The Whiskey Ring Scandal

The Whiskey Ring Scandal Was the Whiskey Ring a public scandal? Yes, the Whiskey Ring was in fact a public scandal. This is true according to many different sources, this is because it could not be destroyed because of its strong political connections. The Whiskey Ringwas a group of whiskey distillers, (they were dissolved in 1875) and they made secret plans to defraud the federal government of taxes. They operated mainly in St. Louis, Mo., Milwaukee, Wisconsin andÂÂ   Chicago. The Whiskey Ring pursued Internal Revenue officials and other people involved in the scandal in Washington to keep the liquor profits for themselves. Benjamin H. Bristow, (secretary of the Treasury) had organized an investigation which was meant to be a secret and this idea exposed the ring meaning the results ended in 238 indictments and 110 convictions. Claiming that the idea was illegal, the tax money (which was being held illegally) was being used in the Republican Partys national campaign for President Ulysses S. Grant to be re-elected, which raised suspicion for the public. Although President Grant was not suspected to do this, his private secretary (Orville E. Babcock) was pointed out in the secret plan, but ended up being declared guilty after President Grant testified to his innocence. There were many people involved in The Whiskey Ring scandal. At the time of the scandal, the president of the United States was President Ulysses S. Grant. Grant didnt know about The Whiskey Ring Scandal, but he was responsible for giving jobs to many old friends who ended up being dishonest. President Ulysses S. Grant (original name Hiram Ulysses Grant), was born on April 27, 1822 in Point Pleasant. He graduated from West Point in 1843, where he was known as a skilled horseman, but he was not so good of a student. Grant was authorized as a lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Infantry, and he was then stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri which was near St. Louis. After Grant was done with his schooling years, he met his spouse Julia Dent, which was the sister of one of his West Point classmates. After seeing action in the Mexican-American War, President Grant was to return to Missouri and then had married Julia, (his spouse) in August of 1848. The couple had four children together. In th e early years of their his marriage, President Grant was assigned to a series of remote army posts, and some of them were on the West Coast which parted and eventually separated him from his family. He then resigned from the military in 1854. Grant was introduced to the White House during Reconstruction era. As president, Grant tried his hardest to keep a peace bond between the North and South territories. He also supported ideas from former confederate leaders and meanwhile was attempting to help and protect freed slaves civil rights. In the year of 1870, Amendment number 15 was ratified. This amendment gave black men a right to vote. Grant then signed a legislation in order to limit activities of white terrorist groups, like the Ku Klux Klan, which used violence to scare blacks and prevent them from voting in elections. At various times in the chaos, the president stationed federal troops throughout the South to keep law and order. The highly judgmental group involved in the scand al charged that Grants actions violated states rights, while others knew and supported the fact that the president did not do enough to protect freedmen. In 1877, after leaving the White House, President Grant and his family pursued a two-year trip around the world. While they were abroad, they met with dignitaries and cheering crowds in many of the countries they visited. At the Republican National Convention 1880, a group of delegates voted to nominate Grant for president again; but James Garfield (a U.S. congressman from Ohio (1831-1881), ultimately earned the nomination instead of Grant. After those events, Grant went on to win the general election and become the 20th U.S. president. Grant was the U.S. commander of the union armies of the American Civil War during the years of 1864-1865 and the 18th president of the United States. Stated in the article Reconstruction and Corruption in the Grant Administration, When Grant took office he admitted that he lacked political experienc e. In his inaugural address he said, The office has come to me unsought. Grant strongly believed in racial equality, not only in the South, but also in the North. In his inaugural address he spoke in favor of security of a person, property, and free religious and political opinion in every part of our common country. Grant took no action as president to enforce this belief, however, and his motto guided him: Let us have peace.' Grant had a very powerful presence and did his best to be a good president. Next, United States 30th Secretary of the Treasury Benjamin H. Bristow, (he was an American lawyer, the first Solicitor General, a union military officer, reformer, civil rights advocate and a republican party politician). Also, Orville E. Babcock, (which who was acquitted through the personal intervention of the president), 4th, John McDonald (former senator), Last, John B. Henderson, (Co-author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and government official and United States Senator from Missouri). These individuals were also a part of many more events throughout history. The Whiskey Ring was fast to include hundreds of government officials and also people in the liquor industry throughout the Midwest. The Whiskey Ring that was revealed in May 1875, with its center at St. Louis. The Whiskey Ring scandal had a very simple idea. According to the article named, Secrets of the great Whiskey Ring, Here, in very simple terms, is how the scam worked: Sometime around 1870, government agents charged with keeping an eye on how much whiskey was being made, arranged to ignore a certain percentage of the distillate in return for cash in the amount of roughly half the money the distillery would have paid in taxes.