The Origins of Slavery essays

The Origins of Slavery essays Slavery was not preconceived, but it was inevitable. This can be seen by the accidents and coincidences that occurred in the early 17th century. When a Dutch trader had been blown off course, the first ship of African slaves arrived in 1619 by accident. After the arrival in 1619, it was cheaper to buy indentured servants. This resulted in the population of slaves growing slowly at first. But, as the number of indentured servants decreased, more slaves were needed in the colonies because there was a labor shortage. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries statutes were being written to deal with the growing number of slaves. Virginia's statutes illustrate this: All servants imported and brought into this country, by sea or land, who were not Christians in their native country, shall be accounted as slaves, and as such be here bought and sold... By the mid 18th century stereotypes were being created to rationalize slavery because slaves were present in every colony up and down the coast. Eventually rationalization led to a way of life for the English colonists. The gradual shift from indentured servants to slaves began when a Dutch slave trader exchanged his cargo of 20 Africans for food because he had been blown off course. The colonists did not have any slaves prior to this occurrence; all the colonists had in terms of alternative labor had been indentured servants. This resulted in the labeling of the Africans as indentured servants. It also meant that African slaves had the social status of a poor Englishman, and one day could eventually be free. At the same time in the Chesapeake, production was booming and the colonists in the Chesapeake couldn't get enough indentured servants no matter how fast they came over. This led to the supply of indentured servants drying up, and at the same time more slaves were becoming available. This happening left only on ...

Juveniles charged as adults essays

Juveniles charged as adults essays Beginning in Chicago, Illinois in 1899, a distinction was made between crime committed by adults and crime committed by juveniles. With the help of Jane Adams and other reformers, a separate court was set up for juvenile offenders. This new court for youthful offenders was designed to place greater emphasis on the welfare and rehabilitation of youth in the justice system. Training schools and detention centers specialized in rehabilitation were set up to house and treat these kids who had run afoul of the law. These detention centers were designed not only to address the educational and psychological needs of these young criminals, but also to provide vocational skills in order to ensure that these kids would not re-offend and could become productive members of society. The present form of the United States juvenile court system came about due to the case of Gerald Gault in 1967. Prior to 1967, juveniles charged with a crime were not afforded the same right that adults were. The right of being tried by a jury, the right to cross examination and counsel, and the right to protect ones self form self-incrimination were replaced by the benevolence of a single judge. This changed when Gault, a 15 year-old, was charged with making an obscene phone call. While the maximum penalty he would have faced in an adult court would have been a $50 fine or two months in jail, his fate was left solely to the discretion of a single judge in the juvenile system. The judge ordered Gault to a detention center for six years. Under appeal, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the juvenile system was a violation of the fourteenth amendment, asserting that juveniles should have the same right to due process that were afforded adults. This ruling sculpted the juvenile court system that is in place today. Over the last fifteen years, once again the face of the juvenile justice system is changing. During the decade of the 90s, ...

