Illegal Immigration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Illegal Immigration - Essay Example These are people whose past life stories of where they come from, be it Mexico, Europe and Africa among other regions are not at all pleasing (Ledbetter 23). United States offers to these people refuge and good life that they would wish to live or far much better regardless of circumstances than that of their mother lands. Americans may at times take the good life; good roads, education, social amenities, health and security among others for granted. These social amenities in other regions are rare to come by and where available, they come at an unbearable cost. However, despite all these issues dogging them, illegal immigrants come to face harsh lives in the United States due to their lack of legitimacy and lack of appropriate documents. Illegal immigration is no doubt beneficial to the US economy. Most Americans cannot take up jobs that these immigrants do and for that reason low-wage jobs find people to do them. As much they are earning, they also consume. This way they offer a consumption pool that drives industries forward while not forgetting these goods are taxed offering revenue for the government. Due to their offering of cheap labor it is possible for farmers and other producers to lower their prices on goods. Ledbetter states that being an illegal immigrant does not necessarily mean these people are less skilled. A good number of them are highly innovative and educated too and the brain drain is a benefit to the United States economy. Illegal immigrants also involve themselves in many sectors of the economy in which they benefit e.g. automobile insurance, real estate where they pay commissions, hold bank accounts that charge interest and rent in areas that would otherwise have lacked tenants (36 – 4 4). These benefits are at times overshadowed by various issues. Many illegal immigrants end up sending their hard earned money to their

If the First World War was the war to end all wars, why was there a Essay

If the First World War was the war to end all wars, why was there a Second World War so soon after the First - Essay Example The first World War crippled the whole country of France and this once powerful nation demanded retribution, but they pushed it to the very limits of establishing one of the primary causation factors of the Second World War. From a realist perspective, it is in the normal aspectual realm to assume that because France was so depleted economically and politically, the feeling was one of a sense of hopelessness throughout that country (Aldcroft 1997). Therein lies the reasoning by France to demand some form of compensation from Germany in order to regroup and rebuild her lands. The compromises that France wished Germany to make were beyond rationalization, from the Germans perspective of the political issues. The supposed peace ‘The Treaty of Versailles’ was implied to have brought did nothing more than incite rage and fuel the flames of retaliation from the Germans. In actuality, there never really was a period of substantial rest between these historic wars. What did appear to be present, in the literary sense, was a prevalence of disdain and lack of trust from the Germans, in relation to France and her harsh implications. This lack of stability affected the whole European continent. These are some of the literary points that will be researched and theorized in this paper. It will look into the vast reasons why there was a part II of the first World War and what was the main factors leading to it. Three perspectives will be attempted to be intertwined into this literary work which are the: realistic, liberal, and Marxist theorizations that will give the causes as to how, why and what lead to the provocation of the Second World War. It was in 1946 that two main political speaker’s theorizations on the cause of WWII were openly acknowledged. Stalin and Churchill both had ideas into the causation of the Second World War, both holding similarities and differences at the same time. Perhaps this was due to one perspective being a UK

Development Of A Five Star Hotel Island Construction Essay

Development Of A Five Star Hotel Island Construction Essay This report has been prepared for Expedition Maldives Pvt. Ltd to evaluate the feasibility of investing in a project to develop a five star hotel island under the name of Mendhoo Island Resort Development project by using project development methods with financial assessment. This report has been structured with the project scope definition, scope management, financial analysis with a conclusion drown from the analysis following with the recommendation. Scope management has been developed with the project life cycle with required phases with works in each phase in detail. To analyze the project financially, Discounted Cash flow analysis, Net present value analysis and internal rate of return analysis has been used Through this report, analysis has shown that investing in development of 100 room hotel is the most viable option for the Expedition Maldives Pvt. Ltd. The findings have shown that this project provides a good return since the internal rate of return of the project is higher than the required rate of return. Analysis on time value for money has also shown that its significant to invest in this project. Properly executing all the phases of project life cycle is very important and any delay could incur extra costs since the cash inflow starts from third year, when the hotel is in operation. For this project its highly recommended for the responsible management team of the Expedition Maldives Pvt. Ltd to track, trace and monitor all activities of the project life cycle and make necessary amendment if requires on time for the successful accomplishment of the project. 