Definition of Barnburners and Hunkers

Definition of Barnburners and Hunkers The Barnburners and Hunkers were two factions that battled for dominance of the Democratic Party in New York State in the 1840s. The two groups might have been obscure footnotes to history  remembered mostly for their colorful nicknames, but dissension between the two groups played a major role in the presidential election of 1848. The issue underlying all the fracturing of the party was rooted, as were many political disputes of the day, in the growing national debate over slavery. In the early 1800s the issue of slavery was mainly kept submerged in the national political debate. For one eight-year stretch, southern legislators had even managed to suppress any talk of slavery in the U.S. House of Representatives by invoking the infamous gag rule. But as territory acquired as a result of the Mexican War came into the Union, heated debates over which states and territories might allow slavery became a major issue. The disputes playing out in the halls of Congress also traveled into states where slavery had been outlawed for decades, including New York. Background of the Barnburners The Barnburners were New York State Democrats who were opposed to slavery. They were considered the more progressive and radical wing of the party in the 1840s. The group had splintered off from the Democratic Party following the election of 1844, when its preferred candidate, Martin Van Buren, lost the nomination. The Democrats candidate in 1844 who offended the Barnburner faction was James K. Polk,  a dark horse candidate from Tennessee who owned slaves and advocated for territorial expansion. The Barnburners were anti-slavery and viewed territorial expansion as an opportunity for pro-slavery politicians to add more slave states to the Union. The nickname Barnburners was derived from an old story. According to a dictionary of slang terms published in 1859, the nickname came from a story about an old farmer who had a barn infested with rats. He was determined to burn down the entire barn to get rid of the rats. The implication was that the political Barnburners were obsessed with one issue (in this case slavery) to such an extent that theyd burn down a political party to get their way. The name apparently originated as an insult, but members of the faction seemed to take pride in it. Background of the Hunkers The Hunkers were the more traditional wing of the Democratic Party, which, in New York State, dated back to the political machine set up by Martin Van Buren in the 1820s. The nickname Hunkers, according to Bartletts Dictionary of Americanisms, indicated those who cling to the homestead, or old principles. According to some accounts, the word hunker was a combination of hunger and hanker, and indicated that the Hunkers were always set on attaining political office no matter the cost. That also aligns to some extent with the common belief that the Hunkers were the traditional Democrats who had supported the Spoils System of Andrew Jackson. Barnburners and Hunkers in the Election of 1848 The division over slavery in America had been largely settled by the Missouri Compromise in 1820. But when the United States acquired new territory following the Mexican War, the issue of whether new territories and states would allow slavery brought the controversy back to the forefront. At the time, abolitionists were still on the fringe of society. It wouldnt be until the early 1850s, when opposition to the Fugitive Slave Act and the publication of Uncle Toms Cabin made the abolitionist movement more acceptable. Yet some political figures were already firmly opposed to the spread of slavery, and were actively seeking to keep a balance between free and slave states. In New York States powerful Democratic Party, there was a division between those who wanted to stop the spread of slavery and those who were less concerned, regarding it as a distant issue. The anti-slavery faction, the Barnburners, broke from the party regulars, the Hunkers, before the election of 1848. And the Barnburners proposed their candidate, Martin Van Buren, a former president, run on the Free Soil Party ticket. In the election, the Democrats nominated Lewis Cass, a politically powerful figure from Michigan. He ran against the Whig candidate, Zachary Taylor, a hero of the recently concluded Mexican War. Van Buren, supported by the Barnburners, did not have much chance of regaining the presidency. But he took away enough votes from the Hunker candidate, Cass, to swing the election to the Whig, Taylor.

