ktmeng/mec huggingface dataset:
Topic: civil-war

President Lincoln dispatched special agents to European countries to counter the Confederate propaganda attempts, which were mainly pamphlets and other publications(American Propaganda, 55). In an attempt to decrease the relations between European countries and the Confederacy, Lincoln asked the working men of Manchester, England’s cotton mills to discontinue business between them and plantation slaveholders (American Propaganda, 55). Confederate propaganda was aimed at England and France under the direction of Henry Hotze, a Swiss-American propagandist for the Confederacy during the Civil War (American Propaganda, 56). Hotze had immense success in England, influencing the public opinion in favor of the Confederacy. Despite Hotze’s efforts, England remained neutral during the Civil War. Although they relied on the South for their cotton and other goods, England, along with France and Mexico, feared that if they sided with the Confederacy, their relations with the Union would be negatively affected (Godbey). Propaganda is extremely useful during a war. It can be used to encourage soldiers, demonize the enemy, and inform people (Hamilton). One of the reasons the North won the Civil War was because they had more successful propaganda techniques. They utilized patriotism, togetherness, sympathy, and pity into their propaganda. The South relied on fear, trying to make people wary of the consequence of freed slaves. Additionally, the South “lacked the moral center”(Trudeau) that the North had. The Union’s use of American iconographies such as the American flag, the bald eagle, and symbols of liberty all spread a simple message: that what they were fighting for was important to preserve the Union. On the contrary, the Confederacy had their dialogue mixed up. Southerners began losing faith in the cause because it really did not speak to them directly, causing them to lose faith in their cause as the war pressed on (Trudeau). As previously stated, propaganda is everywhere, influencing everyone in indetectable ways. With that in mind, it is understandable why propaganda had such a widespread effect on the outcome of the war.
Topic: civil-war

It was featured in every part of the average American’s day. When they read the newspapers, the cartoons drove a certain viewpoint into the reader’s mind. When someone wrote a letter to a loved one on the battlefield, the envelope was decorated with redundant reminders of their political standpoint. If it was in every aspect of someone’s life, how would it not affect their opinion? Would the ubiquitously persistent varieties of propaganda have been able to influence your opinions on the Civil War?
Topic: civil-war

There are three reasons as to why the civil war took place, they are states’ rights, slavery and sectionalism. States believed the federal government had too much control over them and what they were allowed to do about slavery. The North and South were arguing over whether there should or should not be slavery and slaves were fighting for their freedom. All three were major parts of the war, but the question remains, which reason was the sole reason for the start of the civil war? Slavery was the reason the north and south were fighting, and it was also the reason why states were having serious issues with the federal government.
Topic: civil-war

The point of the U.S. constitution was to protect the rights of slaves. Paul Finkelman stated, “As almost all historians have increasingly recognized, the institution of slavery was the primary cause of secession and, consequently, of the Civil War.” Lincoln needed the constitutional power to help him end slavery because he always thought slavery was wrong. Paul Finkelman goes on to explain that in 1868 and 1870 two amendments were passed which allowed former slaves and their children to have the same voting rights as Americans. The cause of the Civil War to Paul Finkelman was slavery.
Topic: civil-war

Michael woods was a firm believer that slavery was the cause of the Civil war and the disagreement between the North and South. “slavery and freedom remain the keys to understanding the war.” He goes on to say that this conflict creates more questions which is why many historians agree. Throughout this article, Edwards writes about how people should question the reasons for the Civil War because it will cause you to dig farther into history. “Early national battles over slavery did not make the Civil War inevitable, but in the hands of propagandists they could make the war seem inevitable to many contemporaries.”
Topic: civil-war

Forty years before the American Civil War the tension between the north and south states became more noticeable when the expansion of slavery in the western states was debated. Britney Deruchowski writes about how the debate about slavery is what led to the northern and southern states having tension. The Missouri Compromise allowed for Missouri to be a slave state which led to people, like Deruchowski, to question the morals of the U.S. citizens and it also was a leading factor in the Civil War. She goes on to explain that the North and South were apart of the reason for this war, but it mainly focused on the economical and political powers and fears of the union. Deruchowski didn’t blame the entire war on slavery, but every factor does some how lead back to slavery in her article.
Topic: civil-war

Johann Neem talks about the society as a whole and how the effect of one social party effects everyone else too. There was no social trust on the slaves end dur to them constantly being owned by whites and not be allowed to do things for themselves. Slaves were not allowed to have their own opinion which led to bigger arguments between people’s differences in views. “Without the authoritative structures of the old order, mod-ern democratic societies rely on social trust to prevent violence and/or excessively self-interested behavior.”
Topic: civil-war

