The Civil War Essays (681 words) - Slavery, , Term Papers

The Civil War The civil war was doubly tragic because it was completely unnecessary. Slavery had been ended in other nations with the stroke of a pen, and yet in the mighty United States the country was willing to go to war over the issue of whether slavery should remain. The southerners felt that it was their constitutional right to own slaves and did not see a time when they should be required to give up that right. However, upon the election of Lincoln as President, the southerners felt threatened, and felt their slave holding rights were being threatened, and in an effort to protect these rights they chose to secede from the union. The northerners and Lincoln saw the importance of maintaining a united country, set out to bring back the seceded states. Thus the Civil War began. During the civil war 970, 227 Americans were either killed or wounded, this number was surpassed by only World War II. While the civil war originally began as a quest to bring the southern states back to the union. However, the goal of the war did soon change to that of abolition. While the war may have seemed necessary to the soldiers and governments who were participating, in retrospect it was unnecessary. In three separate European countries, slavery had been abolished prior to the American Civil War, and each without arms being raised. Slavery had been abolished in Britain in 1838, Sweden in 1848, and in Holland in 1863. It indeed could have similarly been abolished in the United States. However, the southerners, who were dependent on the slave institution, refused to give up their right to own slaves easily. Had the South been more progressively thinking many lives would have been saved and blood need not have been shed in the name of slavery. This is particularly true because if the south had given up their right to free labor (slavery), they would have soon received the gift of mechanical labor. Indeed they might have profited more from the use of the machines which were soon to be invented, as they did not require housing, and food. However, the southerners were deeply rooted in their institution of slavery and were prepared to go to war over their feelings. During this war the battle fields were transformed into shambles where during the duration of the war 634,703 union soldiers were killed or wounded, and 335,524 confederate soldiers were killed or wounded. Indeed this was the second most intense war second to World War II. In the civil war 3,846 soldiers from both the union army and the confederate army were killed per month of fighting. This clearly shows the intensity of the battle and the strong will which drove both sides to continue fighting in the face of such catastrophe. The financial burden endured by both sides was astronomical for the time period. The union force spent a combined 3.2 billion dollars which in terms of current currency values is 27.3 billion dollars. The confederacy spent two billion or 17.1 billion dollars. This is the price both sides were willing to pay in the name of slavery. The North and South went to war over the issue of slavery and endured a great expense in terms of human lives, and money. They could however have followed the example of Britain, Sweden, and Holland and simply signed away the institution of slavery and saved thousands of lives, and billions in dollars. However, the south was too deeply rooted in the institution of slavery, and when the Emancipation Proclamation came which freed the slaves they still treated them as they did before, often outside of the legal limits. Even after the 14th amendment which legally made people of color American citizens, there were strong racial and prejudicial feelings which ran rampant in the south, for example the KKK, and Jim Crow Laws, and literacy tests for the right to vote. African Americans endured these hardships for years to come, indeed until the civil rights movement in the 20th century.

