Edward Gibbons Fall of Rome essays

Edward Gibbons Fall of Rome essays In Edward Gibbons, DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE he argues that the reason for Rome's fall is because of Germanic invasions, a decline in public morality, and the rise of Christianity. With all of the above statements I would agree that Edward Gibbons is correct. They all help in the fall of the Roman empire. Where I think he did go wrong was in neglecting to state the other numerous reasons that help contribute to its fall. Three of these other factors that I think are also very important are; the lack of further expansion, the low level of technological advances, and the natural reaction of the rulers to hole up in their country estates with all their slaves at the first sign of weakening markets. The first of these reasons does not begin at Rome's collapse but at its starting point. From the begenning Rome had always grown in both wealth and size. It was with this constant expansion that Rome's economy continued to flourished. With steadily expanding borders they collected more and more markets, and in so doing, gained access to many new goods and resources. One of these aquired resources that played a huge role in Empire is slavery. When Rome quit going to war it lost it's ability to gain POWs, or slaves. With this sudden lack of supply for new slaves, the cogs of Roman society began to falter and go unreplaced. The same thing that happened to the slavery industry was repeated with many of the other industries of Rome at approximately the same time. This general collapse in Rome's overall economy was a result of the empire consuming at a rate far greater than allowed. A reason that lead to Rome's inability to remain self-sustaining as an Empire was it's lack of technology. Technological advance did not increase at a rate proportional to the increase of the people per square mile. This lead to the inability of the Romans to become self-sustaining. Once again the slave trade was a reas...

Battle of Carillon in the French and Indian War

Battle of Carillon in the French and Indian War The Battle of Carillon was fought July 8, 1758, during the French Indian War (1754-1763). Forces Commanders British Major General James AbercrombieBrigadier General Lord George Howe15,000-16,000 men French Major General Louis-Joseph de MontcalmChevalier de Levis3,600 men Background Having suffered numerous defeats in North America in 1757, including the capture and destruction of Fort William Henry, the British sought to renew their efforts the following year. Under the guidance of William Pitt, a new strategy was developed which called for attacks against Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island, Fort Duquesne at the forks of the Ohio, and Fort Carillon on Lake Champlain. To lead this last campaign, Pitt desired to appoint Lord George Howe. This move was blocked due to political considerations and Major General James Abercrombie was given command with Howe as brigadier general (Map). Assembling a force of around 15,000 regulars and provincials, Abercrombie established a base at the southern end of Lake George near the former site of Fort William Henry. Opposing the British efforts was Fort Carillons garrison of 3,500 men led by Colonel Franà §ois-Charles de Bourlamaque. On June 30, he was joined by the overall French commander in North America, Marquis Louis-Joseph de Montcalm. Arriving at Carillon, Montcalm found the garrison insufficient to protect the area around the fort and possessing food for only nine days. To aid the situation, Montcalm requested reinforcements from Montreal. Fort Carillon Construction on Fort Carillon had begun in 1755 in response to the French defeat at the Battle of Lake George. Built on Lake Champlain, near the northern point of Lake George, Fort Carillon was situated on a low point with the La Chute River to the south. This location was dominated by Rattlesnake Hill (Mount Defiance) across the river and by Mount Independence across the lake. Any guns emplaced on the former would be in position to bombard the fort with impunity. As the La Chute was not navigable, a portage road ran south from a sawmill at Carillon to the head of Lake George. The British Advance On July 5, 1758, the British embarked and began moving over Lake George. Led by the industrious Howe, the British advance guard consisted of elements of Major Robert Rogers rangers and light infantry led by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Gage. As the British approached on the morning of July 6, they were shadowed by 350 men under Captain Trà ©pezet. Receiving reports from Trà ©pezet regarding the size of the British force, Montcalm withdrew the bulk of his forces to Fort Carillon and began building a line of defenses on a rise o to the northwest. Beginning with entrenchments fronted by thick abatis, the French line was later strengthened to include a wooden breastwork. By noon on July 6, the bulk of Abercrombies army had landed at the northern edge of Lake George. While Rogers men were detailed to take a set of heights near the landing beach, Howe began advancing up the west side of the La Chute with Gages light infantry and other units. As they pushed through the wood, they collided with Trà ©pezets retreating command. In the sharp firefight that ensued, the French were driven off, but Howe was killed. Abercrombies Plan With Howes death, British morale began to suffer and the campaign lost momentum. Having lost his energetic subordinate, Abercrombie took two days to advance on Fort Carillon, which normally would have been a two-hour march. Shifting to the portage road, the British established a camp near the sawmill. Determining his plan of action, Abercrombie received intelligence that Montcalm possessed 6,000 men around the fort and that the Chevalier de Là ©vis was approaching with 3,000 more. Là ©vis was approaching, but with only 400 men. His command joined Montcalm late on July 7. On July 7, Abercrombie dispatched engineer Lieutenant Matthew Clerk and an aide to scout the French position. They returned reporting that it was incomplete and could be easily carried without artillery support. Despite a suggestion from Clerk that guns should be emplaced atop and at the base of Rattlesnake Hill, Abercrombie, lacking imagination or an eye for terrain, set upon a frontal assault for the next day. That evening, he held a council of war, but only asked whether they should advance in ranks of three or four. To support the operation, 20 bateaux would float guns to the base of the hill. The Battle of Carillon Clerk again scouted the French lines on the morning of July 8 and reported that they could be taken by storm. Leaving the majority of the armys artillery at the landing site, Abercrombie ordered his infantry to form with eight regiments of regulars in the front supported by six regiments of provincials. This was completed around noon and Abercrombie intended to attack at 1:00 PM. Around 12:30, fighting began when New York troops began engaging the enemy. This led a ripple effect where individual units began fighting on their fronts. As a result, the British attack was piecemeal rather than coordinated. Fighting forward, the British were met by heavy fire from Montcalms men. Taking severe losses as they approached, the attackers were hampered by the abatis and cut down by the French. By 2:00 PM, the first assaults had failed. While Montcalm was actively leading his men, sources are unclear as to whether Abercrombie ever left the sawmill. Around 2:00 PM, a second attack went forward. About this time, the bateaux carrying guns to Rattlesnake Hill came under fire from the French left and the fort. Rather than push forward, they withdrew. As the second assault went in, it met with a similar fate. Fighting raged until around 5:00 PM, with the 42nd Regiment (Black Watch) reaching the base of the French wall before being repulsed. Realizing the scope of the defeat, Abercrombie ordered his men to fall back and a confused retreat ensued to the landing site. By the next morning, the British army was withdrawing south across Lake George. Aftermath In the assaults at Fort Carillon, the British lost 551 killed, 1,356 wounded, and 37 missing against French casualties of 106 killed and 266 wounded. The defeat was one of the bloodiest battles of the conflict in North America and marked the only major British loss of 1758 as both Louisbourg and Fort Duquesne were captured. The fort would be captured the British the following year when Lieutenant General Jeffrey Amhersts advancing army claimed it from the retreating French. Following its capture, it was renamed Fort Ticonderoga.