1. Introduction This report has been prepared for Expedition Maldives Pvt. Ltd to evaluate the feasibility of investing in a project to develop a five star hotel island under the name of Mendhoo Island Resort Development project by using project development methods with financial assessment. For this project whether to invest in 50 or 100 rooms hotel is been assessed and investing in development of 100 room hotel has been chosen as the most viable option and analyzed in detail. This report has been structured with the project scope definition, scope management, financial analysis with a conclusion drown from the analysis following with the recommendation. Scope management has been developed with the project life cycle with required phases with works in each phase in detail. To analyze the project financially, Discounted Cash flow analysis, Net present value analysis and internal rate of return analysis has been used. 2. Project Scope Management 2.1. Scope Definition Project Scope Management includes the process required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully. (Turner, 1992) The project scope definition document is mainly intended to endow with the project organization and the project manager with a road map of both the work to be completed within the estimated budget and time frame. It is a guide for future actions. Therefore, the scope document will be of an assistance to manage the project confidently and to maintain an effective communication process within the key stakeholders throughout the project. Mendhoo Island Resort project is planned to develop a Five Star Hotel (a Resort Island), which requires a huge financial investment. Tourism industry of Republic of Maldives is the fastest growing industry across the island nation and it is the major economic activity. Before considering the lease agreement from the owner, The Board of Directors of Expedition Maldives Pvt. Ltd have done necessary environmental analysis and developed a strategic business plan based on the recent market research to assess the feasibility of investing on this project. With the positive outcomes, the top management of the organization decided to hire the island on a long term lease basis for a period of ten years, within that, two years period is targeted for the construction and the balance seven years for the Hotel business operation at its full swing. The construction and development of the Hotel till its pre-opening is budgeted for US$ 8,000,000.00 (Eight million US Dollars). First activity of this project will be started with construction of Jetties, in order to aid and facilitate the unloading of required heavy load machineries and tools, material and other goods which is requisite to proceeding with the construction. Development phase of this project consists of 100 Guest Rooms (includes Beach Villas, Water Bungalows. The other important activities of this project include carrying out all the other related works which are required for accomplishment of this project. Development works of the project would be carried out in accordance with the project charter and the approved design frame work. According to the project charter, the project scheduled to commence on July 2011 and to be completed on July 2013. In regard with the all works, the company decided to hire skilled and qualified employees from related fields for the different areas of the total work to be done to accomplish the project. Project team of this project includes a project manager, Engineers and other functional department HODs and other staffs. apart from mentioned scope of the project, While continuing project if the need arises make amendments, that has to be considered in accordance with all the factors related to the project which includes budget, time frame and the quality of work. 2.2. Scope Management The above Figure: 1 which is the life cycle of this project, adopted in order to manage the scope of the project .this will provide all the detail activities which are to be carried out for project to succeed. Phase-1 Phase-2 Phase-3 Phase-4 Two years to complete the project Monitoring and Controlling Gate-1 Gate-2 Gate-3 Gate-4 Activities 1- Develop business case 2- Establish the terms of reference 3- Appoint the project team 4- Setup the project office 5- Review the phase Activities 1- Project plan 2- Resource plan 3- Financial plan 4- Quality plan 5- Risk plan 6- Acceptance plan 7- Communication plan 8- Procurement plan 9- Contract the suppliers 10- Review the phase Activities 1- Build deliverables 2- Monitor and control 3- Time management 4- Cost management 5- Quality management 6- Change management 7- Risk management 8- Issue management 9- Procurement management 10- Acceptance management 11- Communication management 12- Review the phase Activities 1- Perform project closure 2- Review project completion Activities 1- Current tourism market analysis 2-Envirnmental analysis 3- Feasibility study 4- Review the phase Activities 1- Start operating island as a hotel 2- Checking the performance Gate-5 Phase-5 Phase-6 Operation Completion Market Research Carryout the project works Initiation Planning Remaining eight years for operation Figure : Project Life Cycle. Life cycle of this project is consisting of six different phases with numbers of activities. The scopes of those activities are described below. The first phase is market research of the product and service, starting from analyzing the Current tourism market. Environmental analysis, to identify the risks associated with the project environment and to take possible action to mitigate the risk if required. Feasibility study; collecting all the information of business problems and gathering required solution option to fix it, finding out the available solution