Why Were Flags So Important in the Civil War

Civil War soldiers placed great importance on the flags of their regiments, and men would sacrifice their lives defending a regimental flag to protect it from capture by the enemy. A great reverence for regimental flags is often reflected in accounts written during the Civil War, from newspapers to letters written by soldiers to official regimental histories. Its obvious that flags carried enormous significance. The respect for the flag of a regiment was partly a matter of pride and morale. But it also had a practical aspect closely associated with the conditions of a 19th century battlefield. Did You Know? The placement of regimental flags served as visual communication during Civil War battles. Vocal commands and bugle calls could not be heard on the noisy battlefields, so soldiers were trained to follow the flag. Flags Were Valuable Morale Builders Civil War armies, both Union and Confederate, tended to be organized as regiments from particular states. And soldiers tended to feel their first loyalty toward their regiment. Soldiers strongly believed they represented their home state (or even their local region in the state), and much of the morale of Civil War units was focused on that pride. And a state regiment typically carried its own flag into battle. Soldiers took a great deal of pride in those flags. The regimental battle flags were always treated with great reverence. At times ceremonies would be held in which the flags were paraded in front of the men. While these parade ground ceremonies tended to be symbolic, events designed to instill and reinforce morale, there was also a very practical purpose, which was making sure that every man could recognize the regimental flag. Practical Purposes of Civil War Battle Flags The regimental flags were critical in Civil War battles as they marked the position of the regiment on the battlefield, which could often be a very confused place. In the noise and smoke of battle, regiments could become scattered. Vocal commands, or even bugle calls, could not be heard. And, of course, armies at the time of the Civil War had no electronic means to communicate such as radios. So a visual rallying point was essential, and soldiers were trained to follow the flag. A popular song of the Civil War, The Battle Cry of Freedom, made mention of how well rally round the flag, boys. The reference to the flag, while ostensibly a patriotic boast, does actually play upon the practical use of flags as rallying points on the battlefield. Because the regimental flags had genuine strategic importance in battle, designated teams of soldiers, known as the color guard, carried them. A typical regimental color guard would consist of two color bearers, one carrying the national flag (the U.S. flag or a Confederate flag) and one carrying the regimental flag. Often two other soldiers were assigned to guard the color bearers. Being a color bearer was considered a mark of great distinction and it required a soldier of extraordinary bravery. The job was to carry the flag where the regimental officers directed, while unarmed and under fire. Most importantly, color bearers had to face the enemy and never break and run in retreat, or the entire regiment might follow. As the regimental flags were so conspicuous in battle, they were often used as a target for rifle and artillery fire. Of course, the mortality rate of color bearers was high. The bravery of color bearers was often celebrated. The cartoonist Thomas Nast drew a dramatic illustration in 1862 for the cover of Harpers Weekly captioned A Gallant Color-Bearer. It depicts the color bearer for the 10th New York Regiment clinging to the American flag after receiving three wounds. The Loss of a Civil War Battle Flag Was Considered a Disgrace With the regimental flags generally in the middle of the fighting, there was always the possibility that a flag could be captured. To a Civil War soldier, the loss of a regimental flag was a colossal disgrace. The entire regiment would feel shamed if the flag was captured and carried away by the enemy. Conversely, to capture the battle flag of an opponent was considered a great triumph, and captured flags were cherished as trophies. Accounts of Civil War battles in newspapers at the time would generally mention if any enemy flags had been captured. The Importance of Protecting the Regimental Flag Histories of the Civil War contain countless stories about regimental flags being protected in battle. Often the stories around the flag will recount how a color bearer was wounded or killed, and other men would pick up the fallen flag. According to popular legend, eight men of the 69th New York Volunteer Infantry (part of the legendary Irish Brigade) were either wounded or killed carrying the regimental flag during the charge on the Sunken Road at Antietam in September 1862. On the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 1863, the men of the 16th Maine were ordered to hold off an intense Confederate attack. As they became surrounded the men took the regimental flag and tore it into strips, with each man hiding a portion of the flag on their person. Many of the men were captured, and while serving time in Confederate prisons they managed to save the portions of the flag, which were eventually brought back to Maine as cherished items. Tattered Battle Flags Told a Regiment’s Story As the Civil War continued, regimental flags often became something of a scrapbook, as the names of battles fought by the regiment would be stitched onto the flags. And as flags became tattered in battle they took on deeper significance. At the end of the Civil War, state governments put considerable effort into collecting battle flags, and those collections were looked upon with great reverence in the late 19th century. And while those statehouse flag collections have generally been forgotten in modern times, they do still exist. And some extremely rare and significant Civil War battle flags were recently put on public display again for the Civil War Sesquicentennial.

