dred scott decision essays

dred scott decision essays The Dred Scott decision of 1865 had many implications on the status of free blacks in the United States, along with the concept of popular sovereignty, and the future of slavery in America. Dred Scott was a slave who moved in with his master to the free state of Illinois. He claimed that residence in a free state made him a free man, and he fought for his freedom all the way to the Supreme Court (1865). Chief Justice Taney ruled that since blacks could not be citizens, they had no right to sue in a federal court. The court also went further and said the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. This decision greatly affected the status of free blacks in the United States. They were not allowed any additional rights due to the fact that they were not citizens. Therefore, they could not advance in society socially, and otherwise. Because of this, they could not vote and freely voice their opinions as the Constitution did not apply to them. The Dred Scott decision also had many implications on the concept of popular sovereignty. It was questioned that if Congress could not exclude slaves from a territory, how could a mere territorial legislature do so? Until statehood was granted, slavery seemed as unprofaned as freedom of religion or speech or any other civil liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. Where formerly freedmen (as guaranteed in the Bill of Rights) was a national institution and slavery a local one, now according to the Court, slavery was nationwide, as was excluded only where states specifically abolished it. This meant that popular sovereignty had virtually no jurisdiction in the aspect of slavery in a territory, because slavery was only abolished if a state specifically said so. The future of slavery was also impacted upon by the Dred Scott decision. It convinced thousands that the South was engaged in an aggressive attempt to extend the peculiar institution so far that it could no longer be c...

Bataan Death March essays

Bataan Death March essays The Bataan Death March: A brutal, barbaric journey through malnutrition, disease, torture, and death. Documentaries try to explain the history of these horrible events, but only those who survived the march actually know how awful and cruel it really was. December 7, 1941: The renowned bombing of Pearl Harbor stunned the United States and the whole world. The Japanese had been dominating many territories, and were continuing to spread throughout South East Asia. The President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, had then devised a plan of action and sent American Troops to defend Corregidor Island, located in the Philippines. After fighting through many small battles, they finally arrived in 1942, in the Manila Bay. There, the American and Filipino Troops teamed up to resist the forces of the Japanese Soldiers. However, the United States had not expected to remain there for more than one month, and was not very well prepared. They had believed that help would be coming for them, but unfortunately, it was impossible to send more assistance into Corregidor. The US and Filipinos battled for five months against the fierce Japanese, who invaded May 5, 1942. The Japs shot one shell every five seconds for 24 hours straight. The Americans were under the command of General Jonathan Wainwright, who had led a gallant, but hopeless fight, and finally in May of 1942, 76,000 troops surrendered to Japan. This resignation had begun one of the worst marches in the history of any war. When the survivors of the Battle of Corregidor became POWs, they were forced to endure a 90-mile trek, called the Bataan Death March. The Prisoners were denied food, water, and medical treatment throughout most of this time. Their personal possessions and equipment was taken from them, and they had to march in the blazing sun without any basic sanitary facilities. Along the way their Japanese escorts beat, clubbed, and bayon...

A problem in civil engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

A problem in civil engineering - Essay Example The effects of civil engineering to the environment start from its construction to its use i.e. the use of vehicles on the already built roads. All these have contributed to the environmental pollution. The most areas that civil engineering affects in the environment include the air, water and it defragments the habitats. All these effects are the main contributors of climate change (Moavenzadeh, 1994, p. 29). The main origin of this pollution is the construction sites. This is where all the activities take place. The main products in the construction site are the waste products. Construction is one of the economic activities that use natural resources but it produces wastes to the environment. These wastes are produced in very high quantities that cannot be disposed easily. There accumulation increasing in very short time. These wastes can be in form of gas, sand, stones, ceramic or glass. Other dangerous products include wood treated with metal oxides and the paints. All these wast es are produced in large quantities yet they cannot be recycled. This has given engineers hard times in trying to either to disposes or recycle them. Other products can be recycled but the problem is that they are already contaminated. Civil engineers have been forced to buy some landfills in order to dispose the wastes there. Deposition can be very hard more especially where some people refuse to sell their landfills for deposition (Moavenzadeh, 1994, p. 34). The construction wastes caused a lot of contamination on both land and the water. During construction, the fluids used are the main pollutants to the environment. At times, these fluids are pumped into the sewage but they also damage the sewage plants. For these plants to be repaired, they require high cost and this cause too much inconveniences to the authorities involved. To avoid all these problems, all waste paint used should be collected and recycled. Furthermore, water used for washing contains a lot of suspensions that may also cause some inconveniences in the sewage treatment. Construction also causes emission of dust and other gases into the air leading to air pollution. With increase in this air pollution, it leads to climate change. Dust can also cause visual impact. This leads to invisibility. Construction sites are also full of noise. Noise is air pollution. Noise is generated by the heavy machineries used for construction. However it is very important to research on the effects of civil engineering on the environment. The main objective of the research is to find the various ways in which the civil engineering activities affect the environment and the possible ways of reducing these effects (Moavenzadeh, 1994, p. 37). Task 2 Despite the positive impacts that civil engineering entails, there are also negative effects that the activity brings to the environment. These negative effects are increase as the civil engineering intensifies in most parts of the world. The need of more civil construc tions has made it difficult to reduce these civil engineering effects on the environment. However, there is a need to look at the way this civil construction affects the climate and to deduce the possible ways to reduce it. Research should be done to identify then factors that accelerate these effects and the ways of controlling the menace should be put in place. The hypothesis of this research is to identify how civil engineering affects the environment a