option, evaluating feasibly for each option, identifying risk and issues associated with each option and developing suggested solution option for implementation. Reviewing the phase is going to check all the requirements are identify and take proper action. The first phase of this project is carrying out market research, before considering financial investment decision on this project, the company will be conducting researches to collect information regarding the trends in current tourism industry of the country as well as global market to identify the cost and benefit of investing the project, which will be followed by environmental analysis to identify the issues associated with project environment to take proper action before proceeding with a legal contract with the island owner. Carrying out the feasibility of the project is also included in this phase by evaluating the current business problems and opportunities. Project Initiation is the second phase of the life cycle. The scopes of activities included in this phase are as follows: Develop a business case describing the opportunities, problems and issues which are exist and evaluating options to deliver solution and resolve the problems. This phase also includes cost and benefit associated with each solution option and recommended solution option for approval the business. Establishing the terms of reference, define the project vision, objectives, scope and deliverables, identifying the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders and allocating resource and finance required in accordance with the plan. Appointing project team, selecting qualified employees for appropriate positions is the most important function of the project. Settings up the project office, to monitor and control the project environment and manage cultural diversity of workforce. Review the phase, evaluation of achievement of this phase. Considering Initiation phase of this project, finding out business opportunities of investing to build 100 rooms hotel and its operation, also identifying the environmental changes that might impact the project period and gathering required solution for those impacts. This phase also will identify the core aspect of business environment such as business vision, goal and objectives to be archived. This phase also will evaluate the process and technology available for the project. Process and technologies that is relevant to the project, products and services. legal requirements of government on environmental factors and commercial and operational trends which drives towards the business, the key stakeholders information and assuring the most appropriate methods of allocating required resources for the project to be finalized. Appointing the project manager and allocating his responsibilities to proceed with selection of other team members necessary for carrying forward the project and allocating their responsibilities respectively. The final activity of this phase is building the project office to use the infrastructure as a base to manage project activities. Iproject planning is the third phase of project life cycle. Scope of this phase includes: Project plan: to identify the milestones, phases, activities and tasks to quantify the effort required. Allocating resources required and creating a project schedule including listing of the planning dependencies, assumptions and constraints. Resource plan: identify and list out the general types of resources required and assigning the resources to the activities and complete the resources usage table. Financial plan: to manage the costs and expenses likely to be inquired on the project such as employees wages, equipment, materials and administration cost. Quality plan: to maintain the terms of quality consider on the project and identify the targets to be met and describe the quality assurance and control techniques to be under taken. Risk plan: identifying list of risks and rating the likelihood of each risks occurring, provide the report of impact and reason of occur and setting up the prevention action to reduce the likelihood of the risk occurring. Setting out a mitigation action plan to reduce the impact. Acceptance plan: identify milestones to be archived and deliverables to be produced, developing what criteria and standards should be maintained for customer acceptance and reviewing the deliverables. Communication plan, provide required information to the stakeholders to keep them regularly informed of the progress of the project status. Scheduling the communication Events, methods and release dates, use matrix to highlight resources involved in each communication event and use clear process for each communication event with in the project. Procurement plan, understanding of the external supply market and provide to key stakeholders with required materials and reliable details of suppliers to present the materials within the time and budget to proceed procurement in accordance with the companys procumbent policy Contract the suppliers: conduct the tender process and evaluate the supplier and select appropriate supplier by looking ability and capability. Finally negotiating a formal contract with the preferred supplier. Review the phase, reviewing to check if the activities are in accordance with the requirements. Planning phase of this project is concerned on finding the milestones of project phases, number of activities and tasks to be complete within the particular timeframe, resource plan list out the required resources for the project such as employee, equipments and material. In this phase financial plan will identify the number of resources required and its related costs. Quality plan will provide the quality targets that should be archived. Risk plan is intended to emphasize the potential risks and what