Sectionalism and states’ rights will always be a factor of the Civil War, but in the end, slavery is the biggest cause for it. It was the reason for sectionalism and states’ rights which is why they are also factors that play in to the sole reason behind Civil War. The president, Abraham Lincoln, was trying to put an end to it and once the war ended, not long after slavery came to an end, sectionalism ended and so did the argument between states and the federal government.
Topic: civil-war

What were some of the greatest technological innovations that were created during the Civil War? Throughout my time in Dr. Wiginton’s, “Literature of the Civil class”, I had struggled with choosing a valid research topic. From the first day, I began thinking of different ideas that I would like to extend my background on. Although I changed my topic on a regular basis, I had to come to a decision with the course wrapping up in a couple days. In short, I decided to write out several of my different topics and began to narrow down a topic that meant something to me.
Topic: civil-war

One innovation from the Civil War was the Ironclad Warship. Although it was not created during this time, the Ironclad was first used by Confederate army during warfare. According to History.com, “During the American Civil War, the CSS Virginia, a captured and rebuilt Union steam frigate formerly known as the Merrimac, engages the USS Monitor in the first battle between iron-fortified naval vessels in history”(History.com). A new way to build ships was born at this time, and this method is still being used to this day. Centuries prior to the Civil War, naval battles had not changed much at all. Many ships were made out of wood and unsteady material. The poorly armored ships led to the innovation of the Ironclad, making the ships more suitable for naval battles. During the Civil War, naval architects began plating the ships with iron and steel. Roger A. Bailey of American Battlefield Trust writes, “This casing made shells bounce off the ship, allowing ironclads to survive repeated direct hits” (Bailey). Ships being able withstand several hits of fire impacted the battle dramatically, giving naval teams more protection and durability during the fights. Bailey mentions that the fighting army ironclads first met in March of 1862, during the Battle of Hampton Roads.
Topic: civil-war

This went on to be the first naval battle between the newly equipped ships. With the ships being stronger and more durable than ever, wooden ships did not stand a chance against the ironclads. More importantly, the ships had provided protection to the soldiers on board. Being on board a wooden ship, soldiers had to worry about the ship sinking into the waters. Being aboard an iron clad, allowed soldiers the peace of mind of protection and safety. Iron clads were significantly heavier with the plates of armor, giving soldiers a steady platform to place fire. Bailey goes on to write, “Naval warfare changed forever,” and that it did. In present day, all ships are made out of the strongest steel and iron. Innovation did not stop there for the Naval armies. With iron clads being able to take on endless rounds of ammunition, both navies approached a new strategy. Battle ships began using rams, not an invention of the Civil War, but quite the innovated idea from naval leaders. Bailey discusses in his article how the ram was a powerful weapon used on a mediterranean warships. The ram gave the option for captains to try and sink iron clads by ramming into the body of the ship which led to a solution for sinking the unstoppable ships. The two fighting armies did not stop there to get an upper hand against each other.
Topic: civil-war

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History credits the Confederate Navy for “One of the most celebrated tactical innovations of the war” (Gilderlehrman.org). That innovation was the first submarine, created by 3 confederate members. One of the most celebrated innovations during the time for a reason, seeing that Navies across the world use the submarine as a tactical strategy. However, today, submarines are used for various reasons including research, discovery, and more. Submarines allow us to piece together history, make new historical accounts, and give us the advantage of exploring the deep ocean waters. While many groundbreaking changes were happening over the water, innovators of the civil war era were working on medical technology and procedures that we still practice to this day. Gratefully, we have medicine that only the soldiers dreamed about during the Civil War. The developed medical procedures ensured that a wounded soldier would be alive to see the next day. Many of today’s medical practices were born during the timeframe of the Civil War. During the Civil War, the Union Army acquired many doctors and nurses, although, they lacked remedies. Ina Dixon, a writer for American Battlefield Trust, shares the staggering statistic “of the approximately 620,000 soldiers who died in the war, two-thirds of these deaths were not the result of enemy fire, but of a force stronger than any army of men: disease” (Dixon). Although we lost many men to diseases that are very much curable to this day, the Civil War could be credited with changing modern medicine.
Topic: civil-war

