Sunbeam Free Essays

In 1897 John K. Stewart and Thomas Clark consolidated their Chicago Flexible Shaft Company, which made pony cutting and sheep shearing hardware. [4] In 1910 the organization created its first Sunbeam marked family unit apparatus, the Princess Electric Iron. We will compose a custom paper test on Sunbeam or on the other hand any comparable point just for you Request Now The organization didn't authoritatively change its name to Sunbeam until 1946. [5] In 1928, the company’s head creator, Swedish settler Ivar Jepson, concocted the Mixmaster blender. Presented in 1930, it was the principal mechanical blender with two separable mixers whose sharp edges interlocked. [6] The Mixmaster turned into the company’s lead item for the following forty years, yet the brand likewise got known for the structures, predominantly by Robert Davol Budlong, of electric toasters, espresso creators, and electric shavers, among different machines. [edit] Purchases and acquisitions Sunbeam purchased out the Rain King Sprinkler Company and created one of the most well known garden sprinkler lines of the 1950s and 1960s. In the interim, Sunbeam kept on growing outside of Chicago. Before the finish of the 1970s, as the main American maker of little apparatuses, Sunbeam delighted in about $1. 3 billion in yearly deals and utilized almost 30,000 individuals around the world. The John Oster Manufacturing Company was obtained in 1980 by Sunbeam Corporation. In 1981, after Sunbeam was purchased by Allegheny International Inc. of Pittsburgh, the majority of the Chicago-zone production lines were shut and the home office moved from the Chicago area. During this time the organizations Allegheny controlled included John Zink Company (fabricated air contamination control gadgets) and Hanson Scale (made washroom scales and other parity machines). [7] Allegheny’s 4 head divisions, including Sunbeam, went into decay through the mid 1980s. Since Sunbeam-Oster was one of the most significant divisions, answerable for almost 50% all things considered, the investors were worried about the administration. In 1986, the investors denounced the Chairman and CEO, Robert Buckley of mis-appropriating reserves. 8][9] Buckley’s replacement, Oliver Travers, cut back extensively and by 1988, the organization was basically just Sunbeam and Oster. The decrease proceeded with helped by the securities exchange crash of October 1987 and Allegheny petitioned for Chapter 11 insolvency. [10] In the fall of 1989 a venture bunch called Japonica Partners [11] bought the remaining parts of Allegheny for $250 million ($468. 7 million today) in thre atening takeover. [12] The organization was renamed Sunbeam-Oster Company, Inc. Now the usiness was then partitioned into 4 divisions: Outdoor Products, Household Products, Specialty Products, and International Sales. The organization central station were moved again from Pittsburgh to Providence, Rhode Island and afterward at long last to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. [13] By late 1991, Sunbeam-Oster’s deals had expanded 7% empowering it to make the Fortune 500 rundown. [edit] Chainsaw Al In 1996, Albert J. Dunlap was selected to be CEO and Chairman of Sunbeam-Oster. In 1997, Sunbeam revealed gigantic increments in deals for its different patio and kitchen The most effective method to refer to Sunbeam, Essay models

The Philosophy of the Buddhists Free Essays

I will give you a brief look into the universe of the Buddha and the way of thinking that he used to rehearse and lecture. He was conceived as Siddhartha Gautama in the year 563 BC in Lumbini a spot arranged close to the Indo †Nepal outskirt. His dad was the leader of a unimportant realm of the Sakya clans. We will compose a custom paper test on The Philosophy of the Buddhists or on the other hand any comparable subject just for you Request Now At first Siddhartha drove the rich existence of a ruler in their castle at Kapilavastu, in this way, he was hitched to Yasodhara. He had been living in conjugal rapture for a long time, when he saw an incredibly wiped out individual, a delicate elderly person, the cadaver of an expired individual, a carcass being incinerated and a sadhu or sacred man. This majorly affected Siddhartha, who understood that the typical stages in a person’s life were mature age, infection and in the long run passing. In the year 528 BC, Siddhartha encountered the Great Enlightenment under the Bodhi tree in Gaya, thus, he was known as Buddha or the edified one. His admonishments are known as dhamma. He achieved Nirvana at eighty years old, in the year 483 BC (Siddhartha Gautama). The Dhamma comprises of four respectable certainties. The first of them expresses that life implies languishing. It is basic to acknowledge and acknowledge that you need to experience enduring so as to live on the planet. The world and human instinct are defective. As indicated by the Majjhima †Nikaya, Sutta 63, the pattern of birth and passing are persistent and people need to encounter mature age, distress, outcry, wretchedness, misery and gloom. There are delights, for example, simplicity, solace and bliss. Subsequently from birth to death, people experience both torment and satisfaction. This serves to render the existence design defective and fragmented. The world is basically terrible and deprived of flawlessness. The subsequent truth is that sufferings are brought about by wants and somewhat because of obliviousness. Connection towards ephemeral things and numbness of the way that those things are impermanent causes languishing. Additionally, enduring is brought about by want, enthusiasm, passion, and longing for riches and popularity. A significant statute in this setting is that longing causes obliviousness and bad habit †versa (L. Ross, 2007). The third honorable truth is with respect to reality of suspension. Sufferings can be stayed away from and the total suspension of enduring can be accomplished through nirodha or the unmaking of erotic longing for and reasonable connection. So as to end sufferings, one ought to distinguish their cause and expel them. This can be accomplished through dispassion towards material things, which are transient in nature. At the end of the day, enduring can be evacuated by understanding the reason for misery and afterward expelling the very reason. This is a consistent procedure, which in the long run finishes in Nirvana or that incomparable condition of being that is liberated from all concerns, buildings, creations and the individual sense of self (The Four Noble Truths). The fourth Noble truth is reality of the way, which speaks to the by means of media between the boundaries of austerity and guilty pleasure. There is an eight †crease way by which a human can achieve Nirvana and end sufferings for all time. Thusly includes right information, right determination, right discourse, right direct, right business, right exertion, right care and right contemplation. This way expels all sufferings from life and stretches out over numerous lifetimes of a human (L. Ross, 2007). Hence, Peter, you need to follow this eight crease way. The Buddha systematized a religious request with five essential statutes. These statutes require abstention from slaughtering others, taking, extravagance in unchaste exercises and the utilization of mixed beverages. These key statutes are obligatory for each Buddhist and Peter you need to make them an essential piece of your life. The Buddha had lectured that the act of these statutes brought about Nirvana. Buddha would not elaborate on the term Nirvana. As per Buddhism, both presence and nonexistence are trivial. This way of thinking is named as the Fourfold Negation. It is the major idea on which the Buddhist way of thinking is based (L. Ross, 2007). Some significant and fundamental philosophical teachings in Buddhism are first, passing nature; which expresses that nothing exists for quite a while and that things don't have substance or length. In addition, each second is another presence and is prevailing by another new presence and their interconnection brings about the following second. The subsequent convention is that of relative presence, which expresses that nothing has nature and character. In confinement, things are shunya, which implies vacancy or a vacuum. Presence is along these lines totally relative and the main unconditioned state is that of Nirvana. The third significant teaching is that there is no atman or soul. As indicated by Buddhism, people comprise of a body, emotions, thoughts, impressions and transitory cognizance. Fourth, Buddhism doesn't acknowledge the presence of God, Brahman or some other extreme substance known to mankind. Fifth, everything has a reason, which is subject to a past flashing presence. 6th, karma, is just a causation and rebirth is brought about by the activities of individuals before. Along these lines, karma is the impact of past activities (L. Ross, 2007). Another significant idea of Buddhism is void. A significant philosophical oddity of Buddhism is that structure is void and vacancy is structure. It is the mantra of Buddhism, whose cause is the Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutra or the Heart Sutra. There are misguided judgments about this idea of void; western researchers characterized it as agnosticism. Skepticism expresses that the truth is obscure, that nothing exists, that nothing important can be portrayed about the world. Nonetheless, the Buddhist idea of void is not at all like agnosticism, since it expresses that a definitive the truth is comprehensible. It likewise expresses that there is a clear ontological reason for marvels. Further, individuals can convey and acquire information on the world. Sunyata or void can't be interpreted as nothingness. At the end of the day, vacancy isn't non †presence and it is additionally non †reality (Emptiness). Give incredible consideration to these musings, absorb them and ponder upon them. Your preceptor, Bodhidharma Karmapang. References Emptiness. (n. d. ). Recovered September 11, 2007, from http://www. thebigview. com/buddhism/void. html L. Ross, K. (2007). THE BASIC TEACHINGS OF BUDDHISM. Recovered September 11, 2007, from http://www. friesian. com/buddhism. htm Siddhartha Gautama. (n. d. ). Recovered September 9, 2007, from The Big view: http://www. thebigview. com/buddhism/buddhasresume. html The Four Noble Truths. (n. d. ). Recovered September 11, 2007, from http://www. thebigview. com/buddhism/fourtruths. html Step by step instructions to refer to The Philosophy of the Buddhists, Papers

