Mendacity vs Truth in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Tennessee Williams’ book Cat on a Hot Tin Roof takes place entirely in the plantation home of the Pollitt family in the Mississippi Delta. The plantation once belonged to a pair of bachelors, and â€Å"Big Daddy† Pollitt had worked for them as an overseer, but he is now the owner of the plantation, which he has built into a dynastic empire. Big Daddy’s family has met at the house to celebrate his birthday. Maggie, a beautiful and witty girl, has escaped a childhood of poverty to marry into the wealthy Pollitt family, but finds herself in an unfulfilling marriage. She is married to Big Daddy’s son, Brick. He is an aging football hero, and constantly neglects his wife. Brick further infuriates her by ignoring his brother's attempts to gain control of the family fortune once Big Daddy passes away. Brick's coldness towards Maggie and his alcoholism can be attributed to the death of his best friend, Skipper. Big Daddy has been feeling a bit under the weather, and what he believes is a spastic colon ends up being a form of cancer. Big Daddy is unaware that of his illness and that he doesn’t have much time left to live, so his doctors and his family have conspired to keep this information from him. The web of lies that is spun throughout this book is huge, spanning nearly every member of the family. Big Daddy comments on it towards the end of the book after he is told the truth by Brick, as he questions â€Å"What’s that smell in the room? Didn’t you notice the powerful and obnoxious odor of mendacity? † According to Big Daddy, â€Å"Mendacity is one of them five-dollar words that cheap politicians throw back and forth at each other. The dictionary definition tells us that mendacity is a falsehood, a lie, or a tendency to be untruthful. Mendacity is seen throughout the play and is a negative effect on the characters. All the characters are affected, but some are impacted more than others. Those greatly affected are Brick, Maggie, Big Daddy, and Gooper. The whole â€Å"lie vs. truths† plays a crucial role in developing the storyline and plot structure of the novel. As I previously mentioned, Brick was always very cold towards Maggie, elling at her and even attempting to hit her with his crutch. The very fact that Brick uses a crutch to walk is symbolic, in that the alcohol was his crutch to deal with Skipper's death. Skipper and Brick have a great friendship, and it can almost be viewed as homosexual. The fact that Skipper killed himself the night after he played in a football game without Brick and had many fumbles and played very poorly overall. Maggie states that â€Å"it was only Skipper that harbored even any unconscious desire for anything not perfectly pure between you too! (Williams, 833) Brick believes Maggie is the reason that Skipper killed himself, because she was ruining their friendship. Brick mourns his love for Skipper, which was the only true and good thing in his life. Maggie never dares speak of the forbidden love, and therefore Big Daddy is forced to step in as the judge. When Big Daddy confronts Brick about the homosexual attraction between himself and Skipper, Brick becomes extremely defensive and explains how their friendship was nothing more than a pure and true friendship. Big Daddy presses the issue, and Brick can no longer lie about the cause of Skipper’s death. It is then revealed at the climax of the book that before Skipper took his own life, he called Brick long distance and drunkenly confessed his love to him, finally removing the weight of the lie that was Skipper’s life, pretending that him and Brick were heterosexual friends. Brick however, didn’t say a word, and just hung up. This ended up being the last time Brick ever heard Skipper’s voice, and because of this, Brick drinks heavily to deal with the pain of taking his best friends life. This moment in the book is very impactful for it is one of the only times that mendacity isn’t in the air, as Brick and Big Daddy are being real with each other, with no veil of lies to hide behind, perfectly put as Big Daddy says, â€Å"then there is at least two people that never lied to each other. † The big deception throughout the play is that of Big Daddy’s health. The entire family and the Doctor are all in on this, and each person becomes split into 2 or 3 individuals because of all the deceit. Big Daddy’s other son Gooper and his wife Mae are both guilty of mendacity. To Big Daddy and Big Momma’s faces, they put on the guise as loving people, when in fact it is all an attempt to get Big Daddy to sign over the land and money to them in his will. They constantly bring up that they have children while Maggie and Brick don’t, and that Brick is an alcoholic. Basically pointing out all the flaws of their â€Å"competition† to try and better themselves in Big Daddy’s eyes. Big Mama lies to herself by thinking that a child from Maggie and Brick would turn Brick into a non-drinking, family man qualified to take over the family place. Big Mama had to have been distraught by the fact that her husband has less than a year left to live, and is being lied to by his entire family, talking on how he will live forever and people toasting to his health. Big Daddy is even wrapped up in the mendacity, as he admits to Brick during their heart-to-heart that everyday of his life is consumed with lies, as he pretends to like Gooper and Mae, but when in reality, he cannot stand them. Big Daddy never loved Gooper, but only desired for him to be successful and have a family. Gooper, in attempt to gain Big Daddy's love, he always did what he thought Big Daddy would have wanted for him, like having children and becoming a lawyer. The two never talk about their lack of relationship, as Gooper only tries to win Big Daddy's love, but Big Daddy never listens to him. Therefore because of this mendacity Gooper does not care about Big Daddy's affection, as I previously mentioned, his main intention is to inherit his land. Their relationship is filled with lies because they never talk about their lack of a relationship, which makes the relationship worse. One of the most important