History Essays
Motives for European Colonization
Motives for European Colonization Christopher Columbus, considered one of the greatest explorers of all time. Like every other explorer, Columbus had many reasons for his exploration. However, it is made obvious by studying the history of Columbus' explorations that his main motive for exploration was greed. Columbus had the same desires as many explorers both before and after him. He yearned for gold. He wanted land. He wanted power. The whole purpose for his first voyage ...
Spanish Influence in the New World
Spanish Influence in the New World When the Spaniards came to settle the New World, or what is now Mexico and Peru, they imposed many new ways and customs for the people living there. These institutions were partially what the Spaniards were used to from living in Spain, and others were simply to live better. The Spaniards imposed many political, economical, and social institutions in the New World never heard of before by the Indians, and many feudal customs and systems th...
Immigration to the Americas
Immigration to the Americas Prior to 1650, many Englishmen immigrated to the New World, specifically to the North American Colonies. These immigrants fled from a society that they found to be displeasing in many specific ways. Although economic and political values led to much of the English migration to the New World, religious tumult in England was undoubtedly the main cause for the immigration. James I, who believed in the divine right of kings, thought he was...
African Diaspora In the New World
African Diaspora In the New World The study of cultures in the African Diaspora is relatively young. Slavery and the trans-Atlantic slave trade brought numerous Africans, under forced and brutal conditions, to the New World. Of particular interest to many recent historians and Africanists is the extent to which Africans were able to transfer, retain, modify or transform their cultures under the conditions of their new environments. Three main schools of thought have emerged ...
American Republican Ideology
American Republican Ideology The republican ideology is a facet of the social fabric of the colonial citizens of America that may, arguably, have had the greatest affect on the struggle for independence and the formation of a constitutional form of government in the United States. The birth of the republican ideology, while impossible to place an exact date on, or even month, can be traced back more than a decade before the Revolutionary War. It can also be argued that this...
First and Second Reconstructions
First and Second Reconstructions The First and Second Reconstructions held out the great promise of rectifying racial injustices in America. The First Reconstruction, emerging out of the chaos of the Civil War had as its goals equality for Blacks in voting, politics, and use of public facilities. The Second Reconstruction emerging out of the booming economy of the 1950's, had as its goals, integration, the end of Jim Crow and the more amorphous goal of making America a bira...
Baron von Steuben
Baron von Steuben The Prussian Baron von Steuben, being a newcomer to the Revolutionary cause in America, was in a position to see many of the deficiencies in military discipline and their causes. The reasons for his unique insight may have been due to the fact that he was distanced from the revolutionary ideals in America, and as a result, was able to better observe and understand them; and ultimately use them to shape his new and successful form of discipline in the Cont...
Causes of the Revolutionary War
Causes of the Revolutionary War During the late seventeen hundreds, many tumultuous events resulted in Colonial opposition to Great Britain. The conditions of rights of the colonists will slowly be changed as the constriction of the parliament becomes more and more intolerable. During the Seven Years' War England was not only alarmed by the colonists' insistence on trading with the enemy, but also with Boston merchants hiring James Otis inorder to protest the legality of the...
Farmers' Discontent in the 1800s
Farmers' Discontent in the 1800s The period between 1880 and 1900 was a boom time for American politics. The country was for once free of the threat of war, and many of its citizens were living comfortably. However, as these two decades went by, the American farmer found it harder and harder to live comfortably. Crops such as cotton and wheat, once the bulwark of agriculture, were selling at prices so low that it was nearly impossible for farmers to make a profit off them. ...
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler 1. THE BEGINNING At half past six on the evening of April 20th, 1889 a child was born in the small town of Branau, Austria. The name of the child was Adolf Hitler. He was the son a Customs official Alois Hitler, and his third wife Klara. As a young boy Adolf attendated church regulary and sang in the local choir. One day he carved a symbol into the bench which resembled the Swastika he later used as the symbol of the Nazi party. He was a pretty good student....
Adolf Hitler and the DAP
Adolf Hitler and the DAP The German Workers' Union was conceived by Anton Drexler on the seventh of March, 1918. Drexler's union consisted of about forty members, most of whom were railwaymen, that were banded together by shared sentiments of fierce nationalism, anti-Semitism, and support for the war effort. Previous to the end of World War I, this small union carried the rather verbose title of the "Free Labor Committee for a Good Peace." At this time the organization adhe...
Brief Look at the Holocaust
Brief Look at the Holocaust Nearly six million Jews were killed and murdered in what historians have called "The Holocaust." The word 'holocaust' is a conflagration, a great raging fire that consumes in it's path all that lives. In the years between 1933 and 1945, the Jews of Europe were marked for total annihilation. Moreover, anti-Semitism was given legal sanction. It was directed by Adolf Hitler and managed by Heinne Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich and Adolf Eichmann. There we...
Mussolini's Seizure of Power
Mussolini's Seizure of Power On the 23 March 1919 after a series of Communist demonstrations, the almost forgotten Mussolini decided to attempt to revive his Fasci movement. A meeting was held in a hall in a Milan and was attended by some fifty malcontents. From this seemingly small and insignificant event the Fascio di Combattimento' (Combat Group) was born. Initially, it would seem that the Fasci were destined for failure with none of their candidates (including Mussolini)...