Risk Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Risk Management - Case Study Example Risk management is the practice of managing the resources of the operation in such a way as to maintain an acceptable level of risk. This in turn should generate a corresponding level of return that will allow the goals of the operation and management to be achieved. The use of time, financial and other resources to effectively manage the risks so that goals can be achieved is the risk management. Risk management comprises of risk assessment and risk control. Assessing Risk is identifying and analyzing risk. Controlling Risk is taking steps to reduce risk, provide contingency, monitor improvements. Risk Management is important for ensuring that a computer project isn't scuppered, preventing accidental loss or disclosure of information, avoiding computer fraud, hacking, ensuring the smooth running of an information system and maintaining your career prospects. Sources of Risk: There are five main sources of risk in an operation: production risk, marketing risk, financial risk, legal risk and human resource risks. Production risks include yield and quality variability. Marketing risks include changes in the price and external conditions. Financial risks include variability in debt, equity capital and ability to meet cash demands. Legal risks include responsibilities for contracts, statutory compliance, tort liability and business structure. Human Resource risks include people management and estate transfer. Types of Risk: There are two types of risk that affect the volume of investment. The first is the entrepreneur's or borrower's risk which arises out of doubts in his own mind as to the probability of his actually earning the prospective yield for which he hopes. This is a real social cost, though susceptible to diminution by averaging as well as by an increased accuracy of foresight. If a man is venturing his own money, this is the only risk which is relevant. But when a system of borrowing and lending exists, which means the ranting of loans with a margin of real or personal security, a second type of risk is relevant which we may call the lender's risk. This may be due either to moral hazard, i.e. voluntary default or other means of escape, possibly lawful, from the fulfillment of the obligation or to the possible insufficiency of the margin of security, i.e. involuntary default due to the disappointment of expectation. This is a pure addition to the cost of investment which would not exist if the borrower and lender was the same person. Moreover, it involves in part a duplication of a proportion of the entrepreneur's risk, which is added twice to the pure rate of interest to give the minimum prospective yield which will induce the investment. For if a venture is a risky one, the borrower will require a wider margin between his expectation of yield and the rate of interest at which he will think it worth his while to borrow; whilst the very same reason will lead the lender to require a wider margin between what he charges and the pure rate of interest in order to induce him to lend (except where the borrower is so strong and wealthy that he is in a position to offer an exceptional margin of security). During a boom the popular estimation of the magnitude of both these risks, both borrower's risk and lender's risk, is apt to become unusually and imprudently low.From

Unit 8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Unit 8 - Essay Example Police officers are now using most of their resources and time for training in readiness for future possible terrorist attacks. The police are also gathering information and intelligence needed to prevent and stop terrorist attacks. The police’s responsibility of emergency response to terrorism takes precedence over other duties (Delattre 2006). Disagreements have emerged following the 2001 terrorist attacks. One of such disagreements is how much information and intelligence should federal agencies share with the police and state. The point of sharing information results from the fact that the FBI holds their information too much. Criminal information and intelligence must be shared across jurisdictions and agencies in the country. It results from the fact that information sharing is crucial in effecting antiterrorism. Police officers interact with the society that enables them to exchange information and gather intelligence. The intelligence and information gathered is important to other agencies including the FBI (Delattre 2006). While still in their line of duty, police officers are required to exhibit the recommended law enforcement behaviours in fighting terrorism and maintaining personal liberties. Disagreements have arisen on how the police ought to operate when collecting intelligence on terrorism. While part of their function is protecting civil liberty, there is rising criticism on how terrorism suspects should be handled. There are disagreements on the use of force in gathering information related to terrorism activities. Using force means that the police will torture individuals while gathering information. Using torture while interrogating people and suspects are wrong as the officers will be acting against their basic responsibility of upholding the people’s personal liberties (Delattre, 2006). Antiterrorism cannot be tackled by the Federal single handed. The federal requires assistance from the police and other law

Criminal Law Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Criminal Law - Coursework Example The first point of homicide is murder. The actus reus of mens rea was provided by Sir Edward Coke in the seventeenth century whereby he stated that the act is committed if the defendant ‘unlawfully killeth any reasonable creature in rerum natura under the Queen’s peace’. The definition of unlawfully does not include the killing of for example the use of reasonable force for self defence (Re a (Children)1. Clearly it can be seen that due to the substance overdose the child had died and therefore this is unlawful. As far as killeth is concerned that refers to the requirement that the acts of the defendant can be attributed to be a legal cause of death. Clearly the acts/omission of Thomas to inform his wife of the correct proportion had led to the death of the child. As far as killing of the reasonable creature in rerum natura is concerned it means that a human life is taken. Clearly this is satisfied as the child has died. Finally Queen’s peace means that it must have been within England and not the killing of an enemy at war. This can be seen to have been proved on the facts, as the child died in England.. Therefore on the facts the actus reus of murder has been satisfied. Intention discussed in Woollin and applied by Matthwes and Alleyne3 was described as defendants aim or purpose was to kill or cause grievous bodily harm or he know of such harm as being a virtually certain consequence of such an act, and any level below that of virtual certainty would not suffice. On the facts it is more than evident that Thomas clearly did not possess the intention nor was he virtually certain as the consequence. Thus it is quite clear that the mens rea for murder is not satisfied. As far as voluntary manslaughter is concerned it is not relevant to the facts at hand as there was neither provocation or was there any diminished responsibility. Thus voluntary manslaughter in respect of the facts will not be argued. The next step is that of

