ü   The rule of power of the people and the law;

ü    Guarantees of rights and freedoms;

ü   Separation of powers, checks and balances;

ü    Federalism;

ü    The possibility of changes and additions to the Constitution – Amendments.

Saying about the last point of previous sentence, we should mention that the Bill of Rights has the power to the Basic Law and is considered an integral part of the U.S. Constitution. Its provisions have supreme legal force and direct effect. In case of conflict with the provisions of the Bill of acts of Congress U.S. Supreme Court recognizes the last void. The Constitution of theUnited Statesin its Bill of Rights defines the basic and fundamental fair court examination guarantees and criminal proceedings. In 1787 in the formulation and discussion of the American Constitution at the Constitutional convention, these fundamental guarantees have not been included in the final text submitted for ratification by 13 original states. This paper was focused only on issues of authority of central government. The rights and powers of the people were not in it set. However, when the Constitution was submitted to the states for ratification, some of them refused to ratify it, because they believed that the most important rights and powers of the people could not only be implied. They believed that the Government of all ages need special reminder that they have no right to curtail fundamental freedoms of its citizens: freedom of expression, association, expression and fundamental rights to privacy, property, impartial court … That is why in my opinion the most important rights given by the first ten amendments to the constitution consist in fact that people are free in their rights and government is regulated in its influence on people in the way that will break their life and freedom.

Preserving freedom of religion (religious) is one of the oldest and most important components of personal freedom. Thus, the guarantee of religious freedom (First Amendment) is an important component of civil rights. Again, the importance of such freedom is proven by the history of humankind. Religious freedom includes in itself at least two important and overlapping principles – freedom of religion and unprovability of religion. To avoid interference with freedom of religion while maintaining compatibility with the underlying causes relating to unprovability of religion, it is important that the Government did not favor, as a non-religious doctrine, and to any particular religion. Full protection of religious freedom may require strong and effective civil law, which protect against discrimination on political grounds.

It is well-known fact that there were special relationships of the federal government to the states that even lead to the Civil War. According to Duignan & Gann, we see that “Ingenious though the constitutional arrangement was, the controversy over states’ rights continued to fester until, three-quarters of a century later, in 1861, a four-year war broke out between the states of the North and those of the South. The war was known as the Civil War, or the War Between the States, and the underlying issue was the right of the federal government to regulate slavery in the newer states of theUnion. Northerners insisted that the federal government had such a right, while southerners held that slavery was a matter for each state to decide on its own. When a group of southern states attempted to secede from theUnion, war broke out and was fought on the principle of the preservation of the republic. With the defeat of the southern states and their reentry into theUnion, federal supremacy was reaffirmed and slavery abolished.” (Duignan & Gann, 1994)

Judging of the above, the adoption of the Constitution of theUnited Stateswas dictated by the time. Although most of the articles did not address most of the people of theUnited States. The value of the Constitution does not explicitly for various periods in the history of this country. At first it wore a historically progressive nature, since promoted the development of new industrial relations. Its influence on the constitutional experience of other states (the structure of public authorities, the distribution between the competencies, elements of federalism, a similar concept of the Supreme Court), was without any doub great. As for the U.S. Constitution, it now looks like a moderately democratic document, in many ways inferior to the basic laws of democracy inWestern Europeand other regions of the world today.

In my view, the emergence of constitutionalism in theUnited States- is becoming the rule of the constitution, not only in the state, but among the people, the awareness of the rule of the constitution, the existence of mechanisms for the implementation of constitutional provisions, the establishment does not form a constitution, and its content. That is why most laws in theU.S.operate now in good way.

Thus, the emergence of constitutionalism in theU.S.- is a long and difficult process. The activities of government bodies, life and work of citizens, courts, in fact, the entire life of the subject (basically, of course) Regulation of a law. A democratic constitution accepted many years ago in theU.S.not only promotes the legal order in the country, but also the ideological assertion of the rule of law in the minds of citizens. There is no doubt that the Constitution should be the most respected, solid, equitable and sustainable legal act. In this sense, its age is not so important – more important than attitude of the population and the world community.

Works cited:

Duignan, P. & Gann, L. The USA and the New Europe, 1945-1993. Blackwell, 1994.

Gordon, Scott. Controlling the State: Constitutionalism from Ancient Athens to Today. Harvard University Press, 1999.

The constitution of the United States. Retrieved from http://www.house.gov/house/Constitution/Constitution.html

Woll, Peter. Behind the Scenes in American Government. Harpers Collins Publishers, 1991.

The Constitution of theUnited States– is one of the “oldest” from the written constitution currently in force, and the “oldest” constitution from the generated at the national level. Basic Law of theUnited Stateswas created in the “new” country on the territory of the former British colonies and had not met the resistance of traditional structures that existed in these areas. The United States were originally a nation of immigrants, a factor that influenced on their economic and political life to the early twentieth century. I would like to discuss in this paper the original structure of the federal government and the first ten amendments to the constitution, because they allow to find answers on other important questions through the body of this paper and be professional in judgments.

As it was previously mentioned, the Constitution of the United States is the main instrument and it will be better to say that Constitution is even central instrument of American government that at the same time is considered the supreme law of the land. It has provided as the basis for social progress and political stability, for individual and country’s freedom, for economic development and evolution of different governmental institutions about 200 years. Today it is considered good model for establishing constitutional changes in other countries and according to statistical data presented by Gordon we see that “the Constitution owes its staying power to its simplicity and flexibility. Originally designed in the late 18th century to provide a framework for governing 4 million people in 13 very different states along America’s Atlantic coast, its basic provisions were so soundly conceived that, with only 27 amendments, it now serves the needs of more than 260 million Americans in 50 even more diverse states that stretch from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.” (Gordon, 1999)

It is necessary to quote in this part of the paper words from the Preamble to the Constitution of the United Stated, because exactly these words are in the heart of every American and due to these words Americans believe in the power of their government and in their country in the wide sense of this word. “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” (The Constitution of theUnited States)

Saying about the basic structure of theUnited Statesgovernment as set forth in the constitution we see that the Constitution of theUnited Statesset forth a government composed of three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial. Each branch of the Constitution has its own powers and this system is well-known as checks and balances, because it allows to control all governmental branches and at the same time no one branch  usurped a dangerous amount of power. I think that exactly the system checks and balances help to be democratic and free in judgments and in problem’s solution, it is also protect governmental circles against despotism and corruption.

