The loss of humanness for slaves and slaveholders Essay Example for Free

The loss of humanness for slaves and slaveholders Essay The history of slavery cannot and should not be forgotten, because it represents one of the chapters of human history, when humanity was not humane at all. The â€Å"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass† depicts an autobiography of an American slave, Frederick Douglass, who has risen from the pits of slavery to the echelon of free men. The first few chapters narrate the harrowing experiences of slaves, under the hands of their white masters and mistresses. This paper focuses on chapter 1 of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. † The main argument of chapter 1 is that slavery dehumanizes slaves, by not allowing them to nurture human bonds or have memories of important aspects of their lives that remind them of their humanness, and slavery also dehumanizes slaveholders, because it allows masters to perform the most inhumane acts to their slaves. Slavery dehumanizes slaves, by not allowing them to nurture human bonds. Douglass recounts the practice of slaveholders of separating infant slaves from their mothers. He reckons that this may be due to the belief of slave masters in the importance of erasing maternal relations, which can impact the work and loyalty of the slaves to their masters. Douglass says that the primary goal of the separation between mothers and their young children is to prevent â€Å"the development of the childs affection toward its mother, and to blunt and destroy the natural affection of the mother for the child† (Douglass, ch. 1). This practice seems to have been successful, because when Frederick’s mother died, he did not feel anything for her: â€Å"I received the tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger. † Having lack of emotion at this critical point in his life portrays how slavery dehumanizes slaves by eradicating human emotions that would have otherwise been developed in normal life circumstances. Furthermore, slaves are not supposed to develop positive social relationships, and so families and lovers are commonly torn apart. Douglass remembers Aunt Hester, whom her master has been discovered with another black slave, and so his aunt was incessantly whipped, and he also knows slave families that are also broken, by separating parents from their children and siblings from their siblings. Slavery also dehumanizes slaves by not allowing them to have memories of important aspects of their lives that remind them of their humanness. Douglass does not remember his birthday, which the text indicates as a way of stressing how slaves are less human, because they cannot remember the date that they have been born humans. Douglass also asserts the inhumanity of not knowing his birthday, by saying: â€Å"†¦ the larger part of the slaves knows as little of their ages as horses know of theirs. † By saying this, Douglass creates the relationship between slaves and animal treatment, an indication of how slaves were treated as animals. In addition, Douglass also does not even know who his father is. Not knowing one’s real parents also affects one’s idea of humanity, because it is equal to not being aware of one’s origins, which can negatively influence the formation of human identity. Slavery also dehumanizes masters by making them emotionally distant enough to do the most inhumane acts to their slaves. Douglass remembers the atrocious whippings of her aunt: â€Å"The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped longest. † Masters have become hungry for blood. Because of this lust for blood, even the masters have disengaged from being humans, because they have lost their compassion for their fellow human beings. Their violent natures turned them into animals too. Slavery represents the process of turning people into animals. Slaves and masters are both converted into animals, because slavery removed critical aspects of their humanness. Slavery took away social relations and human memories from slaves and ignited bloodlust among slave masters. The outcomes of slavery, as well as its processes, are all inhumane, and so inhumanity was developed. Thus, slavery reverses the gift of humanity to humans and it has provided a way of enslaving the essence of humanity. Work cited Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. Web. 17 July 2010 http://sunsite. berkeley. edu/Literature/Douglass/Autobiography/01. html.

