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anarchism is political philosophy that advocates self governed societies based on voluntary institutions these are often described as stateless societies although several authors have defined them more specifically as institutions based on non hierarchical free associations anarchism considers the state to be undesirable unnecessary and harmful because anarchists generally believe that human beings are capable of managing their own affairs on the basis of creativity cooperation and mutual respect and when making individual decisions they are taking into account the concerns of others and the well being of society while anti statism is central anarchism entails opposing authority or hierarchical organisation in the conduct of all human relations anarchism draws on many currents of thought and strategy anarchism does not offer fixed body of doctrine from single particular world view instead fluxing and flowing as philosophy many types and traditions of anarchism exist not all of which are mutually exclusive anarchist schools of thought can differ fundamentally supporting anything from extreme individualism to complete collectivism strains of anarchism have often been divided into the categories of social and individualist anarchism or similar dual classifications anarchism is usually considered radical left wing ideology and much of anarchist economics and anarchist legal philosophy reflect anti authoritarian interpretations of communism collectivism syndicalism mutualism or participatory economics etymology and terminology the term anarchism is compound word composed from the word anarchy and the suffix ism themselves derived respectively from the greek anarchy from anarchos meaning one without rulers from the privative prefix ἀν an without and archos leader ruler cf archon or arkhē authority sovereignty realm magistracy and the suffix or ismos isma from the verbal infinitive suffix ίζειν izein the first known use of this word was in various factions within the french revolution labelled opponents as anarchists as robespierre did the hébertists although few shared many views of later anarchists there would be many revolutionaries of the early nineteenth century who contributed to the anarchist doctrines of the next generation such as william godwin and wilhelm weitling but they did not use the word anarchist or anarchism in describing themselves or their beliefs the first political philosopher to call himself an anarchist was pierre joseph proudhon marking the formal birth of anarchism in the mid nineteenth century since the and beginning in france the term libertarianism has often been used as synonym for anarchism and was used almost exclusively in this sense until the in the united states its use as synonym is still common outside the united states on the other hand some use libertarianism to refer to individualistic free market philosophy only referring to free market anarchism as libertarian anarchism history origins woodcut from diggers document by william everard the earliest anarchist themes can be found in the th century bc among the works of taoist philosopher laozi and in later centuries by zhuangzi and bao jingyan zhuangzi philosophy has been described by various sources as anarchist zhuangzi wrote petty thief is put in jail great brigand becomes ruler of nation diogenes of sinope and the cynics their contemporary zeno of citium the founder of stoicism also introduced similar topics jesus is sometimes considered the first anarchist in the christian anarchist tradition georges lechartier wrote that the true founder of anarchy was jesus christ and the first anarchist society was that of the apostles in early islamic history some manifestations of anarchic thought are found during the islamic civil war over the caliphate where the kharijites insisted that the imamate is right for each individual within the islamic society later some muslim scholars such as amer al basri and abu hanifa led movements of boycotting the rulers paving the way to the waqf endowments tradition which served as an alternative to and asylum from the centralized authorities of the emirs but such interpretations reverberates subversive religious conceptions like the aforementioned seemingly anarchistic taoist teachings and that of other anti authoritarian religious traditions creating complex relationship regarding the question as to whether or not anarchism and religion are compatible this is exemplified when the glorification of the state is viewed as form of sinful idolatry the french renaissance political philosopher étienne de la boétie wrote in his most famous work the discourse on voluntary servitude what some historians consider an important anarchist precedent the radical protestant christian gerrard winstanley and his group the diggers are cited by various authors as proposing anarchist social measures in the th century in england the term anarchist first entered the english language in during the english civil war as term of abuse used by royalists against their roundhead opponents by the time of the french revolution some such as the enragés began to use the term positively in opposition to jacobin centralisation of power seeing revolutionary government as oxymoronic by the turn of the th century the english word anarchism had lost its initial negative connotation modern anarchism sprang from the secular or religious thought of the enlightenment particularly jean jacques rousseau arguments for the moral centrality of freedom as part of the political turmoil of the in the wake of the french revolution william godwin developed the first expression of modern anarchist thought godwin was according to peter kropotkin the first to formulate the political and economical conceptions of anarchism even though he did not give that name to the ideas developed in his work while godwin attached his anarchist ideas to an early edmund burke william godwin the first to formulate the political and economical conceptions of anarchism even though he did not give that name to the ideas developed in his work godwin is generally regarded as the founder of the school of thought known as philosophical anarchism he argued in political justice that government has an inherently malevolent influence on society and that it perpetuates dependency and ignorance he thought that the spread of the use of reason to the masses would eventually cause government to wither away as an unnecessary force although he did not accord the state with moral legitimacy he was against the use of revolutionary tactics for removing the government from power rather he advocated for its replacement through process of peaceful evolution his aversion to the imposition of rules based society led him to denounce as manifestation of the people mental enslavement the foundations of law property rights and even the institution of marriage he considered the basic foundations of society as constraining the natural development of individuals to use their powers of reasoning to arrive at mutually beneficial method of social organization in each case government and its institutions are shown to constrain the development of our capacity to live wholly in accordance with the full and free exercise of private judgment the french pierre joseph proudhon is regarded as the first self proclaimed anarchist label he adopted in his groundbreaking work what is property published in it is for this reason that some claim proudhon as the founder of modern anarchist theory he developed the theory of spontaneous order in society where organisation emerges without central coordinator imposing its own idea of order against the wills of individuals acting in their own interests his famous quote on the matter is liberty is the mother not the daughter of order in what is property proudhon answers with the famous accusation property is theft in this work he opposed the institution of decreed property propriété where owners have complete rights to use and abuse their property as they wish he contrasted this with what he called possession or limited ownership of resources and goods only while in more or less continuous use later however proudhon added that property is liberty and argued that it was bulwark against state power his opposition to the state organised religion and certain capitalist practices inspired subsequent anarchists and made him one of the leading social thinkers of his time the anarcho communist joseph déjacque was the first person to describe himself as libertarian unlike pierre joseph proudhon he argued that it is not the product of his or her labour that the worker has right to but to the satisfaction of his or her needs whatever may be their nature in in germany the post hegelian philosopher max stirner published the book the ego and its own which would later be considered an influential early text of individualist anarchism french anarchists active in the revolution included anselme bellegarrigue ernest coeurderoy joseph déjacque and pierre joseph proudhon first international and the paris commune collectivist anarchist mikhail bakunin opposed the marxist aim of dictatorship of the proletariat in favour of universal rebellion and allied himself with the federalists in the first international before his expulsion by the marxists in europe harsh reaction followed the revolutions of during which ten countries had experienced brief or long term social upheaval as groups carried out nationalist uprisings after most of these attempts at systematic change ended in failure conservative elements took advantage of the divided groups of socialists anarchists liberals and nationalists to prevent further revolt in spain ramón de la sagra established the anarchist journal el porvenir in la coruña in which was inspired by proudhon ideas the catalan politician francesc pi margall became the principal translator of proudhon works into spanish and later briefly became president of spain in while being the leader of the democratic republican federal party according to george woodcock these translations were to have profound and lasting effect on the development of spanish anarchism after but before that time proudhonian ideas as interpreted by pi already provided much of the inspiration for the federalist movement which sprang up in the early according to the encyclopedia britannica during the spanish revolution of pi margall attempted to establish decentralized or cantonalist political system on proudhonian lines in the international workingmen association sometimes called the first international united diverse revolutionary currents including french followers of proudhon blanquists philadelphes english trade unionists socialists and social democrats due to its links to active workers movements the international became significant organisation karl marx became leading figure in the international and member of its general council proudhon followers the mutualists opposed marx state socialism advocating political abstentionism and small property holdings woodcock also reports that the american individualist anarchists lysander spooner and william greene had been members of the first international in following their unsuccessful participation in the league of peace and freedom lpf russian revolutionary mikhail bakunin and his collectivist anarchist associates joined the first international which had decided not to get involved with the lpf they allied themselves with the federalist socialist sections of the international who advocated the revolutionary overthrow of the state and the of property at first the collectivists worked with the marxists to push the first international in more revolutionary socialist direction subsequently the international became polarised into two camps with marx and bakunin as their respective figureheads bakunin characterised marx ideas as centralist and predicted that if marxist party came to power its leaders would simply take the place of the ruling class they had fought against anarchist historian george woodcock reports that the annual congress of the international had not taken place in owing to the outbreak of the paris commune and in the general council called only special conference in london one delegate was able to attend from spain and none from italy while technical excuse that they had split away from the fédération romande was used to avoid inviting bakunin swiss supporters thus only tiny minority of anarchists was present and the general council resolutions passed almost unanimously most of them were clearly directed against bakunin and his followers in the conflict climaxed with final split between the two groups at the hague congress where bakunin and james guillaume were expelled from the international and its headquarters were transferred to new york in response the federalist sections formed their own international at the st imier congress adopting revolutionary anarchist program the paris commune was government that briefly ruled paris from march more formally from march to may the commune was the result of an uprising in paris after france was defeated in the franco prussian war anarchists participated actively in the establishment of the paris commune they included louise michel the reclus brothers and eugene varlin the latter murdered in the repression afterwards as for the reforms initiated by the commune such as the re opening of workplaces as co operatives anarchists can see their ideas of associated labour beginning to be realised moreover the commune ideas on federation obviously reflected the influence of proudhon on french radical ideas indeed the commune vision of communal france based on federation of delegates bound by imperative mandates issued by their electors and subject to recall at any moment echoes bakunin and proudhon ideas proudhon like bakunin had argued in favour of the implementation of the binding mandate in and for federation of communes thus both economically and politically the paris commune was heavily influenced by anarchist ideas george woodcock states organised labour the anti authoritarian sections of the first international were the precursors of the anarcho syndicalists seeking to replace the privilege and authority of the state with the free and spontaneous organisation of labour in the federation of organized trades and labor unions fotlu of the united states and canada unanimously set may as the date by which the eight hour work day would become standard sympathetic engraving by walter crane of the executed anarchists of chicago after the haymarket affair the haymarket affair is generally considered the most significant event for the origin of international may day observances in response unions across the united states prepared general strike in support of the event on may in chicago fight broke out when strikebreakers attempted to cross the picket line and two workers died when police opened fire upon the crowd the next day may anarchists staged rally at chicago haymarket square bomb was thrown by an unknown party near the conclusion of the rally killing an officer in the ensuing panic police opened fire on the crowd and each other seven police officers and at least four workers were killed eight anarchists directly and indirectly related to the organisers of the rally were arrested and charged with the murder of the deceased officer the men became international political celebrities among the labour movement four of the men were executed and fifth committed suicide prior to his own execution the incident became known as the haymarket affair and was setback for the labour movement and the struggle for the eight hour day in second attempt this time international in scope to organise for the eight hour day was made the event also had the secondary purpose of memorializing workers killed as result of the haymarket affair although it had initially been conceived as once off event by the following year the celebration of international workers day on may day had become firmly established as an international worker holiday in the international anarchist congress of amsterdam gathered delegates from different countries among which important figures of the anarchist movement including errico malatesta pierre monatte luigi fabbri benoît broutchoux emma goldman rudolf rocker and christiaan cornelissen various themes were treated during the congress in particular concerning the organisation of the anarchist movement popular education issues the general strike or antimilitarism central debate concerned the relation between anarchism and syndicalism or trade unionism malatesta and monatte were in particular disagreement themselves on this issue as the latter thought that syndicalism was revolutionary and would create the conditions of social revolution while malatesta did not consider syndicalism by itself sufficient he thought that the trade union movement was reformist and even conservative citing as essentially bourgeois and anti worker the phenomenon of professional union officials malatesta warned that the syndicalists aims were in perpetuating syndicalism itself whereas anarchists must always have anarchy as their end and consequently refrain from committing to any particular method of achieving it the spanish workers federation in was the first major anarcho syndicalist movement anarchist trade union federations were of special importance in spain the most successful was the confederación nacional del trabajo national confederation of labour cnt founded in before the the cnt was the major force in spanish working class politics attracting million members at one point and playing major role in the spanish civil war the cnt was affiliated with the international workers association federation of anarcho syndicalist trade unions founded in with delegates representing two million workers from countries in europe and latin america in latin america in particular the anarchists quickly became active in organizing craft and industrial workers throughout south and central america and until the early most of the trade unions in mexico brazil peru chile and argentina were anarcho syndicalist in general outlook the prestige of the spanish as revolutionary organization was undoubtedly to great extent responsible for this situation the largest and most militant of these organizations was the federación obrera regional argentina it grew quickly to membership of nearly quarter of million which dwarfed the rival unions propaganda of the deed and illegalism italian american anarchist luigi galleani his followers known as galleanists carried out series of bombings and assassination attempts from to in what they saw as attacks on tyrants and enemies of the people some anarchists such as johann most advocated publicizing violent acts of retaliation against counter revolutionaries because we preach not only action in and for itself but also action as propaganda by the people inside and outside the anarchist movement began to use the slogan propaganda of the deed to refer to individual bombings regicides and tyrannicides from onwards the russian counterparts of these anti syndicalist anarchist communists become partisans of economic terrorism and illegal expropriations illegalism as practice emerged and within it the acts of the anarchist bombers and assassins propaganda by the deed and the anarchist burglars individual reappropriation expressed their desperation and their personal violent rejection of an intolerable society moreover they were clearly meant to be exemplary invitations to revolt france bonnot gang was the most famous group to embrace illegalism however as soon as important figures in the anarchist movement distanced themselves from such individual acts peter kropotkin thus wrote that year in le révolté that structure based on centuries of history cannot be destroyed with few kilos of dynamite variety of anarchists advocated the abandonment of these sorts of tactics in favour of collective revolutionary action for example through the trade union movement the anarcho syndicalist fernand pelloutier argued in for renewed anarchist involvement in the labour movement on the basis that anarchism could do very well without the individual dynamiter state repression including the infamous french lois scélérates of the anarchist and labour movements following the few successful bombings and assassinations may have contributed to the abandonment of these kinds of tactics although reciprocally state repression in the first place may have played role in these isolated acts the dismemberment of the french socialist movement into many groups and following the suppression of the paris commune the execution and exile of many communards to penal colonies favoured individualist political expression and acts numerous heads of state were assassinated between and by members of the anarchist movement including tsar alexander ii of russia president sadi carnot of france empress elisabeth of austria king umberto of italy president william mckinley of the united states king carlos of portugal and king george of greece mckinley assassin leon czolgosz claimed to have been influenced by anarchist and feminist emma goldman propaganda of the deed was abandoned by the vast majority of the anarchist movement after world war and the october revolution russian revolution and other uprisings of the nestor makhno with members of the anarchist revolutionary insurrectionary army of ukraine anarchists participated alongside the bolsheviks in both february and october revolutions and were initially enthusiastic about the bolshevik revolution however following political falling out with the bolsheviks by the anarchists and other left wing opposition the conflict culminated in the kronstadt rebellion which the new government repressed anarchists in central russia were either imprisoned driven underground or joined the victorious bolsheviks the anarchists from petrograd and moscow fled to ukraine there in the free territory they fought in the civil war against the whites grouping of monarchists and other opponents of the october revolution and then the bolsheviks as part of the revolutionary insurrectionary army of ukraine led by nestor makhno who established an anarchist society in the region for number of months expelled american anarchists emma goldman and alexander berkman were amongst those agitating in response to bolshevik policy and the suppression of the kronstadt uprising before they left russia both wrote accounts of their experiences in russia criticising the amount of control the bolsheviks exercised for them bakunin predictions about the consequences of marxist rule that the rulers of the new socialist marxist state would become new elite had proved all too true the victory of the bolsheviks in the october revolution and the resulting russian civil war did serious damage to anarchist movements internationally many workers and activists saw bolshevik success as setting an example communist parties grew at the expense of anarchism and other socialist movements in france and the united states for example members of the major syndicalist movements of the cgt and iww left the organisations and joined the communist international the revolutionary wave of saw the active participation of anarchists in varying degrees of protagonism in the german uprising known as the german revolution of which established the bavarian soviet republic the anarchists gustav landauer silvio gesell and erich mühsam had important leadership positions within the revolutionary councilist structures in the italian events known as the biennio rosso the anarcho syndicalist trade union unione sindacale italiana grew to members and the influence of the italian anarchist union members plus umanita nova its daily paper grew accordingly anarchists were the first to suggest occupying workplaces in the mexican revolution the mexican liberal party was established and during the early it led series of military offensives leading to the conquest and occupation of certain towns and districts in baja california with the leadership of anarcho communist ricardo flores magón in paris the dielo truda group of russian anarchist exiles which included nestor makhno concluded that anarchists needed to develop new forms of organisation in response to the structures of bolshevism their manifesto called the organisational platform of the general union of anarchists draft was supported platformist groups active today include the workers solidarity movement in ireland and the north eastern federation of anarchist communists of north america synthesis anarchism emerged as an organisational alternative to platformism that tries to join anarchists of different tendencies under the principles of anarchism without adjectives in the this form found as its main proponents volin and sebastien faure it is the main principle behind the anarchist federations grouped around the contemporary global international of anarchist federations conflicts with european fascist regimes in the and the rise of fascism in europe transformed anarchism conflict with the state italy saw the first struggles between anarchists and fascists italian anarchists played key role in the anti fascist organisation arditi del popolo which was strongest in areas with anarchist traditions and achieved some success in their activism such as repelling blackshirts in the anarchist stronghold of parma in august the veteran italian anarchist luigi fabbri was one of the first critical theorists of fascism describing it as the preventive counter revolution in france where the far right leagues came close to insurrection in the february riots anarchists divided over united front policy anarchists in france and italy were active in the resistance during world war ii in germany the anarchist erich mühsam was arrested on charges unknown in the early morning hours of february within few hours after the reichstag fire in berlin joseph goebbels the nazi propaganda minister labelled him as one of those jewish subversives over the next seventeen months he would be imprisoned in the concentration camps at sonnenburg brandenburg and finally oranienburg on february mühsam was transferred to the concentration camp at oranienburg when finally on the night of july mühsam was tortured and murdered by the guards his battered corpse found hanging in latrine the next morning spanish revolution in spain the national anarcho syndicalist trade union confederación nacional del trabajo initially refused to join popular front electoral alliance and abstention by cnt supporters led to right wing election victory but in the cnt changed its policy and anarchist votes helped bring the popular front back to power months later the former ruling class responded with an attempted coup causing the spanish civil war in response to the army rebellion an anarchist inspired movement of peasants and workers supported by armed militias took control of barcelona and of large areas of rural spain where they collectivised