For example, according to Woll we see that “The Constitution set forth a form of federalism that balanced the authority of the state and national governments. The state legislatures would elect the members of the Senate, as well as select delegates to the Electoral College, which selected the President. Furthermore, the Constitution could be amended by a vote in favor of amendment by three-fourths of the state legislatures. The writers of the Constitution intended to increase the power of the national government, but they were wary of taking too much power from the states.” (Woll, 1991)

According to Tolstoy, man lives in disagreement and controversy with himself. That’s why he is doomed to suffer, to be dissatisfied with himself. Man is constantly striving to overcome himself, to change, to become free from suffering. Man does not just live; he wants his life to have meaning.

The conclusion about the meaninglessness of life, which seems to derive from the experience and evidenced by the philosophical wisdom, from Tolstoy‘s viewpoint is too logically contradictory too accept it. The very statement of the meaninglessness of life contains its own rebuttal: the man who came to this conclusion had to make away with his life, and therefore he would not be able to speak about its meaningless, but if he speaks about the meaninglessness of life and thus continues to live the life which is worse than death, then in reality life is not so senseless and bad, as stated (Sirotkina 75-81).

Thus, all the works of this period are combined by the idea of imminent and close shift of contradictory and obsolete public order (Fuller 321-330). In 1892, Tolstoy wrote that he didn’t know what the outcome would be, but he realized that life could no longer remain the same (Knowlson 123).

The novel “The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1884-1886) occupies the central position among Tolstoy’s works of the 1880s. It embodies the major features of realism of late Tolstoy. By this novel, one can judge what combines late and early works of Tolstoy, what distinguishes them, what is the peculiarity of the late Tolstoy compared with other realists in those years (Garnett 78-86).

The heroes of the latest works by Tolstoy are not bright individual characters, but ordinary people; their ordinariness, their usual life, like the lives of many people, is repeatedly emphasized by the writer. From the beginning of “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, Tolstoy says that its main theme is the description of life and death of an ordinary man, which could be met anytime and anywhere. But this ordinary in all aspects man is put in a dramatic, seemingly random, ‘exclusive’ status (Jones 1204-5): Ivan Ilyich prematurely and painfully dies from cancer due to accidental injury. By the exceptional situation in which characters are placed in late works of Tolstoy, the author ensures that they will be rethinking their former life and will understand its lies and deceits (Nabokov 111-114).

Testing of human death is a favorite story situation in Tolstoy (“Childhood”, “War and Peace”, “Anna Karenina”, etc.). In “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” this theme is continued, but gets more concentrated: the whole story is devoted to one event – the painful demise of Ivan Ilyich Golovin (Taylor299-304). The latter fact gave rise to modern literature specialists consider the story as an existential work, describing eternal tragedy and loneliness of a man. However, this approach decreases the socio-moral pathos of the story, while the basic meaning of “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” is the horror of a life lived wrong (Jahn 68-72).

In the “Death of Ivan Ilyich”, the plot is not built in accordance with the sequence of events, but is intentionally violating the chronological principle. The story begins, essentially, from the end – the impression made by the death of Ivan Ilyich to his colleagues (Tolstoy 5-7) Such compositional structure is a characteristic feature of the artistic manner of late Tolstoy (Cockrell 310-312). Breaking the sequence of events, the writer enlightens the entire story with the reflection of terrible pictures of final consequences.

Conciseness, laconism, and concentration on the major matters are the characteristic feature of the narrative style of late Tolstoy. In “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, Tolstoy also applies his main method of cognition and embodiment of the world – psychological analysis (Cockrell 310-312). “The dialectics of the soul” is the main tool of artistic representation in the work. However, the inner world of the later heroes of Tolstoy changed in 1880s: they became harder and more dramatic.

Accordingly, the form of psychological analysis changed. The conflict of man and his environment was always present in works of Tolstoy. His best characters are usually opposed to the medium they belong to, seeking for new ways. Late Tolstoy is mainly interested by the rebirth of a person from the privileged classes, knowing the social injustice and moral baseness, falsity of life around him (Fuller 321-330). In Tolstoy’s opinion, the representatives of the ruling classes could start a “true life” only after realizing that all his past life was wrong.

In the late period the writer focuses on the social environment with its conflicts and disorders. Tolstoy describes these contradictions as painful inner struggle of his heroes.

Death-sick official Ivan Ilyich realizes the emptiness of his life, in which he follows common behavior for his circle. The story is based on a contrast of Ivan Ilyich’s new ideas about life of and views of his family and colleagues.

The novel depicts a disaster disrupting the course of the hero’s life – the expectation of death. From outside it looks like the senseless agony leading to a painful end. Ivan Ilyich’s death is important for his colleagues only because his post becomes vacant, and their sorrowful speeches are full of indifference. But internally, for the hero dying is the way to the truth and eternal life. Ivan Ilyich perceives death from inside, and it is not terrible, it is not a fall into the darkness, but a step toward the light. Death teaches how to live. Death of Ivan Ilyich means getting used to life, only dying he realizes his love for himself, his wife and son (Tolstoy 87)

Before the face death all the values and career success seem miserable to Ivan Ilyich. Revelations given to Ivan Ilyich are absolutely personal. Ivan Ilyich is left alone with himself. Other people cannot neither follow him, nor even understand what is happening to him. A normal person can live only following everyone, feeling support from the space, and public order. Lonely and independent daring causes resentment and seem to be the greatest crime against people and against God (Jahn 37-41; Tolstoy).

