Comparing the Brothers Antigone and Ismene in Antigone :: Sophocles

The personalities of the two sisters, Antigone and Ismene, are as different from one another as night and day. Antigone acts as a free spirit, a defiant individual, while Ismene is content to recognize her limitations as a woman in a male dominated society. In the Greek tragedy†Antigone", by Sophocles, Antigone learns that King Creon has refused to give a proper burial for the slain Polyneices, brother of Ismene and Antigone. Infuriated by this, Antigone shares the tragic news with Ismene. From her first response, "No I, haven’t heard a word"(13). Ismene reveals her passivity and helplessness in the light of Creon's decree. Thus, from the start, Ismene is characterized as traditionally "feminine", a helpless woman that pays no mind to political affairs. Doubting the wisdom of her sisters plan to break the law and bury Polyneices, Ismene argues: â€Å"Remember we are women, not born to contend with men .† (75) Once again Ismene's words clearly state her weak, feminine character and helplessness within her own dimensions. Antigone, not happy with her sisters response chides her sister for not participating in her crime and for her passivity, saying, â€Å"Don’t fear for me. Set your own life in order"(97) . For Antigone, no law could stand in the way of her strong consideration of her brother's spirit, not even the punishment of an early death. Ismene is more practical, knowing the task is impossible, she feels the situation to be hopeless. It is a wonder, which of the two sisters are really guilty of these chronic charges. Of course, Antigone acted so quickly, and failed to take the advice of the moderate sister, Ismene. Instead, going against Creon's words, Antigone rashly goes ahead and breaks the law. Antigone is a fool, she must learn that such defiance, even when justified, is not conductive to longevity. Although Antigone is foolish, she is also courageous and motivated by her morals. Proper burial of the dead was, according to the Greeks, prerequisite for the soul’s entrance into a permanent home. Therefore, perhaps Ismene is also foolish for her quick refusal to help Antigone perform the duty of Polyneices proper burial. Ismene definitely seems hasty in her acceptance of personal weakness. Perhaps in some way, both sisters are guilty of the same tragic sins. Perhaps it is this rashness, more subdued in Ismene's case that leads both sisters to their own destruction.

Double Jeopardy Summary :: essays research papers

In the movie, Double Jeopardy, Libby Parsons, played by Ashley Judd, and her husband Nick, Bruce Greenwood, go out on a weekend sailboat trip. During the night, Libby wakes up finding herself alone and covered in blood. As she gets up to search for her husband, all she finds is more blood all over the boat and a bloody knife on deck. As the investigation is underway, Libby is charged with her husband’s murder. It is found that Nick and she had two million dollar life insurance policies. This is used as a motive and Libby is convicted of his murder. As Libby serves her time in prison, she entrusts her friend, Angela, Annabeth Gish, with her son. Over some time, Libby finds out through a phone call to Angela and Matty, Benjamin Weir, that Nick had staged his own death and was still alive. After serving six years in prison, she is released on parole. She violates her parole and through her own investigation finds out that Angela is dead and that her husband lives in New Orleans under a new identity. By skipping town, her correctional officer Travis Lehman, played by Tommy Lee Jones, is on her trail. He finds out what she is after and teams up with the local police to track her down. Once in New Orleans, Parsons finds the new Jonathan Deberaux and lets him know that she found him. She tells him that all she wants is her son and he agrees. He sets her up, however, at the cemetery by pretending that her son is there, but he knocks her out and puts her in a casket in a catacomb. Travis finds Libby after she escapes but instead of taking her in, he helps her to finish what she was there to do. He goes back to question Jonathan one last time about why Libby may want to find him, but instead tapes him when he says that he buried her and that there was nothing left to worry about. Libby comes into the room and demands her child again with a gun in her hand. Jonathan tries to get her to put it down by asking her if she wanted to serve time again. She tells him, how ever, what she learned in prison from an inmate. As the conversation heats up, Libby’s husband shoots Travis, but Libby kills Mr.

