How Many Slaves Were Taken from Africa

Information on how many slaves were shipped from Africa across the Atlantic to the Americas during the sixteenth century can only be estimated as few records exist for this period. However,  from the seventeenth century onwards, increasingly accurate records, such as ship manifests, are available. The First Trans-Atlantic Slaves   At the beginning of the 1600s, slaves for the Trans-Atlantic slave trade were sourced in Senegambia and the Windward Coast. This region had had a long history of providing slaves for the Islamic trans-Saharan trade. Around 1650 the Kingdom of the Kongo, which the Portuguese had ties with, started exporting slaves. The focus of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade moved to here and neighboring northern Angola (grouped together on this  table). Kongo and Angola would continue to be substantial exporters of slaves until the nineteenth century. Senegambia would provide a steady trickle of slaves through the centuries, but never on the same scale as the other regions of Africa. Rapid Expansion From the 1670s the Slave Coast (Bight of Benin) underwent a rapid expansion of trade in slaves which continued until the end of the slave trade in the nineteenth century. Gold Coast slave exports rose sharply in the eighteenth century but dropped markedly when Britain abolished slavery in 1808 and commenced anti-slavery patrols along the coast. The Bight of Biafra, centered on the Niger Delta and the Cross River, became a significant exporter of slaves from the 1740s and, along with its neighbor the Bight of Benin, dominated the Trans-Atlantic slave trade until its effective end in the mid-nineteenth century. These two regions alone account for two-thirds of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade in the first half of the 1800s. The Slave Trade Declines The scale of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade declined during the Napoleonic wars in Europe (1799 to 1815) but quickly rebounded once peace returned. Britain abolished slavery in 1808 and British patrols effectively ended the trade in slaves along the Gold Coast and up to Senegambia. When the port of Lagos was taken by the British in 1840, the slave trade from the Bight of Benin also collapsed. The slave trade from the Bight of Biafra gradually declined in the nineteenth century, partially as a result of British patrols and a reduction in demand for slaves from America, but also because of local shortages of slaves. To fulfill the demand for slaves, the significant tribes in the region (such and the Luba, Lunda, and Kazanje) turned on each other using the Cokwe (hunters from further inland) as mercenaries. Slaves were created as a result of raids. The Cokwe, however, became dependent on this new form of employment and turned on their employers when the coastal slave trade evaporated. The increased activities of British anti-slavery patrols along the west-African coast resulted in a brief upturn in trade from west-central and south-east Africa as increasingly desperate Trans-Atlantic slave ships visited ports under Portuguese protection. The authorities there were inclined to look the other way. With a general abolition of slavery in effect by the end of the nineteenth century, Africa started to be seen as a different resource--instead of slaves, the continent was being eyed up for its land and minerals. The scramble for Africa was on, and its people would be coerced into employment in mines and on plantations. Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Data The greatest raw-data resource for those investigating the Trans-Atlantic slave trade is the WEB du Bois database. However, its scope is restricted to trade destined for the Americas and ignores those sent to African plantation islands and Europe.

