Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Genetically modified organism Essay Example for Free
Genetically modified organism Essay Genetically engineered food is an epidemic all around the world. There are factors that make these types of foods undesirable for many reasons. Public opinions on how genetically engineered foods will effect the consumer market and farmers cannot afford the new seeds that are genetically altered. There are many cons of genetically engineered food that have long term and short term risks. Some risks have been found by scientists while other risks are still unknown and will remain so unless a researcher tests for them. These foods have become very common in America as well as other countries. Almost every grocery store in the United States carries a wide array of food that has been genetically modified. Most of the genetically engineered foods in markets are not labeled to tell consumers they were altered in any way. Environmental risks are also a concern for genetically engineered food. Different animals, including farm animals or insects can be harmed from genetically engineered food. Genetically engineered food has negative effects on the human population. Genetically engineered food was first introduced into society in the early 1990ââ¬â¢s. Many people today do not know what kind of extensive research and development goes into making these types of foods. Sharon Palmer, a reporter, writes that genetic engineering is either ââ¬Å"Doomsday techâ⬠or ââ¬Å"biotechnology for the futureâ⬠(Palmer 1). The process of altering an organism completely changes the original organism and transforms it into something new. This new way of altering an organismââ¬â¢s genetic makeup bypasses common breeding methods used by scientists (Genetically Modified Foods 1). The process of creating genetically altered food usually involves ââ¬Å"identifying the genes governing a desirable characteristic in one organism, and inserting them into another in the expectation that the trait will be transferredâ⬠(Genetically Modified Foods 1). Sometimes the process of creating these organisms does not work so scientists have to do the process over again until they get a transformed organism. In 1973 scientists were able to achieve using another organism as a vector which essentially was the beginning of the development of genetically engineered foods. Although genetically engineered foods were not fully introduced until the early 1990s, they were in the process of becoming what society knows today. Newer techniques have been introduced that make it easier for gene insertion. This new method is the use of DNA bullets where ââ¬Å"microscopic metal beads can be coated with DNA fragments, and then ââ¬Å"firedâ⬠from a miniature gun into the host cell, where DNA may integrate into the genomeâ⬠(Genetically Modified Foods 1). A few of the genetically engineered foods are soybeans, corn, canola, cotton, squash and papaya (Palmer 1). There are many other foods that people see on the shelves in grocery stores that may be genetically altered but these are some main ones. Statistics show that ââ¬Å"an estimated 70 to 75 percent of all processed foods in U. S.grocery stores probably contain ingredients from GE plantsâ⬠(Palmer 6). Many foods have been genetically altered to make them ââ¬Å"betterâ⬠or resistant to herbicides. Despite the fact that scientists consider these foods to be revolutionary there are hidden consequences to the development of such organisms. The public opinion on genetically engineered food is that it is not a good improvement. Many citizens believe that the introduction of altered foods is going to have negative side effects on everything. People feel that genetically engineered foods should not be put on the market until they have had adequate testing (Current Issues 3). Many of the alterations done to food have not had extensive research conducted to find harmful effects that they might have on humans and animals. Any research that had been done usually had negative effects but scientists found a way to ââ¬Å"throw outâ⬠the research so that it would not go against genetically engineered food. Andrew Simms states that the ââ¬Å"evidence of harm is not evidence of the absence of harmâ⬠(Simms 1). In Simmââ¬â¢s article he describes how consumers do not need genetically modified food. Scientists brought genetically engineered foods into the market and advertised them as a way to help the world. Different techniques can be used to approach the issue of world hunger. Introducing these foods to third world countries can only harm them not help them. There is a high cost of development for making genetically engineered foods. Also there is a monopoly involved with these foods. There are only a few corporations in the United States that are developing genetically altered seeds. This in turn drives up the price of the seed making it more expensive and poor farmers cannot afford to buy them (Current Issues 3). Farmers have lost billions of dollars because foreign buyers do not want to buy genetically engineered foods (Kupfer 1). Many states have passed legislation against having genetically modified foods. States do not think that genetically engineered foods can help anything except make things worse (Kupfer 2). Foods are altered to have different traits that would normally take a few generations to make but with genetically engineering their DNA scientists are able to do a lot more. Scientist use genetic engineering to make crops or animals drought tolerant and be able to tolerate pests. Consumers do not want crops that are mutations. They want natural crops and animals. Other public opinions on worldwide hunger are that GM crops will not change it. ââ¬Å"People go hungry because theyââ¬â¢re either poor, powerless, both, or have no land to grow food onâ⬠(Simms 2). Public opinion on genetically engineered food is that they do not want it. Many factors have led people to choose not to accept genetically engineered foods into their lives. Genetically engineered food effects everything in a negative way. There are cons to the development and introduction of genetically engineered foods into civilization. There are many risks involved with these types of foods that are unknown to the public. Scientists try to cover up the experiments they had on genetically altered foods because they had negative outcomes. In one study scientists fed corn to rats and then checked the ratsââ¬â¢ livers and kidneys, particularly males, and the study revealed adverse effects. In another study conducted on GM foods many of the mice that ate the food developed health problems or even died during the experiment (Current Issues 4). The introduction of genetically engineered foods has been linked to the rising levels of food allergies in the United States. Genetically modified foods can effect organic foods if they are processed in the same place. Allergic reactions are greater since genetically engineered foods have been introduced (Smith 1). There are many environmental concerns as well. Although long term impact is unknown many researchers can conclude some of the negative side effects. A few difficulties have already developed. Plants can cross-pollinate with other plants around them which may seem like a great thing but it is not. Some plants are engineered to be pest resistant which seems good but in all actuality those plants can cross-pollinate with the weeds around them which in turn makes the weeds stronger and become more resistant to herbicides. The cross-pollination of plants creates a problem for farmers who then have to spend additional money to buy more herbicide to kill new weeds (Current Issues 3). Another common modification is adding a gene called Bacillus thuringiensis which is a bacterium that helps that plant develop poison that kills pests such as bollworms and stem borers. This seemed like a good modification by scientists but in fact the plant emits these toxins into the environment and it is deadly to all insects, not just the pests. Reports have been shown that these toxins from the crops also killed a large amount of butterflies (Current Issues 1). U. S. Government does not require reviews on genetically engineered foods. Genetically altered foods are not FDA regulated either. Foods are being modified without having adequate testing and then put on grocery shelves. People are eating food that they do not know whether or not it is safe. There are many other potential concerns with genetic engineering like an organisms genetic makeup, anti-nutrients, viral DNA, antibiotic resistant genes, absorbing genes, and allergic responses. Many genetically altered foods have been used as feed for animals as well. These animals have shown effects on body growth, changes in blood, kidney, pancreas, liver, erosion and necrosis of the gastrointestinal tract, and alterations in reproduction, development and mortality (Palmer 6). There are many unknown risks of genetically engineered foods. Unknown long term health risks have not been identified and cannot be identified until researchers conduct more research. Genetically modified foods are not something people should rely on in the future as their base food. There are risks today and also many other unknown risks. Genetically engineered food is a hazard to the human population. This creation was introduced to try and stop world hunger, make food cheaper to buy and many other reasons. These issues have not changed because of the introduction of genetically engineered food. The effects these types of foods have on humans and even animals can be harmful. Research shows that there are long term risks involved with genetically engineered foods. Potential cancers, diseases, environmental changes, and possibly a rising cost in food are all negative factors of genetically engineered food. Genetically engineered foods should be eliminated from people and animalââ¬â¢s diets. Works Cited ââ¬Å"Genetically Modified Food. â⬠Current Issues: Macmillian Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. ââ¬Å"Genetically Modified Foods. â⬠The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather guide. Abington: Helicon, 2010. Credo Reference. Web. 05 November 2011. Kupfer, David. Genetically Modified Food Damages Trade with Other Nations. Genetically Modified Food. Diane Andrews Henningfeld, Ed. At Issue Series. Greenhaven Press, 2009. David Kupfer, The Genetic Resistance: Mendocino Is the First GMO-free County in the Nation, and I am Sure It Will Not Be the Last, Earth Island Journal, vol. 19, summer 2004, pp. 42-44. Copyright à © 2004 Earth Island Institute. Reproduced by permission. Palmer, Sharon, and Chris McCullum-Gomez. ââ¬Å"Genetically Engineered Foods Update.. (Cover Story). â⬠Environmental Nutrition 33. 7 (2010): I-6. Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition. Web. 5 Nov. 2011. Simms, Andrew. Genetically Modified Food Will Not Ease World Hunger. Social Justice. David Haugen, Susan Musser, and Vickey Kalambakal, Eds. Opposing Viewpointsà ® Series. Greenhaven Press, 2010 Andrew Simms, World Hunger Needs a Simple Solution Rather Than Hi-Tech GM Food, Guardian, (UK), August 4, 2003. Copyright à © 2003 Guardian Newspapers Limited. Reproduced by permission of the author Smith, Jeffrey M. Genetically Modified Foods May Cause Allergic Responses. Food Safety. Judeen Bartos, Ed. At Issue Series. Greenhaven Press, 2011. Jeffrey M. Smith, Genetically Engineered Foods May Cause Rising Food Allergies, Institute for Responsible Technology, May 2007. Copyright à © 2007 by Virago. Reproduced by permission by Time Warner Books UK.
