The Historical Geography of Mesopotamia Essay -- History Iraq Papers H

The Historical Geography of Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region in southwest Asia where the world's earliest civilization developed. The name comes from a Greek word meaning "between rivers," referring to the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, north or northwest of the bottleneck at Baghdad. It is known as Al-Jazirah, or "The Island," to the Arabs (3). South of this lies Babylonia. However, in the broader sense, the name Mesopotamia has come to be used for the area bounded on the northeast by the Zagros Mountains, and on the southwest by the edge of the Arabian Plateau, and stretching from the Persian Gulf in the southeast to the Anti-Taurus Mountains in the northwest (5). Only from the latitude of Baghdad do the Euphrates and Tigris truly become twin rivers, the "rafidan" of the Arabs, which have constantly changed their courses throughout the ages. This region was the center of a culture whose influence extended throughout the Middle East and even the rest of the known world. This paper will focus o n the importance of geography in raising this small region to such a level of high importance in the history of the world. Explanation of the Applicable National Standards for Geography The National Standards for Geography are being employed into school education programs throughout the United States. The source for the standards is Geography for Life in which they are published. The book suggests the essential knowledge, shills and perspectives that students should master by grades 4,8,and 12. One of these such standards is "knows and understands the physical and human characteristics of places." This is very important to the extent that people cannot fully understand a place unless they first ... ...peoples. The geography of this area certainly played a central role in the importance and influence of these lands. Geography has had a heavy hand in the culture and history of Mesopotamia, as it does in all areas of the world. Works Cited 1. Fertile Crescent Civilizations. http://killeenroos.com/1/mesodata.htm (4-27-99) 2. Fertile Crescent Home Page. http://www.leb.net/~fchp/FC-MNFM.HTML (4-27-99) 3. Kramer, Samuel Noah. The Sumerians. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1963. 4. Mallowan, M.E.L. Early Mesopotamia and Iran. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1965. 5. "Mesopotamia." Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia. 15th ed. 1997. 6. Oates, David. Studies in the Ancient History of Northern Iraq. London: Oxford UniversityPress, 1963. 7. Oppenheim, A. Leo. Ancient Mesopotamia. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1964.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: Mr. Darcy Overcoming His Pride

Pride and Prejudice written by Jane Austen in the 19th century, tells the story of an upper class man Mr. Darcy over coming his pride, to fall in love with middle class Elizabeth Bennet, who agrees to marry him after getting over her own prejudicial issues. The story is set in the early 1800’s in England, when class and social order were very important, and people married for money and social status. Austen has written the book to criticize and poke fun at some of these ridiculous values in a satirical way, and positions the reader to see that marriage isn’t about money or social status, but true love. Through the way Jane has written the story and constructed the characters, as a reader we are positioned to respond agreeably to the ways in which she has represented ideas and portrayed stereotypes and customs based on the social standings and issues of the regency era. In Pride and Prejudice, one of the main themes focuses on marriage. Austen believes that marriage should be for love, not for financial and social stability. Austen has constructed juxtaposing couples to portray how couples that marry for true love continue to love and live happily, while couples who marry for money and status end up miserable. There are several characters in the novel that married for financial and social well being; Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins, Mr. Wickham and Lydia and Mr. and Mrs. Bennet- all constructed with negative personality traits. When Mr. Collins visits the Bennet’s house at Longburn- where he is heir to the estate, he is in search of a wife- preferably a Bennet sister as he feels a little guilty as they will be kicked out of their home when their father dies and he will inherit the estate. When Mr. Collin’s first proposes, it is to Lizzy, and his reasoning is completely lacking emotion and is based on â€Å"logic and convenience†, as he explained â€Å"My reasons for marrying are, first, that I think it a right thing for every clergyman in easy circumstances (like myself) to set the example of matrimony in his parish. Secondly, that I am convinced it will add very greatly to my happiness; and thirdly – which perhaps I ought to have mentioned earlier, that it is the particular advice and recommendation of the very noble lady whom I have the honor of calling patroness. This dialogue shows that he is only thinking about his image as a clergyman, and how he would please Lady Catherine and help out the Bennet family at the same time. It was not love that would add to his happiness but more that he was doing something noble and would be seen in a good light by others. Austin portrays this sentiment of the era further when the reader sees how emotionless Mr. Coll ins is, after Lizzy’s polite â€Å"no thank you†, he persistently asks her, before finally giving up and three days later becoming engaged to Lizzy’s best friend, Charlotte Lucas. Charlotte who had deliberately set her sights on Mr. Collins, consoling him after he is declined by Lizzy, was 27 years old, and thought it was highly unlikely she would get a better offer of marriage. As she discussed with Lizzy, she was marrying for financial security and believed that â€Å"Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. † When