The Brain That Changes Itself - 1564 Words

The Brain that Changes Itself The concept of neuroplasticity has long been questioned. The term of â€Å"neuroplasticity† did not even come about until the mid-late 20th century. When the term â€Å"plastic† was used to describe the brain by a select few neuroscientists, they were laughed at and the term was never thought of as a description for the human brain. The human brain was seen as a closed circuit and one that once you had it, you definitely had it. Scientists thought the brain would not develop anymore past a certain point in your life. Norman Doidge brings the concept of neuroplasticity into reality in his book â€Å"The Brain that Changes Itself,† a book about the triumphs in the frontier of brain science. Doidge takes the reader by the hand and lets them know that the brain can and will change throughout life. Contrary to what scientists were first led to believe, the brain began to slowly decline after childhood, Doidge gave everyone new hope. He fo und that the human brain had the remarkable power to grow, transform, overcome disabilities, learn, and recuperate. Learning how the brain can work is quite fascinating and truly pulls you in from the very first sentence. It gives people hope that things can get better, from the youngest to the oldest, from the stroke victim who can no longer communicate to the person who was born with a brain idiosyncrasy. Exercise and understanding has crushed the theory humankind had about the brain being localized and specialized. InShow MoreRelatedThe Brain That Changes Itself : Stories Of Personal Triumph From The Frontiers Of Brain Science1653 Words   |  7 PagesThe book The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science, written by Dr. Norman Doidge, provides different intimate experiences from people that received help through neuroplasticity exercises. Each story describes how the brain is able to readjust itself. Brain plasticity can physical ly modify the brain by uncovering rewarding and tragic experiences. Changes in the brain can also occur as we age. Throughout the reading I learned several knowledgeableRead MoreJohn Heil s Philosophy Of Mind : A Guide And Anthology1123 Words   |  5 Pages(2004), John Heil offers the following conclusion as one that is â€Å"inescapable: the mind could not itself be a material object.† John Heil claims that, because the qualities of experience are not within the brain, minds are non-material entities. Non-material entities in the sense that the mind, the non-material entity, possesses â€Å"properties not possessed by any material object† and, as such, uses the brain as its intermediary in regards to action and experience. 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Finally, the working environment can both motivate or stifle creative output. Managers can influence all three components: expertise, thinking skills, and motivation (Amabile, 1998). COGNITION: The brain is highly trainable LackRead MorePersonal Identity : The Black Rose Killer988 Words   |  4 Pagesperson who would be a perfect applicant for theory of personal identity. According to Mark Rowland’s soul theory, each one of us is essentially a soul and this soul is stuck with us in our body forever until we die. The soul does not change. No matter how we change as a person, the soul will always be the same and that’s how a person is different from another person because everyone has a unique soul. The soul theory has a lot to do with dualism and it creates problems. Even if we get through theseRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd ) Essay1745 Words   |  7 Pageshas, and the way their brain responds to a stressful situation. 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Improving Firm Environmental Performance †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Improving Firm Environmental Performance. Answer: Introduction Entrepreneurship is termed as a vital economic agent that plays a significant role in the development of an economy of a particular country (Naud, 2013). An entrepreneur is an individual who is believed to have certain qualities like knowledge, expertise, initiatives, skills and urge to innovate some new things (Drucker, 2014). An entrepreneur seems to look for new opportunities to achieve economic benefits. Many economists feel that entrepreneurship is force that causes creative destruction. Entrepreneurship helps in the economic growth as well as provide employment to a a lot of people (Benera, Berik and Floro, 2015). Entrepreneurship marketing has been increasing at a rapid pace. Evidence suggests that there is a significant relationship between entrepreneurship and marketing for the success of a corporate enterprise. Entrepreneurial marketing is quite different from the traditional marketing activities. On the other hand, the significance of marketing planning has been immense th at provides a new direction to corporate planning and marketing management. Entrepreneurship is having positive as well as negative effects. It becomes difficult for many entrepreneurs to accept the ways of doing things of a company and a good working atmosphere is not created. The three negative traits of entrepreneurship are need for control, sense of distrust and desire for applause. There is a need for control for the entrepreneurs and this has been very significant in their life. In many situations, the preoccupation of the entrepreneurs often affects their abilities to take any specific direction and face serious problems in to get along with others. Many entrepreneurs tend to be ambivalent when a problem regarding control arises (Hallen and Pahnke, 2016). This is because they are highly filled with fantasies of grandiosity, authority, power and influence. Still they have the feeling