Analyzing Some of Anna Akhmatovas Poetry - 726 Words

Unassuming Exuberance Anna Akhmatova lived from 1889 to 1966 during a dark, rough time in Russia. â€Å"Everything is Plundered,† â€Å"I Am Not One of Those Who Left the Land,† and â€Å"Midnight Verses† are prime examples of Akhmatova’s symbolic literature. Akhmatova used poetry to help her overcome difficulties in life; it was a way of expressing and setting her feelings free. All of Anna Akhmatova’s poems contain a common theme that connects to her real life: though life can be rough, it is important to deal with problems and work towards acceptance. In â€Å"Midnight Verses,† the theme is dark and tumultuous. This poem is a perfect reflection of Akhmatova’s life. She faced many complications in life, but she had to accept them because she did not want to give up on her home country. Likewise, Akhmatova’s poem has an unwilling acceptance at the end. â€Å"Midnight Verses† also displays her thoughts in a very creative way. â€Å"And the signal bells of light rhymes / Then I begin to understand / And the simply dictated lines / Lie down in the snow white notebook† (Akhmatova 13-16). Throughout â€Å"Midnight Verses,† Akhmatova uses powerful imagery, making it easy to relate to her thoughts. â€Å"Everything is Plundered† is another of Akhmatova’s poems that continues to illustrate this theme. In â€Å"Everything is Plundered,† the theme of confusion and contrast in life is present. The struggles in life are portrayed throughout the poem. This poem reflects humanity’s imperfect

Devices Our Vices Evolving Ideas

Question: Discuss about the Devices Our Vices for Evolving Ideas. Answer: Introduction The new era of technology has brought in various innovations and improvement in the lifestyles of human beings. With the development in the technology, lives of people have become much easier and technology oriented. Devices have become the controller of human lives. However, with the era of devices controlling our lives, the question arises, Are devices our vices? This essay highlights the issue that the devices and technology have controlled our lives. People have forgotten to talk, as they Google more. Moreover, the fact that human lives are becoming device dependent has also been focused in this assignment. The various issues that might be caused by the excessive use of technologies such as loss of employment, loss of memory retention power, have been mentioned and discussed in details. Impact of Technology on human Beings An article in the New York Times named Stop Googling. Lets Talk, highlights the issues of becoming device oriented and living a device dependent life. In the modern days, the tech savvy youths mention that they are capable of focusing on the class lectures along with typing in their smart phones at the same time (Carr). However, they remain undetected by the lecturer, who thinks that the student is concentrating in the class lectures. In a study conducted, in 2015, it was highlighted that 89% of the smart phone owners use their phones even during social gatherings (Carr). This statistics highlights the fact that people prefer to talk to a distant person using smart phones and social networking, rather than talking to the people around, attending the social gathering (Turkle). An experiment conducted highlights the fact that in a conversation among 5-6 people, only 3 people concentrate by looking up to the speakers, while others have divided attention as they are busy in their phones and personal devices along with paying some attention to the speaker (Danby). Thus, divided attention is given to the people. Thus, as a result, discussion is light and the in depth knowledge exchange is not achieved. Thus, devices are gaining priority that the human being around. Moreover, virtual relationships are gaining priority than the real life conversations (Carr). People are being more attached to the social networks and devices. Moreover, with the advancements in Google, people gain knowledge using the search engine, rather than gaining knowledge using formal and informal communication with peers and friends. Thus, the phrase Stop Googling. Lets talk , is most appropriately used. Talking to each other and gaining knowledge through conversations and discussions is an effective way of knowledge gain rather than Googling (de la Banda et al.). However, with the advancements in the technology, people prefer using the search engines and Internet, rather than actually talking to each other. Replying to queries have become synonymous to the term Googling. However, with these trends of being technology dependent, the human lives and social lives are highly affected. Families have become distant. People on the virtual world have become closer. Moreover, since human lives are becoming increasingly dependent on the technology, crash of the Internet, might result in the whole world to cease (Carr). With the increase in the dependency on the technology, the smart phones are no longer our necessity, but our lives. Even if phones are not in use, human beings keep searching and Googling, as a part of their habit. Thus, the devices have indeed becoming our vices. Loss of jobs Because of Technologies Another major issue that is raised by the experts around the world is the fact that, with the increase in the use of devices and technologies, and with the increase in the dependency, our jobs would soon be taken up by the robots. Technology is often termed as a double edge sword (Carr). This is so termed as on one hand, technologies and its use are more efficient than the human beings and they are a better substitute of human beings at the workplace (Hertlein). However, on the other hand, the extensive use of technologies destroys jobs. In most of the offices and workplaces around the world, considering any sector of work, computers as well as robots are replacing human beings. As new technologies, replace the human labours, economists highlights that the era of creative destruction has started (Carr). It has been highlighted by the experts, that with the wide use of Internet technologies in the airlines booking systems as well as travel agencies, the concept of travel agents have b ecome obsolete (Kim et al.). Thus, the thousands of travel agents around the world lost their jobs and were force to take up alternative employment options. There are hundreds of such jobs and employment sectors where human labours have been replaced by machines and robots (Henrich). In the race against machines, human beings have been left far behind in the race, and they are still struggling to cope up with the machines and robots. Since machines do not get bored, does not demand salary or increment, does not get tired, nor does they need job satisfaction (Usher). Hence, they are more desirable than the human beings are. Moreover, even in case of perfection, machines are far ahead of human beings. Thus, they are a better replacement of human beings. This might result in the replacement of the jobs by machines as well as the lives of people being controlled by the machines and robots. This is not desirable. Thus, it is essential that the use of the technology and machines is done i n a tactful manner and with intelligence, such that the creators of the machines and devices could retain the control of the devices in their hands. Impairment Due to Technologies Along with the issues of loss of jobs, excessive use of technology makes us use our brains less. The scope of thinking and analytical thinking has been decreasing day by day with the use of technologies (Carr). Researches highlight the fact that the excessive use of the web and technology has a strong and negative impact on the memory retention capacity (Lipson and Kurman). It has been observed that with the use of technology, people tend to set reminders and alerts in their phones and devices and gives the pain of remembering to the devices. Thus, the memory capacities of the human beings are decreased. Before the advent of smart phones and mobile phones, the phone numbers of the family members were memorized (Rogers). However, with the use of these devices people fail to remember their own numbers. Thus, human beings are making themselves paralysed, by the excessive use of technology (Carr). Thus, human beings are themselves employing technologies and robots, and increasing their d ependency on them, thus making their future unstable and insecure. Conclusion Technology and its use is indeed a boon for human lives. It makes our lives easier and smoother. However, the issues arise with the excessive use of technologies. The limit of the use to the human beings need to be set such that the technology cannot exploit the human lives. Since human beings employ technologies, hence it is essential to ensure that the control of the technology is in the hands of the human beings, and not the other way round. This essay highlights the facts that technology is replacing human beings at the workplace, resulting in loss of employment. Moreover, excessive use of technology has been making us less social. Thus, to conclude it might be stated that devices are not our vices. However, since we are the creators of the technologies, the control needs to be retained and the extent of use should be monitored to ensure that devices remain our boons. References Carr, Nicolas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?(2008)."Focused Inquiry: Evolving Ideas2015 (2014): 101-07. Danby, Susan,. "Playing with technology: Young children making sense of technology as part of their everyday social worlds."Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Play: From Birth to Beyond. Springer, 2015. de la Banda, Maria Garcia, et al. "The future of optimization technology."Constraints19.2 (2014): 126-138. Henrich, Joseph.The secret of our success: how culture is driving human evolution, domesticating our species, and making us smarter. Princeton University Press, 2015. Hertlein, Katherine M., and Katrina Ancheta. "Advantages and disadvantages of technology in relationships: Findings from an open-ended survey."The Qualitative Report19.11 (2014): 1. Kim, Jennifer G., et al. "Labor Saving and Labor Making of Value in Online Congratulatory Messages."SocInfo. 2015. Lipson, Hod, and Melba Kurman.Fabricated: The new world of 3D printing. John Wiley Sons, 2013. Rogers, Yvonne. "Mindless or mindful technology?."Proceedings of the 2014 ACM SIGCHI symposium on Engineering interactive computing systems. ACM, 2014. Turkle, Sherry. "Stop googling. Lets talk."The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www. nytimes. com/2015/09/27/opinion/sunday/stop-googling-lets-talk. html(2015). Usher, Nikki.Making News at The New York Times. University of Michigan Press, 2014.

Social Conflict And Economic Development - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss about the Social Conflict And Economic Development. Answer: Introduction A region is defined by way of its inherent economic structure, culture, politics, social dynamics and military and security. Region is a concept that is used every day for referring to a discursive tool for governance units having certain statehood properties. A region encompasses broad geographical, human and environmental characteristics[1]. The scope of this analysis pertains to South America, a sub-continent of America with mostly Spanish and Portuguese speaking population. First part of the analysis evaluates features of the continent that provides a conceptual test-bed for checking in case South America reflects properties of a region. Secondly, a projection for the coming 5 and 10 years by focusing on economics, politics and military and security has been provided. Conceptual Test-bed for South America as a region Region is a language used often wherein a comparative framework present theories for regions in a systematic manner. The framework is utilized for outlining of a general theory comprising of regions at supra-national, cross-border or sub-national levels. Statehood theory of regions provides statehood properties that establishes relation between regions and states. Regions are confused with power domains where security analysis, an applied form of IR theory is used regarding macro-system structural constraints that shapes behaviour. There is a variation in globalist and neorealist attributes regarding concepts of global and regional structures. A test-bed for defining and resolving conflict between regionalism and neorealism is that regionalisms contention has decreased since Cold War. There are propositions regarding South America being a region, regional powers are defined with their polarity. A clear distinction of South American regional level dynamics can clearly be distinguished with those of global levels. Existing security politics in the region further aids in formation of security communities with certain minor powers with penetration of global powers. The Southern Cone in South America has a security community based on securitizing on economic threat for regional pacification. The countrys engagement with Us can be regarded as a global intervention which classifies for it being a region. Region earlier used to be defined encompassing geographical properties which overlooked extra-geographical elements. Regions sometimes reflect understanding of politics, economics, military and security features of a region. Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT) has allowed analysing of international security and defense aspect by regional-level analysis. This analysis concerns South American Regional Security Complex (RSC) on RSCT for understanding polarity in the region. There are 12 countries in South America with most of its population living in eastern or western coasts. The south and interiors of the continent is sparsely populated with their ethnicity being indigenous people with interaction with Europe rulers, African slaves and other immigrants[2]. Economy within South America consists of 410 million comprising of 6% of worlds population. Brazil acts as a protagonist in the area with institutions with security constellation. Brazil has a central role in forming two South A merican sub complexes, namely North Andean and Southern Cone. In this RSC there is prevalence of unipolar power which is not global level power due to Brazil. Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) structure has a central role of Brazil in it. Figure 1: South America Economy Source: https://www.young-diplomats.com/mercosur-challenges-simple-analysis/ UNASUR has a special role in Defense Council, therefore it can be said that as region is expected to deliver a consensus role in reflecting characteristics of a region. According to theory of RSC, there are four possible types of powers as bipolar, unipolar, tripolar or multipolar. Such RSC classifies South America as Standard with sub-complex type structures[3]. After the Cold War, centered power in the region started facing security threats. There was geopolitical challenges from bi or trilateral parties, domestic instability, US involvement and regional dis-balances in Brazil and Argentina. With various insecurities in the region, there was a sway from radical military political control with regional integration processes. Brazil acts as a unipolar presenter in the region, with the region presenting features of varied political, economic and military developments[4]. Figure 2: Gross Debt of South America Source: https://www.financialsense.com/contributors/stratfor/how-economic-downturn-affects-latin-america Major regions in South America reflects security threats, military threats, economic threats and political dilemmas. Debt crisis in the region and emergence of unipolar Brazil has created a lot of challenges for the economy. Figure 3: Economic Freedom Trends Source: https://www.heritage.org/americas/report/holding-the-kirchners-accountable-argentinas-economic-freefall Latin Americas economy has been contracting by 0.3 % as per International Monetary Fund Economic Outlook. Several reasons attributed to its economy are strengthening of US dollar, collapsing of commodity prices, weakening of domestic demand are some of the key factors. Governments in a number of countries have depicted sharp drop in budget revenues with rise in rate of social instability. Commodity drive decline have had immense impact on the economy, which is capable to recover from the same but not without political consequences. With varied levels of economic integration of United States and China, countries had been bound to accommodate flexible monetary and fiscal policy. Commodity boom in many countries of the continent can mostly be attributed to China especially in the year 2000 but it has declined steadily from 2013. Governments of many countries has successfully established control over a number of commodities as cooper, crude oil, iron ore, nickel which has contributed sig nificantly towards economic growth in the region. Downturns in 1980s coupled with debt crisis have led to cyclical ups and downs. Trends in unemployment has however remains constantly high in the period. Argentina had always been exposed to lesser amounts of external debts with large international reserves, which has led to stronger monetary policy and better private capital markets in the country. Most of the regions in South America are facing declining economic trends except a few countries, who are minutely having positive economic figures. Projections for 5 and 10 years Analysing trends in the past, it can be predicted that South American region will continue depicting multiple trends that contradicts regional predictors[5]. Entire regions in South America had been undergoing steady recovery in economic crisis since a prolonged period. Economic growth as indicated by GDP more prominently has been seen to expand depicting signs of recovery. However, growth rates are very low as 1.7% in first quarter to 1.1% in next quarter. Such growing trends have impacted rising trends in commodity prices with healthy regional performances. The economy has been able to successfully leave recession in the past. Drawing a closer look at individual countrys data it can be seen that major growth in the area has been attributed to growth led by Brazil. Brazil with its unipolar characteristics have continued depicting strong household led consumption patterns with increase in investments in various sectors. Several countries have had record-low inflation rates with lower levels of interests rates as well and an increase in overall economic activity in last quarters. Apart from Brazil, Chile has been having higher export revenues and resilient labor market trends. Colombia has depicted expansion in external sectors growth with Brazils economy decelerating[6]. Brazil had been facing challenges pertaining to economic downturns, high inflation with lower levels in household spending rates. Such trends are expected to continue for the future as well with Brazil leading the platform[7]. Economy of Brazil is expected to overcome its hurdles and extend its growth patterns in later part of its 5 years trend. Argentina have been having accelerated economic activities also with Venezuelas economy recovering inspite of higher oil prices. Production of oil has reduced from lack of management of resources and investment. Its economy continues to remained weakened with limited signs of recovery. Pace of recovery in the entire economy continues to remain gradual i n the future. Economic slack continues to remain within the economy with continued