Origin and Fate of the Empire of Mali :: World History

Origin and Fate of the Empire of Mali Introduction In its peak, the people of Mali occupied land as far west as the Atlantic Ocean. They also traveled as far east as Gao, the capital of the Songhai, as far south as the Niger bend, and as far north as the Sahara desert. They built a great empire between 1240 and 1337 that underwent a course of slow decline until the seventeenth century. History The empire of Mali originated from a small country known as Kangaba. Its people where known as the Mandingo (they have also been called the Malinke and the Mandinka). After the breakup of Ghana, the Sosso, who had caused the breakup, were still in power. Apparently Sundiata, an heir to the Mandingo throne raised an army and defeated the Sosso in the battle of Kirina. Afterward, Sundiata established the empire of Mali. He converted to Islam for support of the Muslim peoples. When Mansa Musa came into power, in the early 1300s, the empire reached its height. Mansa Musa traveled through Cairo on his pilgrimage to Mecca. It is said that he gave away so much gold that it dropped in value in Cairo for 12 years. Afterward the empire slowly declined, until, in the 1600s it was no more than it had been originally when it originated: the small kingdom of Kangaba. Government The government of Mali was a dictatorship. The dictator, who had the title of Mansa, was the sole secular and religious leader of his people, though not he did not enjoy the same power as Egyptian Pharaohs did. The base of government was located in the capital, known as Niani. It was once written by a traveler that a person could travel safely without fear of harm, and that the people of Mali hated injustice and the Mansa did not tolerate injustice at all. The military branch of government was constant. There was a standing army of professional soldiers, so that Mali was ready for a battle without having to raise an army every time. Religion The religion in Mali was divided between two groups. The merchants, traders, and government officials, including the Mansa, were Islam, though, apparently, they did not adhere to it very well. Women were allowed freedom and even the Mansa still believed in the "spirit of the land." The basic peasant farmer believed in a "spirit of the land" to whom he prayed so that

Character Analysis: “Everyday Use” Essay

The mother in this story has lived a hard, long life, doing the job of a man, never complaining, just doing the things to survive. Then we have her daughter, Dee, who I picture as never having broken a sweat in her life. As a child she hated her house, her living, her culture. When the fire had burnt down the old house, she just sat there in amazement under an old gum tree, as if she wanted to dance in the ashes. She did all this while her mother was carrying Maggie, with arms burnt so bad they were sticking to her, and whose hair was singed and smoking with the foul stench of burning flesh. Why then, if her heritage means so much to her, didn’t she lift a finger to save any of the house or items in it? Instead she sat under a tree admiring the disaster that was taking place. Like the house, her family was of little importance to her. She was ashamed of their lack of knowledge and seemed very much bothered by the poverty in which she lived. In her mind, to be important was to be worldly. To have riches and â€Å"style† were what mattered, not her family. It’s ironic how when she was younger she could not wait to get out of her lifestyle, but now she claims her culture is important to her. She even goes through the extent of changing her name since in her mind, â€Å"Dee† was the name given to her by her oppressors when in reality it was the name passed down by her own family. Dee changes her name to Wangero Lewaninka Kemanjo, which supposedly goes back to her African roots. The mother passively accepts the change with no argument. She doesn’t even say a word when Dee takes the churn top off the butter churner that has milk in it that has already clabbered, and claims it as her own. Dee doesn’t even stop to think that it’s still in use, just that she wants it and that’s that. The mother’s slowly being nudged and pushed; like the cow she doesn’t mind! Then Dee demands that she be able to take the two quilts that were made by her grandma. When the mother claims that the quilts were promised to her sister Maggie, Dee gets furious, stating that Maggie can’t appreciate them. She’ll ruin them by using them everyday. Dee is trying to gain a culture that she believes comes from objects like the churner and the quilts. But her idea of culture is something to be hung on a wall, put on display. She has no idea that culture comes from knowing and living the culture. To them it is a way of life; to Dee, it is the â€Å"in† thing to do. I feel that the mother finally sees this in Dee and doesn’t respect it. So for the first time in the mother’s life, the cow was milked the wrong way and had begun to kick. She snatches the quilts out of Dee’s hands and throws them into the arms of Maggie. Furiously stomping out of the house, Dee shouts, â€Å"You don’t understand!† â€Å"What?† exclaims her mother. â€Å"Your heritage,† Dee responds. The final words Dee says are, â€Å"It’s really a new day for us. But from the way you and mama still act, you’d never know it.† How is it that she doesn’t even realize a simple statement? She never has and she never will have this culture. Culture is not all art, it’s not something you turn on and off: it’s life.

