Saturday, December 28, 2019

American Revolution and the Battle of the Chesapeake

The Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes, was fought September 5, 1781, during the American Revolution (1775-1783). Fleets and Leaders Royal Navy Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Graves19 ships of the line French Navy Rear Admiral Comte de Grasse24 ships of the line Background Prior to 1781, Virginia had seen little fighting as the majority operations had taken place far to the north or further south. Early that year, British forces, including those led by traitor Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, arrived in the Chesapeake and commenced raiding. These were later joined by Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis army which had marched north following its bloody victory at the Battle of Guilford Court House. Taking command of all British forces in the region, Cornwallis soon received a confusing string of orders from his superior in New York City, General Sir Henry Clinton. While initially campaigning against American forces in Virginia, including those led by the Marquis de Lafayette, he was later instructed to establish a fortified base at a deep-water port. Assessing his options, Cornwallis elected to utilize Yorktown for this purpose. Arriving at Yorktown, VA, Cornwallis constructed earthworks around the town and built fortifications across the York River at Gloucester Point.   Fleets in Motion During the summer, General George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau requested that Rear Admiral Comte de Grasse bring his French fleet north from the Caribbean for a potential strike against either New York City or Yorktown. After extensive debate, the latter target was chosen by the allied Franco-American command with the understanding that de Grasses ships were necessary to prevent Cornwallis escaping by sea. Aware that de Grasse intended to sail north, a British fleet of 14 ships of the line, under Rear Admiral Samuel Hood, also departed the Caribbean. Taking a more direct route, they arrived at the mouth of the Chesapeake on August 25. That same day, a second, smaller French fleet led by the  Comte de Barras departed Newport, RI carrying siege guns and equipment. In an effort to avoid the British, de Barras took a circuitous route with the goal of reaching Virginia and uniting with de Grasse. Not seeing the French near the Chesapeake, Hood decided to continue on to New York to join with Rear Admiral Thomas Graves. Arriving at New York, Hood found that Graves only had five ships of the line in battle condition. Combining their forces, they put to sea heading south towards Virginia. While the British were uniting to the north, de Grasse arrived in the Chesapeake with 27 ships of the line. Quickly detaching three ships to blockade Cornwallis position at Yorktown, de Grasse landed 3,200 soldiers and anchored the bulk of his fleet behind Cape Henry, near the mouth of the bay. The French Put to Sea On September 5, the British fleet appeared off the Chesapeake and sighted the French ships around 9:30 AM. Rather than swiftly attack the French while they were vulnerable, the British followed the tactical doctrine of the day and moved into a line ahead formation. The time required for this maneuver allowed the French to recover from the surprise of the British arrival which had seen many of their warships caught with large portions of their crews ashore. Also, it allowed de Grasse to avoid entering battle against an adverse wind and tidal conditions. Cutting their anchor lines, the French fleet emerged from the bay and formed for battle. As the French exited from the bay, both fleets angled towards each other as they sailed east. A Running Fight As wind and sea conditions continued to change, the French gained the advantage of being able to open their lower gun ports while the British were prevented from doing so without risking water entering their ships. Around 4:00 PM, the vans (lead sections) in each fleet opened fired on their opposite number as the range closed. Though the vans were engaged, a shift in the wind made it difficult for each fleets center and rear to close within range. On the British side, the situation was further hampered by contradictory signals from Graves. As the fighting progressed, the French tactic of aiming for masts and rigging bore fruit as HMS Intrepid (64 guns) and HMS Shrewsbury (74) both fell out of line. As the vans pummeled each other, many of the ships to their rear never were able to engage the enemy. Around 6:30 PM the firing ceased and the British withdrew to windward. For the next four days, the fleets maneuvered within sight of each other. However, neither sought to renew the battle . On the evening of September 9, de Grasse reversed his fleets course, leaving the British behind, and returned to the Chesapeake. Upon arriving, he found reinforcements in the form of 7 ships of the line under de Barras. With 34 ships of the line, de Grasse had full control of the Chesapeake, eliminating Cornwallis hopes for evacuation. Trapped, Cornwallis army was besieged by the combined army of Washington and Rochambeau. After over two weeks of fighting, Cornwallis surrendered on October 17, effectively ending the American Revolution. Aftermath and Impact During the Battle of the Chesapeake, both fleets suffered approximately 320 casualties. In addition, many of the ships in the British van were heavily damaged and unable to continue fighting. Though the battle itself was tactically inconclusive, it was a massive strategic victory for the French. By drawing the British away from the Chesapeake, the French eliminated any hope of rescuing Cornwalliss army. This in turn allowed for the successful siege of Yorktown, which broke the back of British power in the colonies and led to American independence.