The benefits of preschool Essay -- essays research papers

Everyone has his or her own first day of kindergarten experiences. Some might have been more memorable while others still trying to forget. Mine was merely an observance and evaluation period. After I gave my mother a kiss goodbye, and placed my belongings in the cubbyhole I was ready to learn, but unfortunately the majority of the other students were not. Considering one can not get too accomplished over many loud high-pitched cries, I was forced to be patient and suffer silently from boredom.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Preschool is a beneficial tool for children because they learn social skills and gain an appreciation at an early age for the education system. The prefix â€Å"pre-â€Å" means before or prior to. Preschool education refers to the education of children prior to the first grade of elementary school (Melton 181). By the time kindergarten started I was already comfortable with the idea and concept. I was not only ready, but excited to go to school to learn and meet old and new friends.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rachel and Margaret McMillian (Boyer 47) first developed the nursery school system in England of 1911. They were first coordinated to serve the needs of the poor, and health, nutrition, and social services were provided with an educational program (Boyer 48). Because preschools are subject to licensing regulations and because they have qualified teachers, they provide a valuable experience for each child beyond and baby-sitting service (Kranyik 91). The nursery-school movement began in the 19th century with the growth of the factory system. Mothers were often at work long hours at a time while younger children were left neglected. They were established so those mothers could leave their children in a safe place while they worked. Preschool is an option, but because of the state of the economy, it has forced both of the parents to seek full-time employment, they have no choice. With many children living in a single parent families, the custodial parent may have to work to support the family. Parents who are professionals and want to stay in position as well as raise a family need child care while they are at work (Kranyik 91).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The modern nursery school has changed the mold from when it was first introduced. It is centered more around education than daycare. After WWI many different universities set up labora... ...bservations and understanding of the child as he is, not as adults imagine he might or should be. Dr. Montessori then devised a total environment to help the child develop himself as a total human being. She saw the role of the teacher as one of directing activity rather than actually teaching, so she preferred to use the name â€Å"directress instead of â€Å"teacher.† There are many differences between Montessori and traditional preschool but the basic idea stays the same.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although preschools were mainly invented for the convenience of adults (Melton 182), the have evolved from sandboxes and finger painting to letter blocks and handwriting instructions. Everything is created for the advancement is actually benefiting the preschooler now and in the future even more so. Melton, David, How to Help Your Preschooler Learn. New York, NY: David McKay Company, Inc. 1976 Malloy, Terry, Montessori and Your Child. New York, NY: Schocken Books 1974 Kranyik, Margery A., Starting School. New York, NY: Continuum 1982 Hainstock, Elizabeth, The Essential Montessori. New York, NY: Plume Printing 1986 Boyer, Ernest L., Ready to Learn. Princeton, NJ: The Carnegie Foundation 1991

Male Versus Female

The battle of the sexes has been going on since the beginning of mankind. Women were once stereotyped as mere housewives, and the men were labeled as breadwinners. Over time, the title given to the so-called weaker sex has evolved up to par with that of men. Now, they almost stand on equal footing as them. When it comes to leadership though, I believe that females outshine their male counterparts in almost every measure. According to Rochelle Sharpe (2003), it has been approximately twenty-five years since women have started pouring into the labor force and have been trying to be more like men in every way. They now wear power suits and go out on golf luncheons with board executives, but despite them doing all the copying, new research is beginning suggest that men ought to be the ones doing more of the imitating. As discovered in an in-depth performance evaluation conducted on the year 2002 by Hagberg Consulting Group in Foster City, California – out of the four hundred twenty-five high-level executives that were evaluated, the women executives got higher ratings on fourty-two of the fifty-two skills measured. Despite all of this growing progress for females everywhere, it is still obvious that men have continued to dominate a majority of the business world. According to the Labor Department, as of the year 2004, only two of the nations five hundred biggest companies have female CEO’s and of the one thousand largest corporations, only six were being run by women. The reason for this male dominance is simply because women are not given an