relationships in the book is that of Brick and Maggie. Throughout the entire novel, their conversations are mostly them fighting with each other, and it seems they are a married couple, in name only. Their relationship is based on lies and filled with mendacity, which tears them apart. Maggie lies to Brick and tells him that she and Skipper had an affair, because she was afraid that he was going to steal her husband away. The aforementioned homosexual love affair between Brick and Skipper caused a great deal of turmoil throughout the house. The biggest lie in the entire book comes at the very end of the novel, in which Maggie proclaims to Big Daddy that she is pregnant with Brick’s child. Big Daddy is overjoyed by this news, and decides to put Brick down as the sole beneficiary to the land. The final scene involves Maggie and Brick in the bedroom, with Maggie locking the door and telling Brick that tonight they were going to â€Å"make the lie true. † The false reality that Maggie created by lying will soon to come to fruition and all will be good in the Pollitt household. Brick ends the play by responding to Maggie’s profession of love with â€Å"Wouldn’t it be funny if that were true†¦? † Although Brick sounds confused at her words, but he may simply be assuming that because he had been indifferent towards her, she must also be that way towards him. The lies and mendacity of the entire Pollitt family nearly tear the very structure of their being apart, but in the end, the lies end up creating a better reality, one in that Brick and Big Daddy have come to terms with each other, and Maggie the Cat is finally going to be a mother (assuming her and Brick went through with the sexual conception. Mendacity has caused the Maggie to become much more than just a cat on a hot tin roof, she is now the sole light in Big Daddy’s life, for he’s long awaited for grandchild is finally on the way, and the rekindling of her and Brick’s relationship ends the book on a feel good note. It’s somewhat ironic that after all the pain and suffering caused by the lies, that the happy ending is a product of the biggest lie of them all.

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin Essay

Carlo asserts â€Å"War is a wonderful thing, in movies and in books.† By close reference to the novel, explore how war shows people at their worst and their best. The novel Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, written by Louis De Bernieres in 1994, explores â€Å"humanity; we sigh at their suffering as they are ripped apart and forever changed by war.†1 The quotation in the title is spoken by Carlo quite early on in the novel, at the end of chapter 15, titled ‘L’Omosessuale (4)’. He is referring to the idea that war is repeatedly shown to be patriotic, heroic, and indeed wonderful especially in film and literature. However, from Carlos’ experiences in Albania, he knows the true reality of war, as he has seen and experienced the suffering. We can trace Carlos’ progression of thought through his personal chapters; all entitled ‘L’Omosessuale’. He begins saying, â€Å"How wonderful it was to be at this war†(p.119) We hear him describe crossing the foreign border as â€Å"exhilarating†, and he and his comrades view themselves as â€Å"the new legionaries of the new empire that would last ten thousand years.†(p.119) This was his view at the very beginning of war, before he had really experienced any suffering. As he is yet to encounter any conflict, it is likely he has been influenced by the propaganda at the time, organised by the Italian leader, Mussolini. The next quotation is said slightly further on during Carlos’ experience, â€Å"How wonderful it was to be at war, until the weather turned against us.†(p.120) It is here that we begin to hear of some of the suffering that Carlo and his comrades had to endure, such as â€Å"we were ten thousand men soaked to the bone†(p.120). The real tragedy of war is death, and Carlo has had direct experience of this. He says, â€Å"War is wonderful until someone is killed†(p.122). This is when De Bernieres chooses to use graphic images to show the suffering that Carlo and his comrades endure. â€Å"I realised that I was covered with gory scraps of human flesh that were freezing fast to my uniform†(p.122). Finally, Carlo says the quotation in the title, â€Å"War is a wonderful thing, in movies and in books† on page 124. It is here that Carlo has realised the actuality of war, and can see that this idealised version is fictitious and can only be seen in movie and in books. â€Å"War scorches a trail through all of their lives. What seems, at the beginning of the novel, like a game, a challenge to manhood, a matter of honour, an occasion for political satire, becomes an appalling reality.2 Carlo asserts that war is shown to be wonderful in movies and in books. However, De Bernieres does not follow this trend, and shows the war for what it is. De Bernieres’ characters starve and die slowly with their entrails hanging out; he depicts the horror that they have to endure to fight for their country, and the suffering that they are put through. In Albania, Carlo says â€Å"It was as though a portion of my mind has disappeared, or as though my soul had diminished to a tiny point of grey light†(p.138). De Bernieres also shows the gore and bloodshed caused by the war, when he describes the death of Francesco. In chapter 19, L’Omosessuale (6), De Bernieres uses Carlo’s narrative to tell the reader the true details of Francesco’s death, and then the sanitised version for his mother. As well as this showing Carlos’ considerate nature, it also confirms that many people did view the war in a very different light from its reality, including Francesco’s mother. â€Å"He died on a fine day, Signora, with the sun shining and the birds singing.† â€Å"(He died on a day when the snow was melting and when, beneath that carapace, there were emerging a thousand corpses, knapsacks, rusted riffles, water bottles, illegible unfinished letters drenched in blood)† (p.148). Corelli wrote the novel, after falling in love with the Island of Cephallonia, and wanting to inform readers about what happened to this Island during World War II. For this reason, he has depicted a very real and veritable account of atrocities that occurred during the Second World War. â€Å"Everyone is shot, without regard for rank or role, even the medics and the chaplains.