In 1900 Russia was the last remaining absolute autocracy out of the great powers of Europe. Approximately eighty four per cent of Russians were peasants, lead by an over privileged upper class who had enslaved them for centuries. There existed a total lack of understanding or sympathy between the workers/peasants and their ruling class, who cared little about their responsibility and obligation to care for the welfare of their people. By the turn of the century many voices emerged in hope to see reforms of their backward nation. For many years there had been desire for reform, but not until the layer upon layer of revolutionary pressure in the precondition phase did it blatantly warn of change, which Tsar Nicholas 2nd attempted to ignore and oppress. Continue Reading »

Born into the age of manifest destiny, Theodore Roosevelt, the twenty-sixth President of the United States, was probably the most domineering politician of the first half of the twentieth century. He was a hunter, a soldier, a cowboy, and a Statesman, his likeness forever carved into Mount Rushmore. He started the National Park Department, and collected specimens for the museum of Natural History. The Teddy Bear was named after him; he even won the Nobel peace prize. His political doctrine shaped not only our own country, but even affects international affairs today. Throughout his political career Roosevelt worked to build an American Empire. Roosevelt got what he wanted with little or no regard for other countries. From the Spanish American War to the Panama Canal, Roosevelt promoted America as a world power, and often times this was done at the expense of others. Continue Reading »

Al Capone: those two words, instantly recognizable, conjure up many vivid images in the minds of people all across America. They however mean much more to the inhabitants of Chicago, “the city of broad shoulders” so aptly named after the man who once had an unquestionable hold upon the city and its surrounding communities. Capone is what every gangster desires to be. He is the vision of what a gangster blueprint looks like that is burnt into the minds of the people who experienced his reign firsthand. Young as they may have been at the height of Capone’s legacy, they undoubtedly felt the effects of Capone’s power and celebrity as his presence was impossible to ignore. Even people of today view Capone as the blueprint for gangster perfection, the greatest and most famed gangster of all time. Continue Reading »

Snap, click followed by dozens of flashing lights. Diana Spencer got out of her vehicle to go to one of her many charity organizations. Everyday Lady Spencer had to deal with the public. Lady Diana Francis Spencer led a privileged background. She was born on July 1, 1961. She was supposed to be a boy. But boy were her parents in for a surprise. Diana grew up at Park House in Norfolk. In 1967, When Diana was six, her parents separated. Eventually they were divorced and both of them went on to marry again. Diana and the other children found this very difficult. They saw their mother, but continued to live with their father. A series of nannies took care of them when they were not at boarding school. Continue Reading »

By the beginning of the sixteenth century, some significant institutional changes in Europe took place like the discovery of new continent, Renaissance, and religion revolution, which made the next two hundred years different from the preceding era of feudalism and portended the advent of capitalism. The intervening period is called mercantilism. The essential characteristic of mercantilism, I think, is economizing expenses and exporting products in order to strengthen nation-state. Gold and silvers becomes the end of final objective. This economic system has its special principal rules on nationalism, and eventually follows its inevitable trend to failure after 200 years. Continue Reading »

The Salem Witch Trials, of 1692, occurred in Salem Massachusetts. This is a case where people accused other people of witchcraft. Salem was a town governed by strict Puritan religion, and to have such a charge labeled against you could cost you your life. According to Boyer and Nissenbaum, there were many worldly reasons for the events that happened so many years ago. In this essay, the authors make their findings based on scientific analysis and much historical research. Paul Boyer and Stephen argued that the Salem Witchcraft Trials took place because of the separation of the east and west, the choosing of the ministers of the church, and the agricultural and merchant interests. Continue Reading »

What is more important national security or individual rights? This question has been posed many times throughout our nation’s history. One of the most memorable times when this became an issue was the McCarthy era. Did Communism threaten America’s internal security in the 1940’s and early 1950’s or did Joseph McCarthy and the House of Un-American Activities Committee create a Red Scare and abuse their powers? The answer to this question is yes to both parts. After World War II, it was obvious that the three world powers were the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the United States. Even before the War ended, Joseph Stalin was attempting both to become the most superior power and to possibly spread Communism through espionage. Soviet spies had infiltrated into the American government and established a liable threat to our national security. In reaction to this, Joseph McCarthy and the HUAC promoted a sense of political fear throughout the United States and threatened to destroy the balance between national security and individual freedom. Soviet espionage threatened national security and brought about the second Red Scare in which McCarthy not only destroyed the lives and careers of many Americans but also the innocent image of the country. Continue Reading »

During their expedition, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark Met and Encountered many different Indian tribes. Since Lewis and Clark met so many tribes they decided that they would greet every Indian tribe the same way. Some of the tribes greeted them with gifts, while others greeted them with immediate violence.

Lewis and Clark met with the Arikara Indians on October 8,1804. When they met the Arikara Indians, only a small population of their tribe had existed. They found three Arikara villages, where most of the people lived in earth lodges. There were about 2,000 people in all of these villages combined. “Arikara men wore buffalo robes, leggings and moccasins, and many warriors wielded guns that they had acquired in trade. Women were clad in fringed antelope dresses.” Most of the Arikara were farmers. When crops did not grow well they resorted to shooting buffalo. Continue Reading »

“If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth The Japanese city was a wasteland of scattered ashes. a few chimneys survived, standing upright. Trees were bare; mounds of bicycles lay crumpled and warped. On that bright and cloudless morning an uranium bomb as innocent sounding as “Little Boy” hit this town. After a great-blinding flash, 70,000 people were literally burned to death. The dark, ominous mushroom cloud stood as a symbol for destruction. Hiroshima became the first act of nuclear warfare and this topic remains a passionate debate today, from both a moral and strategic viewpoint. Continue Reading »

America’s decision to declare independence form Great Britain was both due the change of economic policies and to the development of refining life and liberty. After driving the French out, with help from the Indians and British troops, colonist began to quarrel with Parliament’s insistence of testing the limits of their power in North America. Their control was made difficult when residents decided to smuggle and boycott goods. Eventually, the colonies resistance and loss of patience would lead them directly to independence.

The Proclamation of 1763 was the first to anger the colonist. In order to assure the Indians that settlers would not invade tribal lands, Britain emphasized colonist not to expand to the westward region. Shortly after, the use of writs of assistance, which allowed customs to search anywhere without the used of a warrant, placed a major infringement upon colonial natural rights. Continue Reading »