The Printing Press and the Cultural Emancipation of Early-Modern Europe, 1450-1800 Essay Example

The Printing Press and the Cultural Emancipation of Early-Modern Europe, 1450-1800 Essay The Printing Press and the Cultural Emancipation of Early-Modern Europe, 1450-1800 Merriam-Websters English dictionary defines emancipation as the, [freedom] from restraint, control, or the power of another, and [freedom] from any controlling influence. The cultural emancipation that began in early-modern Europe prior to the Renaissance had a deep effect on the lives of its constituents. The printing press, invented in 1455 by Johannes Gutenberg, presented the public with a new forum for book production as the very first method of mass publication. Previously, should multiple copies be printed, each would have to be transcribed by hand, a task which would be both labour-intensive, and take place over a large stretch of time. Due to both of these factors, the cost of purchasing a manuscript was astronomical, and limited to the privileged few who pertained to the upper-class, possessing small fortunes which could be spent frivolously. Prior to Gutenberg’s revolutionary invention, individuals were taught by religious leaders and could seek no information on their own. The printing machine led to an increase in the number of books and decreased the price of them dramatically. There was a large demand for books but they were constructed very slowly by virtue of the fact that they were made by hand. The new efficient production method made the books accessible to common people for the first time. This accessibility quickly led to an increased number of literate and more educated individuals. These books became the wheel for the vehicle of cultural expression and emancipation from the choke hold of the church and state. We will write a custom essay sample on The Printing Press and the Cultural Emancipation of Early-Modern Europe, 1450-1800 specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Printing Press and the Cultural Emancipation of Early-Modern Europe, 1450-1800 specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Printing Press and the Cultural Emancipation of Early-Modern Europe, 1450-1800 specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The printing press has been the main influence on an information revolution that has created drastic change in the lives of all individuals involved. It has given people the opportunity to spread their opinions and read about those of others, changing the landscape of mass communication, which has acted as a catalyst to the introducing and spread of new culture that is defined by the ideology of the majority. The history of the printing press is rooted in central Europe but has origins in the Far East as well. Printing presses were known in China but were not used, despite their efficiency. While it was invented over three decades prior to Gutenbergs metal printing press, the benefit of the new system was not as evident as there are thousands of Chinese characters, a far stretch from the simple 26-character modern alphabet used in European languages. While Gutenberg began by using wooden blocks to produce text, he transitioned to metal typography or letterpress printing in 1430 after moving to Strasbourg. The metal lettering could allow for quicker reproduction since one mold would need to be produced and replication would become less difficult. The new printing presses, despite Gutenbergs attempts to conceal them spread through Europe quickly. The books were being printed on cheap paper and no longer cost a fortune. Before the new printing presses, Cambridge’s publishing house owned a total of 122 books in its library. Each of these books cost the same as a small farm home or a vineyard. By 1499 publishing houses were developed in more than 2500 locations in Europe allowed for an ease of publication that had never been seen up-to-date. The landscape for literacy has evolved quickly. As mentioned in an article on the cultural effect of the printing press, Fifteen million books had been flung into a world where scholars would travel miles to visit a library stocked with twenty hand-written volumes. While the number of volumes released to the public is debated by scholars, as mentioned in the article itself, it is the effect of this increase in volume of books that is the truly staggering observable change. With a population hungry for knowledge, the new books were eagerly accepted and literacy rates began on a path of steady increase in most regions of Europe between the 16th and 19th centuries. As stated in the following article, The impact of Gutenbergs printing press in Europe was comparable to the development of writing, the invention of the alphabet or the Internet, as far as its effects on society. Literacy and adequate literature are the keys to the social and cultural emancipation of a population and literacy serves as a stepping stone which leads to a series of cascading mechanisms which activate a transformation in a society. The increase in readership following the invention of the Gutenberg press created an adequate setting for the introduction of a social movement. Literacy was essential to the comprehension of complex ideas in text and to develop and organize systems within which the scholarly and political organizations of the day and their members could function dexterously. The printing press did not immediately produce an explosion of democratization, but it laid the stepping stones for universal education and eventually the first newspaper. In the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the printing press was using inexpensive printing material and established the premises for widespread schooling. Governments were given the opportunity to educate entire populations and took complete advantage of the technological printing press break through. Mass literacy was quickly acknowledged as a powerful instrument available to governments and education became a priority for many. Governments pushed for literacy in the hope to create populations that were more identifiable with the government rather than local communities. They wanted groups that could respond to a central system of governance that would participate in industries and trades. Their actions, however, generated a population with critical political resources. They gathered the government’s strengths and weaknesses and came to their own conclusions about the world. Literacy generated more conscientious people who demanded rights and privileges from their government. The goals that the government had attempted to reach were in stark contrast with the reality of the situation. The printing