Causes and Effects of Refugees Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Causes and Effects of Refugees - Essay Example The present research has identified that a conflict in any given area triggers massive migrations of refugees across national borders and towards other countries considered to be safe. This is evident in locations that are prone to civil and social strife such as Afghanistan, the Balkans, Sudan, and Iraq. Generally, it is due to a civil strife in one’s homeland that a person leaves it. Anti-regime rebellions also lead to the emergence of refugees due to persecution. This is in regard to violating human rights, for example, the right to freedom of expression. However, not all governments or leaders welcome the idea of political freedom, as they prefer to silence their people. Ethnic campaigns are also major contributors to the presence of refugees in the world we live in. In spite of the world holding the title â€Å"civilized†, some people still think of their superiority. This is in regard to individuals who incite chaos against people they consider to be inferior to t hem, a practice also called ethnic cleansing. It is such events that, following tribal clashes between the Hutus and Tutsis, led to massive migration of refugees from Rwanda to neighbouring countries. In addition, a refugee situation can be caused by natural disasters within one’s own area of living by virtue of being internally displaced. This is particularly so for populations affected by natural disasters and those living in areas likely to be affected by climate change, as well as people involuntarily resettled due to development projects. According to Salehyan, international conflicts also lead to the rise of the number of refugees, as they are not â€Å"the unfortunate by-products of war, but may serve as catalysts for conflict†. This is seen in cases where refugees move into neighbouring countries, which, in turn, restrict migration. This fosters hostility between countries that may lead to military action and further increase of the number of refugees. One of t he effects of being refugees in a foreign country is the loss of cultural identity. This is in spite of the suppression of their inner mental representations of many aspects of their native culture. As a result, refugees fail to integrate successfully in the society that they move into due to differences in culture and stereotypes posed by the natives of the host country. This leads to discrimination against refugees, which negatively affects the process of cultural adjustment. Health issues accompany refugees in all places they may go to; this is in the form of access to quality health services that may include health records. This is because the information provided by refugees on their health status comes directly from the refugee patient and is, therefore, not a professional viewpoint. This way, refugee agencies are unable to direct health and humanitarian services to enhance awareness and meet population-based needs. Moreover, forced migrations result in severe demographic cons equences in terms of mortality, human suffering, and displacement of populations; they also result in the destruction of social structures that destabilize a society and drive it to the brink of strife. This way, cohesion between and among families is disrupted, and the bond is weakened, resulting in the need to look for one’s way out instead of looking out for the whole society.