actions could be taken for mitigation of those risks. Acceptance plan is intended to list out the acceptance standard of the customer in regard with their expectations. Communication plan will describe what information is required and necessary to communicate with stakeholders. Procurement plan will identify a list of products and source of external suppliers which will be followed by the activity of contracting the suppliers after evaluating the best bidders. Fourth phase of the life cycle is Carryout the project works. The scopes of this phase are: Build deliverables, clearly define the objectives and deliverables, the final deliverable should meet the requirements of customers. Monitor and control, physically constructing each deliverable and use series of management process to monitor and control the activities that are undertaken. Time management, identify the total time required for each activity to complete the work on time and identify the percentage completed and outstanding works. Cost management, identify the cost/expenses of overall project and accurately manage the record the details, approve and paid the payments on time. Quality management, maintain the quality standard of the project according to the quality plan, using most appropriate quality measurement and techniques to measure the quality standards. Change management, if any changes required to the project scope, deliverable, timescale or resources, should be evaluated and approved before implementation. Risk management, use the best methods and theories to identify the risk associated with the project which includes quantifying, monitoring, avoiding, transferring and mitigating the risk with the help of risk register. Issue management, use the appropriate method to identify the issue through the issue register and take number of action to reduce impact that the issue is having on the project. Procurement management, to maintain the relationship with suppliers, monitor things that required and controlling the ordering receipt, review and approval of form suppliers, managing overall performance of the supplier. Acceptance management, to check the deliverables are met with the customer requirements by presenting each deliverable separately until the acceptance of all the project deliverables. Communication management, to provide right information at the right time to the correct stakeholders and should ensure the message is reached to the right person. Carrying out the project works: This phase will provide with the final deliverables to the stakeholders. While carrying out the project works, deliverables would be checked on a regular interval to get the feedbacks from respective stakeholders before beginning every stage which would be done through monitory and controlling. Each activity would be allocated with a particular time frame to meet deadlines. Variance has to be considered and adjusted if required and project scope should be discussed at managerial level for approvals. Risk management of the project should be carried out by recording in the project risk register to take necessary action for mitigation of the risk. In same manner other project issues also have to be registered in issue register to take required and needful actions. Procumbent of the project would be managed according to the procumbent plan, suppliers performance will be monitored are reviewed regularly. Further, all necessary information relating to project has to be recorded and delivered accordingly to the respective parties timely. Fifth phase of the life cycle is Completion; scopes of this phase are: Perform project closure, to ensure from the stakeholders the deliverables are met with their acceptation and check project achieved the objectives and delivered the benefits describe in the business case. Review project completion, to monitor achievements and failures of the project, to get better ideas for feature projects. Completion, phase of this project will check and ensure the deliverables are delivered according to the stakeholders expectation and project fully archived the objectives that are mentioned in the project scope and all the activities are review to identify the mistakes and errors to avoid in the feature projects. The last phase of the project is operations of hotel scope are Start operating island as a hotel, increasing the number of customers visiting on hotel providing quality standard services to them. Checking the performance, maximize the revenue of the hotel. Operation, phase of this project is to provide quality product and service customer to attract them to hotel and maintain their first choice holiday destination in Maldives and also yearly increasing the revenue of the company. 3. Financial Analysis of Project 3.1. Factors influences the choice of discount rate Considering to this project factors influence to the choice of discount rate are interest rate and inflation. When discounted if the interest rate is higher the outcome of NPV (time) would lower and vice versa due to inverse relation. Total Investment Capital Interest p.a. Total money payment Equity 8,000,000 14% 560,000 Total 8,000,000 560,000 Table : Cost of capital The bank saving rate at bank of Maldives is 10% p.a. for fixed deposits and the bank lends long term loans at 15% interest (which is the cost of borrowing). The firm owners (shareholders) who have invested for equity capital, although they are not expecting any interest for the invested equity capital, they have expectations about the companys performance and return for the risk that they have taken instead of investing in the bank. They would be getting a 10% return p.a. which is even less risky. Therefore the expectation of the shareholders in regard with the return is higher, which is 14% p.a. as presented in the above table 