Do We Have Too Much Government?

I heartily accept the motto,—“That government is best which governs least”; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe—“That government is best which governs not at all”


Henry David Thoreau believed the government acted only to benefit the people within the government. The "People" were suppose to be in charge. Thoreau believed the citizens were just being used to serve the more powerful and wealthy who had the control. His theory is still very valid today. Laws that extend beyond the Constitution of the United States can be very corrupt and have a negative impact on our society that is now too deeply rooted to remove (http://www.articlemyriad.com/analysis-summary-civil-disobedience/).

One of the ways our government extended its arm too far is the restriction of alcohol to people under the age of twenty one. Teenagers are always going to drink whether it is legal or illegal. It's a part of American culture that every teen is faced with and it has been the norm for forever. There are many problems with teens drinking at a young age, but when the punishments for underage drinking could jeopardize a teen's future, that's when the government goes too far. Teens are always going to drink and when there isn't a safe place to be without getting caught, the car seems like the only option. Everyone who drinks should be allowed to do so in a safe place. If bars could be accessible to everyone instead of just people over a certain age, a lot less teens would be driving around drunk and trying to avoid the law. Teen parties are frequently miles from their homes and deep in the woods in order to avoid the police. This creates more problems than the law is trying to prevent. In the event of an emergency, the drunken needs need to drive miles to get back into town. By the time they get to town, it may be too late or an accident caused by the alcohol could occur. The law governs morals and hurts our society. It makes America more dangerous instead of protecting it. It seems the only practical reason the government holds on to this law is so that law enforcement people can carry a job. Their salary is paid for by the fines that teens have to pay for simply partaking in an activity that is inevitably an everlasting aspect of our culture.

Marijuana is such a horrible drug according to the government. Why do they tell us this? Because the powerful people, who are elected to protect us, want a salary. Law enforcement is funded to keep pot away, but like alcohol, it will always be here. Our tax money funds a hopeless war against drug crimes but without drug crimes, who would the government prey on? Innocent people who just want to experience a high in tough times are thrown in the jail. Over thirteen million marijuana related arrests were made in 2010. Our prison systems are full and there is no sign of these arrests to decrease (http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Marijuana#Total). America has almost a quarter of the world's prisoners in its own prison system (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/world/americas/23iht-23prison.12253738.html?pagewanted=all). The government is in so much debt, yet they spend money on drug related crimes that could simply be solved by staying out of the business. If there is a great demand for something illegal, other illegal activities will follow to deliver the supply. They need to legalize it and let the market take care of things. Legitimate businesses will grow around the industry. They are hanging on to this law because their own kind will lose their jobs. All of the government spending that could be saved by legalizing an industry could be spent on much needed infrastructure and other important needs of the nation where the government should be concerned about rather than our setting restrictions on our inalienable rights.

What Was Griswold's "Memoir of the Author"?

When Edgar Allen Poe died, Rufus Wilmot Griswold wrote Poe's obituary with intent to acquire revenge for all of Poe's negative criticism about Griswold. The obituary began with, "Edgar Allan Poe is dead. He died in Baltimore the day before yesterday. This announcement will startle many, but few will be grieved by it." He included false details in order to ruin the reputation of Poe. Following the obituary, Griswold wrote a biography titled "Memoir of the Author." This was the only biography available and influenced the world's view of Edgar Allen Poe immensely. Because it was the only access the public had into Poe's life, the fabricated details of Poe became the ultimate source of his reputation. Griswold had hoped to erase the idea of Poe being a great poet and end his legacy. His plan succeeded in giving Poe a reputation, but the reputation of Poe being a madman boosted the popularity of Poe's work and made him an even more important figure in the history of American literature (http://www.poemuseum.org/life.php).

Rufus Griswold attempted to give Edgar Allen Poe a reputation of being a, "drunken, womanizing madman, with no morals or friends." He included letters that Poe had written to support his accusations, but it is now believed many of the letters were never actually written by Poe. Griswold accused Poe of being a drug addict which is now proven to be false. He criticized Poe's childhood. He label him as reckless and told stories of Poe's disruptive behavior in school and the poor parenting he had. Poe's gambling debt was mentioned along with his disobedience at West Point and desertion. Every possible negative aspect of Poe's life was brought up in this biography in hopes to discredit all of his poetry. Griswold constantly gave attention to Poe's intoxication and wrote about how poorly the poetry was written. Poe was described as envious, arrogant, and villany (http://www.eapoe.org/papers/misc1827/18500004.htm).

The biography ends with-

"There seemed to him no moral susceptibility; and, what was more remarkable in a proud nature, little or nothing of the true point of honor. He had, to a morbid excess, that desire to rise which is vulgarly called ambition, but no wish for the esteem of the love of his species; only the hard wish to succeed — not shine, not serve — succeed, that he might have the right to despise a world which galled his self-conceit.(http://www.eapoe.org/papers/misc1827/18500004.htm)"

Many others who wrote biographies about Edgar Allen Poe based their works on Griswold's biography of Poe. Even though a large amount of the accusations were false, the biographies that followed continued to support the reputation Griswold had built for Poe (http://www.eapoe.org/geninfo/poegrisw.htm). The public became very interested in reading the work of a madman and the publication of Poe's work increased immensely. While Griswold is nearly forgotten, the man's legacy he attempted to destroy lives on.

