Nicaragua and Terrorism essays

Nicaragua and Terrorism essays Nicaragua The following is the definition of terrorism as defined by the FBI: "the unlawful use of force against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population or any segment thereof, in the furtherance of political or social objectives" (FBI, 2003). It is the aim of this essay to determine whether the actions of the United States in Nicaragua in the early 1980s fit this American definition of terrorism, and to compare those actions with the actions of regimes that the United States government has been critical of in recent months to establish if such criticism may be seen to be hypocritical. Nicaragua gained independence from Spain in 1821, along with the rest of Central America. It was a part of Mexico for a brief time, then part of the then Central American Federation. Nicaragua finally achieved complete independence in 1838. Soon after, Britain and the USA both became extremely interested in Nicaragua and the strategically important RÃÆ'Â ­o San Juan navigable passage from Lago de Nicaragua to the Caribbean. In 1848, the British seized the port at the mouth of the RÃÆ'Â ­o San Juan on the Caribbean coast and renamed it Greytown. This became a major transit point for hordes of hopefuls looking for the quickest route to Californian gold. In 1855, the liberals from the city of Leon invited William Walker, an American intent on taking over Latin American territory, to help seize power from the conservatives based in Granada. Aided by a band of mercenaries, Walker and his fellows took Granada easily and he proclaimed himself president, one of his first moves being to institutionalize slavery. He was soon ejected from power and the country, but showed almost absurd tenacity as he repeatedly tried to invade the country. This was the first American intervention in the affairs of Nicaragua, and in many ways set the preced...

Swedish Patronymics and Surnames Explained

Swedish Patronymics and Surnames Explained Until the turn of the  20th century, family surnames were not in common use in Sweden. Instead, most Swedes followed a  patronymic naming system, practiced by about  90–95% of the population.  Patronymics (from the Greek  pater, meaning  father, and  onoma, for name)  is the process of designating a surname based upon the given name of the father, thus consistently changing the family surname from one generation to the next. Using Gender Distinction In Sweden,  -son or -dotter was usually  added to the fathers given name for gender distinction. For example,  Johan Andersson would be the son of Anders (Anders’ son) and  Anna Svensdotter the daughter of Sven (Svens’ dotter). Swedish sons names are traditionally spelled with a double s- the first s is the possessive s (Nils as in Nils son) while the second is the s in son. Technically, names that already ended in s such as Nils or Anders should have three ss under this system, but that practice wasnt often followed. It is not uncommon to find Swedish emigrants dropping the extra s for practical reasons, to better assimilate into their new country. Swedish patronymic son names always end in  son, and never sen. In Denmark the regular patronymic is sen. In Norway, both are used, although sen is more common. Icelandic names traditionally end in son or dotir. Adopting Nature Names During the latter-half of the 19th century, some families in Sweden began to take on an additional surname to help distinguish them from others of the same name.  The use of an extra family surname  was more common  for people who moved from the countryside into the city where long-term use of patronymics would have  resulted in dozens of individuals with the same name.  These names were often a composition of words taken from nature, sometimes called nature names.  Generally, the names were made up of two natural features, which may or may not have made sense together (e.g. Lindberg from lind for linden and berg for mountain), although sometimes a single word would make up the entire family name (e.g. Falk for falcon). Sweden passed the Names Adoption Act in December  1901, requiring all citizens to adopt heritable surnames- names that would pass down intact instead of changing every generation. Many families adopted their current surname as their hereditary family surname; a practice  often referred to as a frozen patronymic. In some cases, the family just chose a name they liked- such as a nature name, an occupational surname related to their trade, or a name they were given in the military (e.g. Trygg for confident). At this time most women who were using patronymic surnames ending in -dotter changed their surname to the male version ending in -son. One last note about patronymic surnames. If you are interested in DNA testing for genealogical purposes, a frozen patronymic does not generally go back enough generations to be useful for a Y-DNA surname project. Instead, consider a geographical project such as the Sweden DNA Project.