How to Identify Common Pills Abused by Teens

How to Identify Common Pills Abused by Teens Addiction Drug Use Prescription Medications Print How to Identify Common Pills Abused by Teens Identify the pills, then have a serious conversation By Vincent Iannelli, MD facebook Vincent Iannelli, MD, is a board-certified pediatrician and fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Iannelli has cared for children for more than 20 years. Learn about our editorial policy Vincent Iannelli, MD Medically reviewed by a board-certified physician Updated on February 04, 2020 SW Productions/Photodisc/Getty Images More in Addiction Drug Use Prescription Medications Cocaine Heroin Marijuana Meth Ecstasy/MDMA Hallucinogens Opioids Alcohol Use Addictive Behaviors Nicotine Use Coping and Recovery Youre not the first parent to find a few pills in your childs pocket while washing their clothes. Considering the epidemic of prescription drug addiction and an uptick in overdoses around the United States, its all too common. Addiction is an inclusive disease that does not discriminate by social or economic status. Unfortunately, some kids use, abuse, and sometimes become addicted to drugs. This behavior goes far beyond traditional substances, such as alcohol, cocaine, and heroin.  Today, kids (and adults) also abuse  cough medicines, glue, and many prescription medications.?? One of the first steps you may want to take when you find an unknown pill is to identify which drug it is. Knowing the medications that are abused most often and how to search for pills will help you figure that out. The Most Commonly Abused Pills According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), commonly abused classes of prescription drugs include:?? Opioids: Prescribed to treat pain.Central Nervous System Depressants: Prescribed to treat anxiety and sleep disorders.Stimulants: Prescribed to treat narcolepsy, ADHD, and obesity. More specifically, the most commonly abused prescription drugs by brand and generic name are: Adderall, Dexedrine (dextroamphetamine)OxyContin, Percodan, Percocet, Endocet (oxycodone)Darvon (propoxyphene)Demerol (meperidine)Dilaudid (hydromorphone)Lomotil (diphenoxylate)Nembutal (pentobarbital sodium)Ritalin (methylphenidate)Valium (diazepam)Vicodin, Lortab, Lorecet (hydrocodone)Xanax (alprazolam) The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) offers a helpful booklet for parents that can tell you more about these drugs: Prescription for Disaster: How Teens Abuse Medicine.?? It includes photos and many of the common street names as well. Familiarizing yourself with slang terminology can help you decode your teens conversations if needed. Commonly Abused Prescription Drugs How to Identify DXM A round, red pill with the markings C C C might also be among the cache of meds you just found in your kids pocket. Restarting the pill identification wizard, and again searching by shape and colorâ€"this time for a round and red pillâ€"will give you a number of options. Although there are many similar pills, only one has those markings: Coricidin HBP Cough Cold Tablets. Although it is just a cold and cough medication, many teens actually abuse the dextromethorphan (also called DXM) contained in these little red pills.?? Coricidin HBP Cough and Cold is also known as triple C in the illicit drug market. In addition to dextromethorphan, it contains an antihistamine. Teens take it in higher than recommended doses to produce a quick high, hallucinations, and/or dissociation. Deaths from kids abusing DXM and Coricidin have been reported. How to Identify Adderall One small, round, blue pill that you might also find is Adderall. It has the marking AD on one side and the number 10 on the other. If you use the pill identification wizard on Drugs.com  and search by Shape/Color using the terms round and blue, the resulting  long list of pills includes only one with those markings: Adderall 10mg tablets. Some teenagers take Adderall without a prescription simply to help them concentrate and to do better at school. Others take it to get high, either getting it from a friend or buying it at school.?? Adderall pills can either be swallowed or ground up and snorted for a quicker effect. Signs of Adderall Overdose The Next Step Using a pill identification database, such as the National Institutes of Healths Pillbox, you can run a search for any mysterious pills you find.?? Once you identify them, its time to decide what to do about it. Usually, this involves discussing the pills with your child. If you dont think that a meeting with your child will go well, you might talk to a relative or adult your child respects. They may be willing to sit down and have a conversation with your teen on your behalf. This may help them open up about whats going on and give you some insight into the next steps to take. Don't Be Afraid to Get Help You can also go the professional route and schedule a visit with your pediatrician or a child psychologist. If you raise your concerns about your suspicions that your child is  abusing drugs, they can bring up the subject during the appointment. A Word From Verywell While it can be shocking and upsetting to find unknown pills in your teens possession, do your best to approach the situation with a clear head. There are a number of steps you can take  that can get them the help they need but starting with a calm, caring demeanor is a good place to start. Listening to what they have to say rather than heading straight into consequences or lectures can help take your conversation where you want it to go. Should You Test Your Teen for Drugs?

Jim Crow Research Paper - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 18 Words: 5521 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/09/19 Category People Essay Type Argumentative essay Tags: Jim Crow Laws Essay Racial Discrimination Essay Did you like this example? The term Jim Crow is believed to have originated around 1830 when a white, minstrel show performer, Thomas Daddy Rice, blackened his face with charcoal paste or burnt cork and danced a ridiculous jig while singing the lyrics to the song, Jump Jim Crow. Rice created this character after seeing (while traveling in the South) a crippled, elderly black man (or some say a young black boy) dancing and singing a song ending with these chorus words: Weel about and turn about and do jis so, Ebry time I weel about I jump Jim Crow. Some historians believe that a Mr. Crow owned the slave who inspired Rices actthus the reason for the Jim Crow term in the lyrics. In any case, Rice incorporated the skit into his minstrel act, and by the 1850s the Jim Crow character had become a standard part of the minstrel show scene in America. On the eve of the Civil War, the Jim Crow idea was one of many stereotypical images of black inferiority in the popular culture of the dayalong with Sambos, C oons, and Zip Dandies. The word Jim Crow became a racial slur synonymous with black, colored, or Negro in the vocabulary of many whites; and by the end of the century acts of racial discrimination toward blacks were often referred to as Jim Crow laws and practices. Although Jim Crow Cars on some northern railroad linesmeaning segregated carspre-dated the Civil War, in general the Jim Crow era in American history dates from the late 1890s, when southern states began systematically to codify (or strengthen) in law and state constitutional provisions the subordinate position of African Americans in society. Most of these legal steps were aimed at separating the races in public spaces (public schools, parks, accommodations, and transportation) and preventing adult black males from exercising the right to vote. In every state of the former Confederacy, the system of legalized segregation and disfranchisement was fully in place by 1910. This system of white supremacy cut across clas s boundaries and re-enforced a cult of whiteness that predated the Civil War. Segregation and disfranchisement laws were often supported, moreover, by brutal acts of ceremonial and ritualized mob violence (lynchings) against southern blacks. Indeed, from 1889 to 1930, over 3,700 men and women were reported lynched in the United Statesmost of whom were southern blacks. Hundreds of other lynchings and acts of mob terror aimed at brutalizing blacks occurred throughout the era but went unreported in the press. Numerous race riots erupted in the Jim Crow era, usually in towns and cities and almost always in defense of segregation and white supremacy. These riots engulfed the nation from Wilmington, North Carolina, to Houston, Texas; from East St. Louis and Chicago to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the years from 1865 to 1955. The riots usually erupted in urban areas to which southern, rural blacks had recently migrated. In the single year of 1919, at least twenty-five incidents were recorded, with numerous deaths and hundreds of people injured. So bloody was this summer of that year that it is known as the Red Summer of 1919. The so-called Jim Crow segregation laws gained significant impetus from U. S. Supreme Court rulings in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. In 1883, the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The 1875 law stipulated: That all persons hall be entitled to full and equal enjoyment of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of inns, public conveyances on land or water, theaters, and other places of public amusement. The Court reviewed five separate complaints involving acts of discrimination on a railroad and in public sites, including a theater in San Francisco and the Grand Opera House in New York. In declaring the federal law unconstitutional, Chief Justice Joseph Bradley held that the Fourteenth Amendment did not protect black people from discrimination by private businesses and individual s but only from discrimination by states. He observed in his opinion that it was time for blacks to assume the rank of a mere citizen and stop being the