Midterm Writing Assignment - Essay Example

During this period Richard Cobden and John Bright who came from the “Manchester School”, tried their best to bring about peace and harmony among the people by opposing war and imperialism which was rampant. Therefore, the term “Manchesterism” stood for the spreading of peace and goodwill among all people at all levels. Captain Alfred Dreyfus, who was a Jew, became an artillery officer in the French army because of his dedication and skill. In October 1894, he was sent for training which suddenly came to a grinding halt when he was accused of handing over military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris.

He was promptly arrested and accused of treason. There was no evidence or conclusive significance that Dreyfus was in any way involved, but yet he was convicted because the Army thought that they may be blamed for lending support to a Jewish officer. The Dreyfus Affair became a political scandal. The word “Eugenics” is taken from the Greek root which meant "good" and "generation" or "origin”. During the late eighteenth century it was used to denote “Science” of hereditary or good breeding.

Gregor Mendel who worked with the cross breeding of pea plants, made popular the concept of genes ushering research in the field of genetics. One strand of genetic research trailed off into the realms of social history which in the beginning of the twentieth century came to be popularly known as “Eugenics”. During the 1840’s, Britain was going through a heavy crisis period. They were faced with a lot of economic problems and working class unrest. Investments and rail-road building took their toll as there was widespread famine in Ireland and Britain faced some of its most miserable days.

Hence, this period was called the “Hungry 40’s”. Barriers or restrictions that are imposed on foreign competitors would certainly hamper trade relations between countries