How Music Impacted the Slaves Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

How Music Impacted the Slaves - Essay Example Slave music can be grouped in three major categories: religious, work, and recreational. African traditions and Christianity inspired religious songs; work songs eased the burden of hard labor and helped slaves synchronize group tasks, encouraged slaves during long hours of physical toil; it kept their spirit up and could work harder and longer. Recreational songs mostly were played on string instruments; in their free time slaves listened and danced to the music. The lyrics of the slave music were simple; it expressed their hardship, sadness, and feelings (â€Å"Understand Slave Culture Through Songs†). They lyrics were repetitive which appealed to their educational levels. Slaves used music to protest against slavery by ridiculing their masters in songs. For example, a group of slaves witnessed their master falling from his horse, which was turned into a song with thinly veiled lyrics and sung by all the slaves in the field the next day as he rode by (â€Å"The New Worldâ⠂¬  1). It was mentioned above that salves did not pay much attention to the lyrics; however they were expressive that promised a better world in this and the next life. For example (Faigin 1), There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole. There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul. One of these mornings bright and fair, I’m gonna lay down my heavy load. Gonna kick my wings and cleave the air, I’m gonna lay down my heavy load. Nat Turner was born on October 2, 1800, and was hanged on and skinned on November 1832 (â€Å"Net Turner’s Rebellion†). After the Nat Turner revolt, strict curfews required slaves to show passes in their travel from one plantation to another. At that time, slaves expressed their emotions through the following lyrics (Faigin): Run nigger,... This essay approves that American slaves found music as a mode of communication and expression. Slave music can be grouped in three major categories: religious, work, and recreational. African traditions and Christianity inspired religious songs; work songs eased the burden of hard labor and helped slaves synchronize group tasks, encouraged slaves during long hours of physical toil; it kept their spirit up and could work harder and longer. Recreational songs mostly were played on string instruments; in their free time slaves listened and danced to the music. This report makes a conclusion that American slave culture flourished over three centuries. On one hand, their hard work built the economic foundation of the country; on the other hand, they faced whippings, beatings, executions, and rapes. Even in this atmosphere, slaves developed their own culture, which was based on a variety of African tribal customs; story telling and enthusiastic group worship. In the American society, they were prevented from reading and writing. So they did not have a mode of communication. They compensated it by embracing a different form of communication; music, the concept that they brought from their homeland. Thus, music became a vital part of the American slave culture. It bolstered their spirits, gave hope, and strength in their daily lives that mainly consisted of hardship. Eventually, their songs became descriptive that provided them with directions on how to escape to freedom.

Should the Australian government introduce a carbon tax aimed at Lab Report

Should the Australian government introduce a carbon tax aimed at reducing carbon emissions - Lab Report Example In that context, Australia has a great stake in the goal and objective of opting for a sustainable economic growth and development. At the minimum, Australia needs to play a proportionate role in the achievement of the environmental objectives set by the world community (Garnaut 2011, p. 12). If Australia does not cooperate and collaborate in the achievement of these objectives, it stands more to lose as compared to any other developed nation (Garnaut 2011, p.15). The objective of this report is to ponder on the viability of the Australian government imposing a carbon tax so as to reduce the carbon emissions. The report analysis this proposal in a holistic context while taking into consideration the possible pros and cons of imposing this tax. The report came to the conclusion that imposing such a tax tends to benefit Australia in the long run. Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction ........................................................................................ 4 2.0 Discussion ........................................................................................... 5 2.1 The Impact of Carbon Tax on Carbon Emissions ...................... 5 2.2 Advantages of Carbon Tax ........................................................... ... ......................................................... 10 1.0 Introduction To put it simply, carbon tax is a type of environmental tax that is imposed with context to the carbon content of fuels (Burney 2010, p. 4). It is a way of placing a price on the carbon emissions produced by individuals and corporations. Fossils fuels do tend to have very high carbon content, which on combustion release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. On the contrary there exist many cleaner sources of energy like the nuclear energy, solar energy and hydropower which do not contribute any carbon emissions to the environment. The purpose of a carbon tax is to place a price on the carbon emissions, thereby motivating the individuals and corporations to opt for cleaner sources of energy (Anderson & Ekins 2010, p. 12). It goes without saying that the Australian economy is today dependent on many emission intensive industries (Garnaut 2011, p. 22). In the contemporary context, Australia has far higher carbon emissions per capita as compared to any other developed nation (Garnaut 2011, p. 24). So, reasonably speaking, the international community has very high expectations with regards to Australia’s ability to check carbon emissions (Ayers 2006, p. 38). Besides, by achieving tolerable carbon emission rates, Australia stands to benefit tremendously as far as the objective of safeguarding its natural environment and ecology is concerned (Garnaut 2011, p. 11). Yes, it is possible to avoid change by citing varied excuses for the nation’s inability to opt for an environment friendly future. However, such an approach could have an unwarranted impact on the Australian economy in the form of facilitating a reason for the introduction of discriminatory trade interventions by other nations (Harris