Monday, January 27, 2020
Marketing Report on Cadbury India ltd
Marketing Report on Cadbury India ltd Cadbury India ltd. began its operations in India 1948 by importing chocolates. After 62 years of existence in India Cadbury enjoys a value market share of over 70 %- the highest Cadbury brand share in the world. The research looks after the various types of analysis such as PEST analysis and SWOT analysis and also contains the Marketing mix of various aspects of the organization. A strategic recommendation is also recommended to the company to increase its sales and to increase its profits and the conclusion it concludes the result of the analysis and its result as recommendation. Cadbury India Limited is a fully owned subsidy of Kraft Foods Inc. with approximately $50 billion, on 2nd February 2010 Kraft foods has sealed its takeover over Cadbury, the combined company is the worlds second largest food company making delicious food products for billions of its consumers in more than 160 countries and employ approximately 140,000 and have operations in more than 70 countries.(bbc,2010) In India, it began its operation in the year 1948 by importing chocolates initially. Today the company has five company owned manufacturing facilities at Thane, Induri(Pune) and Malanpur (Gwalior), Bangalore and Baddi(Himachal Pradesh) and four sales units spread across the country. Presently the company operates in four categories namely Chocolate confectionary, Milk Food Drinks, Candy and Gum category. In the chocolate confectionary business, Cadbury has been the undisputed leader over the years because of its popular key brands like Dairy milk, Perk, 5 star, etc. In the Milk fo od drinks business the companys main product is Bournvita. In the candy segment Halls is the companys product and in the gum segment the product is Bubbaloo. Today with an unmatched portfolio in confectionary, snacking and quick meals it is worlds no.1 Confectionary company (Cadbury India Limited n.d., 2010). The Indian Confectionary Market: The Indian Confectionary Market is estimated at around 223500 tons which is valued approximately at Rs. 41 billion. This market sees a steady growth of 11.5% annually. The market can be segmented into chocolates, sugar boiled confectionary, chewing gums and mints. Cadbury is the undisputed market leader and has a market share of 68% and Nestle being its immediate competition has a market share of 22%. Cadbury Indias market share in cocoa based products is 35% with Dairy milk solely accounting for 30% (Pandey 2006, p.212). The other competitors apart from Nestle are confectionary companies like Amul, Wrigleys, Lotte, etc; however these companies have a comparatively small market share. Industry Trends: Since Chocolate and Confectionary are mainly consumed in the urban areas, hence the industry witnesses a 73% skew towards the urban market, 27% towards the rural market. Overall industry growth is estimated at 23% in the chocolate segment and a decline of 19% in the sugar confectionary segment (Cadbury India Limited n.d.). With emerging trends and lifestyle changes, chocolate and confectionary nowadays arent only consumed by children. All confectionary companies have shifted their focuses to Adults as well; this shift explains the reason to the large variety of flavor variants, pack and size variants. According to a consumer research, 42% of adults stated they purchased confectionery to eat straightaway when on the move, 57% of those working full time eat chocolate bars while at work and 49% of people having nuclear families said that they prefer to munch on a chocolate bar when relaxing at home (Keynote 1999). Hence due to lifestyle changes the chocolate/ confectionary market has ex perienced a steady growth over the recent years.(confectionary, 2009) PEST Analysis: PEST analysis involves assessment of the Political, Economic, Social, and Technological. (Kitchen Proctor 2001). Political: According to the Safe Food Guide released by Greenpeace, the food products of Cadbury contained certain genetically modified crops which proved to be hazardous to health (Press Trust of India 2007). However, the company escaped out of these political implications when CRISIL gave an AAA rating to the company (Cadbury India Limited 2009), the company also got a clean chit from the FDA after the worm controversy. Economic: Many MNCs and Companies had to bear the wrath of the global recession. Surprisingly, at the time of global recession the sale of Cadbury chocolates had gone up by 7% in countries like India, Britain and South Africa. Cadburys CEO Todd Stitzer was confident that he would be able to achieve the 2009 sales target and he also quoted that since the recession has given rise to the stay-at-home culture, people prefer to buy chocolates and confectionary as these are affordable luxuries and act as a mood enhancers in bad times (Press Trust of India 2009) (Appendix 1). Social: Cadbury India set up non-formal schools for the children of migrant workers in Baddi, the company also tied up with Bharti and Walmart to support education needs of underprivileged children. The Sarvam programme catered to the victims of the Asian Tsunami in 2004 (Cadbury India Limited 2005b). These are just a few ways in which the company proves itself to be a socially ethical organization. Technological: The pappu pass ho gaya ad campaign proved to be an instant hit with the masses, however in 2005; the companys task was to increase Dairy Milks customer franchise. The main idea was that children should celebrate the joy of passing their exams with a Cadbury Dairy Milk, this eventually led to the tie -up with Reliance web world, wherein students across 66 examination boards in the country could access their results on R-world through Reliance mobiles. If they passed a message congratulating them on their moment of delight from Dairy Milk was displayed. This was an extremely innovative way of using technology and various marketing communications. This effort was awarded the Bronze Lion at the Cannes Media awards in 2005 (Cadbury India Limited 2006) Table: SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses Strong market position Wide geographic presence Robust revenue growth Declining profitability Product recall Opportunities Threats Inorganic growth Demerger of Americas beverages business Increasing health consciousness Industry consolidation Increased competition from private labels Increasing distributor costs Source:( Datamonitor,2009) Strengths :- 1. Strong brand equity in India 2. due to 54 years of presence in India has deep penetration- 2100 distributors; 450,000 retailers, 60 mid urban (22%) customers . 3. low cost of production due to economic of scale. That means higher profits, better market penetration. 4. Second best manufacturing location throughout Cadbury Schweppes. 5. Strong global market position The companys Indian business has a leading presence in chocolate with 71% market share. The company acquires leading market share in Thailand in gum and candy, at 63% and 31% respectively. In Malaysia, it has a number one market share in chocolate at 29%, and in gum it has a number two position with a 19% market share. In Australia as well the company has a number one position in chocolate (53% market share) 6. Wide geographic presence The company operates along with its subsidiaries in the UK, the eurozone, the US, central and southern America, Australia and other parts of Asia pacific. Wide geographical presence enables the company to cater to diversified markets and thus reduce its business risk.(anonymous, 2010 ) Weakness :- 1. Poor technology in India compared to current international technologies (Godiva, Mozart, fazer,dint,naushans,etcà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦..) 2. ltd. Key products, only one central brand (CDM). Pralines range totally wising in india 3.Make in India tag once the economy opens up wore and imports rush in 4. Declining Profitability The operating profit of the company declined at a rate of 13.3% compared with 2006 to reach 788 million pounds during FY2007. Declining profitability will adversely affect the operations of the company. (Anonymous, 2010) Opportunities :- 1. Tremendous scope for per capita consumption (160gms of 8-10kg) 2. Increasing per capita national income resulting in higher disposable income. 3. Growing middle class and growing urban population 4. Increasing gifts cultures 5. Increasing health consciousness Consumers are increasingly aware of the risks associated with obesity and poor dietary habits. The companys wellness (including products like sugar-free and fat-free products, and medicated candy) sub- category, accounted for around 30% of confectionary revenue in 2007. The company thus is well positioned to benefit from the rising demand for healthy foods worldwide. (Anonymous, 2010 ) Threats:- 1. Industry consolidation 2. Increasing distribution costs Higher fuel prices are likely to have a direct impact on the companys distribution cost and may directly affect its margins. 3. Increased competition from private labels Private-label goods generally lower priced products sold under a stores own name, are a constant threat to other brands goods, especially during times of economic weakness with increasing popularity of these private labels combined with the depth of their penetration in local markets, Cadbury may see the erosion of its market share in certain geographies and is likely to face a bigger challenge from these private labels in future. (Anonymous, 2010 ) Marketing Mix 4 PS of Marketing 1- PRODUCT The average company will compete for customer by conforming to his expectation consistently, but the winner will surpass them by constantly exceeding his expectation, delivering to his door step additional benefits which he would never have imagined. Cadburys offer such product. The wide variety products offered by the company include:- Chocolate Confectionary Dairy Milk Fruit Nut 5 Star Break Perk Gems Ãâ°clairs Nutties Temptation Milk Treat Food Drinks Bourn vita Drinking chocolate Cocoa 2. Price:- Second P of marketing is not another name for blindly lowering prices and relying on this strategy alone to increase sales dramatically. The strategy used by Cadbury is for matching the value that customer pays to buy the product with the expectation they have about what the production is worth to them . Cadburys has launched various products which cater to all customer segments. So every customer segment has different price expectation from the product. Therefore maximizing the returns involves identifying right price level for each segment and then progressively moving through them. Dairy milk Rs. 15 Perk Rs.10 5 Star Rs.10 Fruit and Nut Rs.22 Gems Rs.10 Break Rs.5 Nutties Rs.18 Bournvita(500gm) Rs.104 Drinking chocolate Rs.50 PLACE:- Distribution Equity: It takes much more time and effort to build, but once built, distribution equity is hard to erode. The fundamental axiom of Indian consumer market is this; You can set up a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, hire the hottest strategies on the block, swamp prime television with best Ads, but the end of it all, you should know how to sell your products. The cardinal task before the Indian market in managing is to shoe-horn its product on retail shelves. Buyers are paying for distribution equity not brand equity and market shares. Why does the company need distribution equity more in India? In a product and price parity situation, the brand that sells more is the one that reaches the highest number of customers. India 1 billion people, 155 million household has over 4 million retail outlets in 5351 urban markets and 552725 villages, spread cross 3.28 million sq. km. television has already primed and population for consumption, and the marketer who can get to the consumer ahead of competition will give a hard-to-overtake lead. But getting their means managing wildly different terrains-climate, language, value system, life style, transport and communication network and your brand equity isnt going to help when it comes to tackling these issues. Own distribution network consist of clearing and forwarding (cf) agents distribution stockiest. This network of distribution can either contact to the retailers directly. Once the stock product reaches retailers, the prospective customers can have access to the product. Cadburys distributes the product in the manner stated above. Cadburys distribution network has expanded from 1990 distributors last year to 2100 distributors and 4,50,000 retailers. Beside use of TI to improve logistics, Cadbury is also attempting to improve the distribution quality. To address the issue of product stability, it has installed visi colors at several outlets. This helps in maintaining consumption in summer when sales usually drops due to the fact that the heat affects product quality and thereby off takes. The increase in distribution is going to be accompanied by reduction in channel costs. (Anonymous, 2010 ) Promotion:- Effective advertising is rarely hectoring or loudly explicit..,it often both attracts and generates arm feelings. More often than not, a successful campaign has a stronger element of the unexpected a quality that good advertising shares with much worthwhile literature. To penetrate into the inner recesses of customer memory, communication must first ensure exposure, grab his acceptance and then extract retension competing with thousands of other units of communication trying to do the same. Thereafter it was the job of the advertising to communicate customer the wonderful feeling that he could experience by re-discoursing the careful, unselfish conscious, pleasure- seeking child within him and graft these feeling into Ad campaign like Khane Walon Ko Khane Ka Bahana Chahiye for CMD and