1.0. Therefore the while taking investment decision the company has to invest in such a way that fulfills the expectations of the shareholders in accordance with rate of return on their investment. The company decided to invest in a project to build a five star hotel. Before considering this investment decision the company carried out initial feasibility studies to decide whether to invest in construction and operations of 100 rooms or 50. The main purpose feasibility this study is to identify the cost/ benefit of the project and to consider the investment which gives highest rate of return. The following tables (table 2.0 and 3.0) provide the details of selection between two choices. Expected cash inflow per year if invested in 50 rooms Room Type No of rooms Expected occupancy per room p.a Room Rate US$ Water Villa 25 180 days 450 Beach Villa 25 180 days 250 Total Table : Expected cash inflow per year if invested in 50 rooms Total project duration ten years Construction and development requires one year. Full board operation nine years Expected duration to build and develop 50 room hotels requires one year. Operation will be started right after this period. Therefore this project totally consists of total ten years out of which nine years would be in full operations. The total expected cash inflow of this project by the end of ten year is US$ 28,350,000 at the rate of US$ 3150000 cash inflow per year for nine years. Expected cash inflow per year if invested in 100 rooms Room Type No of rooms Expected occupancy per room p.a Room Rate US$ Water Villa 50 180 days 450 Beach Villa 50 180 days 250 Total   Table : Expected cash inflow per year if invested in 100 rooms Total project duration ten years Construction and development requires two year. Full board operation eight years Expected duration to build and develop 100 room hotels requires two year. Operation will be started right after this period. Therefore this project totally consists of total ten years, out of which eight years would be in full operations. The total expected cash inflow of this project by the end of ten year is US$ 50,400,000.at the rate of US$ 6300,000 cash inflow per year for eight years. Since investing in construction and operation of 100 rooms givers higher cash inflow than 50 rooms hotel, the company decided to invest in construction and development of 100 rooms. 3.2. Discounted cash flow analysis The management of the company evaluated the option of investing in the project for construction and development of 100 (hundred) Rooms which includes Beach villas and water bungalows. The details are stated below. 3.3. Net present value (NPV) analysis Net present Value (NPV) represents the difference between the present vale (PV) of cash inflows and the Present value (PV) of cash outflows. Net Present Value is used to evaluate and analyze the profitability of this project since. The Net Present Value of following projected cash flow is calculated   Ã‚  with consideration of amount and timing of future cash inflows, amount and timing of future cash outflows and by using discount rate (at the rate of 14%). Project cash flow and Net Present Value(NPV) Year Net cash flows 0 -8000000 1 0 2 0 3 6300000 4 6300000 5 6300000 6 6300000 7 6300000 8 6300000 9 6300000 10 6300000 Net Present Value at 14% Table : Project cash flow and Net Present Value (NPV) 3.4. Internal rate of return analysis Internal rate of return is calculated to find the true rate of return earn on this investment over the course of 10 years life. The higher the projects internal rate of return, the more desirable to proceed with the product Project cash flow and Internal rate of Return(IRR) Years Net cash flows 0 -8000000 1 0 2 0 3 6300000 4 6300000 5 6300000 6 6300000 7 6300000 8 6300000 9 6300000 10 6300000 Internal Rate of Return (IRR) = 21.185 Table : Project cash flow and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) The Required Rate of Return (ROR) is 14% but the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is 21.185% which means IRR is greater than ROR, and therefore project has to be preceded and carried forward. Since IRR > ROR the project has to be preceded and carried forward. 4. Conclusions Through this report, analysis has shown that investing in development of 100 room hotel is the most viable option for the Expedition Maldives Pvt. Ltd. The findings have shown that this project provides a good return since the internal rate of return of the project is higher than the required rate of return. Analysis on time value for money has also shown that its significant to invest in this project. Properly executing all the phases of project life cycle is very important and any delay could incur extra costs since the cash inflow starts from third year, when the hotel is in operation. The success depends on the ability of the project team to carry out the project work phases in accordance with the plan. If the project team is incompetent to carry out the planned work scheduled, it would be a countable threat to succeed the project 5. Recommendation As mentioned under conclusion the project team of Expedition Maldives Pvt. Ltd should ensure all means to stay with the project plan but to meet and resolve any unexpected issues on timely basis. Since Maldives is a country geographically widespread, regular transfer of required materials should be well in advance prepared and the senior management of the project must be ready to face this challenge if arises at any phase of the project life cycle to accomplish the project on time. Delay in accomplishment is costly since no cash inflow is projected before the hotel is in operation. Therefore its highly recommended tracking, tracing and monitoring of all activities of the project life cycle and make necessary amendment if requires on time.