of helplessness. They are also afraid of the fact that they will lose control of their grandiose desire and this will place them in a position of mercy from others. Some studies have revealed that the entrepreneurs also have the the problems of dominance as well as submission and they even have the suspicion of authority. This is surely not in contrast with the behaviors and traits of a manager. While many managers are able to identify many things in positive ways, many of the entrepreneurs have the problems of flexibility in changing from a higher level to a subordinate level. Instead, they feel that the structure may be stifling. Entrepreneurs also have the problems of working with others in some structured situations unless they have not created the situation and the work has been performed with respect to their terms. This is another common negative trait found in the entrepreneurs. Need for control is closely related to the sense of distrust. Many entrepreneurs have a strong sense of distrust of the people around them (Praszkier, Zab?ocka-Bursa and Jzwik, 2014). They always have the fear of being victimized in the office or in other places. They strongly feel that when they get the success, this becomes envious to others. When a strong sense of distrust takes over with the help of a need for control, there have been very serious consequences for the enterprise. The entrepreneurs have always tried to keep their focus on specific troubled areas and and ignoring others (Byrne and Shepherd, 2015). They are alert every time about any untoward incidents to be happened in the workplace. For example, the vice-president of a company decided to install cameras in the front as well as in the backdoor as he was having the fear that the workers in the company were stealing from the plant. This is an act of di strust on the part of the manager. People always have the desire of getting applause for the work done by them (Block, 2016). It is the same for the managers and the entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs, thus, have a great amount of tension about the thought that their success will not last long (Ward, 2016). Some entrepreneurs try to show that they need not be ignored and also show their power and prestige. The case study showed that Nick Woodman was very much disciplined and focused in his life and achieved success for his company GoPro. He had always been on a strict routine and a brave boy according to his teachers. Woodman was never afraid of taking up challenges and was always a positive minded person. This is certainly not in-born and depends on the thoughts of an individual. Marketing and Strategic Planning GoPro has become a popular and the fastest growing digital imaging company in the world due to its effective marketing strategy. Kids, these days have stopped filming their wave rides rather they have chosen to GoPro them. Thus the popularity of GoPro cameras have increased among the customers. The cameras were so much user-friendly that they used to strap them in their helmets, surfboards and handlebars. Woodman developed the cameras in such a way so that every section of the society gets benefitted out of it. Woodman also named the cameras as life cameras during promotion and even proved it by wearing it on his chest when his sons were delivered. The strategy of marketing of Woodman was such that many people including himself were involved in wave surfing but none of them could be able to record their whole journey. Woodman addressed this need and brought the GoPro in the market, which has been greatly accepted by the people. No other company earlier has manufactured this type of p roduct. GoPro also transformed itself from a company of niche products to blockbuster ones. This has been explained by the friendliness of Woodman with the social sites. Woodman was not so much active in Facebook as well as in the Twitter. Yet he felt the importance of the social media in the marketing of products and services. The social media marketing is termed as a fad which is very powerful though temporary in nature. Social media marketing has many competitive advantages which are discussed below. Social media acts as a good and popular platform for displaying the contents of the product and services of the company (Laroche, Habibi and Richard, 2013). It makes easier for the customers to access everything they want to know about a particular product. A customer gets acquainted with a particular brand after reading reviews in the websites (Brodie, Hollebeek and Conduit, 2016). For example, Twitter helps in getting acquainted with a brand. It is strongly believed that the brands that remains engaged on the social media channels have a high degree of brand loyalty on the part of the customers (Zhang et al. 2017). A strategic plan regarding social media marketing helps a company in increasing the brand loyalty largely than any other platform (Peppers and Rogers, 2016). More opportunities to convert There is always a chance of conversion of customers whenever a company make any posts in the social media (Tuten and Solomon, 2014). Each and every post, video, blog, or comment a person is sharing has a huge impact on the minds of the customers. Though the click-through rates of the customers are low, the opportunities that the companies have are significant. Communication plays a very vital role in any type of business. Positive engagement helps to improve improve the reputation of an organization (Dangelico, 2015). Woodman spent a lot of money to make sure that the name of the company is hash tagged. Planning is very important among the functions of management. Planning has provided a direction as to how the mission and goals of the company can be achieved. Planning helps to achieve the sales target of the