special favorite of the laws. Justice John Marshall Harlan vigorously dissented, arguing that hotels and amusement parks and public conveyances were public services that operated under state permission and thus were subject to public control. It was not long after the Courts decision striking down the Civil Rights Act of 1875 that southern states began enacting sweeping segregation legislation. In 1890, Louisiana required by law that blacks ride in separate railroad cars. In protest of the law, blacks in the state tested the statutes constitutionality by having a light-skinned African American, Homere Plessy, board a train, whereupon he was quickly arrested for sitting in a car reserved for whites. A local judge ruled against Plessy and in 1896 the U. S. Supreme Court upheld the lower courts ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson. The Court asserted that Plessys rights were not denied him because the separate accommodations provided to blacks were equal to those provided whites. It also ruled that separate but equal accommodations did not stamp the colored race with a badge of inferiority. Again, Justice Harlan protested in a minority opinion: Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. Harlans liberal views on race did not extend to the Chinese. He wrote this biased statement in his dissent: There is a race so different from our own that we do not permit those belonging to it to become citizens of the United States. Persons belonging to it are, with few exceptions, absolutely excluded from our country. I allude to the Chinese race. But by the statute in question, a Chinaman can ride in the same passenger coach with white citizens of the United States, while citizens of the black race in Louisiana, many of whom, perhaps, risked their lives for the preservation of the Union, who are entitled, by law, to participate in the political control of the State and nation, who are not excluded, by law or by reason of their race, from public stations of any kind, and who have all the legal rights that belong to white citizens, are yet declared to be criminals, liable to imprisonment, if they ride in a public coach occupied by citizens of the white race. The Plessy case erected a major obstacle to equal rights for blacks, culminating a long series of Court decisions that undermined civil rights for African Americans beginning in the 1870s, most notably the Slaughterhouse Cases, United States v. Reese, United States v. Cruikshank, and the Civil Rights Cases of 1883. The Supreme Court provided additional support for segregation in 1899 in the case of Cumming v. Richmond County Board of Education. In this first case using Plessy as the precedent, the Court decreed that separate schools in Georgia were allowed to operate even if comparable schools for blacks were not available; this was the first case to apply the separate-but-equal doctrine to education. In this case, a unanimous Court ruled that because Richmond County, Georgia, had only enough money to provide a high school for whites it need not shut down the white school in the interests of separate but equal. This case opened the door for the elimination of black schools in districts able to demonstrate (or assert) financial hardships. It also clearly indicated that the Court was more interested in enforcing the separate part of Plessy over the equal. With the Supreme Courts approval, southern states quickly passed laws that restricted the equal access of blacks to all kinds of public areas, accommodations, and conveyances. Local officials began posting Whites Only and Colored signs at water fountains, restrooms, waiting rooms, and the entrances and exits at courthouses, libraries, theaters, and public buildings. Towns and cities established curfews for blacks, and some state laws even restricted blacks from working in the same rooms in factories and other places of employment. Creating White Supremacy from 1865 to 1890 The year 1890, when Mississippi wrote a disfranchisement provision into its state constitution, is often considered the beginning of legalized Jim Crow. But legal attempts to establish a system of racial segregation and disfranchisement actually began much earlier. In the first days after the Civil War, most southern states adopted so-called Black Codes aimed at limiting the economic and physical freedom of the formerly enslaved. These early attempts at legally binding southern blacks to an inferior status were short-lived, however, due to the presence of federal troops in the former Confederate states during Congressional Reconstruction (1866-1876) and the passage of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1875, and the three Enforcement Acts of 1870 and 1871. The 1871 Act is usually refer red to a the Ku Klux Klan Act. ) It would be mistaken, however, to think that these federal efforts effectively protected the civil rights of African Americans. Waves of violence and vigilante terrorism swept over the South in the 1860s and 1870s (the Ku Klux Klan and Knights of the White Camellia), as organized bands of white vigilantes terrorized black voters who supported Republican candidates as well as many African Americans who defied (consciously or unconsciously) the color line inherited from the slave era. Such actions often accomplished in reality what could not be done in law. Depending upon the state (and the region within statessuch as the gerrymandered Second Congressional District in North Carolina where blacks continued to hold power until after 1900), blacks found themselves exercising limited suffrage in the 1870s, principally because their votes were manipulated by white landlords and merchant suppliers, eliminated by vigilantism, stolen by fraud at the ballot boxes, and compromised at every turn. When the Compromise of 1877 allowed the Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes to assume the presidency of the nation after the disputed election of 1876, political power was essentially returned to southern, white Democrats in nearly every state of the former Confederacy. From that point on, the federal government essentially abandoned the attempt to enforce the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments in the Southalthough the potential for doing so was always uppermost in the minds of southern whites. Numerous southern blacks nevertheless voted in the 1870s and 1880s, but most black office holders held power at lower levels (usually in criminal enforcement) in towns and counties, and often did so in cooperation with white Democrats (especially in Mississippi and South Carolina) who supported elected positions for acceptable black candidates. In this fusion arrangement of the two political parties, white leaders of the Democratic Party in th e state would agree with black political leaders, who were usually Republicans, on the number of county offices to be held by blacks. In theory, black voters would choose these black candidates, but in fact only black candidates acceptable to the white leaders were allowed to run. Any deviation from the plan was met with violence. Most black leaders went along with such arrangements because it was the best that could be achieved for the moment. In Mississippi, the method of controlling black votes and regulating their economic and public lives by full-scale and openly brutal violence was known as the First Mississippi Plan of 1875. Whites openly resorted to violence and fraud to control the black vote, shooting down black voters just like birds. This ruthless and bloody revolution devastated the black vote in Mississippi, and fully 66 percent of the blacks registered to vote in the state failed to cast ballots in the presidential election of 1880. Of those who did vote, almost 50 percent voted Democratic rather than face the wrath of whites in the state. The white vigilantes made no attempt to disguise themselves as in the days of the Ku Klux Klan, and so complete was their victory that the Republican governor fled the state rather than face impeachment charges by the newly elected legislature. When Mississippi began formally and legally to segregate and disfranchise blacks by changing its state constitution and passing supportive legislation in the 1890s, knowing observers referred to these legal moves as the Second Mississippi Plan. The principal difference between the two plans is that the latter did not resort to violence in order to eliminate the black vote. The Second Mississippi Plan did it by law. Other states followed suit to one degree or another, with only a few black gerrymandered districts in North Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi witnessing significant and continuing black political autonomy up to 1900. In addition to the violence and non-legal measures associated with the First Mississippi Plan, southern whites also took legal steps to subordinate blacks to whites prior to the wave of segregation and disfranchisement statutes that emerged in the late 1890s. For example, between 1870 and 1884, eleven southern states legally banned miscegenation, or interracial marriages. In the words of historian William Cohen, these bans were the ultimate segregation laws in that they clearly spelled out the idea that whites were superior to blacks and that any mixing of the two threatened white status and the purity of the white race. School segregation laws also appeared on the books in nearly every southern state prior to 1888, beginning with Tennessee and Arkansas in 1866. Virginia erected in 1869 a constitutional ban against blacks and whites attending the same schools, followed by Tennessee in 1870, Alabama and North Carolina in 1875, Texas in 1876, Georgia in 1877, and Florida in 1885. Arkansas and Mississippi passed s chool segregation statutes in 1873 and 1878. While most of the laws banning racial mixing in transportation and in public accommodations were enacted after 1890, many southern states laid the groundwork early on. They often based their statutes on transportation legislation enacted by northern states before the Civil War. These laws created Jim Crow cars wherein black passengers were separated from white passengers. Indeed, the word Jim Crow as a term denoting segregation first appeared in reference to these northern railroad cars. Responding to the