†3 However, in the film adaptation of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, directed by John Madden, war is viewed in a very different light. De Bernieres has said of the film â€Å"The problem is that film-makers take out all your good ideas and replace them with a load of stupid ones.†4 The depiction of war in the film is very different and many scenes seem to have been â€Å"watered down†5, in order to appeal to far wider audience. The movie has been widely criticised, after changing the story line drastically from a tragic story of the destruction and consequences of war, to a love story between Corelli and Pelagia. â€Å"Where de Bernià ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½res’ book makes it clear from the start that war is unforgivingly ugly, for a long time the film’s only hint of this is a glimpse of Mandras’s battle-scarred feet.†6 Although much of De Bernieres novel depicts the horror of war, some of the consequences of war are indeed wonderful. Corelli and Pelagia would have never found love without the intervention of war in their lives, and although ultimately war destroys their love, the moments spent together made the war endurable. The prefatory poem at the beginning on the novel shows Louis De Bernieres hinting, even before the novel has begun, that war will be an important theme throughout. ‘The Soldier’ by Humbert Wolfe describes the waste of war, and the loss of lives and of youth. Links are evident between this poem and Captain Corelli’s mandolin as they both explore the way in which war has an effect on different people. The presence of war on the Island of Cephallonia has various effects on different characters and can expose people’s flaws and merits. An excellent example of this is the contrast shown between Mandras and Antonio Corelli. Corelli has been drawn into a war that he really has no heart for. â€Å"You mean you’re a soldier by mistake?† (p. 206, Pelagia). He has no desires to be a soldier and his character is often seen as anti-military. When giving punishments he does not follow the rules that are expected of him, â€Å"To everyone’s surprise the captain pointed his pistol straight into the face of one of the culprits†(p.324). However, although he had no intention of doing so, Corelli proves to be an excellent comrade and shows morality throughout the war. â€Å"This is my morality, I make myself imagine that it is personal†(p.351). This is greatly contrasted with the character of Mandras. He has very high expectations about the life of a soldier and feels he has to prove himself to Pelagia and the rest of the Island. He resents those who know more than him, yet does not want to prove himself intellectually, as he believes â€Å"no man is a man until he has been a soldier†(p.80) Carlos’ assertion that war is wonderful in movies and in books reflects a idealised view of the war. However, Mandras believes that this view was the reality of war and he felt that becoming a soldier would make him more worthy as a man. â€Å"I’ll come back and everyone will say, That’s Mandras, who fought in the war. We owe everything to people like him.† He is indoctrinated by what is expected of him, and is predicted to conform. However high Mandras’ expectations were, the war does not elevate him, it brings him down. During his experiences in war he saw others abuse their power, and now feels he has a right to do the same, The war de-humanises him, and instead of changing him for the better it changes him for the worse. The war in Cephallonia showed the best and the worst in people. In Antonio Corelli’s case it displays his merits as he has the opportunity to exercise his humanity in the treatment of others. From the beginning of the novel, Corelli is represented as a laid-back, light-hearted leader. Although he has a great talent as a leader, he is very modest and introduces Carlo as â€Å"one of our heroes, He has a hundred medals for saving life and none for taking it†(p.202). He proves himself as an excellent comrade and Captain by being faithful to his men until the very end. â€Å"There is no honour in this war, but I have to be with my boys†(p.392). His introduction of La Scala also shows good comradeship, as it is a humorous and practical solution to having to use communal toilets. This is also a crucial element of the novel, as before they go to join the shooting line up, they sing to maintain their composure. He also shows his forgiving nature when he chooses to forgive Gunter for what he has done. â€Å"I forgive you. If I do not, who will?†(p.397). He says of himself â€Å"I am not a natural parasite†(p.305) and this is seen clearly when he avoids any confrontation with Pelagia. He is uncomfortable about living with Pelagia and her father â€Å"Tonight I shall sleep in the yard and tomorrow I shall request alternative accommodation†(p.204). Corelli’s fondness for animals is De Bernieres way of showing positive traits in a character. The fact that Corelli is so attached to Psipsina shows that he is an admirable man and the reader feel connected to him. â€Å"The captain had some engaging traits. He tied a cork to a piece of string, and sprinted about the house with Psipsina in hot pursuit†¦and if the animal happened to be sitting on a piece of music, he would go away and fetch another sheet rather than disturb her†(p.250) Corelli also shows fondness for children in his relationship with Lemoni. Although there is a language barrier, the two are able to communicate on a different level, and are able to enjoy each other’s company. â€Å"The child was whooping and laughing, and it appeared that what was transpiring was a lesson in Italian. ‘Bella fanciulla,’ the captain was saying. He was waiting for Lemoni to repeat it. ‘Bla fanshla,’ she giggled.† (p. 211) He also appears to have a very different attitude than other soldiers, when he arrives in Cephallonia with his mandolin strapped to his back, and not a gun, as you would expect from a soldier. The mandolin â€Å"that was called Antonia because it was the other half of himself.