Charlotte saw Lizzy’s shocked face as she announced her engagement she responded with â€Å"Oh, hush. Not all of us can afford to be romantic. I've been offered a comfortable home and protection. There's a lot to be thankful for. This shows us that though Charlotte was an intelligent lady, she had a pragmatic approach to marriage with no sense of romantic attraction to Mr. Collins- that she â€Å"accepted him solely from the pure and disinterested desire of an establishment†. When Lizzy visits Charlotte at her home in Kent, she basically tells Lizzy that she tries to get rid of her husband by sending him gardenin g and off on unnecessary trips- minimizing the time they spend together. Austen is showing us the ridiculousness of them marrying for social security and how in their relationship they barely even speak to each other. As a reader, we are encouraged to see the marriage between Mr. Collins and Charlotte as a prime example in supporting Austen’s focus on the idea that marriage should be for love not financial and social sanctuary. Austen has positioned readers to see these characters as the pragmatists of the novel. Readers are not really encouraged to like these characters. Austen leaves us, as readers, respecting Lizzy’s decision to marry for love and feeling contempt and disdain for Mr. Collins and Charlotte and their choice to have a loveless, unhappy marriage. In Pride and Prejudice, Austen has characterized Mrs. Bennet and her daughter Lydia as silly, loud and frivolous characters, good examples of the foolish behaviour and values found in some of the middle/upper class women. Austen has characterized these characters to allow us as a reader to view them as ridiculous compared with Lizzy. Mrs Bennet is shown as a rude overbearing mother, who’s sole ambition in life is to get her five daughters married into the best financial and social position possible. When a single rich man Mr. Bingley arrives in Netherfield, Mrs. Bennet is set on getting her eldest daughter Jane to marry him. When Jane is invited over to the Bingley’s, her mother demands â€Å"†You had better go on horseback, because it seems likely to rain and you must stay all night†. When Jane falls sick, and must stay put at the Bingley’s, Mrs. Bennet is encouraged because â€Å"As long as she stays there, it is all very well†. This shows that Mrs. Bennet does not think about her daughter’s health, only about her best chance of marrying and gaining a rich inheritance. Lizzy who thinks her mother is been ridiculous, sarcastically comments â€Å"If Jane should die; it would be comfort to know that it was all in pursuit of Mr. Bingley†. Austen has used this line, to help establish the picture that we as readers begin to understand that Mrs Bennet is foolish, greedy and her priorities in regard to her daughter’s health and marriage are muddled. However as an alternative reading, we could interpret that Mrs. Bennet as only trying to help her daughters, as middle/upper class women would be thought poorly of, if they got a job, and if they had no inheritance, there would be no money source; so it was crucial that they got married at a young age to secure financial security. However Austin writes Lizzy’s character as overcoming these problems without this foolishness. As mentioned Lydia Bennet, like her mother is loud, frivolous and often an embarrassment to her family. She is the youngest of the Bennet sisters at only 15 and is portrayed as immature, silly and naive. Being the favourite of her mother, (as they are both so alike) Lydia is spoilt and has never really been taught how to act or behave in public. So when Lydia is given permission to go away to Brighton, Lizzy is not content, arguing with her father that â€Å"†Our importance, our respectability in the world, must be affected by the wild volatility, the assurance and disdain of all restraint which mark Lydia's character. This gives us as readers, a look at how she is viewed by respectable people in society through Lizzy’s dialogue we are encouraged to think the same. Lydia is also very flirtatious, as Lizzy goes on to describe her as â€Å"A flirt, too, in the worst and meanest degree of flirtation; without any attraction beyond youth and a tolerable person; and from the ignorance and emptiness of her mind†. Through other people’s descriptions of Lydia, we as readers dislike her embarrassing and imprudent attitude. When Lydia elopes with Mr. Wickham, she puts the family name in tatters and does not even acknowledging the shameful thing she had done. The message that Jane Austen is trying to display is that the Regency Era had such strict and absurd behaviours, values and class discrepancies. Through using satirical techniques she has encouraged us as readers to respond by disliking the caricatures of Mrs. Bennet and Lydia, as they help represent the ridiculousness of the society during that period. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen is a romantic novel, which challenges and ridicules the era in which it was written, the early 19th century. Austen, has used satirical language and irony as main literary techniques, to help form the ideas of how she viewed the society. Jane’s perspective was that marriage should be for love, not financial security, and that social status and class; including their roles, values and manners, played a much too important part in defining the society. Through the over exaggeration of stereotypical people from this era, Austin has successfully set us to interpret the characters, ideas and messages of the book to her understanding. As readers, we are compelled to dislike and laugh at many of the characters discussed, as they represent the negatives of period. Austen has successfully constructed this novel through these negatives and the positive characteristics of Lizzy and Mr. Darcy to ensure, that the audience is persuaded to feel strongly and agree with Austen on the messages that marriage should not be for social and financial stability, and that the society should not revolve around class and social status.