One practice that was revolutionized during the Civil War, was the use of anesthesia. Bob Shepard of The University of Alabama Birmingham claims, “Anesthesia was in its infancy when the American Civil War began in 1861” (Shepard, UAB). Anesthesia was the kickstart for studying neurology for America. Since then, astronomical improvements were made to modern medicine. Today’s experts credit the doctors of Civil War for developing the treatment. Emily Sohn of NBCNEWS.com discusses in her article, “How the Civil War Changed Modern Medicine,” modern methods of medicine that originated in the civil war. Sohn goes on to explain that the concepts of using ambulances were originated during the Civil War. This was an innovation that forever changed the medical flow in America. In an article from Civil War Scholars.com, author Jim Surkamp sites George Wunderlich who states “Executive Director of The National Museum of Civil War Medicine says Jonathan Letterman help to design the modern-day 911 emergency system” (Surkamp 2011). Letterman, an American surgeon from Pennsylvania, came up with the idea along with various medical offices throughout the battle field. His idea to retrieve injured soldiers on the battle field and transport them to a medical office is still a method that is used today. Ambulance systems were born, credited to Letterman and what he had ordered his men to do during the war. To this day, we use the same method Letterman had created centuries ago.
Topic: civil-war

This was a technological innovation that is still continuing to improve in America. Without these key technological enhancements, who knows where America would be in medical advancements. The Civil War had leaders who were true innovators; taking what they had at the time and paving stepping stones for America’s future. Earlier in the 1800’s, America had just made ground breaking movements with rail roads, photography, and the telegraph. Although none of which were created during the Civil War era, these key creations played a huge role in the Union Army success. Not all innovations have to originate from creating a new product, but could also come from taking what you have and using it for your advantage. That is exactly what the north did at the time by using rail roads to transfer troops and materials. Furthermore, the Smithsonian American Art Museum credits the railroads for winning the entire war, explaining the reliability that trains provided along with the vast amounts of cargo that were able to be shipped.
Topic: civil-war

The article goes on to mention that the train was a faster mode of transportation compared to boats. SAAM argues that the use of railroads were a vital tactic used during the war in saying, “The Union Army’s capitalization and strategic use of the railroad played a direct role in helping the North win the war” (Smithsonian American Art Museum). Yet, with the South having access to rail roads, the North used it in contribution to their winning of the war. Before the Civil War, America had broken through with the telegraph, allowing two-way communication from long distances away. Giving Lincoln and his army an advantage being able to relay battle commands and orders from miles. Not true innovations during the Civil War time period, however these newly born idea’s show to have played key roles in the battle with the South. The Civil War was a blood bath between American citizens fighting for what they thought believed in. The war stretched from April 12th, 1861 – April 9th, 1865 resulting in millions of men from both armies wounded or deceased. Through this awful time, America had started making advancements in different technological fields. What would have happened if the South never plated their ships with strong steel, and iron? Wooden ships would have been around for decades on, risking the lives of the men and women on board. The Civil War had br
Topic: civil-war

For the naval industry, iron clad ships were not the only advancement that was made. With the strength of Iron clad ships, navy generals needed a new tactic for taking down the now unstoppable ships. A piece of history came back, and ships were soon equipped with rams, a creation from centuries ago that the Union Naval force knew would be a game changer in water wars. New ideas and improvements were made in the medical field which sparked groundbreaking changes. This was key to the war as many men were lost to diseases and battle. Civil war procedures that were created by Surgeon, Jonathan Letterman, are still being practiced today. The impact of Letterman’s leadership shaped American medicine practices and protocols. Not only did Civil War surgeons shape the practices we take in saving injured people today, the Civil War created the well-known medication anesthesia.
Topic: civil-war

Back in the 1860’s music was a big part in traditions and ways of representing certain things. It was used for many common things. Music was an important use during the Civil War because instrument patterns were commonly used to issue marching orders or to simply bost a soldier’s confidence. This is important because the music that was played was a common reminder of what the steps were that they needed to follow. Music caused great peace to the soldiers when learning to march, or just to feel good about themselves.
Topic: civil-war

In fact, music was an integral part of the war from recruitment to battle, to bereavement and finally to homecoming.” This quote was saying how music was a big help when the soldiers needed help getting up or going to sleep. It was also a way of saying it’s time for war. When a certain song would play, then the soldiers new it was time to fight. This would be important because it would keep the soldier on track and on time. The Soldiers were used to the sounds of music so waking up or falling asleep to music was a major part of their routine.
Topic: civil-war

The Journal also continues, ”We have music for everything,’ wrote one New York officer to his father, ‘Music telling us when to get up, music telling us when to go to bed, when to get breakfast, when to eat dinner, when to clean streets, when to drill, when to stop drilling, when to go to church on Sabbath, and when to come back. All is told to us by drum and fife.’ When music would play, it would be known that it is time for the next event, or place to be. “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” by William Steffe would be a common song to call soldiers into war and get them ready for marching. The music would be a very common way of services getting called. The Statesmen says, “As the outcome of the war seemed assured, there were more songs about the impending Union Victory.” Beyond military operations, music also was an important part of life in camp and at home. The musicians with any smaller army for example, performed in parades, at concerts and at other patriotic events. It is believed that there were more than 400 musical bands in the Union army and 125 bands with the Confederate forces.
Topic: civil-war