press gave way to scientific journals, critical readings, and essays. Individuals were now able to voice their opinions and beliefs within a written context. It allowed people to construct their social realities with their own definitions of gender, race and class taking power away from the authorities, which previously possessed it, and giving it to the working class. Individuals, before the increase in literacy which was realized by mass communication, relied solely on what was taught to them by authoritative leaders and religious figures. Now, they had more education on the main principles and access to what then seemed like innumerable sources for debate within their social circles. With this, the individuals found themselves relating to each other more than the central power educating them and came together to contest their power. In contrast, illiteracy was not only the incapability of reading and writing but formed the difference between those that are culturally deprived and those that are culturally rich. As literacy rates grew exponentially, it allowed for new forms of expression between neighbors, friends, and acquaintances and unified them. This rapidly spread quality information throughout the proletariat and petite bourgeoisie, adapting not only culture, but also blurring the lines between the supposed rich and poor, making information a new form of currency in the middle class. Literacy rate increases have been described often and in many revolutions as the underlying cause of their uprisings. With the promulgation of troubling information regarding the current legislation, many important actors in cultural revolutions have been spurred to coalesce in the battle against the repressive conditions instilled by their governments. Three major revolutions – the English, the French, and Russian – took place when the literacy rate was higher than ordinary. The English revolution, for example, took place when the number of persons within the population that were literate had exceeded one third, a number than far exceeded its previous levels. In the English revolution, the people were capable of not only revoking the power of the government through their unification, they managed to execute their king. With the literature passed around regarding the practices of the monarchy, though biased, it served to unify the people in their ideology and changed the political atmosphere of the country as a whole leading to a tremendous cultural change in the form of an experimental period of government. Replacing the monarchy of King Charles I was a period known as the Commonwealth which emphasized the unification of the people. This change in the pattern of human activity created a new culture where class was less prominent and the commoners set the grounds for social action. Governments are extremely aware of the disadvantages of information equality and the threats it poses and mass literacy was even considered a danger in the eighteenth century by authority figures. They understood its meaning at its consequences if it was implemented into the population. Bernard Mandeville was of the most active critics on this topic and argued it thoroughly in ‘Essay on Charity and Charity-Schools’. He argued that the public needed to remain ignorant to stay happy with their lives as laborers, with little information on how to make their lives better, they would be less inclines to challenge or make demands of the government. Literacy and education in the eighteenth century were associated with social mobility. Literacy was viewed as a threat to social order and stability, and a threat to the church and state. The spread of information has the capability to lead to social reforms and emancipations and, as mentioned, has done so in the past. A literate population has the potential to oppose and abbreviate the term of a government, and most importantly to reform its practices. Mass communication of literature empowers individuals and populations and is the creator of a basis for freedom, liberation, and cultural emancipation. With the invention of the printing press, more than one cultural phenomenon took place. The mass publication of books, the spread of information to the working classes, the creation of a middle class, and the replacement of government and church power with unity of the population against totalitarian regimes are all results of Gutenbergs letterpress printing. By cutting costs, increasing accessibility, and implementing a better education system, the privilege of literacy was no longer exclusive to the upper class, and allowed for a more aware and responsive population. The immense and revolutionary change which it [the invention of printing] brought about can be summarized in one sentence: Until that time every book was a manuscript. Without a final publication of a manuscript, and a transformation into a piece of literature, it is nothing and cannot survive. Just as that statement is explained in the quote, without the spread of an idea, it can never become an ideology. With the spread of information, ignorant bliss was replaced with informed activism and exoneration from government and church control. The unification of the people that resulted from the mass publication by printing presses is an indicator that when given the opportunity to spread opinions and choose their path, entire populations can design their own living conditions. Cultural change and emancipation is gradual but with the right tools it can leave lasting impressions. ** Bibliography 1. ) Comitini, Patricia. Vocational Philanthropy and British Women’s Writing, 1790-1810. London: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. , 2005. 2. ) Einstein, Elizabeth L. The Printing Press as an Agent of Change: Communications and Cultural Transformations in Early-Modern Europe. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1979. 3. ) â€Å"Emancipated. † Def. 1-3. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 10th ed. 2002. 4. ) Freire, Paulo, and Donaldo Pereira Macedo. Literacy: Reading the Word the World. Oxford: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1987. 5. Jones, Idris D. The English Revolution: An Introduction to English History, 1603-1714. London: W. Heinemann, 1952. 6. ) Kreis, Steven, The Printing Press. 13 May 2004. The History Guide. 20 Feb. 2008. www. historyguide. org/intellect/press/html. 7. ) Midlarsky, Manus I. Inequality, Democracy, and Economic Development. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997. 8. ) Oxford Review of Education. The Cultural Origins of Popular Literacy in Eng land 1500-1850. Lacqueur, Thomas. Vol. 2, No. 3. Taylor Francis, Ltd. , 1976. Pp. 255-275. ***