Explosion of Interest Essay -- Online Communities Web Cyberspace Essay

Explosion of Interest A community can be defined in many ways. The most basic definition is a group of people sharing common interests, thoughts, beliefs, or values. Today's fastest growing and most diverse communities are those experienced through the Internet. In the article "Everyone's a Critic," Richard Lacayo describes the many communities where people can express their feelings on books, movies, music, and restaurants. His representation of online communities can be shared with that of Amy Bruckman's in her article 'Finding One's Own in Cyberspace." Both articles represent online communities as one of today's fastest and easiest ways of sharing your thoughts with the rest of the world. With shared views about the Net, both Lacayo and Bruckman recognize online communities as a place where everyone's opinion, regardless of what it is, can be appreciated and accepted. As today's most common medium for sharing opinions grows at an immeasurable speed, the effects the Net has made in our society are equal ly as infinite. One outcome has been the growing number of do-it-yourself communities seen throughout the Internet. These communities allow all different kinds of people to share their opinions on almost anything and everything. As a result, "everywhere in cyberspace there are Web pages where do-it-yourself critics hold forth about movies, books, music, and restaurants" (Lacayo 58). The Internet has created a new arena where everyone has an opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions with people all over the world. This not only made shopping more convenient for the average consumer to research the fate of their money before a purchase, but communities like these have created a place where people's interests can be shar... ...ing their opinions. The incredible ability of the Internet is one unlike any other. Its capability to connect people so far apart with so many differences and unite them in one common place is most remarkable. Certainly, the Net will continue to grow into something far beyond our imaginations as it has been for years. From a new, skeptical way to communicate to what has united so many all over the world, the Internet has truly become and explosion of interest. Works Cited: Bruckman, Amy. "Finding One's Own in Cyberspace." Composing Cyberspace: Identity, Community, and Knowledge in the Electronic Age. Ed. Richard Holeton. USA: McGraw-Hill, 1998.171-178. Cashel, Jim. "10 Encouraging Signs for Online Communities." 0nline Community Report. 2000. 6 Oct. 2001 http://www.onlinecommunityreport.com Lacayo, Richard. "Everyone's a Critic." Time Aug. 2001: 58-60

Climate Change and Its Consequences

Climate change and its consequences have recently grown in importance on political agendasworldwide. CO2 emissions is one of the gases that has a dramatic impact on the environmentresulting in rising coastal flooding, reduction in water supplies and increase malnutrition(IEA, 2010). In order to protect the environment for future generations, a global reduction inCO2 emissions is required along with reduced consumption of non-renewable energyresources. One major CO2 contributor is the transport sector, which is responsible for arounda quarter of EU greenhouse gas emissions, making it the second biggest greenhouse gasemittingsector after energy. While emissions from other sectors are shrinking, those fromtransport have increased by 36% since 1990. As a consequence, the European Union has setmandatory emission reduction targets for passenger cars of 95g/km by 2020, which is areduction of 40% compared to 2007. Automobile manufacturers that fail to comply facedrastic fines. In order to reach these targets and prevent penalty payments for excessemissions, innovative propulsion systems have gained increasing attention. Vehicles withelectric propulsion are considered as a promising alternative on the pathway towards lowemissionvehicles that could enable the transport sector to reduce emissions significantly.During the last few years, electric vehicles (EV) got more and more attention in national andEuropean policies and public awareness increased significantly. While much effort has beenput in the research and development of e-mobility, less attention has been paid to consumers'acceptance (Yeh, 2007). The majority of consumers still consider EVs as disadvantageouscompared to traditional cars. However, without consumer acceptance there will be notechnological shift and long-term success of sustainable transport systems (Wiedmann et al.,2011). Therefore, it is crucial to gain in-depth insights in consumers' perception towards EVsthat affect preferences for and the adoption of alternative fuelled vehicles.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt Fact Sheet

Franklin Delano Roosevelt served as Americas president for over 12 years, longer than any other person before or since. He was in power during the Great Depression and throughout most of World War II. His policies and decisions had and continue to have an enormous impact on America.  For more in depth information, you can also read the Franklin D. Roosevelt Biography. Fast Facts: Franklin D. Roosevelt Birth: January 30, 1882Death: April 12, 1945Known for: Four-term President of the U.S.Term of Office: March 4, 1933-April 12, 1945Number of Terms Elected: 4 Terms; Died during his 4th term.Spouse: Eleanor Roosevelt (His fifth cousin once removed)Famous Quote: The United States Constitution has proved itself the most marvelously elastic compilation of rules of government ever written. Additional Franklin D. Roosevelt quotes. Major Events While in Office Twenty-First Amendment - Repeal of Prohibition (1933)New Deal policies including the creation of the CCC, NRA, and TVA (1933-1935)Social Security Act (1935)Court Packing Plan (1937)World War II (1939-1945)Pearl Harbor attacked; US enters World War II (1941)Yalta Conference (1945) Related Franklin D. Roosevelt Resources These additional resources on Franklin D Roosevelt can provide you with further information about the president and his times. Causes of the Great Depression: What actually caused the Great Depression? Here is a list of the top five most commonly agreed upon causes of the Great Depression.The Manhattan Project Timeline: One day before America entered World War II with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Manhattan Project officially began with President Franklin D. Roosevelts approval over the objections of some scientists including Albert Einstein. J. Robert Oppenheimer was the projects scientific director.