Thodi Si Pet Pooja Kabhi Bhi Kahin Bhi for perk have been sure shot winner with the audience. The next round of activity will include the wafer-chocolate Perk and the Picnic bar, which has faced problems with its taste, because of the peanut it contains. Milk treat has also been launched in a module bar form, just in time of Diwali gifting market. Ãâ°clairs has got potential for much wide distribution, in a small sweets that airlines, hostels, and up market retail outlet offer to guest and customers. Ad spend in 2000 was about 14% of sales and the management said that plans to maintain as spend at this level in the current year also. Its a combination of spiffing up its key brands, researching and improving the newer products that havent taken off, supported with high ad-spends that Cadbury hopes will see it emerges stronger after the current slowdown, as well as expand the market. (Anonymous, 2010 ) Critical analysis of Marketing mix:- Product is a output of the company, Being a market leader the level of expectation from the company is at a very high level and thus it is important for the company to maintain its Products quality, shelf life and freshness of the product are the most important factors for the company. Product is the life of the company and is the most important factor. In 2003 Cadbury India had to face the plight of the worms controversy. After receiving complaints from various states across the nation, the Food and Drug Administration of India took action against the firm, confirmed reports of worms being found in Dairy Milk chocolates. The FDA officials werent certain if the manufacturing was to be blamed for the infestation but they were sure that there was some problem in the packaging, meanwhile the company assured the FDA that it will change the packaging and come up with a tamper-proof seal packing (Kamdar 2003). Shortly after, the company came up with the purity sealed packaging and stored the chocolates in cool dispenser units to prevent melting of chocolates. The companys GM for marketing Mr. Sanjay Purohit in a press conference stated that We have regained 90 percent of the sales levels (Mathur 2004). Pricing is also an important factor, Factors like competition, internal costs, and the positioning and corporate objective of the company need to be taken into consideration by a company before pricing a product. Premium pricing(relative to the competing brands) with special emphasis on taste and quality is recommended. The premium pricing does not suggest that the offering is made unaffordable to the target consumer. A high price would accompany a promise for a better taste and quality. Therefore, the brands, taste quality needs to justify the high price. As seen in the table below nestle and Cadburys are pitted against each other and Amul is the cheapest brand in the market Considering the above, a premium pricing strategy, with the assurance of good quality and better taste, in a market that is not high on price sensitivity may prove to be a success. Cadbury dairy milk is priced at Rs.15/- for 40 gms Nestlà ©s Milk chocolate at Rs.13/- for 40 gms Amul is priced at Rs.10/- for 40 gms(Kevin jacob,2007) Place Positioning is simply concentrating on an idea or- even a word defines that company in the mind of the consumer. It is more efficient to market one successful concept to one large group of people than 50 product or service ideas to 50 separate groupà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦ repositioning is a must when customer attitude have changed and product have strayed away from the consumers long standing perception of themà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦ Cadburys is an anchor in sea of confectionary products. as a variety of competitive claims assails her senses, today customer uses complicated decision making process to assess the alternative before making a purchase. Since cadburys is more clearly associated with a particular set of attributes in terms of benefits and prices, the quicker becomes its search process. Promotional activities like Dil ko jab khushi choo jaaye, kuch meetha ho jaaye In the early 90s, chocolates were perceived as being meant for kids. However in the mid 90s, Cadbury repositioned itself, and shifted its focus, became a chocolate for the kid in all of us. This communication is aimed at all age groups from Children to the Youth and even Adults. The main objective behind this commercial was to make people realize that every little or big happy moment was to be celebrated with a Dairy milk. The communication also aimed at making chocolate consumption a habit (Pandey 2006, p.215). The audiences were expected to make Dairy milk a part of their lives. Every moment of happiness like passing the exams, meeting a celebrity, winning a game of cards, etc was meant to be cherished and celebrated by eating Dairy milk. This chocolate was meant to be a Celebration of Life and its happiness. The commercial was a simple, sweet and effective piece of communication. It had a very simple approach of celebrating joyous moments of life with Cadbury. The feelings, expressions, emotions portrayed by the actors in the commercial were enough to hit the emotional chord of the audiences. The ad was simple and direct in its content and visual presentation. The emotions displayed brought out the life and depth of the commercial. The brand also shifted its image from being only for kids to being a chocolate for all age groups. The punch line became extremely popular with the masses and people began to associate the chocolate to every happy moment. Strategic recommendation:- Cadbury India is a very experienced player in its field and is going well on its business in India but a bit of concern is its pricing of the confectionary products which is a bit high as compared to its competitors this is a place where the company is facing challenges from its competitors, The company also vouched this problem and in 2008 started a programme home grown supply where it started the production of cocoa in India. (Business India intelligence,2009) Cadbury is also hoping to change its dependence on imported cocoa. A 30% import duty on cocoa beans, which are mostly grown in Ghana and the Ivory coast markets that are also less politically stable than India- has led Cadbury seek to source more beans domestically. In a venture called the Cadbury cocoa partnership (which also operates in Ghana, Indonesia and the Caribbean), it hopes to persuade 20% of Indian coconut farmers to include cocoa trees in their plantations. It is pursuing this goal by giving farmers saplings and providing technical expertise. Last year 5m cocoa saplings were planted another 7.5m in 2009, ultimately making India self-sufficient in cocoa production by 2015. Thus, it is hoped, can be achieved with a little disruption as possible. One of the advantages of cocoa seedlings is that they can grow alongside coconut palms in southern India and do not require the clearing of forests for plantation. Although this programme is not being exposed as it could have been used.(Business india intelligence,2009) Recommendation:- The recommendation for the company is to work on the cocoa production in India as in India major group is farmers but they are not aware of the benefits of this cultivation, if the company promotes the cultivation and get good production from India then this can result in resuming the issue of high price of the products like chocolates, snacks etc. the company then can control its prices and could be competitive with its competitors which is its biggest problem in the market and also the company can Increase its profits by the use of this practice as the company has to pay 30% duty on imports of the cocoa from other countries like Ghana and Ivory coast and if they can get the same crop from the domestic region than they can get a good return on their Profit sharing ratio. (Business india intelligence,2009) To meet the increasing demand of cocoa seeds increasing number of farmers are taking cocoa cultivation as an inter crop along with the coconut to double their incomes .The industrys graph is slated to shoot up as the demand for cocoa seeds has sharply rised in India and in foreign markets as well for exports. Tamil nadu and the southern regions of India have the most favorable environment for the cultivation of cocoa. The present production of India is around 10,000 tons meeting only half of the total demand of around 20,000 tons. (jaya kumar,2008) Indias Cocoa Development board is also understood to have undertaken a similar initiative to increase the production to 16,000 tons in two years time. Indias annual consumption of the beans is about 20,000 tons and more than 40 percent of its total requirement is still met through imports .(jose roy,2009) According to Cadburys India forecast, cocoa demand is growing around 15 percent annually and will reach about 30,000 tons in the next 5 years. Industry observers said India through public- private partnership was attempting a cocoa revolution once again in the country to become a bellwether state of the beans in the region. (jose roy,2009) Conclusion:- This Report demonstrates Cadbury Indias hold in the Indian market and shows its position in the Indian market it also describes the various analysis like SWOT and PEST which describes various features about the company and the marketing mix which shows its marketing abilities and its strategies, the recommendations are also given to improve its position in the Indian market and to increase its profits. The Chocolate industry remained unaffected by the recent economic changes in the world and since Cadbury is the market leader its growth rate, marketing strategies are ever changing keeping the current industry trends in mind. All Cadbury commercials also have been extremely effective and popular with the masses. This report Clearly states the companys hold and experience in the target industry and gives suggestions though which it can indorse its strong potential to continue to do well.
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Essays -- Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte Ess
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Jane Eyre, a novel about an English womanââ¬â¢s struggles told through the writing of Charlotte Brontà «, has filled its audience with thoughts of hope, love, and deception for many years. These thoughts surround people, not just women, everyday, as if an endless cycle from birth to death. As men and women fall further into this spiral of life they begin to find their true beings along with the qualities of others. This spiral then turns into a web of conflicts as the passenger of life proceeds and often these conflicts are caused by those sought out to be guides through the journey of life but merely are spiders building a magnificent web to catch its prey. In Jane Eyre, Brontà « uses the literary elements of plot and character to convey the theme that a person often falls in love with a manipulator because she has little experiences of other forms of love and as a result she has to establish her own integrity. Brontà « uses the character element of opinions to show how some people often form conclusions about others and express them in their thoughts as either cruel or friendly. Since Brontà « bases Jane Eyre as story told through a young lady the reader is allowed to experience her thoughts and reactions to those around her who make her very personality. As Jane is in her youth she develops these notions about her own family yelling at her cousin John saying, ââ¬Å"You are like a murderer--you are like a slave-driverââ¬âyou are like the Roman Emperors.â⬠(p. 8) Not only showing that Jane has the intellectual maturity much greater than that of a normal ten-year-old but also that she finds John cruel and sees him becoming a bad man when he grows up. Due to Mrs. Reedââ¬â¢s lack of discipline John did grow as his cousin perceived causing his own demise and the relief of Jane for her cousin no longer could torment those lesser than himself. ââ¬Å"Mr. Rochester continued blind f or the first two years of our union: perhaps it was that circumstance that drew us so very near ââ¬â that knit us so very close: for I was then his vision, as I am still his right hand. Literally, I was the apple of his eye.â⬠(p.578) Jane expresses her grief over Rochesterââ¬â¢s injuries but emphasizes her constant love as everything that he has lost. Rochester appears completely opposite from the first time they met; heââ¬â¢s helpless just as Jane was when they first met and it is her in... ...oach, nor will you stir one step to meet it where it waits for you.â⬠(p.248) Rochester notices her fault and clearly points them out to her. Allowing a person to hear their own faults causes them to examine whether or not these accusations are true or not. In Janeââ¬â¢s case Rochester pinned out Janeââ¬â¢s faults and heââ¬â¢s doing his part to help her become more like him instead of being a shy, little, shrewd Quaker. The fortune-teller finally mentions Janeââ¬â¢s love for Rochester, but unknown to Jane the fortune-teller is Edward Fairfax Rochester. Jane hints toward this love but has clearly been manipulated by Rochester into his entanglement of love, which Blanche was thought to be in the center of. The main point of Rochesterââ¬â¢s deception is to encourage Jane to except her love and express is to someone other than Rochester and to feel love for the first time if at all possible. As Brontà «Ã¢â¬â¢s novel is read over through the generations, the theme that a person can be manipulated into love and often times has to find her own integrity is passed on. By using many different elements of plot and characters she creates a novel forever found to be part of American Literature and English History.