equal stand as men when it comes to job opportunities. Some businesses view women only as workhorses, or in a sense that they are well suited for demanding careers in middle management, but not for prime jobs. As a result of this, most women get stuck in jobs that involve human resources or public relations – posts that rarely lead to the top. (Sharpe, 2003) Both men and women have different styles of leadership, and the actual difference lies between how much listening is done. When it comes to women, they are naturally more open about sharing information and take the time to communicate with people and to hear what their inputs are. It is through this that they are able to gather more information that they can effectively analyze then implement into a plan that uses the best of the ideas presented. On the other hand, men do not take time to stop and smell the flowers – instead, they have the tendency to go straight to their point of view and present it in a ‘as a matter of fact’ manner. This way, they save time and have everyone agreeing to their plan of action. Well this is because men are not as flexible or willing to interact with others. (Grenberg, 2004) As a result, male leaders may actually tend to force their perspective and use their position influence others. Despite this being the quicker way of getting things done in a non-sloppy manner, it ironically does not make it as efficient as the way the opposite sex works. The manner that females work is by most of the time, simply listening. They take the initiative to gather ideas, research, and so forth from the people they are working with. They do not force their ideas on them, but rather, improve them with teamwork. It is because of this that they are able to produce better outputs and are more effective leaders than males. From the very start, women have often been associated with being a mother figure; therefore, even female leaders tend to be seen more as caring mothers rather than strong-willed heads. In relation to this, there are companies who assume that people skills are not business skills, which basically undermines their strengths. (Fletcher, 2002). Men though, are then associated with being the breadwinners of the family – a person who knows how to lead. Male leaders are seen as powerful members of society who have a good head on their shoulders and are tough enough to handle anything that comes their way. The notion that women are not as tough, is only something that is assumed. Although the majority may not be as physically strong as their counterpart, they are on the same level in terms of intellect. Women are associated with mothers, which means that they know how to take care of those working for them. Because they know how to deal with the most energetic of children, they can put their motherly instincts into motivating people – they are gifted with inborn people skills. According to the book Disappearing Acts: Gender, Power and Relational Practice at Work, written by Joyce Fletcher in 2002, employees that feel cared about by their bosses or are inspired by them, often produce higher-quality work; and supervisors who know how to deal with conflicts get better results. The conclusion can only be that by taking care of their employees, they are not only taking charge of them subtly but producing greater output in the process. In the present, the number of women that posses high-ranking positions may only add up to a mere fraction of the male population in the same position but it does not prove that the latter is more competent but rather that the former is being viewed as incompetent. The never-ending bias against female leaders has been going on forever, but they have been fighting back little by little. Women have come a long way from being a gender with no equality with the other sex, a gender that had no rights to vote, and a gender that had been stereotyped as a housewife. They have fought hard all these decades, and still continue to fight for the equality that they deserve. But despite the evident inequality, I still believe that female leaders outshine their male counterparts in almost every measure.

Home Video Game

1: Why the rapid growth of Atari? Why the 1982-85 collapse? How did Nintendo rebuild the industry? What was its strategy? After Bushnell settled on Atari, his first built was the simplest game, which people knew the rules immediately, and this game could be played with only one hand. Then, Bushnell talked his way into a $ 50000 line of credit from a local bank to start his business. By 1974, 100,000 Pong-like games were sold worldwide, and although Atari manufactured only 10 percent of the game, the company still made $3. 