Friday, December 20, 2019

Audiovisual Exercise On Cdna Cloning And Characterization

SWANSEA UNIVERSITY - College of Medicine PM-305: Gene Manipulation [DHJ] Assignment: Audiovisual Exercise on cDNA Cloning and Characterisation. This is not a test, but it is a learning exercise designed to make you think about the use of some gene manipulation techniques. During the course of this video demonstration you will be asked the following questions. Each number indicates a different place when the programme will be stopped. Each question is related to the material covered before that stop. You will be given time to think about each answer and make a brief note of it. Any questions which are not directly answered when the programme is re-started will be addressed at the end of the session. You must then make a full record of questions and answers for your continuous assessment. (Question 12 is to be done afterwards. Note the need for diagrams and see submission instructions at the bottom of Page 2.) QUESTIONS: 1. Only cDNA cloning is covered in this video. What other methods are there for obtaining a cloned coding sequence? The method we saw in the video was cloning of a cDNA library. A cDNA library involves the physical cloning of the thaumatin gene by the cDNA fragment being inserted into a suitable vector called a plasmid. This method of cDNA cloning means that only the desired gene is cloned and colonies contain the plasmid can be identified with techniques like the blue white screening. There are other methods we can use though. For instance we could make a

Thursday, December 12, 2019

ARISTOTLES REFUTATION OF PLATOS THEORY OF IDEAS Essay Example For Students

ARISTOTLES REFUTATION OF PLATOS THEORY OF IDEAS Essay Aristotle refutes Platos Theory of Ideas on three basic grounds: that theexistence of Ideas contradicts itself by denying the possibility ofnegations; that his illustrations of Ideas are merely empty metaphors; andthat they theory uses impermanent abstractions to create examples ofperception. Though the theory is meant to establish concrete standards forthe knowledge of reality, Aristotle considers it fraught withinconsistencies and believes that the concept of reality depends upon allforms correlations to other elements. Ideas, Plato believes, are permanent, self-contained absolutes, whichanswered to each item of exact knowledge attained through human thought. Also, Ideas are in Platos view concrete standards by which all humanendeavor can be judged, for the hierarchy of all ideas leads to the highestabsolute that of Good. In addition, the theory claims that states ofbeing are contingent upon the mingling of various Forms of existence, thatknowledge is objective and thus clearly more real, and that only theprocesses of nature were valid entities. However, Aristotle attacks this theory on the grounds that Platosarguments are inconclusive either his assertions are not al all cogent. Aristotle says, or his arguments lead to contradictory conclusions. Forexample, Aristotle claims that Platos arguments lead one to conclude thatentities (such as anything man-made) and negations of concrete ideas couldexist such as non-good in opposition to good. This contradicts Platosown belief that only natural objects could serve as standards of knowledge. Also, Aristotle refutes Platos belief that Ideas are perfect entities untothemselves, independent of subjective human experience. Ideas, Aristotleclaims, are not abstractions on a proverbial pedestal but mere duplicates ofthings witnessed in ordinary daily life. The Ideas of things, he says, arenot inherent to the objects in particular but created separately and placedapart from the objects themselves. Thus, Aristotle says, Platos idea thatIdeas are perfect entities, intangible to subjective human experience, ismeaningless, for all standards are based somewhere in ordinary humanactivity and perception. Thirdly, Aristotle assails Platos efforts to find something common toseveral similar objects at once, a perfect exemplar of the quality thosethings share. Beauty is a perfect example; Plato considered Beauty both anotion and an ideal, isolated by abstractions and fixed permanently whileits representatives fade away. Aristotle claims that abstractions likeBeauty cannot be cast as absolutes, independent of temporal humanexperience; the Idea of Beauty changes with time and individual perceptionsand cannot (as Plato felt) exist forever as a concrete standard. Plato and Aristotle reach some agreement, though, on the topic of reality. Plato believes