A Brief History of New York City

New York City is one of the most famous metropolises in the world. It is not only a huge business hub, but also an American cultural symbol for opportunity, hard work, energy, and eclecticism. But have you ever wondered about the history of this great city? If you have, you will enjoy the following paragraphs on New York City’s prehistory, European settlement, and modern development. Native Americans were the first inhabitants of the area of New York City. The Lenape people were the main residents in this land, and they spoke the Algonquian language (Kraft, Herbert). These people used the waterways in their surroundings for fishing, hunting trips, trade, and even war. In fact, many of the main trails of the Lenape are now major thoroughfares in New York, such as Broadway (Foote, Thelma Wills). Before European settlers came, the Lenape had agriculture, developed hunting techniques, and were managing their resources with ease. They even were harvesting large amounts of fish and shellfish (Kurlansky, Mark). According to estimates, there were around 80 settlements of the Lenape with a population of approximately 5,000 when European settlers came (Stanford Web Archive Timeline). Italian voyager Giovanni da Verrazzano was the first European to visit the area, which was in 1524 (Morison, Samuel Eliot). But he did not stay for long, and it was not until 1609 when English employee of the Dutch East India Company, Henry Hudson, was looking for a westerly passage to Asia and instead found a fine spot for beaver pelts. Hudson’s report about the beaver population of the New York City area prompted the Dutch to create trading colonies there (Sandler, Corey). Through 1624-1625, the founding of the first Dutch fur trading post was where what is now Lower Manhattan (New York City Department of Parks Recreation). In 1626, the creation of Fort Amsterdam was initiated. Through the bringing of African slaves to the settlement, construction improved and blossomed, but there was animosity between the Native Americans and the settlers. In February of 1643, there was the Pavonia Massacre in the area known as present-day Jersey City, but a peace treaty was eventually mad e on August 29th of 1645 (Ellis, Edward Robb). Shorty after, in 1652, the colony was granted self-governance. However, Dutch rule was short lived. The English took over the colony, renaming it â€Å"New York† in honor of the Duke of York in 1664 (Homberger, Eric). It became a colony of the Kingdom of England and subsequently of Great Britain. In the hands of the British, New York burgeoned into a full-scale city. From 1678 to 1694, 384 houses grew to 983, with a mix of African (slaves and free), Dutch, English, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish people (Harris, Leslie M). Unfortunately, through war and massacre, the population of the Lenape shrunk to about 200. On the other hand, the slave trade under British rule continued to boost manpower and also Africans and Caribbeans acted as servants within homes. With the introduction of the Stamp Act and other taxation measures created by the British government, the colonists became agitated under oppression. Official resistance to British authority began in 1765 with The Stamp Act Congress, and it eventually resulted in the American Revolution starting in the same year. The Revolution lasted until 1783 under the leadership of General George Washington with the aid of France and other countries. The 13 colonies built the Continental Army, and through much tribulation, were able to drive out the British Army from New York and the other colonies. Serving as the first constitution of America, the Articles of Confederation was made in 1785 by Congress in New York City, and by 1798, New York City became the national capital of the United States according to the new United States Constitution. You can say this was the true start of the modern New York City. From a relatively peaceful Native American settlement of the Lenape people to American rule, New York City has had a bloody, tumultuous history of banner-changing, massacres, mass fires, slavery, and revolt. Now the focal point of American urban culture and business, one can easily forget what it came from. References Kraft, Herbert. The Lenape: Archaeology, history, and ethnography (New Jersey Historical Society v 21, 1986). Foote, Thelma Wills (2004). Black and White Manhattan: The History of Racial Formation in Colonial New York. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 25. ISBN 0-19-516537-3. Kurlansky, Mark. The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell, New York: Ballantine Books, 2006. Gotham Center for New York City History. Archived 2008-12-29 at the Stanford Web Archive Timeline 1700–1800. Morison, Samuel Eliot (1971). The European Discovery of America. Volume 1: The Northern Voyages. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press. p. 490. ISBN 978-0195082715. Sandler, Corey (2007). Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession. Citadel Press. ISBN 978-0-8065-2739-0. Battery Park.† New York City Department of Parks Recreation. Retrieved on September 13, 2008.† Nycgovparks.org. Retrieved 2010-10-04. Ellis, Edward Robb (1966). The Epic of New York City. Old Town Books. pp. 37–40. Homberger, Eric (2005). The Historical Atlas of New York City: A Visual Celebration of 400 Years of New York Citys History. Owl Books. p. 34. ISBN 0-8050-7842-8. Harris, Leslie M. (2003). In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863. The University of Chicago Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0226317731.