2 million that year. Atari had a rapid growth because it is a new industry, and Atari does not have any competitor at that time. So, Atari is the only company in this home video game industry, and it has a huge power of supplier with no competitors and substitutes. After 1976, about twenty different companies were crowding into the home videogame market, Atari still has more than 50% market share in the industry. Until 1978, Atari estimated that total demand would reach 2 million units. In 1982, Atari lost $500 in the first nine months of the year. Part of the blame for the collapse was laid at the feet of an enormous inventory overhang of unsold games. With more and more new games hit the market, the average price would goes down and the profits goes down as well. Nintendo established a commanding worldwide position by the end of the decade. The first step of Nintendo was to license video game technology from Magnavox. Then, Nintendo tried to develop its own video game machine (Famicom) that combined superior graphics processing capabilities and low cost. In the US, Nintendo established a subsidiary named as Nintendo of America (NOA) by 1980, and Nintendo repositioned the market in U. S. NOA spent about 2% of sales budget for advertising and also sought out promotion partner, and it practiced careful inventory management in releasing its new games. In conclusion, Nintendo made an innovative new game system which had some competitive advantages such as cheaper, superior image quality, faster hardware processing and a connector that can be used for future addition of a modem and keyboard. : How was Nintendo able to capture value from the home video game business? First of all, with the video game industry’s collapse, none of the company seems to have anything to do with the with the home video business except Nintendo. So, it was a big chance for Nintendo to monopolize the video game business, and it was a good chance to negotiate and license other companies to develop games for its system. Secondly, Nintendo has good market posi tion and distribution in United Stated. Thirdly, Nintendo has good game designing and technology, and it uses the regulation, contract and patent license to limit the market share of other game companies. 3: How was Sega able to gain market share from Nintendo? With Sega’s first game Periscope, Sega built up a respectable export business. Then, Sega realized that great games drove sales and more powerful technology gave game developers the tools to develop more appealing games. Sega also licensed other companies to develop games for the Genesis platform, but asked for lower royalty rates than Nintendo. Despite aggressive marketing in the 80s, it wasn't until the introduction of Sonic the Hedgehog in 1991 as a direct competitor to Nintendo's Mario character that Sega was able to capture a meaningful amount of the market with its Genesis console. The key point was Genesis does what Nintendo don’t, and Sega version out sold Nintendo’s two to one. 4: Evaluate the competitive strategy of 3DO. What flaws can you see in 3DO’s approach? The vision for 3DO was to shift the home video game business away from the existing cartridge-based format and toward a CD-ROM-based platform. The belief at 3DO is that the superior storage and graphics processing capabilities of the 3DO system would prove very attractive to game developers, allowing them to be far more creative. In turn, better games would attract customers away from Nintendo and Sega. The 3DO’s strategy was to license its hardware technology for free. However, only a few 3DO titles were available by the Christmas period where reports suggested 150 titles, and sales of the hardware were slow. As can be seen, 3DO did good at its software, but bad at its hardware. As a result, 3DO announced that it would either sell its hardware system or move into joint venture. 5: How come the Sony Play Station has succeeded where 3DO failed? Sony set up a retail channel separate from its consumer electronics sales force, and Sony has a good communication with retailers before the launch to find out how it could help them sell the play station. Sony targets its advertising for PlayStation at specific generation and age range. So, Sony focused on it retailers and customers, and it has a good market position. On the other side, 3DO only focused on its products but lack of the communication with its retailers and customers. 6: What drove Microsoft’s decision to enter the industry with its X-box offering? Because before Microsoft entered the home video game industry, it was no stranger to games. Microsoft had long participated in the PC gaming industry and was one of the largest publishers of PC games. X-box was based on Microsoft’s PC technology, and it would be much easier for software developers to write game for. Microsoft enter the industry because with annual revenues in excess of $20 billion worldwide, the home video game industry is huge and an important source of potential growth for Microsoft. 7: What lessons can be learned from the history of the home video game industry that has been used to help launch the Sony PlayStation II and Microsoft’s X-Box? Do Microsoft and Sony appear to have learned and applied these lessons? The lesson can be learned from the history of the home video industry was to focus on R&D, market positioning, cost leadership, innovation, technology and communications. Sony PlayStation II has consumed about 1. 3 billion in R&D, and Sony actually loses money on Sony PlayStation machine but gain from game CDs. On the other side, Microsoft’s X-Box cut X-box price over time but guaranteed a profit margin. There are three technical factors determined the quality of a video game: data width (in bits), clock speed (in MHz), and the amount of RAM (in bytes). Both Sony PlayStation II and Microsoft’s X-Box have their own competitive advantage in these technologies, and they also both are good game designers.

