Throughout the fifteenth to eighteenth century nearly half of Europe's population lived a life of poverty with tensions growing along with the increasing economic inequality. Social class impacted the extent in which people sympathized with the poor along with their overall views ranging from seeing the poor as nuisances, responsibilities or even leverage.
Many influential figures utilized their position to provide assistance to the poor. A fifteenth Catholic priest from France urges his congregation to donate to the poor because he wishes to reach to the poverty stricken majority and spread the appeal of Catholicsm (Doc 1). Throughout the fifteenth century the Great Schism occurred in which several men claimed legitimacy as the Pope and
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lead to some questioning of Catholic authority. He takes notice of their vulnerability and offers assistance in order to justify the goodness of Catholicsm and bring back faith in those in question. Juan Luis Vives, a Spanish humanist, believes poverty leads to uncivilized behaviors because as a scholar he has an objective view and focuses on the psychology and views from the poor's perspective (Doc 3). As a scholar, Vives focuses on finding an explanation for unfavorable behaviors instead of simply placing blame. Rembrandt van Rijn, a Dutch painter places focus on humanizing the poor because he wishes to ignore the current style of art and bring attention to a pressing issue (Doc 9). Painted in 1648, Beggars Receiving Alms at the Door of a House was completed during the Dutch Golden Age of art, yet out conveys a message that is different from other pieces of this period. With the patrons of this movement mainly being the wealthy middle class, it especially interesting that van Rijn chose to depict a poor class as opposed to depicting the life of luxury. By painting a young child, van Rijn successfully humanizes the poor and evokes sympathy from it's viewers. Vincent de Paul, a Catholic priest, tells it is our responsibility to care for the poor because for own personal interest he believes good deeds will lead to salvation (Doc 10). With a religion that relies on blind faith, de Paul is desperate to find some way to guarantee his congregation and he will in fact be saved. Charity work provides a deed that can be done and used for personal gains to reach the ultimate reward of salvation. Despite each having their own reasons, many figureheads used their power to provide aid to those in poverty. Many saw the poor simply as a nuisance due to either ignorance or resentment.
William Turner, an English doctor believe the poor choose to live in poverty because he has limited contact with the lower classes and thus relies on prejudices and generalizations (Doc 6). Being the personal physician to the Earl of Somerset, Turner would have spent his time amongst the upper classes and would likely have little knowledge on those he perceived to be lower. Rather than learning from personal experience, Turner would have learned from the prejudices of others and rely on false information. Poorhouse regulations see the poor as uncivilized because of their position of authority and the perceived inferiority of the impoverished (Doc 7). These attitudes are similar to those developed by the participants of the Zimbardo prison study in 1972. The Zimbardo study focused on how roleplaying impacts ones perception and treatment of others. Participants were divided into groups of prisoners and guards, those assigned the roles of guards quickly adjusted and became consumed by their position pif authority. Despite being average college students who volunteered to take part in a study, the "guards" soon took pleasure in the sadistic treatment of the fellow participants, thus causing the study to end early due to the shocking results. When faced with perceived with perceived authority, psychologically people gain characteristics that wouldn't otherwise be present. In the poorhouse, the people in charge perceived themselves as superior which lead to the abusive treatment of the poor. Jean Maillefer, a wealthy merchant, believes the poor live a carefree life because of his lack of personal experience an overall ignorance (Doc 11). As a wealthy merchant, Maillefer likely only dealt with other members of the bourgeois and failed to have any true interactions with the underprivileged. The town council saw the poor as inconveniences because as the working class the assistance for the
poverty was likely paid for by them (Doc 2). As the wealthy middle class, the town council would dislike any groups that would require their hard earned money. The town council resented the poor's use of the town's money and saw them as nuisances. Due to either lack of understanding or prejudices, many groups were angered by the poor's seemingly idleness.