Sharp focus on socio-ethical conflicts is the main feature of Tolstoy’s all late works. That is why the stories are dramatic and tense. R. Rolland remarked that in this period the creative thought of Tolstoy was strongly influenced by the laws of the theater (Rolland 95). The Death of Ivan Ilyich is the internal drama, the drama of the soul (Jahn 54).

Tolstoy’s usual interest to the movement of life and man’s inner world in the late period turned into a display of a complete revolution in the consciousness of the hero. To make this transformation, a catastrophe is needed, which awakens people. Awakening is often a long process of painful struggle, but it always ends with enlightenment. All the attention is focused on emotional life of the hero condemning his previous life, and his relationship with the environment.

Looking at the life of ordinary people, Tolstoy came to the conclusion that they only know the truth. They understand the meaning of life deeper, than the greatest philosophers.

For Tolstoy the question of the meaning of life is a matter of faith, not knowledge. The concept of faith in Tolstoy’s understanding has nothing to do with inconceivable mysteries, incredible transformations and other prejudices (Thompson 96-116).

Faith as power of life goes beyond the competence of reason. In this sense, the concept of faith is an expression of honesty of mind, which does not want to undertake more than it can. From such an understanding of faith, it follows that the question of the meaning of life hides doubt and confusion. The meaning of life becomes a question when life loses all meaning (Thompson 96-116).

All the works written by Tolstoy bring to the only conclusion: the meaning of life cannot consist in what dies along with the death of man. This means: it consists neither in life for oneself or in life for other people because they die, nor in life for humanity, for it will not last forever. Life for oneself cannot have any sense. To live wisely means to live so that death couldn’t destroy life.

Works Cited:

Cockrell, R. “Desire, Death, and Imitation: Narrative Patterns in the Late Tolstoy”, The Slavonic and East European Review 81.2 (2003): 310-312.

Fuller, John Randolph. “Leo Tolstoy and social justice”, Contemporary Justice Review 12.3 (2009): 321-330.

Garnett, Edward. Tolstoy His Life and Writings. Kessinger Publishing, 2004.  Print.

Jahn, Gary R. Tolstoy’s the Death of Ivan Ilʹich: A Critical Companion. Northwestern University Press, 1999. Print.

Jones, W. Gareth. “Tolstoy: A Guide for the Perplexed”, The Modern Language Review 104.4 (2009): 1204-1205.

Knowlson, T. Sharper. Leo Tolstoy: A Biographical and Critical Study.CornellUniversity Library, 2009.  Print.

Nabokov, Vladimir. Lectures On Russian Literature. Harcourt Edition, 1980. Print.

Rolland, Romain. Tolstoy.CommunicationUniversity ofChina, 2002. Print.

Sirotkina, Irina. Diagnosing Literary Genius: A Cultural History of Psychiatry in Russia, 1880-1930. TheJohnsHopkinsUniversity Press, 2001. Print.

Taylor, S. L. “The Gerasim model of caregiving: reflections on Tolstoy’s novella, The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, Death Studies 21.3 (1997): 299-304.

Thompson, C. “Wittgenstein, Tolstoy and the Meaning of Life”, Philosophical Investigations 20.2 (1997): 96-116.

Tolstoy, Leo. The Death of Ivan Ilyich. CreateSpace, 2010. Print.

First of all, the authors argue that the exploration and research supported and funded by the government contributed to the migration of the population of theUSand immigrants fromEuropeto new territories westward. As a result, the colonization of the west, which was traditionally described as the heroic struggle of people living on the frontier was actually the strategic policy conducted by theUSgovernment because the exploration of the west was supported by the government. At the same time, the exploration of new territories opened larger economic opportunities for theUSbecause the country got access to new natural resources and could expand its economy.

On the other hand, the exploration of the west, researches supported by the government and the migration of the population would be impossible or pointless without the development of the infrastructure. What is meant here is the fact that the exploration of new territories needed the further development of the infrastructure, roads and railroads. In fact, theUSgovernment would just waste money if it supported and funded exploration and failed to support and fund the development of the infrastructure. If people could not get access to new territories and to use the full potential of exploration and findings of researchers made in the early America, than it would be useless to support the exploration at all. The only way to get the full advantage of explorations and new findings was the development of the infrastructure and the construction of the network or roads and railroads. The development of the infrastructure and roads stimulated the migration of the population and stimulated business activities. In addition, the well-developed infrastructure stimulated the development of trade and, therefore, it stimulated the consumption and rise of business activities even more. As a result, through the exploration and development of the infrastructure, the US government contributed to the economic development of the US.

In this regard, the authors of “The Growth of the American Economy to 1860”, Douglass C. North & Robert Paul Thomas, argue that without the federal priming of the pump – in water management, road building, military occupation, and basic scientific research such as the surveys of resources conducted by Clarence King and John Wesley Powell – the winning of the West would have been slower, more painful, and less profitable (North & Thomas, 1968). Even when no short-term gains from federal expenditures were obvious, the long-term gains were huge and of a sort that simple free-market capitalism could not have generated. What is meant here is the fact that the US government was interested in the development of strategic projects, which could have positive long-run effects on the development of the national economy. Even though such economic policies were expensive and needed substantial financial resources, the outcomes and expected effects of such investments outweighed costs consistently. As the economic history of the US showed, the US had managed to make a huge leap forward in its economic development by 1860. In this regard, “The Growth of the American Economy to 1860” by Douglass C. North & Robert Paul Thomas reveals the ways which helped the US to reach such outcomes.