Women's misrepresentation in media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Women's misrepresentation in media - Essay Example Advertisers usually objectify women in their ads; they portray them as sexual objects. In addition, media value women neither for their achievements nor for intelligence. They are valuable for their youth, look and beauty. Jean Kilboune in and Carmen Sering share the same idea that media tend to represent women inappropriately. In Kilbourne’s work â€Å" Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt†, the author shows us how these ads attract consumers, then she starts to explain how these ads affect us more than we think. She claims that bodies are portrayed as objects, which leads to sexual harassment. Jean emphasizes that pornographic ads objectifie women. Providing many examples of different ads she proves how ads portray women in inappropriate way, which shapes the attitude towards women in the communities. For instance, an ad for MTV presents young lady with exposed breasts, and the word â€Å"Bitch† under her bosom. Like Jean Kilbourne, Carmen Siering’s work â€Å" Taking a Bite out of Twilight† discusses how the main character Bella is misrepresented. The author also mentions that there are two teams, which are Edward’s and Jacob’s. But there is no team for the girl Bella. Siering writes about how Bella, the main character of the novel, cannot take care of herself. In addition, Bella always needs someone to help her out making her decisions. The idea of â€Å"Taking a Bite out of Twilight† goes against the feminism. Furthermore, the author writes about how women are manipulated by men. Bella is represented in the novel as an object or a prize. Siering continues explaining that Stephanie Meyer, who is the author of Twilight, does not comsider Bella to be a personality. These two works, â€Å"Two Way a Woman Can Get Hurt† by Jean Kilbourne and â€Å" Taking a Bite out of Twilight† by Carmen Siering, share the same idea, which is the misrepresentation of women in media. Meg Kamerick also talks about the misrepresentation of women in the work â€Å"Woman Should Represent

Mixed Analysis -Environmental Impact of Aviation (Noise Pollution) Assignment

Mixed Analysis -Environmental Impact of Aviation (Noise Pollution) - Assignment Example In the opinion scaled used, zero will denote no annoyance or no health effects while ten will show completely annoyed or adverse health effect (Heise, 2010). Perceptions on effects of the noise on quality of life and attitude towards the noise will however be described from open-ended questions. 9. Procedure: Stratified random sampling will be used to sample participants. Residence and work location will be the bases for stratification. A sample of 115 participants, with at least 30 percent of participants from each stratum, will be used for the quantitative aspect. Twenty-three of the participants, 16 people living in the affected areas, and 7 people working in the affected areas will then be selected from the sample, for the qualitative aspects of the study. Questionnaires will be used to collect data on closed-ended questions while focus groups will be used to collect data on open-ended questions. The strata will form two focus groups. Rigor: Reliance on participants’ experiences and informed consent will ensure credibility and dependability of results and conclusion of the study. Incorporated quantitative approach and large sample size will induce reliability and validity to inform transferability of the results. 10. Data analysis: The researcher will use participants’ perspective to develop meaning from collected qualitative data and researcher’s rationale and background knowledge on the subject will help to bridge gaps within a participant’s responses. Regression analysis will however evaluate the quantitative aspects of the study 11. Consent: The study will target communities that are exposed to aircraft noise by virtue of living or working near the source of the noise. Each respondent will be informed of the scope of the study. Respondents’ consent will then be sought, in writing, by asking them if they can participate in the study. Obtaining informed

Carbon Dioxide Fire Suppression System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Carbon Dioxide Fire Suppression System - Essay Example For carbon dioxide to be effective as a total flooding fire suppressant, a minimum design of 34% concentration is needed. However, laboratory testing and simulation of carbon dioxide fire suppressant use indicate that concentrations greater than 17% results to loss of controlled and purposeful activity, convulsions, unconsciousness, coma and even death within 1 minute of initial inhalation (OSHA, 1999). Even at 10-17% concentrations, carbon dioxide inhalation has been shown by Wong (1992) to result to drowsiness, sever muscle twitching and even unconsciousness. At 7 to 10 percent, headaches, visual and hearing dysfunction, hallucination and shortness of breath have been observed. At a minimum of 34% designed concentration for effectiveness, Carbon dioxide suppression systems are lethal. Any inadvertent discharge of the carbon dioxide in an occupied room can cause death quickly and without warning. The National Fire Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Authority have established guidelines such that human exposure do not occur during fire-fighting events but documented cases occurred during system installation, commissioning and maintenance because many of the servicemen lack the necessary knowledge and training. OSHA (1999) Carbon Dioxide, Industrial Exposure and Control Technologies for OSHA Regulated Hazardou