the land but even before the fascist victory in the anarchists were losing ground in bitter struggle with the stalinists who controlled much of the distribution of military aid to the republican cause from the soviet union according to noam chomsky the communists were mainly responsible for the destruction of the spanish anarchists not just in catalonia the communist armies mainly destroyed the collectives elsewhere the communists basically acted as the police force of the security system of the republic and were very much opposed to the anarchists partially because stalin still hoped at that time to have some kind of pact with western countries against hitler that of course failed and stalin withdrew the support to the republic they even withdrew the spanish gold reserves the events known as the spanish revolution was workers social revolution that began during the outbreak of the spanish civil war in and resulted in the widespread implementation of anarchist and more broadly libertarian socialist organisational principles throughout various portions of the country for two to three years primarily catalonia aragon andalusia and parts of the levante much of spain economy was put under worker control in anarchist strongholds like catalonia the figure was as high as but lower in areas with heavy communist party of spain influence as the soviet allied party actively resisted attempts at enactment factories were run through worker committees agrarian areas became collectivised and run as libertarian communes anarchist historian sam dolgoff estimated that about eight million people participated directly or at least indirectly in the spanish revolution which he claimed came closer to realizing the ideal of the free stateless society on vast scale than any other revolution in history spanish communist party led troops suppressed the collectives and persecuted both dissident marxists and anarchists the prominent italian anarchist camillo berneri who volunteered to fight against franco was killed instead in spain by gunmen associated with the spanish communist party the city of madrid was turned over to the francoist forces by the last non francoist mayor of the city the anarchist melchor rodríguez garcía post war years anarchism sought to reorganise itself after the war and in this context the organisational debate between synthesis anarchism and platformism took importance once again especially in the anarchist movements of italy and france the mexican anarchist federation was established in after the anarchist federation of the centre united with the anarchist federation of the federal district in the early the antifascist international solidarity and the federation of anarchist groups of cuba merged into the large national organisation asociación libertaria de cuba cuban libertarian association from to the bulgarian anarchist communist federation reemerged as part of factory and workplace committee movement but was repressed by the new communist regime in in france the fédération anarchiste and the trade union confédération nationale du travail was established in the next year while the also synthesist federazione anarchica italiana was founded in italy korean anarchists formed the league of free social constructors in september and in the japanese anarchist federation was founded an international anarchist congress with delegates from across europe was held in paris in may after world war ii an appeal in the fraye arbeter shtime detailing the plight of german anarchists and called for americans to support them by february the sending of aid parcels to anarchists in germany was large scale operation the federation of libertarian socialists was founded in germany in and rudolf rocker wrote for its organ die freie gesellschaft which survived until in the uruguayan anarchist federation was founded in the anarcho communist federation of argentina renamed itself as the argentine libertarian federation the syndicalist workers federation was syndicalist group in active in post war britain and one of solidarity federation earliest predecessors it was formed in by members of the dissolved anarchist federation of britain unlike the afb which was influenced by anarcho syndicalist ideas but ultimately not syndicalist itself the swf decided to pursue more definitely syndicalist worker centred strategy from the outset anarchism continued to influence important literary and intellectual personalities of the time such as albert camus herbert read paul goodman dwight macdonald allen ginsberg george woodcock leopold kohr julian beck john cage and the french surrealist group led by andré breton which now openly embraced anarchism and collaborated in the fédération anarchiste anarcho pacifism became influential in the anti nuclear movement and anti war movements of the time as can be seen in the activism and writings of the english anarchist member of campaign for nuclear disarmament alex comfort or the similar activism of the american catholic anarcho pacifists ammon hennacy and dorothy day anarcho pacifism became basis for critique of militarism on both sides of the cold war the resurgence of anarchist ideas during this period is well documented in robert graham anarchism documentary history of libertarian ideas volume two the emergence of the new anarchism contemporary anarchism squat near parc güell overlooking barcelona squatting was prominent part of the emergence of renewed anarchist movement from the counterculture of the and on the roof occupy and resist surge of popular interest in anarchism occurred in western nations during the and anarchism was influential in the counterculture of the and anarchists actively participated in the late sixties students and workers revolts in in carrara italy the international of anarchist federations was founded during an international anarchist conference held there in by the three existing european federations of france the fédération anarchiste the federazione anarchica italiana of italy and the iberian anarchist federation as well as the bulgarian federation in french exile in the united kingdom in the this was associated with the punk rock movement as exemplified by bands such as crass and the sex pistols the housing and employment crisis in most of western europe led to the formation of communes and squatter movements like that of barcelona spain in denmark squatters occupied disused military base and declared the freetown christiania an autonomous haven in central copenhagen since the revival of anarchism in the mid th century number of new movements and schools of thought emerged although feminist tendencies have always been part of the anarchist movement in the form of anarcha feminism they returned with vigour during the second wave of feminism in the anarchist anthropologist david graeber and anarchist historian andrej grubacic have posited rupture between generations of anarchism with those who often still have not shaken the sectarian habits of the th century contrasted with the younger activists who are much more informed among other elements by indigenous feminist ecological and cultural critical ideas and who by the turn of the st century formed by far the majority of anarchists around the turn of the st century anarchism grew in popularity and influence as part of the anti war anti capitalist and anti globalisation movements anarchists became known for their involvement in protests against the meetings of the world trade organization wto group of eight and the world economic forum some anarchist factions at these protests engaged in rioting property destruction and violent confrontations with police these actions were precipitated by ad hoc leaderless anonymous cadres known as black blocs other organisational tactics pioneered in this time include security culture affinity groups and the use of decentralised technologies such as the internet significant event of this period was the confrontations at wto conference in seattle in according to anarchist scholar simon critchley contemporary anarchism can be seen as powerful critique of the pseudo libertarianism of contemporary neo liberalism one might say that contemporary anarchism is about responsibility whether sexual ecological or socio economic it flows from an experience of conscience about the manifold ways in which the west ravages the rest it is an ethical outrage at the yawning inequality impoverishment and that is so palpable locally and globally international anarchist federations in existence include the international of anarchist federations the international workers association and international libertarian solidarity the largest organised anarchist movement today is in spain in the form of the confederación general del trabajo cgt and the cnt cgt membership was estimated at around for other active syndicalist movements include in sweden the central organisation of the workers of sweden and the swedish anarcho syndicalist youth federation the cnt ait in france the unione sindicale italiana in italy in the us workers solidarity alliance and the uk solidarity federation and anarchist federation the revolutionary industrial unionist industrial workers of the world claiming paying members and the international workers association an anarcho syndicalist successor to the first international also remain active anarchist schools of thought portrait of philosopher pierre joseph proudhon by gustave courbet proudhon was the primary proponent of anarchist mutualism and influenced many later individualist anarchist and social anarchist thinkers anarchist schools of thought had been generally grouped in two main historical traditions individualist anarchism and social anarchism which have some different origins values and evolution the individualist wing of anarchism emphasises negative liberty opposition to state or social control over the individual while those in the social wing emphasise positive liberty to achieve one potential and argue that humans have needs that society ought to fulfill recognizing equality of entitlement in chronological and theoretical sense there are classical those created throughout the th century and post classical anarchist schools those created since the mid th century and after beyond the specific factions of anarchist thought is philosophical anarchism which embodies the theoretical stance that the state lacks moral legitimacy without accepting the imperative of revolution to eliminate it component especially of individualist anarchism philosophical anarchism may accept the existence of minimal state as unfortunate and usually temporary necessary evil but argue that citizens do not have moral obligation to obey the state when its laws conflict with individual autonomy one reaction against sectarianism within the anarchist milieu was anarchism without adjectives call for toleration first adopted by fernando tarrida del mármol in in response to the bitter debates of anarchist theory at the time in abandoning the hyphenated anarchisms collectivist communist mutualist and individualist anarchism it sought to emphasise the anti authoritarian beliefs common to all anarchist schools of thought classical anarchist schools of thought mutualism mutualism began in th century english and french labour movements before taking an anarchist form associated with pierre joseph proudhon in france and others in the united states proudhon proposed spontaneous order whereby organisation emerges without central authority positive anarchy where order arises when everybody does what he wishes and only what he wishes and where business transactions alone produce the social order it is important to recognize that proudhon distinguished between ideal political possibilities and practical governance for this reason much in contrast to some of his theoretical statements concerning ultimate spontaneous self governance proudhon was heavily involved in french parliamentary politics and allied himself not with anarchist but socialist factions of workers movements and in addition to advocating state protected charters for worker owned cooperatives promoted certain nationalization schemes during his life of public service mutualist anarchism is concerned with reciprocity free association voluntary contract federation and credit and currency reform according to the american mutualist william batchelder greene each worker in the mutualist system would receive just and exact pay for his work services equivalent in cost being exchangeable for services equivalent in cost without profit or discount mutualism has been retrospectively characterised as ideologically situated between individualist and collectivist forms of anarchism blackwell encyclopaedia of political thought blackwell publishing isbn proudhon first characterised his goal as third form of society the synthesis of communism and property individualist anarchism individualist anarchism refers to several traditions of thought within the anarchist movement that emphasize the individual and their will over any kinds of external determinants such as groups society traditions and ideological systems individualist anarchism is not single philosophy but refers to group of individualistic philosophies that sometimes are in conflict in william godwin who has often been cited as the first anarchist wrote political justice which some consider the first expression of anarchism godwin philosophical anarchist from rationalist and utilitarian basis opposed revolutionary action and saw minimal state as present necessary evil that would become increasingly irrelevant and powerless by the gradual spread of knowledge godwin advocated individualism proposing that all cooperation in labour be eliminated on the premise that this would be most conducive with the general good th century philosopher max stirner usually considered prominent early individualist anarchist sketch by friedrich engels an influential form of individualist anarchism called egoism or egoist anarchism was expounded by one of the earliest and best known proponents of individualist anarchism the german max stirner stirner the ego and its own published in is founding text of the philosophy according to stirner the only limitation on the rights of individuals is their power to obtain what they desire without regard for god state or morality to stirner rights were spooks in the mind and he held that society does not exist but the individuals are its reality stirner advocated self assertion and foresaw unions of egoists non systematic associations continually renewed by all parties support through an act of will which stirner proposed as form of organisation in place of the state egoist anarchists argue that egoism will foster genuine and spontaneous union between individuals egoism has inspired many interpretations of stirner philosophy it was re discovered and promoted by german philosophical anarchist and lgbt activist john henry mackay josiah warren is widely regarded as the first american anarchist and the four page weekly paper he edited during the peaceful revolutionist was the first anarchist periodical published for american anarchist historian eunice minette schuster it is apparent that proudhonian anarchism was to be found in the united states at least as early as and that it was not conscious of its affinity to the individualist anarchism of josiah warren and stephen pearl andrews william greene presented this proudhonian mutualism in its purest and most systematic form henry david thoreau was an important early influence in individualist anarchist thought in the united states and europe thoreau was an american author poet naturalist tax resister development critic surveyor historian philosopher and leading he is best known for his books walden reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings and his essay civil disobedience an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state later benjamin tucker fused stirner egoism with the economics of warren and proudhon in his eclectic influential publication liberty from these early influences individualist anarchism in different countries attracted small but diverse following of bohemian artists and intellectuals free love and birth control advocates see anarchism and issues related to love and sex individualist naturists nudists see anarcho naturism freethought and anti clerical activists as well as young anarchist outlaws in what became known as illegalism and individual reclamation see european individualist anarchism and individualist anarchism in france these authors and activists included oscar wilde emile armand han ryner henri zisly renzo novatore miguel gimenez igualada adolf brand and lev chernyi among others social anarchism social anarchism calls for system with common ownership of means of production and democratic control of all organisations without any government authority or coercion it is the largest school of thought in anarchism social anarchism rejects private property seeing it as source of social inequality while retaining respect for personal property and emphasises cooperation and mutual aid collectivist anarchism collectivist anarchism also referred to as revolutionary socialism or form of such is revolutionary form of anarchism commonly associated with mikhail bakunin and johann most collectivist anarchists oppose all private ownership of the means of production instead advocating that ownership be collectivised this was to be achieved through violent revolution first starting with small cohesive group through acts of violence or propaganda by the deed which would inspire the workers as whole to revolt and forcibly collectivise the means of production however was not to be extended to the distribution of income as workers would be paid according to time worked rather than receiving goods being distributed according to need as in anarcho communism this position was criticised by anarchist communists as effectively upholding the wages system collectivist anarchism arose with marxism but opposed the marxist dictatorship of the proletariat despite the stated marxist goal of collectivist stateless society anarchist communist and collectivist ideas are not mutually exclusive although the collectivist anarchists advocated compensation for labour some held out the possibility of post revolutionary transition to communist system of distribution according to need anarcho communism anarchist communism also known as anarcho communism libertarian communism and occasionally as free communism is theory of anarchism that advocates abolition of the state markets money private property while retaining respect for personal property and capitalism in favour of common ownership of the means of production direct democracy and horizontal network of voluntary associations and workers councils with production and consumption based on the guiding principle from each according to his ability to each according to his need russian theorist peter kropotkin who was influential in the development of anarchist communism some forms of anarchist communism such as insurrectionary anarchism are strongly influenced by egoism and radical individualism believing anarcho communism is the best social system for the realization of individual freedom most anarcho communists view anarcho communism as way of reconciling the opposition between the individual and society anarcho communism developed out of radical socialist currents after the french revolution but was first formulated as such in the italian section of the first international the theoretical work of peter kropotkin took importance later as it expanded and developed pro and insurrectionary anti sections to date the best known examples of an anarchist communist society established around the ideas as they exist today and achieving worldwide attention and knowledge in the historical canon are the anarchist territories during the spanish revolution and the free territory during the russian revolution through the efforts and influence of the spanish anarchists during the spanish revolution within the spanish civil war starting in anarchist communism existed in most of aragon parts of the levante and andalusia as well as in the stronghold of anarchist catalonia before being crushed by the combined forces of the regime that won the war hitler mussolini spanish communist party repression backed by the ussr as well as economic and armaments blockades from the capitalist countries and the spanish republic itself during the russian revolution anarchists such as nestor makhno worked to create and defend through the revolutionary insurrectionary army of ukraine anarchist communism in the free territory of the ukraine from before being conquered by the bolsheviks in anarcho syndicalism may day demonstration of spanish anarcho syndicalist trade union cnt in bilbao basque country in anarcho syndicalism is branch of anarchism that focuses on the labour movement anarcho syndicalists view labour unions as potential force for revolutionary social change replacing capitalism and the state with new society democratically self managed by workers the basic principles of anarcho syndicalism are workers solidarity direct action and workers self management anarcho syndicalists believe that only direct action that is action concentrated on directly attaining goal as opposed to indirect action such as electing representative to government position will allow workers to liberate themselves moreover anarcho syndicalists believe that workers organisations the organisations that struggle against the wage system which in anarcho syndicalist theory will eventually form the basis of new society should be self managing they should not have bosses or business agents rather the workers should be able to make all the decisions that affect them themselves rudolf rocker was one of the most popular voices in the anarcho syndicalist movement he outlined view of the origins of the movement what it sought and why it was important to the future of labour in his pamphlet anarcho syndicalism the international workers association is an international anarcho syndicalist federation of various labour unions from different countries the spanish confederación nacional del trabajo played and still plays major role in the spanish labour movement it was also an important force in the spanish civil war post classical schools of thought lawrence jarach left and john zerzan right two prominent contemporary anarchist authors zerzan is known as prominent voice within anarcho primitivism while jarach is noted advocate of post left anarchy anarchism continues to generate many philosophies and movements at times eclectic drawing upon various sources and syncretic combining disparate concepts to create new philosophical approaches green anarchism or eco anarchism is school of thought within anarchism that emphasizes environmental issues with an important precedent in anarcho naturism and whose main contemporary currents are anarcho primitivism and social ecology anarcha feminism also called anarchist feminism and anarcho feminism combines anarchism with feminism it generally views patriarchy as manifestation of involuntary coercive hierarchy that should be replaced by decentralised free association anarcha feminists believe that the struggle against patriarchy is an essential part of class struggle and the anarchist struggle against the state in essence the philosophy sees anarchist struggle as necessary component of feminist struggle and vice versa susan brown claims that as anarchism is political philosophy that opposes all relationships of power it is inherently feminist anarcha feminism began with the late th century writings of early feminist anarchists such as emma goldman and voltairine de cleyre anarcho pacifism is tendency that rejects violence in the struggle for social change see non violence it developed mostly in the netherlands britain and the united states before and during the second world war christian anarchism is movement in political theology that combines anarchism and christianity its main proponents included leo tolstoy dorothy day ammon hennacy and jacques ellul platformism is tendency within the wider anarchist movement based on the organisational theories in the tradition of dielo truda organisational platform of the general union of anarchists draft the document was based on the experiences of russian anarchists in the october revolution which led eventually to the victory of the bolsheviks over the anarchists and other groups the platform attempted to address and explain the anarchist movement failures during the russian revolution synthesis anarchism is form of anarchism that tries to join anarchists of different tendencies under the principles of anarchism without adjectives in the this form found as its main proponents the anarcho communists voline and sébastien faure it is the main principle behind the anarchist federations grouped around the contemporary global international of anarchist federations post left anarchy is recent current in anarchist thought that promotes critique of anarchism relationship to traditional left wing politics some post leftists seek to escape the confines of ideology in general also presenting critique of organisations and morality influenced by the work of max stirner and by the marxist situationist international post left anarchy is marked by focus on social insurrection and rejection of leftist social organisation insurrectionary anarchism is revolutionary theory practice and tendency within the anarchist movement which emphasizes insurrection within anarchist practice it is critical of formal organisations such as labour unions and federations that are based on political programme and periodic congresses instead insurrectionary anarchists advocate informal organisation and small affinity group based organisation insurrectionary anarchists put value in attack permanent class conflict and refusal to negotiate or compromise with class enemies post anarchism is theoretical move towards synthesis of classical anarchist theory and thought drawing from diverse ideas including post modernism autonomist marxism post left anarchy situationist international and postcolonialism left wing market anarchism strongly affirm the classical liberal ideas of self ownership and free markets while maintaining that taken to their logical conclusions these ideas support strongly anti corporatist anti hierarchical pro labor positions and anti capitalism in economics and anti imperialism in foreign policy anarcho capitalism advocates the elimination of the state in favour of individual sovereignty in free market anarcho capitalism developed from radical anti state libertarianism and individualist anarchism drawing from austrian school economics study of law and economics and public choice theory there is strong current within anarchism which does not consider that anarcho capitalism can be considered part of the anarchist movement due to the fact that anarchism has historically been an anti