Free Essays on The Australian Legal System Fails Rape Victims

â€Å"The experience of the few women who do seek justice after being raped is heartbreaking testament to the failure of the adversarial criminal law achieving convictions† Do you agree with this proposition? Justify your position. Similar to many Western countries, Australia uses the adversary system in both criminal and civil cases. The standard of proof of the adversary system in criminal cases is â€Å"proof beyond reasonable doubt†, and with a nation-wide rape conviction rate of one per cent, many important questions are being raised. One of these issues stems from the rate of report of sexual offences to the police, which currently stands at approximately 15%. There are many reasons for this number being so low, the most worrying being â€Å"fear of legal system† or at least a lack of faith in it, by victims. A Rape Crisis Hotline in Victoria receives 15,000 calls per year from distressed women who are victims of sexual assault. Most of them do not report their ordeal to the police for this exact reason; â€Å"the victims fear the system, the think it will just chew them up and spit them out with nothing to show for the whole nightmare†. Other reasons cited by rape victims for not reporting attacks include â€Å"feeling ashamed† and â€Å"being blamed or held responsible by the police or courts†. On top of this, there is the very real knowledge that the chances of their attacker being convicted at a trial and punished for his crime (men still represent 93% of sex offenders) are on ly one in 100. In NSW in 2000-01 of the approximate 3% of the sexual assaults that reached the Courts, 36% were acquitted and only 30% were convicted (12% of which were convicted on a lesser offence). ‘Tracey’ [not her real name],44, of Victoria, and was sexually molested by her father from the age of four up to the age of 15, at which point she moved out of home. ‘Tracey’ was also raped by her father in her early twenties. In 200... Free Essays on The Australian Legal System Fails Rape Victims Free Essays on The Australian Legal System Fails Rape Victims â€Å"The experience of the few women who do seek justice after being raped is heartbreaking testament to the failure of the adversarial criminal law achieving convictions† Do you agree with this proposition? Justify your position. Similar to many Western countries, Australia uses the adversary system in both criminal and civil cases. The standard of proof of the adversary system in criminal cases is â€Å"proof beyond reasonable doubt†, and with a nation-wide rape conviction rate of one per cent, many important questions are being raised. One of these issues stems from the rate of report of sexual offences to the police, which currently stands at approximately 15%. There are many reasons for this number being so low, the most worrying being â€Å"fear of legal system† or at least a lack of faith in it, by victims. A Rape Crisis Hotline in Victoria receives 15,000 calls per year from distressed women who are victims of sexual assault. Most of them do not report their ordeal to the police for this exact reason; â€Å"the victims fear the system, the think it will just chew them up and spit them out with nothing to show for the whole nightmare†. Other reasons cited by rape victims for not reporting attacks include â€Å"feeling ashamed† and â€Å"being blamed or held responsible by the police or courts†. On top of this, there is the very real knowledge that the chances of their attacker being convicted at a trial and punished for his crime (men still represent 93% of sex offenders) are on ly one in 100. In NSW in 2000-01 of the approximate 3% of the sexual assaults that reached the Courts, 36% were acquitted and only 30% were convicted (12% of which were convicted on a lesser offence). ‘Tracey’ [not her real name],44, of Victoria, and was sexually molested by her father from the age of four up to the age of 15, at which point she moved out of home. ‘Tracey’ was also raped by her father in her early twenties. In 200...