Dickens uses language Essay

When Mrs Gradgrind passes away in chapter nine, Dickens uses language to create sadness. Victorians loved sadness and tragedy in books and the portrayal of her death is done very emotionally. She is firstly described in the chapter as â€Å"helpless† and â€Å"feeble† to which the reader empathises with her. All people hate to see people they love and cherish grow old and weak and Dickens is brilliant in displaying the image of this. â€Å"The poor lady was nearer truth then she ever had been† This shows how Dickens disliked the utilitarian system, stating that Mrs Gradgrind’s nearest point of truth was on her death bed. As well as showing Dickens’s view, it also saddens the reader to know how close to death she is. On being told that â€Å"Lady Bounderby† had arrived, she retorted that â€Å"she had never called Bounderby by that name since he married Louisa† and that her choice of name for him was â€Å"J†. This will take the reader back to when she had no idea what to call him, and the memory is a nice one which again makes it sadder that she is dying. It also shows that she has not changed and is still the woman she used to be. She seems to â€Å"have no pulse†, but when Louisa kisses her hand, she can see â€Å"a thin thread of life† left in her. This description is again emotional as it shows how little life there is left in Mrs Gradgrind. Within the conversation between Louisa and her mother, Mrs Gradgrind often goes very â€Å"silent† for periods of time and has an â€Å"awful lull on her face, like one who was floating away on some great water† and â€Å"content to be carried down the stream†. This clever piece of descriptions meaning is that Mrs Gradgrind is slowly allowing herself to be carried into the â€Å"abyss† of death. But Louisa â€Å"recalls her† to ask what it was she wanted to speak to her about. The use of this river terminology is used again as Louisa again tries to stop her mother from â€Å"floating away†. Mrs Gradgrind is troubled because of what Louisa has not learned. She has learnt all the â€Å"ologies† from â€Å"day until night† but there is â€Å"something that her father missed,† She asked Louisa for a pen but â€Å"even the power of relentlessness had gone†. Even so, she â€Å"fancied that her request had been complied with and that the pen she could not have was held in her hand†. From this she began to â€Å"trace upon her wrappers†. It is very sad to see how Mrs Gradgrind is finally seeing the truth and wants Louisa too to see it but she cannot tell her and â€Å"the light that had always been so feeble and dim behind the weak transparency, went out† The figurative language used to describe both her weakness and death creates a solemn, melancholy surrounding and although she was never made to be a character the reader was so fond of, it is still saddening that she has passed away. It ends with a quote of religious terminology from the Psalm, Mrs Gradgrind â€Å"emerged from the shadow in which man walketh and disquieteth himself in vain†. This quote has a definite platonic reference to it as in Plato’s analogy of the cave, the prisoners who have seen shadows all their lives (which symbolise the visual world) needed to escape from the illusion created by their senses and find the truth. Throughout this section of the book, Mrs Gradgrind is said to be â€Å"closer to the truth then ever before† and â€Å"emerged from the shadow† so the Platonic reference is defiantly there. Mrs Sparsit resented Louisa from the moment she accepted the proposal from Mr Bounderby. It had been her plan all along to marry Mr Bounderby but this had been taken from her and her envy towards Louisa was immense. In chapter ten, Mrs Sparsit’s envy and grief are shown to be getting out of control and she, in her mind â€Å"erects a mighty staircase† that she believes Louisa to be on. At the bottom is a â€Å"dark pit of shame and ruin† and â€Å"down those stairs, from day to day and hour to hour, she saw Louisa coming†. Her physiological instability can be seen as she becomes obsessed with this ides, â€Å"it became the business of Mrs Sparsit’s life, to look up at her staircase, and to watch Louisa coming down†. If Louisa had once turned back, â€Å"it might have been the death of Mrs Sparsit in spleen and grief†. Mr Harthouse was a big part of this scheme, as he seemed to be â€Å"wooing† Louisa and the more time she spent with him, the closer she got to the bottom. â€Å"Mrs Sparsit had no intension of interrupting the descent† and was â€Å"eager to see it accomplished†. â€Å"She kept her wary gaze upon the stairs, and seldom so much as darkly shook her light mitten at the figure coming