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Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Revolution in France from 1789 to 1792 Essay Example for Free

Revolution in France from 1789 to 1792 Essay In 1789, France was under a revolution. It was ruled by absolute monarchy for centuries. Unfairness between Estates started to frustrate the people at the bottom of France. The French government was 4000 million livers in debt (Christopher Hibbert 1980 p.14). Besides the partial blames that Louis XVI deserved, the situation was quite out of his control. There were many other reasons that lead to this revolution and every single problem was connected with each other. The most important short term factors were the bankrupting of government and the Famine. As for the most important long term factors were the heavy taxes and the enlightenments. Though Louis XVI was partially responsible for the French Revolution, it wasnt his entire fault, he just happened to be the scapegoat of some wrong deeds done by others. Louis XVI was famous for being weak and indecisive (Peter Mantin 1992 p. 5) and that was the main problem of his running of the country. He was popular and beloved at first by all people of France because of his kind-hearted and compassionate personality, but hated later as his weakness and conservatism in politics and economics slowly appeared (Christopher Hibbert 1980 p. 3). He was too weak that even the 1st and 2nd Estates tried to control over him and he wasnt able to do strong decisive actions (Christopher Hibbert 1980 p. 3). He even preferred personal hobbies to politics interests (Peter Mantin 1992 p. 4). The Aristocrats and the Church refused to help him out with money respectively in 1787 and 1788 when the country was in a financial crisis (Mr A J Field 2007 Schoolhistory.co.uk). At last, Louis XVI lost all control over his troop and the people of France and was in a passive position afterwards. All these nonalignment between estates and failures were indeed because of him, however, it wasnt his entire fault. After all, the 1st and 2nd Estate was the people who refused to help and there were other more important issues that contributed to the French Revolution. Firstly, the reason why the government was bankrupt in 1788 that caused even heavier taxes on 3rd Estate was because of the humongous lavish expenditures of Marie Antoinette and the league war with the British of Louis XV (Tiffany 2007 Franceattraction.com). Marie Antoinette spent a fortune on her favourite residence, The Petit Trianon; on her stable of three hundred horses; on her sessions at the gaming tables; and also on her clothes, which  cost 100, 000 livers a year. Besides, she loved expensive jewelries; her earrings from Charles Boehmer, the crown jeweler, cost 400, 000 livres and her diamond braclets cost 100, 000 livres (Tiffany 2007 Franceattraction.com). How about those parties that she had all day? One would have cost 200, 000 livres, no wonder the government bankrupted and was 4000 millions livres in debt. At that time, 50, 000 livres per year was already a lavish income and great titled heads lived for a whole year off 50, 000 livres utmost (Tiffany 2007 Franceattrac tion.com). Moreover, his father and grandfather spend loads of money on participating in the wars of Americans and British (helping Americans) and lost the war against another country (Ross Steele 2002 p. 102). Secondly, every kind of heavy tax fell on the poor peasants while the aristocrats and the church got every kind of privileges that they didnt have (Waugh S. 2002 p. 84). It was this frustrating unfairness oppressing the people at the bottom of France for centuries that propelled them. The government didnt fix the economic issues by earning more external tariffs and being less lavish, instead, they oppressed the Third Estate to pay more taxes. There were all kinds of unnecessary and ridiculous taxes. Overall, the Third Estate was forced to pay tithe (a tenth of their income or produce to church), pay a taille (a tenth to state), pay a vingtieme (a fifth of property), pay a gabelle (tax on salt), pay a seigneurial tax (feudal dues), corvee (work tax), aide (tax on wine) and pay a capitation (tax on the number of family members)etc. (Greg Hetherton 1992 p. 18) Besides, the government even permitted the private tax collectors to raise tax whatever they wanted, thus, causing the poor peasants to afford those taxes that were even larger than their own wages and far more than the government requested (Peter Mantin 1992 p. 45). Thirdly, because of heavy rains and bad weathers, there were a series of poor harvest causing famine in France 1780s (Invicta M. 2001 Theotherside.co.uk). Many people lived off the bread line and when there were any matters concerning crops, harvest and food distribution, everything could be tipped into huge disastrous mess since people just wanted to survive. However, the poor harvest led to soaring of food prices (especially bread) and only a  workers daily bread would have taken about 97% of his income. The famine infuriated the hungry and desperate 3rd Estate and provoked food riots (Invicta M. 2001 Theotherside.co.uk). At this point, the place was in a total chaos. Last but not least, enlightenment played an important role in French Revolution. Without it, the French Revolution would be without a spirit to go on. This encouraged the people being oppressed by the 1st and the 2nd Estate to test the thing and to think themselves, instead of relying on false knowledge people gave. The five main ideas the philosophers came up with were religious freedom, freedom from absolute rulers, brotherhood of all people, welfare for everyone and personal happiness as far as possible. These long term and short term factors, flamed by enlightenment, started up the French Revolution. I concluded that the French Revolution wasnt Louis XVI entire fault. He was only being at the wrong time in the wrong place. He was of course being weak and indecisive; however, there were more important factors responsible to the revolution. The financial crisis of the government, heavy taxation on the 3rd Estate, poor harvest and enlightenment contributed to the French Revolution the most. Therefore, to a moderate extent is Louis XVI responsible for the French Revolution. Bibliography :-Greg Hetherton (1992). Revolutionary France: Liberty, tyranny and terror. Camridge: Cambridge University Press. -Peter Mantin (1992). The French Revolution. Heinemann: Oxford. -Christopher Hibbert (1980). The Days of the French Revolution. USA: Penguin Group. -Ross Steele (2002). When in France, do as the French do. Canada: McGraw-Hill Professional. -Waugh S. (2002). Heinemann History Scheme, The early modern work, Book 2. Heinemann: Oxford. -Mr A J Field (2007). French Revolution-Year 8-Schoolhistory.co.uk. Retrieved 3 Oct 2007 from http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/year8links/frenchrevolution.shtml. -Tiffany (2007). Marie Antoinette Versailles. Retrieved 4 Oct 2007 from http://www.franceattraction.com/marie-antoinette.html. -Invicta M. (2001). French Revolution. Retrieved 4 Oct 2007 from http://www.theotherside.co.uk/tm-heritage/background/revolution.htm.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Animal Instinct :: essays research papers