ÂÂ   When straight tax collectors who were not part of the ring were due to call, the distillers were forewarned to play safe and pay up. Whiskey distillers paid federal agents with massive bribes. In return the federal agents helped the distillers evade federal taxes on the whiskey they produced and sold. Whiskey was supposed to be taxed at 70 cents per gallon, but the distillers could pay off agents involved in the ring for 35 cents per gallon. The crooked whiskey was stamped as having its tax paid by the agents and the distiller made great profit. The scandal itself was a group of public officials who defrauded the federal government of liquor taxes. According to Andrew Wanko (Public Historian), Millions of dollars in annual taxes were being siphoned off in an elaborate scandal. The Whiskey Ring involved hundreds of individuals across half the nation. Nearly half of those involved worked though St. Louis, with the rest spread across major cities including Chicago, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, New Orleans and Washington D.C. Among the Conspirators, were storekeepers, distillers, politicians, reporters, U.S. Treasury workers and IRS agents. The corruption stretched all the way to General Orville E. Babcock (Private Secretary), to President Grant and a Whiskey Ring plotter. From 1870 to 1875, the Whiskey Ring was still in effect. Also, many other significant events that happened around the time of The Whiskey Ring, which may have had an impact on this scandal. The first event that happened was The Franco-Prussian War, which was Bismarcks influence on the German states which lead to a year long conflict in which France was defeated against. Another event that occurred in 1870, would be when congress adopts the Fifteenth Amendment. This very much had an impact on The Whiskey Ring. The 15th Amendment of the United States Constitution forbids all governments in the United States from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizens color or race. The 15th amendment was ratified on February 3rd of 1870. What is interesting about this is that there was no mention made of gender, and it then took another 50 years to guarantee that women had a right to vote, with the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. Another example is John D. Rockefeller. In 1870, he for med the Standard Oil of Ohio company. By 1890, Standard Oil controlled 88% of oil in the U.S. John D. Rockefeller was a chairman and major shareholder, founder, and the company he worked with made him the richest man in history. By the year of 1871, British Columbia became apart of Canada. Last, finally recognized as an imperial territory by Britain, Britain was named British Columbia in 1858, and became part of Canada in 1871. There was a lot of background talk about The Whiskey Ring. This includes the rumors. An example would be that Orville E. Babcock was acquitted through the personal intervention of the president. Many people believed that The Whiskey Ring was part of a plot to finance the Republican party by fraud but this rumor was actually never proven. There were also various rumors that people involved in The Whiskey Ring in St. Louis were openly advertising that the prosecutors would not be pressed until the end, because if they were they would reach the white house. The rumors about The Whiskey ring were an issue. They were causing problems. Due to President Grants incompetency and the other sandals within his administration, by the end of year 1874, President Grant was no longer popular among his people. Although he was thinking about running for a third term, he had once told the congress that he was in fact not prepared for the office at all. In fact, people within his administration were without hope, in result of some of the people he had chosen to work with him. The rumors of The Whiskey Ring were coming to a truth and many people at the White House were relieved when Browstow was appointed to the Treasury. Bristow was a very well respected man. One of his first acts of Treasury was to grant money to highly sort out the alleged corruption within the Internal Revenue Service. With the help from news and papermen in St. Louis, Treasury (Bristow), was about to crack the ring wide open. During The Whiskey ring, the government was specifically affected by the Republican party, which contributed to the national weariness of Reconstruction which had ended after Grants presidency with the compromise of 1877. The Whiskey Ring was a cause and effect event, just like many. Soon after the Civil War, taxes were raised to some very high levels. In some cases, the price of liquor was raised up to eight times the price. Meaning people had to pay way more than normal price. Grant was not directly involved in the scandal but his reputation was damaged, as a result. The scandal, along with other abuses of power by the Republican party, contributed to national weariness of Reconstruction, which ended after Grants presidency with the Compromise of 1877.