† This love for music is another engaging trait that the captain has, and is one of the reasons Pelagia falls in love with him. We also see this originality to his character when Gunter Weber, a german soldier, introduces himself. Weber says â€Å"Heil Hitler†, yet Corelli says â€Å"Heil Puccini†, showing he has a very different attitude to the war, and will not be led by anyone. This again shows his love for classical music, as Puccini was a great composer, whom Corelli was an admirer of. His relationship with Pelagia is clearly one of great love and admiration, however it also contains sexual desires, which are never consummated. â€Å"Such slender fingers, such pink nails. He imagined them engaged upon amorous and nocturnal things, and realised that he was disturbing Psipsina.†(p.259, Corelli) This shows ongoing respect for Pelagia and her father, and also shows Corelli’s caring and considerate temperament. In contrast to Corelli, the character Mandras is brutalised by war. He believes that war will change him for the better, yet it changes him for the worse. He becomes a victim of propaganda and a victim of his insecurities. Before he leaves for war he tells Pelagia â€Å"I’m a Greek†¦not a Fascist†(p.214) War changes him for the worse as he is very easily led and allows others to influence him. This may have had a positive effect on Mandras if he had chosen Iannis to guide him, yet he chooses Hector, the leader of a branch of the ELAS. Joining this group causes him to abandon his personal values, and this is seen when he whips the old man. â€Å"Mandras did not even notice that the man had stopped moving, had stopped screaming and whining†(p.233). He manages to blank out the emotions that he should be feeling, and begins to enjoy the power he holds over this old man. â€Å"If you didn’t think about what it was, it sounded weirdly beautiful†(p.234) After returning from the war, he becomes much more manipulative, especially towards Pelagia and Drosoula. â€Å"Mandras had begun his exile into inaccessibility by dramatising the idea of death†(p.180). Pelagia was â€Å"convinced that he was doing it on purpose as an act of vengeance or punishment.†(p.180). This shows a very cruel side to Mandras that we have never seen before, and it clearly takes the war to bring out this negative side of his character. He has clearly been indoctrinated by the propaganda of the war, and this is seen in chapter 63, when he recites communist slogans. â€Å"The party is never wrong. Whoever is not with us is against us†(p.447) He does not seem to be questioning what he has been told, he just repeats it. He has experienced others abusing their power during his time with the ELAS and now sees this as an approved way of behaving. â€Å"De Bernià ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½res explores power and its abuse†7 He insults and belittles Pelagia after he returns from fighting and tortures her further, even though he should see that she has suffered enough during the war. De Bernieres shows a side to Mandras that readers have never seen before. He represents him as evil and sadistic, and we see Mandras refer to Pelagia as a â€Å"slut†. His morals have disintegrated following his fighting with the ELAS, and feels that he can do whatever he wants. This is due to the fact that the ELAS would make up their own rules for their comrades to follow. The war de-humanises Mandras and he represents the damage that can be inflicted by extreme politics. In Mandras’ death, De Bernieres wants readers to feel pity for him, as it is clear the communist party has seriously indoctrinated him. He dies as a victim of the war, and a desire to prove himself worthy, and this also evokes compassion in the reader Carlo is a character in the novel who shows how war can bring out the best in people. He is a very honourable character, and has to live with the secret that he is homosexual. He puts aside his desire for Corelli in order to help the romance between Pelagia and Corelli develop. â€Å"I have loved you with the same surprise and gratitude that I see in your own eyes when you are with Pelagia†(p.384). He shows true bravery in front of the firing squad when stepping in front of Corelli to save his life. â€Å"Antonio Corelli†¦had found in front of him the titanic bulk of Carlo Guercio†(p.399). De Bernieres uses Carlo’s narrative in the chapters entitled L’Omosessuale, and this allows the readers to sympathise further with the silent suffering that Carlo has to endure during the war. His writings are eloquently written and his language is poetic and beautiful, showing the gentle side to his character. â€Å"He died on a fine day, Signora, with the sun shining and the birds singing.†(P.148, Carlo) â€Å"Father Arsenios was saved by the war†(p.292). De Bernieres absolves Arsenios after the war and liberates him from his former self. However, the characters perceive him as a mad man and cannot see that war has brought about his finest hour. He is referred to as the â€Å"crazy priest† yet he feels he is a saviour and â€Å"it is probable that, had he lived, Arsenios might have become a saint†(p.295). De Bernieres chooses to depict war in a graphic and realistic light in his novel, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. Although in many films or books war is shown to be wonderful, this idealised version is proved wrong in De Bernieres novel, as he shows the suffering that the soldiers were forced to endure. He shows that the war has different effects on different people, and it can expose their faults or their merits. Mandras is forever changed by the war, as he returns indoctrinated by the communist party. His death proves that his natural environment is the sea, where he can be accepted and does not have to prove himself. In contrast Corelli’s merits are shown to be more prominent as the war develops, and also as his love for Pelagia develops. The reader is drawn to the character of Corelli, even though he is an occupying soldier, as he shows compassion, kindness and respect during his time in Cephallonia.