As the Reconstruction Era ended, the United States became the up and coming world power. The Spanish-American war was in full swing, and the First World War was well on its way. As a result of the open-door policy, England, Germany, France, Russia, and eventually Japan experienced rapid industrial growth; the United States decided to pursue a foreign policy because of both self- interest and idealism. According to the documents, Economic self- interest, rather than idealism was more significant in driving American foreign policy from 1895 to 1920 because the United States wanted to protect their foreign trade, property and their access to recourses. While the documents also show that Nationalistic thought (idealism) was also crucial in driving American foreign policy, economic Self- interest prevailed.
In today’s society many countries and even citizens of the United States question the U.S. government’s decision to get in involved in nuclear warfare. These people deemed it unnecessary and state that the U.S. is a hypocrite that preaches peace, but causes destruction and death. Before and during World War II the U.S. was presented with a difficult decision on whether or not to develop and use the atomic bomb.
In the 15th Century, growing awareness towards the plight of the destitute led many to partake in almsgiving (charitable donations to the poor). Many well-off members of society took this as an opportunity to attain salvation, donating money--as Jesus advocated--so that their deeds might be smiled upon from above. A Catholic priest, in a sermon in France in this time period, cautioned against this, praising those who contributed money while in good health, but rebuking those who donated when they were sick or near death: "There is no great value in giving" when one will be dead shortly, and has no use for the money. While he encouraged almsgiving, he warned that God would see if selfish reasons existed. In addition to private donations, handled through religious institutions, civil governments also felt a responsibility to help the poor. A resolution, passed by the town council of Dijon, France, in 1482 stated that "[The town] will rent...a barn to put [the destitute] for the night," in addition to caring for the needs of the poor as well as possible.
In the colonization period, the urge to conquer foreign territories was strong, and many lands in the Western Hemisphere were conquered. With the colonization of these areas, a mercantilist relationship was formed between the conquered civilization and the maternal country. A major part of this was the restriction of exportation of native resources only to the mother country as well as the banning of trading with colonies of other countries. In turn, there was an increasing in the number of smuggling activities during the time. According to a British sailor named William Taggart in 1760, the illegal smuggling of goods into these areas had a positive impact because it brought prosperity to the people in Monte Christi, as there were only one hundred poor families. Likewise, Dominica governor John Orde praised the trading because it created prices much lower than with its maternal country. However, British admiral David Tyrell, Roger Elletson, Dominica governor John Orde, and a 1790 Bahaman newspaper report all had similar views on the harmful effects and corruptness present in smuggling. Despite this, physician George Lipscomb and British Lieutenant Governor Thomas Bruce had neutral opinions on the matter, and only stated what they witnessed in the process.
The Dark ages is the time between the 500’s and 1400’s. The Dark ages was a time of civil wars, Death, diseases, invasions and thief. There was a lot of invasions and to protect them self from that communities made a code call The code of Chivalry as (Doc 5) states “Europe in the Middle Ages was a dangerous place. Invasions from Muslims, Mongols, Vikings, and other tribal groups were common. War between lords was also common. The value of protection and warriors created a social code called Chivalry. Knights fought for lords and ladies, and lived by a gentleman- warrior code of Chivalry.” And other big thing in The Dark Ages was Diseases. Diseases in the dark ages was deadly because there was not antidote and even Doctors were scared of
The institution of slavery, from the year 1830 to 1860, created a divide between the northern and southern regions of the United States. Southerners, who relied on slaves to maintain their plantations, supported the institution, as it was a major part of their economy. Meanwhile, northerners, many of whom depended on slave produced cotton for textile mills and goods for the shipping industry, were divided on the slave issue, as some saw it as a blessing while the abolitionists saw it as a horrific institution. Overall, attitudes toward the institution of slavery, due to a variety of causes, differed in the varying regions in the United States from 1830 to 1860.