capitalist movement and for definitional reasons which see anarchism incompatible with capitalist forms internal issues and debates consistent with anarchist values is controversial subject among anarchists anarchism is philosophy that embodies many diverse attitudes tendencies and schools of thought as such disagreement over questions of values ideology and tactics is common the compatibility of capitalism nationalism and religion with anarchism is widely disputed similarly anarchism enjoys complex relationships with ideologies such as marxism communism and capitalism anarchists may be motivated by humanism divine authority enlightened self interest veganism or any number of alternative ethical doctrines phenomena such as civilization technology within anarcho primitivism and the democratic process may be sharply criticised within some anarchist tendencies and simultaneously lauded in others on tactical level while propaganda of the deed was tactic used by anarchists in the th century the nihilist movement some contemporary anarchists espouse alternative direct action methods such as nonviolence counter economics and anti state cryptography to bring about an anarchist society about the scope of an anarchist society some anarchists advocate global one while others do so by local ones the diversity in anarchism has led to widely different use of identical terms among different anarchist traditions which has led to many definitional concerns in anarchist theory topics of interest intersecting and overlapping between various schools of thought certain topics of interest and internal disputes have proven perennial within anarchist theory free love french individualist anarchist emile armand who propounded the virtues of free love in the parisian anarchist milieu of the early th century an important current within anarchism is free love free love advocates sometimes traced their roots back to josiah warren and to experimental communities viewed sexual freedom as clear direct expression of an individual sovereignty free love particularly stressed women rights since most sexual laws discriminated against women for example marriage laws and anti birth control measures the most important american free love journal was lucifer the lightbearer edited by moses harman and lois waisbrooker but also there existed ezra heywood and angela heywood the word free society as the firebrand as free society was major anarchist newspaper in the united states at the end of the th and beginning of the th centuries the publication advocated free love and women rights and critiqued comstockery censorship of sexual information also lazarus was an important american individualist anarchist who promoted free love in new york city greenwich village bohemian feminists and socialists advocated self realisation and pleasure for women and also men in the here and now they encouraged playing with sexual roles and sexuality and the openly bisexual radical edna st vincent millay and the lesbian anarchist margaret anderson were prominent among them discussion groups organised by the villagers were frequented by emma goldman among others magnus hirschfeld noted in that goldman has campaigned boldly and steadfastly for individual rights and especially for those deprived of their rights thus it came about that she was the first and only woman indeed the first and only american to take up the defense of homosexual love before the general public in fact before goldman heterosexual anarchist robert reitzel spoke positively of homosexuality from the beginning of the in his detroit based german language journal der arme teufel english the poor devil in argentina anarcha feminist virginia bolten published the newspaper called english the woman voice which was published nine times in rosario between january and january and was revived briefly in in europe the main propagandist of free love within individualist anarchism was emile armand he proposed the concept of la camaraderie amoureuse to speak of free love as the possibility of voluntary sexual encounter between consenting adults he was also consistent proponent of polyamory in germany the stirnerists adolf brand and john henry mackay were pioneering campaigners for the acceptance of male bisexuality and homosexuality mujeres libres was an anarchist women organisation in spain that aimed to empower working class women it was founded in by lucía sánchez saornil mercedes comaposada and amparo poch gascón and had approximately members the organisation was based on the idea of double struggle for women liberation and social revolution and argued that the two objectives were equally important and should be pursued in parallel in order to gain mutual support they created networks of women anarchists lucía sánchez saornil was main founder of the spanish anarcha feminist federation mujeres libres who was open about her lesbianism she was published in variety of literary journals where working under male pen name she was able to explore lesbian themes at time when homosexuality was criminalized and subject to censorship and punishment more recently the british anarcho pacifist alex comfort gained notoriety during the sexual revolution for writing the bestseller sex manual the joy of sex the issue of free love has dedicated treatment in the work of french anarcho hedonist philosopher michel onfray in such works as théorie du corps amoureux pour une érotique solaire and invention du plaisir fragments cyréaniques libertarian education and freethought francesc ferrer guàrdia catalan anarchist pedagogue and free thinker for english anarchist william godwin education was the main means by which change would be achieved godwin saw that the main goal of education should be the promotion of happiness for godwin education had to have respect for the child autonomy which precluded any form of coercion pedagogy that respected this and sought to build on the child own motivation and initiatives and concern about the child capacity to resist an ideology transmitted through the school in his political justice he criticises state sponsored schooling on account of its obvious alliance with national government early american anarchist josiah warren advanced alternative education experiences in the libertarian communities he established max stirner wrote in long essay on education called the false principle of our education in it stirner names his educational principle personalist explaining that self understanding consists in hourly self creation education for him is to create free men sovereign characters by which he means eternal characters who are therefore eternal because they form themselves each moment in the united states freethought was basically anti christian anti clerical movement whose purpose was to make the individual politically and spiritually free to decide for himself on religious matters number of contributors to liberty anarchist publication were prominent figures in both freethought and anarchism the individualist anarchist george macdonald was co editor of freethought and for time the truth seeker walker was co editor of the excellent free thought free love journal lucifer the light bearer many of the anarchists were ardent freethinkers reprints from freethought papers such as lucifer the light bearer freethought and the truth seeker appeared in liberty the church was viewed as common ally of the state and as repressive force in and of itself in catalan anarchist and free thinker francesc ferrer guàrdia established modern or progressive schools in barcelona in defiance of an educational system controlled by the catholic church the schools stated goal was to educate the working class in rational secular and non coercive setting fiercely anti clerical ferrer believed in freedom in education education free from the authority of church and state murray bookchin wrote this period was the heyday of libertarian schools and pedagogical projects in all areas of the country where anarchists exercised some degree of influence perhaps the best known effort in this field was francisco ferrer modern school escuela moderna project which exercised considerable influence on catalan education and on experimental techniques of teaching generally la escuela moderna and ferrer ideas generally formed the inspiration for series of modern schools in the united states cuba south america and london the first of these was started in new york city in it also inspired the italian newspaper università popolare founded in russian christian anarchist leo tolstoy established school for peasant children on his estate tolstoy educational experiments were short lived due to harassment by the tsarist secret police tolstoy established conceptual difference between education and culture he thought that education is the tendency of one man to make another just like himself education is culture under restraint culture is free education is when the teaching is forced upon the pupil and when then instruction is exclusive that is when only those subjects are taught which the educator regards as necessary for him without compulsion education was transformed into culture more recent libertarian tradition on education is that of unschooling and the free school in which child led activity replaces pedagogic approaches experiments in germany led to neill founding what became summerhill school in summerhill is often cited as an example of anarchism in practice however although summerhill and other free schools are radically libertarian they differ in principle from those of ferrer by not advocating an overtly political class struggle approach in addition to organising schools according to libertarian principles anarchists have also questioned the concept of schooling per se the term deschooling was popularised by ivan illich who argued that the school as an institution is dysfunctional for self determined learning and serves the creation of consumer society instead criticisms criticisms of anarchism include moral criticisms and pragmatic criticisms anarchism is often evaluated as unfeasible or utopian by its critics european history professor carl landauer in his book european socialism argued that social anarchism is unrealistic and that government is lesser evil than society without repressive force he also argued that ill intentions will cease if repressive force disappears is an absurdity see also anarchism by country references further reading barclay harold people without government an anthropology of anarchy nd ed left bank books isbn blumenfeld jacob bottici chiara critchley simon eds the anarchist turn pluto press march isbn carter april the political theory of anarchism harper row isbn gordon uri anarchy alive london pluto press graeber david fragments of an anarchist anthropology chicago prickly paradigm press graham robert ed anarchism documentary history of libertarian ideas volume one from anarchy to anarchism ce to black rose books montréal and london isbn volume two the anarchist current black rose books montréal isbn guerin daniel anarchism from theory to practice monthly review press isbn harper clifford anarchy graphic guide camden press an overview updating woodcock classic and illustrated throughout by harper woodcut style artwork mckay iain ed an anarchist faq volume ak press oakland edinburgh pages isbn volume ii ak press oakland edinburgh pages isbn mclaughlin paul anarchism and authority philosophical introduction to classical anarchism ashgate isbn marshall peter demanding the impossible history of anarchism pm press isbn nettlau max anarchy through the times gordon press isbn razsa maple bastards of utopia living radical politics after socialism bloomington indiana university press scott james two cheers for anarchism six easy pieces on autonomy dignity and meaningful work and play princeton nj princeton university press isbn woodcock george anarchism history of libertarian ideas and movements penguin books isbn woodcock george ed the anarchist reader fontana collins isbn an anthology of writings from anarchist thinkers and activists including proudhon kropotkin bakunin malatesta bookchin goldman and many others david van deusen the rise and fall of the green mountain anarchist collective external links an anarchist faq webpage an anarchist faq anarchism bibliography anarchist theory faq by bryan caplan anarchy archives information relating to famous anarchists including their writings see anarchy archives daily bleed anarchist encyclopedia entries with short biographies links and dedicated pages net website of the kate sharpley library containing many historical documents pertaining to anarchism infoshop org an online collection of news and information about anarchism the anarchist library large online library with texts from anarchist authors they lie we die anarchist virtual library containing books booklets and texts
autism is disorder characterized by impaired social interaction verbal and non verbal communication and restricted and repetitive behavior parents usually notice signs in the first two years of their child life these signs often develop gradually though some children with autism reach their developmental milestones at normal pace and then regress the diagnostic criteria require that symptoms become apparent in early childhood typically before age three while autism is highly heritable researchers suspect both environmental and genetic factors as causes in rare cases autism is strongly associated with agents that cause birth defects controversies surround other proposed environmental causes for example the vaccine hypotheses have been disproven autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize how this occurs is not well understood in the dsm it is one of three recognized disorders in the autism spectrum asds the other two being asperger syndrome which lacks delays in cognitive development and language and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified commonly abbreviated as pdd nos which is diagnosed when the full set of criteria for autism or asperger syndrome are not met early speech or behavioral interventions can help children with autism gain self care social and communication skills although there is no known cure there have been reported cases of children who recovered not many children with autism live independently after reaching adulthood though some become successful an autistic culture has developed with some individuals seeking cure and others believing autism should be accepted as difference and not treated as disorder globally autism is estimated to affect million people as of as of the number of people affected is estimated at about per worldwide it occurs four to five times more often in boys than girls about of children in the united states one in are diagnosed with asd increase from one in in the rate of autism among adults aged years and over in the united kingdom is the number of people diagnosed has been increasing dramatically since the partly due to changes in diagnostic practice and government subsidized financial incentives for named diagnoses the question of whether actual rates have increased is unresolved characteristics autism spectrum disorder video autism is highly variable disorder that first appears during infancy or childhood and generally follows steady course without remission people with autism may be severely impaired in some respects but normal or even superior in others overt symptoms gradually begin after the age of six months become established by age two or three years and tend to continue through adulthood although often in more muted form it is distinguished not by single symptom but by characteristic triad of symptoms impairments in social interaction impairments in communication and restricted interests and repetitive behavior other aspects such as atypical eating are also common but are not essential for diagnosis autism individual symptoms occur in the general population and appear not to associate highly without sharp line separating pathologically severe from common traits social development social deficits distinguish autism and the related autism spectrum disorders asd see classification from other developmental disorders people with autism have social impairments and often lack the intuition about others that many people take for granted noted autistic temple grandin described her inability to understand the social communication of neurotypicals or people with normal neural development as leaving her feeling like an anthropologist on mars unusual social development becomes apparent early in childhood autistic infants show less attention to social stimuli smile and look at others less often and respond less to their own name autistic toddlers differ more strikingly from social norms for example they have less eye contact and turn taking and do not have the ability to use simple movements to express themselves such as pointing at things three to five year old children with autism are less likely to exhibit social understanding approach others spontaneously imitate and respond to emotions communicate nonverbally and take turns with others however they do form attachments to their primary caregivers most children with autism display moderately less attachment security than neurotypical children although this difference disappears in children with higher mental development or less severe asd older children and adults with asd perform worse on tests of face and emotion recognition although this may be partly due to lower ability to define person own emotions children with high functioning autism suffer from more intense and frequent loneliness compared to non autistic peers despite the common belief that children with autism prefer to be alone making and maintaining friendships often proves to be difficult for those with autism for them the quality of friendships not the number of friends predicts how lonely they feel functional friendships such as those resulting in invitations to parties may affect the quality of life more deeply there are many anecdotal reports but few systematic studies of aggression and violence in individuals with asd the limited data suggest that in children with intellectual disability autism is associated with aggression destruction of property and tantrums communication about third to half of individuals with autism do not develop enough natural speech to meet their daily communication needs differences in communication may be present from the first year of life and may include delayed onset of babbling unusual gestures diminished responsiveness and vocal patterns that are not synchronized with the caregiver in the second and third years children with autism have less frequent and less diverse babbling consonants words and word combinations their gestures are less often integrated with words children with autism are less likely to make requests or share experiences and are more likely to simply repeat others words echolalia or reverse pronouns joint attention seems to be necessary for functional speech and deficits in joint attention seem to distinguish infants with asd for example they may look at pointing hand instead of the pointed at object and they consistently fail to point at objects in order to comment on or share an experience children with autism may have difficulty with imaginative play and with developing symbols into language in pair of studies high functioning children with autism aged performed equally well as and adults better than individually matched controls at basic language tasks involving vocabulary and spelling both autistic groups performed worse than controls at complex language tasks such as figurative language comprehension and inference as people are often sized up initially from their basic language skills these studies suggest that people speaking to autistic individuals are more likely to overestimate what their audience comprehends repetitive behavior autistic individuals display many forms of repetitive or restricted behavior which the repetitive behavior scale revised rbs categorizes as follows young boy with autism who has arranged his toys in row stereotyped behaviors repetitive movements such as hand flapping head rolling or body rocking compulsive behaviors time consuming behaviors intended to reduce anxiety that an individual feels compelled to perform repeatedly or according to rigid rules such as placing objects in specific order checking things or hand washing sameness is resistance to change for example insisting that the furniture not be moved or refusing to be interrupted ritualistic behavior involves an unvarying pattern of daily activities such as an unchanging menu or dressing ritual this is closely associated with sameness and an independent validation has suggested combining the two factors restricted behavior is limited in focus interest or activity such as preoccupation with single television program toy or game self injury includes movements that injure or can injure the person such as eye poking skin picking hand biting and head banging no single repetitive or self injurious behavior seems to be specific to autism but autism appears to have an elevated pattern of occurrence and severity of these behaviors other symptoms autistic individuals may have symptoms that are independent of the diagnosis but that can affect the individual or the family an estimated to of individuals with asd show unusual abilities ranging from splinter skills such as the memorization of trivia to the extraordinarily rare talents of prodigious autistic savants many individuals with asd show superior skills in perception and attention relative to the general population sensory abnormalities are found in over of those with autism and are considered core features by some although there is no good evidence that sensory symptoms differentiate autism from other developmental disorders differences are greater for under responsivity for example walking into things than for over responsivity for example distress from loud noises or for sensation seeking for example rhythmic movements an estimated of autistic people have motor signs that include poor muscle tone poor motor planning and toe walking deficits in motor coordination are pervasive across asd and are greater in autism proper unusual eating behavior occurs in about three quarters of children with asd to the extent that it was formerly diagnostic indicator selectivity is the most common problem although eating rituals and food refusal also occur this does not appear to result in malnutrition although some children with autism also have symptoms there is lack of published rigorous data to support the theory that children with autism have more or different symptoms than usual studies report conflicting results and the relationship between problems and asd is unclear parents of children with asd have higher levels of stress siblings of children with asd report greater admiration of and less conflict with the affected sibling than siblings of unaffected children and were similar to siblings of children with down syndrome in these aspects of the sibling relationship however they reported lower levels of closeness and intimacy than siblings of children with down syndrome siblings of individuals with asd have greater risk of negative well being and poorer sibling relationships as adults causes it has long been presumed that there is common cause at the genetic cognitive and neural levels for autism characteristic triad of symptoms however there is increasing suspicion that autism is instead complex disorder whose core aspects have distinct causes that often co occur deletion duplication and inversion are all chromosome abnormalities that have been implicated in autism autism has strong genetic basis although the genetics of autism are complex and it is unclear whether asd is explained more by rare mutations with major effects or by rare multigene interactions of common genetic variants complexity arises due to interactions among multiple genes the environment and epigenetic factors which do not change dna sequencing but are heritable and influence gene expression many genes have been associated with autism through sequencing the genomes of affected individuals and their parents studies of twins suggest that heritability is for autism and as high as for asd and siblings of those with autism are about times more likely to be autistic than the general population however most of the mutations that increase autism risk have not been identified typically autism cannot be traced to mendelian single gene mutation or to single chromosome abnormality and none of the genetic syndromes associated with asds have been shown to selectively cause asd numerous candidate genes have been located with only small effects attributable to any particular gene most loci individually explain less than of cases of autism the large number of autistic individuals with unaffected family members may result from spontaneous structural variation such as deletions duplications or inversions in genetic material during meiosis hence substantial fraction of autism cases may be traceable to genetic causes that are highly heritable but not inherited that is the mutation that causes the autism is not present in the parental genome several lines of evidence point to synaptic dysfunction as cause of autism some rare mutations may lead to autism by disrupting some synaptic pathways such as those involved with cell adhesion gene replacement studies in mice suggest that autistic symptoms are closely related to later developmental steps that depend on activity in synapses and on activity dependent changes all known teratogens agents that cause birth defects related to the risk of autism appear to act during the first eight weeks from conception and though this does not exclude the possibility that autism can be initiated or affected later there is strong evidence that autism arises very early in development exposure to air pollution during pregnancy especially heavy metals and particulates may increase the risk of autism environmental factors that have been claimed to contribute to or exacerbate autism include certain foods infectious diseases solvents diesel exhaust pcbs phthalates and phenols used in plastic products pesticides brominated flame retardants alcohol smoking illicit drugs vaccines and prenatal stress but no evidence has been found for these claims and some such as the mmr vaccine have been completely disproven parents may first become aware of autistic symptoms in their child around the time of routine vaccination this has led to unsupported theories blaming vaccine overload vaccine preservative or the mmr vaccine for causing autism the latter theory was supported by litigation funded study that has since been shown to have been an elaborate fraud although these theories lack convincing scientific evidence and are biologically implausible parental concern about potential vaccine link with autism has led to lower rates of childhood immunizations