There were many great composers and musicians who played and created the famous music that was used. American Battlefield Trust explains, “A measure of the song’s success can be seen in the flurry of imitations that appeared soon after its publication.” The text also refers to famous composers who created these very popular amazing song and started to make song writing more common. When composers started to write songs, they wanted to write sings for similar topics like freedom, war, and the public. These songs were written for the composer to express their feelings, or try to express how the general public is feeling. Some composer write songs just to write them and they have fun with it and they have no general meaning. American Battlefield Trust states, “When the War Between the States broke out, George Root began to write inspirational songs for the Union war effort.” When war was starting to get talked about, or was about to begin. Composers would have the idea to create these song that would represent the war that was going on. The composers and musicians were actually a pretty large part in the start of the wars and battles. They would open up and start the war and give that extra motivation with their music.
Topic: civil-war

Music was a very popular things back in the early 1800s. There were many likes to the music and a few dislikes. Music was either a thing that was loved, or hated. The type of music was also a big part because of the style that went with what event. Robert E. Lee from American civil war explains, “Throughout the Civil War, music helped soldiers pass time, provided entertainment and comfort and reminded soldiers of home. In the Confederacy, a nation formed at the very beginning of the war, music helped to create the national identity.” This helps explain that music was a huge part in the Civil War. Parlor rooms were filled with the hard emotions of fear, pride, loss, relief. On the fields, music supported marching soldiers as they sang away their fear and exhaustion. Military bands were active throughout the war. Military field music consisted of drummers who were responsible for transmitting orders as well as playing to encourage or inspire soldiers. Military band music was filled with of brass and percussion which gave concerts in camp and at many functions but also played during battle to inspire the men. Sometimes, bands just simply entertained. The Music was a very popular thing and was almost everywhere. Timothy Walch from the Statesman Journal states, “So as our commemorations have come to a close, let’s remember the musicians who did so much to add sound to our memories of a conflict that nearly destroyed our nation” Musicians had a huge impact on how the war affected Americans and what it did to the people. They created peace in a situation where peace was almost non existent. They created lots of music to represent war and how it was for the soldiers fighting. The music gave the scared Americans a sense of relief. Stephen Cornelius in Essential Civil War says , “In combat, band performances were a regular feature. They might play polkas, waltzes, hymns, marches, or national airs, even with shells exploding all about.” The musicians played a lot of instruments to make sure the one matches the feeling of where the music would be playing. The different instruments would be used very commonly and would be played by many different ages of kids and adults.
Topic: civil-war

Music has been a big part of the Civil War and the composers and musicians have impacted the war and the type of feeling the soldiers have when they are fighting or marching to the music. Music caused great ease to the soldiers when learning to march, or just to feel good about themselves. Music was used for many things including, music telling the soldiers when to get up, music telling them when to go to bed, when to get breakfast, when to eat dinner, when to clean streets, when to drill, when to stop drilling, when to go to church on Sabbath, and when to come back. The musicians would wrote songs about war and they would make these songs to express how they feel about the dangerous and stressful situations that are happening in their life. Music was very popular in the early 1860s and was used for many things. Music was everywhere and was almost always playing or being played by many people. The civil war was a very tragic thing that happened, but was enlightened at the time through music. The soldiers would relieve their stress by music being played. Music was also a way of Americans being kept on time throughout their day. Music changed history as we know today by showing us that even in those dark war and battle times, people were keeping peace with themselves through music and creativity with music.
Topic: civil-war

During the scramble for African territory, in the 19th century, in which the majority of the African landmass was colonised by Europe, the US was able to secure a section of land on the west-coast which borders modern day Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire which was Liberia. The country was fairly obsolete to the US during its early days up until the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. During which, he ended the American civil war, and then ended slavery in the US.
Topic: civil-war

However, before this time many whites in the northern US were worried about space and many southern Democrats (the two main parties were drastically different back then) were worried about mixing with the recently freed slaves. So to solve this problem the African Colonial Society was preemptively created in 1817 or ACS. The job given to the ACS was to transfer many of these recently freed slaves to foreign colonies once slavery was abolished. Abraham Lincoln was a supporter of these programs, as well as the altruistic Quakers, who were strongly opposed to the mistreatment of Black-Americans.
Topic: civil-war

Many initial suggestions to where the freed slaves were made including the Caribbean island of Hispaniola and Central America, but eventually Liberia was chosen due to its moderate climate, similar to that of the South of the US, and also since it was one of the only pieces of African land yet to be claimed by Europeans. In 1821 Black-Americans began to arrive in Liberia, where they quickly set up the infrastructure and formed their own national identity.
Topic: civil-war

