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How African-Americans Impacted Union Victory In The Civil War Despite The Fact That They Were Enslaved
How African-Americans Impacted Union Victory In The Civil War Despite The Fact That They Were Enslaved
In the year 1860, in the month of November, the United States had a new president known as Abraham Lincoln. Many Southern states were outraged after he became elected. Lincoln had come up with a platform that advocated against slavery despite being a Republican party. In fact, most southerners believed that he would no longer have their interests represented in the Union. Later on, in the same year, in the month of December, the South Carolina state seceded. Other states such as Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi were divided as a result of the Union. In turn, the Confederate States of America was formed by the seceded states. The provisional president was a Mississippi Senator known as Jefferson Davis Lincoln’s (House Divided Speech, 2012.1).
When Lincoln was being inaugurated, he claimed that he would ensure that the union was maintained. Also, he claimed that he would not do anything concerning the Fugitive Slave Law. This means that he would not pursue any matters than concerned freeing of slaves. Many African American’s, as well as their allies, were shocked by Lincoln’s sentiments. African-American slaves were quite instrumental in ensuring that slavery was abolished. Lincoln constantly claimed that the Union would be saved by the war and thus slaves took advantage of this opportunity. The speech by Lincoln gave information regarding the slaves issue as it needed to be addressed. Lincoln claimed that “A house divided against it cannot stand.” I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free.” (House Divided Speech, 2012.1). According to the mentioned statement, America could no longer continue being segregated if it wanted to be a great nation. Lincoln used the American constitution to support some of his arguments concerning the emancipation of African Americans. According to Lincoln, the constitution of the United States declared that everyone living in America would be entitled to rights. Moreover, it did not matter which state they resided in as the constitution would protect them.
From the year 1861, thousands of African Americans escaped to the Union lines from Confederate territory. Union Generals and Lincoln were forced to react due to the massive movement. On the farms owned by the southerners, White control was resisted by the slaves. There were two versions of the Emancipation Proclamation which were issued by President Lincoln. The preliminary version was issued in the year 1862, while the final one issued in the year 1863. According to the preliminary version, slaves would be freed in the year 1863 based on the Confederate Territory (House Divided Speech, 2012.1). This meant that some southern states would still have control of their slaves so long as they joined the Confederate before the Emancipation Proclamation. For example, some states that were in the union such as Kentucky, Maryland and Missouri would not be freed. Lincoln did not want to make unionist slave holders be alienated as he wanted to obtain favor from them. In turn, most states did not attempt to rejoin the union until the emancipation (House Divided Speech, 2012.1).
There were many people who were extremely critical of the emancipation proclamation as they believed that slaves were not to be free in any way. On the other hand, Frederick Douglass was jubilated by the news concerning the jubilation. He believed that Americans were on their way towards ending slavery and this beginning should have come earlier. Douglas was quite fond of the African-Americans and fought to ensure that they would win by helping many of them join the union. In fact, Douglas is known for his proclamation of ‘Men of Color, To Arms’ that empowered African –Americans (Douglass, 2012.1). Furthermore, he believed that the Confederacy would react due to the ‘moral bombshell’ that was about to explode. Together with others, Douglas feared that the northern conservatives would be successful and pressure Lincoln to get rid of the Emancipation Proclamation. If the latter were to take place, Lincoln would not keep the promise he made to the African-Americans. Fortunately, Lincoln maintained his position and did not change his position on the matter. During the speech given by Douglas, he said that “I urge you to fly to arms, and smite with death the power that would bury the government and your liberty in the same hopeless grave. I wish I could tell you that the State of New York calls you to this high honor” (Douglass, 2012.1). By this, he claimed that African –Americans had the support of various stake holders, and this had the opportunity of winning the Union war. Also, during this speech, Douglass, gave examples of notable men who were instrumental in the fight to end slavery. They include; Nathaniel Turner, John Brown and Denmark Vesey, among others. In his speech, he motivated the African -Americans by letting them know that God was on their side. They had an opportunity which could not be wasted. As he finished his speech, he encouraged African Americans to enlist with him in order to join the American Union regiment (Douglass, 2012.1).
