A Brief History Of The Canadian Pacific Railway History Essay

A Brief History Of The Canadian Pacific Railway History Essay The Railways are very important part of Canada’s history and a part of transportation. â€Å"For more than a century, CP rail was called the Canadian Pacific Railway, and it remains today the railroad that helped to settle the Canadian West in the Second half of the last Century† ( Thomas York 129). The CP was not only built to provide transportation, but it was also built to get British Columbia united with Canada. It also helped many Chinese immigrants to come to Canada and had a strong impact on the political and economic connection between west to east of Canada. It is beyond doubt that the Canadian Pacific Railway was really the one that had Canada united as a country. Chinese workers had an important contribution to the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway in British Columbia. Andrew Onderdonk, an American who was hired for construction contractor for Canadian Pacific Railway in British Columbia, signed agreement with Chinese contractors in China’s Gua ngdong province. Five thousand labourers were sent from China by ship during these contracts and over seven thousand were employed from California. Between 1881 and 1884 there were 17000 Chinese labourers working on Canadian Pacific Railway. Chinese workers got paid â€Å"$1.00 a day, and from this $1.00 the workers had to still pay for their food and their camping and cooking gear, [while] white workers did not have to pay for these things even though they were paid more money $1.50-$2.50 per day†(Library and Archives Canada). The Chinese workers had the most dangerous jobs from others, as they had to break off granite and planted explosives that were used to blow up tunnels. While working on the railway, many died due to accidents, fires and dynamite blasts. The Chinese workers lived in tents, but these tents were unsafe as they did not provide protection from falling rocks. When the Canadian Pacific Railway completed in 1885, the Chinese workers needed to find new jobs. Se veral workers went back to China, while some found a new job as gardeners, cooks and servants. The Chinese moved to east of Canada and settled there, opening restaurants and laundries. When the railway finished, the government passed The Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 charging a Head Tax of $50 to any Chinese coming to Canada. This act was meant to stop Chinese immigration to Canada, but the 1885 act failed and the government passed The Chinese Immigration Act of 1900 to increase the tax to $100 and The Chinese Immigration Act of 1903 to increase the tax to $500. An estimated of $23 million was collected from 1885 and 1923 from the head tax. During this period, the Chinese in Canada lived a bachelor society as families in China would not pay this much money to send their daughters to Canada. After Canada entered World War II, the Chinese communities contributed to Canada’s war efforts and this brought â€Å"independent Chinese immigrants in Canada. . . after Canada eliminat ed race and the â€Å"place of origin† section from its immigration policy in 1967†³(History of Chinese Immigration to Canada, Wikipedia.org). Chinese suffered extreme intolerance and abuse, but thanks to their work of the Trans-Canada railway, Chinese communities developed across the Canada. When the railway was building, many manufacturer began to see this railway had big economic possible.

Research Proposal on The Rape Shield Law Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