Operation Barbarossa in WWII
Operation Barbarossa in WWII "When Operation Barbarossa is launched, the world will hold its breath!" - Adolf Hitler On the night of June 22, 1941, more than 3 million German soldiers, 600 000 vehicles and 3350 tanks were amassed along a 2000km front stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Their sites were all trained on Russia. This force was part of 'Operation Barbarossa', the eastern front of the greatest military machine ever assembled. This machine was Adolf Hi...
The U.S. Entering World War II
The U.S. Entering World War II "A date that will live in infamy," (Snyder 33) was what President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called December 7, 1941. It was a calm Sunday morning at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu. Then two U.S. soldiers saw an oscilloscope signal on their mobile radars. They immediately called this in to their commanding officer but he told them to ignore it because the base was expecting a squadron of friendly B-17's to be coming from the mainland. Thir...
The Extermination of the Jews
The Extermination of the Jews The first 13 of the 18 documents, collectively called The Extermination of the Jews, were not in any way new stories to me. In fact I came into this book with the same attitude that I usually do when faced with Holocaust stories, that of "Yes it was horrible, but I know all about it already. This reading isn't going to do anything to my attitude." I, as I always am in thinking such a thought, was wrong. No matter how much you know, no matter how...
The Fall of Germany in World War I
The Fall of Germany in World War I None of the European power wanted World War I, but they feared Germany. Germany was newly unified, and was beating the European powers in population and Industry. France wanted to recover the Alsace-Lorraine. Britain was a country used to being on the ocean, so they felt threatened by Germany's colonial expansion and William II's insisting on a large navy. Russia and Austria feared pressure on their unstable empires. In 1887 William II ref...
Nazi Leaders in World War II
Nazi Leaders in World War II Many people have contributed to the cruel treatment of human beings, specifically Jews, in Nazi Germany during the second World War. This is a report on the damage carried out by some of the Nazi criminals working under the rule of Adolf Hitler. Many people contributed in Hitler's attempt to carry out his 'Final Solution'. Among these people are Ernst Roehm, Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Himmler, and Hermann Wilhelm Goering. While I discuss how they pa...
The Presidency of FDR
The Presidency of FDR In 1932, Americans realized that they had an increasingly great financial problem on their hands, and tried to correct it by centralizing power. The President acquired so much power that the nation almost became a communism, especially with Roosevelt's introduction of the New Deal. When Franklin Roosevelt became President of the United States in 1933, the nation was in the depths of the worst depression it had ever experienced. President Roos...
U.S. Soldiers After World War II
U.S. Soldiers After World War II The accounts from soldiers describing combat in general present an image of a hellish nightmare where all decency and humanity could be lost. For men who fought under these conditions, coming home was a very difficult transition. Above all, these men wanted to return to "normalcy", to come back to a life that they had been promised if the war was won. This would turn out to be harder to obtain then first expected, problems ranging from the a...
Modernization of Air Warfare
Modernization of Air Warfare Thesis: Military aircraft has become more sophisticated in variety, effectiveness in war situations, and special maneuvering techniques in recent years. Military aircraft has become more sophisticated in variety, effectiveness in war situations, and special maneuvering techniques in recent years. With the advance of stealth technology, many new and very effective aircraft have been developed. The F-117A was used during Operation Dessert Storm a...
Economic Growth in Zimbabwe
Economic Growth in Zimbabwe The country of Zimbabwe is one of the most economically developed on the African continent . A fairly young political entity, Zimbabwe has only enjoyed recognized autonomy since 1980, the year in which the United Kingdom repealed its imperialistic claims to the African nation . Despite its youth the country has achieved a level of economic development uncharacteristic of sub-Saharan African nations. Second only to South Africa in economic develop...
Egypt-Israeli Conflict and the West
Egypt-Israeli Conflict and the West The History of the conflict in the Middle East is long and well documented. To both, and to many biased observers the history of the Egyptian/Israeli conflict is very one sided, with one government, or one people causing the continued wars between the two neighboring states. But, as any social scientist of any reputation will state, all international conflicts have more than one side, and usually are the result of events surrounding, and ex...
Human Rights in Brazil
Human Rights in Brazil The population in Brazil consists of 144 million people. Brazil is one of the fastest-growing nations in the Western Hemisphere. Its population is increasing at the rate of about 2% a year. The constitution of Brazil gives the president tremendous powers. For example, the president may intervene in affairs of Brazil's states. The chief executive may even create new states from existing ones. Brazil has three main ethnic groups-whites, blacks...
Early 1900s in N. America
Early 1900s in N. America Life in the 1900's was depressing and was an era filled with extremely hard and strenous work that didn't offer any future for the average canadian in doing better. If you were an average wage earner you would be virtually stuck in the same job for the rest of your life, while rich maintained their wealth mainly caused by the low taxes. Living conditions were poor for average canadians and even worse for the arriving immigrants. At this time some of the ...