outbreaks of previously controlled childhood diseases in some countries and the preventable deaths of several children mechanism autism symptoms result from maturation related changes in various systems of the brain how autism occurs is not well understood its mechanism can be divided into two areas the pathophysiology of brain structures and processes associated with autism and the linkages between brain structures and behaviors the behaviors appear to have multiple pathophysiology autism affects the amygdala cerebellum and many other parts of the brain unlike many other brain disorders such as parkinson autism does not have clear unifying mechanism at either the molecular cellular or systems level it is not known whether autism is few disorders caused by mutations converging on few common molecular pathways or is like intellectual disability large set of disorders with diverse mechanisms autism appears to result from developmental factors that affect many or all functional brain systems and to disturb the timing of brain development more than the final product neuroanatomical studies and the associations with teratogens strongly suggest that autism mechanism includes alteration of brain development soon after conception this anomaly appears to start cascade of pathological events in the brain that are significantly influenced by environmental factors just after birth the brains of children with autism tend to grow faster than usual followed by normal or relatively slower growth in childhood it is not known whether early overgrowth occurs in all children with autism it seems to be most prominent in brain areas underlying the development of higher cognitive specialization hypotheses for the cellular and molecular bases of pathological early overgrowth include the following an excess of neurons that causes local in key brain regions disturbed neuronal migration during early gestation unbalanced excitatory inhibitory networks abnormal formation of synapses and dendritic spines for example by modulation of the neurexin neuroligin cell adhesion system or by poorly regulated synthesis of synaptic proteins disrupted synaptic development may also contribute to epilepsy which may explain why the two conditions are associated the immune system is thought to play an important role in autism children with autism have been found by researchers to have inflammation of both the peripheral and central immune systems as indicated by increased levels of pro inflammatory cytokines and significant activation of microglia biomarkers of abnormal immune function have also been associated with increased impairments in behaviors that are characteristic of the core features of autism such as deficits in social interactions and communication interactions between the immune system and the nervous system begin early during the embryonic stage of life and successful depends on balanced immune response it is thought that activation of pregnant mother immune system such as from environmental toxicants or infection can contribute to causing autism through causing disruption of brain development this is supported by recent studies that have found that infection during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of autism the relationship of neurochemicals to autism is not well understood several have been investigated with the most evidence for the role of serotonin and of genetic differences in its transport the role of group metabotropic glutamate receptors mglur in the pathogenesis of fragile syndrome the most common identified genetic cause of autism has led to interest in the possible implications for future autism research into this pathway some data suggests neuronal overgrowth potentially related to an increase in several growth hormones or to impaired regulation of growth factor receptors also some inborn errors of metabolism are associated with autism but probably account for less than of cases the mirror neuron system mns theory of autism hypothesizes that distortion in the development of the mns interferes with imitation and leads to autism core features of social impairment and communication difficulties the mns operates when an animal performs an action or observes another animal perform the same action the mns may contribute to an individual understanding of other people by enabling the modeling of their behavior via embodied simulation of their actions intentions and emotions several studies have tested this hypothesis by demonstrating structural abnormalities in mns regions of individuals with asd delay in the activation in the core circuit for imitation in individuals with asperger syndrome and correlation between reduced mns activity and severity of the syndrome in children with asd however individuals with autism also have abnormal brain activation in many circuits outside the mns and the mns theory does not explain the normal performance of children with autism on imitation tasks that involve goal or object autistic individuals tend to use different areas of the brain yellow for movement task compared to control group blue asd related patterns of low function and aberrant activation in the brain differ depending on whether the brain is doing social or nonsocial tasks in autism there is evidence for reduced functional connectivity of the default network large scale brain network involved in social and emotional processing with intact connectivity of the task positive network used in sustained attention and goal directed thinking in people with autism the two networks are not negatively correlated in time suggesting an imbalance in toggling between the two networks possibly reflecting disturbance of self referential thought the theory of autism hypothesizes that autism is marked by high level neural connections and synchronization along with an excess of low level processes evidence for this theory has been found in functional neuroimaging studies on autistic individuals and by brainwave study that suggested that adults with asd have local in the cortex and weak functional connections between the frontal lobe and the rest of the cortex other evidence suggests the is mainly within each hemisphere of the cortex and that autism is disorder of the association cortex from studies based on event related potentials transient changes to the brain electrical activity in response to stimuli there is considerable evidence for differences in autistic individuals with respect to attention orientation to auditory and visual stimuli novelty detection language and face processing and information storage several studies have found preference for nonsocial stimuli for example studies have found evidence in children with autism of delayed responses in the brain processing of auditory signals in the genetic area relations have been found between autism and schizophrenia based on duplications and deletions of chromosomes research showed that schizophrenia and autism are significantly more common in combination with deletion syndrome research on autism schizophrenia relations for chromosome chromosome and chromosome are inconclusive functional connectivity studies have found both hypo and hyper connectivity in brains of people with autism hypo connectivity seems to dominate especially for and cortico cortical functional connectivity neuropsychology two major categories of cognitive theories have been proposed about the links between autistic brains and behavior the first category focuses on deficits in social cognition simon baron cohen empathizing systemizing theory postulates that autistic individuals can systemize that is they can develop internal rules of operation to handle events inside the brain but are less effective at empathizing by handling events generated by other agents an extension the extreme male brain theory hypothesizes that autism is an extreme case of the male brain defined as individuals in whom systemizing is better than empathizing these theories are somewhat related to baron cohen earlier theory of mind approach which hypothesizes that autistic behavior arises from an inability to ascribe mental states to oneself and others the theory of mind hypothesis is supported by the atypical responses of children with autism to the sally anne test for reasoning about others motivations and the mirror neuron system theory of autism described in pathophysiology maps well to the hypothesis however most studies have found no evidence of impairment in autistic individuals ability to understand other people basic intentions or goals instead data suggests that impairments are found in understanding more complex social emotions or in considering others viewpoints the second category focuses on nonsocial or general processing the executive functions such as working memory planning inhibition in his review kenworthy states that the claim of executive dysfunction as causal factor in autism is controversial however it is clear that executive dysfunction plays role in the social and cognitive deficits observed in individuals with autism tests of core executive processes such as eye movement tasks indicate improvement from late childhood to adolescence but performance never reaches typical adult levels strength of the theory is predicting stereotyped behavior and narrow interests two weaknesses are that executive function is hard to measure and that executive function deficits have not been found in young children with autism weak central coherence theory hypothesizes that limited ability to see the big picture underlies the central disturbance in autism one strength of this theory is predicting special talents and peaks in performance in autistic people related theory enhanced perceptual functioning focuses more on the superiority of locally oriented and perceptual operations in autistic individuals these theories map well from the theory of autism neither category is satisfactory on its own social cognition theories poorly address autism rigid and repetitive behaviors while the nonsocial theories have difficulty explaining social impairment and communication difficulties combined theory based on multiple deficits may prove to be more useful diagnosis diagnosis is based on behavior not cause or mechanism under the dsm autism is characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and interaction across multiple contexts as well as restricted repetitive patterns of behavior interests or activities these deficits are present in early childhood typically before age three and lead to clinically significant functional impairment sample symptoms include lack of social or emotional reciprocity stereotyped and repetitive use of language or idiosyncratic language and persistent preoccupation with unusual objects the disturbance must not be better accounted for by rett syndrome intellectual disability or global developmental delay icd uses essentially the same definition several diagnostic instruments are available two are commonly used in autism research the autism diagnostic interview revised adi is semistructured parent interview and the autism diagnostic observation schedule ados uses observation and interaction with the child the childhood autism rating scale cars is used widely in clinical environments to assess severity of autism based on observation of children pediatrician commonly performs preliminary investigation by taking developmental history and physically examining the child if warranted diagnosis and evaluations are conducted with help from asd specialists observing and assessing cognitive communication family and other factors using standardized tools and taking into account any associated medical conditions pediatric is often asked to assess behavior and cognitive skills both to aid diagnosis and to help recommend educational interventions differential diagnosis for asd at this stage might also consider intellectual disability hearing impairment and specific language impairment such as landau kleffner syndrome the presence of autism can make it harder to diagnose coexisting psychiatric disorders such as depression clinical genetics evaluations are often done once asd is diagnosed particularly when other symptoms already suggest genetic cause although genetic technology allows clinical geneticists to link an estimated of cases to genetic causes consensus guidelines in the us and uk are limited to high resolution chromosome and fragile testing genotype first model of diagnosis has been proposed which would routinely assess the genome copy number variations as new genetic tests are developed several ethical legal and social issues will emerge commercial availability of tests may precede adequate understanding of how to use test results given the complexity of autism genetics metabolic and neuroimaging tests are sometimes helpful but are not routine asd can sometimes be diagnosed by age months although diagnosis becomes increasingly stable over the first three years of life for example one year old who meets diagnostic criteria for asd is less likely than three year old to continue to do so few years later in the uk the national autism plan for children recommends at most weeks from first concern to completed diagnosis and assessment though few cases are handled that quickly in practice although the symptoms of autism and asd begin early in childhood they are sometimes missed years later adults may seek diagnoses to help them or their friends and family understand themselves to help their employers make adjustments or in some locations to claim disability living allowances or other benefits underdiagnosis and overdiagnosis are problems in marginal cases and much of the recent increase in the number of reported asd cases is likely due to changes in diagnostic practices the increasing popularity of drug treatment options and the expansion of benefits has given providers incentives to diagnose asd resulting in some overdiagnosis of children with uncertain symptoms conversely the cost of screening and diagnosis and the challenge of obtaining payment can inhibit or delay diagnosis it is particularly hard to diagnose autism among the visually impaired partly because some of its diagnostic criteria depend on vision and partly because autistic symptoms overlap with those of common blindness syndromes or blindisms classification autism is one of the five pervasive developmental disorders pdd which are characterized by widespread abnormalities of social interactions and communication and severely restricted interests and highly repetitive behavior these symptoms do not imply sickness fragility or emotional disturbance of the five pdd forms asperger syndrome is closest to autism in signs and likely causes rett syndrome and childhood disintegrative disorder share several signs with autism but may have unrelated causes pdd not otherwise specified pdd nos also called atypical autism is diagnosed when the criteria are not met for more specific disorder unlike with autism people with asperger syndrome have no substantial delay in language development the terminology of autism can be bewildering with autism asperger syndrome and pdd nos often called the autism spectrum disorders asd or sometimes the autistic disorders whereas autism itself is often called autistic disorder childhood autism or infantile autism in this article autism refers to the classic autistic disorder in clinical practice though autism asd and pdd are often used interchangeably asd in turn is subset of the broader autism phenotype which describes individuals who may not have asd but do have autistic like traits such as avoiding eye contact the manifestations of autism cover wide spectrum ranging from individuals with severe impairments who may be silent developmentally disabled and locked into hand flapping and rocking to high functioning individuals who may have active but distinctly odd social approaches narrowly focused interests and verbose pedantic communication because the behavior spectrum is continuous boundaries between diagnostic categories are necessarily somewhat arbitrary sometimes the syndrome is divided into low medium or high functioning autism lfa mfa and hfa based on iq thresholds or on how much support the individual requires in daily life these subdivisions are not standardized and are controversial autism can also be divided into syndromal and non syndromal autism the syndromal autism is associated with severe or profound intellectual disability or congenital syndrome with physical symptoms such as tuberous sclerosis although individuals with asperger syndrome tend to perform better cognitively than those with autism the extent of the overlap between asperger syndrome hfa and non syndromal autism is unclear some studies have reported diagnoses of autism in children due to loss of language or social skills as opposed to failure to make progress typically from to months of age the validity of this distinction remains controversial it is possible that regressive autism is specific subtype or that there is continuum of behaviors between autism with and without regression research into causes has been hampered by the inability to identify biologically meaningful subgroups within the autistic population and by the traditional boundaries between the disciplines of psychiatry psychology neurology and pediatrics newer technologies such as fmri and diffusion tensor imaging can help identify biologically relevant phenotypes observable traits that can be viewed on brain scans to help further neurogenetic studies of autism one example is lowered activity in the fusiform face area of the brain which is associated with impaired perception of people versus objects it has been proposed to classify autism using genetics as well as behavior screening about half of parents of children with asd notice their child unusual behaviors by age months and about four fifths notice by age months according to an article failure to meet any of the following milestones is an absolute indication to proceed with further evaluations delay in referral for such testing may delay early diagnosis and treatment and affect the long term outcome no babbling by months no gesturing pointing waving etc by months no single words by months no two word spontaneous not just echolalic phrases by months any loss of any language or social skills at any age the united states preventative services task force in found it was unclear if screening was beneficial or harmful among children in whom there is no concerns the japanese practice is to screen all children for asd at and months using autism specific formal screening tests in contrast in the uk children whose families or doctors recognize possible signs of autism are screened it is not known which approach is more effective screening tools include the modified checklist for autism in toddlers chat the early screening of autistic traits questionnaire and the first year inventory initial data on chat and its predecessor the checklist for autism in toddlers chat on children aged months suggests that it is best used in clinical setting and that it has low sensitivity many false negatives but good specificity few false positives it may be more accurate to precede these tests with broadband screener that does not distinguish asd from other developmental disorders screening tools designed for one culture norms for behaviors like eye contact may be inappropriate for different culture although genetic screening for autism is generally still impractical it can be considered in some cases such as children with neurological symptoms and dysmorphic features prevention infection with rubella during pregnancy causes fewer than of cases of autism vaccination against rubella can prevent many of those cases management three year old with autism points to fish in an aquarium as part of an experiment on the effect of intensive shared attention training on language development the main goals when treating children with autism are to lessen associated deficits and family distress and to increase quality of life and functional independence in general higher iqs are correlated with greater responsiveness to treatment and improved treatment outcomes no single treatment is best and treatment is typically tailored to the child needs families and the educational system are the main resources for treatment studies of interventions have methodological problems that prevent definitive conclusions about efficacy however the development of evidence based interventions has advanced in recent years although many psychosocial interventions have some positive evidence suggesting that some form of treatment is preferable to no treatment the methodological quality of systematic reviews of these studies has generally been poor their clinical results are mostly tentative and there is little evidence for the relative effectiveness of treatment options intensive sustained special education programs and behavior therapy early in life can help children acquire self care social and job skills and often improve functioning and decrease symptom severity and maladaptive behaviors claims that intervention by around age three years is crucial are not substantiated available approaches include applied behavior analysis aba developmental models structured teaching speech and language therapy social skills therapy and occupational therapy among these approaches interventions either treat autistic features comprehensively or focalize treatment on specific area of deficit there is some evidence that early intensive behavioral intervention eibi an early intervention model based on aba for to hours week for multiple years is an effective treatment for some children with asd two theoretical frameworks outlined for early childhood intervention include applied behavioral analysis aba and developmental social pragmatic models dsp one interventional strategy utilizes parent training model which teaches parents how to implement various aba and dsp techniques allowing for parents to disseminate interventions themselves various dsp programs have been developed to explicitly deliver intervention systems through at home parent implementation despite the recent development of parent training models these interventions have demonstrated effectiveness in numerous studies being evaluated as probable efficacious mode of treatment education educational interventions can be effective to varying degrees in most children intensive aba treatment has demonstrated effectiveness in enhancing global functioning in preschool children and is well established for improving intellectual performance of young children similarly teacher implemented intervention that utilizes an aba combined with developmental social pragmatic approach has been found to be well established treatment in improving social communication skills in young children although there is less evidence in its treatment of global symptoms reports are often poorly communicated to educators resulting in gap between what report recommends and what education is provided it is not known whether treatment programs for children lead to significant improvements after the children grow up and the limited research on the effectiveness of adult residential programs shows mixed results the appropriateness of including children with varying severity of autism spectrum disorders in the general education population is subject of current debate among educators and researchers medication many medications are used to treat asd symptoms that interfere with integrating child into home or school when behavioral treatment fails more than half of us children diagnosed with asd are prescribed psychoactive drugs or anticonvulsants with the most common drug classes being antidepressants stimulants and antipsychotics antipsychotics such as risperidone and aripiprazole have been found to be useful for treating irritability repetitive behavior and sleeplessness that often occurs with autism however their side effects must be weighed against their potential benefits and people with autism may respond atypically there is scant reliable research about the effectiveness or safety of drug treatments for adolescents and adults with asd no known medication relieves autism core symptoms of social and communication impairments experiments in mice have reversed or reduced some symptoms related to autism by replacing or modulating gene function suggesting the possibility of targeting therapies to specific rare mutations known to cause autism alternative medicine although many alternative therapies and interventions are available few are supported by scientific studies treatment approaches have little empirical support in quality of life contexts and many programs focus on success measures that lack predictive validity and real world relevance scientific evidence appears to matter less to service providers than program marketing training availability and parent requests some alternative treatments may place the child at risk study found that compared to their peers autistic boys have significantly thinner bones if on casein free diets in botched chelation therapy killed five year old child with autism there has been early research looking at hyperbaric treatments in children with autism although popularly used as an alternative treatment for people with autism there is no good evidence that gluten free diet is of benefit in the subset of people who have gluten sensitivity there is limited evidence that suggests that gluten free diet may improve some autistic behaviors cost treatment is expensive indirect costs are more so for someone born in us study estimated an average lifetime cost of net present value in dollars inflation adjusted from estimate with about medical care extra education and other care and lost economic productivity publicly supported programs are often inadequate or inappropriate for given child and unreimbursed out of pocket medical or therapy expenses are associated with likelihood of family financial problems one us study found average loss of annual income in families of children with asd and related study found that asd is associated with higher probability that child care problems will greatly affect parental employment us states increasingly require private health insurance to cover autism services shifting costs from publicly funded education programs to privately funded health insurance after childhood key treatment issues include residential care job training and placement sexuality social skills and estate planning society and culture the rainbow colored infinity is often used as symbol for the diversity of the autism spectrum as well as neurodiversity in general the emergence of the autism rights movement has served as an attempt to encourage people to be more tolerant of those with autism through this movement people hope to cause others to think of autism as difference instead of disease proponents of this movement wish to seek acceptance not cures there have also been many worldwide events promoting autism awareness such as world autism