Droughts: The End of the American West Essay -- Climate Change and Dro

Droughts are one of the most expensive natural hazards and have the potential to last for months or even years (U.S. Drought Portal). Along with famine and flooding, droughts are considered one of the top three threats to the population (Oblack). A drought is defined as an unusually long period of time with persistent lack of precipitation that causes serious problems. Several factors that affect the severity of a drought are the degree of moisture deficiency, length, size, and location of where the drought occurs (Droughts). A drought can be categorized four ways. A Meteorological drought occurs when there are significantly lower levels of precipitation than normal. This type of drought is dependent on the region because what would be considered normal precipitation in one area could be different in another region. Agricultural droughts refer to when the amount of moisture is less than what the crop in that area requires. Hydrological droughts are when the water supply in the surface and subsurface of the ground is below normal. Socioeconomic are when the lack of water begins to affect people (Droughts). Droughts are caused when there is less rainfall then normal on a region. When the air sinks (subsidence) there is compressional warming or high pressure, which limits the formation of clouds. As a result, there is lower humidity and less precipitation (Predicting Droughts). Additionally, if there are higher temperatures or shifts in the wind pattern this could cause the evaporation of moisture in the ground to increase (Plumer). Droughts can be aggravated by people’s overuse through heavy pumping and farming of marginal lands that puts a strain on the water supply. Additionally people affect droughts by damming rivers. ... ...id W. Hyndman. Natural Hazards and Disasters. 3rd ed. Australia: Brooks/Cole, 2011. Print. Oblack, Rachelle. â€Å"What Causes Droughts?† About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. . Plumer, Brad. â€Å"What We Know about Climate Change and Drought.† Wonkblog. Washington Post, 24 July 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. . â€Å"Predicting Droughts.† National Drought Mitigation Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. . â€Å"Predicting Droughts with Greater Certainty.† Science Daily. N.p., 3 June 2009. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. . U.S. Drought Portal. NIDIS, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. .

How does Emily Bronte succeed in making Heathcliff remain to the reader a “likeable” character in Wuthering Heights?

Wuthering Heights first appeared in May 1846, but it was not the great success it is today, as the book did not sell many copies, following this Emily Bronte along with her sisters sent their novels and poetry along to publishing houses where it was published properly. They deceived the public at first by using pen names, because at that time women were not seen as intelligent or capable enough to write such a novel. The audience of this book would have been upper class, as they would have been the only people who could afford books, and also be able to read them. The public reaction to Wuthiering Heights were fairly mixed for example, these are extracts from magazines or newspapers at the time of Wuthering Heights publishing: New Monthly Magazine from January 1848 â€Å"Wuthering Heights by Ellis Bell is a terrific story† on the other hand: The examiner, 8 January 1848 â€Å"it is wild, confused, disjointed and improbable; and the people who make up the drama†¦are savages.† The law has changed considiberally from the time set in the book, and this is important when reading the book as Heathcliff's revenge revolves around the laws at the time reflecting how wrong they were, which results in Heathcliff an uneducated cuckoo with no money and no family ends up quite legally stealing and cheating his way into wealth and property as part of his revenge caused by the pain he inflicts. He did this quite cleverly through marriage and death, yet his cruel actions don't make the reader hate this disturbed man however much they should, and throughout this essay I will consider all of the various reasons why the audience warm to Heathcliff. As the story of Heathcliffs life begins Nelly Dean, the nursemaid at Thrushcross Grange, is telling it to a tenant – Mr. Lockwood. As a child Nelly Dean, the daughter of the Earnshaw's maid used to spend all her time at Wuthering Heights playing with the children. Mr. Earnshaw went away for a trip to Liverpool where on the streets he found the starving, dark skinned, Heathcliff and brought him home to Wuthering Heights, immediately the rest of the family were alarmed and didn't welcome him and the children rejected him from being in their company. Cathy warmed to Heathcliff quickly as did Mr. earnshaw and he became his favorite child. However Hindley did not and hated him which made him cruel to heathcliff this is where the reader really feels for heathcliff; a poor fatherless child rejected and bullied by half of his new family and yet never complained; â€Å"he would stand Hindley's blows without winking or shedding a tear, and my pinches moved him only to draw a breath and open his eyes, as if he had hurt himself by accident and nobody was to blame.† All this plays a part in the view of Heathcliff later on in the book. Growing up Heathcliff and Cathy were best friends, too fond of each other in fact, and when punishment was endured onto either of them it was for them to be separated. But longing to be with one another, one incident which changed this is when they both snuck out and went to thrushcross grange where the lintons lived they wound them up

