Nicaragua People And Way Of Life Essays - Somoza Family, Nicaragua

Nicaragua: People and Way of Life Most Nicaraguans are mestizos. That is that they have white and Indian ancestors. There way of life is somewhat similar to that of Spanish Americans in other Central American countries. Most people belong to the Roman Catholic Church and speak Spanish. Most of Nicaragua's people are poor farmers. Many of those in the Pacific Region are peasants who work on their own farms, cooperatives, state farms, or large private farms. In warmer areas, agriculture workers live in metal roofed houses. In the colder areas of the Central Highlands, they live in adobe houses with tile roofs. The only Indian groups in Nicaragua that follow their own languages and their old ways of life are in the thinly populated Caribbean Region. In the early 1980's some of these Indians became involved in anti-government things. Because of this, the government moved some Indian groups from their homes near the border to areas in the interior of Nicaragua. Education Nicaragua has a law that requires children to go to school from the age of six through twelve. Before 1980, only about half the children did so because they were poor and couldn't afford to be sent or it was that there weren't many schools around where they lived. Nicaragua did not have enough schools, and many rural areas had no schools at all. But since then the new government has built hundreds of schools. The government also held a successful literacy campaign headed mainly by young volunteer teachers. Nicaragua has two universities. The national University of Nicaragua, in Le?n and Managua, is the older and larger one. It was founded in 1812 and has more than seven thousand students. The Central American University is a Roman Catholic institution in Managua. Government A president heads the government of Nicaragua. The people elect the president and a legislature called the National Assembly. The president appoints a Cabinet to help carry out the operations of the government. This government is very similar to our own government. The president, most of the Cabinet members, and the majority of the National Assembly members belong to a political party called the Sandinista National Liberation Front. In 1979, the Sandinistas led a revolution that overthrew the government of the Somoza family, which had long ruled Nicaragua. From 1979 to 1984 the Sandinistas controlled the government largely through a three-member junta, or a ruling body. The president and the national assembly were elected in 1984. History In 1502 Christopher Columbus claimed Nicaragua for Spain. The Spaniards did not really settle in Nicaragua. Many pirates set up hideouts and Dutch as well as others went to Nicaragua instead. On September 15, 1821 Nicaragua and other Central American states declared their independence. They later became part of the Mexican Empire but broke away in 1823. They formed the United Provinces of Central America. This union generally followed liberal economic and political policies. The union began to fall apart because of conservative landowners and the clergy to regain their old privileges. In 1838 Nicaragua left the Union. In 1979 their was a civil war which drove the Somoza family out of government office. They had ruled from 1937 to 1979. Somoza was assassinated in 1980 while leaving the country as an order by the rebels who fought and won.

Was the Bill of Rights Necessary essays

Was the Bill of Rights Necessary essays In 1787, a group of men got together in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation under which the United States had been operating. When the Constitutional Convention decided to propose a federal government instead, they faced the enormous challenge of persuading the American people to accept the central government they had learned to distrust and fear. Many were hesitant to give up the Confederation that helped bring them through the American Revolution that brought them freedom from a great tyrant. Because of this, a great debate arouse between the federalists and the anti-federalists. The great question became, Is a bill of rights necessary? Without it, the United States constitution would have never lasted. Contrary to popular opinion, the United States Constitution does not give any rights to the people. As stated in the Declaration of Independence, a man's rights are given to him by his creator. The constitution merely exists to limit and restrain government powers. Publius states in Federalist 84, Here, in strictness, the people surrender nothing; and as they retain every thing they have no need of particular reservations. (Publius, 1787, 8). Federalists believed that the bill of rights was not needed to protect the peoples rights and that the constitution was a bill of rights in itself (Publius, 1787, 12). Why forbid someone to do something, if they have no power to do it in the first place? The federalists argument did not satisfy the American people. It was their experience and belief, that government was by nature corrupt, and could never be trusted to stay within the constraints of the constitution. If man were perfect, we would not need a government to protect our rights. In history, government has been found to abuse their power, and abridge the public liberty (Brutus, 1787, 5). For this reason, men have always worked to create ways to keep their fundamental rights from being en...

Comparison and Contrast between 1688 and 1988 Essay

Comparison and Contrast between 1688 and 1988 - Essay Example The researcher of this essay states that while there have been some significant changes in how people live their daily lives from 1688 to 1988, society in general has not changed all that much. To conclude, the researcher mentiones most significant comparative observations he came up with while researching the topic. Firstly, he states in the essay that both years saw the world’s civilizations perched on the very edge of a prodigious expansion around the globe with a tremendous mingling of cultures, belief systems and economic activities. Secondly, both have seen the world’s poorest peoples taken advantage of for the economic gain of greedy and already prosperous nations with better access to technology and education. Thirdly, both have seen a redefinition and constant developing of society, with a blurring of those concepts that had once been considered absolute and the admittance of shades of grey into the discussion. However, while religious differences and big corpo rative business have continued to emerge as the two most difficult issues to overcome in working toward a more harmonious and peaceful world, the researcher suggests that both 1688 and 1988 saw events emerging that would encourage greater dialogue among the various factions, countries, cultures and genders as greater efforts are made nowadays towards bringing about world peace and increasing acknowledgement among the populace of the world that there might be more than just one answer to the world’s greatest questions.