However, in 1878 the Whig party was the dominating party, and Liberia essentially became a one-party state. Post-civil-war (1865) slavery was abolished and many blacks were emancipated, this lead to many rewards being offered to blacks moving to Liberia, and therefore a rapid growth in migration occurred. This group of Black-American colonists, who were dubbed, Americo-Liberians, viewed themselves as superior to the indigenous tribes in West-Africa, and a massive divide eventually formed between them, with the Americo-Liberians becoming the ruling elite, and the West-Africans becoming poorer and oppressed by the Americo-Liberians. Here connotations could be made to South-Africa, where the country was ruled by a rich white minority, with the blacks being oppressed by them, and holding resentment towards them, which would eventually result in violence. Liberia eventually became allies with America, with America having paid billions of dollars into developing the country’s infrastructure and industry, the country was also one of the only West-African countries not to turn to communism during the Cold-War.
Topic: civil-war

Eventually, tensions between indigenous Liberians and Americo-Liberians exploded when, in 1980, Samuel Doe, a native Liberian, led a military coup and killed the then-president William Tolbert and assumed power, Doe held many fraudulent elections, and then established a military regime known as the People’s Redemption Council or PRC, which was extremely harsh upon Liberian citizens. There was massive mistreatment all around the country of the Gio and Mano ethnic groups who then came to massively resent Doe, and many used this to accuse him of preferring his own group, the Kahrn. In 1985 Thomas Quiwonkpa attempted a coup against Doe’s oppressive government, with forces from Sierra Leone, Thomas was forced to flee the country and was demoted from Commanding General of the Liberian army. The coup was a failure and Thomas was killed, his body was mutilated and displayed in Monrovia, his body was supposedly eaten. From this point, up until 1989, when the war broke out, a Liberian scholar called Charles Taylor, who was trained by Cote d’Ivoire as a guerilla fighter and was provided with a force of fighters which would eventually be used to fight Doe’s army, his force would join with the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, INPFL who were backed by Libya, a member of the NPFL prince Johnson then split off to form the Independent NPFL (INPFL). Taylor attacked against Doe in 1989, which signalled the start of the war, these attacked were a combination of his initial force and new forces from the north and ivory coast. Many disjointed and violent fights occurred between the INPFL and Doe’s forces in the streets of Liberia, the war was mainly fought with guerilla tactics, and many child soldiers were used to fight. Doe began to employ Generals to oversee parts of Liberia, all of whom were part of the Kahrn group, these generals would use any tactics necessary to defeat the INPFL, some of them would slaughter entire villages and cannibalize survivors of battles. The most famous of these generals being General Butt Naked, who was recently popularized through a series by Vice that was centred around him and other generals. General Butt Naked controlled a force made up only of child soldiers, who all practiced many disturbing things while fighting. Such as, fighting completely naked. The general believed that fighting naked made him immune to bullets, the general would also encourage his soldiers to join him in the cannibalism of survivors from villages. In 1990 Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreed to deploy a joint military intervention force, with the Economic Community Monitoring Group (ECOMOG).
Topic: civil-war

Later in 1990, Doe visits the newly established ECOMOG headquarters but is ambushed by the INPFL led by Prince Johnson. Doe was taken to the INPFL base in Cadwell, where he was tortured and interrogated before being publicly executed. After this, there are a series of peacemaking attempts in major regional cities, first 7 of these conferences fail, ECOWAS the proposes a conference in Banjul, Gambia to put forward the formation of the Interim Government of National Unity (IGNU.) However, the NPFL refuse to attend this and hostilities resume. There are a series of skirmishes in the city of Monrovia between the two major forces the NPFL and INPFL, many Generals and other former allies of Doe also form their own factions including the ALF and ULIMO, for a chance to gain power. ULIMO was the largest of the Doe supporting groups and was later accused of violating human-rights many times, before entering West-Liberia they had fought alongside the RUF, in 1991 they are able to take a lot of the area held by the NPFL and fight with them constantly until 1997. In 1992 ECOMOG declare an IGNU, in response to this the NPFL launch an attack on Monrovia but are severely pushed back by ECOMOG. In 1995 the main groups decide to sign a ceasefire in an event sponsored by ECOWAS the US and the UN, however, this ceasefire is short lived as heavy fighting in Monrovia breaks out in 1996. These fights lead to the evacuation of the city and the destruction of most of the city. The fighting is eventually ended by the Abju accords in Nigeria, which then leads to democratic elections in 1997, where Charles Taylor was elected president. In 1999, the second Liberian civil war started when Guinea backed Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) emerged in North-Liberia, in early 2003 the Movement for Democracy in Liberia emerged in the South, and through 1999-2003 fought government soldiers. The rebels began to approach Monrovia, and from July-August 2003 they besieged the city and shelled the city resulting in the deaths of many civilians, eventually, Charles Taylor was forced to give up office. Under the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreements, the country began a move into democracy, and in 2005 there was a general election after Gyude Bryant had been interim president since 2003. These wars killed over 20% of the Liberian population, led to mass emigration from the country and marked one of the fastest falls in economy and life-expectancy ever.
Topic: civil-war