Critique

On analyzing both books, it is worth mentioning the fact that both books overestimate, to certain extent, the role of the government and economic policies conducted by the US authorities in the early American history. In actuality, both books “Understanding the Process of Economic Change” by Douglass C. North and “The Growth of the American Economy to 1860” edited by Douglass C. North & Robert Paul Thomas are, to a significant extent similar. In actuality, both books tend to change the traditional view on the development of the early American economy and view it from a different, new standpoint. In this regard, it is worth mentioning the fact that traditionally the development of the early American economy and its consistently strengthening was determined by several factors. First of all, the cotton production was apparently one of the major factors that determined the consistent change in the US economy and contributed to the faster economic development and rise of capitalism in the US. To put it more precisely, the cotton industry was export-oriented industry of the US. The US had favorable physical conditions for the production of cotton. At the same time, the use of the slave labor allowed landowners to save costs on the labor force and to develop the mass production of cotton. The mass production in its turn stimulated the creation of manufactures and, thus, stimulated the early industrialization of the US. Therefore, the development of the cotton production en mass became one of the major steps on the way to transition of the US economy from agricultural to industrial one (Gillon and Matson 2006). However, both “Understanding the Process of Economic Change” by Douglass C. North and “The Growth of the American Economy to 1860” edited by Douglass C. North & Robert Paul Thomas underestimate the significance of the initiative and business activities of Americans. Instead, they insist on the driving role of the government as the main actor of the economic changes and the steady economic growth in the US in the early American economy.

On the other hand, both books, “Understanding the Process of Economic Change” by Douglass C. North and “The Growth of the American Economy to 1860” edited by Douglass C. North & Robert Paul Thomas, stress the importance of railroads and the development of infrastructure. In this regard, both books meet the traditional view on the development of the early American history. Obviously, the development of infrastructure and the construction of railroads accelerated the economic development of the US consistently.

Anyway, both books “Understanding the Process of Economic Change” by Douglass C. North and “The Growth of the American Economy to 1860” edited by Douglass C. North & Robert Paul Thomas have strong arguments in favor of the positive impact of the government policies on the development of the early American economy. At this point, the development of infrastructure, railroads and exploration of America are arguments in favor of the positive role of the government in the development of the US economy (Zinn, 2003). However, it is still necessary to remember that people were eager to explore America, to develop their business and look for new opportunities to get rich. In this regard, the initiative of people is apparently underestimated by the authors of both books, even though they recognize that the immigration into the US was very high throughout the early American history. What is meant here is the fact that the authors of both books underestimated the role of the demographic factor, for instance, because well-qualified immigrants from Europe, who settled in Eastern cities of the US, played an important part in the further industrialization of the US and the breakthrough of the US from agrarian to industrialized economy.

Interpretation

In spite of certain weak points and one-sided view on the development of the early American economy, both books “Understanding the Process of Economic Change” by Douglass C. North and “The Growth of the American Economy to 1860” edited by Douglass C. North & Robert Paul Thomas are useful and the findings of their authors can be extrapolated on the contemporary world and economy. First of all, it is important to stress that, today, the US government attempts to expand its impact on the economy (Tindall and Shi 2006). In this regard, the books “Understanding the Process of Economic Change” by Douglass C. North and “The Growth of the American Economy to 1860” edited by Douglass C. North & Robert Paul Thomas help to reveal positive effects of the state interference in the economy. To put it more precisely, both books show that the government can stimulate the economic growth and lay the foundation to the steady economic development in a long-run perspective. The later means the stability in the economic development, whereas stability is one of the key factors that determine the economic growth in a long-run perspective. Contemporary critics of the government’s interference in the economy warn against the overregulation of the national economy and ineffective use of public funds, i.e. funds of the federal budget. However, certain initiatives of the current government, such as the modernization of railroad system and introduction of new trains and railroads, resemble policies conducted by the early US governments. In addition, today, science plays an extremely important role in the development of the modern economy. In this regard, the contemporary government and policy makers should refer to the experience of early American governments described by the authors of both books, “Understanding the Process of Economic Change” by Douglass C. North and “The Growth of the American Economy to 1860” edited by Douglass C. North & Robert Paul Thomas, for they spent substantial funds on exploration and research. In such a way, both books “Understanding the Process of Economic Change” by Douglass C. North and “The Growth of the American Economy to 1860” edited by Douglass C. North & Robert Paul Thomas may be helpful for modern economists and authorities in regard to learning the lessons from the past about effective ways of the economic development and effective economic policies.

Conclusion

Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is important to place emphasis on the fact that books “Understanding the Process of Economic Change” by Douglass C. North and “The Growth of the American Economy to 1860” edited by Douglass C. North & Robert Paul Thomas focus on the study of the early American economy. The authors explore main factors that determined the steady economic development of the US and the transition of the country from the agrarian economy to the industrialized one. Basically, both books point out the leading role of the government in conducting the economic change and accelerating the economic development. Nevertheless, the conclusions of both books are debatable because there were a number of other important actors along with the government that influences consistently the development of the early American economy.

References:

Gillon, M.G. and C. D. Matson. (2006). The American Experiment: A History of the United States, 2nd ed. New York: Random House.

Johnson, P. (1999). A History of the American People, LA: Perennial.

Lewis, B. (Dec. 17, 2001). “Did You Say American Imperialism?” National Review, 53(24), p.26.

North, D.C. (2005). Understanding the Process of Economic Change. Princeton University Press.

North, D.C. & R. P. Thomas. (1968). The Growth of the American Economy to 1860. University of South Carolina Press.

Tindall, G. and D. Shi. (2006). America: A Narrative History, Seventh Edition, New York: Bacon and  Allyson.

Watson, D. (1999). The US in the 19th century. New York: New Publishers.

Zinn, H. (2003). A People’s History of the United States, LA: Perennial.