awareness day light it up blue autism sunday autistic pride day autreat and others there have also been many organizations dedicated to increasing the awareness of autism and the effects that autism has on someone life these organizations include autism speaks autism national committee autism society of america and many others social science scholars have had an increased focused on studying those with autism in hopes to learn more about autism as culture transcultural comparisons and research on social movements media has had an influence on how the public perceives those with autism rain man film that won oscars including best picture depicts character with autism who has incredible talents and abilities while many autistics don have these special abilities there are some autistic individuals who have been successful in their fields prognosis there is no known cure children recover occasionally so that they lose their diagnosis of asd this occurs sometimes after intensive treatment and sometimes not it is not known how often recovery happens reported rates in unselected samples of children with asd have ranged from to most children with autism acquire language by age five or younger though few have developed communication skills in later years most children with autism lack social support meaningful relationships future employment opportunities or self determination although core difficulties tend to persist symptoms often become less severe with age few high quality studies address long term prognosis some adults show modest improvement in communication skills but few decline no study has focused on autism after midlife acquiring language before age six having an iq above and having marketable skill all predict better outcomes independent living is unlikely with severe autism most people with autism face significant obstacles in transitioning to adulthood epidemiology reports of autism cases per children grew dramatically in the us from to it is unknown how much if any growth came from changes in rates of autism most recent reviews tend to estimate prevalence of per for autism and close to per for asd and per children in the united states for asd as of because of inadequate data these numbers may underestimate asd true rate globally autism affects an estimated million people as of while asperger syndrome affects further million in the nhs estimated that the overall prevalence of autism among adults aged years and over in the uk was rates of pdd nos has been estimated at per asperger syndrome at roughly per and childhood disintegrative disorder at per cdc most recent estimate is that out of every children or per has an asd as of the number of reported cases of autism increased dramatically in the and early this increase is largely attributable to changes in diagnostic practices referral patterns availability of services age at diagnosis and public awareness though unidentified environmental risk factors cannot be ruled out the available evidence does not rule out the possibility that autism true prevalence has increased real increase would suggest directing more attention and funding toward changing environmental factors instead of continuing to focus on genetics boys are at higher risk for asd than girls the sex ratio averages and is greatly modified by cognitive impairment it may be close to with intellectual disability and more than without several theories about the higher prevalence in males have been investigated but the cause of the difference is unconfirmed one theory is that females are underdiagnosed although the evidence does not implicate any single pregnancy related risk factor as cause of autism the risk of autism is associated with advanced age in either parent and with diabetes bleeding and use of psychiatric drugs in the mother during pregnancy the risk is greater with older fathers than with older mothers two potential explanations are the known increase in mutation burden in older sperm and the hypothesis that men marry later if they carry genetic liability and show some signs of autism most professionals believe that race ethnicity and socioeconomic background do not affect the occurrence of autism several other conditions are common in children with autism they include genetic disorders about of autism cases have an identifiable mendelian single gene condition chromosome abnormality or other genetic syndrome and asd is associated with several genetic disorders intellectual disability the percentage of autistic individuals who also meet criteria for intellectual disability has been reported as anywhere from to wide variation illustrating the difficulty of assessing autistic intelligence in comparison for pdd nos the association with intellectual disability is much weaker and by definition the diagnosis of asperger excludes intellectual disability anxiety disorders are common among children with asd there are no firm data but studies have reported prevalences ranging from to many anxiety disorders have symptoms that are better explained by asd itself or are hard to distinguish from asd symptoms epilepsy with variations in risk of epilepsy due to age cognitive level and type of language disorder several metabolic defects such as phenylketonuria are associated with autistic symptoms minor physical anomalies are significantly increased in the autistic population preempted diagnoses although the dsm iv rules out concurrent diagnosis of many other conditions along with autism the full criteria for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder adhd tourette syndrome and other of these conditions are often present and these comorbid diagnoses are increasingly accepted sleep problems affect about two thirds of individuals with asd at some point in childhood these most commonly include symptoms of insomnia such as difficulty in falling asleep frequent nocturnal awakenings and early morning awakenings sleep problems are associated with difficult behaviors and family stress and are often focus of clinical attention over and above the primary asd diagnosis history leo kanner introduced the label early infantile autism in few examples of autistic symptoms and treatments were described long before autism was named the table talk of martin luther compiled by his notetaker mathesius contains the story of year old boy who may have been severely autistic luther reportedly thought the boy was soulless mass of flesh possessed by the devil and suggested that he be suffocated although later critic has cast doubt on the veracity of this report the earliest well documented case of autism is that of hugh blair of borgue as detailed in court case in which his brother successfully petitioned to annul blair marriage to gain blair inheritance the wild boy of aveyron feral child caught in showed several signs of autism the medical student jean itard treated him with behavioral program designed to help him form social attachments and to induce speech via imitation the new latin word autismus english translation autism was coined by the swiss psychiatrist eugen bleuler in as he was defining symptoms of schizophrenia he derived it from the greek word autós αὐτός meaning self and used it to mean morbid self admiration referring to autistic withdrawal of the patient to his fantasies against which any influence from outside becomes an intolerable disturbance the word autism first took its modern sense in when hans asperger of the vienna university hospital adopted bleuler terminology autistic psychopaths in lecture in german about child psychology asperger was investigating an asd now known as asperger syndrome though for various reasons it was not widely recognized as separate diagnosis until leo kanner of the johns hopkins hospital first used autism in its modern sense in english when he introduced the label early infantile autism in report of children with striking behavioral similarities almost all the characteristics described in kanner first paper on the subject notably autistic aloneness and insistence on sameness are still regarded as typical of the autistic spectrum of disorders it is not known whether kanner derived the term independently of asperger kanner reuse of autism led to decades of confused terminology like infantile schizophrenia and child psychiatry focus on maternal deprivation led to misconceptions of autism as an infant response to refrigerator mothers starting in the late autism was established as separate syndrome by demonstrating that it is lifelong distinguishing it from intellectual disability and schizophrenia and from other developmental disorders and demonstrating the benefits of involving parents in active programs of therapy as late as the mid there was little evidence of genetic role in autism now it is thought to be one of the most heritable of all psychiatric conditions although the rise of parent organizations and the of childhood asd have deeply affected how we view asd parents continue to feel social stigma in situations where their child autistic behavior is perceived negatively by others and many primary care physicians and medical specialists still express some beliefs consistent with outdated autism research the internet has helped autistic individuals bypass nonverbal cues and emotional sharing that they find so hard to deal with and has given them way to form online communities and work remotely sociological and cultural aspects of autism have developed some in the community seek cure while others believe that autism is simply another way of being references further reading external links
percentage of diffusely reflected sunlight in relation to various surface conditions albedo is the whiteness of surface it is reflection coefficient and has value of less than one albedo is derived from latin albedo whiteness or reflected sunlight in turn from albus white is the diffuse reflectivity or reflecting power of surface the albedo of surface is the ratio of radiation reflected from the surface to the incident radiation its dimensionless nature lets it be expressed as percentage and is measured on scale from zero no reflection of perfectly black surface to for perfect reflection of white surface because albedo is the ratio of all reflected radiation to incident radiation it will include both the diffuse and specular radiation reflected from an object it is however common to assume surface reflects in either totally specular manner or totally diffuse manner as this can simplify calculations albedo depends on the frequency of the radiation when quoted unqualified it usually refers to some appropriate average across the spectrum of visible light in general the albedo depends on the directional distribution of incident radiation except for the extreme case of lambertian surfaces which scatter radiation in all directions according to cosine function and therefore have an albedo that is independent of the incident distribution in practice bidirectional reflectance distribution function brdf may be required to accurately characterize the scattering properties of surface but albedo is very useful as first approximation the albedo is an important concept in climatology astronomy and calculating reflectivity of surfaces in leadership in energy and environmental design leed sustainable rating systems for buildings the average overall albedo of earth its planetary albedo is to because of cloud cover but widely varies locally across the surface because of different geological and environmental features the term was introduced into optics by johann heinrich lambert in his work photometria terrestrial albedo sample albedos surface typicalalbedo fresh asphalt open ocean worn asphalt conifer forest summer to deciduous trees to bare soil green grass desert sand new concrete ocean ice fresh snow albedos of typical materials in visible light range from up to for fresh snow to about for charcoal one of the darkest substances deeply shadowed cavities can achieve an effective albedo approaching the zero of black body when seen from distance the ocean surface has low albedo as do most forests whereas desert areas have some of the highest albedos among landforms most land areas are in an albedo range of to the average albedo of earth is about this is far higher than for the ocean primarily because of the contribution of clouds mean annual clear sky and total sky albedo earth surface albedo is regularly estimated via earth observation satellite sensors such as nasa modis instruments on board the terra and aqua satellites as the total amount of reflected radiation cannot be directly measured by satellite mathematical model of the brdf is used to translate sample set of satellite reflectance measurements into estimates of directional hemispherical reflectance and bi hemispherical reflectance earth average surface temperature due to its albedo and the greenhouse effect is currently about if earth were frozen entirely and hence be more reflective the average temperature of the planet would drop below if only the continental land masses became covered by glaciers the mean temperature of the planet would drop to about in contrast if the entire earth is covered by water so called aquaplanet the average temperature on the planet would rise to just under white sky and black sky albedo it has been shown that for many applications involving terrestrial albedo the albedo at particular solar zenith angle can reasonably be approximated by the proportionate sum of two terms the directional hemispherical reflectance at that solar zenith angle and the bi hemispherical reflectance the proportion concerned being defined as the proportion of diffuse illumination albedo can then be given as directional hemispherical reflectance is sometimes referred to as black sky albedo and bi hemispherical reflectance as white sky albedo these terms are important because they allow the albedo to be calculated for any given illumination conditions from knowledge of the intrinsic properties of the surface astronomical albedo the albedos of planets satellites and asteroids can be used to infer much about their properties the study of albedos their dependence on wavelength lighting angle phase angle and variation in time comprises major part of the astronomical field of photometry for small and far objects that cannot be resolved by telescopes much of what we know comes from the study of their albedos for example the absolute albedo can indicate the surface ice content of outer solar system objects the variation of albedo with phase angle gives information about regolith properties whereas unusually high radar albedo is indicative of high metal content in asteroids enceladus moon of saturn has one of the highest known albedos of any body in the solar system with of em radiation reflected another notable high albedo body is eris with an albedo of many small objects in the outer solar system and asteroid belt have low albedos down to about typical comet nucleus has an albedo of such dark surface is thought to be indicative of primitive and heavily space weathered surface containing some organic compounds the overall albedo of the moon is measured to be around but it is strongly directional and non lambertian displaying also strong opposition effect although such reflectance properties are different from those of any terrestrial terrains they are typical of the regolith surfaces of airless solar system bodies two common albedos that are used in astronomy are the band geometric albedo measuring brightness when illumination comes from directly behind the observer and the bond albedo measuring total proportion of electromagnetic energy reflected their values can differ significantly which is common source of confusion in detailed studies the directional reflectance properties of astronomical bodies are often expressed in terms of the five hapke parameters which semi empirically describe the variation of albedo with phase angle including of the opposition effect of regolith surfaces the correlation between astronomical geometric albedo absolute magnitude and diameter is where is the astronomical albedo is the diameter in kilometers and is the absolute magnitude examples of terrestrial albedo effects illumination although the albedo temperature effect is best known in colder whiter regions on earth the maximum albedo is actually found in the tropics where year round illumination is greater the maximum is additionally in the northern hemisphere varying between three and twelve degrees north the minima are found in the subtropical regions of the northern and southern hemispheres beyond which albedo increases without respect to illumination insolation effects the intensity of albedo temperature effects depend on the amount of albedo and the level of local insolation solar irradiance high albedo areas in the arctic and antarctic regions are cold due to low insolation where areas such as the sahara desert which also have relatively high albedo will be hotter due to high insolation tropical and sub tropical rain forest areas have low albedo and are much hotter than their temperate forest counterparts which have lower insolation because insolation plays such big role in the heating and cooling effects of albedo high insolation areas like the tropics will tend to show more pronounced fluctuation in local temperature when local albedo changes climate and weather albedo affects climate and drives weather all weather is result of the uneven heating of earth caused by different areas of the planet having different albedos essentially for the driving of weather there are two types of albedo regions on earth land and ocean land and ocean regions produce the four basic different types of air masses depending on latitude and therefore insolation warm and dry which form over tropical and sub tropical land masses warm and wet which form over tropical and sub tropical oceans cold and dry which form over temperate polar and sub polar land masses and cold and wet which form over temperate polar and sub polar oceans different temperatures between the air masses result in different air pressures and the masses develop into pressure systems high pressure systems flow toward lower pressure driving weather from north to south in the northern hemisphere and south to north in the southern however due to earth rotation the coriolis effect further complicates flow and creates several weather climate bands and the jet streams albedo temperature feedback when an area albedo changes due to snowfall snow temperature feedback results layer of snowfall increases local albedo reflecting away sunlight leading to local cooling in principle if no outside temperature change affects this area warm air mass the raised albedo and lower temperature would maintain the current snow and invite further snowfall deepening the snow temperature feedback however because local weather is dynamic due to the change of seasons eventually warm air masses and more direct angle of sunlight higher insolation cause melting when the melted area reveals surfaces with lower albedo such as grass or soil the effect is reversed the darkening surface lowers albedo increasing local temperatures which induces more melting and thus reducing the albedo further resulting in still more heating snow snow albedo is highly variable ranging from as high as for freshly fallen snow to about for melting snow and as low as for dirty snow over antarctica they average little more than if marginally snow covered area warms snow tends to melt lowering the albedo and hence leading to more snowmelt because more radiation is being absorbed by the snowpack the ice albedo positive feedback cryoconite powdery windblown dust containing soot sometimes reduces albedo on glaciers and ice sheets hence small errors in albedo can lead to large errors in energy estimates which is why it is important to measure the albedo of snow covered areas through remote sensing techniques rather than applying single value over broad regions small scale effects albedo works on smaller scale too in sunlight dark clothes absorb more heat and light coloured clothes reflect it better thus allowing some control over body temperature by exploiting the albedo effect of the colour of external clothing solar photovoltaic effects albedo can affect the electrical energy output of solar photovoltaic devices for example the effects of spectrally responsive albedo are illustrated by the differences between the spectrally weighted albedo of solar photovoltaic technology based on hydrogenated amorphous silicon si and crystalline silicon si based compared to traditional spectral integrated albedo predictions research showed impacts of over more recently the analysis was extended to the effects of spectral bias due to the specular reflectivity of commonly occurring surface materials both human made and natural and analyzes the albedo effects on the performance of seven photovoltaic materials covering three common photovoltaic system topologies industrial solar farms commercial flat rooftops and residential pitched roof applications trees because forests generally have low albedo the majority of the ultraviolet and visible spectrum is absorbed through photosynthesis some scientists have suggested that greater heat absorption by trees could offset some of the carbon benefits of afforestation or offset the negative climate impacts of deforestation in the case of evergreen forests with seasonal snow cover albedo reduction may be great enough for deforestation to cause net cooling effect trees also impact climate in extremely complicated ways through the water vapor causes cooling on the land surface causes heating where it condenses acts strong greenhouse gas and can increase albedo when it condenses into clouds scientists generally treat as net cooling impact and the net climate impact of albedo and changes from deforestation depends greatly on local climate in seasonally snow covered zones winter albedos of treeless areas are to higher than nearby forested areas because snow does not cover the trees as readily deciduous trees have an albedo value of about to whereas coniferous trees have value of about to studies by the hadley centre have investigated the relative generally warming effect of albedo change and cooling effect of carbon sequestration on planting forests they found that new forests in tropical and midlatitude areas tended to cool new forests in high latitudes siberia were neutral or perhaps warming water water reflects light very differently from typical terrestrial materials the reflectivity of water surface is calculated using the fresnel equations see graph reflectivity of smooth water at refractive index at the scale of the wavelength of light even wavy water is always smooth so the light is reflected in locally specular manner not diffusely the glint of light off water is commonplace effect of this at small angles of incident light waviness results in reduced reflectivity because of the steepness of the reflectivity vs incident angle curve and locally increased average incident angle although the reflectivity of water is very low at low and medium angles of incident light it becomes very high at high angles of incident light such as those that occur on the illuminated side of earth near the terminator early morning late afternoon and near the poles however as mentioned above waviness causes an appreciable reduction because light specularly reflected from water does not usually reach the viewer water is usually considered to have very low albedo in spite of its high reflectivity at high angles of incident light note that white caps on waves look white and have high albedo because the water is foamed up so there are many superimposed bubble surfaces which reflect adding up their reflectivities fresh black ice exhibits fresnel reflection clouds cloud albedo has substantial influence over atmospheric temperatures different types of clouds exhibit different reflectivity theoretically ranging in albedo from minimum of near to maximum approaching on any given day about half of earth is covered by clouds which reflect more sunlight than land and water clouds keep earth cool by reflecting sunlight but they can also serve as blankets to trap warmth albedo and climate in some areas are affected by artificial clouds such as those created by the contrails of heavy commercial airliner traffic study following the burning of the kuwaiti oil fields during iraqi occupation showed that temperatures under the burning oil fires were as much as colder than temperatures several miles away under clear skies aerosol effects aerosols very fine particles droplets in the atmosphere have both direct and indirect effects on earth radiative balance the direct albedo effect is generally to cool the planet the indirect effect the particles act as cloud condensation nuclei and thereby change cloud properties is less certain as per the effects are aerosol direct effect aerosols directly scatter and absorb radiation the scattering of radiation causes atmospheric cooling whereas absorption can cause atmospheric warming aerosol indirect effect aerosols modify the properties of clouds through subset of the aerosol population called cloud condensation nuclei increased nuclei concentrations lead to increased cloud droplet number concentrations which in turn leads to increased cloud albedo increased light scattering and radiative cooling first indirect effect but also leads to reduced precipitation efficiency and increased lifetime of the cloud second indirect effect black carbon another albedo related effect on the climate is from black carbon particles the size of this effect is difficult to quantify the panel on climate change estimates that the global mean radiative forcing for black carbon aerosols from fossil fuels is with range to black carbon is bigger cause of the melting of the polar ice cap in the arctic than carbon dioxide due to its effect on the albedo human activities human activities deforestation farming and urbanization change the albedo of various areas around the globe however quantification of this effect on the global scale is difficult other types of albedo single scattering albedo is used to define scattering of electromagnetic waves on small particles it depends on properties of the material refractive index the size of the particle or particles and the wavelength of the incoming radiation see also references external links official website of albedo project global albedo project center for clouds chemistry and climate albedo encyclopedia of earth nasa modis brdf albedo product site surface albedo derived from meteosat observations discussion of lunar albedos reflectivity of metals chart