Civil wars, often related to ethnic conflicts, have become increasingly common in recent years. They impose enormous and long-lasting human, social and economic costs, and have repercussions well beyond the immediate theater of combat. The aggravation of ethnic frictions to the point of armed conflict can doom many multiethnic societies to periods of prolonged economic, political and social crises, and set back economic progress for decades. The eruption or continuation of these conflicts is obviously a product of a multitude of factors, and each conflict has its own unique roots.
Topic: civil-war

There are four phases of the war, identified as – Eelam War I (1983-1988), Eelam War II (1990- 1994), Eelam War III (1995-2002) and Eelam War IV (2006-2009) (Jayakody, 2017). During the war, despite the existence of the cease fire agreement, both parties exchanged heavy attacks especially in form of air raids. Most of the raids were targeted at military bases of both parties and economic spots. At the same time many people from the highest rank to the innocent civilians sacrificed their lives for this brutal war. So as mentioned above, even the Sri Lankan civil wars’ impacts are not limited only in the economical aspect. It adversely affected to the day to day life of civilians, to natural environment and to natural resources in the country. So the ultimate impact of the war is discouraging the development of our nation for several decades.
Topic: civil-war

The Sri Lankan history has experience enough evidences to prove the war is affected by all the social conservatives. Assassinations of government ministers like Lalith Athulathmudali, Lakshman Kadirgamar and military officers and other people like Lieutenant General Denzil Kobbekaduwa General officer commanding, Northern area Sri Lankan Army, Rear Admiral Mohan Jayamaha former commander, Northern Naval area, Sri Lanka Navy, Colonel Tuan Nizam Muthaliff, former commanding officer, 1st battalion, Military Intelligence crops, Sri Lanka Army, Kithalagama Sri Seelankara thero, chief thero of the Dimbulagala Raja Maha Viharaya, Rajani Thiranagama, University lecturer, Tamil human right activist and feminist, Relangi Selvarajah, Tamil broadcaster and actress, Sarojani Yogeswaram, former mayor of Jaffna vividly realize that the targets of terrorists are merely not one group. They badly eradicated their threats. On the other hand the attack to central Bank in 1996, Kabithigollewa massacre and Palliyagodella massacre shows how innocent people became their targets. So the lives of the innocent people were contracted due to these incidents and finally it reduced the development of the country.
Topic: civil-war

The declaration of Sinhalese as the official language by the government in the 1960s led to ethnic tensions and conflicts between Tamils and Sinhalese as Tamils believed they had been discriminated by the government as well as by the Sinhalese majority. Tensions between Tamils and the government intensified in the late 1970s with the formation of several armed militant groups within the Tamil community. This led to a brutal civil war which earned the title of “Asia’s longest war” in later years. By the 1990s, the group, LTTE, founded in 1976, became the only group directly fighting with the Sri Lankan government as it was able to suppress other armed militant Tamil groups. At the highest point of their power, it possessed a well-developed militia and was able to control over 75% of the land in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of the country. The LTTE was able to build its own police, army, navy forces as well as an air force with a few light aircraft. More importantly, it had a well trained suicide carder which was responsible for conducting several assassinations. The suicide attacks and powerful bombs targeted many public places and strategic economic as well as security hubs in other parts of the country, mainly in the capital, Colombo. Apart from this ethnic war, the country experienced two youth uprisings in 1971 and 1987-1989 launched by Sinhalese youth in the southern part of the country against the government which created many disruptions to the community. Because of the war, Sri Lanka’s military spending as a percentage of GDP, increased from 1.6 percent in 1983 to 3.5 in 2008. It reached its peak at 5.9 percent of GDP in 1995, over 20 percent of total government spending. Before 1983, arm imports were not a regular practice of the Sri Lankan government.
Topic: civil-war