10 Exploratory Essay Topics on the Nacirema Culture

10 Exploratory Essay Topics on the Nacirema Culture If you are tasked with writing an exploratory essay on the Nacirema culture, then your job is to ensure you have facts to substantiate the problem and solution you are defining for the audience. In order to do that well, you should review the list of facts below which might be of use to you in your writing. Remember that this list is not comprehensive by any stretch, but it will serve you well as a jumping off point for your research efforts: Nacirema is an anthropological term used to define the study of American behavior and society, and the relationship between different citizens therein. The name is actually derived from the name â€Å"American† but in reverse. The term is a neologism which has attempted to deliberately distance American anthropologists from American culture so as to afford them a more objective viewpoint into the society. The Nacirema culture is a term used in social sciences, one which is based on the 1956 American Anthropologist publication about body rituals among the Nacirema culture. This piece is a satirical piece of writing on the American culture versus â€Å"other† cultures and has been revisited in 2001 in a collection of behavioral medicine, and as revisited yet again specifically under the psychology and behavioral science collection as of 2015. In the satirical paper, the author describes a tribe located in North America about which little is known. The writing expresses information about North American groups from a distance, in spite of being written about the modern group. One of the key items noted by Miner in the documented publication on the Nacirema culture in 1956 is the idea of oral cleanliness among the group, hospital care, and an emphasis on psychiatry. In this piece of writing the Nacirema culture is described as one which has a developed market economy and one which has a rich habit among the people. The work has since become quite famous and been used as a process analysis example and in many textbooks. Among the Nacirema culture, there is a distinct difference between the various healers or medicine men or women. The system is broken down into doctors, pharmacists, as well as psychiatrists. There is a ritual of the mouth which is conducted daily, known as brushing teeth. Washington is a cultural hero and many of the people have a charm box in their home inside of which medicines are contained, known as the medicine cabinet. The use of medicines and teeth brushing are regular rituals among these people. In 1972 another paper was published in the form of a social commentary on the Nacirema culture, focusing specifically on environmental issues which derived from the automobile cult and fascination with automobiles held by the people. This new publication emphasized how the true source of the culture of America was the cars and that the cars were part of the cultural attempt to modify the environment in which they lived. It was written about the Nacirema culture that in all population centers, there are collections of the cult symbol, or the automobile. This was held in high esteem by the people. The collections are a means of reconstructing anthropologically the confidence of principle ideologies of the people. Additional study attested to the fact that the size of mobile devices, materials, and colors corresponded to different values within the Nacirema system and that the devices are used as a form of personalized climate control inside the container. The linguistic pattern of the Nacirema culture has focused on folk linguistic concepts, and on grammar. The findings have stated that while the Nacirema people claim to have only five distinct vowel sounds there are actually nine vowels each of which are phonemically distinct and distinguished based on three degrees of tongue advancement and height. This research highlighted that out of the nine, five are in fact used most commonly and these vowels form the basis of mapping and understanding the language of the people. What was further noted was that the language and the use of distinct vowels was a means to separate the Nacirema people into the caste system, such that certain caste levels used certain tongue placements or heights or specific vowels while others did not. Speech codes have been studies among the Nacirema culture, things which are compared across the middle classes along the West coast and those who live in other areas of the Nacirema regions. These speech codes were crafted in 1992 by Gerry Phillipsen. The name â€Å"Nacirema† has also appeared in the field of philosophy as the title for a fictional country where a role-playing game is set. This role playing game was designed to teach the theory of justice as fairness to undergraduate students. In this game, students are to assume the role of a Nacirema citizen during which time they have to vote on public issues and try to find a solution without forcing anyone else among the group to act or vote in such a way that is against their own will. The purpose of this game is to show students that the only way citizens can gain social fairness is really to ignore individual circumstance such as income, race, religion, or sex and instead focus on those things which impact public living. With these ten facts in mind, you can easily begin the research for your next written work. Remember that your goal in this type of assignment is really to delve into a particular facet, problem, or idea among the topic and from there propose to the reader what solutions exist for the problem and which one you think is best. In order to perform this you may use 20 topics on the Nacirema culture which perfectly suit the purpose. If you have troubles with expressing your thoughts with the help of words, make use of our writing guide on exploratory essays. If you do not agree with any of the options on the table, you can always exercise your creativity by coming up with one that you deem to be best suited to tackling the problem or mitigating the issue you have raised in your work. Visit our essay writing service if you meet with some problems in academic paper writing. References: Kimmel, M. Ritualized Homosexuality In A Nacirema Subculture.  Sexualities  9.1 (2006): 95-105. Web. Mahood, Wayne, and Lyn Rusick. Nacirema, Weans, And Bushmen: Studying Cultures.  The Social Studies  72.4 (1981): 184-187. Web. Miner, Horace. Body Ritual Among The Nacirema.  American Anthropologist  58.3 (1956): 503-507. Web. Philipsen, Gerry.  Speaking Culturally. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992. Print. Spradley, James P, and Michael A Rynkiewich.  The Nacirema. Boston: Little, Brown, 1975. Print. Watson, D. R.  The Textual Representation Of Nacirema Culture. University of Manchester, Department of Sociology, 1992. Print. Watson, Rod.  Analysing Practical And Professional Texts. Farnham, England: Ashgate, 2009. Print.