persistent high prices. Future outlook for the economy holds that macroeconomic factors has to recover for greater benefits to happen in the economy. President Michel Temer has become greatly unpopular as majority have started distancing themselves. Policy making complications have fractured congress with increase in protestors and contenders. There is a rise in parliaments presidential vote with various contenders. Such strong mandates in the regions outlook will continue for betterment of the regions outlook. Though, macroeconomic reforms are expected across the economy but they will not emerge till a 10 year period. Within next 5 years no significant outcomes is expected, such changes will appear in the next 10 year period. As seen from the past history some countries will continue to bear negative impacts as Brazil and Venezuela whereas Paraguay, Bolivia and other countries will be much better off . The entire region is vulnerable to price swings as oil revenues contributes to almost 45% of their budget revenues. Oil export has contributed majorly towards export earnings in the country, with prospects of Venezuela and Brazil being bleak considered by many. Political scandals in multiple countries has also caused significant turmoil within the country that has affected political and economic outlook. Figure 4: Latin America's growth forecast Source: https://www.focus-economics.com/regions/latin-america Major economic reforms with positive regions outlook will emerge over the next 10 year period. fiscal agreements with notable reforms will help in macroeconomic imbalances. There has been a new wave of political factors that has been affecting the country. Political risk analysis shows risks in Cartes Reforms. Current political crisis within the region is expected to spread across other regions in neighboring countries. Poor governance structure within the country is expected to persists for a prolonged time period with weak laws and reforms. Military and security factors will emerge to balance off once major amendments with prices stabilize over a period of time. Inflation and prices are the major factors that are disrupting the economic at a point in time, later such factors are expected to stabilize with political reforms in place. High levels of corruptions and absence of economic reforms has led to significant challenges emergent in the area. With security being a major threat i n the region there is bound to be strong uprising which will further help the entire region overcome its challenges. Conclusion Analysing trends of South America it can be said that it is versatile in nature. Each region depicts separate form of growth and development. A number of nations in the country are losing out on their economic freedom, which has resulted in political instability in the area. With such increasing trends, it is obvious that other countries in the region will suffer from certain pressures as well. Though each country exhibit their own trends pertaining to economic and political development, they have shown and will continue to depict trends of losing out on their economic freedom. The region experiences volatility and challenges in terms of political, economic, military and security factors. There will be severe changes and reforms desirable that will allow the entire region stabilize and establish on their path of economic growth. Reference Bebbington, Anthony, ed.Social conflict, economic development and the extractive industry: evidence from South America. Vol. 9. Routledge, 2011. Genovese, Eugene D.The political economy of slavery: Studies in the economy and society of the slave South. Wesleyan University Press, 2014. Gwynne, Robert N., and K. A. Y. Cristobal.Latin America transformed: globalization and modernity. Routledge, 2014. McCusker, John J., and Russell R. Menard.The Economy of British America, 1607-1789. UNC Press Books, 2014. Riggirozzi, Pa, and Diana Tussie. "The rise of post-hegemonic regionalism in Latin America." InThe Rise of Post-Hegemonic Regionalism, pp. 1-16. Springer Netherlands, 2012. Taussig, Michael T.The devil and commodity fetishism in South America. Univ of North Carolina Press, 2010. Tindall, George Brown, and David E. Shi.America: A narrative history. WW Norton Company, 2016. [1] Robert N. Gwynne and K. A. Y. Cristobal,Latin America transformed: globalization and modernity. [2] Michael T.Taussig, The devil and commodity fetishism in South America. [3] Anthony Bebbington, ed,Social conflict, economic development and the extractive industry: evidence from South America. [4] George Brown Tindall and David E. Shi.America: A narrative history [5] Eugene D.Genovese, The political economy of slavery: Studies in the economy and society of the slave South. [6] John J.McCusker and Russell R. Menard.The Economy of British America [7] George Brown Tindall and David E. Shi.America: A narrative history.