Effectiveness of Policies on Effects of Death in England

Effectiveness of Policies on Effects of Death in England How effective were government policies in mitigating the effects of dearth in England during the period 1500 – 1850? INTRODUCTION Look up ‘dearth’ in a modern dictionary and you will see it defined as ‘scarcity’, but in 16th and 17th century England ‘dearth’ could for many mean death. Although the spelling is near enough, a ‘dearth’ or scarcity (mainly applied to grain, which made up the staple diet of beer and bread) originated from the now quaint word ‘dear’ meaning expensive. And when food was too expensive the bulk of the population would starve; despite the philanthropy of the wealthy and the inadequate poor laws, which changed little for centuries after its first incarnation under Queen Elizabeth I. This was seen, particularly before the enlightenment, but surviving into in the 18th century, as the fault of the poor themselves who perhaps inadvertently had overloaded their sin quota and brought forth the ‘wrath of God’ who then visited upon the unfortunate sinners bad harvests and the consequential famines that followed. â€Å"For the removal of those heavenly judgements which our manifold sins and provocations have most justly deserved, and with which Almighty God is pleased to visit the iniquities of the land by a grievous scarcity and dearth of diverse articles of sustenance and necessaries of life†[1] Although this might sound like a Cromwellian outburst it was actually written in the mid-18th century, providing proof positive for the masses that any misfortune which might arise (death, famine, etc.) was not by any fault of the ruling elite, but by powers beyond even kings, despite their ‘divine rights’. But just in case the religious concept was not enough to quell any disturbances arising out of a starving population, laws had to be passed which, for example, forbade meetings of more than three men, and of not more than a dozen to be assembled at anytime or anywhere. As with everything, words have a history. They are moulded by historical events and people. But they do not usually expire completely, instead they change. ‘Dearth’ was a far more ominous and morbid word to the people of the 16th, 17th, and 18th century than it is to the modern ear. During the 17th century, starting in the late 16th, Governments were resistant to intervene in periods of dearth, though a form of protectionism was practised, to offset extremes of supply and demand, abundance and dearth, which was altered and revised when needs be. With a minimum and maximum price allowable for the exporting and importing of grain. A totally free market did not arrive until 1570. But as the price restrictions were instituted at a local and not governmental level the laws were not difficult to circumvent. Smuggling, for example, was practised, and easy to get away with, and it is true that smuggling was probably widely engaged upon. Add to this such things as bribery and corrupt local officials and it is easy to imagine a thriving black market sector within the price constraints. This state of affairs begs the question of why did centralised government distance itself from intervention in the corn trade, and leave it to localised administration to implement any government protectionist policies? Opinions vary amongst historians but just two possibilities posited cite the City of London’s preoccupation with largely its own affairs, with its own idiosyncratic system, and the fact that abundance and dearth were largely regional and varied at different times and in different parts of the country. When central government did intervene, due to a particularly bad dearth, it is questionable whether intervention was instigated with an altruistic motive through amelioration of some of the more dreadful sufferings of the populace, or with a view to quell any disorder that might arise. Another interesting government policy that was sometimes practiced was the demonisation of alcohol, hoping that the populace would more easily subsist on more bread and less beer. W hen deaths from epidemic diseases, which were ubiquitous in this era, are taken into consideration, mortality rates still show a definite rise in years of serious dearth. Modern era economic problems are usually controlled by such methods as manipulation of the cash flow and trade agreements between different nations or economic blocs. But there was a tradition, which tailed off during the course of the 18th century, of sustaining a viable price/market equilibrium by means of monitoring disturbance and discontent amongst the populace. This method, a fairly simple equation, disturbance = government intervention, form low-level intervention to more extreme protectionist legislation. Even in pre-industrial agrarian societies autarky was a constant goal for government but seldom reached simply because what commodity might be abundant in one country might be scarce in another. Also it must be borne in mind