company as in the case study, the company GoPro has achieved. The GoPro case study states that the company may have the threats from its competitors. Just like smart phones have reduced the need for camcorders, the same way the products of GoPro shall become obsolete. This product of GoPro is believed to be not one-size-fits-all. The biggest issue is that GoPro is a hardware manufacturing company and the world is moving rapidly towards the usage of smart phones. iPhone and Android operating systems have become very popular today. Sony, which is believed to be a strong competitor of GoPro, has started launching products with various features which the products of GoPro do not have. Sony has launched the cameras with features like image stabilization as well as stereo sound. Smart phones have become very popular in todays competitive world. A company, having only one product, cannot survive for long in the market. Sony, which is a main competitor of GoPro, have unveiled cameras with more features and this has affected the sales of GoPro. A company needs to make a huge investment, the problem which Woodman faced and Sony, being a multinational, made huge benefits out of it. Smartphones have several functionalities that helps in the connectivity of the people. Another threat for GoPro was that the company was a private company. If it would have been a public company, then there would have been a chance of public offering. Then, it would have helped in making further investments. Recommendations A product with the same features as that of the competitors cannot give a competitive advantage to a company. A company needs to constantly upgrade its products and services to attain the competitive advantage (Porter and Heppelmann, 2014). Woodman should make process innovation, product innovation, marketing and organizational innovation to attain competitive advantage in the future. As GoPro is a hardware company, Woodman should look into making software products and diversify their market. GoPro may start manufacturing smartphones based on Android and iPhone operating systems. Woodman needs to shift his focus from the wave surfers and create a new target market. GoPro needs to make a big investment and increase their market share. Conclusion The report describes how planning is important in management. It takes into considerations the various traits of entrepreneurship and the negative aspects, which it is having. A detailed description of the three main negative traits gives an idea as why most of the entrepreneurs are not so much confident and often faced with many untoward incidents. The report clearly puts forward the darker side of an entrepreneur. The report has also inferred that entrepreneurship is not an in-born trait and it needs passion, dedication and discipline to become a successful entrepreneur. Another part of marketing and strategic planning has been described in the report. The different aspects of entrepreneurial planning have been introduced in the report and the role of marketing planning for proper corporate planning and marketing management. This report is an evidence as to how a marketing plan need to be made for the success of an organization. The case study can be an inspiration to many new entr epreneurs who have planned or are planning to enter into the business world. This report shall help the entrepreneurs in addressing their negative traits and make necessary rectifications in order to succeed in their business career for the betterment of themselves as well as for the company. References Benera, L., Berik, G. and Floro, M., 2015.Gender, development and globalization: economics as if all people mattered. Routledge. Block, P., 2016.The empowered manager: Positive political skills at work. John Wiley Sons. Brodie, R.J., Hollebeek, L.D. and Conduit, J. eds., 2016.Creating brand engagement on digital, social and mobile media(pp. 85-101). Routledge. Byrne, O. and Shepherd, D.A., 2015. Different strokes for different folks: Entrepreneurial narratives of emotion, cognition, and making sense of business failure.Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice,39(2), pp.375-405. Dangelico, R.M., 2015. Improving firm environmental performance and reputation: the role of employee green teams.Business Strategy and the Environment,24(8), pp.735-749. Drucker, P., 2014.Innovation and entrepreneurship. Routledge. Hallen, B.L. and Pahnke, E.C., 2016. When do entrepreneurs accurately evaluate venture capital firms track records? A bounded rationality perspective.Academy of Management Journal,59(5), pp.1535-1560. Laroche, M., Habibi, M.R. and Richard, M.O., 2013. To be or not to be in social media: How brand loyalty is affected by social media?.International Journal of Information Management,33(1), pp.76-82. Naud, W., 2013. Entrepreneurship and economic development: Theory, evidence and policy.Browser Download This Paper. Peppers, D. and Rogers, M., 2016.Managing Customer Experience and Relationships: A Strategic Framework. John Wiley Sons. Porter, M.E. and Heppelmann, J.E., 2014. How smart, connected products are transforming competition.Harvard Business Review,92(11), pp.64-88. Praszkier, R., Zab?ocka-Bursa, A. and Jzwik, E., 2014. Social Enterprise, Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship in Poland: A National Report. Strauss, J., 2016.E-marketing. Routledge. Tuten, T.L. and Solomon, M.R., 2014.Social media marketing. Sage. Ward, J., 2016.Keeping the family business healthy: How to plan for continuing growth, profitability, and family leadership. Springer. Zhang, M., Guo, L., Hu, M. and Liu, W., 2017. Influence of customer engagement with company social networks on stickiness: Mediating effect of customer value creation.International Journal of Information Management,37(3), pp.229-240.