down. This scene does not bring sadness to the reader, but instead a certain amount of empathy to Louisa. She seems to be in the crossfire of everyone yet she is one of the most innocent of all. As she has rarely experienced emotions due to her â€Å"ology† filled bring up, she does not know how to react to Mr Harthouse who except in kindness as she believes he is being kind and honest to her. Yet his plan is to seduce her, and this is not out of love or passion, but to give him a challenge to fulfil. Mrs Sparsit wants her to fall into a pit of â€Å"shame and ruin† out of her own jealousy yet again, Louisa has no knowledge of this and has done nothing wrong to provoke it. There is a definite repetition throughout the chapter of Louisa’s â€Å"downfall† from the top to the bottom of the stairs which shows that, although patient, Mrs Sparsit is in no way stable and is becoming more and more addicted to this allegorical image in her mind. She watches Louisa like a hawk, waiting for her to make a mistake and get â€Å"nearer and nearer to the bottom†. In chapter twelve, Louisa goes home to seek her father. The chapter is bares huge turning points in the book as it marks the spark of emotion ignite in Louisa and Mr Gradgrind see the error of his system. The storm outside creates a pathetic fallacy with the mood inside the room. Louisa is described as â€Å"dishevelled†, â€Å"defiant† and â€Å"despairing† which is a shock as she has never had such vast emotive descriptions until then in the book. She first states to her father that â€Å"he has trained her from the cradle,† It is sad to see that she uses the word trained instead of loved or cherished as it makes her sound more like a dog then a daughter to him. She then bursts out with â€Å"I curse the hour in which I was born to such a destiny†. Her emotions have been unleashed and she is now angry, in despair and confused of what to do. She is dishevelled and has returned home to question her father on her life and its meaning. This is not sad for the reader, but it is very traumatising for Louisa which again creates empathy for her as she has finally realised the error in how she has been brought up. She asks him â€Å"Where are the graces of my soul? Where are the sentiments of my heart? What have you done O father, what have you done with the garden that should have bloomed once?† This metaphoric language shows her outburst of imagination and her exercise of â€Å"fancy†. She is asking him where is the love and emotion she does not have, and what he has done to stop her â€Å"strive against every natural prompting that has arisen in her heart†. Mr Gradgrind is â€Å"so unprepared† that he has difficulty answering and when he does, it is only to say â€Å"Yes, Louisa†. She goes on to say that she does not â€Å"reproach† him, as â€Å"what he has never nurtured in her, he has never nurtured in himself†. This creates a lot of respect and empathy for her as she is not condemning her father after all the years of no emotion and too much learning. It can be seen that this strive to teach him his errors is making an effect as he â€Å"bows his head upon his hand and groans aloud† and calls her â€Å"poor child†, realising the mistakes he has made. She asks him whether he would have â€Å"doomed her† to a life of loneliness or â€Å"robbed her† of how she should have been had he nurtured her differently if he could see how she would turn out. She then states that if he had ignored and hated her, how better off she might have been as she would have been â€Å"free†. She has been won over to the world of imagination and fancy. Throughout the chapter, he moves to support her as she is letting herself out and he actually begins to give her attention and love as a good father should. It is ironic that his child who he has taught his system to is the child who shows how insensible it really is. To conclude, Dickens uses language and dramatic disasters to create sadness throughout the second book. In 1854, the time at which the book was written, people loved romantic tragedy and trauma which the second book has with both Rachel and Stephan, and Mr Harthouse and Louisa. The death of Mrs Gradgrind is another tragedy which Dickens portrays well and is very emotional. He uses the metaphor of life as a river in which we all just drift down until the end and these uses of language as well as others he uses throughout the book are methods which Dickens uses to sadden the reader. The final scene in which Louisa lets out her emotions upon her father, condemning the day she was born and questioning his motives which lead her to be so dispassionate.

Us History Chapter 4 Notes.