However, from 1984 arms were imported annually in the year 2000, the government’s import bill for arms was around $US 274 million (constant 1990), the highest reported spending on weapons during the war period. Spending on military activities in Sri Lanka is greater than that of many countries in the South Asian region (such as India, Bangladesh and Nepal). Similarly the number of defense personnel increased by close to tenfold from 22,000 in 1989 to 213,000 in 2008. It is estimated that the accumulated loss from 1983 to 1996 to be equivalent to over 160 percent of the GDP in 1996 using a constant interest rate of 5 percent (Ganegodage,2013). The direct costs include reduction in nonmilitary expenditure and damage to infrastructure while the major portions of indirect costs consist of income loss from foregone investment, reduced tourism and loss of human capital through death and injury, displacement of people and output forgone in the war zone. The war significantly reduced the investment flow into the country and therefore concluded that the war could have long run implications for the country’s economy.
Topic: civil-war

It can be argued that although the country can develop their economy with time under a proper political guidance, the psychological trauma caused by it is difficult to heal. The ethnic war in Sri Lanka has brought psychosocial problems for individuals and families. In addition, it has had a devastating effect on Sri Lankan society. It has caused regression of all development, destroying social capital, structures and institutions. It has also resulted in changes, for the worse, of fundamental social processes like socialization, social norms and social networks.
Topic: civil-war

Children are the future of the country. One of the long lasting and as yet not properly understood consequences of the violence in the north-east has been the impact on children. Epidemiological surveys of the general population in war-affected areas of Sri Lanka show widespread traumatisation for the general population the consequent psychosocial problems. Due to close and strong bonds and cohesiveness in nuclear and extended families in the Tamil culture, the families tend to respond to external threat or trauma as a unit. During times of traumatic experiences, the family will come together to face the threat and provide mutual support and protection. In time, the family will act to define and interpret the traumatic event, give it structure and assign a common meaning, as well as evolve strategies to cope with the stress. The civil war, however, resulted in occurrences such as displacement, separation, migration, death, detention and ‘disappearance’ of family members. As a result, the traditional extended and nuclear family systems have been weakened or shattered. The cohesiveness has become less. The absence of members of the family due to death, ‘disappearance’, injury or displacement will create infallible gaps in the functioning of the family unit. Uncertainty or grief about the missing member will add to the burden of the remaining family members. Traumatization of one family member can adversely affect other members, particularly the children. Their emotional response to the prevailed condition included extreme sadness, fear, anger and irritable behavior, and lack of hope, particularly in older and adolescent children. In addition, an increase in physical symptoms related to stress has also been reported along with fear and difficulty in dealing with routing matters, withdrawal from routine activities at home and school as well as from other reasons, and withdrawal into conflict related fantasies.
Topic: civil-war

Under those conditions, the LTTE actively recruited children as young as 10 years into their Baby Brigade. It is quite common to encounter children less than 15 years, trained in the use of firearms that are also use in combat situations and for sentry duty. The other problem is that the war has disrupted the education of the children, which is another reason why they were attracted to the glitter of weapons. The LTTE send their military representatives to school to recruit children. On the other hand children in the age group of 16 and under, know nothing other than war and constant conflict unlike their elders who could refer back to a period of peace and relative stability and security. So under those situations children in war affected areas lost their chances to have education. At the same time children in other areas also became the indirect victims of war. Many students and educated young people died due to bomb attacks. At the same time brain draining was a major problem in Sri Lanka during that time as many educated people migrated to foreign countries because of fear. These reasons were directly affected to the development of Sri Lanka.
Topic: civil-war

Women in Sri Lanka from approximately 57% of a total estimated population of 21 millions. So women in Sri Lanka play a major role in the aspect of development. Another clear segment of the population on ethnic violence has impacted seriously are women. Sexual attacks on women have been a common military strategy throughout history (Dissanayake 2004). In the initial periods of the militarization of the inter-ethnic conflict, women were victimized when their husbands or other males, were abducted or killed by the security forces. They became widows or bereaved women. They also fallen victim to rape, and the worst period of rape was under the occupation of the Indian Peace Keeping Force, particularly between the months of November and December 1987 when the refugees were trickling back from their camps to the homes they had left behind in the midst of war. Comparatively the number of kidnapping of women, sexual harassment and rapes attributed to Tamil militant groups are minimal even though such cases also exist as indicated by a number of unpublished personal testimonies recorded by some researchers and human rights activists. (Dissanayake,2004). In conservative Tamil society, with privileged notions of chastity, virginity before marriage and restrictive notions of purity, women are placed in an extremely difficult position when many of these notions would be violated in a situation of rape. The fact that rape was not a result of their own activities plays no part in the popular perception of the rape victim, and the social seclusion of such victims. In fact they were victimized by more than one aggressor. That is firstly by the rapist, and then by their own society. So in one hand they become victims in their own society and the separation of those women from society adversely affect to the development of Sri Lanka.
Topic: civil-war