Poverty across Cultures Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Poverty across Cultures - Research Paper Example Persons undergoing poverty in Paris during the 1930s and 1990s in the U.S. had a lot of valid things in common as well as major diversifications. And this is because of reasons relating to: The working poor in both Paris and U.S. had minimal access to the healthcare; they both worked long tiresome hours and had antagonistic relationships with their employers (Brown & Orwell, p3). On the other hand, Parisian workers were able to take pride in their work entirely free from the low-wage workers in the U.S. ProofPoverty varies greatly across the population depending on education, age, family arrangements, work profession and place of residence just to mention but a few. Still under the poverty description, the average family of four was measured poor in the year 2013 if its yearly income was below $23,834.   The measure of poverty presently at use was designed 50 years ago and was embraced as the formal U.S. statistical poverty measure in 1969. Apart from the less complicated changes a nd variations in economic prices, the poverty line is still similar to what was designed half a century ago.   A considerate look at Orwell’s Prize Down and Out in Paris and London, we are directed to the way Orwell tries to display the existing poverty he lived through while in Paris and London. Orwell employs the use of an anonymous narrator and through him describes his daily life within the poorer areas of Paris during the 19th century (early 1900s). He talks of the dirt, din, bugs and everything else in details (Brown & Orwell, p3).

Darwins Rib Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Darwins Rib - Essay Example Science follows a series of research by scientists while the bible summarizes the story of creation. The theory needs people to believe (Root-Bernstein 1). The bible has two ways of explaining how the creation story theory came about. One is that, God makes things to appear and the other one is God works through his chosen ways. He created Adam and removed one of his ribs to create Eve though they committed sin by eating the forbidden fruit. Creationism should not be taught as a science lesson because the theory does not have the series of evidence like evolution. Additionally, creationism involves a super natural being and science does not approve its existence. Several unanswered questions appear in the story of creation. For example, creation answers the origin of God while evolution answers all questions through research (Root-Bernstein 1). The two theories are respectable. The theory of evolution by Darwin gives enough evidence and challenges the creation theory. His research findings prove a point that humans have evolved. However, the creation theory makes a lot of sense because religion is about believing in the unseen God who affects our lives. His work is also