Chapter Four. African Slaves Build their Own Community in Coastal Georgia Slavery was originally prohibited in the original 1732 Georgia charter; the ban was lifted two decades later when Georgia became a Royal colony. By 1770, 15,000 slaves made up 80% of the population. Rice was one of the most valuable commodities of mainland North America, surpassed only by tobacco and wheat. The Atlantic slave trade grew to match rice production. Saltwater† slaves (slaves taken from Africa, rather than â€Å"country born†) were inspected and branded on coastal forts in Africa, shipped overseas (where many died), then sold and marched to plantations Mortality rates were high for slaves, especially infants. Overseers could legally punish slaves and even murder them. Many slaves run and some rebel. Most slaves remained enslaved, but built up families and communities, mixing African traditions with their new homeland. The Beginnings of African Slavery Slavery has long been a part of Mediterranean Europe; Venetian and Genoese traders sold captured Slavics (the word slave derives from them), Muslims, and Africans. Enslaving Christians, but not Africans or Muslims, disturbed many Europeans. Portuguese expansion in West Africa was motivated by access to gold, wrought iron, ivory, tortoiseshells, textiles, and slaves (previously dominated by the Moors, or Spanish Muslims). European slaves left the slave hunting to the African traders. Sugar and Slavery Slaves were imported to work sugar plantations in Hispaniola and Brazil, among other islands. The Dutch expanded the European sugar market, leading France and England to start island sugar colonies as well. West Africans Marriage kinship ties, practicing polygamy, characterized societies on the West African coast. Women enjoyed social and economic independence. Shifting cultivation, cultivating land for several years then moving on while the cleared land lay fallow, helped build up African communities and commerce, creating states and kingdoms. Kingdoms on the coast were the ones who first traded with the Portuguese. Slavery in African society was much freer; slaves were treated as family members rather than possessions, were allowed to marry, and had freeborn children. The African Slave Trade The Demography of the Slave Trade 10-12 million slaves were transported to the Americas during the slave trade. 76% of slaves arrived from 1701-1810, the peak years of the slave trade. Half went to Dutch, French, or British plantations in the Caribbean, a third to Portuguese Brazil, and a tenth to Spanish America. About 5% went to the North American British colonies. With the exception of the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763, a world war between the French and their allies versus the British and their allies), the slave trade continued to become more important to the colonies up to the Revolution. There were twice as many male African slaves as female; most slaves were young, between 15 and 30, and represented nearly every West African ethnic group. Slavers of All Nations All western European nations participated in the slave trade, shipping slaves from coastal outposts and, later, through independent American and European traders. The Shock of Enslavement Many slave traders lived permanently in coastal outposts and married local women, reinforcing commercial ties through family relations. Many slaves resented African involvement in the slave trade. Most Africans were enslaved through warfare. As the demand for slaves increased, slave raids pressed deeper into the continent. Captives would wait in dungeons or pens called â€Å"barracoons†, separated from family and people of the same ethnic group to discourage rebellion, before being branded with the mark of their buyer. The Middle Passage The â€Å"Middle Passage† referred to the middle part of the trade triangle from England to Africa to America back to England. Historians estimate that 1 in 6 slaves died from the unsanitary conditions, extreme crowding, and diseases. Many committed suicide as an act of rebellion on the slave ships. Captains resorted to putting netting over the side of their ships. Arrival in the New World When the slaves arrived, their captors would parade them around to impress buyers. Slaves would be sold at auctions or during a â€Å"scramble†, where prices were pre-set and the buyers would rush the slaves in a corral and take their pick. Political and Economic Effects on Africa The African slave trade eventually weakened Africa as a whole. The slave raiding was depopulating Africa as many died during the raids and the rest were sent off to be sold. The arrival of European goods stifled local manufacturing while agriculture lost labor. The slave trade allowed for the political, economic, and military conquest of Africa. The Development of North American Slave Societies Slavery comes to North America The first slaves arrived in Virginia in 1619. Slaves cost twice as much as indentured servants, but had about the same life span in the disease-ridden Chesapeake. Consequently, most planters employed more indentured servants than slaves. This was termed society with slaves, where slavery was just one form of labor. In this type of society, the status of black Virginians was ambiguous; many owned slaves and land themselves, even with the lack of religious distinction among them. In slave society, slavery is the dominant form of labor. As indentured servants became scarce as less English immigrated, their labor was replaced with slavery. Slavery was strengthened by making slave-status