Free Essays on Overweight In America

Overweight in America How many hit movies have had overweight people play the starring role? How many ads in the personals request heavy men or women? What newspaper articles describe fat women as â€Å"beautiful†? The answer is close to none. W. Charisse Goodman, the author of the 1995 The Invisible Woman: Confronting Weight Prejudice in America. Her thesis is that â€Å"American society tolerates and even encourages prejudice against people, especially women, who are not thin.† The chapter being analyzed here, â€Å"One Picture Is Worth a Thousand Diets†, she discusses the ways in which the media make invisible or deal with disregard women whom are overweight. This depicts the nation’s values when it comes to overweight people. It does, however, spark emotions due to her examples and word choices. In Goodman’s first paragraph, she blames the mass media for encouraging people to â€Å"absorb as many goods as possible far beyond the saturation point.† (Lunsford, 408) She states that people believe the more have, the sexier and more successful they will be. However, when a woman is perceived as being too fat, she finds that she has committed a â€Å"social crime†. She also argues that thinner women are portrayed as sexier, happier, and more dynamic. (409) Even though this principle may not be acceptable, she makes conscious cases for it in the rest of the article. Goodman claims that movies not only lack heavy women, but that heavy men are not as severely criticized for their weight. She states that people consider size in a man a sign of his physical power. She makes a good point when she asks the rhetorical question, â€Å"can anyone imagine a female version of Cheers’ Norm – a lazy, work phobic, beer-guzzling woman who assiduously avoids home and husband – being hailed as funny, let alone ‘beloved’, as one news article put it?† (410) This article has inartistic appeal because it uses facts and evidence. Goodman randomly... Free Essays on Overweight In America Free Essays on Overweight In America Overweight in America How many hit movies have had overweight people play the starring role? How many ads in the personals request heavy men or women? What newspaper articles describe fat women as â€Å"beautiful†? The answer is close to none. W. Charisse Goodman, the author of the 1995 The Invisible Woman: Confronting Weight Prejudice in America. Her thesis is that â€Å"American society tolerates and even encourages prejudice against people, especially women, who are not thin.† The chapter being analyzed here, â€Å"One Picture Is Worth a Thousand Diets†, she discusses the ways in which the media make invisible or deal with disregard women whom are overweight. This depicts the nation’s values when it comes to overweight people. It does, however, spark emotions due to her examples and word choices. In Goodman’s first paragraph, she blames the mass media for encouraging people to â€Å"absorb as many goods as possible far beyond the saturation point.† (Lunsford, 408) She states that people believe the more have, the sexier and more successful they will be. However, when a woman is perceived as being too fat, she finds that she has committed a â€Å"social crime†. She also argues that thinner women are portrayed as sexier, happier, and more dynamic. (409) Even though this principle may not be acceptable, she makes conscious cases for it in the rest of the article. Goodman claims that movies not only lack heavy women, but that heavy men are not as severely criticized for their weight. She states that people consider size in a man a sign of his physical power. She makes a good point when she asks the rhetorical question, â€Å"can anyone imagine a female version of Cheers’ Norm – a lazy, work phobic, beer-guzzling woman who assiduously avoids home and husband – being hailed as funny, let alone ‘beloved’, as one news article put it?† (410) This article has inartistic appeal because it uses facts and evidence. Goodman randomly...