writing cursive forms of named plural as or aes is the first letter and the first vowel in the iso basic latin alphabet it is similar to the ancient greek letter alpha from which it derives the upper case version consists of the two slanting sides of triangle crossed in the middle by horizontal bar the lower case version can be written in two forms the double storey and single storey the latter is commonly used in handwriting and fonts based on it especially fonts intended to be read by children and is also found in italic type history egyptian cretan phoenician aleph semitic greek alpha etruscan roman cyrillic boeotian bc greek uncial latin ad uncial egyptian hieroglyphic ox head early crete version of the letter phoenician aleph semitic letter version greek alpha version etruscan version roman boeotian greek classical uncial version latin ad uncial version crete phoenician version of the semitic version greek alpha version etruscan version latin th century bc boeotioan bc greek classical uncial version latin ad uncial version the earliest certain ancestor of is aleph also written aleph the first letter of the phoenician alphabet which consisted entirely of consonants for that reason it is also called an abjad to distinguish it from true alphabet in turn the ancestor of aleph may have been pictogram of an ox head in proto sinaitic script influenced by egyptian hieroglyphs styled as triangular head with two horns extended in the phoenician alphabet letter had linear form that served as the base for some later forms its name is thought to have corresponded closely to the hebrew or arabic aleph blackletter ablackletter uncial auncial another capital aanother blackletter modern roman amodern roman modern italic amodern italic modern script amodern script when the ancient greeks adopted the alphabet they had no use for letter to represent the glottal stop the consonant sound that the letter denoted in phoenician and other semitic languages and that was the first phoneme of the phoenician pronunciation of the letter so they used their version of the sign to represent the vowel and called it by the similar name of alpha in the earliest greek inscriptions after the greek dark ages dating to the th century bc the letter rests upon its side but in the greek alphabet of later times it generally resembles the modern capital letter although many local varieties can be distinguished by the shortening of one leg or by the angle at which the cross line is set the etruscans brought the greek alphabet to their civilization in the italian peninsula and left the letter unchanged the romans later adopted the etruscan alphabet to write the latin language and the resulting letter was preserved in the latin alphabet that would come to be used to write many languages including english typographic variants different glyphs of the lowercase letter during roman times there were many variant forms of the letter first was the monumental or lapidary style which was used when inscribing on stone or other permanent mediums there was also cursive style used for everyday or utilitarian writing which was done on more perishable surfaces due to the perishable nature of these surfaces there as not as many examples of this style as there are of the monumental but there are still many surviving examples of different types of cursive such as majuscule cursive minuscule cursive and semicursive minuscule variants also existed that were intermediate between the monumental and cursive styles the known variants include the early semi uncial the uncial and the later semi uncial typographic variants include double storey and single storey at the end of the roman empire th century ad several variants of the cursive minuscule developed through western europe among these were the semicursive minuscule of italy the merovingian script in france the visigothic script in spain and the insular or anglo irish semi uncial or anglo saxon majuscule of great britain by the th century the caroline script which was very similar to the present day form was the principal form used in book making before the advent of the printing press this form was derived through combining of prior forms th century italy saw the formation of the two main variants that are known today these variants the italic and roman forms were derived from the caroline script version the italic form also called script is used in most current handwriting and consists of circle and vertical stroke this slowly developed from the fifth century form resembling the greek letter tau in the hands of medieval irish and english writers the roman form is used in most printed material it consists of small loop with an arc over it both derive from the majuscule capital form in greek handwriting it was common to join the left leg and horizontal stroke into single loop as demonstrated by the uncial version shown many fonts then made the right leg vertical in some of these the serif that began the right leg stroke developed into an arc resulting in the printed form while in others it was dropped resulting in the modern handwritten form italic type is commonly used to mark emphasis or more generally to distinguish one part of text from the rest set in roman type there are some other cases aside from italic type where script also called latin alpha is used in contrast with latin such as in the international phonetic alphabet use in writing systems english in modern english orthography the letter represents at least seven different vowel sounds the near open front unrounded vowel as in pad the open back unrounded vowel as in father which is closer to its original latin and greek sound the diphthong as in ace and major usually when is followed by one or occasionally two consonants and then another vowel letter this results from middle english lengthening followed by the great vowel shift the modified form of the above sound that occurs before as in square and mary the rounded vowel of water the shorter rounded vowel not present in general american in was and what schwa in many unstressed syllables as in about comma solar the double sequence does not occur in native english words but is found in some words derived from foreign languages such as aaron and aardvark however occurs in many common digraphs all with their own sound or sounds particularly and is the third most commonly used letter in english after and and the second most common in spanish and french in one study on average about of letters used in english texts tend to be while the number is in spanish and in french other languages in most languages that use the latin alphabet denotes an open unrounded vowel such as or an exception is saanich in which and the glyph stands for close mid front unrounded vowel other systems in phonetic and phonemic notation in the international phonetic alphabet is used for the open front unrounded vowel is used for the open central unrounded vowel and is used for the open back unrounded vowel in sampa is used for the open front unrounded vowel and is used for the open back unrounded vowel other uses in algebra the letter along with other letters at the beginning of the alphabet is used to represent known quantities whereas the letters at the end of the alphabet are used to denote unknown quantities in geometry capital etc are used to denote segments lines rays etc capital is also typically used as one of the letters to represent an angle in triangle the lowercase representing the side opposite angle is often used to denote something or someone of better or more prestigious quality or status or the best grade that can be assigned by teachers for students schoolwork grade for clean restaurants list celebrities etc such associations can have motivating effect as exposure to the letter has been found to improve performance when compared with other letters finally the letter is used to denote size as in narrow size shoe or small cup size in brassiere related characters descendants and related characters in the latin alphabet latin ae ligature with diacritics phonetic alphabet symbols related to the international phonetic alphabet only uses lowercase but uppercase forms are used in some other writing systems latin letter alpha script which represents an open back unrounded vowel in the ipa turned which represents near open central vowel in the ipa turned also called wedge caret or hat which represents an open mid back unrounded vowel in the ipa turned script which represents an open back rounded vowel in the ipa small capital an obsolete or non standard symbol in the international phonetic alphabet used to represent various sounds mainly open vowels derived signs symbols and abbreviations an ordinal indicator turned capital letter used in predicate logic to specify universal quantification for all at sign argentine austral ancestors and siblings in other alphabets semitic letter aleph from which the following symbols originally derive greek letter alpha from which the following letters derive cyrillic letter coptic letter alpha old italic which is the ancestor of modern latin runic letter ansuz which probably derives from old italic gothic letter aza asks computing codes other representations notes footnotes references external links history of the alphabet
alabama is state located in the southeastern region of the united states it is bordered by tennessee to the north georgia to the east florida and the gulf of mexico to the south and mississippi to the west alabama is the th most extensive and the th most populous of the united states at alabama has one of the longest navigable inland waterways in the nation from the american civil war until world war ii alabama like many states in the south suffered economic hardship in part because of continued dependence on agriculture despite the growth of major industries and urban centers white rural interests dominated the state legislature from to the as it did not regularly reapportion the legislature from to urban interests and african americans were markedly under represented african americans and poor whites were essentially disenfranchised altogether by the state constitution of status that continued into the mid before being alleviated by federal legislation exclusion of minorities continued under at large voting systems in most counties some changes were made through series of omnibus court cases in the late to establish different electoral systems following world war ii alabama experienced growth as the economy of the state changed from one primarily based on agriculture to one with diversified interests the power of the solid south in congress gained the establishment or expansion of multiple united states armed forces installations which helped to bridge the gap between an agricultural and industrial economy during the mid th century the state economy in the st century is based on management automotive finance manufacturing aerospace mineral extraction healthcare education retail and technology alabama is nicknamed the yellowhammer state after the state bird alabama is also known as the heart of dixie and the cotton state the state tree is the longleaf pine and the state flower is the camellia the capital of alabama is montgomery the largest city by population is birmingham which has long been the most industrialized city and largest city by total land area is huntsville the oldest city is mobile founded by french colonists in as the capital of french louisiana etymology russell cave in jackson county charcoal from indigenous camp fires in the cave has been dated as early as to bc the european american naming of the alabama river and state originates from the alabama people muskogean speaking tribe whose members lived just below the confluence of the coosa and tallapoosa rivers on the upper reaches of the river in the alabama language the word for person of alabama lineage is albaamo or variously albaama or albàamo in different dialects the plural form is albaamaha the word alabama is believed to have come from the alabama language and suggestion that the name was borrowed from the choctaw language is unlikely the spelling of the word varies significantly among historical sources the first usage appears in three accounts of the hernando de soto expedition of with garcilaso de la vega using alibamo while the knight of elvas and rodrigo ranjel wrote alibamu and limamu respectively in efforts to transliterate the term as early as the french called the tribe the alibamon with french maps identifying the river as rivière des alibamons other spellings of the appellation have included alibamu alabamo albama alebamon alibama alibamou alabamu allibamou sources disagree on the meaning of the word some scholars suggested the word comes from the choctaw alba meaning plants or weeds and amo meaning to cut to trim or to gather the meaning may have been clearers of the thicket or herb gatherers referring to clearing land for cultivation or collecting medicinal plants the state has numerous place names of native american origin however there are no correspondingly similar words in the alabama language an article in the jacksonville republican proposed that it meant here we rest this notion was popularized in the through the writings of alexander beaufort meek experts in the muskogean languages have been unable to find any evidence to support such translation and thus this is probably erroneous history pre european settlement indigenous peoples of varying cultures lived in the area for thousands of years before european colonization trade with the northeastern tribes via the ohio river began during the burial mound period bc ad and continued until european contact the moundville archaeological site in hale county it was occupied by native americans of the mississippian culture from to ad the agrarian mississippian culture covered most of the state from to ad with one of its major centers built at what is now the moundville archaeological site in moundville alabama this is the second largest complex of the classic middle mississippian era after cahokia in present day illinois which was the center of the culture analysis of artifacts recovered from archaeological excavations at moundville were the basis of scholars formulating the characteristics of the southeastern ceremonial complex secc contrary to popular belief the secc appears to have no direct links to mesoamerican culture but developed independently the ceremonial complex represents major component of the religion of the mississippian peoples it is one of the primary means by which their religion is understood among the historical tribes of native american people living in the area of present day alabama at the time of european contact were the cherokee an iroquoian language people and the muskogean speaking alabama alibamu chickasaw choctaw creek and koasati while part of the same large language family the muskogee tribes developed distinct cultures and languages european settlement with exploration in the th century the spanish were the first europeans to reach alabama the expedition of hernando de soto passed through mabila and other parts of the state in more than years later the french founded the first european settlement in the region at old mobile in the city was moved to the current site of mobile in this area was claimed by the french from to as part of la louisiane after the french lost to the british in the seven years war it became part of british west florida from to after the united states victory in the american revolutionary war the territory was divided between the united states and spain the latter retained control of this western territory from until the surrender of the spanish garrison at mobile to forces on april thomas bassett loyalist to the british monarchy during the revolutionary era was one of the earliest white settlers in the state outside mobile he settled in the tombigbee district during the early the boundaries of the district were roughly limited to the area within few miles of the tombigbee river and included portions of what is today southern clarke county northernmost mobile county and most of washington county what is now the counties of baldwin and mobile became part of spanish west florida in part of the independent republic of west florida in and was finally added to the mississippi territory in most of what is now the northern two thirds of alabama was known as the yazoo lands beginning during the british colonial period it was claimed by the province of georgia from onwards following the revolutionary war it remained part of georgia although heavily disputed map showing the formation of the mississippi and alabama territories with the exception of the area around mobile and the yazoo lands what is now the lower one third alabama was made part of the mississippi territory when it was organized in the yazoo lands were added to the territory in following the yazoo land scandal spain kept claim on its former spanish west florida territory in what would become the coastal counties until the adams onís treaty officially ceded it to the united states in th century before the admission of mississippi as state on december the more sparsely settled eastern half of the territory was separated and named the alabama territory the alabama territory was created by the united states congress on march st stephens now abandoned served as the territorial capital from to the congress selected huntsville as the site for the first constitutional convention of alabama after it was approved to become the nd state from july to august delegates met to prepare the new state constitution huntsville served as the temporary capital of alabama from to when the seat of state government was moved to cahaba in dallas county thornhill in greene county it is former black belt plantation cahaba now ghost town was the first permanent state capital from to alabama fever was already underway when the state was admitted to the union with settlers and land speculators pouring into the state to take advantage of fertile land suitable for cotton cultivation part of the frontier in the and its constitution provided for universal suffrage for white men southeastern planters and traders from the upper south brought slaves with them as the cotton plantations in alabama expanded the economy of the central black belt named for its dark productive soil was built around large cotton plantations whose owners wealth grew largely from slave labor the area also drew many poor disfranchised people who became subsistence farmers alabama had population estimated at under people in but it had increased to more than people by most native american tribes were completely removed from the state within few years of the passage of the indian removal act by congress in william nichols it was built from and was destroyed by fire in from to tuscaloosa served as the capital of alabama on january the alabama legislature announced that it had voted to move the capital city from tuscaloosa to montgomery the first legislative session in the new capital met in december new capitol building was erected under the direction of stephen decatur button of philadelphia the first structure burned down in but was rebuilt on the same site in this second capitol building in montgomery remains to the present day it was designed by barachias holt of exeter maine by the population had increased to total of people of which nearly half were enslaved african americans and were free people of color on january alabama declared its secession from the union after remaining an independent republic for few days it joined the confederate states of america the confederacy capital was initially located at montgomery alabama was heavily involved in the american civil war although comparatively few battles were fought in the state alabama contributed about soldiers to the war effort union army troops occupying courthouse square in huntsville following its capture and occupation by federal forces in company of cavalry soldiers from huntsville alabama joined nathan bedford forrest battalion in hopkinsville kentucky the company wore new uniforms with yellow trim on the sleeves collar and coat tails this led to them being greeted with yellowhammer and the name later was applied to all alabama troops in the confederate army alabama slaves were freed by the th amendment in alabama was under military rule from the end of the war in may until its official restoration to the union in from to with most white citizens barred temporarily from voting and freedmen enfranchised many african americans emerged as political leaders in the state alabama was represented in congress during this period by three african american congressmen jeremiah haralson benjamin turner and james rapier following the war the state remained chiefly agricultural with an economy tied to cotton during reconstruction state legislators ratified new state constitution in that created the state first public school system and expanded women rights legislators funded numerous public road and railroad projects although these were plagued with allegations of fraud and organized insurgent resistance groups tried to suppress the freedmen and republicans besides the short lived original ku klux klan these included the pale faces knights of the white camellia red shirts and the white league reconstruction in alabama ended in when the democrats regained control of the legislature and governor office through an election dominated by fraud and violence they wrote another constitution in and the legislature passed the blaine amendment prohibiting public money from being used to finance religious affiliated schools the same year legislation was approved that called for racially segregated schools railroad passenger cars were segregated in after disfranchising most african americans and many poor whites in the constitution the alabama legislature passed more jim crow laws at the beginning of the th century to impose segregation in everyday life th century the developing skyline of birmingham in the new constitution of alabama included provisions for voter registration that effectively disenfranchised large portions of the population including nearly all african americans and native americans and tens of thousands of poor whites through making voter registration difficult requiring poll taxes and literacy test by only african americans were registered in alabama although at least were literate this compared to more than african americans eligible to vote in the numbers dropped even more in later decades while the planter class had persuaded poor whites to vote for this legislative effort to suppress black voting the new restrictions resulted in their as well due mostly to the imposition of cumulative poll tax by whites constituted slight majority of those disenfranchised by these laws whites vs african americans nearly all african americans had lost the ability to vote despite numerous legal challenges that succeeded in overturning certain provisions the state legislature would create new ones to maintain the exclusion of blacks from the political system persisted until after passage of federal civil rights legislation in the to enforce their constitutional rights as citizens the constitution required racial segregation of public schools it also restated that interracial marriage was illegal as it had been prohibited in into the the state legislature passed additional racial segregation laws related to public facilities jails were segregated in hospitals in toilets hotels and restaurants in and bus stop waiting rooms in the rural dominated alabama legislature consistently underfunded schools and services for the disenfranchised african americans but it did not relieve them of paying taxes partially as response to chronic underfunding of education for african americans in the south the rosenwald fund began funding the construction of what came to be known as rosenwald schools in alabama these schools were designed and the construction partially financed with rosenwald funds which paid one third of the construction costs the fund required the local community and state to raise matching funds to pay the rest black residents effectively taxed themselves twice by raising additional monies to supply matching funds for such schools which were built in many rural areas they often donated land and labor as well the former mount sinai school in rural autauga county completed in it was one of the rosenwald schools built in the state beginning in the first rosenwald schools were built in alabama for african american children total of schools seven teachers houses and several vocational buildings were completed by in the state several of the surviving school buildings in the state are now listed on the national register of historic places continued racial discrimination and lynchings agricultural depression and the failure of the cotton crops due to boll weevil infestation led tens of thousands of african americans from rural alabama and other states to seek opportunities in northern and midwestern cities during the early decades of the th century as part of the great migration out of the south reflecting this emigration the population growth rate in alabama see historical populations table below dropped by nearly half from to at the same time many rural people both white and african american migrated to the city of birmingham to work in new industrial jobs birmingham experienced such rapid growth that it was called the magic city by the birmingham was the th largest city in the united states and had more than of the state population heavy industry and mining were the basis of its economy its residents were under represented for decades in the state legislature which refused to redistrict after each decennial census according to population changes as it was required by the state constitution this did not change until the late following lawsuit and court order beginning in the when the courts started taking the first steps to recognize the voting rights of black voters the alabama legislature took several counter steps designed to disfranchise black voters the legislature passed and the voters ratified as these were mostly white voters state constitutional amendment that gave local registrars greater latitude to disqualify voter registration applicants black citizens in mobile successfully challenged this amendment as violation of the fifteenth amendment the legislature also changed the boundaries of tuskegee to sided figure designed to fence out blacks from the city limits the supreme court unanimously held that this racial gerrymandering violated the constitution in the alabama legislature also intentionally diluted the effect of the black vote by instituting numbered place requirements for local elections industrial development related to the demands of world war ii brought level of prosperity to the state not seen since before the civil war rural workers poured into the largest cities in the state for better jobs and higher standard of living one example of this massive influx of workers occurred in mobile between and more than people moved into the city to work for war related industries cotton and other cash crops faded in importance as the state developed manufacturing and service base despite massive population changes in the state from to the rural dominated legislature refused to