American Privateers in the Revolutionary War

American Privateers in the Revolutionary War American Privateers in the Revolutionary War Before the Revolutionary War began, the Continental Congress showed little interest in creating a navy for the new nation (Nelson 62). Congress was reluctant to supply the funds to purchase or build ships, purchase supplies, or pay sailors to man the ships. When the Revolution began, however, Congress realized it was important to have American ships patrolling the coasts of the new nation, especially because Britain’s naval force was the most powerful at the time (Frayler). Consequently, the Americans turned to privateering. Privateer ships were privately owned vessels and were similar to pirate vessels. Unlike pirates, privateers were authorized by the government to attack ships belonging to an enemy. Privateering during the Revolution financially benefited both sailors and colonists alike and it assisted the Continental Army by providing supplies. American privateers, commissioned by the Continental Congress and the colonies, played an important role in the development of the United States and the outcome of the Revolutionary War. Beginning in 1775, soon after the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress and individual colonies began commissioning privateers (Konstam 148). In November of 1775, the Massachusetts General Court approved â€Å"An Act For Encouraging the Fixing out of Amed Vessels† (Patton 27). This act allowed citizens to â€Å"equip any vessel to sail on the seas, attack, take and bring into any port in this colony all vessels offending or employed by the enemy† (qtd. in Patton 27). Additionally, it outlined the proper procedure for obtaining commissions and creating prize courts to distribute the captured wealth. The Continental Congress passed an act on March 23, 1776, which formalized the commissioning process and established rules of conduct for privateers (Frayler). The act required owners of privateering vessels to post monetary bonds in order to verify that they would adhere to Congress’s regulations. (Frayler). Applications for commission required the applicant to supply a sum of money as much as $10,000 as a promise to treat captives with â€Å"the greatest humanity and tenderness† (Patton 98). Applicants were charged $5,000 if the vessel weighed less than 100 tons and $10,000 if it was larger (Kuhl 86). In another act, passed on April 3, 1776, Congress issued instructions for the commanders of privateering vessels. The act authorized the commanders to â€Å"by Force of Arms, attack, subdue, and take all Ships and other Vessels belonging to the inhabitants of Great Britain on the High Seas,† and â€Å"by Force of Arms, attack, subdue, and take all ships and oth er Vessels whatsoever carrying Soldiers, Arms, Gun powder, Ammunition, Provisions, or any other contraband Goods, to any of the British Armies or Ships of War employed against these Colonies† (qtd. in Salem Maritime National Historic Site). As Massachusetts’s act suggested, any vessel could become a privateer (Patton 27). Although this quickly increased the number of privateers on the seas, it made it possible for ships of any condition to become privateering ship. When Washington, a large Continental schooner, was captured by the British, the Royal Navy deemed it to be unsuitable for sea or for war, suggesting that not all privateer ships were in the best condition when they were commissioned (Patton 32-33). The physical state of a ship was important, but the size of a ship was equally significant. The largest ship was the Caesar, a 600-ton, 26-gun ship and the smallest was the 8-ton Defense (Frayler). The most prevalent ships were two-masted schooners and brigantines. By early 1776, ships of all sizes were cruising the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and the Canadian coast (Konstam 148). In order to become a privateer, the owner of the ship had to be issued a letter of marque and reprisal. These documents promised that the bearers would not be prosecuted as pirates by their home nation (History Channel). If a ship attacked another ship but did not have a letter of marque, the attackers were considered pirates and could be hung for their crimes (Kuhl 12). Letters of marque provided extra protection to the bearer because it guaranteed that captured privateers would be treated as prisoners of war rather than criminals by the foreign nation (History Channel). The documentation from this time is incomplete, but about 1,700 Letters of Marque were provided on a per-voyage basis to Revolutionary privateers (Frayler). Although letters of marque were supposed to protect the privateers, the promises made by the Congress were never fully accomplished because the British passed the Pirate Act in March of 1777 (Patton 34). Under this act, privateers were regarded as pirates, and were denied both due process in British courts and the opportunity for prisoner exchange. As a result, many captured American privateers were jailed and had only three options to get out: join the Royal Navy, escape, or die. Even before the Pirate Act was passed, the British often treated their prisoners poorly (Kuhl 43). However, it is worth noting that many British citizens disagreed with the poor conditions that American privateers were subject to and many opponents called the Pirate Act â€Å"cruel, persecuting† and â€Å"shocking to humanity† (qtd. in Patton 142). In December of 1777, about one hundred Londoners met together and raised  £1,300 to be allocated to