It should be known that the civil war was transformed by the Emancipation Proclamation. Therefore, the result is that efforts were put into ending slavery and saving the union. Furthermore, as many as four million slaves became free due to the Emancipation Proclamation. If slaves could find a way of escaping from the Union territory, they would indeed achieve their freedom. Many slaves were lucky to escape from Confederacy, and their numbers grew tremendously. Slaves who were used for labor purposes by the southerners were motivated by the emancipation to fight for the Union Forces (Emancipation Proclamation, 2012.1). As the war came to an end, the strategy of the Union started being realized. The efforts of the southerners to wage war were stopped as well as having their Confederate resources destroyed. The Union became aware that it needed to obtain help from African Americans to fight as soldiers. By fighting for the union, the slaves could obtain the freedom that they wanted. It is estimated that around 20000 African -American sailors and soldiers were involved in the war on behalf of the union. This shows that people were aware about their rights as human beings and would do anything to attain freedom (Emancipation Proclamation, 2012.1).
African-Americans had begun the journey towards attaining freedom even before the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by Lincoln. In North Carolina, blacks from New Bern had formed militias even before the war began. Most of the slaves who escaped from the Confederacy escaped to New Bern. Galloway Abraham was extremely influential in making sure that African- American fought under their terms. After the final emancipation proclamation was issued, African- Americans would serve in the federal army. A notable African American known as Robert Shaw was recognized for his heroic deeds. He was in charge of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Colored Regiment. When the civil war ended, southern, northern, white and black Americans became busy trying to rebuild their nation. Southerners had been immensely affected by the emancipation as they no longer had rights over slaves. Slave owners were terrified that African-American s were now free. In turn, some of the slave owners reacted in various ways such as expressing concern, compassion and even rage (Emancipation Proclamation, 2012.1).
The Emancipation Proclamation was quite important, but unfortunately, it did not bring an end to slavery in America. It is the Constitution’s Thirteenth Amendment that yielded the results that had for a long time been sort after. By the year 1865, salves in the United States were free as slavery had been abolished. The Emancipation Proclamation could not be valid after the war ended, as it was only a wartime document (Emancipation Proclamation, 2012.1). Also, it only allowed for slaves living in Confederate states to be freed. It is through the efforts of the African-Americans that Union victory was achieved. The slaves were willing to lose their lives and form unions with the government and the Union army. Indeed, the many slaves who escaped from slavery fought as soldiers in the Union Army. It is thus true to claim that the Union won the war due to the efforts of the African-Americans. Therefore, the United States would no longer have institutions of slavery (Emancipation Proclamation, 2012.1).
Work Cited
Lincoln’s “House Divided” Speech, 1858. Retrieved from, HYPERLINK “http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h2934t.html”http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h2934t.html (Accessed February 28, 2012)
Douglass. Frederick, “Men of Color, To Arms!”1863. Retrieved from, HYPERLINK “http://www.blackpast.org/?q=1863-frederick-douglass-men-color-arms”http://www.blackpast.org/?q=1863-frederick-douglass-men-color-arms (Accessed February 28, 2012)
Emancipation Proclamation, 1863. Retrieved from, HYPERLINK “http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1549t.html”http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1549t.html (Accessed February 28, 2012)
Film review of The Coen brothers
Film review
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The Coen brothers are some of Hollywood’s most dependable directors. For 25 years the two brothers have written, directed and produced fourteen films. In 2012 they won an Oscar award for the best picture with ‘No Country For Old Men’ (Bergan, 22)(Robson, 12) . Films directed and produced by Coen Brothers are ‘A Serious Man’ and ‘The Man Who Wasn’t There’. A Serious Man is a comedy film produced in 2009 that features Michael Stuhlbarg as a Jewish man whose life crumbles both personally and professionally hence causing him to question his faith. The second film produced in 2001, The Man Who Wasn’t There is a black and white neo-noir film set in 1949 in Santa Rosa California.The film’s theme is alienation a theme brought out through Big Dave who became alienated from his wife. Big Dave is abducted by aliens and is blackmailed by Ed a barber who wants to own a dry cleaning business.