Saturday, January 18, 2020
The Development Of Credit Unions
A credit union is a member owned member controlled not-for-profit cooperative financial institution. Credit unions were formed to provide loans to its members at lower rates of interest than would be other wise available. The first credit union was formed by a group of farmers in Belgium, 1848, during a period of severe economic depression. Townspeople pulled their money together to provide loans to each other. This cooperative approach helped farmers avoid paying the high rates being charged by ââ¬Å"loan sharksâ⬠. These loans enabled a farmer to buy the necessities to plant a crop or to help members buy coal in bulk at lower prices. At the time of their origins the only financial assistance available was the local moneylenders. At the time of the depression people who took out loans were forced to pay expensive interest rates. Credit Unions serve low-income people. A personâ⬠s ability (income) to repay is considered more important than the desire to sustain the assets of the credit union. Members are borrowing their own money and that of their peers. By 1900 the first financial cooperative idea had spread from Germany to Canada. Canadas successful efforts influenced two Americans. Pierre Jay the Massachusetts bank commissioner and Edward A. Filene a Boston merchant. These two men helped organized public hearings on the credit union legislative in Massachusetts. This led the establishment of the first Credit Union Act in the United States in 1909. The growth of credit unions across the U.S. was slow. Fewer than 10 states passed credit union laws. 1934 Congress passed the Federal Credit Union Act. This act set the basic structure, which governs credit unions today, examples: Member control is democratically exercised regardless of the number of shares held. Loans, which are primary investment for credit union, are made exclusively to members. A board of directors supervises management By 1935 38 states and the District of Columbia had laws permitting the establishment of credit union and over 3,000 were in existence. In 1970â⬠³s credit unions were battling with the government for federal share insurance and the campaign for national fund to support the community developed credit unions (CDCU). In 1970 congress established the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) an independent agency responsible for regulating and chartering federal credit unions and NCUA and Congress also established the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. This enabled the NCUA to insure the shares of all the federal and state credit unions. In 1978 the Federal Credit Union Act was amended to establish a three-member board, appointed by the president, to head NCUA. Nationally, there are almost 11,000 credit unions with over 73 million members. The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is the national trade for credit unions. In addition, there are 50 state credit union leagues and leagues for the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The credit union movement is growing throughout the world, including third-world countries and Europe where people need assistance with setting up consumer finance systems. There are over 37,000 credit unions worldwide in 87 nations with over 88 million members.
Monday, January 13, 2020
Hobbes vs. Thoreau
Thomas Hobbesââ¬â¢ book, Leviathan and Henry David Thoreauââ¬â¢s essay, Resistance to Civil Government could not be more opposed when it comes to looking at the social contract from a political philosophy viewpoint. On the one hand, Hobbes maintains that humanityââ¬â¢s utmost obligation is to submit oneself to the authority of the sovereign state. Thoreau, on the other hand, argues that under specific circumstances, it is humanityââ¬â¢s duty is to resist the state. This paper will argue that Hobbes does not succeed in establishing our obligation to submit to the sovereignââ¬â¢s authority.Instead it is Thoreau whom is correct that in certain circumstances we are obliged to resist the State. The two main issues with Hobbesââ¬â¢ reasoning in Leviathan regarding the sovereign authority stem from his explanations of the Laws of Nature and the power of the government. In Thoreauââ¬â¢s Resistance to Civil Government, these two issues are more adequately addressed. Befor e establishing the reasons why Thoreauââ¬â¢s views on the obligations of the citizen to the state are more correct than Hobbesââ¬â¢, it should be noted that Thoreauââ¬â¢s essay, Resistance to Civil Government was published 198 years after Leviathan.While Hobbes wrote Leviathan during the English Civil War, Thoreau wrote Resistance to Civil Government as an abolitionist during the time of the slavery crisis in New England and the Mexican-American war. Therefore the differences in social context of the two works are drastic. Not only was Leviathan regarded as one of the earliest works containing social contract theory, Hobbes himself is regarded as one of the key figures in the English Enlightenment, otherwise known as the Age of Reason.This context within which Hobbes thrived, and within which Leviathan was published is significant, because the philosophical method upon which Hobbes based Leviathan is modelled after a geometric proof, founded upon first principles and establ ished definitions. In this model, each argument makes conclusions based upon the previous argument. Hobbes wanted to produce irrefutable political philosophy in Leviathan by creating a model based on geometry because conclusions that are derived by geometry are supposed to be indisputable.However Hobbesââ¬â¢ book is far from indisputable, and much of its logic is not entirely sound. This is evident in a number of examples, but most prominent are the Laws of Nature and the power of the government. In order to better explain why Hobbes does not completely succeed in establishing the obligation people have to submit to the sovereignââ¬â¢s authority, a brief summary of Leviathan is necessary. In Leviathan, Hobbes sets out on an exploration of human nature, which eventually leads him to the conclusion that an absolutist state, where all power lies within the hands of the sovereign authority, is necessary.The reason that Hobbes feels absolutism is necessary is what he refers to as t he ââ¬Ëstate of natureââ¬â¢. The state of nature is used to explain the inherent qualities in man that makes him behave the way he does, outside of the boundaries and limits imposed by social law. For Hobbes, the state of nature consists of selfish men who will inevitably turn to violence in their quest to satisfy their own selfish needs. Therefore, because all people are inherently violent in the state of nature, all are also equal because no person is above or less capable of violence than anyone else.To the argument that some are physically stronger than others, Hobbes retorts that even those who are stronger are still vulnerable when sleeping. In this way, though all are equally violent, all are also equally vulnerable. However, man is also rational, and so in response to this vulnerability, manââ¬â¢s selfish desire to ensure his own life above all else, will lead them to put their faith into the social contract. The basis upon which the social contract is made necessar y, in other words, the state of nature, is what ultimately produces the Leviathan.Hobbes believes that in order to secure their own lives, people will automatically submit all of their freedom into the hands of the sovereignââ¬â¢s authority. One of the first aspects of Hobbesââ¬â¢ work that undermines his, mostly logically-sound Leviathan, concerns the Laws of Nature. Hobbes seems to take it for granted that all the people in a single state would agree with one another to submit all of their power to one authoritative entity, on the basis that they will realize it is in the best interest of their security.As professor Ian Johnston says, ââ¬Å"If human beings are like sheep, I don't see why they need a ruler; if human beings are like wolves, I don't see how they will tolerate a ruler. â⬠If, as Hobbes suggests, the state of nature is anarchy, then what aspect of nature drives all people to form a commonwealth? In this respect, it appears that Hobbes contradicts himself, f or he proclaims that man is brutish, violent, and only concerned with self-interest, however he is also reasonable enough to form a social ontract in which his own ease and commodious living is secured. In light of the latter characteristics of man that Hobbes describes, where man is rational enough to participate in such a social contract, the necessity of submitting oneself entirely to the sovereign authority is unfounded and too extreme. The second main issue with Leviathan concerns the power of the government. Hobbes fails to explain why people would trust an authority made up of other people, no different from themselves.If every person knows that their own inherent violence and selfishness is what necessitates total rule by an authoritative figure, would they not doubt the authority, assuming that the corruptness inside of them extends to said authority as well? Hobbes does not seem to consider this issue worth much in-depth consideration, for he does not believe that the sove reign authority would ever put the people in a situation where they need to defend themselves from the governing powers. According to Hobbes, the state will remain efficient because it recognizes its dependence upon the work of the citizens.In Hobbesââ¬â¢ words, ââ¬Å"the private interest is the same with the public. The riches, power, and honour of a monarch arise only from the riches, strength and reputation of his subjects. For no king can be rich, nor glorious, nor secure, whose subjects are either poor, or contemptible, or too weak through want, or dissention, to maintain a war against their enemies. â⬠à However, the consequences on a personââ¬â¢s ability to produce wealth for a country is not the only concern for a state in which all the power rests within the hands of a sovereign authority.Hobbes answer does not reach any further into the moral or human rights of the citizens, which are much more vulnerable to being infringed upon in an absolutist state. Hobbes neglects to address this because he believes that the state would not attack these rights based on the fact that it would potentially produce chaos, which is the exact opposite of what the sovereign authority is meant to do. It is clear that for Hobbes, the dangers of a tyrannical sovereign are more appealing than the absence of any sovereign, or in other words, a society left to the state of nature.While having some form of government, as opposed to rampant violence, is preferable, it is unnecessary for the citizens to relinquish all freedom to the authority of the sovereign, as Hobbes suggests. It would have been impossible for Hobbes to predict the political evolution of modern states. However his description of the benefits of the absolutist state hint at modern examples of states where all the power has been concentrated into a single, sovereign authority, leading to the extreme corruption that Hobbes believed it would eradicate.The 20th century is full of examples of this; how ever one that particularly exemplifies the dangers of total submission to the state is Fascist Italy, ruled absolutely by Benito Mussolini from the early 1920s to the mid 1940s. Instead of aiding the state and its people, Mussolini created an illusion of what the common good really was, in order to enforce his own, absolute power. This lead to a significant decrease in security and loss of many human lives, which seems to indicate that submitting all power to the state, can lead people back into Hobbesââ¬â¢ ââ¬Ëstate of natureââ¬â¢, instead of out of it.While Hobbesââ¬â¢ endorsement of absolutism may have noble aims for humanity, when looked at from its primal and organic intentions, often absolutism results in the