Competitive Advantage and Comparative Advantage Essay

What is the difference between competitive advantage and comparative advantage? Answer: An advantage that a firm has over its competitors, that differentiates the Product or services offered by the firm and allows the firm to reduce it’s Cost or generate Higher Revenue or Margin is known as Competitive Advantage. A competitive advantage is something that a consumer views in a product or service as having higher value than the other competitors of the firm in the industry. It is an expertise that one firm has. There are many types of competitive strategy that a firm adopts so as to give a competitive advantage to the firm. E.g. Cost leadership: A firm produces the lowest cost product in the entire industry. Comparative Advantage: When one firm/country is able to produce Goods or Services at a lower Opportunity Cost over another firm/ country, it is said to have a Comparative Advantage. For E.g. if one country uses more machines and produces 10 units of each Meat and Clothes in one hour. And another country uses fewer machines and produces either 4 Meat or 6 Clothes in an hour, each country can gain from trade because their internal trade-offs between Meat and Clothes are different. The country that uses fewer machines has a Comparative advantage in producing clothes, hence it is more beneficial to produce and trade Clothes with the other country. The country that uses more machines has a comparative advantage in producing Meat, hence it is beneficial for them to produce and trade Meat with the other country.

Free Essays on Workforce

For most of the 20th century, it was widespread for many individuals to be employed by a corporation and continue with them for their entire lives. â€Å"It was not uncommon for people to start work with a company in the mailroom or as a courier at the age of 15, or even younger, and to retire at age 65 with 50 years or more of service†. Many of them were known as â€Å"womb to tomb† employers (Carlson 42). Popular with modern beliefs, many employees would be hired by a corporation, perform to their greatest potential, and secure a job for life. To effectively manage any department within a company, one was to have knowledge in every aspect of their sector. â€Å"Employees [were] expected to work their way up through the ranks, starting at entry-level positions and gaining more experience as they were promoted to positions of greater responsibility† (Carlson 42). It was essential for an employee to understand all aspects of their department to be promoted to a position of supervisory or management. Today, many people in the workforce may labor for several different corporations and have many alternate careers throughout their lives. These employees may even work for a competitor of a previous employer they may have had. â€Å"During [these] working years, they acquire a set of skills that is the unique accumulation of the different jobs that have held and the experiences they have had (Carlson 42). These skills enable someone to grow and expand their capabilities that may make them more useful to another employer than their very own. Management in a corporation may be a talent in itself due to the straightforward fact that they may be unfamiliar with that particular corporation’s products or services. This is particularly due to many managers â€Å"often [being] hired from outside of the company for their vision, [their] ability to achieve results, or [their] ability to motivate people† (Carlson 42).... Free Essays on Workforce Free Essays on Workforce For most of the 20th century, it was widespread for many individuals to be employed by a corporation and continue with them for their entire lives. â€Å"It was not uncommon for people to start work with a company in the mailroom or as a courier at the age of 15, or even younger, and to retire at age 65 with 50 years or more of service†. Many of them were known as â€Å"womb to tomb† employers (Carlson 42). Popular with modern beliefs, many employees would be hired by a corporation, perform to their greatest potential, and secure a job for life. To effectively manage any department within a company, one was to have knowledge in every aspect of their sector. â€Å"Employees [were] expected to work their way up through the ranks, starting at entry-level positions and gaining more experience as they were promoted to positions of greater responsibility† (Carlson 42). It was essential for an employee to understand all aspects of their department to be promoted to a position of supervisory or management. Today, many people in the workforce may labor for several different corporations and have many alternate careers throughout their lives. These employees may even work for a competitor of a previous employer they may have had. â€Å"During [these] working years, they acquire a set of skills that is the unique accumulation of the different jobs that have held and the experiences they have had (Carlson 42). These skills enable someone to grow and expand their capabilities that may make them more useful to another employer than their very own. Management in a corporation may be a talent in itself due to the straightforward fact that they may be unfamiliar with that particular corporation’s products or services. This is particularly due to many managers â€Å"often [being] hired from outside of the company for their vision, [their] ability to achieve results, or [their] ability to motivate people† (Carlson 42)....

Aesthetics essays

Aesthetics essays Aesthetics is concerned with the way an object affects our senses, particularly in visual terms. Once a design has been completed people will want to evaluate or criticise it. They may comment on how well it works but their initial reactions will probably be based on its aesthetics qualities. Aesthetics covers a range of factors, which affect each other. For example, every shape is made up of lines. It has a proportion and could be described as balanced, symmetrical, dynamic or static in appearance. These words help us to communicate information about shapes and in turn help us examine our feelings towards them. Aesthetics takes into account a whole range of factors such as: These are familiar terms and most of us could use them to comment on certain aspects of product design. There are less familiar terms such as harmony, rhythm, unity and balance, which can also be used to express feelings and opinions about a product. Looking at the lamp for example, I would need to add some of these feature mentioned above so that my product can be as aesthetically pleasing as possible. Saying as I am looking at a theme of Art Nouveau, I could either have the actual structure of the product an Art Nouveau design, or I could incorporate the design of Art Nouveau onto the side of the product. A confident working knowledge of aesthetics will take time to master. Every designer will become used to making and justifying design decisions that involve the aesthetics of the products they are designing. They will understand how aesthetics can affect people and become sympathetic towards different market groups tastes, cultures and styles. In the design of any product aesthetics is important, but for this particular project it is the most important factor because due to the fact that I am designing for an Art Nouveau room, I have to make the aesthetics look have a touch of Art No ...