Essay --

Truworths Looking good is one of the priority that people always want to keep especially when it comes which retailer store you do your shopping. In this essay our work will be based on Truworths, as Truworths is one of the retail stores and leading fashion retailers. We will also look at how it incorporates with other well-known fashion stores. Profile One of the oldest retail stores in South Africa, Truworths is amongst the fashion store that is big in the industry of fashion. According to Truworths (2012) it is one of South Africa’s leading fashion retailers, with over 500 stores in South Africa and 5 franchise operations in Africa. However, it forms part of Truworths International, an investment holding company listed on the JSE, whose companies are engaged in the retailing of fashion apparel and accessories. The Truworths International Retail Group incorporates Identity, YDE and Uzzi. Just like Mr Price incorporates Mr Price home, Mr Price Sport, Milady’s and Sheet Street. According to Truworths (2012), Truworths traces its roots back to 1917 when The Alliance Trading Company opened its first store on a site not far from the Group’s present head office in Cape Town. However, the name changed to Truworths Fashion House in 1935 and by the 1950’s 80 stores had opened. Furthermore, credit was introduced into the business in 1955 and by 1959 sales reached R1 million for the first time, Truworths continued to expand nationally and by the late 1970’s had 280 specialised boutique stores. Truworths (2013) is proud of its market leading position in fashion retailing in South Africa with growing market share in both ladies wear and menswear. The Group now employs more than 9 400 permanent and flexi-time employees and supports the South... ... to post recent videos, it is still useful as people can see their advert online. According to Barker and Angelopulo (2006:290) online advertising performs the same function online as advertising does in the physical marketplace. The primary goals are to create awareness, communicate benefits, promote trial and urge consumers to action. This means that the website can communicate information about products, prices and / or distribution. Summary Truworths is the biggest retail store in the country with other branches in African countries like Namibia and Swaziland (just to mention a few). In the coming years to come Truworths hopes to achieve what none other retail store have ever done by having their branch anywhere in the continent. It has scooped several awards including the best retail in fashion South Africa. In summary, Truworths is the best in fashion clothes.

Dutch Revolt

1 Assignment 2 How significant was the Reformed faith for the success of the Dutch Revolt Essay plan My essay will begin with a chapter on when and why the revolt Started, and will then continue to explain and talk about the main participants in its continuance and then go on to talk about their individual beliefs and reasons for the revolts emergence and success. The Dutch revolt or the revolt of the Netherlands as it is also known as, started in 1566 and carried on until the early 17th century. The seventeen provinces of the Low Countries were acquired by the Hasburgs through marriage in 1477 but were still infested with independent lordships right up until the 17th century and were divided between German speaking Dutch in the north 2 East and French speaking Walloons (people from the area of modern day Belgium) in the south west. The reformation in the Netherlands was an international religious and political event with the seventeen provinces of the Low Countries against the ardent Catholics supported by Charles V and then his son Philip II of the Spanish Empire. The seventeen provinces soon jelled under the leadership of William prince of orange. William was born in 1533 and was raised as a Lutheran, when he was 11, and when his cousin died he inherited the title Prince of Orange, on the condition that he had a Roman Catholic education. He grew up and became a wealthy nobleman who originally served the Hasburgs as a member of the court of Margaret of Parma, the governor of the Spanish Netherlands who was the king’s representative due to the fact of being Charles V illegitimate daughter from a relationship with Johanna Maria Van der Gheynst. William held the position of the Stadholder (steward/ lieutenant). Having been raised as a Lutheran and later being educated in the 3 Catholic ways he grew dissatisfied at the persecution of the Protestants in the Netherlands. It was 1559 when he was given the position of Stadholder of the provinces of Holland and Utrecht, and his decision to oppose the king originated later