Film review involves identifying and analysing various elements of a film which include; theme or motif, plot, setting, and stylistic devices. The discussion will involve analysing the plot of the two films, A Serious Man and A Man Who Wasn’t There, both produced by Coen Brothers. The purpose or meaning of the films will be brought out through explanatory synthesis, comparative analysis, and quantitative analysis (Coen-Ethan, 42).
In 1967 North Central state of the United States of America Minnesota, Larry Gopkin a physics professor husband to Judith gets an abrupt message from his wife that she wants to file for a divorce so that she can marry Sy Ableman. Larry and Judith have two children, Danny and Sarah; also living with the family is Larry’s brother Arthur who has no job and spends most of his time on the couch drafting occult symbols trying to define the universe. Danny owes money to an intimidating Hebrew schoolmate after buying marijuana from the schoolmate. Sarah on the other hand spends most of her time doing her hair.
With a pending vote for a permanent office, the head of department slips information that anonymous notes have been sent to the committee asking it to deny him the affirmative vote. Another professional constraint comes in when Clive Park a failing student in his class steps into his office arguing that he should not fail. Larry finds an envelope stashed with cash after Clive leaves the office. When he attempts to return the money, Clive’s father threatens to sue Larry for defamation or for pocketing the money if he does not give his son passing grades (Coen-Ethan, 42).
On the other hand apart from professional downfalls, his personal life also takes a wrong turn. Judith and Sy kick Larry and his brother out of the house and after the divorce Larry is left penniless. Arthur faces sodomy and solicitation charges. Larry is on the verge of losing his mind hence he turns to the Jewish leaders for help. However, none of the leaders offer much help and the synagogue senior is never available. He reaches his breaking point when he is involved in a car accident but survives while his brother also gets involved in a car accident and dies.
Larry pays for Arthur’s funeral and is proud of Danny’s bar mitzvah. Judith apologizes during the service for the negative turn of events in Larry’s life; she informs him that Sy likes him and that he wrote to the committee based on Larry’s tenure. The senior Rabbi counsels Danny to do good things and to be a good person. Larry receives the tenure and on top of that, a large sum of money from his brother’s criminal lawyer. Larry is summoned by his doctor over a chest X-ray results while Danny’s school is hit by a hurricane (Coen-Ethan, 42).
The plot summary above reflects the lives of many people in the United States. Through critical analysis of the series of events divorce as a major social issue in America is brought out, cases of corruption in schools and children getting involved with drug abuse. A quantitative analysis of the events in Larry’s life the film displays how difficult and depressing life can be with sequential bad events occurring.
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‘The Man Who Wasn’t There’ a film set in Santa Rosa California in the year 1949 features Ed Crane a barber husband to Doris a book keeper. The bookstore is owned by Big Dave whom Ed suspects is having an affair with his wife. Creighton Tolliver, a customer, wants investors with about ten thousand dollars to invest in the dry cleaning business. To get the money Ed decides to blackmail Big Dave. Big Dave opens his heart to Ed oblivious of Ed’s plan informing him that he is being blackmailed and asks for his opinion; Ed advises Big Dave to pay the money (Coen-Ethan, 34).
Ed receives the ten thousand and delivers it to Tolliver. Big Dave calls Ed and unknown to him, Big Dave had found out that Ed was the Blackmailer. Tolliver had previously approached Big Dave with the same offer but he turned it down. Finding it to be too much of a fluke Big Dave beats information out of Tolliver and when he finds out that Tolliver is innocent his second guess was Ed. Once Ed arrived at the Nirdlinger’s Big Dave confronted him by strangling Ed, Ed takes a knife and drives it through Big Dave’s throat killing him. Doris becomes aware that her secret is out and she is accused of committing murder. Ed hires an expensive lawyer to represent him in court; he uses money from a bank to pay the lawyer with his brother-in-law’s barber shop as security (Coen-Ethan, 34).