federal law prohibiting racial discrimination on railroads (Civil Rights Act of 1875), Tennessee passed laws in 1881 protecting hotels, railroads, restaurants, and places of amusement from legal suits charging discrimination. The state also attempted to circumvent the federal anti-segregation laws in transportation by enacting statutes in 1882 and 1883 requiring railroads to provide blacks with separate but equal facilities. Flori da, Mississippi, and Texas jumped on the bandwagon, as did most other states by 1894. Almost all the southern states passed statutes restricting suffrage in the years from 1871 to 1889. Various registration laws, such as poll taxes, were established in Georgia in 1871 and 1877, in Virginia in 1877 and 1884, in Mississippi in 1876, in South Carolina in 1882, and in Florida in 1888. The effects were devastating. Over half the blacks who voted in Georgia and South Carolina in 1880 vanished from the polls in 1888. The drop in Florida was 27 percent. In places like Alabama, for example, where blacks equaled almost half the population, no African Americans were sent to the legislature after 1876. On the local level, most southern towns and municipalities passed strict vagrancy laws to control the influx of black migrants and homeless people who poured into these urban communities in the years after the Civil War. In Mississippi, for example, whites passed the notorious Pig Law of 18 76, designed to control vagrant blacks at loose in the community. This law made stealing a pig an act of grand larceny subject to punishment of up to five years in prison. Within two years, the number of convicts in the state penitentiary increased from under three hundred people to over one thousand. It was this law in Mississippi that turned the convict lease system into a profitable business, whereby convicts were leased to contractors who sub-leased them to planters, railroads, levee contractors, and timber jobbers. Almost all of the convicts in this situation were blacks, including women, and the conditions in the camps were horrible in the extreme. It was not uncommon to have a death rate of blacks in the camps at between 8 to 18 percent. In a rare piece of journalism, the Jackson Weekly Clarion, printed in 1887 the inspection report of the state prison in Mississippi: We found [in the hospital section] twenty-six inmates, all of whom have been lately brought there off the farms and railroads, many of them with consumption and other incurable diseases, and all bearing on their persons marks of the most inhuman and brutal treatment. Most of them have their backs cut in great wales, scars and blisters, some with the skin pealing off in pieces as the result of severe beatings. Their feet and hands in some instances show signs of frostbite, and all of them with the stamp of manhood almost blotted out of their faces. They are lying there dying, some of them on bare boards, so poor and emaciated that their bones almost come through their skin, many complaining for the want of food. We actually saw live vermin crawling over their faces, and the little bedding and clothing they have is in tatters and stiff with filth. As a fair sample of this system, on January 6, 1887, 204 convicts were leased to McDonald up to June 6, 1887, and during this six months 20 died, and 19 were discharged and escaped and 23 were returned to the walls disabled and sick, many of whom have since died. Although federal policy and actions (Enforcement Acts of 1870 and 1871) effectively eliminated the most organized forms of white terrorism in the 1870s, they did little to assist the formerly enslaved in gaining economic security. As a result, even before the end of Reconstruction (in 1876), the vast majority of southern blacks had become penniless agricultural workers indebted to and controlled by white landlords and merchant suppliers. This system of land tenancy became known as sharecropping because black and white landless, tenant farmers were paid a share of the crop, which they had cultivatedusually one third. In most cases, the farmers share did not equal in value the debts owed to the local store for supplies or to the landlord for rent. Crop lien laws and various creditor protection laws made it nearly impossible for African-American farmers to avoid dependency and impoverishment. Merchant suppliers charged high interest ratesoften as much as 40 percent, and local police helped make sure that indebted tenants did not avoid their debts by leaving the area. In this situation, black sharecroppers were often pressured to vote for the white or black candidates supported by their white landlords or merchant suppliers. It should also be noted that white terrorism aimed at blacks did not end with the curtailment of organized vigilantism of the sort associated with the Ku Klux Klan. Once the South had been returned to white rule (Redemption), the so-called redeemers (Bourbons) effectively imposed white domination over blacks by economic means to a large extent. When those means fell short, the white community commonly resorted to terror in the late 1870s and 1880s. Indeed, attacks and violence against blacks by whites was part of the fabric of southern life. The ante-bellum system of slavery was rooted in terror and violence, and the Ku Klux Klan continued the practice in the name of white supremacy after the Civil War. Hi storian William Cohen notes that lynchings increased by 63 percent in the second half of the 1880s, a greater relative jump than for any other period after those years. The number of lynchings estimated for 1880-1884 was 233 compared to 381 for the next five-year period, peaking at 611 for the years 1890 to 1894. What about the color line, the physical separation of the races in public and private life? In most southern states, a clear color line separated whites and blacks in custom if not in law prior to 1890. Historians Joel Williamson and Neil R. McMillen demonstrate that the absence of a legalized color line did not mean that one did not exist in practice or in the minds of most white southerners. Their research in South Carolina and Mississippi supports the view that a physical color line in public places had already crystallized by 1870, and it was a barrier to racial mixing enforced by violence whenever necessary. As in slavery, the social lives of southern whites rema ined absolutely off limits to all blacks, except when blacks acquiesced as servants or in some other way to the superior-inferior relationship that existed in the slavery era. The same was true for the intermixing of whites with blacks in civil activities; whites generally refused to participate in any events or activities that included blacks, such as volunteer fire companies, parades, or civic gatherings. Usually, whites shunned any and all public places where the color line was not firmly in place. The New Jim Crow Racial Scene After 1890 The upsurge of new laws and the strengthening of old ones in the 1890s was essentially an extension of the old drive for white supremacy in new ways and with more effective results. Historian C. Van Woodward sees this radical move in the 1890s to be the Souths capitulation to racism and the rejection of viable alternatives that had existed during the post-Reconstruction period. In his view of things, it was the rise of lower-class whites to p olitical power in the 1880s and 1890s that brought on complete disfranchisement and segregation both in law and in practice. Other scholars contend that the driving force behind legal segregation and disfranchisement were upper-class whites in the black belt areas who wanted to weaken or prevent through disfranchisement the hold of lower-classes whites on the Democratic Party or their allegiance to newer political power bases, such as the Farmers Alliance or the Populist Party. In this view, the desire to restrict the political power of lower-class voters of both races was as much a motive in the drive for disfranchisement as was the desire to eliminate black voters. Clearly, the impetus behind the legalization of segregation and disfranchisement was complex, involving one or a combination of the following reasons: (1) efforts by lower-class whites to wrest political power from merchants and large landowners (who controlled the vote of their indebted black tenants); (2) the fe ar by whites in general that a new generation of uppity blacks, those born after slavery, threatened the culture and racial purity of the superior white society; (3) the desire of white elites to use blacks as scapegoats to side-track the efforts by lower-class whites to seize political power; (4) the efforts of so-called progressive white reformers to disfranchise those voterswhite and blacksubject to manipulation because of their illiteracy or impoverishment; (5) the fear by insurgent white populists and old-line Democrats that the black vote might prevail if southern whites split their votes in struggles within and outside the Democratic Party; (6) the emergence of a racially hysterical press that fueled white fear of and hatred towards blacks by printing propaganda stories about black crimes; (7) the appearance of the pseudo-science of eugenics that lent respectability to the racist views of black inferiority; (8) the jingoism associated with the nations war with Spain and its c olonization of non-European people in the Philippines; and (9) the continued depiction of blacks as lazy, stupid, and less than human in the popular minstrel shows that played in small town America as well as the side shows and circuses that enthralled white audiences with images of inherent black inferiority. Whatever the motivation, these new laws and constitutional provisions were aimed at the subjugation of African Americans and the dominance of the political and economic, white elite within the Democratic Party. It was the re-assertion of the earlier drive for white supremacy. As historian Michael Perman argues, although the legalized forms of racial subordination were new in the 1890s, the substance behind the forms was essentially unchanged from what had been attempted in the Black Codes and by the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction. In the 1890s, southern states began to systematically and completely disfranchise black males by imposing voter