American inmates so they could purchase goods that were otherwise unavailable to them (Patton 143-144). Three members of the House of Lords also contributed money to the cause and charities and churches donated food and other supplies. The risk of capture, imprisonment, or death did not deter sailors and citizens from rushing to become privateers. Men continued to join privateering vessels because of the promise of riches. Although privateers received no pay for their service other than the spoils they stole from British ships, many men signed up to become privateers because they could quickly earn a large sum of money (Konstam 148). Privateering was so lucrative that it was possible for a man to make more money in a month as a privateer than he could earn in another occupation in an entire year (Patton xvii). There is at least one known instance of a sailor, Joseph Peabody, who rose from a lowly deckhand to a privateer investor by participating in just nine voyages between 1777 and 1783 (Patton 115). In August of 1776, John Adams observed, â€Å"Thousands of schemes for privateering are afloat in American imaginations. Out of these speculations many fruitless and some profitable projects will grow† (qtd. in Patton 113). When a ship was captured by privateers, it was usually taken to a friendly port (Kuhl 33). Crews on a privateer tended to be larger than normal because part of the crew was required to board the captured ship and sail it. Goods captured by privateers, called prizes, were usually subject to judgement in an admiralty court (Kuhl 12). The admiralty court decided if the captors were eligible for payment and if they had followed the correct protocols (Kuhl 87). In order to receive payment, the prize had to arrive in port with the correct paperwork and whole cargo; it had to have been captured from an enemy; and the prisoners could not be harmed and their personal belongings could not be confiscated. However, in some cases of extreme need, supplies could be sent to the Army without being invoiced (Patton 120). In the case of the cargo ship Lively, the load of clothing and blankets were sent directly to American troops, and the captors did not receive payment for the supplies, which were estimated to be worth  £25,000. When the admiralty court decided that the crew had followed the correct protocols, the prize would then be auctioned off and the crew would be paid (Patton 121). Once they were paid, privateers tended to equally divided the payment between crew and owners (Kuhl 51). In some cases when the military was bidding on supplies, the public would sometimes refrain from bidding (Patton 121). Although this saved the government money, it lessened the payment that the crew would receive. Once the auction had ended, the winning bidder was usually required to immediately pay five percent of the purchase price (Patton 118). In its infancy, Revolutionary privateering was a disaster. The first privateering ship, the Hannah, would cause numerous problems for Congress (Nelson 87). The captain of Hannah was reluctant to sail far from port so he frequently seized merchant ships belonging to fellow Americans (Patton 30). The first ship captured by Hannah was Unity, a continental transport belonging to a member of Congress. Although Unity had been captured by the British, Hannah’s crew received no payment for the recapture of the transport ship. As a result, thirty-six members of the angry crew mutinied and were punished when the mutiny was eventually subdued (Patton 31). The next seven ships captured by Hannah also belonged to Americans, and damages had to be paid out of Continental funds for the merchandise that the crewmen stole. Another early privateer ship, Washington, captured only one legitimate prize (a load of hay) before being captured by the British after only eight days of service (Patton 3 2). Despite the discouraging beginnings, not all privateering ventures were disastrous. Lee, a small schooner crewed by 50 men, was able to capture Nancy, a transport ship that was four times the size of Lee (Patton 35). Despite Nancy’s size, Lee was able to capture the transport ship because Nancy’s crew was disoriented after sailing through a storm and they had mistaken the Lee for a Royal Navy ship. The British ship was loaded with precious supplies: tons of ammunition, thousands of weapons, and a three-thousand-pound mortar were all seized for use by the Continental Army. The cargo had an estimated worth of  £10,000 to  £30,000. In 1776, the Continental schooner Franklin intercepted the three-hundred-ton British transport, Hope (Patton 44). Hope carried numerous cannons and muskets as well as seventy-five tons of powder, making it the most valuable prize captured during the Revolution. When Hope and the cargo were finally auctioned off, they would be sold for more than $1.5 million (Patton 118). A Salem privateer ship named the Rattlesnake captured more than $1 million worth of prizes in a single cruise (Konstam 148). The Connecticut privateer Defence successfully captured two British transports, George and Annabella, and a third ship within a period of a few days (Kuhl 41-42). The captured ships carried necessary equipment, including tent supplies, blankets, cooking supplies, clothing, and small arms and bayonets (Kuhl 44). Washington immediately demanded that these supplies be sent to the Continental Army stationed in New York. Sailors were not the only people to profit from government-endorsed piracy against British fleets. Many ports, including the ports at