Youth is the most important source to the development of a country. The futility of war can be clearly identified through the doomed lives of young people. Due to the civil war thousands of people died and many other people become disabled from both side. At the same time uncountable numbers of people become missed during the action. Those were the best human resources for the development of our country. At the same time many LTTE soldiers were rehabilitated by the Sri Lankan government and now they are efficiently contribute to the development of the country. The programmes like “Abhimansala” which focuses on the rehabilitation of the disabled Army personnel in multiple spheres namely physical, mental, social and spiritual development also one of the best ways of encouraging soldiers in a respectful way.
Topic: civil-war

Sri Lanka, the so-called ‘Paradise on earth’ has a dark side too. The 20 year old conflict between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam has left more than 65,000 dead. About 800,000 people were displaced and many of them were disabled. While all Sri Lankans have suffered from the consequences of the conflict, the North – East and the adjacent areas have born the brunt of fighting. Therefore, permanent peace has to be brought about, in order to change this situation in the North and East. For that, the government should play a major role on behalf of the governed. It means that a very suitable and a very reasonable political solution must be found to resolve this ethnic conflict. Since 1987, there have been several attempts to have a constitutional accommodation by successive Sri Lankan Governments and the advocates of Tamils nationalism. Although the cease-fire agreement was signed by the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE in 2002, the peace talks collapsed in April and by the end of that year the government and rebels had contradictory views over key political issues. On the other hand, after signing the cease-fire agreement in February 2002, bringing a measure of normalcy to the country, the vast majority of the affected people still suffer from the lack of basic infrastructure facilities and social services. Therefore, to come back to normal life, social services must be restored, destroyed infrastructure facilities must be rebuilt and access to job opportunities must be made available. In this situation, all Sri Lankan political parties and all community groups should give their wholehearted support to bring about an everlasting peace and to work together for a prosperous and harmonious future for Sri Lanka.
Topic: civil-war

“The Compromise of 1850 marked the start of a decade of contention and controversy.” (Schaffer). When California wanted to be emitted into the Union as a free state this disrupted the balance of slave states and free states in the Senate. To fix this unbalance in the Union, slavery was not regulated in the remainder of the Mexican cession strengthening a law that compelled Northerners to seize and return slaves that had escaped from the South back to the South, this is known as the Fugitive Slave Act.
Topic: civil-war

While the agreement succeeded in postponing outright hostilities between the North and South, it did little to address the structural disparity that divided the United States. Racial, gender, spatial, and the economy are just a few structural disparities that divided the United States at the time, but the racial disparity was the one that hit home with both the North and the South. The Compromise of 1850 was weak and destined for a short life.
Topic: civil-war

The first law of the compromise was that California was to be admitted into the Union as a free state. “Can you expect, if there is a dissolution of the Union that you can carry slavery into California and New Mexico? You cannot dream of such a purpose.” (Clay). This is the first of many problems with the Compromise of 1850. The Missouri Compromise stated that there had to be an equal number of slave states and free states, but with California joining as a free state there would be more free states than slave states. This caused unbalance in the Senate and unrest in the states. With this statement, people knew there was no way for California to become a slave state or to be split into two states so that there would be an equal number of slave and free states.
Topic: civil-war

The second law of the Compromise of 1850 was that the remainder of the Mexican cession was divided into the two territories of New Mexico and Utah. “The president’s eventual support for the prohibition of slavery in California and New Mexico enraged southerners, who organized state and sectional conventions and, in some quarters, began openly advocating secession.” (Bell). The people of each territory would decide whether or not slavery would be permitted, this is known as Popular Sovereignty. New Mexico and Utah decreed slave codes, technically opening the territories to slavery even though popular sovereignty was supposed to be in play. Popular sovereignty interferes with what the Missouri Compromise says because now the state can be both a free and a slave state and not one or the other. “Some southerners might agree to California’s admission if all the other territorial issues could be resolved to their satisfaction.” (Bordewich).
Topic: civil-war

Another law of the Compromise of 1850 was that congress would dissolve the sale of slaves, but not slavery, in D.C. This restricted the slave trade in D.C., but slave ownership would still be allowed in the South. This was not enough for abolitionists who wanted slavery banned in every state in the United States. Southerners would not accept a Union’s capital where slavery was illegal because then they thought their economy would go down. They also believed that the slaves were the only ones to be able to grow their crops because the slaves were the lesser race. They had to reach a compromise and it was in the middle, by banning the trade of slaves. “Are you safer in the recovery of your fugitive slaves, in a state of dissolution or of severance of the Union, than you are in the Union itself?” (Clay). Even though this law was created to settle disagreements, it just created more problems for everyone.