that often disturbances, some violent, were the only means at a disenfranchised populace’ disposal to express grievances. Often, particularly in depressed periods, disturbance and rioting were so endemic as to present these events or â€Å"rebell ions of the belly’’[2] as hardly worth commenting upon; by contemporary commentators and modern historians alike. A comment by Professor Barnes is fairly typical, â€Å"In general these disturbances were more or less alike, and hence nothing is gained by giving a detailed account of each one† [3] Dearth was, in these times, not only a fairly frequent occurrence but was part of the popular consciousness. It was ever present in the minds of government and governed alike. In the case of government, future dearths could cause a considerable threat to public order and social stability, thus causing some deal of worry. In these times of no effective policing agency, social stability was maintained by the prevailing ruling elite’s ideology, which involved a complex inter-relationship between government and governed, crown and nobility, landowners and workers; and the monitoring by government of dearth can, with historical evidence, be seen as a major factor in the maintenance of social stability in the post-feudal/nascent industrial-capitalist society. An additional problem for government was the fact that dearth was difficult to foresee and could arise within a short period of time. In a society going through fundamental structural changes, the rise of a merchant class, for example, dearth was a perennial problem, and a major one. The ruling elites had a real fear of unrest amongst the labouring poor, who themselves had very justifiable grievances. Indeed, it must have been patently obvious amongst many of the poor, despite lack of education, that it was their toil that kept the nobility in such splendour. This is not to say that much of the populace, perhaps the majority, accepted their lot in life. Many â€Å"never took noe lewd course for to rong any man. Nor yet rune about the country as others have done †¦ for corne †¦ took it by violen[ce]†.[4] What was the poors understanding of the courses of dearth? These were varied, obviously bad harvests and religious superstition played a part, but also the system of enclosure was thought to be a cause. In effect, enclosure acted as a means to raise the price of corn, and often accentuated the problem of dearth. Others believed that dearth was caused deliberately by speculators to whom dearth would have been financially advantageous. Thus, dearth was caused by, â€Å"many loaders that buy †¦ upp †¦ whoole loades and carry it away and so make corne at such an excessive rate; although there is corne enough†[5] This demonisation of middlemen was expediently taken up by government, who pronounced against â€Å"evill disposed persons unthankfull to God and without pitty towards poore men, [who] by their engrossing of grayne and other abuses will make want amidst plentifulness and continew still the affliction of the poore by their malice†[6] This was not merely propaganda. Some measures to control middlemen were indeed placed on statute. Why events such as the Peterloo massacre had not happened earlier was in no small measure due to the fact that before the influx of agricultural workers into the newly industrialised towns and cities, practically everyone was illiterate apart from the ruling elites, and the organisation of any demonstration was hampered by the fact that dialects varied so much, thus even nearby villagers had some difficulty comprehending each other. Also, as England changed from a subsistence economy to a money economy and agriculture became more commercialised, dearths decreased in frequency. In a subsistence economy, such as in the feudal period, there was little incentive for peasants to produce more than they could subsist on as this would be surplus that could not be capitalised on, as in a money economy. Subsequently dearth usually meant that although grain was scarce, there would be just enough to subsist on. Very bad harvests though, frequently led to mass starvation and deaths. Dearths and f amines were interpreted as nature’s way of balance. If the population grew too large, then this would result in too many mouths to feed, leading to famine and deaths which would bring the population down to manageable proportions. In Malthus’ book ‘An essay on the principle of population’ he argued just that.