Power politics and the interaction among states Essay

Power politics and the interaction among states - Essay Example E-government has become a reality in most leading economies around the world including the USA, UK and most of the members of the European Union. Realism Realism is the school of thought that favors power politics and came up in the aftermath of World War II. Foreign policy makers and scholars rely on realism to provide a platform for analyzing and understanding the political climate of the world. The role of power in world politics came to the forefront after the conquest of the world by Nazism. The Second World War was believed to have been caused by various premises of idealism including ideas of collective security. Idealism may have had a great hand in world politics, especially in formation of the UN, but it was superseded by realism. Countries of the world held the idea that the only way to attain peace was through military action and war. Realism is based on several basic assumptions. These include that states are primary and most important entities in politics of the world. The other assumption is that states are unitary rational factors in world politics. The last assumption is that states seek power as their primary means and end. The assumptions are important in settling various international relations problems in the world. Some schools of thoughts hold that politics is a non-violent struggle for power. According to them, all policies enacted by politicians seek to gain, retain or increase power. Naturally, states are at the most advantageous position to exercise power and therefore, they are the most important entities in power. Military capability of a country is one of the most important measures of power. Analysts and realists hold the principles that since states are the most important entities in international relations, their power can be exercised through interstate relations. States act through their governments which act in a rational manner pursing national interests in an environment characterized by anarchy. Governments have a set of p rinciples and goals that they strive to achieve through various policies. In the ‘70s, various scholars challenged the concept of realism. Multinational corporations are non-state actors in international relations and during this era, they emerged as strong influences on international policies of various states. International organized groups such as the UN came up during this period. The scholars found that states cannot be held as the central most important players in politics. MNC have a great influence on politics. There were important changes in the structure of international systems in the second half of the twentieth century. Changes in technology used in transport and communication had an important impact on global politics. Increased independence of states led to a greater level of interstate relations. New issues emerged in the economic, social and political arenas of most countries. The state-centric assumption of realism came under criticism in the 1971 essay by Ro bert Keohane and Joseph Nye. Their essay recognized the importance of transnational interaction. According to them, nongovernmental actors have a great role to play in interactions between states. Their conclusion invalidated the claim that the state was the single most important player in politics. They suggested further research into various actors in politics (Keohane & Nye, 1971). Richard Mansbach and John Vasquez also advanced the theory of non-state actors. Their study concentrated on

Schedule Recovery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Schedule Recovery - Essay Example The flight routes are of the same time length and as such flight swapping has no effect on the amount of fuel cost or maintenance operation per flight time. Both aircrafts travel the same hours as previously scheduled. Aircraft A will be in SCL at the end of the recovery period instead of being in ALX while Aircraft B will be in ALX at the end of the recovery period rather than in SCL. Aircraft swapping as a recovery option also requires crew to swap. The one of the two crews assigned to each flight has to swap as the other one remains with the aircraft. Flight swapping calls for the reserve crew to be called to fill in the gap created (Belobaba, Odoni, Barnhart 265). The crew now assigned to WA 1269 will end up in ATL at the end of the recovery period on flight WA 1276. The three crew remaining will be assigned to flight WA 1270 and at the end of the recovery period they will end up back in SCL on flight WA 1280. Passenger disruption is minimized in this schedule. The affected flight 1269 results in zero passenger disruptions. Flight WA 1270 will have to be delayed for 20 minutes before departure arriving in PHX at 1500h. As a result, there is 20 minutes arrival delay. Although the flight is delayed, the passenger to ALX will not be affected as the next flight WA 1280 will be ready for departure as scheduled at 1600h. The connecting passengers on flight WA 1270 but on a different airline have a chance of misconnecting. Deadheading costs of crew members that find themselves in one position rather than in the usual position. This crew, although, not flying the plane are still considered on duty and have to be paid for this flight. This cost is affected by the place of residence of the crew. Compensation cost of passengers by the airline affects those passengers that have connections to different locations, but with a different airline network. This cost is influenced by the number of passengers who are connecting with different