Risk Manahement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Risk Manahement - Essay Example These strategies are forward contracts, futures contracts, swaps, call options, collars etc. All these strategies have significant strengths and weaknesses, which needs to be efficiently balanced by firms. This paper illuminates the impact of commodity price risk on the firms as well the significance of hedging such risk. It also analyzes different hedging strategies used by companies and their strengths and weaknesses. Hedging constitutes one of the most important financial decisions of any firm. It refers to different ways through which a company can minimize its exposure to various kinds of risks. Fuel represents a crucial cost in the total airline expenditure and thus fuel price risk has a great impact on the earnings and cash flows of airlines. Any drastic increase in oil prices can adversely affect cash flows. Effective hedging strategies are imperative for airlines to minimize the variability of cash flows due to volatility in oil price (Carter, Rogers. and Simkins, 2003). This is why almost firms use various hedging strategies to protect their cash flow from variations resulting out of oil price fluctuations. Froot, Scharfstein and Stein propound that "if a firm does not hedge, there will be some variability in the cash flows generated by assets in place." (1993, p. 1630) A non-hedging airline is also likely to be greatly vulnerable to any change in fuel market price. Because of effectiveness of hedging in commodity price risk manageme... that "for a given level of debt, hedging can reduce the probability that a firm will find itself in a situation where it is unable to repay that debt." (1993, p. 1632) This is one of the greatest benefits of using hedging strategies to manage commodity price risk. These strategies assure management that even if the commodity price moves in the unfavourable direction, it will not have a great impact of firm's earnings and cash flows. Forward contracts are the most common hedging strategies used by firms. Southwest airlines managed its exposure to oil price risk in the year 2005 with the help of forward contracts and successfully enhanced its earnings. On the contrary, in the same year other airlines like Delta and United Airlines faced great difficulties. However, there is high credit risk involved in hedging strategy using forward contracts. Froot, Scharfstein and Stein elaborate that "because they are not settled until maturity, forwards can involve substantially more credit risk than futures." (1993, p. 1649) Forwards have a distinctive feature as compared to the futures contract that they cannot be settled before maturity date. Hence, on one hand forwards strategy helps firms to considerably minimize their exposure to commodity price risk, it also leads to significant credit risk. Futures contract is another most commonly used strategy that firms can use to hedge against the commodity price risk. Veld-Merkoulova and de Roon (2003) illuminate a 'nave' strategy which relies on short term futures contracts for the purpose of hedging long term position in the spot market when the size of both the positions are the same. Under this hedging strategy, the futures contract is closed on the same date as that of the spot contract if futures contract has a maturity date

The Petrov Affair Essay Example for Free

The Petrov Affair Essay The â€Å"Petrov Affair† started in April 1954 when Vladimir Petrov and his wife Edvokia defected to Australia. The affair finally finished today, the 11th of December 1955; a day after the Federal Election in Australia when Robert Menzies was elected. The Events That Saw It Unfold The Petrov Affair occurred around the 3rd of April last year, when Vladimir Petrov, who was the cause of the Petrov Affair, defected to Australia under top-secret conditions. On arrival in Sydney, he was taken to a safe house on Sydney’s north shore. Only 3 or 4 Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, ASIO, officers knew about his defection to Australia, his wife Evdokia didn’t even know about this! Once the soviet embassy was aware of this defection, they accused the Australian Authorities of kidnapping him. Reason For His Defection One of Petrov’s main reasons for defecting here to Australia was to secure Ron Richards’, ASIO Deputy Director, secret documents containing evidence of Soviet espionage and infiltration of the Australian Government agencies. Richards was in charge of this operation and made the one of the possible code words for the defection â€Å"Cabin Candidate†. Another reason for defection was that he feared being arrested and killed by the Russian Government after he was associated with Beria and that if he went back to Russia, he would be purged as â€Å"Beria Man†. What Menzies Did About It Robert Menzies, the Prime Minister of Australia at the time, caused a stir when he announced to the House of Representatives that Petrov brought with him documents that revealed Soviet Espionage in Australia. He called a Royal Commission to investigate these allegations. Herbert Evatt, The Opposition Leader at the time, accused Menzies of arranging the defections to coincide with the election. After this happened, Menzies ended up winning the election, even though everyone thought Labour was going to succeed. Menzies denied that he had advanced knowledge of Petrov’s defection to Australia, but he did not deny that he exploited it.