Big Dave’s wife is convinced that Doris did not commit the crime and she shares information with Ed, Doris, and the lawyer that when she and her husband were camping last summer Big Dave got abducted by aliens. Ann (Big Dave’s wife) thinks that her husband’s death was part of a government conspiracy to hide the events of that day. Ed confesses that he committed the crime but the lawyer does not believe him. During her first trial Doris hangs herself in the jail cell and an autopsy reveals that she was pregnant. On the other hand Ed is seeing his friend’s teenage daughter who they get involved in a car accident with. When Ed wakes up in hospital two policemen inform him that he is under arrest for the murder of Big Dave. With no money he hires a local lawyer who advises him to plead guilty with the hope that the court will sympathise with him but contrary to his notion, the judge puts him on death row. Ed writes down the events while in his cell awaiting his death sentence; he wasn’t sorry for his actions but was for the suffering he caused others (Coen-Ethan, 34).
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Through the plot summary, contemporary issues such as corruption and homicides are brought out. Through the series of events the film shows that one’s greediness can bring about life crisis to others. Alienation which is the theme of the film is also reflected in the plot of the film, Ed is left by his wife, Ann is left by her husband and Ed’s life is a complicated one.
The two films reviewed above are a reflection of how the human life is and the consequences of our action. Through the plot we learn more about the film and its significance.
References
A serious man. Dir. Ethan Coen. Perf. Larry Gopkin. Universal, 2010. DVDBergan, Ronald. The Coen brothers. New York, NY: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2000. Print.Coen, Ethan, and Joel Coen. A serious man. London: Faber and Faber, 2009. Print.The man who wasn’t there. Dir. Ethan Coen. Perf. Ed, Big Dave, Doris, Tolliver. Universal, 2002. DVD.Coen, Ethan, and Joel Coen. The man who wasn’t there. London: Faber and Faber, 2001. Print.Robson, Eddie. Coen brothers. London: Virgin Books, 2003. Print.
How accurate are Tympanic thermometer than other types of Thermometer
How accurate are Tympanic thermometer than other types of Thermometer?
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A thermometer is an instrument with a defined scale used for determining the temperature of substances or bodies that vary their temperatures in different conditions. In principle, thermometers function by use of substance such as alcohol or mercury which has a physical property that varies with temperature and has some defined scale. Worth noting also is that thermometers vary based on different criteria, such include: axilla thermometer, Celsius thermometer, centigrade thermometer, clinical thermometer, electronic thermometer, Fahrenheit thermometer, oral thermometer, rectal thermometer and resistance thermometer among others.
Over the years, the mercury in glass thermometer has been used in measuring human temperature. However, due to various inefficiencies of the mercury in glass thermometers, digital thermometers, liquid crystal forehead thermometers and digital infrared tympanic thermometers have substituted the mercury thermometers. A tympanic thermometer is an electronic clinical thermometer that measures temperature by scanning the tympanic membrane (part of the ear that vibrates to sound). Usually, tympanic thermometers give digital readings in more than two seconds.
The reliability and the accuracy of these new thermometers have not been studied effectively thus in this paper, the main is to compare the accuracy of tympanic thermometers to other types of thermometers in measuring body temperatures. It will strive to clearly illustrate the advantages in terms of accuracy of tympanic thermometers over the other thermometers. The purpose of our study is to evaluate how accurate a tympanic thermometer is in measuring temperature and giving an exact reading about the same, in comparison to other thermometers.