Caesars Books, the Gallic Wars

Caesars Books, the Gallic Wars Julius Caesar wrote commentaries on the wars he fought in Gaul between 58 and 52 B.C., in seven books one for each year. This series of annual war commentaries is referred to by various names but is commonly called De bello Gallico in Latin, or The Gallic Wars in English. There is also an 8th book, written by Aulus Hirtius. For modern students of Latin, De bello Gallico is usually the first piece of real, continuous Latin prose. Caesars commentaries are valuable for those interested in European history, military history, or the ethnography of Europe since Caesar describes the tribes he encounters, as well as their military engagements. The commentaries should be read with the understanding that they are biased and that Caesar wrote to enhance his reputation back in Rome, passing blame for defeats, justifying his own actions, yet probably accurately reporting the basic facts. The Title Caesars title for The Gallic Wars is not known for sure. Caesar referred to his writing as res gestae deeds/things done and commentarii commentaries, suggesting historical events. In genre it appears to be close to the Anabasis of Xenophon, a hypomnemata memory helps- like a notebook to be used as a reference for later writing. Both Anabasis and the Gallic War commentaries were written in the third person singular, relating historical events, with the intention of sounding objective, and in simple, clear language, so that the Anabasis is often the first continuous prose beginning Greek students face. In addition to not knowing for sure what Caesar would have considered its proper title, The Gallic Wars is misleading. Book 5 has sections on the customs of the British and Book 6 has material on the Germans. There are British expeditions in Books 4 and 6 and German expeditions in Books 4 and 6. The Pros and Cons The downside of the standard reading De bello Gallico during the early years of Latin study is that it is an account of battles, with descriptions of tactics, techniques, and materials that can be hard to understand. There is debate as to whether it is dry. This evaluation depends on whether you can figure out what is going on and visualize the scenes, which in turn depends on your understanding of military tactics in general, and Roman techniques, armies, and weaponry, in particular. The upside is, as Vincent J. Cleary argues in Caesars Commentarii: Writings in Search of a Genre, that Caesars prose is free of grammatical error, Grecisms, and pedantry, and rarely metaphorical. It overwhelmingly reads as Ciceros tribute to Caesar. In Brutus, Cicero says that Caesars De bello Gallico is the best history ever written. Sources Caesars Commentarii: Writings in Search of a Genre, by Vincent J. Cleary. The Classical Journal, Vol. 80, No. 4. (Apr. - May 1985), pp. 345-350.Style in De Bello Civili, by Richard Goldhurst.The Classical Journal, Vol. 49, No. 7. (Apr. 1954), pp. 299-303.

Comparing and Contrasting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Comparing and Contrasting - Essay Example This makes the Portuguese form appear somewhat withdrawn to the background. The form does not appear clear to the viewer while standing at a further distance from the painting. It requires light to bring out the contours that dominate the painting. The color is applied sparingly which means that it is subdued. (J. Paul Getty Museum, 2011, pg. 1) reason for this one might think was to highlight the form of the painting. The brown color that is dominant throughout the painting is mainly to draw the viewer to the form but the dissecting of form to interact with space does not at the end make the viewer arrive at a specific form. It leaves room for the viewer to form different forms from looking at it because the form keeps shifting. The reason for this could be the unusual use of light and shadow that was employed by the painter. George says that he had discovered the meaning of horizontal and vertical which he clearly used in this painting. He claims that color would have brought a certain kind of sensation that would have interfered with his use of space. Once a picture stops being real, one can touch it. This is what motivated the painter to crave for space. He wanted to touch the picture and express it in form of space. Therefore we could come to a conclusion that the quest for space is what gave the conception of analytical cubism. The desire to touch still life. The painter was interested in separating himself from the real picture as possible. He took more time and drew several pictures at once. It took him years but that is what he wanted. He says that apples would die long before he could finish a painting. The outcome is not important but the path followed by the painter at arriving at the end result (â€Å"Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice.† Preprints, 1995, pg.34). That way the viewer appreciates the journey, each stroke of the brash, the delicate manner in which the