registration restrictions, such as literacy tests, poll taxes, the grandfather clause, and the white primary (only whites could vote in the Democratic Party primary contests). Such provisions did not violate the Fifteenth Amendment because they applied to all voters regardless of race. In reality, however, the provisions were more strictly enforced on blacks, especially in those areas dominated by lower-class whites. The so-called understanding clause, which allowed illiterate, white voters to register if they understood specific texts in the state constitution to the satisfaction of white registrars, was widely recognized to be a loophole provision for illiterate whites. It was crafted to protect the suffrage of those whites who might otherwise have been excluded from voting by the literacy qualification for registering to vote. In point of fact, tens of thousands of poor white farmers were also disfranchised because of non-payment of the poll tax, for which there were no loopholes provided. It is important to understand that these new restrictions on voting were different from earlier restrictions in that they deprived the voter of the right to vote not at the ballot box (through force, intimidation, or fraud), but at the registration place. Before ballots were even cast, the new qualifications could be selectively applied to voters who failed to pass the tests established in the states constitution. This new method of controlling votes eliminated the need for violence against black voters, and the restrictions were often justified on these very grounds. In December of 1898, for example, the Richmond Times supported the move for disfranchisement in Virginia in the following words: If we disfranchise the great body of Negroes, let us do so openly and above board and let there be an end of all sorts of jugglery. This rationale indicates a clear motive to remove black votes altogether and to return to the status quo that existed prior to the introduction of black suffrage after the Civ il War. The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1870, placed responsibility for protecting the right of suffrage with the federal governmenta right which could not be denied or abridged on the grounds of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. The states, however, retained the authority for determining qualification for voting, as long as the qualifications did not violate the Fifteenth Amendment. This meant that the former states of the Confederacy were required to rewrite their state constitutions in order to put restrictions on voting qualificationssuch as literacy tests, poll taxes, understanding clauses, and criminal convictions. The rewriting or amending state constitutions denied suffrage to blacks by law rather than by fraud. This is what was new, legally speaking, in the drive to undermine black suffrage in the 1890s. These new legal restrictions were backed in turn by acts of intimidation, the use of chain gangs and prison farms, debt peona ge, the passage of anti-enticement laws, and a wave of brutal lynchings that dominated the southern racial scene for the next forty years. Indeed, between 1882 (when reliable statistics are first available) and 1968, most of the 4,863 recorded people lynched in the United States were southern, black men. Not surprisingly, 97 percent of these lynchings occurred in the former states of the Confederacy. Although violence used to subjugate blacks was nothing new in the South (what with its racist heritage rooted in slavery), the character of the violence was something different. Prior to the 1890s, most of the violence against blacks stopped short of the ritualized murder associated with the lynching epidemic that began in the late 1880s. Blacks had suffered death at the hands of white vigilantes for all of their history in the nation, but nothing like the spectacle associated with public lynching had ever occurred before. After 1890, mobs usually subjected their black victims to sad istic tortures that included burnings, dismemberment, being dragged to death behind carts and autos, and horribly prolonged suffering. When railroad companies sold tickets to attend lynchings, when whites hawked body parts of dead victims as souvenirs, when white families brought their children to watch the torture and death of blacks by lynching, when newspapers carried advance notices, and when white participants proudly posed for pictures of themselves with the burned corpses of lynched men and women and then allowed the images to be reproduced on picture postcard, something fundamental had changed. https://www. ferris. edu/JIMCROW/what. htm The Jim Crow system was undergirded by the following beliefs or rationalizations: Whites were superior to Blacks in all important ways, including but not limited to intelligence, morality, and civilized behavior; sexual relations between Blacks and Whites would produce a mongrel race which would destroy America; treating Blacks as equals w ould encourage interracial sexual unions; any activity which suggested social equality ncouraged interracial sexual relations; if necessary, violence must be used to keep Blacks at the bottom of the racial hierarchy. The following Jim Crow etiquette norms show how inclusive and pervasive these norms were: a. A Black male could not offer his hand (to shake hands) with a White male because it implied being socially equal. Obviously, a Black male could not offer his hand or any other part of his body to a White woman, because he risked being accused of rape. b. Blacks and Whites were not supposed to eat together. If they did eat together, Whites were to be served first, and some sort of partition was to be placed between them. c. Under no circumstance was a Black male to offer to light the cigarette of a White female that gesture implied intimacy. d. Blacks were not allowed to show public affection toward one another in public, especially kissing, because it offended Whites. e. Jim Crow etiquette prescribed that Blacks were introduced to Whites, never Whites to Blacks. For example: Mr. Peters (the White person), this is Charlie (the Black person), that I spoke to you about. f. Whites did not use courtesy titles of respect when referring to Blacks, for example, Mr. , Mrs. , Miss. , Sir, or Maam. Instead, Blacks were called by their first names. Blacks had to use courtesy titles when referring to Whites, and were not allowed to call them by their first names. g. If a Black person rode in a car driven by a White person, the Black person sat in the back seat, or the back of a truck. h. White motorists had the right-of-way at all intersections. Stetson Kennedy, the author of Jim Crow Guide, offered these simple rules that Blacks were supposed to observe in conversing with Whites: 1. Never assert or even intimate that a White person is lying. 2. Never impute dishonorable intentions to a White person. 3. Never suggest that a White person is from an inferior clas s. 4. Never lay claim to, or overly demonstrate, superior knowledge or intelligence. 5. Never curse a White person. 6. Never laugh derisively at a White person. 7. Never comment upon the appearance of a White female. †¢ Barbers. No colored barber shall serve as a barber (to) white girls or women (Georgia). †¢ Blind Wards. The board of trustees shall maintain a separate building on separate ground for the admission, care, instruction, and support of all blind persons of the colored or black race (Louisiana). †¢ Burial. The officer in charge shall not bury, or allow to be buried, any colored persons upon ground set apart or used for the burial of white persons (Georgia). †¢ Buses. All passenger stations in this state operated by any motor transportation company shall have separate waiting rooms or space and separate ticket windows for the white and colored races (Alabama). †¢ Child Custody. It shall be unlawful for any parent, relative, or other white pe rson in this State, having the control or custody of any white child, by right of guardianship, natural or acquired, or otherwise, to dispose of, give or surrender such white child permanently into the custody, control, maintenance, or support, of a negro (South Carolina). †¢ Education. The schools for white children and the schools for negro children shall be conducted separately (Florida). †¢ Libraries. The state librarian is directed to fit up and maintain a separate place for the use of the colored people who may come to the library for the purpose of reading books or periodicals (North Carolina). †¢ Mental Hospitals. The Board of Control shall see that proper and distinct apartments are arranged for said patients, so that in no case shall Negroes and white persons be together (Georgia). †¢ Militia. The white and colored militia shall be separately enrolled, and shall never be compelled to serve in the same organization. No organization of colored troops s hall be permitted where white troops are available and where whites are permitted to be organized, colored troops shall be under the command of white officers (North Carolina). †¢ Nurses. No person or corporation shall require any White female nurse to nurse in wards or rooms in hospitals, either public or private, in which negro men are placed (Alabama). †¢ Prisons. The warden shall see that the white convicts shall have separate apartments for both eating and sleeping from the negro convicts (Mississippi). Reform Schools. The children of white and colored races committed to the houses of reform shall be kept entirely separate from each other (Kentucky). †¢ Teaching. Any instructor who shall teach in any school, college or institution where members of the white and colored race are received and enrolled as pupils for instruction shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined (Oklahoma). †¢ Wine and Beer. All persons licensed to conduct the business of selling beer or wine shall serve either white people exclusively or colored people exclusively and shall not sell to the two races within the same room at any Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Jim Crow Research Paper" essay for you Create order

The Wonderful Workforce - 867 Words