His Name is Christ Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

His Name is Christ - Essay Example This author stresses that Christ Jesus speaks on a higher level, we may say, about His life, His death, His purpose for coming to earth. Prefixing Jesus with Christ is more than naming him it's telling us who He is, better still, what He encompasses, His whole being - the Messiah. He  had seen the reference to Paul's writings in Romans and read the passage. "Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ became, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." He read the passage three times before he saw it. Paul refers to Christ as Christ repeatedly throughout his writings. Christ the name, not Christ the entity for lack of a better phrase. In this one passage Paul is speaking not of the man Christ. He clearly states that he is not speaking of the earthly body when he makes reference to the flesh. Rather, Paul is speaking when he uses the word Christ in this instance to speak of the sovereignty of Christ and the special unbreakable bond expressed in the lineage of Isaac - the seed. He is to that seed the anointed one. He is the one through whom all the children of the seed must go to bridge to the Father. Paul, in his understated eloquence of words which often sound very simple, holds so much that in one verse he conveyed such truth. The reporter outlines that   Paul never knew Christ the man, having already been crucified and ascended before Paul was called. Paul, however, at this moment chose to use Christ here to show the sovereignty of Christ. Paul himself was called not because he was Jew, not because of the promise, but he was called to bring the seed of the promise to Him. This passage demanded that he speak of Christ as the anointed. If he may make a personal aside, he has noted since beginning this essay, Paul, throughout his writings, refers to Christ as Christ in many instances. I see the closeness of Paul to Christ and such a deep understanding of Him expressed in all of Paul's writings. It is difficult to remember at times that they never walked together, at least on the earthly plane, in the flesh. Yet, Paul has, in my opinion, a much deeper understanding and closeness to Christ than, perhaps, those with whom Jesus had actually, in physical form, walked. The second point on which I would like to comment is found on page 81 where reference is made to how John defines the uniqueness of Christ's relationship with God. "Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for he is not yet ascended to my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." The Second Article states that it is this passage which shows the uniqueness of Christ's relationship with God and "clearly distances the kind of relationship Jesus had with the Father from that of other humans." Undisputable is the fact that, indeed, Christ had a unique relationship with the Father. He is the Father. However, that debate is for another time. That being said, the passage in John which was quoted as evidence of Jesus distancing His relationship with God from that of His believers is not accurate. Looking at the passage in context, Christ appeared before Mary after He was raised from the dead, but not yet ascended.

Environmental Issues In Australia Environmental Sciences Essay

Environmental Issues In Australia Environmental Sciences Essay Climate change has come to a stop and is now a major political talking point in Australia in the last two decades. Persistent drought and resulting water restrictions during the first decade of the twenty-first century are an example of natural events attributed by the mainstream media to climate change 1.1 Energy use Australia is a major exporter and consumer of coal, the combustion of which liberates CO2. Consequently, in 2003 Australia was the eighth highest emitter of CO2 gases per capita in the world liberating 16.5 tonnes per capita. Australia is claimed to be one of the countries most at risk from climate change according to the Stern report. Most of Australias demand for electricity depends upon coal-fired thermal generation, owing to the plentiful indigenous coal supply, limited potential for hydro-electric generation and political unwillingness to exploit indigenous uranium resources (although Australia accounted for the worlds second highest production of uranium in 2005) to fuel a carbon neutral domestic nuclear energy program 2 Conservation Conservation in Australia is an issue of state and federal policy. Australia is one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world, with a large portion of species endemic to Australia. Preserving this wealth of biodiversity is important for future generations. A key conservation issue is the preservation of biodiversity, especially by protecting the remaining rainforests. The destruction of habitat by human activities, including land clearing, remains the major cause of biodiversity loss in Australia. The importance of the Australian rainforests to the conservation movement is very high. Australia is the only western country to have large areas of rainforest intact. Forests provide timber, drugs, and food and should be managed to maximize the possible uses. Currently, there are a number of environmental movements and campaigners advocating for action on saving the environment, one such campaign is the Big Switch and I Love Earth. Land management issues including clearance of native vegetation, reafforestation of once-cleared areas, control of exotic weeds and pests, expansion of dryland salinity, and changed fire regimes. Intensification of resource use in sectors such as forestry, fisheries, and agriculture are widely reported to contribute to biodiversity loss in Australia. Coastal and marine environments also have reduced biodiversity from reduced water quality caused by pollution and sediments arising from human settlements and agriculture. In central New South Wales where there are large plains of grassland, problems have risen fromà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬unusual to sayà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬lack of land clearing. The Daintree Rainforest, a tropical rainforest near Daintree, Queensland covering around 1200 square kilometres, is threatened by logging, development, mining and the effects of the high tourist numbers. 3 Invasive species Australias geographical isolation has resulted in the evolution of many delicate ecological relationships that are sensitive to foreign invaders and in many instances provided no natural predators for many of the species subsequently introduced. Introduced plants that have caused widespread problems are lantana and the prickly pear bush. The introduction and spread of animals such as the cane toad or rabbit can disrupt the existing balances between populations and develop into environmental problems. The introduction of cattle into Australia and to a lesser extent the dingo, are other examples of species that have changed the landscape. In some cases the introduction of new species can lead to plagues and the extinction of endemic species. The introduced species red fox has single-handedly caused the extinction of several species. Tasmania takes the threat of red fox introduction so seriously that it has a government sponsored taskforce to prevent fox populations from taking hold on the island 4 Land clearing In the prehistory of Australia the indigenous Australians used fire-stick farming which was an early form of land clearing which caused long term changes to the ecology. With European colonisation land clearing continued on a larger scale for agriculture particularly for cattle, cotton and wheat production. Since European settlement a total of 13% of native vegetation cover has been lost. The extinction of 20 different mammals, 9 bird and 97 plant species have been partially attributed to land clearing. Land clearing is a major source of Australiaà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s greenhouse gas emissions, and contributed to approximately 12 percent of Australiaà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s total emissions in 1998. The consequences of land clearing include dryland salinity and soil erosion. These are a major concern to the landcare movement in Australia. The clearing of native vegetation is controlled by Federal laws (indirectly), State law and local planning instruments. The precise details of regulation of vegetation clearing differ according to the location where clearing is proposed. 5 Waterway health The protection of waterways in Australia is a major concern for various reasons including habitat and biodiversity, but also due to use of the waterways by humans. The Murray-Darling Basin is under threat due to irrigation in Australia, causing high levels of salinity which affect agriculture and biodiversity in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. These rivers are also affected by pesticide run-off and drought. 6 Water use Water use is a major sustainability issue in Australia. During times of drought Water restrictions in Australia apply to conserve water. Climate change may intensify drought in Australia putting pressure on water resources and leading to alternative water sources including construction of Water tanks, dams, Water transportation and desalination plants many of which affect water catchments and put increasing pressure on the environment. www.tu.org/ www.abc.net.au/news/topic/mining-environmental-issues www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2009/12/07/2764044.htm www.fwrgroup.com.au/10-environmental-problems.html www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0//46130_2010.pd