Illegal war in Kosovo :: essays papers

Illegal war in Kosovo President Clinton addressed the people of the United States on June 10, 1999 over the United States’ mission in Kosovo. Kosovo is a province of Serbia, which makes this war a civil war. Highlights of his speech outline the goals that he wanted to obtain in this Humanitarian intervention, as he called it. The mission had flaws innate to it from the beginning. The three-tiered goal of the President was clearly stated. The first is to allow the Kosovar people back into their homes. The second is to require Serbian forces to leave Kosovo. The last thing was to deploy an international security force, with NATO at its core, to protect all the people that troubled the land, Serbians and Albanians alike. The message was clear, but was not followed in regards to international law, and NATO’s Charter, and even the three clearly stated missions. The involvement in Kosovo’s war is illegal, and the President of the United States has pushed NATO into committing wartime cri mes and has used the Powers-of-Office in an unconstitutional manner, which resulted in the illegal intervention of a sovereign state. On March 24, 1999, the united countries of North Atlantic Treaty Organization, under pressure from the United States, launched an illegal assault upon a sovereign nation. The evidence is overwhelming that leaders within the United State government sponsored this decision with the extreme perseverance from President of the United States. NATO should have dismissed the request for assault and involvement for it was clearly illegal. It’s perpetrators showed total disregard for Article One of the NATO Charter, which incorporates by reference the United Nations Charter, Chapter One, Article Two, Sections Three, Four and Seven. These sections make it clear that NATO’s role is to be purely defensive. The aggression that NATO has undertaken did not come from or with approval of the UN Security Council, which NATO’s Charter clearly states numerous times that the UN Security Council will convene and approve of any such matter or action. It is a brutal violation of NA TO’s Charter and of all principles of international law. NATO used military weapons and tactics that run counter to the demands of decency and the nature of a moral people. Cluster bombs are outright illegal. Geneva Convention has concluded the use of cluster bombs and anti-tank and anti-personnel mines as illegal munitions.

African Americans jazz Essay

Many believe that jazz is a music that African Americans played together with the Creole musicians during the 19th century in New Orleans, Louisiana in United States that bind the race together, black and white Americans. This is also considered as the ancient and most distinguished musical genres in North America and known as â€Å"America’s classical music. † Based from the quote of Gerald Early, a lecturer and a writer of African – American studies, he emphasizes that America will be known from three things: in the Constitution, sports (baseball), and in jazz music, since these are the most captivating things that they developed. Jazz is a type of lyricism that reflects on the Great American promise and expresses hope for freedom in slavery. It is also illustrated by the exceptional attribute of collective improvisation and should be performed with the right feelings about it. According to Louis Armstrong if you will ask, you’ll never know. He discovers the secret behind the jazz music, that’s why he became known as one of the successful musicians and leading stars in the whole world. The early jazz musicians create a great impact to the life of many as they change their point of view towards music. Although, jazz music is originated from the black, who are considered outsider but living in America, wherein they use this as a passage to be accepted in the society, still America truly owns this music. I prove it accurate because the New Orleans jazz musicians improve, develop, and patronize this music until the whole world has known it. One more thing, jazz has a big role to the history of America. This music becomes the expression of freedom because way back in 1970, it played a major role in the life of African American culture. Their longing for freedom is emphasized as they sing. I also believe that jazz eliminates the discrimination between the white and black people, that’s why I strongly agree that jazz belongs to America because the whole history of this country is the song itself. The history of jazz is deeply rooted in America and until now the musical tradition lives here. Works Cited The Importance of Jazz in American Culture | Jazz & More† http://jazz. learnhub. com/lesson/6809-the-importance-of-jazz-in-american-culture#ixzz0ESyZePQV&A The Importance of Jazz in American Culture http://jazz. learnhub. com/lesson/6809-the-importance-of-jazz-in-american- culture#ixzz0ET3vi6Uc&A A History of Jazz http://www. historyjazz. com/ The History of Jazz Music http://meltingpot. fortunecity. com/zaire/721/introframe. htm Jazz Music http://www. smallsjazz. com/