violent enforcing of rules or ideologies upon people, which is in itself a loss of security, and form of inhumane chaos. In a reaction to the rampant slavery in America during the 19th century and the Mexican-American war, Thoreau wrote the essay Resistance to Civil Government, hoping to encourage people to trust their own consciences over the rule of the law enforced by the government.Thoreau believes that mans best service to oneââ¬â¢s own country paradoxically takes the form of resistance against it, if one feels that the government is supporting unjust or immoral laws. Subverting to the government, no matter what, or out of the necessity of obligation is to the detriment of the state and society, according to Thoreau. Instead, it is better to work to build a better one in the long term, even if that means chaos or anarchy in the form of revolution n the short-term.Though Thoreauââ¬â¢s views seem much more modern than Hobbes, Thoreau does doubt the effectiveness of democracy, or rather the reform of a government from within the government. Believing that voting and petitioning for change to be inefficient, Thoreau feels that one cannot truly see the government for what it is when one is working with it, and therefore one also ca nnot effect change when working with the government. In sharp contrast to Hobbesââ¬â¢ views on the role of the government, Thoreau not only proclaims, ââ¬Å"that government is best which governs leastâ⬠, but even going so far as to say, ââ¬Å"that government is best which governs not at all. This is an example of where finding the middle ground between Hobbes and Thoreau is useful. While Hobbes may be correct that some form of government is necessary to a level of order within the state, Thoreauââ¬â¢s reasoning for why the government can be interfering can be found in modern example of politics. According to Thoreau, the government is used by a certain group of people to impose on others for their own personal gains. In this way, the government aids the success of those who control the state while impeding the success of those who are imposed upon.This view on the government can find itself exemplified in specific aspects of the American government. Though the role of t he government is to secure the safety and rights of all its citizens equally, many had dubbed the 20th century as an era of ââ¬Ëcorporatismââ¬â¢ for America, securing only the interests of companies. Corporatism, in terms of politics, is when wealth is used as a tool by corporations to sway the government in the direction of their own private interests. The overwhelming dominance of corporations can spread beyond politics, into many aspects of society.There are a number of negative effects of corporatism for the ââ¬Ëcommon manââ¬â¢, such as pervasiveness on works unions, the increase in taxes coming out of citizens pockets in order to provide direct outlays, the subsidizing of unsubsidized jobs, the erosion of virtue within commerce, etc. Thoreau would have agreed with this notion of ââ¬Ëcorporate Americaââ¬â¢ for he believed the government to be like a machine, in which injustice is an inevitable component. Thoreau did not intend to ââ¬Ëdemonizeââ¬â¢ the Ame rican government, but rather to shed light on what he felt was a total lack of agency or usefulness.This example establishes a modern framework for Thoreauââ¬â¢s argument that the government is not infallible, and how the role of the government sometimes necessitates resistance. As Hobbes would state, it is a natural part of being human to look out for oneââ¬â¢s best interest. However, like his views on the role of the government, Thoreauââ¬â¢s view on the nature of men appears to also be more correct, in light of current or historical politics. In other words, chaos is not always best dealt with by being replaced by subservience, but by resistance and a change in ideological structure.Another current example of the validity behind Thoreauââ¬â¢s argument can be found in the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring refers to the movement of uprisings that arose and spread across the Arab world in 2011. It led to many revolutionary outcomes, such as the first free Tunisian election in October; the Egyptian president Mubarak being displaced by a pro-democracy movement; the toppling of dictator Gadhafi, liberation of Libya, and the removal of the ban on Libyan political parties; and the authoritarian leader of Jordan being forced to replace his government.None of these movements would have been possible without peopleââ¬â¢s willingness to fight to bring some of the power away from the government, and into their own hands. As if often the case with political philosophy, both Hobbesââ¬â¢ and Thoreauââ¬â¢s views are best when aspects of both theorists are taken and combined. When the absolutist nature of the government Hobbesââ¬â¢ argues for is taken away, his belief that a governing entity is required for maintaining a certain, and desirable, level of order becomes more valid.However in order to ensure that the rights and of citizens are protected, Thoreau is correct in arguing that resistance to an unjust government is the only way to ensure a just gove rnment. However, between Hobbesââ¬â¢ Leviathan, and Thoreauââ¬â¢s Resistance to Civil Government, the latter is more successful in establishing a sound view on the social contract. Thoreauââ¬â¢s advocates the evolution, and not destruction of the government.Therefore his argument that the government should be one that is capable of improvement based on the needs of the people, and his argument that people should embrace chaos if it means a just and moral reform of the government succeeds more than the arguments of Hobbes. Bibliography Bird, Alexander. ââ¬Å"Squaring the Circle: Hobbes on Philosophy and Geometry. â⬠Journal of the History of Ideas. 10. 1 (1996): 217-231. Germino, Dante. ââ¬Å"Italian Fascism in the History of Political Thought. â⬠Midwest Journal of Political Science. 8. 2 (1964): 109-126. Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. London: Penguin Books, 1968/1651. Johnston, Ian. ââ¬Å"Four Problems in Theory. On Hobbes Leviathon. Created December 2002. Accesse d November 2012. Keller, Ever. ââ¬Å"In the service of ââ¬Å"truthâ⬠and victoryâ⬠: Geometry and rhetoric in the political works of Thomas Hobbes. â⬠Prose Studies: History, Theory Criticism. 15. 2 (2008): 129-152. May, Larry. Ethics in the History of Western Philosophy. New York: MacMillan/St. Martinââ¬â¢s Press, 1990. Owen, Judd J. ââ¬Å"The Tolerant Leviathan: Hobbes and the Paradox of Liberalism. â⬠Polity. 37. 1 (2005): 130-148. Schmitter, Philippe C. ââ¬Å"Still the Century of Corporatism? â⬠The Review of Politics. 36. 1 (1974): 85-131.Thoreau, Henry David. ââ¬Å"Resistance to Civil Government. â⬠The Picket Line. Work written 1894. Accessed October 2012. Turner, Jack. ââ¬Å"Performing Conscience: Thoreau, Political Action, and the Plea for John Brown. â⬠Sage Publications, Inc. 33. 4 (2005): 448-471 Woods, Thomas E. ââ¬Å"The Cultural Costs of Corporatism: How Government-Business Collusion Denigrates the Entrepreneur and Rewards the Sycophant. â⬠First Principles: ISI Web Journal. Accessed November 2012.
Friday, January 10, 2020
History of religion in American Colonies Essay
Many of the British North American colonies that eventually formed the United States of America were settled in the 17th century by men and women, who, in the face of European religious persecution, refused to compromise passionately held religious convictions and fled Europe.[2] The Middle Atlantic colonies of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, were conceived and established ââ¬Å"as plantations of religion.â⬠Some settlers who arrived in these areas came for secular motivesââ¬ââ⬠to catch fishâ⬠as one New Englander put itââ¬âbut the great majority left Europe to worship in the way they believed to be correct. They supported the efforts of their leaders to create ââ¬Å"a City upon a Hillâ⬠or a ââ¬Å"holy experiment,â⬠whose success would prove that Godââ¬â¢s plan for churches could be successfully realized in the American wilderness. Even colonies like Virginia, which were planned as commercial ventures, were led by entrepreneurs who considered themselves ââ¬Å"militant Protestantsâ⬠and who worked diligently to promote the prosperity of the church. Puritans[edit source | editbeta] Puritans were English Protestants who wished to reform and purify the Church of England of what they considered to be unacceptable residues of Roman Catholicism. on the 1620s, leaders of the English state and church grew increasingly unsympathetic to Puritan demands. They insisted that the Puritans conform to religious practices that they abhorred, removing their ministers from office and threatening them with ââ¬Å"extirpation from the earthâ⬠if they did not fall in line. Zealous Puritan laymen received savage punishments. For example, in 1630 a man was sentenced to life imprisonment, had his property confiscated, his nose slit, an ear cut off, and his forehead branded ââ¬Å"S.S.â⬠(sower of sedition). Beginning in 1630, as many as 20,000 Puritans emigrated to America from England to gain the liberty to worship as they chose. Most settled in New England, but some went as far as the West Indies. Theologically, the Puritans were ââ¬Å"non-separating Congregationalists.â⬠Unlike the Pilgrims, who came to Massachusetts in 1620, the Puritans believed that the Church of England was a true church, though in need of major reforms. Every New England Congregational church was considered an independent entity, beholden to no hierarchy. The membership was composed, at least initially, of men and women who had undergone a conversion experience and could prove it to other members. Puritan leaders hoped (futilely, as it turned out) that, once their experiment was successful, England would imitate it by instituting a church order modeled after the New England Way. Persecution in America[edit source | editbeta] Although they were victims of religious persecution in Europe, the Puritans supported the Old World theory that sanctioned it: the need for uniformity of religion in the state. Once in control in New England, they sought to break ââ¬Å"the very neck of Schism and vile opinions.â⬠The ââ¬Å"businessâ⬠of the first settlers, a Puritan minister recalled in 1681, ââ¬Å"was not Toleration, but [they] were professed enemies of it.â⬠[3] Puritans expelled dissenters from their colonies, a fate that in 1636 befell Roger Williams and in 1638 Anne Hutchinson, Americaââ¬â¢s first major female religious leader. Those who defied the Puritans by persistently returning to their jurisdictions risked capital punishment, a penalty imposed on the Boston martyrs, four Quakers, between 1659 and 1661. Reflecting on the 17th centuryââ¬â¢s intolerance, Thomas Jefferson was unwilling to concede to Virginians any moral superiority to the Puritans. Beginning in 1659, Virginia enacted anti-Quaker laws, including the death penalty for refractory Quakers. Jefferson surmised that ââ¬Å"if no capital execution took place here, as did in New England, it was not owing to the moderation of the church, or the spirit of the legislature.â⬠[4] Founding of Rhode Island[edit source | editbeta] Expelled from Massachusetts in the winter in 1636, former Puritan leader Roger Williams issued an impassioned plea for freedom of conscience. He wrote, ââ¬Å"God requireth not an uniformity of Religion to be inacted and enforced in any civill state; which inforced uniformity (sooner or later) is the greatest occasion of civill Warre, ravishing of conscience, persecution of Christ Jesus in his servants, and of the hypocrisie and destruction of millions of souls.â⬠[5] Williams later founded Rhode Island on the principle of religious freedom. He welcomed people of religious belief, even some regarded as dangerously misguided, for nothing could change his view that ââ¬Å"forced worship stinks in Godââ¬â¢s nostrils.