Living at Treasure Island :: Descriptive Essay Examples

Living at Treasure Island Just imagine that you are sitting on the beach, smelling the salt air, and feeling the cool breeze. The sun is slowly melting into the ocean and the sky is the shade of bright purple that can only be seen at dusk. It has been a long, hot day in the s un, and it feels nice to finally let it end. This is what living in Treasure Island, Florida is all about. Treasure Island is a small community inside St. Petersburg, Florida. The island is only seven miles long and a half-mile wide. It is directly in between St. Pete Beach and Madiera Beach. There are not very many full-time residents on the island beca use there are so many hotels. Tourism is the business in Treasure Island, because the weather is warm all year. During the winter months, elderly people come from the cooler states to escape the cold weather. The Florida natives call these tourists "Snowbird" or "blue-hairs." Th ese tourists really do earn these unsavory titles because they all drive five miles an hour. This makes the locals crazy. After the snowbirds leave, all of the summer tourists arrive. These are usually families driving mini-vans with ten bratty kids wh o are all out of school for the summer. Despite the fact that these tourists are a pain, life in Treasure Island is wonderful. Everyone who lives on the island is very friendly and extremely easy going. This type of person seems to be bred at the beach. It seems as if no one really has an y worries or complaints when they live at the beach. For example, people who attend church at the beach do not even bother to dress up. Churchgoers wear shorts, tennis shoes, and a sun hat. Their attitude is very different from that of an urban area. Native born beachers seem to look at life from a practical point of view. I believe that they do this because of the heat. It is not uncommon for the temperature to hit 101 degrees in the shade on Treasure Island. The ocean breeze is nice, but is do es not always help. For example, my mother once left a cassette tape in the back window of her car and when she returned two hours later, is was liquid plastic.