First Electoral College Tie - Election of 1800

First Electoral College Tie - Election of 1800 The first Electoral College tie in American political history occurred in the 1800 election, but it wasnt the two presidential candidates who were deadlocked. A presidential candidate and his own running mate received the same number of electoral votes, and the House of Representatives was forced to break the tie. The first Electoral College tie resulted in Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, a Democratic-Republican candidate, being elected president and runner-up Aaron Burr of New York, his running mate in the election, being elected vice president in 1801. The tie exposed a major flaw in the countrys new constitution, one that was corrected a short time later. How the Electoral College Tie Happened The candidates for president in the 1800 election were Jefferson and incumbent president John Adams, a Federalist. The election was a rematch of the race won by Adams four years earlier, in 1796. Jefferson won more electoral votes the second time around, though, getting 73 to Adams 65. At the time, the Constitution did not allow for electors to choose a vice president but stipulated that the second-highest vote-getter would hold that office. Instead of choosing Jefferson president and Burr vice president, the electors botched their plan and instead awarded both men 73 electoral votes. Under Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution the responsibility of breaking the tie was handed to the U.S. House of Representatives. How the Electoral College Tie Was Broken The delegation from each state in the House was given one vote to award to either Jefferson or Burr, to be decided by a majority of its members. The winner needed to get nine of the 16 votes to be elected president, and the balloting started on Feb. 6, 1801. It took 36 rounds of balloting for Jefferson to win the presidency on Feb. 17. According to the Library of Congress: Still dominated by Federalists, the sitting Congress loathed to vote for Jefferson - their partisan nemesis. For six days starting on February 11, 1801, Jefferson and Burr essentially ran against each other in the House. Votes were tallied over thirty times, yet neither man captured the necessary majority of nine states. Eventually, Federalist James A. Bayard of Delaware, under intense pressure and fearing for the future of the Union, made known his intention to break the impasse. As Delaware’s lone representative, Bayard controlled the state’s entire vote. On the thirty-sixth ballot, Bayard and other Federalists from South Carolina, Maryland, and Vermont cast blank ballots, breaking the deadlock and giving Jefferson the support of ten states, enough to win the presidency. Fixing the Constitution The Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1804, made sure that electors chose presidents and vice presidents separately and that a scenario such as the one that occurred between Jefferson and Burr in 1800 would not happen again. Electoral College Tie in Modern Times There hasnt been an Electoral College tie in modern political history, but such a deadlock is certainly possible. There are 538 electoral votes at stake in every presidential election, and it is conceivable that the two major-party candidates could each win 269, forcing the House of Representatives to choose the winner. How an Electoral College Tie is Broken In modern American elections, the presidential and vice presidential candidates are joined on the ticket and elected to the office together. Voters do not select the president and vice president individually. But under the Constitution, it is possible that the presidential candidate of one party could be paired with the vice presidential candidate of the opposing party in the event the House of Representatives is called on to break an Electoral College tie. Thats because while the House would break a tie for president, the U.S. Senate gets to choose the vice president. If the two houses are controlled by different parties, they could theoretically decide on a president and vice president from different political parties.

Violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Violence - Essay Example WHO acknowledges that 1.6million lives are lost worldwide due to violence especially those aged 15 to 44. Physical violence is the most common form of violence though other forms of violence such as rape, stalking. There are various risk factors that can be used to predict the occurrence of violence and preventive measures put in place to curb the crime before it occurs. The prevalence of firearms in the hands of the general public has been blamed for causing violence especially by the youth (Stellman, 1998). The firearms are used in robberies and to cause injuries to others or oneself especially if the handlers are mentally unstable or are aggressive. The firearms are also used as a means to manipulate others to get what they want. The media has also been under fire for its contribution to violence. Most films and TV movies involve violence and the youth become more aggressive by watching such programs. According to Berrios and Grady (1991), people who live with alcohol and drug abu sers are at a risk of violence. For example, 67% of the victims of domestic violence who lived with the batterer, in 48% of the cases the batterer had an alcohol and drug problem.

Solve one world problem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Solve one world problem - Essay Example There are two issues related to the problem that I would like to address. One is the neglect caused to an elderly member of the family on the basis of ageism and the diminishing ‘value’ of a human life based on materialistic concerns. The second issue is the general aversion people show towards a family member who is terminally ill, which leads to a situation where s/he is put in a hospice, at the care of others. Though it may be a good idea at times to entrust aged and terminally ill people to the care of those specialized in such care, I believe the involvement of family members in the whole procedure will improve the prospects of a person retaining a lot of positive energy even as s/he nears the last phase of life. My view on this is related to the immense value a human life has and the need to address the cruelty from others who give up on the life of someone simply because s/he is too old and sick. I believe that this universal issue can be solved only through proper sensitization. This has to start from the kindergarten, where kids should be taught the ways in which they should respect life. Along with the awareness that should necessarily be passed on with regard to the unnecessary evils of a World War and the impending disasters of Global Warming, each and every child should learn how to treat elderly people. They should be fully aware of the different phases of human life, and the inevitability of growing old and dying. They should know how to help elderly people keep their dignity through their suffering related to sickness, even as they are at the care of those who are trained to treat them. Apart from functional treatment, older people need and deserve a lot of love and care. I have witnessed many cases where a dying grandfather or grandmother craving for the attention of their family, while all they get is words of consolation from the home nurses. This is a very sad s ituation, and I