Intercultural Interview Analysis Essay

Intercultural Interview Analysis Essay Intercultural Interview Analysis Essay Cultural changes have been witnessed in most parts of the world. In the current world, it is becoming difficult to maintain indigenous cultures. This is attributed to the rate at which technology is transforming the world across borders and making interactions between people of different cultures easier. The interaction has facilitated erosion of several aspects of people’s cultures. In place of these cultural norms, people adapt universal ways of doing things which determine how they carry out social aspects of their lives. However, this has not always been the case; people had distinct cultural values that determined how they went about their economic and social affairs. These elements identified the different cultural groupings back then. Consequently, understanding these aspects and adapting to them represent the greatest challenge for people who work across borders. Even though there have been continuous erosion of most cultural values, these changes are more pronounc ed in the younger generation. The older generation is more rigid in the aspect that they have held to cultural values. Understanding a people’s culture is critical in communicating with the people. It is the reason why one has to know the culture before setting out to interact with a different cultural group. The best way to understand cultural differences is by carrying out interviews. This paper structures such an interview with a fellow student who is a Mexican. Interview structure The questions to ask in the interview are modeled to understand the differences between North American culture and Mexican culture. These questions put emphasis on the importance of communication in the Mexican culture, and how communication is facilitated across different members of the culture. The first question will ask recognizable differences on how people communicate in America as compared to Mexico. The second question will focus on whether there is equity across gender groups in the Mexican culture. The third question focuses on the use of non verbal signs in both cultures while the last question will ask the difficulties in adapting to American culture if one is from Mexico. Getting adequate answers to these questions will help in understanding the Mexican culture and how communication can be facilitated between an American and a Mexican. Interview analysis The interview which took about 30 minutes brought out certain differences as well as similarities between the two cultures. Most importantly, it helped provide information on how communication can be facilitated between the two cultures. Starting with the differences, the Mexican culture has a different inclination on what prompts their interest in conversations. In North America, it is easy to elicit conversations through fairy tales and detective stories as these thrill a significant part of the American communication. This is very different from Mexicans who find thrill in stories themed on love myths and legends. The difference is critical in establishing what mode of communication to adopt in reference to Americans or Mexicans (Crouch, 2004). It is worth noting that Mexicans delight in fantasy or fantasizing while Americans prefer hard reality. Using factual information as a head start for a conversation with a Mexican may not prompt a conversation and it would hinder communicat ion between the individuals. Americans are automatically trusting. On the other hand, Mexicans are automatically suspicious and require a clear indication of intent coupled with actual evidence before trusting. To encourage communication with a Mexican, one needs to give them time to understand the person or else they would become suspicious. Consequently, in such cases, no meaningful communication would take place. Americans encourage criticism and are not opposed to change. Mexicans on the other hand eschew criticism and are fearful of change. Criticizing a Mexican the same way one would do to an American would attract a hostile reaction which would hinder effective communication. There are also views on gender equity which impacts communication between Americans and Mexicans. Americans have little emphasis on male supremacy and talking to a woman is not taken as belittling a man. In contrast, Mexicans are a patriarchal society where talking to a woman preferentially is viewed as demeaning to a man. This disco urages sober communication and in some instances elicits hostility from the predominantly patriarchal society. However, there are some similarities in the two cultures, the most common being use of gestures in communication. These gestures include nodding which means acceptance and shaking of one’s head which denotes negation (Mente, 2009). These are the only clear cut similarities impacting on information between the American and Mexican cultures. In conclusion, intercultural analysis enabled by this kind of an interview involves an actual encounter between two participants who represent different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. It presents an opportunity to identify similarities and differences between these linguistic and cultural backgrounds. By identifying these differences and similarities, those seeking to interact have a basis of doing it successfully by creating the right impression. The right impression encourages communication and makes it easy to elicit information or conduct business in the foreign culture. However, the success of this is dependent on the structure of the interview which should include questions on all aspects that impact communication within the other culture. From the above comparison, it is easy to understand the Mexican culture and this facilitates easy communication within the cultural setup.

The Leadership Role in Management Research Paper

The Leadership Role in Management - Research Paper Example Managers are those individuals who are in charge of the company. Their responsibility is to be the individual that monitors the progress of people who work under them and who take care of payroll and budgeting matters. Leaders are those individuals who are hired into the company to make change (57). Leaders are the change agents who are hired to see an organizations big picture. "Management is a function that must be exercised in any business, leadership is a relationship between leader and led that can energize an organization" (57). Another way of comparing leaders and managers is portrayed in this chart: A great leader has certain qualities that are apparent and that managers may not have available to them. Marcus Buckingham and Coffman suggest that focus is what makes a difference between the manager and the leader. The managers focus is on the inside of the company and how each part of the company works together. A good manager will notice the differences in style, goals and needs of their individual employers. Leaders look at outward and they are most concerned with the competition, the big picture for the company, broader patterns and see where and when they can get the advantage over their competition (63). The challenge for most companies is that they cannot understand the differences in these roles so they expect managers to be leaders and leaders to be managers. Instead, they need both types of people to move their companies forward. Marcus Buckingham states that "leadership requires certain natural talents" (33). He said that because of this a manager cannot be a leader unless they have these natural talents. When a manager is a leader the company must understand their intense focus. There are hundreds of websites that will tell the qualities that make great leaders. The challenge is that everyone has a different idea as to what qualities an individual should have to lead their team. Today it is imperative to know