reapportion house and senate seats based on population as required by the state constitution to follow the results of decennial censuses they held on to old representation to maintain political and economic power in agricultural areas in addition the state legislature gerrymandered the few birmingham legislative seats to ensure election by persons living outside birmingham one result was that jefferson county containing birmingham industrial and economic powerhouse contributed more than one third of all tax revenue to the state but did not receive proportional amount in services urban interests were consistently in the legislature study noted that because of rural domination minority of about per cent of the total state population is in majority control of the alabama legislature class action suit initiated on behalf of plaintiffs in lowndes county alabama challenged the state legislature lack of redistricting for congressional seats in white crook judge frank johnson ordered the state to redistrict united states supreme court cases of baker carr and reynolds sims ruled that the principle of one man one vote needed to be the basis of both houses of state legislatures as well and that their districts had to be based on population rather than geographic counties as alabama had used for its senate in for the first time since the legislature completed the first congressional redistricting based on the decennial census this benefited the urban areas that had developed as well as all in the population who had been for more than years other changes were made to implement representative state house and senate districts african americans continued to press in the and to end and segregation in the state through the civil rights movement including legal challenges in the us supreme court ruled in brown board of education that public schools had to be desegregated but alabama was slow to comply during the under governor george wallace alabama resisted compliance with federal demands for desegregation the civil rights movement had notable events in alabama including the montgomery bus boycott freedom rides in and selma to montgomery marches these contributed to congressional passage and enactment of the civil rights act of and voting rights act of by the congress legal segregation ended in the states in but jim crow customs often continued until specifically challenged in court despite recommendations of alabama constitutional commission the state legislature did not approve an amendment to establish home rule for counties there is very limited home rule but the legislature is deeply involved in passing legislation that applies to county level functions and policies this both deprives local residents of the ability to govern themselves and distracts the legislature from statewide issues alabama has made some changes since the late th century and has used new types of voting to increase representation in the an omnibus redistricting case dillard crenshaw county challenged the at large voting for representative seats of alabama jurisdictions including counties and school boards at large voting had diluted the votes of any minority in county as the majority tended to take all seats despite african americans making up significant minority in the state they had been unable to elect any representatives in most of the at large jurisdictions as part of settlement of this case five alabama cites and counties including chilton county adopted system of cumulative voting for election of representatives in multi seat jurisdictions this has resulted in more proportional representation for voters in another form of proportional representation jurisdictions use limited voting as in conecuh county in limited voting was first tested in conecuh county together use of these systems has increased the number of african americans and women being elected to local offices resulting in governments that are more representative of their citizens geography general map of alabama alabama is the thirtieth largest state in the united states with of total area of the area is water making alabama rd in the amount of surface water also giving it the second largest inland waterway system in the about three fifths of the land area is gentle plain with general descent towards the mississippi river and the gulf of mexico the north alabama region is mostly mountainous with the tennessee river cutting large valley and creating numerous creeks streams rivers mountains and lakes alabama is bordered by the states of tennessee to the north georgia to the east florida to the south and mississippi to the west alabama has coastline at the gulf of mexico in the extreme southern edge of the state the state ranges in elevation from sea level at mobile bay to over feet in the appalachian mountains in the northeast the highest point is mount cheaha at height of alabama land consists of of forest or of total land area suburban baldwin county along the gulf coast is the largest county in the state in both land area and water area areas in alabama administered by the national park service include horseshoe bend national military park near alexander city little river canyon national preserve near fort payne russell cave national monument in bridgeport tuskegee airmen national historic site in tuskegee and tuskegee institute national historic site near tuskegee additionally alabama has four national forests conecuh talladega tuskegee and william bankhead alabama also contains the natchez trace parkway the selma to montgomery national historic trail and the trail of tears national historic trail notable natural wonder in alabama is natural bridge rock the longest natural bridge east of the rockies located just south of haleyville wide meteorite impact crater is located in elmore county just north of montgomery this is the wetumpka crater the site of alabama greatest natural disaster wide meteorite hit the area about million years ago the hills just east of downtown wetumpka showcase the eroded remains of the impact crater that was blasted into the bedrock with the area labeled the wetumpka crater or astrobleme star wound because of the concentric rings of fractures and zones of shattered rock that can be found beneath the surface in christian koeberl with the institute of geochemistry university of vienna published evidence and established the site as the th recognized impact crater on earth climate autumn tree in birmingham the state is classified as humid subtropical cfa under the koppen climate classification the average annual temperature is temperatures tend to be warmer in the southern part of the state with its proximity to the gulf of mexico while the northern parts of the state especially in the appalachian mountains in the northeast tend to be slightly cooler generally alabama has very hot summers and mild winters with copious precipitation throughout the year alabama receives an average of of rainfall annually and enjoys lengthy growing season of up to days in the southern part of the state summers in alabama are among the hottest in the with high temperatures averaging over throughout the summer in some parts of the state alabama is also prone to tropical storms and even hurricanes areas of the state far away from the gulf are not immune to the effects of the storms which often dump tremendous amounts of rain as they move inland and weaken south alabama reports many thunderstorms the gulf coast around mobile bay averages between and days per year with thunder reported this activity decreases somewhat further north in the state but even the far north of the state reports thunder on about days per year occasionally thunderstorms are severe with frequent lightning and large hail the central and northern parts of the state are most vulnerable to this type of storm alabama ranks ninth in the number of deaths from lightning and tenth in the number of deaths from lightning strikes per capita phil campbell following the statewide april tornado outbreak alabama along with oklahoma has the most reported ef tornadoes of any state according to statistics from the national climatic data center for the period january to june several long tracked ef tornadoes have contributed to alabama reporting more tornado fatalities than any other state the state was affected by the super outbreak and was devastated tremendously by the super outbreak the super outbreak produced record amount of tornadoes in the state the tally reached snowfall outside birmingham city hall in february the peak season for tornadoes varies from the northern to southern parts of the state alabama is one of the few places in the world that has secondary tornado season in november and december along with the spring severe weather season the northern part of the state along the tennessee valley is one of the areas in the most vulnerable to violent tornadoes the area of alabama and mississippi most affected by tornadoes is sometimes referred to as dixie alley as distinct from the tornado alley of the southern plains winters are generally mild in alabama as they are throughout most of the southeastern with average january low temperatures around in mobile and around in birmingham although snow is rare event in much of alabama areas of the state north of montgomery may receive dusting of snow few times every winter with an occasional moderately heavy snowfall every few years historic snowfall events include new year eve snowstorm and the storm of the century the annual average snowfall for the birmingham area is per year in the southern gulf coast snowfall is less frequent sometimes going several years without any snowfall alabama highest temperature of was recorded on september in the unincorporated community of centerville the record low of occurred on january in new market flora and fauna cahaba lilies hymenocallis coronaria in the cahaba river within the cahaba river national wildlife refuge alabama is home to diverse array of flora and fauna due largely to variety of habitats that range from the tennessee valley appalachian plateau and ridge and valley appalachians of the north to the piedmont canebrake and black belt of the central region to the gulf coastal plain and beaches along the gulf of mexico in the south the state is usually ranked among the top in nation for its range of overall biodiversity alabama is in the subtropical coniferous forest biome and once boasted huge expanses of pine forest which still form the largest proportion of forests in the state it currently ranks fifth in the nation for the diversity of its flora it is home to nearly pteridophyte and spermatophyte plant species indigenous animal species in the state include mammal species reptile species amphibian species roughly native freshwater fish species and bird species that spend at least part of their year within the state invertebrates include crayfish species and mollusk species of these mollusk species have never been collected outside the state demographics alabama population density the united states census bureau estimates that the population of alabama was on july which represents an increase of or since the census this includes natural increase since the last census of people that is births minus deaths and an increase due to net migration of people into the state immigration from outside the resulted in net increase of people and migration within the country produced net gain of people the state had foreign born of the state population of which an estimated were illegal immigrants the center of population of alabama is located in chilton county outside the town of jemison race and ancestry according to the census alabama had population of the racial composition of the state was white non hispanic white and hispanic white black or african american hispanic or latino of any race asian american indian and alaska native native hawaiian and other pacific islander from some other race and from two or more races in of alabama population younger than age were minorities the largest reported ancestry groups in alabama are african american english irish german and scots irish those citing american ancestry in alabama are generally of english or british ancestry many anglo americans identify as having american ancestry because their roots have been in north america for so long in some cases since the demographers estimate that minimum of of people in alabama are of predominantly english ancestry and that the figure is likely higher in the census of the people in alabama identified as being of english ancestry making them the largest ethnic group at the time alabama racial breakdown of population racial composition white black asian native native hawaiian and other pacific islander other race two or more races based on historic migration and settlement patterns in the southern colonies and states demographers estimated there are more people in alabama of scots irish origins than self reported many people in alabama claim irish ancestry because of the term scots irish but based on historic immigration and settlement their ancestors were more likely protestant scots irish coming from northern ireland where they had been for few generations as part of the english colonization the scots irish were the largest non english immigrant group from the british isles before the american revolution and many settled in the south later moving into the deep south as it was developed in under the davis strong act the state legislature established the alabama indian affairs commission native american groups within the state had increasingly been demanding recognition as ethnic groups and seeking an end to discrimination given the long history of slavery and associated racial segregation the native american peoples who have sometimes been of mixed race have insisted on having their cultural identification respected in the past their self identification was often overlooked as the state tried to impose binary breakdown of society into white and black the state has officially recognized nine american indian tribes in the state descended mostly from the five civilized tribes of the american southeast these are poarch band of creek indians who also have federal recognition mowa band of choctaw indians star clan of muscogee creeks echota cherokee tribe of alabama cherokee tribe of northeast alabama cher creek intra tribal indians ma chis lower creek indian tribe piqua shawnee tribe and ani yun wiya nation the state government has promoted recognition of native american contributions to the state including the designation in for columbus day to be jointly celebrated as american indian heritage day population centers birmingham largest city and metropolitan area huntsville second largest metropolitan area mobile third largest metropolitan area montgomery fourth largest metropolitan area rank metropolitan area population census estimate counties birmingham hoover bibb blount chilton jefferson st clair shelby walker huntsville limestone madison mobile mobile montgomery autauga elmore lowndes montgomery tuscaloosa hale pickens tuscaloosa daphne fairhope baldwin auburn opelika lee decatur lawrence morgan dothan geneva henry houston florence muscle shoals colbert lauderdale anniston oxford jacksonville calhoun gadsden etowah total sources census gov rank city population census estimates county birmingham jefferson montgomery montgomery mobile mobile huntsville madison limestone tuscaloosa tuscaloosa hoover jefferson shelby dothan houston auburn lee decatur morgan limestone madison madison limestone florence lauderdale phenix city russell gadsden etowah prattville autauga vestavia hills jefferson sources census gov language of all alabama residents five years old or older spoke only english at home in minor decrease from in alabama english is predominantly southern and is related to south midland speech which was taken across the border from tennessee in the major southern speech region there is the decreasing loss of the final for example the boyd pronunciation of bird in the northern third of the state there is south midland arm and barb rhyming with form and orb unique words in alabama english include redworm earthworm peckerwood woodpecker snake doctor and snake feeder dragonfly tow sack burlap bag plum peach clingstone french harp harmonica and dog irons andirons top non english languages spoken in alabama language percentage of population spanish german french incl patois cajun chinese vietnamese korean arabic african languages japanese and italian tied religion highlands united methodist church in birmingham part of the five points south historic district briarwood presbyterian church in birmingham temple nai sholom in huntsville established in it is the oldest synagogue building in continuous use in the state the islamic center of tuscaloosa one of the islamic centers that contain mosque and facilities for the cultural needs of muslims in the state in the american religious identification survey of alabama respondents reported their religion as christian including catholic and as having no religion the composition of other traditions is mormon jewish muslim buddhist and hindu religious affiliation in alabama affiliation of population christian protestant evangelical protestant mainline protestant black church catholic mormon jehovah witnesses eastern orthodox other christian unaffiliated nothing in particular agnostic atheist non christian faiths jewish muslim buddhist hindu other non christian faiths don know refused answer total christianity alabama is located in the middle of the bible belt region of numerous protestant christians alabama has been identified as one of the most religious states in the united states with about of the population attending church regularly majority of people in the state identify as evangelical protestant the three largest denominational groups in alabama are the southern baptist convention the united methodist church and non denominational evangelical protestant in alabama the southern baptist convention has the highest number of adherents with this is followed by the united methodist church with adherents non denominational evangelical protestant with adherents and the catholic church with adherents many baptist and methodist congregations became established in the great awakening of the early th century when preachers proselytized across the south the assemblies of god had almost members the churches of christ had nearly members the presbyterian churches strongly associated with scots irish immigrants of the th century and their descendants had combined membership around pca members in congregations pc usa members in congregations the cumberland presbyterian church members in congregations the cumberland presbyterian church in america members and congregations plus the epc and associate reformed presbyterians with members and congregations in survey nearly of respondents could name all four of the christian gospels of those who indicated religious preference said they possessed full understanding of their faith and needed no further learning in poll of alabamians reported having at least some confidence in churches in the state other faiths although in much smaller numbers many other religious faiths are represented in the state as well including judaism islam hinduism buddhism sikhism the bahá faith and unitarian universalism jews have been present in what is now alabama since during the colonial era of mobile when sephardic jews immigrated from london the oldest jewish congregation in the state is congregation sha arai shomayim in mobile it was formally recognized by the state legislature on january later immigrants in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries tended to be ashkenazi jews from eastern europe jewish denominations in the state include two orthodox four conservative ten reform and one humanistic synagogue muslims have been increasing in alabama with mosques built by many by african american converts islam was traditional religion in west africa from where many slaves were brought to the colonies and the united states during the centuries of the slave trade several hindu temples and cultural centers in the state have been founded by indian immigrants and their descendants the most well known being the shri swaminarayan mandir in birmingham the hindu temple and cultural center of birmingham in pelham the hindu cultural center of north alabama in capshaw and the hindu mandir and cultural center in tuscaloosa there are six dharma centers and organizations for theravada buddhists most monastic buddhist temples are concentrated in southern mobile county near bayou la batre this area has attracted an influx of refugees from cambodia laos and vietnam during the and thereafter the four temples within ten mile radius of bayou la batre include chua chanh giac wat buddharaksa and wat lao phoutthavihan the first community of adherents of the baha faith in alabama was founded in by paul dealy who moved from chicago to fairhope to participate in the growth of fairhope as utopian community the first community of baha is in alabama was racially integrated from the beginning due to the faith principles today there is an exhibit honoring dealy in haifa israel at the world center of the baha faith baha centers in alabama exist in birmingham alabama huntsville alabama and florence alabama health centers for disease control and prevention study in showed that obesity in alabama was problem with most counties having over of adults obese except for ten which had rate between and residents of the state along with those in five other states were least likely in the nation to be physically active during leisure time alabama and the southeastern in general has one of the highest incidences of adult onset diabetes in the country exceeding of adults economy the state has invested in aerospace education health care banking and various heavy industries including automobile manufacturing mineral extraction steel production and fabrication by crop and animal production in alabama was valued at billion in contrast to the primarily agricultural economy of the previous century this was only about of the state gross domestic product the number of private farms has declined at steady rate since the as land has been sold to developers timber companies and large farming conglomerates non agricultural employment in was in management occupations in business and financial operations in computer related and mathematical occupation in architecture and engineering in life physical and social sciences in community and social services in legal occupations in education training and library services in art design and media occupations in healthcare in fire fighting law enforcement and security in food preparation and serving in building and grounds cleaning and maintenance in personal care and services in sales in office and administration support in farming fishing and forestry in construction and mining gas and oil extraction in installation maintenance and repair in production and in transportation and material moving according to the bureau of economic analysis the total gross state product was billion or per capita alabama gdp increased from the previous year the single largest increase came in the area of information in per capita income for the state was the state seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was in april this compared to nationwide seasonally adjusted rate of alabama has no state minimum wage and uses the federal minimum wage of in february the state passed legislation that prevents alabama municipalities from raising the minimum wage in their locality the legislation voids birmingham city ordinance that was to raise the city minimum wage to largest employers space shuttle enterprise being tested at marshall space flight center in hyundai motor manufacturing alabama in montgomery in shelby hall school of computing at the university of south alabama in mobile the five employers that employed the most employees in alabama in april were employer employees redstone arsenal university of alabama at birmingham includes uab hospital maxwell air force base state of alabama mobile county public school system the next twenty largest employers included employer location anniston army depot anniston at multiple auburn university auburn baptist medical center south montgomery birmingham city schools birmingham city of birmingham birmingham dch health system tuscaloosa huntsville city schools huntsville huntsville hospital system huntsville hyundai motor manufacturing alabama montgomery infirmary health system mobile jefferson county board of education birmingham marshall space flight center huntsville mercedes benz international vance montgomery public schools montgomery regions financial corporation multiple boeing multiple university of alabama tuscaloosa university of south alabama mobile walmart multiple agriculture alabama agricultural outputs include poultry and eggs cattle fish plant nursery items peanuts cotton grains such as corn and sorghum vegetables milk soybeans and peaches although known as the cotton state alabama ranks between eighth and tenth in national cotton production according to various reports with texas georgia and mississippi comprising the top three industry alabama industrial outputs include iron and steel products including cast iron and steel pipe paper lumber and wood products mining mostly coal plastic products cars and trucks and apparel in addition alabama produces aerospace and electronic products mostly in the huntsville area the location of nasa george marshall space flight center and the army materiel command headquartered at redstone arsenal mercedes benz international in tuscaloosa county was the first automotive facility to locate within the state great deal of alabama economic growth since the has been due to the state expanding automotive manufacturing industry located in the state are honda manufacturing of alabama hyundai motor manufacturing alabama mercedes benz international and toyota motor manufacturing alabama as well as their various suppliers since the automobile industry has generated more than new jobs in the state alabama currently ranks th in the nation for vehicle exports automakers accounted for approximately third of the industrial expansion in the state in the eight models produced at the state auto factories totaled combined sales of vehicles for the strongest model sales during this period were the hyundai elantra compact car the mercedes benz gl class sport utility vehicle and the honda ridgeline sport utility truck airbus mobile engineering center at the brookley aeroplex in mobile steel producers outokumpu nucor ssab thyssenkrupp and steel have facilities in alabama and employ over people in may german steelmaker thyssenkrupp selected calvert in mobile county for billion combined stainless and carbon steel processing facility thyssenkrupp stainless steel division inoxum including the stainless portion of the calvert plant was