African Americans Essay

In the beginning of 20-th century African Americans were already free from slavery, but their rights differed significantly with the rights of â€Å"white† people. Politics of segregation was still in place, and African Americans, especially in Southern states, were forced to live in separate parts of cities. Special institutions like schools, churches, cemeteries, even special transport units existed for the African American part of the population to separate â€Å"blacks† and â€Å"whites†. Needless to say, these special organizations and units for the African Americans were of low quality. African Americans lacked good education and though were forced to work as unqualified personnel. Political activity for the African American was a dream. But between the African American people some activists appeared that called upon peaceful improvement of their status and establishment of equality of the races. A number of public organizations appeared that were objected to attain the equal rights for the African Americans, among them were even educational organizations like the institute of Booker Washington. 2. USA entered the conflict in the Korean peninsula with the intention to lead the UN forces and to give support to the South Korea armies in confrontation with the Northern aggressors. United States could not let the communists in Korea win shortly after the communists’ victory in China, and tried to keep this sphere of influence on the events in the Far East. In the third phase of the war, general Douglas MacArthur strived for the complete destruction of North Korea troops and insisted on the â€Å"total war† with the communists of China and Korea even to the extents of nuclear bombing. These ideas weren’t welcomed by the President Truman and were the cause of MacArthur’s resignation. After the Korean War the â€Å"cold war† had spread from the Far East into the other regions. USA had expanded their military presence in Europe and in the Middle East; also the politics of neutrality in the Indo-China became obsolete. Military-industrial complex of the United States rapidly recovered from the recession that followed the World War II 3. Eighteenth century was the time of revolutionary changes in almost every aspect of life. Ideas of the Age of Enlightenment claimed the universal equality, and women started to understand that they may possess an active position in social life. This tendency reached the point of culmination at the end of the century, when the Declaration of the Rights of Women was created in 1791 by Olympe De Gouges during the times of the Great French Revolution. This declaration demanded for women equal rights in the family, the rights of active and passive voting, right of possession, right for education and right to take up any posts. Declaration was the embodiment of ideas of feminism that were born in the beginning of 18-th century, and appeared to be the starting point for the active movements for the equal rights of women in the future. 4. Philadelphia System was based on the idea that the prisoner, left alone with his thoughts, with God and the Holy Bible as the only book for reading, would aspire to his inner perfection and inevitably reaches remorse for his deeds. â€Å"Philadelphian† prisoners were kept in solitude and silence. They had to wear masks while leaving their cells, no entertainments and relations with other prisoners were allowed, and work was a reward for the good behavior of the prisoner. This type of keeping the prisoners was very expensive; moreover, silence, solitude and forced idleness often caused insanity, flatness of mind or suicidal tendencies among the imprisoned. So the Auburn System was developed to change the situation. According to this system, criminal should be reformed by regular obligatory work, accuracy and discipline. During the day prisoners work in general workrooms with the only short breaks for the rest and walk, and for the night they are separately locked in one-man cells. Several hours in a week are for education. In an early Auburn System prisoners were prohibited to speak on the penalty of corporal punishment, but later on they were allowed to socialize during the rest. This system is more psychologically comfortablew for the prisoners, and is not such a heavy financial load for the government, as the Philadelphia System is.