that all reality was derived from his Ideas (which themselvesdealt with concrete hierarchy of rational ideas. St. Anselm, though, makes the most dogmatic and logically tortuous case forGods existence, relying not upon explanations of goodness, truth, orrational order of ideas but upon an absurd argument. He claims thateveryone has some sense of God, and he claims that for one to deny Godsexistence is an invalid and contradictory assertion; therefore, God exists. Also, Anselm believes that those capable of understanding God cannot believethat he does not exist as if the enormity of the idea was so clear thanonly a fool could not perceive it. His arguments seem the weakest of the four viewpoints here, for they areriddled with dogma and assume that God is a constant using faith alone. Anselm considers faith paramount to logic or other forms of thought and asksno questions as to what powers the universe or what goodness is hebasically follows the Christian party line too closely to be valid. .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e , .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e .postImageUrl , .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e , .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e:hover , .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e:visited , .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e:active { border:0!important; } .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e:active , .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u2583ffab732622f997f349623d293c4e:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Paper motif on Invisible Man EssayIn general, St. Augustine combines Platos idea of a moral hierarchy withhis own rational observations of truth and goodness being embodied in theirhighest form by God. While Plato wavers on Gods superiority, Aristotleviews man as gods pawn, and Anselm uses tortuous dogmatic logic,Augustines arguments seem to make the most sense from not only a Christianpoint of view but from a moral and rational one as well. The philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, and St. Anselm on theexistence of God all vary on the issue of Gods nature; though each thinkertakes a different approach to why there is a God, that of St. Augustineseems the most valid because he takes a rational stance and does notdogmatically assume Gods existence. Platos philosophy assumes that God exists as a supremely good being whosegoodness is analogous to Platos concrete concept or the ultimate good. However, God and

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

The Translantic Slave Trade free essay sample

The best-known triangular trading method is the transatlantic slave trade, that operated from the late 1 6th to early 1 9th centuries, carrying slaves, cash crops, and manufactured goods between West Africa, Caribbean American colonies and Europe. The use of African slaves was key to growing colonial cash crops, which were exported to Europe. European goods, in turn, were used to purchase African slaves, which were then brought on the sea lane west from Africa to the Americas, the so called middle passage. A classic example would be the trade of sugar from the Caribbean to Europe where it as distilled into rum.The profits from the sale of sugar were used to purchase manufactured goods, which were then shipped to West Africa, where they were traded for slaves. The slaves were then brought back to the Caribbean to be sold to sugar planters. The profits from the sale of the slaves were then used to buy more sugar, which was shipped to Europe, etc. We will write a custom essay sample on The Translantic Slave Trade or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The first leg of the triangle was from a European port to Africa, in which ships carried supplies for sale and trade, such as copper, cloth, slave beads, guns and ammunition. When the ship arrived, its cargo would be traded for slaves.On the second leg, ships made the journey of the Middle Passage from Africa to the New World. Many slaves died of disease in the crowded holds of the slave ships. Once the ship reached the New World, enslaved survivors were sold in the Caribbean or the American colonies. The ships were then prepared to get them thoroughly cleaned, drained, and loaded with export goods for a return voyage, the third leg, to their home port, from the West Indies the main export cargoes were sugar, rum, and molasses; from Virginia, tobacco and hemp. The ship then returned to Europe to complete the triangle.