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- Title
- AN EXAMINATION OF THE INSTABILITY AND EXPLOITATION IN CONGO FROM KING LEOPOLD II'S FREE STATE TO THE SECOND CONGO WAR.
- Creator
-
Beal, Baldwin, Walker, Ezekiel, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
This thesis will analyze the Congo from King Leopold II's Free State to the 2nd Congo War. After a thorough investigation of the colonial period, this thesis will analyze the modern period. This thesis contends that the underdevelopment of the Congo, and its continuing warfare and poverty are the consequences of an exploitative colonial history. To be sure, King Leopold II of Belgium created the template for administering the Congo through the installation of concessionary companies that were...
Show moreThis thesis will analyze the Congo from King Leopold II's Free State to the 2nd Congo War. After a thorough investigation of the colonial period, this thesis will analyze the modern period. This thesis contends that the underdevelopment of the Congo, and its continuing warfare and poverty are the consequences of an exploitative colonial history. To be sure, King Leopold II of Belgium created the template for administering the Congo through the installation of concessionary companies that were more interested in harvesting huge profits than creating the conditions for a self-sustaining Congolese economy. Indeed, the policies implemented by King Leopold not only created the framework for the exploitation of the Congo after the cessation of the Free State, and set the stage for Congo's current state of instability of warfare.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFH0004728, ucf:45352
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004728
- Title
- AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY THINKERS: UNJUST WARS, LIMITED GOVERNMENT AND NATURAL RIGHTS.
- Creator
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Spera, Adam, Coverston, Harry, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The conceptual bases of this thesis include the philosophical constructs of Just War Theory, limited government, and natural rights as applied to foreign policy. Just War Theory was originally articulated by St. Augustine and represents the requirements a nation must satisfy to wage war justly. Building upon the basis of Just War Theory, I then split the discussion into two main categories. The first is a historical look at certain American thinkers and their reactions to what they saw as...
Show moreThe conceptual bases of this thesis include the philosophical constructs of Just War Theory, limited government, and natural rights as applied to foreign policy. Just War Theory was originally articulated by St. Augustine and represents the requirements a nation must satisfy to wage war justly. Building upon the basis of Just War Theory, I then split the discussion into two main categories. The first is a historical look at certain American thinkers and their reactions to what they saw as unjust wars based in their strong idealistic goals for humanity. The second is a critical examination of American foreign policy based upon the analytical model arising from these American thinkers. The thesis concludes with an examination of contemporary applications of this analysis with an examination of recent wars that have taken place in the Middle East and an assessment of their just or unjust nature. My historical research examines the arguments of Thomas Paine, Emma Goldman, Henry David Thoreau, and Martin Luther King, Jr. I will review each thinker to highlight their criticisms of the unjust wars in which America has been involved from the 18th Century to the 21st Century. A secondary goal of this research is to trace a pattern of idealistic thinking that is present in American Revolutionary thought. These ideals refer to notions of natural rights, social liberty, economic freedom, and the constant pursuit of justice. By using the established arguments put forth by these four American thinkers, I argue that another unjust war will only bring misery to America and any other nation involved. iii Finally, my contemporary research develops the CIA term "blowback" and its effect on American foreign policy. By applying the theory of blowback to the current military disputes in which the United States has been or could be involved, I attempt to persuade the reader to resist the notion of engaging in another war. Historically unjust wars have never improved the standard of living for the American citizen and have served to suppress the inherent natural rights of the human beings involved. In conclusion, I combine contemporary and historical arguments to highlight the continuing stream of injustice that exists in American foreign policy.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFH0004196, ucf:44854
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004196
- Title
- KING LEOPOLD II'S EXPLOITATION OF THE CONGO FROM 1885 TO 1908 AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.
- Creator
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Johnson, Steven, Walker, Ezekiel, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
This thesis argues that King Leopold II, in his exploitation of the Congo, dealt the Congo a future of political, ethnic, and economic destabilization. At one time consisting of unified and advanced kingdoms, the Congo turned to one completely beleaguered by poverty and political oppression. Leopold acquired the Congo through unethical means and thus took the people's chances away at self-rule. He provided for no education or vocational training, which would stunt future Congolese leaders...