The development of the early American economy confronted numerous challenges because theUSwas the new state which had gained independence fromGreat Britainand had just started its independent economic policies. At the same time, the country had the great potential not only in terms of natural resources but also in terms of the human resources. In such a situation, the study of the rise of the American economy from an agricultural economy oriented on the production of cotton to the industrialized economy with the growing urbanization and rapid industrial development, advanced infrastructure and extensive research and exploration, and rapidly growing economy. At the same time, the view on the American economy as the economy advanced by hard working people employed in farming and exploring the west in search of gold and new lands is apparently superficial. In this regard, it is possible to refer to the studies conducted by D.C. North and R.P. Thomas, who uncovered new aspects of the development of the early American economy and stressed the importance of the state in the development of the US and the role of individuals, who had managed to accelerate the economy development and realize the full potential of the US natural resources and human resources.

Synopsis

a. Synopsis of “Understanding the Process of Economic Change” by Douglass C. North

The book “Understanding the Process of Economic Change” by Douglass C. North focuses on the study of the rise of the early American economy. The author pays a particular attention to the problem of the economic change, which took place in theUSin the early history of the country. To put it more precisely, the author attempts to understand how people had managed to change their economy from the conventional colonial economy into advanced, industrialized economy. In fact, theUShad to pass a long way till the national economy had changed consistently and allowed theUSto become one of the significant world powers. In his book, D.C. Norht attempts to define the major actors that influenced the development of the early American economy and determined its progress and fast rise.

The book “Understanding the Process of Economic Change” by Douglass C. North reveals the fact that the early American economy was vulnerable to a significant impact of Great Britain and the country had to deal with external threats as well as numerous internal problems (North, 2005). The author stresses that the early American economy had to change because the colonial economy was oriented on the export of natural resources, such as fur and timber. Instead, theUShad to develop a powerful and independent economy which could increase the national wealth and accelerate the growth of the economic power of theUS. In this regard, D.C. North argues that people contributed consistently to the consistent changes in theUSeconomy and to the fast economy development.

On the other hand, the author is conscious of the fact that, even though people were eager to get larger economic opportunities, they were still dependent on large social institutions (North, 2005). In this respect, the government and authorities played probably one of the most significant roles. At any rate, the author admits the idea that the government and economy policies conducted by theUSat the early stages of the development of American economy stimulated the economic growth and allowed theUSto maintain the steady economic growth. On the other hand, the author of the book “Understanding the Process of Economic Change”, Douglass C. North, argues that the positive effects of policies conducted by theUSauthorities were not obvious at the beginning but they have positive long-run effects. In such a way, the author views the government and the state as the major actors that contributed to the consistent economic change and shift of theUSeconomy from the colonial economy to the advanced, industrialized economy in the mid-18th century.

Finally, it is worth mentioning the fact that D.C. North does not underestimates the significance of other actors which contributed to the economic growth of the US and qualitative economic change in the US in the early economy history. At this point, the author refers to the development of the cotton production as one of the major export-oriented industries of theUS, which boosted the growth of Southern states and the national economy at large. At the same time, North points out that the further development, exploration and researches funded or supported by the government were needed to maintain the further growth and to accelerate the economy development of theUS.

The attitude of theHooverto competition substantially differs from that in modern economic viewpoint.Hooverbelieved that there was too much competition inAmericain the 1920. He believed that a coordinated policy producers, as well as industry codes of “fair competition” would lead to better business results. Not surprisingly, that his initiatives led to increased concentration in the industry and significant monopolistic distortions even in 1920s.

Hoover’s views on wages policy were also very peculiar. He rightly believed that high wages and high standard of living go hand in hand, but he made peculiar conclusions of this fact. He believed that the increase in wages leaded to higher living standards, but apparently did not take into account the fact that a disproportionate increase in wages discourages businessmen desire to create new jobs.

The economic views of the President determined the agenda of meetings with the Captains of Industry, held at the end of 1929. ThereHooveradvised the heads of General Motors,Ford,USSteel, DuPont and other companies not to reduce wages. The president said that maintaining salaries at current levels would survive the downturn less painful and easier negotiations with unions. Then he asked the union leaders not to organize strikes not to require the growth of wages. The industrialists have agreed to support the program of the president and confirmed the salary level.

The fall in prices and productivity, together with the state program of fixation of wages substantially increased the cost of labor. Soon after consultations withHooverthe rapid decline in industrial production began. In one year – from October 1929 to September 1930 – the number of hours worked in the industry, fell by 30%. Thus, industrial production has decreased dramatically within a year after the start of depression – even before the severe contraction of money supply.

When the industrial decline has accelerated, leading industrialists askedHooverto support the reduction of wages, proportional decrease in the overall price level. The President did not support this proposal, despite criticism from business, which disaffected by the fact that the president supports salaries much higher than market levels.

In autumn 1931, when the number of hours worked fell by about 40%, manufacturers started to reduce salaries, but in real terms, they remained high due to precipitate deflation. The labor policy ofHooveraffected industries, but not on agriculture, which employed approximately the same number of people. Employment in the agricultural sector in the early 1930′s almost did not change (Temin 1991).

Depression and unemployment had not gone so far, ifHooverhadn’t persuaded business to fix wages. Of course,Hoover’s program was not the only factor that caused the recession, there were other factors.Hooverattempted to stop the depression, but the public believed that the measures taken by the administration ofHooverwere insufficient and too late. In the presidential elections of 1932 Franklin Roosevelt easily defeatedHoover.

To exit from the crisis in 1933 the New Deal of Roosevelt started to be implemented. It consisted of various measures aimed at regulating the economy. Some of them, have helped to eliminate the causes of the Great Depression, some were social orientation, helping the most affected to survive; and some measures have exacerbated the situation.

Almost immediately, in March 1933,Roosevelthad to deal with the third wave of banking panics, to which the new president reacted with the closure of banks for a week and preparation the special program to guarantee deposits.

The first 100 days ofRoosevelt’s presidency were marked by intense legislative activity. Congress authorized the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Administration of Relief (FACHP), whose creation was mandated by law to restore the national economy on July 16, 1933.