Separation in the workforce between male and female jobs creates a setting of inequality and instability in the work force, which limits certain career paths citizens should pursue and promotes an idea of inequality in employment opportunities. In tradition, the man is the breadwinner of the family; while this has changed, men still dominate many career paths. Once upon a time, only men were allowed to play sports in high school. This had drastically changed, due to Title IX, a law that provided opportunities to different career paths (â€Å"Mythbusting†). But, on a professional sport level, women are not seen playing in the NFL or the NBA. Women have their own leagues, like the Women’s Basketball Association. There are blended sports, but, for the most part, men and women are separate. The main argument is that women are not as physically able as men and therefore, they should not compete with men. 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The Lost Symbol Chapter 19-21 Free Essays

string(48) " the same reason we keep matches from children\." CHAPTER 19 Director Inoue Sato stood with her arms folded, her eyes locked skeptically on Langdon as she processed what he had just told her. â€Å"He said he wants you to unlock an ancient portal? What am I supposed to do with that, Professor?† Langdon shrugged weakly. He was feeling ill again and tried not to look down at his friend’s severed hand. We will write a custom essay sample on The Lost Symbol Chapter 19-21 or any similar topic only for you Order Now â€Å"That’s exactly what he told me. An ancient portal . . . hidden somewhere in this building. I told him I knew of no portal.† â€Å"Then why does he think you can find it?† â€Å"Obviously, he’s insane.† He said Peter would point the way. Langdon looked down at Peter’s upstretched finger, again feeling repulsed by his captor’s sadistic play on words. Peter will point the way. Langdon had already permitted his eyes to follow the pointing finger up to the dome overhead. A portal? Up there? Insane. â€Å"This man who called me,† Langdon told Sato, â€Å"was the only one who knew I was coming to the Capitol tonight, so whoever informed you I was here tonight, that’s your man. I recommend–â€Å" â€Å"Where I got my information is not your concern,† Sato interrupted, voice sharpening. â€Å"My top priority at the moment is to cooperate with this man, and I have information suggesting you are the only one who can give him what he wants.† â€Å"And my top priority is to find my friend,† Langdon replied, frustrated. Sato inhaled deeply, her patience clearly being tested. â€Å"If we want to find Mr. Solomon, we have one course of action, Professor–to start cooperating with the one person who seems to know where he is.† Sato checked her watch. â€Å"Our time is limited. I can assure you it is imperative we comply with this man’s demands quickly.† â€Å"How?† Langdon asked, incredulous. â€Å"By locating and unlocking an ancient portal? There is no portal, Director Sato. This guy’s a lunatic.† Sato stepped close, less than a foot from Langdon. â€Å"If I may point this out . . . your lunatic deftly manipulated two fairly smart individuals already this morning.† She stared directly at Langdon and then glanced at Anderson. â€Å"In my business, one learns there is a fine line between insanity and genius. We would be wise to give this man a little respect.† â€Å"He cut off a man’s hand!† â€Å"My point exactly. That is hardly the act of an uncommitted or uncertain individual. More important, Professor, this man obviously believes you can help him. He brought you all the way to Washington–and he must have done it for a reason.† â€Å"He said the only reason he thinks I can unlock this `portal’ is that Peter told him I can unlock it,† Langdon countered. â€Å"And why would Peter Solomon say that if it weren’t true?† â€Å"I’m sure Peter said no such thing. And if he did, then he did so under duress. He was confused . . . or frightened.† â€Å"Yes. It’s called interrogational torture, and it’s quite effective. All the more reason Mr. Solomon would tell the truth.† Sato spoke as if she’d had personal experience with this technique. â€Å"Did he explain why Peter thinks you alone can unlock the portal?† Langdon shook his head. â€Å"Professor, if your reputations are correct, then you and Peter Solomon both share an interest in this sort of thing–secrets, historical esoterica, mysticism, and so on. In all of your discussions with Peter, he never once mentioned to you anything about a secret portal in Washington, D.C.?† Langdon could scarcely believe he was being asked this question by a high-ranking officer of the CIA. â€Å"I’m certain of it. Peter and I talk about some pretty arcane things, but believe me, I’d tell him to get his head examined if he ever told me there was an ancient portal hidden anywhere at all. Particularly one that leads to the Ancient Mysteries.† She glanced up. â€Å"I’m sorry? The man told you specifically what this portal leads to?† â€Å"Yes, but he didn’t have to.† Langdon motioned to the hand. â€Å"The Hand of the Mysteries is a formal invitation to pass through a mystical gateway and acquire ancient secret knowledge– powerful wisdom known as the Ancient Mysteries . . . or the lost wisdom of all the ages.† â€Å"So you’ve heard of the secret he believes is hidden here.† â€Å"A lot of historians have heard of it.† â€Å"Then how can you say the portal does not exist?† â€Å"With respect, ma’am, we’ve all heard of the Fountain of Youth and Shangri-la, but that does not mean they exist.† The loud squawk of Anderson’s radio interrupted them. â€Å"Chief?† the voice on the radio said. Anderson snatched his radio from his belt. â€Å"Anderson here.† â€Å"Sir, we’ve completed a search of the grounds. There’s no one here that fits the description. Any further orders, sir?† Anderson shot a quick glance at Sato, clearly expecting a reprimand, but Director Sato seemed uninterested. Anderson moved away from Langdon and Sato, speaking quietly into his radio. Sato’s unwavering focus remained on Langdon. â€Å"You’re saying the secret he believes is hidden in Washington . . . is a fantasy?† Langdon nodded. â€Å"A very old myth. The secret of the Ancient Mysteries is pre-Christian, actually. Thousands of years old.† â€Å"And yet it’s still around?† â€Å"As are many equally improbable beliefs.† Langdon often reminded his students that most modern religions included stories that did not hold up to scientific scrutiny: everything from Moses parting the Red Sea . . . to Joseph Smith using magic eyeglasses to translate the Book of Mormon from a series of gold plates he found buried in upstate New York. Wide acceptance of an idea is not proof of its validity. â€Å"I see. So what exactly are these . . . Ancient Mysteries?† Langdon exhaled. Have you got a few weeks? â€Å"In short, the Ancient Mysteries refer to a body of secret knowledge that was amassed long ago. One intriguing aspect of this knowledge is that it allegedly enables its practitioners to access powerful abilities that lie dormant in the human mind. The enlightened Adepts who possessed this knowledge vowed to keep it veiled from the masses because it was considered far too potent and dangerous for the uninitiated.† â€Å"Dangerous in what way?† â€Å"The information was kept hidden for the same reason we keep matches from children. You read "The Lost Symbol Chapter 19-21" in category "Essay examples" In the correct hands, fire can provide illumination . . . but in the wrong hands, fire can be highly destructive.† Sato took off her glasses and studied him. â€Å"Tell me, Professor, do you believe such powerful information could truly exist?† Langdon was not sure how to respond. The Ancient Mysteries had always been the greatest paradox of his academic career. Virtually every mystical tradition on earth revolved around the idea that there existed arcane knowledge capable of imbuing humans with mystical, almost godlike, powers: tarot and I Ching gave men the ability to see the future; alchemy gave men immortality through the fabled Philosopher’s Stone; Wicca permitted advanced practitioners to cast powerful spells. The list went on and on. As an academic, Langdon could not deny the historical record of these traditions–troves of documents, artifacts, and artwork that, indeed, clearly suggested the ancients had a powerful wisdom that they shared only through allegory, myths, and symbols, ensuring that only those properly initiated could access its power. Nonetheless, as a realist and a skeptic, Langdon remained unconvinced. â€Å"Let’s just say I’m a skeptic,† he told Sato. â€Å"I have never seen anything in the real world to suggest the Ancient Mysteries are anything other than legend–a recurring mythological archetype. It seems to me that if it were possible for humans to acquire miraculous powers, there would be evidence. And yet, so far, history has given us no men with superhuman powers.† Sato arched her eyebrows. â€Å"That’s not entirely true.† Langdon hesitated, realizing that for many religious people, there was indeed a precedent for human gods, Jesus being the most obvious. â€Å"Admittedly,† he said, â€Å"there are plenty of educated people who believe this empowering wisdom truly exists, but I’m not yet convinced.† â€Å"Is Peter Solomon one of those people?† Sato asked, glancing toward the hand on the floor. Langdon could not bring himself to look at the hand. â€Å"Peter comes from a family lineage that has always had a passion for all things ancient and mystical.† â€Å"Was that a yes?† Sato asked. â€Å"I can assure you that even if Peter believes the Ancient Mysteries are real, he does not believe they are accessible through some kind of portal hidden in Washington, D.C. He understands metaphorical symbolism, which is something his captor apparently does not.† Sato nodded. â€Å"So you believe this portal is a metaphor.† â€Å"Of course,† Langdon said. â€Å"In theory, anyway. It’s a very common metaphor–a mystical portal through which one must travel to become enlightened. Portals and doorways are common symbolic constructs that represent transformative rites of passage. To look for a literal portal would be like trying to locate the actual Gates of Heaven.† Sato seemed to consider this momentarily. â€Å"But it sounds like Mr. Solomon’s captor believes you can unlock an actual portal.† Langdon exhaled. â€Å"He’s made the same error many zealots make–confusing metaphor with a literal reality.