Salem, Baltimore, and particularly Boston, benefitted from the privateers that operated off their coasts (Konstam 148). General Washington praised Bostonians for â€Å"the valuable prizes that have been lately brought into your port. We stand in need of all your activity to increase our supplies by these means† (qtd. in Patton 107). Rhode Island benefitted as well, and an estimated  £300,000 worth of prizes were brought into Providence between April and November of 1776 (Patton 91). Sailors of privateer ships often pledged future earnings to creditors as a way to settle debts (Patton 79-80). If the sailor’s earnings exceeded the debt amount, the agreement allowed the creditor to keep the difference. Investors earned money by owning and trading privateers shares (Patton 80). The value of these shares depended on the quality of the ship and the competency of the crew. A sixteenth of a share in a small privateer ship cost  £56 during the war (Patton 91). Manufacturing companies in the colonies profited as well. One cannon company owned by the Brown family in Providence, Rhode Island, sold their cannons for  £35 per ton (Patton 88). Congress ordered sixty twelve- and eighteen-pound cannons for their privateering vessels and a former member of Congress ordered twenty-six cannons (Patton 89). However, because many of the guns manufactured by the Brown’s company were set aside for private ships who would pay in advanced and pay extra for weapons, customers like Congress had to wait a long period of time for their guns to be produced (Patton 90). Although privateers helped the American cause by supplying the Continental Army with goods and weapons, privateering had a downside: privateers were owned by individuals, rather than the Navy or government, so they were not obligated to fight enemy ships (Nelson 285). While this helped maximize profits for the privateers, it limited their usefulness in the war. However, targeting merchant vessels did help the Revolutionary cause by applying financial pressure to English merchants (Kuhl 51). The Americans knew that if they harassed the British merchants enough, the merchants would in turn pressure Parliament and the king into ending the war. The popularity of privateering also decreased the number of men fighting in the Continental Army (Patton 124). Naval sailors were especially attracted to privateering, and they frequently deserted the Navy. While the Continental Navy offered many of the same benefits as privateers (such as a doubled prize share for the first sailor to spot an enemy vessel and a tripled share for the first sailor to board an enemy vessel), privateers had no regulations against cursing and did not require sailors to attend a religious service twice a day (Patton 78). As a result, the government began to place embargoes on the privateering industry (Patton 124). Before a privateer or merchant ship could leave its home port, the town had to fulfill the military manpower quotas for the town. Unsurprisingly, businessmen openly protested the embargo. John Adams opposed the embargo as well, stating, â€Å"I am sorry the embargo was ever laid. I am against all shackles upon trade. Let the spirit of the peo ple have its own way† (qtd. in Patton 124) As the Revolutionary War progressed, the success of the privateers began to dwindle. In 1777, British Parliament authorized their own anti-American privateers (Patton 107). Parliament had been initially been reluctant to authorize anti-American ships because it would acknowledge America as a legitimate country. As a result of Parliament’s decision, more than a thousand loyalist ships were launched from Britain and the West Indies and another one hundred warships launched from New York. Some estimates claim that admiralty courts in New York were inundated with up to 2,600 requests for privateer commission and letters of marque (Patton 147). It is difficult to calculate the number of American privateers killed, but records show that 832 Continental seaman (not including privateers) had died at sea during the Revolutionary War (Patton 111). During the Revolution, American privateers had captured more than three thousand British merchant ships (Konstam 148). Other sources state that eight hundred vessels that were commissioned as privateers have been credited with capturing or destroying about six hundred British vessels (Frayler). The British lost an estimated  £6 million annually as a result of privateering during the war (Patton, 43). Maritime diminution in the West Indies alone by mid-1777 were calculated at  £2 million (Patton 135). Additionally, American privateers caused an estimated $18 million (a little more than $302 million today) worth of damage to British ships (Frayler). In fact, shipping losses caused by privateers were a part of the reason in Britain’s decision to surrender (Konstam 148). Privateering was initially a disaster but many ships were very successful in capturing British vessels. Although privateering was dangerous, it was an extremely profitable venture that many Americans benefitted from. Sailors benefited by quickly earning money, merchants supplied weapons and other necessary items to privateers, and investors could earn money by trading stock in privateer ventures. Most importantly, privateers helped supply the Continental Army with captured British goods, such as clothes, blankets, weapons, and gunpowder. Privateers, regardless of their successes and failures, played a crucial role in the development of the United States and the outcome of the Revolutionary War.