Unemployed people were actively involved in community service. In total, during 1933-1939s more than 4 million people worked at public works under the auspices of the Public Works Administration (PWA) and the administration of Civil Works Civil Works Administration – NEA (the construction of canals, roads, and bridges, often in uninhabited and swampy malarial areas).

In agriculture, the Law, adopted on May 12, 1933 about the regulation, restructured the farm debt of 12 million USD, reduced interest on mortgage debt and lengthened the maturity of all debts. The Government has been able to provide loans to farmers, and over the next four years, agricultural banks have given loans totaling 2.2 billion dollars on very good conditions to half a million of land owners. To raise the prices of agricultural products the farmers were recommended to reduce their production, to cut the crop area, reduce the number of livestock, and to compensate for possible losses created a special fund.

Results of the first year ofRoosevelt’s presidency were mixed: GDP decline slowed considerably and amounted only 2.1% in 1933, but unemployment rose to 24.9% (Bernstein 1959).

After the purchase of the gold by the State at a fixed price,Rooseveltissued a proclamation, which reduces the gold content of the dollar from 25.8 to 15 and set the official price of gold at 35 dollars per ounce. In other words, the dollar was devalued by 41%.

It was composed 557 major and 189 additional so-called “codes of fair competition” in various industries. Parties guaranteed a minimum wage, as well as the same wage for all workers of one category. Those codes have covered 95% of all industrial workers. Such codes severely restricted competition (Rothbard 2000).

The state strongly intervened in the sphere of education, health, guaranteed minimum living standards, has undertaken to ensure the elderly, the disabled, the poor people. The costs of the federal government in 1932-1940 years were more than doubled. ButRooseveltwas afraid of unbalanced budget and expenditures for the year 1937, so the sufficient momentum has been reduced. That fact again plunged the country into a recession of 1937-1938.

So, the Great Depression was a recession the world economy, which began in most places in 1929 and ended in early 1933. The collapse of production, industry, banking and agriculture has made life ofAmericainhabitants unbearable. The poverty, unemployment and despair dominated in the society. People had no money for living; the unemployment rate was very high. The peak of the level of unemployment of the Great Depression in 1933, when it reached 24.9%, is one of the highest ever inU.S.history.  The situation has only slightly improved thanks to the New Deal of Roosevelt. The Great Depression of 1929-1933 is considered the most serious crisis so far.

Work Cited:

Bernstein,Irving. (1959). Unemployment in the great depression. Pp. 12-14.

Clausen, John A. (1995). American Lives: Looking Back at the Children of the Great Depression. Pp. 78-79.

Cravens, Hamilton. (2009). Great Depression: people and perspectives. Pp. 3-5.

Gunderson, Cory. (2004). The Great Depression. Pp. 31-32.

Robbins, Lionel., Weidenbaum, Murray. (2009). The Great Depression. Pp. 47-48.

Rothbard,MurrayNewton. (2000).America’s great depression. Pp. 125-127.

Temin, Peter. (1991). Lessons from the Great Depression. Pp. 96-98.

Uys, Errol Lincoln. (2003). Riding the Rails: Teenagers on the Move During the Great Depression. Pp. 34-36.

The Great Depression of1929 intheUnited Statesoccurred as a result of overproduction and a lack of money for the purchase of most goods. Since the money was connected to gold, and the number of the metal was limited, there was a shortage of money, and then the lack of effective demand for goods and services. Then there was a sharp drop in prices (deflation) for goods, bankruptcy of enterprises, unemployment, fencing duties on imported goods, falling consumer demand and a sharp drop in living standards.

The beginning of the Great Depression in theU.S.was October 29, 1929, the so-called “Black Tuesday”. The stock market collapsed, the day shares fell by 10 billion dollars, which meant the disappearance of credit money in the amount of 10 billion dollars. Because of the falling stock market, 20-25 million people in theU.S.had losses (Gunderson 2004).

There is another point of view about the causes of the Great American Depression. Great Depression was preceded by rapid growth of theU.S.economy. Thus, from 1917 to 1927 theU.S.national income has increased almost 3 times. The Conveyor production was used widely, stock market was developing rapidly, the number of speculative transactions was increasing, and the real estate was becoming expensive. The increase in production of goods demanded increasing money supply, and the dollar was pegged to gold (Cravens 2009).

Before the Great Depression, theU.S.gold reserves were not increasing as rapidly as the economy expanded. This fact led to the emergence of hidden inflation as the government printed new money for the rapid growth of the economy. Thus, the dollar was undermined security in gold, the budget deficit grew, and the FED was lowering the discount rate.

There was a situation when the productivity growth in industry has declined, and the number of pseudo money (bills, receipts, etc.), on the contrary increased. This imbalance in the economy led to the “Black Tuesday” of 1929.

The conditions of living of people were terrible. People didn’t have enough money for living, because they didn’t have jobs. It is nearly impossible to learn the truth about the human losses during the Great Depression, but it makes no sense to deny that such a serious crisis led to a rise in mortality. After the peak of the crisis, more than 17 million people were unemployed and all who had deposits inU.S.banks lost money, the social insurance system at that time did not exist. According to statistics, the level of suicide has increased over the years from 14 to 17 cases per 100 000 people. Several times the authorities ofNew Yorkeven arranged to extreme measures, and handed out free soup on the street.

Unemployment during the Great Depression was hard, and this led to the loss of millions of jobs in the industrialized world. Life during the Great Depression was difficult for financial investors, business firms and industries that were drowned in debt and suffered monumental losses of trade. Bankruptcy of banks has become the norm; many banks were closed due to the inability to earn money.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment of the Great Depression, the level, without alternative sources of employment and strong deflation was very variable. The unemployment of the Great Depression varied between 3.3% and 24.9%!

After the official end of World War One in 1919, the federal government was able to take better control of the U.S. economy and the unemployment rate remained stable at 3.3% for about 7 years from 1923 to 1929 (Uys 2003).