On The Rape Shield Law - Research Proposal Example To quote from Rudstein, â€Å"are obstacles to convictions of rapists because juries presented with evidence concerning a complainant's past sexual history make use of such information to form a moral judgment of her character and then are likely to be sympathetic to the assailant1.† It also discourages rape victims from going to the police, for fear that their dirty laundry may be washed for all the world to see. As a net consequence of this, there would be low convictions for rape and many rapists would not be made accountable for their crimes. This becomes especially true when a majority of all rapes committed are acquaintance rape2, where in all likelihood the rapist would be able to present some form of evidence or information about the sexual past of the victim by virtue of having moved in the same circles. The first rape shield law in the United States was passed in Michigan in 1974, and other states followed suit. It mainly arose from the lobbying of feminists who beli eved – and rightly so – that rape was a power issue and that the way it is being treated and dealt with in the courts of law reinforced the hierarchical gender relations. Allowing evidence of sexual history perpetuates stereotypes of women, e.g., women who slept around cannot be raped, women with a lot of partners must have â€Å"asked for it†, prostitutes can never secure a conviction for rape against a man who sexually abused her. In fact, there have been studies showing that there is a â€Å"credibility gap†3 between men and women in the court room. Haddad4 divided rape shield laws in the United States in roughly four categories. According to him: These laws can be roughly divided into four categories, distinguishable by the basis and form of their exceptions: (1) â€Å"legislated exceptions† laws, which contain general prohibitions on evidence of prior sexual conduct, subject to at least one legislated exception; (2) â€Å"constitutional catch -all† laws, which, in addition to prohibiting evidence of prior sexual conduct, subject to at least one legislated exception, contain an explicit exception allowing the admission of any evidence that, if excluded, would infringe upon the rights guaranteed to a defendant by the federal Constitution; (3) â€Å"judicial discretion† laws, which, instead of including legislated exceptions, simply grant to judges the broad discretion to admit or bar evidence of a woman’s sexual history; and (4) â€Å"evidentiary purpose† laws, which determine the admissibility of a woman’s sexual history based on the purpose for which the evidence is offered at trial. The issue of rape shield has gained contemporary platform once more in the case of Kobe Bryant, where the judge ruled that the victim’s sexual activity seventy two hours before she was subjected to medical examination in relation to the rape charge. Many legal experts believed that this dealt a crushi ng blow to the prosecution of the case and led to the eventual dismissal of the charges against Kobe Bryant. B. Statement of thesis My thesis intends to explore the possible inconsistencies between the rape shield law and the right of the accused to due process. The core of my argument is that the state policy to spare a survivor of rape from the possibility of being humiliated on the stand should not be held in higher regard than the right of an accused to be able to present all

The Evolution of Representations of the 'Libertine' Essay

The Evolution of Representations of the 'Libertine' - Essay Example These issues had largely to do with factors or methodologies for keeping anarchies at bay and holding on to power. Uneasy lay the heads that held the crown. The dark ages did not provide any help by way of alternative means of ruling and administering. Theologians were divided in their loyalty and beliefs. Blind faith, superstition or outright bullying tactics were the order of the day. The mighty monarch ruled with an iron fist till death or till he was deposed or treacherously killed. This lasted until the 14th century A.D. The Renaissance descended like a breath of fresh air everywhere in Europe. The media of books and theatres whetted the appetite of the peasants and royalty alike, but having promised the moon it still left a void in the hearts and minds of both. This was enough for fertile creativity to wind its way through the corridors of subtle extravaganzas prevalent with the royalty in its grotesque mismatches of high-handed aristocracy and ignoble reality of the suffering masses. In the circumstances, what better way to exploit the social anomalies than the dangling of the naughty albeit decent Francois, the poor but enigmatic pcaro, and the sleaze, the intrigue, the portrayal of social and political inequalities and hypocrisies, and the ambiguities of living in a exploitative system and the artistic means of its exposure. The situation was not all that entertaining. The metamorphosis from medieval to modern era claimed its share of intrigue, suspense and bloodshed. If it started with a simple laughter from the pages of Charles Sorel it also revolutionized France with staggering effect. The Renaissance factor Beginning from the 14th century, Europe witnessed an awakening that was to transform the way people thought and worked. Changes were beginning to happen economically, politically, in the field of art and religion, education, and these had their cascading effects on social and familial life. (Renaissance) The nature of transformation was epochal so much so that literature, scientific discoveries and inventions, sea voyages for discovery of new continents and regions, and even exploration of space by rockets became topics of great interest and research. There was a paradigm shift in the way people of all walks of life began to think. They dreamed! New and successful ideas, discoveries and inventions were fodder to their beliefs that nothing was impossible. (From Cyrano to Jean-Luc Picard) It was an awakening of continental proportion that initiated the preference for logic and reason as the ideal means to establish facts and find out truth. It also lent credence to the fundamentals of cause and effect as responsible for events, situations and actions. These concepts dramatically changed the ways of thinking and execution. They equipped science and literature with profound and effective insights and methodologies for developing theories and strategies. The freshness and originality of