Throughout Europe in the fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, nations were filled with poor and less fortunate individuals. While the nobles of countries such as France and England ruled their lands, many forgot about the underprivileged that roamed the city streets begging for alms. As a result, the opinions towards these lower class people were very differentiated. However, three main opinions stood out. All in all, the views of the poor in fifteenth – eighteenth century Europe included those who believed individuals should help the poor because it is the right thing to do, those who believed individuals should help the poor for God, and those who believed the poor were just idlers
Although poverty has minimized, it is still significant poverty which is characterized by a numerous amount of things. There are two types of poverty case and insular. “Case poverty is the farm family with the junk-filled yard and the dirty children playing in the bare dirt” (Galbraith 236)Case poverty is not irretraceable and usually caused if someone in the household experiences “ mental deficiency, bad health, inability to adapt to the discipline of industrial life, uncontrollable procreation, alcohol, some educational handicap unrelated to community shortcomings” (Galbraith 236).Case poverty is often blamed on the people for their shortcomings but on some levels can be to pinpoint one person's shortcomings that caused this poverty. Most modern poverty is insular and is caused by things people in this community cannot control. “The most important characteristic of insular poverty is forces, common to all members of the community, that restrain or prevent participation in economic life and increase rates of return.
In the novel Poor People, written by William T. Vollmann asks random individuals if they believe they are poor and why some people are poor and others rich. With the help of native guides and translators, and in some cases their family members, they describe what they feel. He depicts people residing in poverty with individual interviews from all over earth. Vollmann’s story narrates their own individual lives, the situations that surround them, and their personal responses to his questions. The responses to his questions range from religious beliefs that the individual who is poor is paying for their past sins from a previous life and to the rational answer that they cannot work. The way these individuals live their life while being in poverty
University, T. T. (2011). Deprivation and it's Discontents. Retrieved October 24, 2011, from indianapublicmedia.org: http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/deprivation-discontents/
From the Middle ages, the church faced many problems such as the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism that hurt the prestige of the church. Most of the clergy lived in great luxury while most people were poor and they set an immoral example. The clergy had low education and many of them didn’t attend their offices. Martin Luther had witnessed this himself, “In 1510 he visited Rome and was shocked to find corruption on high ecclesiastical places”
Women of the Confederate cause, especially those close to the guerrillas, came to play a crucial part in the guerrillas’ success. Historian Jonathon Earle writes, “when the Civil War swept on to the border, women became the quartermasters of the guerrilla war effort, with their domestic skills becoming highly valued military tools.” One example to support Earle’s claim, is the event that arguably was the cause of the raid on Lawrence Kansas. Union General Thomas Ewing Jr. issued General Orders Number 10, which called for the removal of any women or children associated with well-known guerrillas. This led Ewing to arrest several women, including the famous guerrilla “Bloody Bill” Anderson’s sisters. The women were sent to a makeshift prison
In 1666, a great fire that lasted for three days desolated an enormous amount of London. More than 300 houses were destroyed; left under about a mile of ash. The people of the city could have lessened the amount of destruction that the fire brought on the city. However, according the Samuel Pepys’s diary the Mayor complained that they could not pull down houses fast enough in order to keep the fire from spreading so far. Three hundred and fifty years later— with the start of a man with thoughts of fighting fires and preventing them from destroying other cities—technology and firefighting techniques have saved a countless amount of lies.
The 17th century was a tumultuous time in Early Modern European history dominated by the Fronde, a series of civil wars in France (1648-1653), and the English Revolution, confrontations between Parliamentarians and Royalists in England (1642-1651). Unlike other conflicts, which were fought to determine who should rule, these wars were a response by the citizenry to the manners in which France and England were being governed. Subjugated under two absolute monarchical authorities, France and England’s people experienced unfair taxes and regulations intended to establish their king’s sovereignty; however, the forces meant to limit the power of the people worked to the opposite effect by provoking the public against their countries’ oppressive
Breakups can be hard, especially if you are the one being broken up with. But what if you were the one breaking up with someone? Whether or not you should break up with someone is often a very difficult decision to make as there are many things to consider. For instance, what factors would someone consider to help determine whether or not they should break up with their significant other? Well, for someone like Marc, there are many factors that they should consider. First, trust and commitment. Does you and your significant other trust each other and communicate with each other properly? In Marc’s case, they really aren’t. According to a list of statements, there has been gossip circulating around the school that both Marc and Carly both cheating on each other with other