† Similarly, early alchemists had toiled in vain to transform lead into gold, never realizing that lead-to-gold was nothing but a metaphor for tapping into true human potential– that of taking a dull, ignorant mind and transforming it into a bright, enlightened one. Sato motioned to the hand. â€Å"If this man wants you to locate some kind of portal for him, why wouldn’t he simply tell you how to find it? Why all the dramatics? Why give you a tattooed hand?† Langdon had asked himself the same question and the answer was unsettling. â€Å"Well, it seems the man we are dealing with, in addition to being mentally unstable, is also highly educated. This hand is proof that he is well versed in the Mysteries as well as their codes of secrecy. Not to mention with the history of this room.† â€Å"I don’t understand.† â€Å"Everything he has done tonight was done in perfect accordance with ancient protocols. Traditionally, the Hand of the Mysteries is a sacred invitation, and therefore it must be presented in a sacred place.† Sato’s eyes narrowed. â€Å"This is the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Building, Professor, not some sacred shrine to ancient mystical secrets.† â€Å"Actually, ma’am,† Langdon said, â€Å"I know a great number of historians who would disagree with you.† At that moment, across town, Trish Dunne was seated in the glow of the plasma wall inside the Cube. She finished preparing her search spider and typed in the five key phrases Katherine had given her. Here goes nothing. Feeling little optimism, she launched the spider, effectively commencing a worldwide game of Go Fish. At blinding speed, the phrases were now being compared to texts all over the world . . . looking for a perfect match. Trish couldn’t help but wonder what this was all about, but she had come to accept that working with the Solomons meant never quite knowing the entire story. CHAPTER 20 Robert Langdon stole an anxious glance at his wristwatch: 7:58 P.M. The smiling face of Mickey Mouse did little to cheer him up. I’ve got to find Peter. We’re wasting time. Sato had stepped aside for a moment to take a phone call, but now she returned to Langdon. â€Å"Professor, am I keeping you from something?† â€Å"No, ma’am,† Langdon said, pulling his sleeve down over his watch. â€Å"I’m just extremely concerned about Peter.† â€Å"I can understand, but I assure you the best thing you can do to help Peter is to help me understand the mind-set of his captor.† Langdon was not so sure, but he sensed he was not going anywhere until the OS director got the information she desired. â€Å"A moment ago,† Sato said, â€Å"you suggested this Rotunda is somehow sacred to the idea of these Ancient Mysteries?† â€Å"Yes, ma’am.† â€Å"Explain that to me.† Langdon knew he would have to choose his words sparingly. He had taught for entire semesters on the mystical symbolism of Washington, D.C., and there was an almost inexhaustible list of mystical references in this building alone. America has a hidden past. Every time Langdon lectured on the symbology of America, his students were confounded to learn that the true intentions of our nation’s forefathers had absolutely nothing to do with what so many politicians now claimed. America’s intended destiny has been lost to history. The forefathers who founded this capital city first named her â€Å"Rome.† They had named her river the Tiber and erected a classical capital of pantheons and temples, all adorned with images of history’s great gods and goddesses–Apollo, Minerva, Venus, Helios, Vulcan, Jupiter. In her center, as in many of the great classical cities, the founders had erected an enduring tribute to the ancients–the Egyptian obelisk. This obelisk, larger even than Cairo’s or Alexandria’s, rose 555 feet into the sky, more than thirty stories, proclaiming thanks and honor to the demigod forefather for whom this capital city took its newer name. Washington. Now, centuries later, despite America’s separation of church and state, this state-sponsored Rotunda glistened with ancient religious symbolism. There were over a dozen different gods in the Rotunda–more than the original Pantheon in Rome. Of course, the Roman Pantheon had been converted to Christianity in 609 . . . but this pantheon was never converted; vestiges of its true history still remained in plain view. â€Å"As you may know,† Langdon said, â€Å"this Rotunda was designed as a tribute to one of Rome’s most venerated mystical shrines. The Temple of Vesta.† â€Å"As in the vestal virgins?† Sato looked doubtful that Rome’s virginal guardians of the flame had anything to do with the U.S. Capitol Building. â€Å"The Temple of Vesta in Rome,† Langdon said, â€Å"was circular, with a gaping hole in the floor, through which the sacred fire of enlightenment could be tended by a sisterhood of virgins whose job it was to ensure the flame never went out.† Sato shrugged. â€Å"This Rotunda is a circle, but I see no gaping hole in this floor.† â€Å"No, not anymore, but for years the center of this room had a large opening precisely where Peter’s hand is now.† Langdon motioned to the floor. â€Å"In fact, you can still see the marks in the floor from the railing that kept people from falling in.† â€Å"What?† Sato demanded, scrutinizing the floor. â€Å"I’ve never heard that.† â€Å"Looks like he’s right.† Anderson pointed out the circle of iron nubs where the posts had once been. â€Å"I’ve seen these before, but I never had any idea why they were there.† You’re not alone, Langdon thought, imagining the thousands of people every day, including famous lawmakers, who strode across the center of the Rotunda having no idea there was once a day when they would have plunged down into the Capitol Crypt–the level beneath the Rotunda floor. â€Å"The hole in the floor,† Langdon told them, â€Å"was eventually covered, but for a good while, those who visited the Rotunda could see straight down to the fire that burned below.† Sato turned. â€Å"Fire? In the U.S. Capitol?† â€Å"More of a large torch, actually–an eternal flame that burned in the crypt directly beneath us. It was supposed to be visible through the hole in the floor, making this room a modern Temple of Vesta. This building even had its own vestal virgin–a federal employee called the Keeper of the Crypt–who successfully kept the flame burning for fifty years, until politics, religion, and smoke damage snuffed out the idea.† Both Anderson and Sato looked surprised. Nowadays, the only reminder that a flame once burned here was the four-pointed star compass embedded in the crypt floor one story below them–a symbol of America’s eternal flame, which once shed illumination toward the four corners of the New World. â€Å"So, Professor,† Sato said, â€Å"your contention is that the man who left Peter’s hand here knew all this?† â€Å"Clearly. And much, much more. There are symbols all over this room that reflect a belief in the Ancient Mysteries.† â€Å"Secret wisdom,† Sato said with more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice. â€Å"Knowledge that lets men acquire godlike powers?† â€Å"Yes, ma’am.† â€Å"That hardly fits with the Christian underpinnings of this country.† â€Å"So it would seem, but it’s true. This transformation of man into God is called apotheosis. Whether or not you’re aware of it, this theme–transforming man into god–is the core element in this Rotunda’s symbolism.† â€Å"Apotheosis?† Anderson spun with a startled look of recognition. â€Å"Yes.† Anderson works here. He knows. â€Å"The word apotheosis literally means `divine transformation’–that of man becoming God. It’s from the ancient Greek: apo–`to become,’ theos–`god.’ â€Å" Anderson looked amazed. â€Å"Apotheosis means `to become God’? I had no idea.† â€Å"What am I missing?† Sato demanded. â€Å"Ma’am,† Langdon said, â€Å"the largest painting in this building is called The Apotheosis of Washington. And it clearly depicts George Washington being transformed into a god.† Sato looked doubtful. â€Å"I’ve never seen anything of the sort.† â€Å"Actually, I’m sure you have.† Langdon raised his index finger, pointing straight up. â€Å"It’s directly over your head.† CHAPTER 21 The Apotheosis of Washington–a 4,664-square-foot fresco that covers the canopy of the Capitol Rotunda–was completed in 1865 by Constantino Brumidi. Known as â€Å"The Michelangelo of the Capitol,† Brumidi had laid claim to the Capitol Rotunda in the same way Michelangelo had laid claim to the Sistine Chapel, by painting a fresco on the room’s most lofty canvas–the ceiling. Like Michelangelo, Brumidi had done some of his finest work inside the Vatican. Brumidi, however, immigrated to America in 1852, abandoning God’s largest shrine in favor of a new shrine, the U.S. Capitol, which now glistened with examples of his mastery–from the trompe l’oeil of the Brumidi Corridors to the frieze ceiling of the Vice President’s Room. And yet it was the enormous image hovering above the Capitol Rotunda that most historians considered to be Brumidi’s masterwork. Robert Langdon gazed up at the massive fresco that covered the ceiling. He usually enjoyed his students’ startled reactions to this fresco’s bizarre imagery, but at the moment he simply felt trapped in a nightmare he had yet to understand. Director Sato was standing next to him with her hands on her hips, frowning up at the distant ceiling. Langdon sensed she was having the same reaction many had when they first stopped to examine the painting at the core of their nation. Utter confusion. You’re not alone, Langdon thought. For most people, The Apotheosis of Washington got stranger and stranger the longer they looked at it. â€Å"That’s George Washington on the central panel,† Langdon said, pointing 180 feet upward into the middle of the dome. â€Å"As you can see, he’s dressed in white robes, attended by thirteen maidens, and ascending on a cloud above mortal man. This is the moment of his apotheosis . . . his transformation into a god.† Sato and Anderson said nothing. â€Å"Nearby,† Langdon continued, â€Å"you can see a strange, anachronistic series of figures: ancient gods presenting our forefathers with advanced knowledge. There’s Minerva giving technological inspiration to our nation’s great inventors–Ben Franklin, Robert Fulton, Samuel Morse.