Tympanic thermometers use infra-red light to detect thermal radiation (Woodrow, 2000).It is designed for intermittent use, offering a one-off digital reading. It is non-invasive, hygienic, simple to use, comfortable for the patient and quick to register (Bartlett, 1996). It is important to have strong background knowledge on the use of tympanic thermometers since its use requires proper handling and poor technique can lead to inaccurate temperature measurements. The thermometer should be gently placed in the meatus/ ear canal and allowed to fit snugly. This prevents ambient air at the opening of the ear canal from entering the ear thereby resulting to low temperature measurement. Other causes of false low reading can include incorrect installation of the probe cover, a dirty or cracked lens and improper technique. Proper maintenance by the electronic experts following manufacturer’s recommendations is also paramount.
In a research conducted by Fadzlin Mohd Fadzil, David Choon, and Kulenthran Arumugam, two hundred and seventy patients (youngest being six years old and oldest being eighty eight years old) randomly selected were used as specimens in conducting a research that aimed at evaluating the concordance in temperature amongst the three newer thermometers that is digital thermometers, liquid crystal forehead thermometers and digital infrared tympanic. The research further aimed at evaluating the accuracy of tympanic thermometer in relation to the others.
Patients were selected on days that nurses trained using the specified thermometers were on duty. Temperatures were taken using the four types of thermometers namely: mercury in glass thermometer (DMcare Clinical Thermometer), digital thermometer (DT-01[A]), liquid crystal forehead thermometer (Liquid Crystal Fever Temp Ultra®, DigiTemp), and digital infrared tympanic thermometer (Microlife IR 1DB1, Microlife). All the measurements were taken using manufacturer’s recommendation.
The mercury in glass and digital thermometers was used to measure oral temperatures and was put under the tongue of the patients (posterior sublingual pocket) with their lips sealed for three minutes prior to reading the results. The digital thermometer was left under the tongue until the device beeped. On the other hand, the non-disposable liquid crystal forehead thermometers were put on the patients’ forehead until the color stopped changing. A green color appearance indicated the correct temperature reading usually taking fifteen seconds.
The infrared tympanic thermometer was used to obtain temperature measurement by pulling the pinna upwards and backwards and inserting the probe into the external auditory canal. The probe was held in position until the device beeped usually taking a few seconds. For each measurement, a new probe is attached. All measurements were taken in degrees Celsius. In the event that there were doubts on the measurement, the nurses repeated the process. Apparently, ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Medical Ethics Committee, University Malaya Medical Centre.
In analyzing the research, the Bland Altman test was used. This is an explanatory diagnostic test between the two temperatures readings of each patient plotted on the Y axis against the means of the two temperatures plotted on the X axis. The mercury in glass thermometer readings were compared to the other thermometers tympanic thermometer being inclusive. The two parameters of interest are: the overall mean difference for the paired readings of each patient and the 95% limits of agreement for the paired readings of each patient. A value of zero indicates a perfect concordance. From the method, the tighter the limits of agreement, the better the concordance.
In assessing the concordance of two readings, Bland and Altman used the Statistical Package Version 9 for the analysis. From the analysis, the infrared tympanic thermometer was the next best with a narrower mean difference than the next best with a narrower mean difference than the digital thermometer. The results of the study show that in as much as the oral digital thermometer was the best, the infrared tympanic thermometer was a close second in terms of accuracy.
From the research, it was also evident that the infrared tympanic thermometers were easy to use and was recommended for use on uncooperative patients who weren’t comfortable with axillary thermometers. Although it was initially produced for home use, its efficiency and popularity found its way into hospitals and general practice clinics. In addition, the tympanic thermometer is considered to be fast in terms of temperature reading as compared to others with a min of two seconds.
In a different research by Gasim, Imad Musa, Mohamed T Abdien and Ishag Adams, the Infrared tympanic membrane thermometers are ideal because the tympanic membrane and the hypothalamus share an arterial blood supply originating from the carotid artery; therefore, the tympanic membrane is considered to directly reflect core temperature. An infrared tympanic membrane thermometer is usually easy to use and is favored over conventional mercury thermometer. The aim of their study was to compare temperatures obtained by tympanic thermometers with that obtained with mercury glass thermometers before recommending tympanic thermometers for use in general practice in Sudan.