in the same year when in the company of a couple of French noblemen he overheard about the plan to exterminate the protestants in both France and the Netherlands, and he decided he wanted, nothing to do with their slaughter. In August 1566 the uprising was bought about with a wave of beeldenstorm (iconoclasm) spread with the destruction of statues and religious images in hundreds of churches and monasteries across the Netherlands. The destruction of these statues and Catholic images were denounced as superstitious and unbiblical and the stained glass images were also seen as false teachings of the church (pp68 Block 2 The European Reformation). Margaret allowed influential noblemen including William to become more involved with the rebels in return for their help in quelling anymore destruction; she also granted some of the rebel’s wishes, which included suspending the heresy laws to enable a group of 4 petitioners to negotiate with Philip II, but in early 1567 it became clear she would not be allowed to fulfil her promises when the Duke of Alba was dispatched to the area to restore order. After his arrival the duke set up the council of troubles or known locally as the council of blood because of he 10,000 rebels called before the council for judgment and subsequently killed. William was one of these called up but he failed to show up, he was named as a rebel and had his lands and properties confiscated. Charles V was born in the Flemish city of Ghent in 1500. In 1506 he inherited his father’s Burgundian territories but because of his tender age his aunt Margaret acted as regent until 1515. From early on in 1 515 Charles had to deal with a rebellion from peasants, and after defeating them in 1523 he went on to extend the Burgundian territories. The European Inquisition executed their first Lutheran martyrs at Brussels in 1523, but private support for the new beliefs was more widespread than publically thought. In 1521 Charles called an assembly at worms in Germany to discuss Protestant Reformation. He called Martin Luther to appear before the assembly and to either renounce or reaffirm his views. 5 Luther Said â€Å"Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and ontradicted themselves), I am bound by the scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen. After the assembly Charles V made a decree (edict of worms) which stated â€Å" We forbid anyone from this time forward to dare, either by words or by deeds, to receive, defend, sustain, or favour the said Martin Luther. On the contrary we want him to be apprehended and punished as a notorious heretic, as he deserves, to be brought personally before us, or to be securely guarded until those who have captured him inform us, where upon we will order the appropriate manner of proceeding against the said Luther. Those who will help in his capture will be rewarded generously for 6 their good work†. It was the culmination of an ongoing struggle between Martin Luther and the Catholic Church. On his way back to Wittenburg after his meeting with Charles, William was picked up by soldiers of Frederick the Wise and escorted to Wartburg Castle for his own protection. Philip II became king of Spain and Lord of the low countries in 1556 when he took over from his father Charles V. Philips rule in the seventeen separate provinces known collectively as the Netherlands faced many difficulties including heavy taxation and the suppression of Protestantism; this led to warfare in 1568. In 1566, protestant preachers sparked anti-clerical riots known as the Iconoclast Fury; in response to growing heresy, the duke of Alba`s army went on the offensive which further alienated the local aristocracy. In 1584, William of Orange was assassinated by Balthasar Gerard, after Philip had offered a reward of 25,000 crowns to anyone who killed him, calling him a â€Å"pest on the whole of Christianity and the enemy of the human race†. 7 All of the key people involved with the revolt in the Netherlands had their own religious beliefs, and it was these beliefs which were instrumental in the uprising, from the catholic support of the Spanish royal family and the other established European rulers at the time, and the new believers such as Luther and Calvin who influenced William of Orange and other key rebels. The key figures in the new religious movement had such influence over the wronged peasants that they were able to be guaranteed of their support in whatever was asked of them including the revolt itself. (Word Count 1149) Bibliography Wallace, P. (The Long European Reformation). Grell, Ole Peter. O`Day, R. Laurence, A. Loftus, D. (The European Reformation), Block 2. The Open University, Milton Keynes.