The Emancipation Proclamation Was Also Foreign Policy

Everyone knows that when Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 he was freeing American slaves. But did you know the abolition of slavery was also a key element of Lincolns foreign policy? When Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862, England had been threatening to intervene in the American Civil War for over a year. Lincolns intent to issue the final document on January 1, 1863, effectively prevented England, which had abolished slavery in its own territories, from stepping into the U.S. conflict. Background The Civil War began on April 12, 1861, when the breakaway Southern Confederate States of America fired on the holdout U.S. Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Southern states had begun seceding in December 1860 after Abraham Lincoln won the presidency a month earlier. Lincoln, a Republican, was against slavery, but he had not called for its abolition. He campaigned on a policy of prohibiting the spread of slavery to western territories, but Southern slaveholders interpreted that as the beginning of the end for slavery. At his inauguration on March 4, 1861, Lincoln reiterated his stance. He had no intention to address slavery where it presently existed, but he did intend to preserve the Union. If the southern states wanted war, he would give it to them. First Year of War The first year of the war did not go well for the United States. The Confederacy won the opening battles of Bull Run in July 1861 and Wilsons Creek the next month. In the spring of 1862, Union troops captured western Tennessee but suffered appalling casualties at the Battle of Shiloh. In the east, a 100,000-man army failed to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, even though it maneuvered to its very gates. In the summer of 1862, General Robert E. Lee took command of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. He beat Union troops in the Battle of the Seven Days in June, then at the Second Battle of Bull Run in August. He then plotted an invasion of the North which he hoped would earn the South European recognition. England and the U.S. Civil War England traded with both North and South before the war, and both sides expected British support. The South expected dwindling cotton supplies due to the Norths blockade of Southern ports would leverage England into recognizing the South and forcing the North to a treaty table. Cotton proved not so strong, however, England had built-up supplies and other markets for cotton. England nevertheless supplied the South with most of its Enfield muskets and allowed Southern agents to build and outfit Confederate commerce raiders in England and sail them from English ports. Still, that did not constitute English recognition of the South as an independent nation. Since the War of 1812 ended in 1814, the U.S. and England had experienced what is known as the Era of Good Feelings. During that time, the two countries had arrived at a series of treaties beneficial to both, and the British Royal Navy tacitly enforced the U.S. Monroe Doctrine. Diplomatically, though, Great Britain could benefit from a fractured American government. The continental-sized United States posed a potential threat to British global, imperial hegemony. But a North America split into two―or perhaps more― squabbling governments should be no threat to Britains status. Socially, many in England felt a kinship to the more aristocratic American southerners. English politicians periodically debated intervening in the American war, but they took no action. For its part, France wanted to recognize the South, but it would do nothing without British agreement. Lee was playing to those possibilities of European intervention when he proposed invading the North. Lincoln, however, had another plan. Emancipation Proclamation In August 1862, Lincoln told his cabinet that he wanted to issue a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. The Declaration of Independence was Lincolns guiding political document, and he believed literally in its statement that all men are created equal. He had for some time wanted to expand war aims to include abolishing slavery, and he saw an opportunity to use abolition as a war measure. Lincoln explained that the document would become effective on January 1, 1863. Any state that had given up the rebellion by that time could keep their slaves. He recognized that Southern animosity ran so deep that the Confederate states were unlikely to return to the Union. In effect, he was turning the war for union into a crusade. He also realized that Great Britain was progressive as far as slavery was concerned. Thanks to the political campaigns of William Wilberforce decades earlier, England had outlawed slavery at home and in its colonies. When the Civil War became about slavery―not just union―Great Britain could not morally recognize the South or intervene in the war. To do so would be diplomatically hypocritical. As such, the Emancipation was one part social document, one part war measure, and one part insightful foreign policy maneuver. Lincoln waited until U.S. troops won a quasi-victory at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, before he issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. As he expected, no southern states gave up the rebellion prior to January 1. Of course, the North had to win the war for emancipation to become effective, but until the wars end in April 1865, the U.S. no longer had to worry about English or European intervention.