True View and Fair Presentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

True View and Fair Presentation - Essay Example Countries like UK, EU, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand have opted to adopt the 'true and fair view', whereas United States preferred to adopt GAAP standards. (Hopwood, Page, & Turley, 1990) While 'Present fairly in accordance with GAAP' took its origin from the US financial reporting regulations in 1939 (McEnroe & Martens, 1998), UK Companies Act 1947 introduced the concept of 'True and Fair View' for the first time in the UK. (Parker & Nobes, 1994) However the latest version of the International Accounting Standard - 1 (IAS 1) which became operative on or after 1st July 1998 recommends the adoption of both the reporting standards. IAS - 1 requires a fair presentation and disclosure in compliance with the IAS and in cases where there is a misleading element in the compliance to the IAS, the reporting can adopt a limited 'true and fair view' to override the fair presentation. (IAS 1, 1998) This paper examines whether the 'fair presentation' requirements of IAS - 1 undermine the UK's adoption of the view of 'true and fair' in the reporting of the financial statements. There is no authoritative definition of the term 'true and fair view' and some of the approaches to the definition have considered the concept in relation to the individual components of the terms in isolation. (Cowan, 1965) Chastney (1975) suggests that either of the terms does not presuppose the other and the also doubts whether the combined effect of the term amounts to more than the effect of the individual terms. Parker and Nobes (1991) found that majority of the auditors had made a distinction between both the terms 'true' and 'fair'. They also concluded out of their survey on the UK Directors that most of the directors considered both terms are synonymous. Both the terms 'true' and 'fair' have been defined in a precise and exact manner. "The nature of truth, whether it is absolute or relative, whether it exists as a reality, an incontrovertible thing, or as an abstraction, whether it is dependent or independent of the believer/observer and whether any statement can be proven or merely falsified are all aspects that that have been applied to accounting theory and research." (Covaleski & Dirsmith, 1990; Chua, 1986) Meaning of 'Fairly Presented, In Accordance with GAAP' Just like the terms 'true and fair view' there is no precise definition available of the term present fairly in accordance with GAAP' which can be considered as the American Equivalent of 'true and fair view'. Mano et al (1996) observe that the term may mean: The reports presented fairly and also in accordance with the generally accepted accounting principles

Strategic Financial Management Master Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Strategic Financial Management Master - Essay Example Another school of thought believes that dividends are adverse for the average shareholder as they attract taxes and cause fiscal disadvantages. Last but not the least the third group lauds large dividends as positive signal to shareholders that all is well. So where does the modern shareholder satisfaction stand in relation to dividend policies This is the main issue which I will review in my paper below. This question relates to a consideration of the corporate dividend policy as to whether shareholders should be paid sufficient dividends or whether or not they are making sizeable profits on the stock market. Over the last half century academics have spoken in great depth over this issue and suggested conflicting theoretical frameworks to explain their points of view.(Frankfurter 2002).The problem is that these assertions often lack empirical depth to the criticism and stumble upon self contradictions in an attempt to explain corporate dividend behaviour.(Frankfurter 2002).Today academic opinion is divided as to whether dividends are attractive to shareholders and will have a positive impact in stock prices.(Frankfurter 2002 )Another school of thought contends that prices are negatively correlated with dividend payout levels.(Frankfurter 2002).The third view is that firm dividend policy is irrelevant in stock price valuation. (Frankfurter 2002).My paper will discuss and try to recon cile all these views towards a better theory and understanding of this issue. These views are best summed up as being based upon, the tax effect ( Litzenberger and Ramaswamy (1980),)Clientele effects explanations (Elton and Gruber, 1970), Agency theory explanations(Easterbrook 1984), Signalling models(John and Williams (1985), and psychological/sociological explanations (Frankfurter and Lane 1992). Frankfurter and Wood (2002) have even gone ahead to suggest that none of the dividend theories are unequivocally verified. Academics and theorists like (Adam Smith 1937) have recognised that there will always be agency costs related to taking care of shareholder priorities and controlling unruly management staff.(Corporate Governance issues). 2- Definitions and views from academics Dividend policy has a large bearing on agency costs and many academics have recognised this (Fama and Fama) but their belief that payments of large dividends would potentially compensate for the shareholders are often ignored during decision making in a company according to John and Kalay 1982 "Debt covenants to minimize dividend payments are necessary to prevent bondholder wealth transfers to shareholders .Although potentially substantial in precipitation of agency costs, its dividend policy is not a major source of bondholder wealth expropriation. In firms where dividend payouts are limited by bondholder covenants, dividend payout levels are still below the maximum level allowed by the constraints" (Frankfurter