† Langdon pointed them out one by one. â€Å"And over there is Vulcan helping us build a steam engine. Beside them is Neptune demonstrating how to lay the transatlantic cable. Beside that is Ceres, goddess of grain and root of our word cereal; she’s sitting on the McCormick reaper, the farming breakthrough that enabled this country to become a world leader in food production. The painting quite overtly portrays our forefathers receiving great wisdom from the gods.† He lowered his head, looking at Sato now. â€Å"Knowledge is power, and the right knowledge lets man perform miraculous, almost godlike tasks.† Sato dropped her gaze back down to Langdon and rubbed her neck. â€Å"Laying a phone cable is a far cry from being a god.† â€Å"Perhaps to a modern man,† Langdon replied. â€Å"But if George Washington knew that we had become a race that possessed the power to speak to one another across oceans, fly at the speed of sound, and set foot on our moon, he would assume that we had become gods, capable of miraculous tasks.† He paused. â€Å"In the words of futurist Arthur C. Clarke, `Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ â€Å" Sato pursed her lips, apparently deep in thought. She glanced down at the hand, and then followed the direction of the outstretched index finger up into the dome. â€Å"Professor, you were told, `Peter will point the way.’ Is that correct?† â€Å"Yes, ma’am, but–â€Å" â€Å"Chief,† Sato said, turning away from Langdon, â€Å"can you get us a closer look at the painting?† Anderson nodded. â€Å"There’s a catwalk around the interior of the dome.† Langdon looked way, way up to the tiny railing visible just beneath the painting and felt his body go rigid. â€Å"There’s no need to go up there.† He had experienced that seldom-visited catwalk once before, as the guest of a U.S. senator and his wife, and he had almost fainted from the dizzying height and perilous walkway. â€Å"No need?† Sato demanded. â€Å"Professor, we have a man who believes this room contains a portal that has the potential to make him a god; we have a ceiling fresco that symbolizes the transformation of a man into a god; and we have a hand pointing straight at that painting. It seems everything is urging us upward.† â€Å"Actually,† Anderson interjected, glancing up, â€Å"not many people know this, but there is one hexagonal coffer in the dome that actually swings open like a portal, and you can peer down through it and–â€Å" â€Å"Wait a second,† Langdon said, â€Å"you’re missing the point. The portal this man is looking for is a figurative portal–a gateway that doesn’t exist. When he said, `Peter will point the way,’ he was talking in metaphorical terms. This pointing-hand gesture–with its index finger and thumb extended upward–is a well-known symbol of the Ancient Mysteries, and it appears all over the world in ancient art. This same gesture appears in three of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous encoded masterpieces–The Last Supper, Adoration of the Magi, and Saint John the Baptist. It’s a symbol of man’s mystical connection to God.† As above, so below. The madman’s bizarre choice of words was starting to feel more relevant now. â€Å"I’ve never seen it before,† Sato said. Then watch ESPN, Langdon thought, always amused to see professional athletes point skyward in gratitude to God after a touchdown or home run. He wondered how many knew they were continuing a pre-Christian mystical tradition of acknowledging the mystical power above, which, for one brief moment, had transformed them into a god capable of miraculous feats. â€Å"If it’s of any help,† Langdon said, â€Å"Peter’s hand is not the first such hand to make an appearance in this Rotunda.† Sato eyed him like he was insane. â€Å"I beg your pardon?† Langdon motioned to her BlackBerry. â€Å"Google `George Washington Zeus.’ â€Å" Sato looked uncertain but started typing. Anderson inched toward her, looking over her shoulder intently. Langdon said, â€Å"This Rotunda was once dominated by a massive sculpture of a bare-chested George Washington . . . depicted as a god. He sat in the same exact pose as Zeus in the Pantheon, bare chest exposed, left hand holding a sword, right hand raised with thumb and finger extended.† Sato had apparently found an online image, because Anderson was staring at her BlackBerry in shock. â€Å"Hold on, that’s George Washington?† â€Å"Yes,† Langdon said. â€Å"Depicted as Zeus.† â€Å"Look at his hand,† Anderson said, still peering over Sato’s shoulder. â€Å"His right hand is in the same exact position as Mr. Solomon’s.† As I said, Langdon thought, Peter’s hand is not the first to make an appearance in this room. When Horatio Greenough’s statue of a naked George Washington was first unveiled in the Rotunda, many joked that Washington must be reaching skyward in a desperate attempt to find some clothes. As American religious ideals changed, however, the joking criticism turned to controversy, and the statue was removed, banished to a shed in the east garden. Currently, it made its home at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, where those who saw it had no reason to suspect that it was one of the last vestigial links to a time when the father of the country had watched over the U.S. Capitol as a god . . . like Zeus watching over the Pantheon. Sato began dialing a number on her BlackBerry, apparently seeing this as an opportune moment to check in with her staff. â€Å"What have you got?† She listened patiently. â€Å"I see . . .† She glanced directly at Langdon, then at Peter’s hand. â€Å"You’re certain?† She listened a moment longer. â€Å"Okay, thanks.† She hung up and turned back toward Langdon. â€Å"My support staff did some research and confirms the existence of your so-called Hand of the Mysteries, corroborating everything you said: five fingertip markings–the star, the sun, the key, the crown, and the lantern–as well as the fact that this hand served as an ancient invitation to learn secret wisdom.† â€Å"I’m glad,† Langdon said. â€Å"Don’t be,† she replied curtly. â€Å"It appears we’re now at a dead end until you share whatever it is you’re still not telling me.† â€Å"Ma’am?† Sato stepped toward him. â€Å"We’ve come full circle, Professor. You’ve told me nothing I could not have learned from my own staff. And so I will ask you once more. Why were you brought here tonight? What makes you so special? What is it that you alone know?† â€Å"We’ve been through this,† Langdon fired back. â€Å"I don’t know why this guy thinks I know anything at all!† Langdon was half tempted to demand how the hell Sato knew that he was in the Capitol tonight, but they’d been through that, too. Sato isn’t talking. â€Å"If I knew the next step,† he told her, â€Å"I’d tell you. But I don’t. Traditionally, the Hand of the Mysteries is extended by a teacher to a student. And then, shortly afterward, the hand is followed up with a set of instructions . . . directions to a temple, the name of the master who will teach you–something! But all this guy left for us is five tattoos! Hardly–† Langdon stopped short. Sato eyed him. â€Å"What is it?† Langdon’s eyes shot back to the hand. Five tattoos. He now realized that what he was saying might not be entirely true. â€Å"Professor?† Sato pressed. Langdon inched toward the gruesome object. Peter will point the way. â€Å"Earlier, it crossed my mind that maybe this guy had left an object clenched in Peter’s palm–a map, or a letter, or a set of directions.† â€Å"He didn’t,† Anderson said. â€Å"As you can see, those three fingers are not clenched tightly.† â€Å"You’re right,† Langdon said. â€Å"But it occurs to me . . .† He crouched down now, trying to see up under the fingers to the hidden part of Peter’s palm. â€Å"Maybe it’s not written on paper.† â€Å"Tattooed?† Anderson said. Langdon nodded. â€Å"Do you see anything on the palm?† Sato asked. Langdon crouched lower, trying to peer up under the loosely clenched fingers. â€Å"The angle is impossible. I can’t–â€Å" â€Å"Oh, for heaven’s sake,† Sato said, moving toward him. â€Å"Just open the damned thing!† Anderson stepped in front of her. â€Å"Ma’am! We should really wait for forensics before we touch–† â€Å"I want some answers,† Sato said, pushing past him. She crouched down, edging Langdon away from the hand. Langdon stood up and watched in disbelief as Sato pulled a pen from her pocket, sliding it carefully under the three clenched fingers. Then, one by one, she pried each finger upward until the hand stood fully open, with its palm visible. She glanced up at Langdon, and a thin smile spread across her face. â€Å"Right again, Professor.† How to cite The Lost Symbol Chapter 19-21, Essay examples

Persuasive Essay About Caesar free essay sample

Breaking the law Good or Bad Many people break the law. Some do it for fun; others do it for personal benefits. However, Julius Caesar broke the law to gain control of Rome. He stated, â€Å" If you must break the law, do it to seize power; in other cases, observe it â€Å". With this statement a person can benefit society heavily if they break the law to seize power with the right intentions. To begin with, breaking the law is not bad if lots of good comes from it. One way is when a country is created from a revolution from another country. Example of this is the United States of America. The USA was a colony of Great Britain back in the day. Much conflict arose between the two and eventually a revolution was started by the colonies. This was technically high treason to Britain, but the USA was able to win and gain its own power and has become one of the greatest countries in the world. We will write a custom essay sample on Persuasive Essay About Caesar or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Without a doubt, amazing things can come from breaking the law to obtain power. Some people though might argue that some of the people who seize power become tyrants and dictators. This is true that many dictators have came to power in the world with their own revolution, but many of these leaders are starting to lose their power. Reflection of this were the recent events in Libya and Syria. There are huge revolutions to dethrone the tyrants that are in command. Which again this would be consider treason even though it is beneficial to the people of those countries. As one can see, to seize power by breaking the law is overall a good thing. If a person has the right intentions for society, breaking the law to seize power can be extremely beneficial.