War as a Strategic Tool of Policy - To what extent did the outcome of Essay - 1

War as a Strategic Tool of Policy - To what extent did the outcome of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war serve the political objectives o - Essay Example The main reason behind this is the fact that politicians opt not to be too specific as they worry that if there is failure for the objectives to be attained, foreign leaders and local opponents will regard the entire exercise as a failure. Due to this, rather than being defined as measurable objectives, foreign policy objectives are defined in terms of goals or aims. Unclear and ambiguous political strategic objectives are of little or no use to operational planners.3 In terms of expression, political strategic objectives can be articulated in broad or narrow terms. Broadly articulated political objectives are most of the time applied in situations that do not involve vital national interests. Through this, it becomes easier for the political leadership to admit to a compromise without losing international reputation or domestic support. Narrowly articulated political strategic objectives on the other hand need to be comprehensively accomplished, or then the political and additional costs for the political leadership might be exorbitant. Vego asserts that â€Å"yet, in a situation where vital national interests are at stake, there is usually no choice but to fight to the finish†.4 During the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, Syria, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and the United States, who were the principal participants in the war, had various individual political objectives. The objective of Syria and Egypt were to recover their occupied territories, which were the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights region respectively. Although it did not initiate the war, Israel had the objective of preserving its national security, which was made possible by occupying the Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula. Maintaining control of the Tiran Straits located at the Sinai region was also crucial for Israel’s economic dominance. Palestine wanted to regain its territories from the Israel Jewish majority, who had for a long time prospered, as the Palestinian minority continued to suffer, with some of them living as refugees. Saudi Arabia had the objective of defending the union of the coalition among Cairo, Damascus and Riyadh; it therefore used the oil embargo as its political instrument during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Through this, Saudi Arabia could pressure Israel and the west to reach a fair agreement regarding the Palestinian issue. It could also be able to restrain the United States military support to Israel, as well as balance Israel’s military dominance. The United States was also involved in this war as it came in as an assistant to Israel. Its main political objectives were to; bring about a general extinction of the Soviet Union as a superpower in the Middle East and take its position; gain a political settlement with the ability to bring about a transformation in the Arab-Israeli conflict, which would change the conflict to a small territorial one and remove it from its ideological

Entrepreneurship and Venture Creation B Assignment

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Starting a Car Wash in Nigeria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Starting a Car Wash in Nigeria - Essay Example â€Å"Car ownership shot up in the oil-boom of Nigeria’s middle-income group from the mid-seventies. In the midst of a buoyant oil economy, the eighties saw the resurgence in the use of seconds. Today, there are more cars than parking space available. The growth of automobiles is so conspicuous that any business related to this industry is high on every businessman’s agenda.† (O’seun Ogunseitan, Wednesday is an odd day in Lagos, www.newint.org) .2.0  Locationâ€Å"Jigawa State, with its capital at Dutse, is seen as a potential business centre for car wash. The state offers a very conducive environment for potential investors. The local administration has, with the view to encourage investment put for ward a package of incentives to investors, including free supply of infrastructure, preferential approval of certificates of occupancy in industrial layouts, tax relief and other incentives (Jigawa State, 1998)† (Investment Opportunities, OnlineNigeri a, www.onlinenigeria.com). 3.0  Scope   Factors that determine the success of any business, marketing and selling, keeping costs under control, hiring quality employees, and location need to be considered. Dutse is an ideal destination for car wash business (see ‘Location’). Break-even would be at the end of three and half years or 42 months.(Jigawa State, 1998)... 4. Add benefits that will attract more customers, such as free service check, or bonus points on every car wash, home delivery and pickup, complimentary tickets, and so on. The following Profit and Loss Statement is based on the following: (Note: The figures projected are assumed and not to be recorded). Number of working days is 25 a month. 1. Wash only is calculated at the rate of $6.00 for 25 cars a day. 2. Wash and Vacuum is at the rate of $8.00 for 20 cars a day. 3. Merchandise Sales consists of greens, and refreshments. 4. Sponges calculated at $0.75 each at 20 a day. 5. Detergent at $1.50 a bottle numbering 10 a day. 6. Window cleaner at $1.00 at 10 a day. 7. Paper rolls at $0.50 for an 80-roll sheet at 20 a day. 8. Salaries calculated at $3.00 an hour for 6 workers a day. 9. Rent at $1000.00 a month. 10. Telephone and electricity is calculated at $100.00 a month. (Coutesy: Miller, wside.k12.il.us).5 Profit & Loss Statement: August 2003 through July 2006 Aug- Jul 04 Sep- Jul 05 TOTAL Income/Expense Income Wash Only 45,000.00 90,000.00 135,000.00 Wash & Vacuum 48,000.00 72,000.00 120,000.00 Merchandise Sales 20,000.00 20,000.00 40,000.00 Revenue Miscellaneous Income (Tax Relief) 5,000.00 5,000.00 2,000.00 Total Revenue 1,000.00 1,000.00 2,000.00 Total Income 118,000.00 187,000.00 305,000.00 Expense Sponges 4,500.00 10,000.00 14,500.00 Detergent (24-ounce bottle) 4,500.00 10,000.00 14,500.00 Window cleaner (32-ounce) 3,000.00 10,000.00 13,000.00 Paper-roll towels (80-sheet roll) 6,000.00 6,000.00 12,000.00 Poster