Women in Congress

Why do you think so few women and racial minorities have been elected to Congress? That is a question that can come with many different answers. In my opinion, I believe that there is a different reason between women and minorities for their lack of success in Congress. Both reasons involve the past, but in different ways. The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate. There are 435 members in the House of the Representatives. The Senate has 100 members. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election. The main reason why women and minorities are not popular in Congress is because of descriptive representation. Descriptive representation is a belief that constituents are represented effectively by legislators who are similar to them (Challenge of Democracy). The characters that qualify are race, ethnicity, religion, or gender. That is the main factor why there are so few women and minorities in Congress. Due to the past, the demographic characteristic is a white male. As far as African American activity in government goes, a lot of progress has been made. In the past slavery kept blacks from being involved at all. They slowly made progress when they were counted as 3/5th of a person. Then they moved on to being free persons, and from then the African Americans moved on. There were many influential blacks to America. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks were two very important people. They changed America for the better and helped African Americans advance in life. African Americans began serving in Congress during the Reconstruction Era after slaves were freed and granted citizen rights. Free black men gained political representation in the South. White Democrats took back political power and tried to return white supremacy. Legislatures lowered voting for blacks by passing tougher voter laws. As a result of the African American Civil Rights Movement, Congress passed laws to end segregation and protect civil rights and voting rights. When Congress changed the Voting Rights Acts in 1982, the states made districts that put minorities together. They thought it would make it a better chance for African Americans and Hispanics to be elected into office. They fixed the â€Å"make-up† of the districts. Women were never seen as a necessity in the business world in the past. They were not useful when it came to farming in men’s eyes. They were always needed to do the household chores and making sure the kids were being taken care of. Men believed that women were not as strong as men. It was as if they were not as important as men. Women were not allowed to vote until 1920, and before then not many women were involved in the government (Women in Congress). If you could not choose who was going to make decisions for you, why would you even be concerned? There was only one state, New Jersey, who allowed women to vote for 17 years (1790-1807). The only way they could vote was if they fit the land requirements. I believe though that the reason why there are so few women and minorities in Congress is because America is not ready to change. They are stuck on the way things were before and never trying new things. People are not willing to even give a woman the time of day, even if she has great ideas. It would be someone they brush off because women aren’t smarter than men. Minorities are not even considered an option in Congress just because of their title as a â€Å"minority†. There are a minor amount of minorities and it is hard to find the ones that are determined to better themselves in life. It is almost as if they’ve given up on trying to become an image breaker. Everyone believes in the descriptive representation and that is why minorities are not involved in the government (Congress vs. Minorities). As the years have progressed though there is one man that I must give credit to for making a huge advancement for minorities in government, Barack Obama. He had many obstacles to overcome to get there. There were many people that told him he didn’t stand a chance in the race. He was determined and he now is sitting in the office as President of the United States. Demographic groups have always been a large role in Congress. The groups consist of race, gender, ethnicity, or religion. The groups vote for people that are in the considerable same group as them. For example, if a Catholic runs against a Jew, most Catholics would vote for the Catholic. In 2050, there will be remarkably many different things going on in the world. There is a chance that a black woman will be the President. A Hispanic male might be the Speaker of the House. Global Warming could be done for, and New Orleans could possibly be submerged underwater. All possibilities of what the world could be like in 40 years. I believe that the world will have a new outlook on things and demographic groups will not exist so prevalently. I think people will be able to make decisions based on their own likings and not what their â€Å"group† is doing. People are becoming more independent in their choices in 2010, so 40 years from now the world’s mindset will be free. To support my reasoning on people being independent now is through the example of Obama winning the presidential election. I believe that people stepped out of their demographic group on their voting choice. Yes, most African Americans voted for Obama, but even the African Americans affiliated with a different religion voted for him. White people stepped out of their religion and race to vote for Obama. I still believe demographic groups will exist, just not so commonly. Those that are stuck to traditions and keeping things the way they were will still be apart of the group. They will consist of less people, but there will be enough to rock a vote. Hopefully, the demographic groups will just completely wipe out and let people use their minds. I want Americans to be able to make their own decisions. The reason why there are so few women and minorities in Congress has to do with choices made my Americans. African Americans that want to run for a position in Congress probably find it pointless due to the demographic groups. They feel that they shouldn’t waste their time since they already know the outcome especially if they run against a white male. Hopefully having Obama in office will give other minorities and women incentive to pursue their dream to be involved in the government. The entire controversy will continue for years though. These have just been my personal opinion mixed in with facts. The ideas for the future I have are very well thought out, and I hope to see the progress in the future. If African Americans can go from being slaves to running the United States; I think it is more than possible for people to become more independent in their own thoughts and decisions.