a part of the American food is based on traditional German dishes such as hot dogs and hamburgers (Wynn 3). Pre-packaged American meals tend to be high in carbohydrates, fat, sodium, and various preservatives. However, they also tend to be vitamin fortified.Examples of pre-packed American meals include various  casserole  type dishes such as  Hamburger Helper, as well as bakeable and microwaveable foods such as  Hot Pockets, frozen pizzas, frozen burritos, and various types of  TV dinner  meals (Cuisine of the United States Research Materials, 3). About the desserts in these two countries, Chinese desserts are sweet foods and dishes that are served with  tea, along with meals or at the end of meals in Chinese cuisine. Chinese candies and sweets, called  Ã¢â‚¬Å"tang†Ã‚  are usually made with cane sugar, malt sugar, honey, nuts and fruit.Gao or Guo  are rice based snacks that are typically steamed  and may be made from glutinous or normal rice. Ice cream  is commonly available throughout China. Another cold dessert is called  Ã¢â‚¬Å"baobing†, which is  shaved ice  with sweet syrup. Chinese jellies are known collectively in the language as  ices. Many jelly desserts are traditionally set with agar and are flavored with fruits, though  gelatin  based jellies are also common in contemporary desserts (Zickler 5). Chinese dessert soups typically consist of sweet and usually hot soups  and custards.For the American desserts, there are a wide variety of choices like cakes, cookies, biscuits, gelatins and pastries and most of them are considered as sweet and greasy. Famous ones like apple pies, cupcakes, caramels and chocolate brownies are customary desserts for Americans compared with Chinese as they viewed it as a part of the meal. Lastly, the cutleries that are used in Chinese and Amer ican food are different also. Chinese people use chopsticks to eat food. Americans use knives and forks to do dining.Chopsticks convey the concept of harmony in Chinese culture (The Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Blog). In ancient  written Chinese, the character for chopsticks was ?. Although ? may have been widely used in ancient spoken Chinese, its use was eventually replaced by the pronunciation for the character ? ; meaning â€Å"quick†. The original character, though still commonly used in writing, is rarely used in modern spoken Chinese languages, which maintains the old usage. Knives and forks are kind of promoting the independence, freedom and violence.Due to its role as humankind's first tool, certain cultures have attached spiritual and religious significance to the knife. It has impact of the concept of people's lives; knife and fork will necessarily bring about eating apart and chopsticks share dinner with the family members gather around a table. The major items of cu tlery in the  Western world  are the  knife,  fork  and  spoon. In recent times, utensils have been made combining the functionality of pairs of cutlery, including the  spork  (spoon / fork),  spife  (spoon / knife), and  knork  (knife / fork) or the  sporf  which is all three (Attards, 2).Actually, chopsticks are commonly used in Chinese, Japanese and Korean dishes but it is generally believed to have originated in ancient China. To conclude, there are a number of differences between Chinese and American food culture and they are a part of human civilization. It is great for everyone to know the food that people would like to eat, cooking method and also ingredients between two countries. Even if there are some differences between Chinese food and Western-style food, they can still get along harmoniously. For example Chinese food of U. S. A. s suitable for Americans’ taste, because through Americans’ improvement; similarly, the Western-styl e food of China is more suitable for Chinese’ taste, because through the Chinese’ improvement. There is a folk adage in China â€Å"If want to conquer your heart, I will conquer your stomach first†. It can clearly show the importance of food in Chinese culture. Works Cited Helen Wang. Cooking Methods in Chinese Cuisine. †Ã‚  Chinese Cooking Tips. Chinese Food DIY Fall 2009. Web. Nov. 17 2012 Giblin, James Cross. From hand to mouth: How we invented knives, forks, spoons and chopsticks, & the manners to go with them.New York: Crowell, 1987. Print Knoblauch, Mark. Chop Suey: A Cultural History Of Chinese Food In The United States. Booklist 106. 1 22, 2009. Print Lv, Nan, and J Lynne Brown. Chinese American Family Food Systems: Impact Of Western Influences. Journal Of Nutrition Education And Behavior 42. 2 106-114, 2010. Print Richard Pillsbury. No Foreign Food: The American Diet in Time and Place, Westview Press, 1998. Print Peter Zickler. Askives. â€Å"Wha t is common Chinese desserts† Web, Nov. 16, 2012

Romanticism In Victorian Childhood - 1653 Words

Romanticism, Victorian England and the portrayal of Motherhood In the Victorian Era, British society experienced a division of the family dynamic into masculine and feminine roles; the husband attended to the public affairs, while the wife was expected to tend to the domestic matters of the home. The home took on symbolic importance in Victorian society, for it was a haven for the individual to express emotions and manners that couldn’t be expressed publicly. It was in the privacy of the home that women took on the responsibility of childcare (Nead, 33). Romanticism flourished during this period, encouraging parental involvement in the raising of their children into contributing members of society. The artworks of artists such as Charles†¦show more content†¦(Plotz, 8-9) To be a parent and raise a child to have good character was a guaranteed means of an individual to contribute positively to society. As husbands were responsible for public matters that took them away from the home, this placed the wife at the heart of the domestic sphere; as the one the child naturally seeks out for food, guidance and mimicry. A young girl was typically expected to take after her mother, and learn the essential skills necessary to be a good daughter, wife and eventual mother. From their mothers, young boys were considered to learn traits such as fairness, compassion, the importance of keeping faith, when to exercise strength or show mercy, and (using their mother as reference for feminine virtue) how to find a modest wife with which to build a respectable home. The growing interest in childcare and motherhood in British society was reflected in Victorian paintings of the time. Artist Charles West Cope, born July 1811 in Leeds, Park Square, to watercolor painter Charles Cope, painted multiple portraits of mothers and their children which were displayed at the Royal Academy exhibition between the late 1840s to 1870s. He grew up without knowing his mother, for she died after his birth, so found guidance in his father, aunts and teachers, both respected and unkind (Cope, 1-9). Perhaps it is in his desires for a maternal figure that Cope found inspiration for his portraits of motherhood, all of which depict the common theme ofShow MoreRelatedEnglish Language And Composition Of The Victorian Era1320 Words   |  6 PagesMichael Linares Ms. Sipars AP English Language and Composition 15 September 2015 Response #1 England’s Victorian Era was a very influential and interesting Era that took place during the time that Queen Victoria was the Queen of England. The Victorian Era started around 1830 and lasted up until the start of the 20th Century. 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Her mother introduced her to many Victorian author’s, and Levertov wrote to many famous author’s during the time such as T.S Elliot for advice on her poetry (William Doreski 273). While working as a civilian nurse during WWII, she started writing her first book on poetry and in 1946 was able