The Teaching and Learning Cycle free essay sample

This model is now known as the teaching and learning cycle. The model originally had an emphasis on teaching young students how to write but has changed and adapted over time with greater understanding about pedagogy and genre and now involves reading, listening, talking and writing within a supportive context to students of any age. A key element that has not changed within the cycle, however, is the extensive and critical support that the teacher provides to ensure educational success for students’ understanding of literacy. This essay will examine the teaching and learning cycle in the primary school context. Exploring theories behind the development of the teaching and learning cycle and the purpose of each stage. In addition, an explanation of the importance of teachers as holders of expert knowledge will be given. Finally, examples and justification of specific teaching strategies, including the notion of scaffolding and the zone of proximal development, that the teacher plays within the cycles processes will be explained. We will write a custom essay sample on The Teaching and Learning Cycle or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries the popular educational theory was that children should only be taught how to write in the later years of schooling (Christie, F 2005). A common issue that arose from this was children would leave schooling early and the result was that they never developed the skills to write more than simple words like their name or basic words (Christie, F 2005). The initial theories by Graves (Christie, F 2005, p143) were based around a notion of the ‘process’, being able to write, rather than ‘product’, the content and structure of the text being written (Knapp, P amp; Watkins, M 2005). Rothery’s approach was focused on the product notion and more specifically towards genre, and that through guidance of an expert other the student would recognise and produce a written text successfully (Christie, F 2005). The result was the teaching and learning and learning cycle. The ‘cycle’ existed initially in three stages: modelling the genre, joint construction and independent construction. Through adaptation and greater understanding of how students learn the cycle now begins with ‘building the field’. The cycle requires an initial focus that allows the students to become engaged and under this focus begin to build a shared knowledge, ‘building the field’ (Derewianka, B, Jones, P 2012). This stage involves mental and rational processes, usually from a discussion or readings, with directed guidance from the teacher assisting students to become familiar with specific language (Christie, F 2005). The teacher requires specialised knowledge and technical understanding of the topic to ensure the guidance has purposeful interaction and is supporting the child’s development of deep knowledge of the topic (Derewianka, B, Jones, P 2012). The next stage moves onto the teacher modeling the genre. In this stage the teacher leads the students to understand and recognise the social purpose, the organisation of phases and key language features of the whole text, paragraphs and down to sentence level (Derewianka, B, Jones, P 2012). It is essential that teachers have thorough knowledge of the layers of the text and language features, as they heavily guide and direct the students through the components of a text (Thwaite, A 2006). This guidance through the language features enables students to recognise and understand the relevant metalanguage, creating the move into the next step of joint construction. The role of the teacher now shifts more into an assisting manner. Although joint construction is generally still teacher lead the students at this point contribute to a text with the teacher acting as a transcriber (Derewianka, B, Jones, P 2012). Having an understanding of the metalanguage of the genre as fostered in the text modelling stage helps students recognise the language features as the teachers and students jointly construct a written text. The final stage moves into the independent construction of a text by the students. At this stage in the cycle the teacher withdraws from guiding or directing the students and meets with students if they are having trouble (Thwaite, A 2006). The student’s focus now involves independently writing a text similar to one that was previously explored in the other 3 stages but now reflects a different topic and field (Derewianka, B, Jones, P 2012). As explained in the teaching and learning cycles steps, the purpose of the ‘cycle’ is to create a structure to support the process of learning to write and apply genre theory to teaching pedagogy (Thwaite, A 