inheritable through their mother’s status (letting white male owners take slave mistresses), ending Christian baptism from changing conditions of servitude, and by making the killing of a slave a non-felony. The Tobacco Colonies The growth of tobacco required the growth of the slave trade. The natural growth of the slaver population served to increase the profits of their owners, and so was encouraged. The Lower South Settlement in the south was a slave society from the outset, using native slaves. However, this soon shifted to African slaves as the South began producing more rice. Slavery in the Spanish Colonies Spanish settlements employed slaves, the most benign form being the kind in Florida, which resembled the system in use in Mediterranean and African society. Spain declared Florida a haven for fugitives to weaken southern English colonies. In New Mexico, however, Spain used native slaves, though in a more restrained way to prevent another Pueblo Uprising. Spain captured â€Å"infidel Indians† such as the Apaches or nomads from the Great Plains and enslaved them, using them as house servants or fieldworkers. French Louisiana Slaves were heavily used in Louisiana agriculture until the Natchez Rebellion, with slaves making up no more than a third of the population. Only when the 18th century ended did slavery make a return, in force. Slavery in the North Slavery was universally accepted in the colonies. Among the rich, ownership of slaves was almost universal as well. The Quakers were the first to oppose slavery, but they would not gain traction until the Revolution. African to African American The Daily Life of Slaves Slaves were provided with scant clothing. In the South, where large numbers of slaves were needed, the concentration of slaves allowed for the emergence of communities, despite the harsh working conditions imposed on them on the large plantations. Families and Communities Families were the most important unit in African American culture, but the slave codes did not allow for legal slave marriage. Families were often broken up by sale. Naming practices reinforced family ties to overcome forced separations. Emotional, and especially kinship ties, formed the basis of African American society. African American Culture Most slaves were not Christian until the Great Awakening, due to the reluctance of their masters. One significant practice occurred in their burial rituals. African Americans created dialects by mixing English with native African languases. The Africanization of the South Southerners were influenced by African American culture, changing their diet, their art, language, music, and dance. Violence and Resistance Slavery rested on the threat of violence, even among â€Å"humane† slave owners like George Washington. Many slaves resisted through refusing to cooperate, destroying property, and by running away. Runaways would create communities called â€Å"maroons†, from the Spanish â€Å"cimmaron† (wild, untamed). They would intermingle with the Florida Creeks, creating the Seminole tribe, derived from the corruption of cimmaron. Revolts occurred in the colonies, but not on the scale of Jamaica, Guiana, or Brazil; the family and community ties slaves established made them less likely to revolt. Slavery and Empire Slavery the Mainspring The slave colonies accounted for 95% of all American exports to Great Britain from 1714-1773. Slavery helped the British economy in three ways. Slavery created capital, which funded economic expansion. Second, it created the raw materials necessary for the Industrial Revolution. Third, it created large colonial markets for British-made goods. The Politics of Mainspring Mercantilism, an economic system where the government intervenes to increase the national wealth, was the dominant economic theory in Europe. Mercantilists viewed commerce as a zero-sum game with clear winners and losers vying for a fixed amount of trade and wealth. Wars for Empire European wars spilled over into conflicts for colonial supremacy. In Queen Anne’s War, Great Britain won the war against France and Spain, gaining exclusive rights to supply slaves to its American colonies. British Colonial Regulation Mercantilists used state-run monopolies to manage commerce. The British used colonial regulations to make their American colonies markets for British manufacturing goods and exporters of commodities that the British would resell at profit. Most did not complain about the British economic policies until the 1760s. The Colonial Economy Mercantilism served to enrich the white colonists by giving them a protected market to sell and market their goods (sometimes by violating their own regulations). Slavery provided the capital to expand Northern port cities. Slavery and Freedom The Social Structure of the Slave Colonies Slavery provided the conditions necessary t o improve the life of the white settlers. Colonies were ruled by the self-perpetuating planter elite, which owned 60% of the wealth and half the land. The Southern landowners supported them. Under them were the landless colonists. White Skin Privilege White colonists gained a special status through the exploitation of race. Blacks were subject to a number of harsh penalties that did not apply to whites, including a ban on interracial marriage and sexual relations (refer to Thomas Jefferson). Even freedmen did not share equal rights. This set up barriers among the working class, including slaves and the landless colonists, who otherwise may have united against the moneyed classes if not for racial prejudice.