Show moreThis thesis argues that King Leopold II, in his exploitation of the Congo, dealt the Congo a future of political, ethnic, and economic destabilization. At one time consisting of unified and advanced kingdoms, the Congo turned to one completely beleaguered by poverty and political oppression. Leopold acquired the Congo through unethical means and thus took the people's chances away at self-rule. He provided for no education or vocational training, which would stunt future Congolese leaders from making sound economic and political policies. Leopold also exploited the Congo with the help of concession companies, both of which used forced labor to extract valuable resources. Millions of Congolese died and the Congo itself became indebted through Belgian loans that were given with no assurance they could ever truly be paid back due to the crippled economy of the Congo. With the Congo now in crippling debt, the current president, Joseph Kabila, has little incentive to invest in reforms or public infrastructure, which stunts economic growth. For over a century the Congo has been ruled by exploitative and authoritarian regimes due to Leopold's initial acquisition. The colonization from Leopold lasted from 1885-1908, and then he sold it to his home country of Belgium who ruled the Congo from 1908 to 1960. Belgium helped prop up a dictator named Joseph Mobutu or Mobutu Sese Seko who ruled from 1965 to 1997. Afterwards he was overthrown by the Kabila family who has continued the exploitative rule and has made no significant efforts at democratization or reforms. Thus the ethnic conflicts, political oppression and economic woes that the Congo is facing today are inevitably linked to its Leopoldian past.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFH0004661, ucf:45304
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004661
- Title
- THE DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERIES BY KING HENRY VIII AND ITS EFFECT ON THE ECONMOY, POLITICAL LANDSCAPE, AND SOCIAL INSTABILITY IN TUDOR ENGLAND THAT LED TO THE CREATION OF THE POOR LAWS.
- Creator
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Cooper, Casey, Bledsoe, Robert, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Before the reformation and the schism of the Catholic Church, it had always been the duty of the Church and not of the state, to undertake the seven corporal works of mercy; feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick, visit the prisoner, and bury the dead. By dissolving these institutions, Henry had unwittingly created what would become a social disaster of biblical proportions. In essence, this act was rendering thousands of the poor...
Show moreBefore the reformation and the schism of the Catholic Church, it had always been the duty of the Church and not of the state, to undertake the seven corporal works of mercy; feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick, visit the prisoner, and bury the dead. By dissolving these institutions, Henry had unwittingly created what would become a social disaster of biblical proportions. In essence, this act was rendering thousands of the poor and elderly without a home or shelter, it denied the country of much of the medical aid that has been offered by the church, it denied future generations of thousands of volumes of books and scriptures from the monastic libraries, as well as denied many an education who would have otherwise never received one without the help of the Church. The ultimate goal of my thesis is to prove my hypothesis that the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII was not merely a contributory factor in the need for the creation of poor laws, but the deciding factor (in a myriad of societal issues) for their creation.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- Identifier
- CFH0003834, ucf:44770
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0003834
- Title
- The Natural Exile: A Study Of Twenty-First Century Cuban-American Narratives Focusing On The Elderly's Plight.
- Creator
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Parson, Jasmine, Milanes, Cecilia, Nwakanma, Obi, Logan, Lisa, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Developed from the similarity between exile theory and age studies, the term (")exile(") is expanded to a natural form of exile because of the shocking temporal shift that reconstructs social interaction, familial dynamics, and the aging body. Using Heidegger's theoretical work Being in Time, Simon de Beauvoir's The Coming of Age, and Jean Am(&)#233;ry's On Aging as insight, this literary analysis captures how the elderly protagonists Goyo from Cristina Garc(&)#237;a's King of Cuba, M(&)#225...
Show moreDeveloped from the similarity between exile theory and age studies, the term (")exile(") is expanded to a natural form of exile because of the shocking temporal shift that reconstructs social interaction, familial dynamics, and the aging body. Using Heidegger's theoretical work Being in Time, Simon de Beauvoir's The Coming of Age, and Jean Am(&)#233;ry's On Aging as insight, this literary analysis captures how the elderly protagonists Goyo from Cristina Garc(&)#237;a's King of Cuba, M(&)#225;ximo from Ana Men(&)#233;ndez's (")In Cuba I was a German Shepherd,(") and Soledad from Cecilia Rodr(&)#237;guez Milan(&)#233;s's (")Abuela Marielita(") experience a natural exile among society, their family and within their own body. These areas express how the elderly's sense of displacement equates that of a political/geographical exile.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007701, ucf:52432
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007701