The Government of Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression did not have options out of the crisis and was criticized for failing to stop the economic crisis. The unemployment in the last years of the Great Depression, in 1931, 1932 and 1933 was 15.9%, 23.6% and 24.9%! The peak of the level of unemployment of the Great Depression in 1933, when it reached 24.9%, is one of the highest ever inU.S.history.

The unemployment of the Great Depression began to decline after 1933. These were the years when President Hoover was replaced by a dynamic, Franklin D. Roosevelt. In addition, in the next years, the unemployment of the Great Depression was declining, and reached 14.6% in 1940. It was a year after the World War Second, which was indirectly useful for theU.S.economy because theU.S.started production of weapons and ammunition. The unemployment rate fell sharply, due to the war front in 1942; it decreased to 4.7%.

During the Great Depression the life of people was difficult, because enterprises went bankrupt, of enterprises, unemployment grew, and production declined. Number of unemployed in theU.S.since 1929 to 1933 increased from 1.6 million to 12.8 million people, unemployment was 25% (Robbins 2009).

Unhappy people took the so-called hunger marches and the distrust to the economic system grew quickly.

(Robbins 2009).

Thus, the collapse of the American Stock Exchange has caused mass layoffs. According to the American Federation of Labor, in1933 intheU.S., there were 12,830 thousand totally unemployed (Clausen 1995).

A lot of unemployed workers queued up and competed for jobs in the American Bureau of Unemployment.

Those who were not able to pay for shelter built a makeshift “home” of the old boards and boxes. This “palace” was built inNew York.

Some, however, were content with spending the night in public organizations, such as the Beacon Light Mission. This organization of Evangelical orientation was originally created to help seafarers who could eat there, bathe and relax in specially equipped dormitories ofMission.

Unemployed and homeless citizens were forced to appeal to the public and private organizations and foundations, because until 1932 there were no government social programs to help impoverished people.

People were looking for different ways to raise a little their wealth. They were ready for any jobs.

Not only industry suffered from the crisis, but agriculture also. There escalated the crisis of overproduction. Most of the farmers were on the verge of ruin because of falling prices for agricultural products in 3 times. Since the majority of African-Americans were engaged in agriculture, they were the first to feel the effects of the Great Depression.

In the south of the country landowners started to expel Cropper sharecroppers from their land, who were working the land on lease basis. There were even cases of lynching of sharecroppers.

It should also be mentioned that the president in 1929-1933, was Herbert Clark Hoover.

Preceded to the Great Depression an event of the U.S. stock market crash 1929: slump in stock prices that began in the “Black Thursday” October 24, 1929, has taken catastrophic proportions in the “Black Monday” (October 28) and “Black Tuesday” (October 29). October 29, 1929 was the day the stock market crashed on the Wall Street, as described in The Great Depression. Economists have not agreed on the causes of the Great Depression. Consequently, there are several theories on this, but, apparently, in the emergence of the economic crisis has played its role as a combination of factors:

- Keynesian explanation is the lack of money.
- Monetarism – the crisis has caused the Federal Reserve monetary policy.
- Marxism – a crisis of overproduction inherent in capitalism.
- Stock exchange bubble, investments in production in excess of actual need.
- Rapid population growth, a large number of children per family was typical of the old agrarian mode of production (an average of 3.5 children per family), but with the progress of medicine and a temporary increase in life were seriously reduced the natural decline due to disease.
- One of the factors forced the onset of the Great Depression, called the adoption of the Smoot-Hawley in 1930, introduce high tariffs on imported goods.
- The First World War and served as one of the causes of the Great Depression – the -American economy was at first “pumped” by military orders of the Government, which after the First World have fallen sharply, leading to a recession in the country’s defense industry and related sectors.
- Margin loans.

The Great Depression affects us today by reminding the mistakes that were made almost a century ago that caused so many problems for all humanity. Today’s economy also has many problems and there is a world crisis that influences the economy and people’s lives all over the world.

References

American Cultural History 1930-1939 (2008). Retrieved October 18, 2010 from

http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade30.html

The Great Depression (2010). Retrieved October 18, 2010 from http://www.42explore2.com/depresn.htm

Deep historical analysis of tattoo’s applications show us that originally for creation of tattoos were used the thorns of different plants, fish and animal bones. Tradition of tattoo, or “application on the body of special patterns and pictures”, leaved roots in ancient times. Long before appearance of architecture, music and other kinds of art our ancestors decorated dwelling rock with pictures, and body with tattoos. An art of tattoo is part of world culture and, both appearing, both disappearing or regenerating again, passes through all history of humanity from the most ancient Egyptian burial places, whose age counts four millenniums, to our days. Archaeological excavations prove that a tattoo was widespread practically all over the world. Ancient people used it in religious rituals, as an amulet and simply as a decoration. Greeks pricked in cipher tattoos the spies, and Romans branded criminals and slaves in such way. Almost all nations had identical techniques of tattoos application, and also they had similar patterns that described vegetable or geometrical decorative ornament, images of animals, birds and so on. The special role in history of art of tattoo belongs to Japanese and Polynesian traditions, because both of them had strong tattoo traditions.

Saying about ancient times we see that the surprising variety of methods of causing of tattoos appeared in different cultures. In North and South America many Indian tribes inflict on a body tattoos usually by simple pricks, and some tribes in Californiaentered dye in scratches. Many tribes of Arctic and some people in East Siberia, used a home-made needle and prick skin with their help, then they stretch out a filament covered with pigment through a puncture. In Polynesia and Micronesia, dye stick into skin by a little spinning disk with needles which in the same queue moisten with dye during rotation. According to the information from web site we see that “Ancient Thai Tattooing: This ancient tattoo tool works just like the Western machine. The tattoo tradition here is tied to Buddhism and designs are religious symbols. It is made with a long brass tube, and a sliding pointed rod running down the centre. The artist dips it in ink, keeping a steady hand against the client’s skin while the other pierces the skin like the needle of a sewing machine.” (http://www.yotattoos.com/tattoos/different-tattoo-techniques.php)

Based on above stated we see that the history of tattoo applications has an old roots and the most important factor in the mass-produced tattoo was the electric tattoo machine. Tattoo guns are the best instrument to use for a long time, as they move extremely fast and are sharp enough to easily puncture the skin. In such a way we see that there are many different tattoo tools used in different cultures but the main of them are sharp needle in hands of professional and special tattoo gun.