[7] Malthus the clergyman even argued against any poor relief, as this would upset what he saw as nature’s, checks and balances. Poor relief, instituted by government, was as a result of a great famine of the 1590s, (at this time in England’s history there were indeed too many mouths to feed, which went someway towards a vindication of Malthus’ theory). CONCLUSION Between 1500 and 1850 England was in a transitional period from a post-feudal, largely mercantile society into an industrial/capitalist society. As peasant workers migrated into the new industrial cities and towns society underwent a fundamental change. Workers began to congregate in much larger numbers than the agricultural society of scattered villages. After the enlightenment people were no longer so willing to accept dearths and famines as being an inevitable occurrence in a strictly hierarchical world with God at the apex, and began to question government excuses and reasons for dearths and famines. But government was spared increased disturbance and social unrest simply because dearths became less commonplace. The Peterloo massacre of 1819, which was a peaceful demonstration against the corn laws as they stood at that time, was due more to the ineptitude of local magistrates and somewhat drunken soldiers, than to the demonstration itself, which might easily have passed off peac efully. Therefore this event really lends itself to being somewhat out of context within the period discussed in this essay. Paradoxically, once the socio-economic conditions made it more favourable for peasants to look elsewhere to hire their labour in a money-economy, this could often make their plight worse. Landlords, at a time when peasants were virtually their property, at least had to ensure that their workers were sufficiently fed and nourished to work. When workers started working for money, there was no such check or balance, if the worker could not afford food he would starve. From this period, particularly the early period of the 15th and 16th centuries, a paucity of written records of dearth is an obvious impediment to historians. These were not written about in the main because many, if not most, contemporary writers simply did think that there was any real need for these events to be written down and recorded. And as written records did increase, the occurrence of dearth became less for the reasons discussed above. To people living at the time, dearths and famines were events which they probably thought would last in perpetuum, and as they varied in occurrence and in different regions at different times, a truly comprehensive systematic record is problematic for the modern historian. The corollary to this situation is that the effectiveness of government to mitigate the effects of dearth in this period is difficult to gauge. The fact that wars and epidemics were also prevalent during this period adds a further difficulty to an assessment when attemptin g to link dearth, and particularly famine, to morbidity rates as a determinant towards the assessment of government success in the mitigation of dearths and famines. It would be fair to say though, that government was successful merely because of the fact that society held together, unlike revolutionary France. But not so much as in the amelioration of the conditions under which the poor laboured, but successful in that no major riots are recorded. Therefore it could be argued that government was successful in mitigating, if to mitigate is taken in the meaning of as to lessen, social unrest and disorder and maintaining the status quo. Altruism towards its subjects was not high on the agenda of government and crown, and where it was practiced towards the poor it was the mainly the result of a perceived Christian duty towards relieving the lot of the poor, rather than any philanthropic motive, and an aid, through the poor law, in maintaining social order. To summarise; with the aid of religion, protection of subsistence living standards by the means of poor relief, price control and demonisation of ‘middlemen’, along with the fact that any disturbances or riots that did occur were regional, thus preventing a general nationwide uprising; successive governments through 1500 1850 could be deemed to have been effective towards the mitigation of the effects of dearth and famine. References Rose, R.B. ‘Eighteenth Century Price Riots and Public Policy in Early Modern England’. International Review of Social History, 6. Royal VanGorcum, The Netherlands, 1961. R.B. Outhwaite, Dearth, Public Policy and Social Disturbance in England 1550 – 1800, Macmillan, London, 1991. John Walter and Keith Wrightson, Dearth and the Social Order in Modern England, Rebellion, Proper Protest and the Social Order, ed. Slack, Cambridge University Press, 1984. Andrew Cunningham and Ole Peter Grell, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000 1 Footnotes [1] Page 15, R.B. Outhwaite, Dearth, Public Policy and Social Disturbance in England, 1550 – 1800, Macmillan, London, 1991. [2] Page 278, Rose, R.B. ‘Eighteenth Century Price Riots and Public Policy in Early Modern England’. International Review of Social History, 6. Royal VanGorcum, The Netherlands, 1961. [3] Ibid. [4] Page 114, John Walter and Keith Wrightson, Dearth and the Social Order in Early Modern England, Rebellion, Proper Protest and the Social Order, ed. Slack, Cambridge University Press, 1984. [5] Page 116, Ibid. [6] Page 117, Ibid. [7] Andrew Cunningham and Ole Peter Grell, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000.