2006). Key scaffolding strategies implemented within the first three stages of the cycle allows students to confidently construct their independent text (Gibbons, P 2009). An important emphasis throughout the cycle is placed on the teacher’s expert knowledge of the topic and related concepts. In addition to this the teacher must have an understanding of the learners zone of proximal development in order to implement the scaffolding process. The basis of the teaching and learning cycle is around scaffolding. Theoretical research by Vygotsky (cited in Hammond, J amp; Gibbons, P 2001) explored the gap between a student’s actual knowledge and potential knowledge, known as the zone of proximal development (Hammond, J amp; Gibbons P 2001). The research indicated that there is a gap in knowledge that requires an expert other, in this case the teacher, to guide and create strategies to bridge understanding to knowledge, known as scaffolding (Hammond, J amp; Gibbons, P 2001). Scaffolding, therefore, refers to the teacher having a strategy to support the learning in a sequential, step-by-step, manner that would enable the students to understand and succeed in a task so the learner can engage within the zone of proximal development (Gibbons, P 2009). Scaffolding can be broken down further, when exploring the role of a teacher, into 2 categories: the macro and micro levels. Macro-level scaffolding requires a teacher to look at the broader issues, like goals and sequencing of processes where the micro level focuses on the relationship between the student and teacher throughout the learning cycle (Hammond, J amp; Gibbons, P 2001). To scaffold the teacher needs to consider a challenging and supportive context at a high level. In other words, high standards promote extension of learning and capabilities. This high level approach is effective when using the teaching and learning cycle to ensure that students are working within a zone of proximal development (Hammond, J amp; Gibbons, P 2001). Building of the field requires the teacher to expand on verbal responses that students offer on the directed context of the topic. For example, Imagine students need to write a report on animal habitats. The teacher could take students on an excursion to a park and start to ask students what animals do they think live their? Then where do they live? Students explain what they now of the field and the teacher introduces specific language that is appropriate to the purpose. The teacher scaffolding the existing knowledge of the student helps to familiarise students with the desired language (Hammond, J 2001). This stage requires time and expert knowledge to assist the scaffolding process. To model the genre the teacher could lead students through a jumbled text of a habitat and re-order it correctly. At this point the teacher will guide the students through the features of the text in focus or break the text down from its paragraph level to the sentence level. Students are supported by the teacher with focused questions and the shift from the spoken to written format now occurs. In the next step, joint construction, students contribute to the construction of a text on a habitat with the teacher helping with specific structural and language choices while writing it on the chalkboard. At this point students see how to construct writing and witness the teacher changing what is suggested to conform to the conventions of the written genre, especially with metalanguage (Derewianka, B amp; Jones, P 2012). The result should be a text similar to that they would soon be writing independently. In the final stage, independent construction, Students would write a report on a habitat of personal choice. Support is given when needed but the teacher is considerably less involved. Through the previous steps of the cycle there has been high scaffolding of the knowledge, students should now have the knowledge to construct a text in the desired genre (Knapp, P amp; Watkins, M 2005). Although the teacher moves more into a facilitation role they could offer students something that was created in the previous stages to reflect upon, such as a retrieval chart or graphic organiser. The teaching and learning cycle is an effective model for the success of teaching literacy in the primary years, as the framework is understood, purpose is made clear and the content is made explicit. The emphasis on the role of the teacher to scaffold information to students so they can work within the zone of proximal development is a vital concept in the application of the teaching and learning cycle. Expert knowledge from the teacher ensures that a student can move from joint learning towards independent learning with success.