Thus, taking into account all above stated we could come to the conclusion that technologies of tattoo constantly developed and perfected. Great number of producers of instrument and consumable materials constantly competes for user that provides steady growth of quality of the produced commodities. Modern tattoo passed the way from an ordinary needle to electric razor. We understand that tattooing has come a long way, but exactly today it became a respected form of art and many people perceive it with admiration.

References

DeMello, Margo (2000). Bodies of Inscription: a Cultural History of the Modern Tattoo Community,California.DurhamNC: Duke University Press.

Gilbert, S. (2001) Tattoo History: a Source Book,New York: Juno Books.

Gilbert, S. G. (2001). Tattoo History: a Source Book,New York: Juno Books.

Legalizing tattoos. Retrieved March 4, 2010 from <http://www.nyc24.org/2003/issue4/story4/page2.html>

The techniques of tattooing. Retrieved March 4, 2010 from < http://www.yotattoos.com/tattoos/different-tattoo-techniques.php>

According to historical sources the Korean War has been also called “The Forgotten War” or “The Unknown War”, because it was culturally forgotten through the ages. This war was really historically overshadowed by the two most famous wars in our world’s history; I mean World War II andVietnam. The Korean War became a central part of the events of those times and it figures in all forced conflicts and military actions. Different opinions vary on this point but all researches agree that the Korean War was one of the first episodes of the Cold War. Analyzing those times situation we can emphasize that many of great personalities were involved in it, that’s why among them we can find: Truman, MacArthur, Mao, and Stalin. In this war situation we should remember one thing that if we can answer the first question of our research connected with the main reasons of war beginning, the rest of the research should be plain sailing. First of all I want to mention that when the North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea the Korean War began and became full-scale civil war or military conflict (I think that these two titles can’t change its contents).

Let’s get away from generalities and descend on particulars of the Korean War beginning. The Korean War like every another war in our history has own character and reasons for its beginning. There are almost as many definitions of this war as there commentators, because different people have different opinion in relate to this topic. Summarizing all information about the Korean War we can mark out that the Korean War was a military conflict or it even will be better to called it a civil war betweenNorth KoreaandSouth Koreawith main hostilities beginning on June 25, 1950. The conflict had its roots in power division and arose from it when the two Korean powers tried to reunifyKoreaunder their government. For example, let’s remember that theRepublicofKoreawas supported by theUnited Statesand the Democratic People’sRepublicofKoreawas supported by the People’s Republic ofChinaand theSoviet Union. As it was above mentioned, this cruel civil war began on 25 June 1950 and it took more than 2 million civilians and soldiers from the both sides. We see from this awful statistic data that the Korean War had already proven to Americans thatRussiaandChinawere successfully spreading the Communist view throughoutSoutheast Asia.

In continuation of this topic it is necessary to say that an international climate in this period became worse substantially – it was the height of the Cold War, time of proclamation of doctrine of «inhibition of communism», hard implementation of political course of American government. As we can conclude from received information two big countries needed in these conflict continuation because both of them, I mean theUSAand theUSSRwanted to become more powerful and didn’t want to leave their positions.

This war had its own consequences because it was a war between two parts of one country with straight opposite course of development and for a great regret it is distinctly evidently, that these two states were just marionettes at theUSSRand theUSAhands. In fact, the Korean War was one of the first and greatest conflicts after completion of the WWII. On this basis, it is possible to judge thatKoreabecame a starting point for the Cold War beginning. It is impossible not to take into account circumstance that General Assembly of UNO at that time was under noticeable influence ofAmerica, which, in same queue, also quite a bit influenced on motion of the history of the Korean War. TheUSAbecame an aggressor on attitude not only toward theNorth Koreabut also to theSouth Korea, because it strongly pressed on rulings circles at the head with the main governor of the country. In acknowledgement of these words I want to add that the Korean War was the first local forced conflict of Western and socialistic blocks in a nuclear epoch, in which participation of super countries carried the limited character (spread on the limited territory and not accompanied the use of the weapon of the mass destruction).

Finally we will talk about the end of the Korean War, because there was no victory in this war. The Korean War had important political consequences both forKoreaand for other whole world. Thus, the Korean War resulted in distribution of the Cold War not only onFar Eastbut also on other regions. TheUSAsaved a considerable military contingent inSouth Korea, sent troops for defense ofTaiwan, gave up the former policy of neutrality in Indo-Chinese and extended the military being in Europe and on theNear East. The military budget of theUSAattained 50 milliards of dollars, the quantity of American military powers was twice increased; the special accent was done on development of aviation. The military industrial complex of theUSA, experiencing a deep slump after completion of the WWII, recovered the economic positions.

Thus, taking into account all above mentioned we can conclude that the Korean War greatly changed situation in the world and two big powerful countries used it as an instrument for those changes. There were killed a lot of people during this cruel war and it led to the beginning of the Cold War that was the long and hard for the whole period of its existence. I think that this research helped me better understand the Korean War nature and show that every war is a big pain for ordinary people.

Bibliography

Brune, Lester and Higham, Robin. The Korean War: Handbook of the Literature and Research.GreenwoodPress, 1994.

Edwards, Paul M. Korean War Almanac, 2006.

Hickey, Michael. The Korean War: The West Confronts Communism, 1950–1953.London: John Murray, 1999.

Kaufman,Burton. The Korean Conflict.GreenwoodPress, 1999.

Varhola, Michael J. Fire and Ice: The Korean War, 1950-1953, 2000.