What Was the Theme of Rip Van Winkle?

Washington Irving never tells of the true theme of the story of Rip Van Winkle. Rip Van Winkle seemed to be lazy and enjoyed life as long as he wasn't being hassled by his wife or doing work. What can we learn from that? Is the lesson that we shouldn't be lazy? Being lazying made him happy and isn't happiness what we are all seeking? He got drunk with some Dutchmen in the forest. Maybe one of the lessons Washington Irving was trying to convey was that bad things might happen to you if you start drinking with strange people in the forest. However, Rip Van Winkle's life wasn't ruined after that so we can toss that idea out as one of the themes. I began to think Washington Irving never really have a theme to the story. After doing some research, I found that others, with perhaps a little stretch, were able to come up with possible themes that Washington Irving may have had in mind.

When Rip Van Winkle returns to his village after his super long sleep, everything had changed. There were more buildings in the town and they all looked different. The main topic of discussion was politics. Before Rip Van Winkles went into the forest, the village was small and simple. People weren't concerned with politics and they were content with the rule of the King. All this change was brought about after the Revolution. Perhaps Washington Irving's theme was that with progress comes change. Although there are drastic changes, many traditions are kept such as the gossip at the tavern and idle people can always be idle. Progress may seem overwhelming at first, but it's worth the change. At first, Rip Van Winkle was concerned with all of the change, but as time went on, he was able to accept it and live happily (http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides3/Winkle.html).

Several other themes could be discussed about this story. It could be about Rip Van Winkle's loss of himself and then having to find others who remember him to explain his identity to the new generation. Maybe Washington Irving wanted to show the importance of work ethic and if you don't keep up with society, you get left behind. The theme could have just been about American life after the Revolution. The switch of the King above to tavern to George Washington was a significant part of the story. Rip Van Winkle could have even been a symbol representing the new country (http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=18848). The change seemed to happen over night and Rip was unsure how to deal with the change and uncertain about the future. The country and Rip Van Winkle enjoyed the progress but were both still reluctant to give up all of their traditions (http://people.morrisville.edu/~pisiakr/English203/RipVanWinkle.htm).

What Punishments Did African Slaves Endure?

Slaves in the nineteenth century we treated as property. They were given the same amount of rights as livestock. This basically meant they had no rights at all. Plantation owners cared very little about the well-being of their slaves. They were strictly interested in increasing productivity in order to gain a higher profit. The plantation owners hired overseers to make sure the slaves were working at their maximum capabilities. Whenever a slave would fail to complete a task exactly how he or she was told, the slave would be punished (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASpunishments.htm). 

A slave would be punished for many things. Any form of resist or attempting to run away would result in some kind of punishment to break the slave's will. A slave who did not work hard enough would have to endure some kind of torture just as an animal would that refused to obey its master. Slaves who talked too much, especially in their native language, would be beat. Stealing from or attacking a white man would also bring about severe punishment (http://www.historyonthenet.com/Slave_Trade/punishments.htm).

Punishments included a variety of techniques that overseers saw as effective. If the whip did not suffice, overseers commonly would smoke their slaves. This meant the slaves were placed in a smokehouse where conditions would be very hot and uncomfortable. The smoke would make it hard for the slave to breathe and would be tied up in the smokehouse for a long period of time. Slaves were branded just like cattle. This was done as punishment as well as to mark the slave as the property of a particular plantation. Slaves were also placed into barrels that had nails pounded into it and then pushed down a steep hill causing the nails to stab the slave with every rotation of the barrel (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASpunishments.htm).

Slaves were often bound by chains to the ground. They would be put in shackles to preventing escape. Sometimes slaves were forced to walk on nineteenth century treadmills and whipped to increase their pace.  Many kinds of contraptions were placed on slaves as punishment. A collar with iron rods sticking out from it was placed around a slave's neck. At the end of the rods were bells. This contraption caused a huge amount of discomfort to work due to its weight and made it impossible for a person to lay down to sleep (http://cghs.dadeschools.net/slavery/antebellum_slavery/punishment.htm). 

Slaves were often forced to work for multiple days without food or rest as punishment. After their long periods of working, they were stripped naked and their family members were forced to whip them at least fifty times. The embarrassment and shame a slave had to go through was a form of torture all on its own. 

With every beating or form of punishment, an overseer saw it as re-enforcing his dominance over the slave and breaking the slave's will to resist. Slave's took every punishment as even more reason to resist the orders of their masters and gave them courage to escape. If slaves were treated more humanely, productivity would probably have increased without the use of a whip and the threat of escapes would have lessened (http://cghs.dadeschools.net/slavery/antebellum_slavery/punishment.htm). Obviously the act of slavery is horrible and the punishments were completely unjustified, but without the extremely cruel punishments, there may not have been as much attention drawn to the issue. Slaves might have stayed loyal to their masters and the abolishment of slavery could have been delayed much later.