Animal Instinct What would life be like without a mother or a father? What would life be like without any adult supervision? How would a person act if they did not have society to tell them what is right and wrong? Author William Golding believes that a person that wasn't brought up by society would only act using their basic human nature. It is also a part of his believes that this nature is evil. In his novel, Lord of the Flies, Golding proves his ideas on the evil at the base of the human nature through the lives of Piggy, Ralph, Roger, and Jack, whom are all young boys trapped on a deserted island in the Pacific. Piggy was a nonathletic, fat child with glasses and asthma. He was the child who was least effected by the evil inside of himself. Piggy was also the most intelligent child on the island, and this intelligence is what kept him from giving in to his evil. This intelligence was also thought by Jack to be a threat. Piggy lived in fear of Jack because he knew what type of person he was and that he could not be trusted. On page 93 Piggy expresses his fears by telling Ralph, â€Å" I'm scared of him and that is why I know him. If your scared of someone you hate him but you can't stop thinking about him.† In this it is obvious that Piggy is scared of Jack, so much so that he thinks about him constantly and now he has him figured out. This is why Piggy is unaffected by his evil. He sees what is happening to everyone else through Jack. The other person who wasn't overcome by their evil is Ralph. Ralph was an older child, and he was an athletic born leader. He was the leader of the tribe until the children began doing what Jack said. Although he never completely surcame to it, Ralph was tempted by evil. One instance happened when Jack and his hunters came back from a hunt and began to dance. The story on page 75 says, â€Å"Ralph watched them enviously and resentful.† He was envious of the other children because they got to dance and chant, but he knew that it was wrong, so he did not join in, and during this time while he was being tempted he treated Piggy terribly. He began to do what Jack said. Once when Jack brought the meat back from one of the hunts he gave everyone a piece except for Piggy, and when he complained

Monday, January 13, 2020

Inventions Between 1900 and 1930

the time period between 1900 and 1930 saw many technological innovations, from the air conditioner to the disposable razor blade. From the tank to the cruise missile. Many of these inventions made our lives easier while others made them more deadly. the first of these inventions is the air conditioner. While many inventers beforehand had made crude means of cooling the air, but all proved to be ineffective. the earliest method of cooling the air was putting bowls of ice in front of a fan and the resulting cool air cooled the room.On July 17th 1902 a young college graduate, Willis Havilland Carrier drew the plans for his first â€Å"Apparatus for treating air† which was granted its first patent in 1906. this great leap forward in human comfort was actually first made for a printing press where when it got humid it would cause the ink to smear. Carrier's method of cooling the air involved using coiled copper tubing filled with liquid ammonia, which when air was blown over the co ils would cause the moister to condensate giving him cool dry air.Cooling for human comfort, rather than industrial use, began in 1924, displayed by the three Carrier air conditioners installed in the J. L. Hudson Department Store in Michigan. in order to escape the heat the shoppers of Detroit all went to the â€Å"air conditioned† store. The rise in human cooling spread from the department stores to the movie theaters. It was a cool oasis in an other wise hot world. One of the more deadly inventions of the early 1900's is the tank.The tank got its name because early in WW1 while it was under development the British didn't want the Germans to find out what they were making so they shipped them as water tanks. While no one person can be credited with the invention of the tank it was the British who first used the tank in WW1. To come up with ideas for the tank, the Landship Committee was formed and their recommendations were that a vehicle firing a explosive shell should be m ade that could cross a standard German trench of 8 feet wide, and a 4 foot hill.Various designs were tried ranging from vehicles that â€Å"walked† to gigantic powered tires, but none were really successful, or strategically sound. then came the little Willie. the little Willie was the first modern version of a â€Å"tank† it was based on the tracks of farm equipment and earth moving machines. even though the little Willie was the first modern version of a tank it never saw combat as it was surpassed by an improved tank named â€Å"big Willie†. Big Willie was the first practical example of a tank as it was the first to be used on the battle field.With a top speed of 3 mph and armor up to 3 inches thick it was not the fastest nor best looking war machine out there but it did its job of providing cover for soldiers storming enemy trenches. Although Little Willie never saw combat and was redundant almost as soon as it was made, it represented a major step forward i n early 1900's technology. In contrast to the tank you have the Band Aid. Earle Dickson was employed as a bulk buyer of cotton for Johnson & Johnson when he invented the band-aid in 1921.The reason that Earle invented the band aid was that his wife kept cutting her fingers in the kitchen while preparing food. The precursor to the band aid consisted of gauze and adhesive that the user applied themselves. Earle took a piece of gauze and stuck it to the middle of a piece of tape, and then covered the adhesive and gauze with a strip of crinoline, to keep it sterile. His boss, James Johnson, saw Earle Dickson's invention and decided to manufacture band aids to the public and make Earle Dickson vice-president of Johnson & Johnson.However ingenious his invention was it was slow to start. Until Jonson and Johnson started to give them to the boy scouts for free as a P. R. stunt and by 1924 band aids were machine made and sold in individually wrapped bandages, it wasn't until 1934 that they s witched to the vinyl tape we know today. The thirty years that followed the turn of the century saw some of the most technological advancements ever seen. From the air conditioner to the band aid, without the inventers of the early 1900s the world would still be stuck in a hot bloody band aid free world.