Leper Lepelliers Functions As A Minor Character :: essays research papers

Upon returning to his school fifteen years after graduating, Gene Forrester, recalled his days at the Devon School in a surreal sense. In his own words, â€Å"In the deep, tacit way in which feeling becomes stronger than thought, I had always felt that the Devon School came into existence the day I entered it, was vibrantly real while I was a student there, and then blinked out like a candle the day I left.† Helping embellish this reality were his friends, including Leper Lepellier, who appeared in only five scenes in A Separate Peace. Elwin â€Å"Leper† Lepellier’s role as a minor character was vital to the story, although not nearly as visible as Gene’s or Finny’s. His appearances stole the attention of the reader, altered each character’s own perceptions of the war, and forced the main character to act and think in ways he would not have otherwise. Chapter Ten’s journey to Leper’s Christmas location is a trip away from Devon both physically and emotionally. Leper steals the scene by inviting Gene to his home, proceeding to unsettle the reader to the extent that he cannot concentrate on the other characters. Quiet and subdued, Leper spent much of his time outdoors, sketching snails and trees, photographing beaver dams. He was what Brinker so scornfully called a naturalist. This gentle hobby extracted virtually no interest from the reader, besides a knowledge of Leper’s eccentric and lonely personality. Because he predictably behaved this way, reading the few tortured pages of his hallucinations in the army elicits strong emotion and reader interest; Finny and the Devon group of friends were insignificant compared to the horrific images Leper conjured in the reader’s mind. Gene felt the same emotions as the reader: â€Å"Don’t tell me who’s got me and who hasn’t got me. Who do you think you’re talking to? Stick to your snails, Lepellier.† Shocked at what his friend has become, Gene mentions his naturalistic manner, hoping to straighten him out. At this point, the reader is as helpless as Gene, wondering why Leper has changed, what the hallucinations mean, and most importantly, what will happen to between them in the pages to come. Leper also directs the reader back to Finny’s accident, pointing a guilty finger at Gene when he says he and everyone he knew were all â€Å"savages underneath.† When Gene finally runs out of Vermont and away from Leper’s insanity, the reader now has another view on Finny’s accident.

Drug Addiction as Depicted in the Movie “Ray”

I have watched two movies: â€Å"Ray† and â€Å"Traffic.†Ã‚   I choose to focus on the movie â€Å"Ray† for a more realistic portrayal of drug abuse.   In this movie, drugs were used as a chief escape of the blind protagonist, Ray Charles Robinson, from the loneliness of being apart from the normal crowd of people who can see.     Ã‚  He resorted to drugs to forget his condition and to have a sense of belongingness.The movie begins in the year 1948 up to 1979 when the state of Georgia made a public apology to Ray Charles for banning him for life from his refusal to perform in a segregated concert.   It was a time when racial discrimination was institutionalized, where Negroes (as they were politically called back then) were made to sit at the back of a bus with a â€Å"colored† demarcation line, where certain places where â€Å"for whites only.†Such attitudes are not prevalent anymore today. Much has happened since the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and America and the world has now learned to accept diversity of people’s colors and culture as part of life.   Black people who were called Negroes are now politically termed African-Americans.Much has also changed in musical tastes since Ray Charles’ time.   He introduced what is now known as soul music which was a blend of gospel and R&B in â€Å"I’ve Got a Woman,† a song dedicated to his wife Della Bea.   It was considered sacrilegious at that time.   Nowadays, although soul is still alive, the music scene is full of hip-hop songs with sexually charged lyrics coupled with videos of the same taste. Gospel music is also slowly carving out a significant market niche and not anymore confined to places of worship.The central character of Ray Charles is the compelling drug addict in the movie.   His downward spiral towards drug abuse started in 1948 in a small gig in a seedy Seattle club called The Rocking Chair.   The announcer, a midget man called Oberon, offered him marijuana or â€Å"weed† to calm Ray’s nerves before an impromptu performance.   This is a very believable scene since it was Ray’s first club performance and venture outside of Florida.   He was a nervous journeyman and considered a greenhorn.   It was within his character to be accepting of anything new and seemingly helpful to the current situation.Later in the movie he was introduced to heroin by a member of his band, Fathead Newman.   