Public Law (LLB) Factoortame judgement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Public Law (LLB) Factoortame judgement - Essay Example ion 2(4) of the ECA is precluded by section 2 of the very same act; which treats legislation that in effect, repeals section 2(4) a violation of EU Treaty obligations5. Claims for damages against the Crown or Parliament, till Factortame, had generally failed in the UK6. The UK courts, in order to promote Parliamentary sovereignty, were initially, reluctant to incorporate EC Law into UK legislation. The ECJ compelled the UK courts to act in accordance with the ECA 1972; while interpreting domestic legislation. They were also required to comply with the ECJ’s rulings7. These developments have been cogently described, by the case law in the sequel. In Pickstone v. Freemans, the House of Lords directly applied Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome, without making a referral to the ECJ8; and interpreted section 2 of the ECA 1972, as precluding UK law, from restraining EC law9. Van Gend11 engendered the all important direct effect concept in EC Law; and Francovich12, Brasserie du PÃ ªcheur13, Factortame14 and KÃ ¶bler15established a damages remedy for violation of EC Law by a Member State. The effectiveness of parliamentary sovereignty can be appraised from the ruling in Factortame, wherein an important piece of legislation was suspended by the House of Lords, thereby affirming the supremacy of EU law over national law. Case C-213/89 Factortame Ltd & others v Secretary of State for Transport (1991) 1 AC 603. ECJ decision dated 19th June 1990 followed by UK House of Lords ruling dated 11th October 1990. Accessed December 19,

Market in econmoy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Market in econmoy - Essay Example In oligopoly the whole market is controlled by small group of firms. Here at least two firms control the market. This market has small competition with high price. Monopolistic competition is an imperfect competition where many producers sell different types products. There are large numbers of customers and sellers. In monopoly market there is a single supplier and large number of buyer. The seller produces a particular commodity. This four types of market rules the economy. The characteristics of perfect competitive market are the buyers and sellers cannot affect the price of the market. Here the firms always try to maximize the profit by increasing the output levels. A huge amount of competition exists in the market. Entry and exit from this market is very easy for the firms. Barriers in entering the market are less. Many small firms are present in a large number (Dwivedi, 2002). Almost identical products are sold by the companies. There is a perfect knowledge of price and technology is present in the market. All the firms in perfect competition maintain almost the same price and faces horizontal demand. In monopolistic competition there are different types of product with many firms. The products of the companies are almost same. The firms produce close substitute products. This market is characterized with various products and many firms. In the long run of monopolistic competition there is no exit and entry cost in the long run. The buyers and sellers are the independent in making decision (Dwivedi, 2009). They don’t have perfect information about the market. The companies in this market incur a huge expenditure on its advertisements for attracting customers. The firms charge the price which is higher than marginal cost. A firm operating in a monopoly market is the only seller of products or services without any such close substitutes. Monopoly market represents a specific economic structure. Monopolies are usually characterized by competition