â⬠[6] Jewish refuge in America[edit source | editbeta] Main article: History of the Jews in the United States A shipload of twenty-three Jewish refugees fleeing persecution in Dutch Brazil arrived in New Amsterdam (soon to become New York City) in 1654. By the next year, this small community had established religious services in the city. By 1658, Jews had arrived in Newport, Rhode Island, also seeking religious liberty. Small numbers of Jews continued to come to the British North American colonies, settling mainly in the seaport towns. By the late 18th century, Jewish settlers had established several synagogues. Quakers[edit source | editbeta] The Religious Society of Friends formed in England in 1652 around leader George Fox. Many scholars[who?] today consider Quakers as radical Puritans because the Quakers carried to extremes many Puritan convictions.[citation needed] They stretched the sober deportment of the Puritans into a glorification of ââ¬Å"plainness.â⬠Theologically, they expanded the Puritan concept of a church of individuals regenerated by the Holy Spirit to the idea of the indwelling of the Spirit or the ââ¬Å"Light of Christâ⬠in every person. Such teaching struck many of the Quakersââ¬â¢ contemporaries as dangerous heresy. Quakers were severely persecuted in England for daring to deviate so far from orthodox Christianity. By 1680, 10,000 Quakers had been imprisoned in England and 243 had died of torture and mistreatment in jail. This reign of terror impelled Friends to seek refuge in New Jersey in the 1670s, where they soon became well entrenched. In 1681, when Quaker leader William Penn parlayed a debt owed by Charles II to his father into a charter for the province of Pennsylvania, many more Quakers were prepared to grasp the opportunity to live in a land where they might worship freely. By 1685, as many as 8,000 Quakers had come to Pennsylvania from England, Wales, and Ireland.[citation needed] Although the Quakers may have resembled the Puritans in some religious beliefs and practices, they differed with them over the necessity of compelling religious uniformity in society. Pennsylvania Germans[edit source | editbeta] During the main years of German emigration to Pennsylvania in the mid-18th century, most of the emigrants were Lutherans, Reformed, or members of small sectsââ¬âMennonites, Dunkers, Schwenkfelders, Moravians, and some German Baptist groups. The great majority became farmers.[7] The colony was owned by William Penn, a leading Quaker, and his agents encouraged German emigration to Pennsylvania by circulating promotional literature touting the economic advantages of Pennsylvania as well as the religious liberty available there. The appearance in Pennsylvania of so many different religious groups made the province resemble ââ¬Å"an asylum for banished sects.â⬠Roman Catholics in Maryland[edit source | editbeta] For their political opposition, Catholics were harassed and had largely been stripped of their civil rights since the reign of Elizabeth I. Driven by ââ¬Å"the sacred duty of finding a refuge for his Roman Catholic brethren,â⬠George Calvert obtained a charter from Charles I in 1632 for the territory between Pennsylvania and Virginia.[8] This Maryland charter offered no guidelines on religion, although it was assumed that Catholics would not be molested in the new colony. His son Lord Baltimore, was a Catholic who inherited the grant for Maryland from his father and was in charge 1630-45. In 1634, Lord Baltimoreââ¬â¢s two ships, the Ark and the Dove, with the first 200 settlers to Maryland. They included two Catholic priests. Lord Baltimore assumed that religion was a private matter. He rejected the need for an established church, guaranteed liberty of conscience to all Christians, and embraced pluralism.[9] Catholic fortunes fluctuated in Maryland during the rest of the 17th century, as they became an increasingly smaller minority of the population. After the Glorious Revolution of 1689 in England, the Church of England was legally established in the colony and English penal laws, which deprived Catholics of the right to vote, hold office, or worship publicly, were enforced. Marylandââ¬â¢s first state constitution in 1776 restored the freedom of religion.[10] Virginia and the Church of England[edit source | editbeta] Main articles: History of Virginia#Religion in early Virginia and Episcopal Diocese of Virginia#History Virginia was the largest, most populous and most important colony. The Church of England was legally established; the bishop of London made it a favorite missionary target and sent in 22 clergyman by 1624. In practice, establishment meant that local taxes were funneled through the local parish to handle the needs of local government, such as roads and poor relief, in addition to the salary of the minister. There never was a bishop in colonial Virginia, and in practice the local vestry consisted of laymen who controlled the parish and handled local taxes, roads and poor relief.[11] The Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg. Government and college officials in the capital at Williamsburg were required to attend services at this Anglican church. When the elected assembly, the House of Burgesses, was established in 1619, it enacted religious laws that made Virginia a bastion of Anglicanism. It passed a law in 1632 requiring that there be a ââ¬Å"uniformitie throughout this colony both in substance and circumstance to the cannons and constitution of the Church of England.â⬠[12] The colonists were typically inattentive, uninterested, and bored during church services according to the ministers, who complained that the people were sleeping, whispering, ogling the fashionably dressed women, walking about and coming and going, or at best looking out the windows or staring blankly into space.[13] The lack of towns meant the church had to serve scattered settlements, while the acute shortage of trained ministers meant that piety was hard to practice outside the home. Some ministers solved their problems by encouraging parishioners to become devout at home, using the Book of Common Prayer for private prayer and devotion (rather than the Bible). This allowed devout Anglicans to lead an active and sincere religious life apart from the unsatisfactory formal church services. However the stress on private devotion weakened the need for a bishop or a large institutional church of the sort Blair wanted. The stress on personal piety opened the way for the First Great Awakening, which pulled people away from the established church.[14] Especially in the back country, most families had no religious affiliation whatsoever and their low moral standards were shocking to proper Englishmen[15] The Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and other evangelicals directly challenged these lax moral standards and refused to tolerate them in their ranks. The evangelicals identified as sinful the traditional standards of masculinity which revolved around gambling, drinking, and brawling, and arbitrary control over women, children, and slaves. The religious communities enforced new standards, creating a new male leadership role that followed Christian principles and became dominant in the 19th century.[16] Baptists, German Lutherans and Presbyterians, funded their own ministers, and favored disestablishment of the Anglican church. The dissenters grew much faster than the established church, making religious division a factor in Virginia politics into the Revolution. The Patriots, led by Thomas Jefferson, disestablished the Anglican Church in 1786.[17] Eighteenth century[edit source | editbeta] Against a prevailing view that 18th century Americans had not perpetuated the first settlersââ¬â¢ passionate commitment to their faith, scholars now identify a high level of religious energy in colonies after 1700. According to one expert, religion was in the ââ¬Å"ascension rather than the declensionâ⬠; another sees a ââ¬Å"rising vitality in religious lifeâ⬠from 1700 onward; a third finds religion in many parts of the colonies in a state of ââ¬Å"feverish growth.â⬠[18] Figures on church attendance and church formation support these opinions. Between 1700 and 1740, an estimated 75-80% of the population attended churches, which were being built at a headlong pace.[18] By 1780 the percentage of adult colonists who adhered to a church was between 10-30%, not counting slaves or Native Americans. North Carolina had the lowest percentage at about 4%, while New Hampshire and South Carolina were tied for the highest, at about 16%.[19] Church buildings in 18th-century America varied greatly, from the plain, modest buildings in newly settled rural areas to elegant edifices in the prosperous cities on the eastern seaboard. Churches reflected the customs and traditions as well as the wealth and social status of the denominations that built them. German churches contained features unknown in English ones. Deism[edit source | editbeta] See also: Deism#Deism in the United States Deism is a loosely used term that describes the views of certain English and continental thinkers. These views gained a small, unorganized but influential number of adherents in America in the late 18th century. A form of deism, Christian deism, stressed morality and rejected the orthodox Christian view of the divinity of Christ, often viewing him as a sublime, but entirely human, teacher of morality.[18] Though their views were complex, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison were adherents, in some respects, of Unitarianism. Jefferson in particular was an adherent of ââ¬Å"Deism and Unitarianismâ⬠. Unlike Thomas Paine, this was not a radical, anti-Christian Deistism. Instead it was always respectful of Christianity, admired the ethics of Christ, believed religion could and should play a beneficial role in society, and was open to the possibility that there was a benevolent God involved in the affairs of men and nations.[20] Deism also influenced the development of Unitarianism in America. By 1800, all but one Congregationalist church in Boston had Unitarian preachers teaching the strict unity of God, the subordinate nature of Christ, and salvation by character. Harvard University, founded by Congregationalists, became a source of Unitarian training. Great Awakening: emergence of evangelicalism[edit source | editbeta] Main article: First Great Awakening In the American colonies the First Great Awakening was a wave of religious enthusiasm among Protestants that swept the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that deeply affected listeners (already church members) with a deep sense of personal guilt and salvation by Christ. Pulling away from ritual and ceremony, the Great Awakening made religion intensely personal to the average person by creating a deep sense of spiritual guilt and redemption. Historian Sydney E. Ahlstrom sees it as part of a ââ¬Å"great international Protestant upheavalâ⬠that also created Pietism in Germany, the Evangelical Revival and Methodism in England.[21] It brought Christianity to the slaves and was an apocalyptic event in New England that challenged established authority. It incited rancor and division between the old traditionalists who insisted on ritual and doctrine and the new revivalists. The new style of sermons and the way people practiced their faith breathed new life into religion in America. People became passionately and emotionally involved in their religion, rather than passively listening to intellectual discourse in a detached manner. Ministers who used this new style of preaching were generally called ââ¬Å"new lightsâ⬠, while the preachers of old were called ââ¬Å"old lightsâ⬠. People began to study the Bible at home, which effectively decentralized the means of informing the public on religious manners and was akin to the individualistic trends present in Europe during the Protestant Reformation.