Ray tried the drug out of curiosity despite his bandmates’ caution.   He found out that it could take him to places he had never been before, a description and justification of most drug addicts.   This was a believable portrayal because the movie shows his pitiful isolation from his mates while on the road. They would all go out after a performance while Ray was left to tend to himself alone.   His mates would oftentimes shoot themselves up with drugs in a room and pr event Ray from coming in.   There was an undertone of a need to belong and be part of a group coupled with the usual sense of adventure to try something new.Throughout the whole movie, I see Della Bea, Ray Charles’ persevering wife, as an enabler.   She exhibits avoidance when she found out about Ray’s addiction to heroin.   She could not put up a strong argument with Ray so she compromised when their first child was born by telling Ray not to bring the road to the home she was trying to build for him and their kids.   This somehow meant that he must not openly do his drug routine at home so as not to badly influence the kids. This was also Della Bea’s way to keep the peace since Ray is a very strong-willed person to deal with.   She also repressed and restrained her own feelings of hurt at first to try to understand Ray’s addiction thus in a way became an enduring spectator of her husband’s addiction hoping that he would come to his sens es for the bad habit to pass.I have seen the movie previously and I see that Ray’s drug abuse could have been unnecessary.   He had a loving wife and they were blessed with three kids and affluence that was beyond his dreams.   Any ordinary person would have been thankful for the things he had.   However, he had his own demons to deal with and probably they were driving him to the edge of sanity and his only escape, a fast one, was the high that heroin brought to his senses.   One answer is clear though, drugs never contributed something good to his life.Works CitedRay. Dir. Taylor Hackford. 2004. Videocassette. Universal Pictures, 2006.

The Civil Rights Movement Essay examples - 1639 Words

For many years after the Civil War many African-Americans did not truly enjoy the freedoms that were granted to them by the US constitution. This was especially true in the southern states, because segregation flourished in the south wwhere African-Americans were treated as second class citizens. This racial segregation was characterized by separation of different races in daily life, such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a rest room, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home. In addition, Blacks were not afforded justice and fair trials, such as the case of the murder of Emmet Till. This unjust treatment would not be tolerated in America any more, which spurred the†¦show more content†¦The rage of the whites placed their anger on innocent blacks in the form of vicious beating and murderous lynching. Most notably the August 27th 1955, murder of the harmless 14 year old boy named Emmet Till in Money, Missi ssippi. Emmett from Chicago, was visiting relatives in Mississippi, when he was accused of embarrassing a white store clerk. In result, he was kidnapped from his great-uncles house in the middle of the night. According to witnesses, they drove him to a weathered shed on a plantation in neighboring Sunflower County, where they brutally beat and then shot him. A fan was placed around his neck was to weigh down his body, which they dropped into the Tallahatchie River. This brutal murder did not do unnoticed, his mother insisted on leaving the casket open for the funeral and allowing people to take photos because she wanted people to see how badly Tills body had been disfigured. In consequence, little Emmett Till’s vicious murder sparked the Second Reconstruction, a period when African-Americans once again began holding various political offices, and reasserting and reclaiming their civil and political rights as American citizens. A few months after the Till incident, in Montgomery Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat at the front of the colored section of a bus to a white passenger, defying a southern custom of blacks riding in the back of the bus. In response to her arrest the Montgomery blackShow MoreRelatedThe Rise Of The Civil Rights Movement1179 Words   |  5 Pagessegregations. Out of the numerous elements that arose in the 1960s, there are three movements that truly affected the American society. Firstly, the rise of the civil rights movement was greatly influenced by racial discrimination of colored people in the South. Secondly, the women’s movement aimed to convince the society that women are capable of achieving and maintaining higher waged job like males. Lastly, the gay rights movement aimed to gain acceptance and stop discrimination of homosexuality. 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