The study was conducted in a hospital in Sudan including both children and adults. The study was approved by the ethical committee of Omdurman Hospital. Instruments used included the infrared tympanic membrane thermometer and the mercury bulb thermometer measuring the tympanic membrane temperature and axillary temperatures respectively. Trained medical officers and nurses conducted the investigations on patients who fulfilled the study criteria.
The probe of the infrared thermometer was inserted into the external auditory meatus by pulling the pinna backward, and directing the probe towards the eye. The probe was held in the same position until the beep was heard. The mercury bulb thermometer was shaken before each recording to decrease its temperature reading to below 35°C and then placed, for a minimum of 5 minutes, in the patient’s axilla. The same medical practitioners would read and record the digital readings from both the thermometers and analysis would be done using SPSS version 20.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).
Afterwards, differences between sets of data were plotted using the same Bland-Altman previously discussed in the earlier research. Based on the previously pre-defined clinically acceptable limits, agreement between tympanic and axillary measurement methods was accepted when the mean ± 2 standard deviations was within ± 0.2°C [15]. From the findings, there was a positive correlation between body temperatures using the two thermometers having a mean difference with limits of agreement between the two readings being−0.093 (−0.20; 0.02) °C.
Form the study, a positive correlation between axillary and tympanic methods of measuring body temperatures was discovered. This covered the question concerning how well the tympanic membrane temperature measurement corresponds with the standard axillary measuring procedure. It further explored the suitability of infrared tympanic membrane thermometers in replacing the axillary thermometers. It was discovered that the infrared tympanic thermometers takes seconds to measure temperature which was faster as compared to the other which took a considerably longer time, two to three minutes in measuring temperature.
Findings from this study further pointed out the fact that in as much as infrared tympanic thermometers are fast, doubts regarding their accuracy are evident in so far as differences being noted when measurement are made in both ears is concerned. Apparently, ear infections and improper use of the gadget have been given out as reasons behind difference in temperature. A further study comparing rectal temperature measurement with infrared tympanic thermometer measurement did not find excellent agreement of results.
However, Edelu et al., 2011 compared the infrared tympanic thermometer in oral mode with mercury glass thermometer readings for measuring the temperature in febrile and afebrile children less than years old, and found a mean difference of 0.41 ± 0.37°C (P < 0.001) in the febrile group and 0.47 ± 0.39°C (P < 0.001) in the afebrile group. Although tympanic membrane thermometers have a fairly good sensitivity and specificity, the study concluded that they may not be reliable in estimating ‘core’ body temperature in children
On the other hand, findings from the present study support the use of infrared tympanic thermometers since they are safe to use and are fast when it comes to obtaining results. In addition, the use of mercury thermometers has been considered a hazard in itself since mercury is toxic to human health. In effect, this has made infrared tympanic thermometers preferable to the old mercury glass thermometers. Others however would consider old mercury glass thermometers purely on cost but the infrared tympanic thermometers had an upper hand in terms of accuracy and reliability.
In this study, tympanic membrane thermometry was as reliable and as accurate as axillary mercury glass thermometry. Thus, tympanic membrane thermometry can be used in the general clinical practices, since it’s easy to use and its fast in generating temperature from patients. Tympanic thermometers are thus considered appropriate in measuring temperature for infants older than six months, children and adults. They are however not recommended for newborns. In operating a tympanic thermometer, it should be noted that its reliability and accuracy depends on several factors and aspects such as ear wax, curved ear canal and improper handling of the gadget can affect or interfere with the accuracy of its readings.
In conclusion, tympanic thermometers, which are also considered digital thermometers, are quite effective and they have replaced the old fashioned mercury bulb thermometers among others in measuring human body temperature. It is also important to note that the tympanic thermometers have pros and cons and their use should find a balance between the two before deciding on its usage. Finally, care should be taken as long as the gadget is on use so as to obtain an accurate and reliable result.
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