[22] The fundamental premise of evangelicalism is the conversion of individuals from a state of sin to a ââ¬Å"new birthâ⬠through preaching of the Word. The First Great Awakening led to changes in American colonial society. In New England, the Great Awakening was influential among many Congregationalists. In the Middle and Southern colonies, especially in the ââ¬Å"Backcountryâ⬠regions, the Awakening was influential among Presbyterians. In the South Baptist and Methodist preachers converted both whites and enslaved blacks.[23] During the first decades of the 18th century, in the Connecticut River Valley, a series of local ââ¬Å"awakeningsâ⬠began in the Congregational church with ministers including Jonathan Edwards. The first new Congregational Church in the Massachusetts Colony during the great awakening period, was in 1731 at Uxbridge and called the Rev. Nathan Webb as its Pastor. By the 1730s, they had spread into what was interpreted as a general outpouring of the Spirit that bathed the American colonies, England, Wales, and Scotland. In mass open-air revivals powerful preachers like George Whitefield brought thousands of souls to the new birth. The Great Awakening, which had spent its force in New England by the mid-1740s, split the Congregational and Presbyterian churches into supportersââ¬âcalled ââ¬Å"New Lightsâ⬠and ââ¬Å"New Sideâ⬠ââ¬âand opponentsââ¬âthe ââ¬Å"Old Lightsâ⬠and ââ¬Å"Old Side.â⬠Many New England New Lights became Separate Baptists. Largely through the efforts of a charismatic preacher from New England named Shubal Stearns and paralleled by the New Side Presbyterians (who were eventually reunited on their own terms with the Old Side), they carried the Great Awakening into the southern colonies, igniting a series of the revivals that lasted well into the 19th century.[18] The supporters of the Awakening and its evangelical thrustââ¬âPresbyterians, Baptists and Methodistsââ¬âbecame the largest American Protestant denominations by the first decades of the 19th century. Opponents of the Awakening or those split by itââ¬âAnglicans, Quakers, and Congregationalistsââ¬âwere left behind. Unlike the Second Great Awakening that began about 1800 and which reached out to the unchurched, the First Great Awakening focused on people who were already church members. It changed their rituals, their piety, and their self-awareness.[22] Evangelicals in the South[edit source | editbeta] The South had originally been settled and controlled by Anglicans, who dominated the ranks of rich planters but whose ritualistic high church established religion had little appeal to ordinary men and women, both white and black.[24][25] Baptists[edit source | editbeta] Energized by numerous itinerant self-proclaimed missionaries, by the 1760s Baptists were drawing Southerners, especially poor white farmers, into a new, much more democratic religion. Slaves were welcome at the services and many became Baptists at this time. Baptist services were highly emotional; the only ritual was baptism, which was applied by immersion (not sprinkling like the Anglicans) only to adults. Opposed to the low moral standards prevalent in the colony, the Baptists strictly enforced their own high standards of personal morality, with special concern for sexual misconduct, heavy drinking, frivolous spending, missing services, cursing, and revelry. Church trials were held frequently and if members who did not submit to disciple were expelled.[26] Historians have debated the implications of the religious rivalries for the American Revolution. The Baptist farmers did introduce a new egalitarian ethic that largely displaced the semi-aristocratic ethic of the Anglican planters. However, both groups supported the Revolution. There was a sharp contrast between the austerity of the plain-living Baptists and the opulence of the Anglican planters, who controlled local government. Baptist church discipline, mistaken by the gentry for radicalism, served to ameliorate disorder. The struggle for religious toleration erupted and was played out during the American Revolution, as the Baptists worked to disestablish the Anglican church.[27] Baptists, German Lutherans and Presbyterians, funded their own ministers, and favored disestablishment of the Anglican church. Methodists[edit source | editbeta] Methodist missionaries were also active in the late colonial period. From 1776 to 1815 Methodist Bishop Francis Asbury made 42 trips into the western parts to visit Methodist congregations. In the 1780s itinerant Methodist preachers carried copies of an anti-slavery petition in their saddlebags throughout the state, calling for an end to slavery. At the same time, counter-petitions were circulated. The petitions were presented to the Assembly; they were debated, but no legislative action was taken, and after 1800 there was less and less religious opposition to slavery.[28] Masculinity and morality[edit source | editbeta] Especially in the Southern back country, most families had no religious affiliation whatsoever and their low moral standards were shocking to proper Englishmen.[15] The Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and other evangelicals directly challenged these lax moral standards and refused to tolerate them in their ranks. The evangelicals identified as sinful the traditional standards of masculinity which revolved around gambling, drinking, and brawling, and arbitrary control over women, children, and slaves. The religious communities enforced new standards, creating a new male leadership role that followed Christian principles and became dominant in the 19th century.[16] American Revolution[edit source | editbeta] Religion played a major role in the American Revolution[citation needed] by offering a moral sanction for opposition to the Britishââ¬âan assurance to the average American that revolution was justified in the sight of God[citation needed]. As a recent scholar has observed, ââ¬Å"by turning colonial resistance into a righteous cause, and by crying the message to all ranks in all parts of the colonies, ministers did the work of secular radicalism and did it better.â⬠[citation needed] Ministers served the American cause in many capacities during the Revolution: as military chaplains, as scribes for committees of correspondence, and as members of state legislatures, constitutional conventions and the Continental Congress. Some even took up arms, leading Continental Army troops in battle. The Revolution split some denominations, notably the Church of England, whose ministers were bound by oath to support the king, and the Quakers, who were traditionally pacifists. Religious practice suffered in certain places because of the absence of ministers and the destruction of churches, but in other areas, religion flourished. The Revolution strengthened millennialist strains in American theology. At the beginning of the war some ministers were persuaded that, with Godââ¬â¢s help, America might become ââ¬Å"the principal Seat of the glorious Kingdom which Christ shall erect upon Earth in the latter Days.â⬠Victory over the British was taken as a sign of Godââ¬â¢s partiality for America and stimulated an outpouring of millennialist expectationsââ¬âthe conviction that Christ would rule on earth for 1,000 years. This attitude combined with a groundswell of secular optimism about the future of America helped to create the buoyant mood of the new nation that became so evident after Jefferson assumed the presidency in 1801. Church of England[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Episcopal Church (United States) The American Revolution inflicted deeper wounds on the Church of England in America than on any other denomination because the English monarch was the head of the church. Church of England priests, at their ordination, swore allegiance to the British crown. The Book of Common Prayer offered prayers for the monarch, beseeching God ââ¬Å"to be his defender and keeper, giving him victory over all his enemies,â⬠who in 1776 were American soldiers as well as friends and neighbors of American parishioners of the Church of England. Loyalty to the church and to its head could be construed as treason to the American cause. Patriotic American members of the Church of England, loathing to discard so fundamental a component of their faith as The Book of Common Prayer, revised it to conform to the political realities. After the Treaty of Paris (1783) documenting British recognition of American independence, the church split and the Anglican Communion created, allowing a separated Episcopal Church of the United States to replace, in the United States, and be in communion with the Church of England. Great Awakenings and Evangelicalism[edit source | editbeta] During the Second Great Awakening, church membership rose sharply. Main articles: Revivalism and Evangelicalism The ââ¬Å"great Awakeningsâ⬠were large-scale revivals that came in spurts, and moved large numbers of people from unchurched to churched. It made Evangelicalism one of the dominant forces in American religion. Balmer explains that: ââ¬Å"Evangelicalism itself, I believe, is quintessentially North American phenomenon, deriving as it did from the confluence of Pietism, Presbyterianism, and the vestiges of Puritanism. Evangelicalism picked up the peculiar characteristics from each strain ââ¬â warmhearted spirituality from the Pietists (for instance), doctrinal precisionism from the Presbyterians, and individualistic introspection from the Puritans ââ¬â even as the North American context itself has profoundly shaped the various manifestations of evangelicalism.: fundamentalism, neo-evangelicalism, the holiness movement, Pentecostalism, the charismatic movement, and various forms of African-American and Hispanic evangelicalism.â⬠[29] Second Great Awakening[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Second Great Awakening See also: Camp meeting and Revival meeting In 1800, major revivals began that spread across the nation: the decorous Second Great Awakening in New England and the exuberant Great Revival in Cane Ridge, Kentucky. The principal religious innovation produced by the Kentucky revivals was the camp meeting. The revivals at first were organized by Presbyterian ministers who modeled them after the extended outdoor ââ¬Å"communion seasons,â⬠used by the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, which frequently produced emotional, demonstrative displays of religious conviction. In Kentucky, the pioneers loaded their families and provisions into their wagons and drove to the Presbyterian meetings, where they pitched tents and settled in for several days. When assembled in a field or at the edge of a forest for a prolonged religious meeting, the participants transformed the site into a camp meeting. The religious revivals that swept the Kentucky camp meetings were so intense and created such gusts of emotion that their original sponsors, the Presbyterians, as well the Baptists, soon repudiated them. The Methodists, however, adopted and eventually domesticated camp meetings and introduced them into the eastern states,where for decades they were one of the evangelical signatures of the denomination. The Second Great Awakening (1800ââ¬â1830s), unlike the first, focused on the unchurched and sought to instill in them a deep sense of personal salvation as experienced in revival meetings. The great revival quickly spread throughout Kentucky, Tennessee and southern Ohio. Each denomination had assets that allowed it to thrive on the frontier. The Methodists had an efficient organization that depended on ministers known as circuit riders, who sought out people in remote frontier locations. The circuit riders came from among the common people, which helped them establish rapport with the frontier families they hoped to convert. The Second Great Awakening exercised a profound impact on American religious history. By 1860 evangelicalism emerged as a kind of national church or national religion and was the grand absorbing theme of American religious life. The greatest gains were made by the very well organized Methodists. Francis Asbury (1745ââ¬â1816) led the American Methodist movement as one of the most prominent religious leaders of the young republic. Traveling throughout the eastern seaboard, Methodism grew quickly under Asburyââ¬â¢s leadership into the nationââ¬â¢s largest and most widespread denomination. The numerical strength of the Baptists and Methodists rose relative to that of the denominations dominant in the colonial periodââ¬âthe Anglicans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Reformed. Efforts to apply Christian teaching to the resolution of social problems presaged the Social Gospel of the late 19th century. It also sparked the beginnings of groups such as the Mormons, the Restoration Movement and the Holiness movement. Third Great Awakening[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Third Great Awakening The Third Great Awakening was a period of religious activism in American history from the late 1850s to the 20th century. It affected pietistic Protestant denominations and had a strong sense ofsocial activism. It gathered strength from the postmillennial theology that the Second Coming of Christ would come after mankind had reformed the entire earth. The Social Gospel Movement gained its force from the Awakening, as did the worldwide missionary movement. New groupings emerged, such as the Holiness movement and Nazarene movements, and Christian Science.[30] The Protestant mainline churches were growing rapidly in numbers, wealth and educational levels, throwing off their frontier beginnings and become centered in towns and cities. Intellectuals and writers such as Josiah Strong advocated a muscular Christianity with systematic outreach to the unchurched in America and around the globe. Others built colleges and universities to train the next generation. Each denomination supported active missionary societies, and made the role of missionary one of high prestige. The great majority of pietistic mainline Protestants (in the North) supported the Republican Party, and urged it to endorse prohibition and social reforms.[31][32] See Third Party System The awakening in numerous cities in 1858 was interrupted by the American Civil War. In the South, on the other hand, the Civil War stimulated revivals and strengthened the Baptists, especially.[33] After the war, Dwight L. Moody made revivalism the centerpiece of his activities in Chicago by founding the Moody Bible Institute. The hymns of Ira Sankey were especially influential.[34] Across the nation drys crusaded in the name of religion for the prohibition of alcohol. The Womanââ¬â¢s Christian Temperance Union mobilized Protestant women for social crusades against liquor, pornography and prostitution, and sparked the demand for woman suffrage.[35] The Gilded Age plutocracy came under harsh attack from the Social Gospel preachers and with reformers in the Progressive Era who became involved with issues of child labor, compulsory elementary education and the protection of women from exploitation in factories. All the major denominations sponsored growing missionary activities inside the United States and around the world.[36][37] Colleges associated with churches rapidly expanded in number, size and quality of curriculum. The promotion of ââ¬Å"muscular Christianityâ⬠became popular among young men on campus and in urban YMCAââ¬â¢s, as well as such denominational youth groups such as the Epworth League for Methodists and the Walther League for Lutherans.[38] Emergence of African American churches[edit source | editbeta] Scholars disagree about the extent of the native African content of black Christianity as it emerged in 18th-century America, but there is no dispute that the Christianity of the black population was grounded in evangelicalism. The Second Great Awakening has been called the ââ¬Å"central and defining event in the development of Afro-Christianity.â⬠During these revivals Baptists and Methodists converted large numbers of blacks. However, many were disappointed at the treatment they received from their fellow believers and at the backsliding in the commitment to abolish slavery that many white Baptists and Methodists had advocated immediately after the American Revolution. When their discontent could not be contained, forceful black leaders followed what was becoming an American habitââ¬âthey formed new denominations. In 1787, Richard Allen and his colleagues in Philadelphia broke away from the Methodist Church and in 1815 founded the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, which, along with independent black Baptist congregations, flourished as the century progressed. By 1846, the AME Church, which began with 8 clergy and 5 churches, had grown to 176 clergy, 296 churches, and 17,375 members. After the Civil War, Black Baptists desiring to practice Christianity away from racial discrimination, rapidly set up several separate state Baptist conventions. In 1866, black Baptists of the South and West combined to form the Consolidated American Baptist Convention. This Convention eventually collapsed but three national conventions formed in response. In 1895 the three conventions merged to create the National Baptist Convention. It is now the largest African-American religious organization in the United States. Restorationism[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Restorationism (Christian primitivism) See also: Dispensationalism and Restoration Movement Restorationism refers to the belief that a purer form of Christianity should be restored using the early church as a model.[39]:635[40]:217 In many cases, restorationist groups believed that contemporary Christianity, in all its forms, had deviated from the true, original Christianity, which they then attempted to ââ¬Å"Reconstructâ⬠, often using the Book of Acts as a ââ¬Å"guidebookâ⬠of sorts. Restorationists do not usually describe themselves as ââ¬Å"reformingâ⬠a Christian church continuously existing from the time of Jesus, but as restoring the Church that they believe was lost at some point. ââ¬Å"Restorationismâ⬠is often used to describe the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement. The term ââ¬Å"Restorationistâ⬠is also used to describe the Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and the Jehovahââ¬â¢s Witness Movement. Denominations and sects founded in the U.S.[edit source | editbeta] Mormonism[edit source | editbeta] Main article: History of the Latter Day Saint movement The origins of another distinctive religious group, the Latter-day Saints (LDS)ââ¬âalso widely known as Mormonsââ¬âarose in the early 19th century during the ââ¬Å"Golden Day of Democratic Evangelicalism.â⬠Founder Joseph Smith, Jr., and many of his earliest followers came from an area of western New York called the burned-over district, because it had been ââ¬Å"scorchedâ⬠by so many revivals. Young Joseph Smith had a series of visions, revelations from God and visitations from angelic messengers, providing him with ongoing instruction in the execution of his role as a prophet and a restorationist. After publishing the Book of Mormonââ¬âwhich he claimed to have translated by divine power from a record of ancient American prophets recorded on golden platesââ¬âSmith organized ââ¬Å"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saintsâ⬠on April 6, 1830. Mormon theology was far out of the mainstream, and the Mormons were driven out of state after state; Smith was assassinated and Brigham Young led the people out of the U.S. into Utah ââ¬â at the time virtually ungoverned. Rumors to the effect Mormons were practicing polygamy there were true; the U.S. government went to Utah, clashed with the Mormons, and sought to disenfranchise the Church for practicing polygamy. The Church pulled away from plural marriages between 1890 and 1907, was allowed to resume normal status, and Utah was granted statehood in 1896. Thanks to worldwide missionary work, the church now counts over 14 million members.[41] Jehovahââ¬â¢s Witnesses[edit source | editbeta] Main article: History of Jehovahââ¬â¢s Witnesses Jehovahââ¬â¢s Witnesses comprise a fast-growing denomination that has kept itself separate from other Christian denominations. It began in 1872 with Charles Taze Russell, but experienced a major schism in 1917 as Joseph Franklin Rutherford began his presidency. Rutherford gave new direction to the movement and renamed the movement ââ¬Å"Jehovahââ¬â¢s witnessesâ⬠in 1931. The period from 1925 to 1933 saw many significant changes in doctrine. Attendance at their yearly Memorial dropped from a high of 90,434 in 1925 to 63,146 in 1935. Since 1950 growth has been very rapid.[42] During the World War II, Jehovahââ¬â¢s Witnesses experienced mob attacks in America and were temporarily banned in Canada and Australia because of their opposition to the war effort. They won significant Supreme Court victories involving the rights of free speech and religion that have had a great impact on legal interpretation of these rights for others.[43] In 1943, the United States Supreme Court ruled in West Virginia State Board of Education vs. Barnette that school children of Jehovahââ¬â¢s Witnesses could not be compelled to salute the flag. Church of Christ, Scientist[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Church of Christ, Scientist The Church of Christ, Scientist was founded in 1879, in Boston by Mary Baker Eddy, the author of its central book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, which offers a unique interpretation of Christian faith.[44] Christian Science teaches that the reality of God denies the reality of sin, sickness, death and the material world. Accounts of miraculous healing are common within the church, and adherents often refuse traditional medical treatments. Legal troubles sometimes result when they forbid medical treatment of their children.[45] The Church is unique among American denominations in several ways. It is highly centralized, with all the local churches merely branches of the mother church in Boston. There are no ministers, but there are practitioners who are integral to the movement. The practitioners operate local businesses that help members heal their illnesses by the power of the mind. They depend for their clientele on the approval of the Church. Starting in the late 19th century the Church has rapidly lost membership, although it does not publish statistics. Its flagship newspaper Christian Science Monitor lost most of its subscribers and dropped its paper version to become an online source.[46] Other denominations founded in U.S.[edit source | editbeta] Adventism ââ¬â began as an inter-denominational movement. Its most vocal leader was William Miller, who in the 1830s in New York became convinced of an imminent Second Coming of Jesus. Churches of Christ/Disciples of Christ ââ¬â a restoration movement with no governing body. The Restoration Movement solidified as a historical phenomenon in 1832 when restorationists from two major movements championed by Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell merged (referred to as the ââ¬Å"Stone-Campbell Movementâ⬠). Episcopal Church ââ¬â founded as an offshoot of the Church of England; now the United States branch of the Anglican Communion Jehovahââ¬â¢s Witnesses ââ¬â originated with the religious movement known as Bible Students, which was founded in Pennsylvania in the late 1870s by Charles Taze Russell. National Baptist Convention ââ¬â the largest African American religious organization in the United States and the second largest Baptist denomination in the world. Pentecostalism ââ¬â movement that emphasizes the role of the Holy Spirit, finds its historic roots in the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, California, from 1904 to 1906, sparked by Charles Parham Reconstructionist Judaism
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)