sold to finnish stainless steel company outokumpu in the remaining portion of the thyssenkrupp plant had final bids submitted by arcelormittal and nippon steel for billion in march companhia siderúrgica nacional submitted combined bid for the mill at calvert plus majority stake in the thyssenkrupp mill in brazil for billion in july the plant was sold to arcelormittal and nippon steel the hunt refining company subsidiary of hunt consolidated inc is based in tuscaloosa and operates refinery there the company also operates terminals in mobile melvin and moundville jvc america inc operates an optical disc replication and packaging plant in tuscaloosa the goodyear tire and rubber company operates large plant in gadsden that employs about people it has been in operation since construction of an airbus family aircraft assembly plant in mobile was formally announced by airbus ceo fabrice brégier from the mobile convention center on july the plans include million factory at the brookley aeroplex for the assembly of the and aircraft construction began in with plans for it to become operable by and produce up to aircraft per year by the assembly plant is the company first factory to be built within the united states it was announced on february that airbus had hired alabama based hoar construction to oversee construction of the facility tourism alabama beaches are one of the state major tourist destinations an estimated million tourists visit the state each year over of these are from other countries including from canada the united kingdom germany and japan in million tourists spent billion providing an estimated jobs in the state healthcare uab hospital is the only level trauma center in alabama uab is the largest state government employer in alabama with workforce of about banking regions harbert plaza regions center and wells fargo tower in birmingham financial district alabama has the headquarters of regions financial corporation bbva compass superior bancorp and the former colonial bancgroup birmingham based compass banchshares was acquired by spanish based bbva in september although the headquarters of bbva compass remains in birmingham in november regions financial completed its merger with amsouth bancorporation which was also headquartered in birmingham southtrust corporation another large bank headquartered in birmingham was acquired by wachovia in for billion the city still has major operations for wachovia and its now post operating bank wells fargo which includes regional headquarters an operations center campus and million data center nearly dozen smaller banks are also headquartered in the birmingham such as superior bancorp servisfirst and new south federal savings bank birmingham also serves as the headquarters for several large investment management companies including harbert management corporation electronics provider at formerly bellsouth has major presence in alabama with several large offices in birmingham the company has over employees and more than contract employees many commercial technology companies are headquartered in huntsville such as the network access company adtran computer graphics company intergraph design and manufacturer of it infrastructure avocent and provider deltacom cinram manufactures and distributes th century fox dvds and blu ray discs out of their huntsville plant construction rust international has grown to include brasfield gorrie be hoar construction and harbert international which all routinely are included in the engineering news record lists of top design international construction and engineering firms rust international was acquired in by washington group international which was in turn acquired by san francisco based urs corporation in law and government state government state capitol building in montgomery completed in the foundational document for alabama government is the alabama constitution which was ratified in at almost amendments and words it is by some accounts the world longest constitution and is roughly forty times the length of the united states constitution there has been significant movement to rewrite and modernize alabama constitution critics suggest that alabama constitution highly centralizes power in montgomery and leaves practically no power in local hands most counties do not have home rule any policy changes proposed around the state must be approved by the entire alabama legislature and frequently by state referendum one criticism of the current constitution claims that its complexity and length intentionally codify segregation and racism the alabama judicial building in montgomery it houses the alabama supreme court alabama court of civil appeals and alabama court of criminal appeals alabama government is divided into three coequal branches the legislative branch is the alabama legislature bicameral assembly composed of the alabama house of representatives with members and the alabama senate with members the legislature is responsible for writing debating passing or defeating state legislation the republican party currently holds majority in both houses of the legislature the legislature has the power to override gubernatorial veto by simple majority most state legislatures require two thirds majority to override veto until the state elected state senators by county with one per county it had not redistricted congressional districts since passage of its constitution in as result urbanized areas were grossly it had not changed legislative districts to reflect the decennial censuses either in reynolds sims the us supreme court implemented the principle of one man one vote ruling that congressional districts had to be reapportioned based on censuses as the state already had in its constitution but had not implemented further it ruled that both houses of bicameral state legislatures had to be apportioned by population as there was no constitutional basis for states to have geographically based systems at that time alabama and many other states had to change their legislative districting as many across the country had systems that urban areas and districts this had caused decades of underinvestment in such areas for instance birmingham and jefferson county taxes had supplied one third of the state budget but jefferson county received only th of state services in funding through the legislative delegations the alabama legislature kept control of county governments the executive branch is responsible for the execution and oversight of laws it is headed by the governor of alabama other members of executive branch include the cabinet the attorney general of alabama the alabama secretary of state the alabama state treasurer and the state auditor of alabama the current governor of the state is republican robert bentley the lieutenant governor is republican kay ivey the judicial branch is responsible for interpreting the constitution and applying the law in state criminal and civil cases the state highest court is the supreme court of alabama alabama uses partisan elections to choose judges and since the judicial campaigns have become increasingly politicized the current chief justice of the alabama supreme court is republican roy moore all sitting justices on the alabama supreme court are members of the republican party there are two intermediate appellate courts the court of civil appeals and the court of criminal appeals and four trial courts the circuit court trial court of general jurisdiction and the district probate and municipal courts the members of the legislature take office immediately after the november elections statewide officials such as the governor lieutenant governor attorney general and other constitutional officers take office the following january taxes alabama levies or percent personal income tax depending upon the amount earned and filing status taxpayers are allowed to deduct their federal income tax from their alabama state tax and can do so even if taking the standard deduction taxpayers who file itemized deductions are also allowed to deduct the federal insurance contributions act tax social security and medicare tax the state general sales tax rate is sales tax rates for cities and counties are also added to purchases for example the total sales tax rate in mobile is and there is an additional restaurant tax of which means that diner in mobile would pay an tax on meal sales and excise taxes in alabama account for of all state and local revenue compared with an average of about nationwide alabama is one of seven states that levy tax on food at the same rate as other goods and one of two states the other being neighboring mississippi which fully taxes groceries without any offsetting relief for low income families most states exempt groceries from sales tax or apply lower tax rate alabama income tax on poor working families is among the highest in the united states alabama is the only state that levies income tax on family of four with income as low as which is barely one quarter of the federal poverty line alabama threshold is the lowest among the states and the district of columbia with income taxes the corporate income tax rate is currently the overall federal state and local tax burden in alabama ranks the state as the second least tax burdened state in the country property taxes are the lowest in the the current state constitution requires voter referendum to raise property taxes since alabama tax structure largely depends on consumer spending it is subject to high variable budget structure for example in alabama had an annual budget deficit as high as million county and local governments alabama has counties each county has its own elected legislative branch usually called the county commission it also has limited executive authority in the county because of the constraints of the alabama constitution only seven counties jefferson lee mobile madison montgomery shelby and tuscaloosa in the state have limited home rule instead most counties in the state must lobby the local legislation committee of the state legislature to get simple local policies approved ranging from waste disposal to land use zoning the cumbersome process results in local jurisdictions being unable to manage their problems and the state legislators are buried in local county issues the state legislature has retained power over local governments by refusing to pass constitutional amendment establishing home rule for counties as recommended by the alabama constitutional commission legislative delegations retain certain powers over each county united states supreme court decisions in baker carr required that both houses have districts established on the basis of population and redistricted after each census in order to implement the principle of one man one vote before that each county was represented by one state senator leading to in the state senate for more urbanized populous counties the lack of home rule for counties in alabama has resulted in the proliferation of local legislation permitting counties to do things not authorized by the state constitution alabama constitution has been amended more than times and almost one third of the amendments are local in nature applying to only one county or city significant part of each legislative session is spent on local legislation taking away time and attention of legislators from issues of statewide importance on november jefferson county which was billion in debt at the time declared bankruptcy this is the second largest chapter municipal bankruptcy in the united states after the detroit bankruptcy jefferson county emerged from bankruptcy in december following the approval of bankruptcy plan by the united states bankruptcy court for the northern district of alabama alabama is an alcoholic beverage control state meaning that the state government holds monopoly on the sale of alcohol the alabama alcoholic beverage control board controls the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages in the state twenty five of the counties are dry counties which ban the sale of alcohol and there are many dry municipalities even in counties which permit alcohol sales rank county population census seat largest city jefferson birmingham birmingham mobile mobile mobile madison huntsville huntsville montgomery montgomery montgomery shelby columbiana hoover part alabaster tuscaloosa tuscaloosa tuscaloosa baldwin bay minette daphne lee opelika auburn morgan decatur decatur calhoun anniston anniston etowah gadsden gadsden houston dothan dothan marshall guntersville albertville lauderdale florence florence st clair ashville pell city pell city politics robert bentley governor since january kay ivey lieutenant governor during reconstruction following the american civil war alabama was occupied by federal troops of the third military district under general john pope in the political coalition of white democrats known as the redeemers took control of the state government from the republicans in part by suppressing the african american vote through violence fraud and intimidation after coalition of white democratic politicians passed laws to segregate and disenfranchise african american residents process completed in provisions of the constitution provisions which disenfranchised african americans resulted in excluding many poor whites by more whites than african americans had been disenfranchised to the total effects were greater on the african american community as almost all of its citizens were disfranchised and relegated to separate and unequal treatment under the law from through the the state did not redraw election districts as population grew and shifted within the state during urbanization and of certain areas as counties were the basis of election districts the result was rural minority that dominated state politics through nearly three quarters of the century until series of federal court cases required redistricting in to meet equal representation alabama state politics gained nationwide and international attention in the and during the american civil rights movement when whites and at times violently resisted protests for electoral and social reform democrat george wallace the state only four term governor was controversial figure who vowed to maintain segregation only after passage of the federal civil rights act of and voting rights act of did african americans regain the ability to exercise suffrage among other civil rights in many jurisdictions they continued to be excluded from representation by at large electoral systems which allowed the majority of the population to dominate elections some changes at the county level have occurred following court challenges to establish single member districts that enable more diverse representation among county boards in the alabama legislature passed and republican governor bob riley signed resolution expressing profound regret over slavery and its lingering impact in symbolic ceremony the bill was signed in the alabama state capitol which housed congress of the confederate states of america in republicans won control of both houses of the legislature for the first time in years after nearly complete realignment of political parties who represent different visions in the st century elections state elections with the of african americans in the state became part of the solid south system in which the democratic party operated as effectively the only viable political party in every southern state for nearly years local and state elections in alabama were decided in the democratic party primary with generally only token republican challengers running in the general election since the mid to late th century however there has been realignment among the two major political parties and white conservatives started shifting to the republican party in alabama majority white districts are now expected to regularly elect republican candidates to federal state and local office members of the nine seats on the alabama supreme court and all ten seats on the state appellate courts are elected to office until no republicans held any of the court seats in that general election the then incumbent chief justice of alabama ernest hornsby refused to leave office after losing the election by approximately votes to republican perry hooper sr hornsby sued alabama and defiantly remained in office for nearly year before finally giving up the seat after losing in court this ultimately led to collapse of support for democrats at the ballot box in the next three or four election cycles the democrats lost the last of the nineteen court seats in august with the resignation of the last democrat on the bench in the early st century republicans hold all seven of the statewide elected executive branch offices republicans hold six of the eight elected seats on the alabama state board of education in republicans took large majorities of both chambers of the state legislature giving them control of that body for the first time in years the last remaining statewide democrat who served on the alabama public service commission was defeated in only two republican lieutenant governors have been elected since the end of reconstruction when republicans generally represented reconstruction government including the newly emancipated freedmen who had gained the franchise the two gop lt governors were steve windom and the current lt governor kay ivey who was elected in and re elected in local elections many local offices county commissioners boards of education tax assessors tax collectors etc in the state are still held by democrats many rural counties have voters who are majority democrats resulting in local elections being decided in the democratic primary similarly many metropolitan and suburban counties are majority republican and elections are effectively decided in the republican primary although there are exceptions alabama county sheriffs are elected in partisan at large races and democrats still retain the narrow majority of those posts the current split is democrats republicans and one independent fayette however most of the democratic sheriffs preside over rural and less populated counties the majority of republican sheriffs have been elected in the more urban suburban and heavily populated counties the state of alabama has one female sheriff in morgan county alabama and ten african american sheriffs federal elections the state two senators are jefferson sessions iii and richard shelby both republicans shelby was originally elected to the senate as democrat in and re elected in but switched parties immediately following the november general election in the house of representatives the state is represented by seven members six of whom are republicans bradley byrne mike rogers robert aderholt morris brooks martha roby and gary palmer and one democrat terri sewell education primary and secondary education vestavia hills high school in the suburbs of birmingham public primary and secondary education in alabama is under the purview of the alabama state board of education as well as local oversight by county school boards and city boards of education together individual schools provide education for elementary and secondary students public school funding is appropriated through the alabama legislature through the education trust fund in fy alabama appropriated for primary and secondary education that represented an increase of over the previous fiscal year in over percent of schools made adequate yearly progress ayp toward student proficiency under the national no child left behind law using measures determined by the state of alabama while alabama public education system has improved in recent decades it lags behind in achievement compared to other states according to census data alabama high school graduation rate is the fourth lowest in the after kentucky louisiana and mississippi the largest educational gains were among people with some college education but without degrees colleges and universities harrison plaza at the university of north alabama in florence the school was chartered as lagrange college by the alabama legislature in alabama programs of higher education include four year public universities two year community colleges and private undergraduate and graduate universities in the state are four medical schools as of fall university of alabama school of medicine university of south alabama and alabama college of osteopathic medicine and the edward via college of osteopathic medicine auburn campus two veterinary colleges auburn university and tuskegee university dental school university of alabama school of dentistry an optometry college university of alabama at birmingham two pharmacy schools auburn university and samford university and five law schools university of alabama school of law birmingham school of law cumberland school of law miles law school and the thomas goode jones school of law public post secondary education in alabama is overseen by the alabama commission on higher education and the alabama department of postsecondary education colleges and universities in alabama offer degree programs from two year associate degrees to multitude of doctoral level programs william samford hall at auburn university in auburn the largest single campus is the university of alabama located in tuscaloosa with enrolled for fall troy university was the largest institution in the state in with an enrollment of students across four alabama campuses troy dothan montgomery and phenix city as well as sixty learning sites in seventeen other states and eleven other countries the oldest institutions are the public university of north alabama in florence and the catholic church affiliated spring hill college in mobile both founded in accreditation of academic programs is through the southern association of colleges and schools sacs as well as other subject focused national and international accreditation agencies such as the association for biblical higher education abhe the council on occupational education coe and the accrediting council for independent colleges and schools acics according to the news world report alabama had three universities ranked in the top public schools in america university of alabama at auburn university at and university of alabama at birmingham at according to the news world report alabama had four tier universities university of alabama auburn university university of alabama at birmingham and university of alabama in huntsville sports college bryant denny stadium at the university of alabama in tuscaloosa college football is popular in alabama particularly the university of alabama crimson tide and auburn university tigers rivals in the southeastern conference in the season alabama averaged over fans per game and auburn averaged over fans both numbers among the top in the nation in average attendance bryant denny stadium is the home of the alabama football team and has seating capacity of and is the fifth largest stadium in america jordan hare stadium is the home field of the auburn football team and seats up to legion field is home for the uab blazers football program and the birmingham bowl it seats ladd peebles stadium in mobile is the home of the university of south alabama football team and serves as the home of the ncaa senior bowl godaddy com bowl and alabama mississippi all star classic the stadium seats in bryant denny stadium and jordan hare stadium became the homes of the alabama high school athletic association state football championship games after previously being held at legion field in birmingham professional regions park in hoover hank aaron stadium in mobile alabama has several professional and semi professional sports teams including three minor league baseball teams club city sport league venue alabama hammers huntsville indoor football southern indoor football league von braun center birmingham barons birmingham baseball southern league aa regions field birmingham sabers birmingham basketball continental basketball league altamont school huntsville havoc huntsville ice hockey southern professional hockey league von braun center mobile baybears mobile baseball southern league aa hank aaron stadium mobile bay hurricanes mobile basketball american basketball association davidson high school montgomery biscuits montgomery baseball southern league aa montgomery riverwalk stadium birmingham hammers birmingham soccer national premier soccer league sicard hollow athletic complex tennessee valley tigers huntsville football independent women football league milton frank stadium the talladega superspeedway motorsports complex hosts series of nascar events it has seating capacity of and is the thirteenth largest stadium in the world and sixth largest stadium in america also the barber motorsports park has hosted indycar series and rolex sports car series races the atp birmingham was world championship tennis tournament held from to alabama has hosted several professional golf tournaments such as the and pga championship at shoal creek the barbasol championship pga tour the mobile lpga tournament of champions airbus lpga classic and yokohama tire lpga classic lpga tour and the tradition champions tour transportation terminal at the montgomery regional airport in montgomery interstate co signed with interstate approaching interstate in downtown birmingham aerial view of the port of mobile aviation major airports with sustained commercial operations in alabama include birmingham shuttlesworth international airport bhm huntsville international airport hsv dothan regional airport dhn mobile regional airport mob montgomery regional airport mgm and muscle shoals northwest alabama regional airport msl rail for rail transport amtrak schedules the crescent daily passenger train running from new york to new orleans with stops at anniston birmingham and tuscaloosa roads alabama has six major interstate roads that cross the state interstate travels north south roughly through the middle of the state travel from the central west mississippi state line to birmingham where continues to the north east corner of the state and continues east towards atlanta originates in montgomery and travels east northeast to the georgia state line providing main thoroughfare to atlanta and traverses the southernmost portion of the state traveling from west to east through mobile enters the state from mississippi and connects birmingham with memphis tennessee in addition there are currently five auxiliary interstate routes in the state in mobile in tuscaloosa around birmingham in decatur and huntsville and in gadsden sixth route will be formed when is rerouted along new southern bypass of montgomery proposed northern bypass of birmingham will be designated as since direct connection from to will not be possible has been proposed as well several highways also pass through the state such as route us us us us us us us us us us us us us us us us us and us there are four toll roads in the state montgomery expressway in montgomery tuscaloosa bypass in tuscaloosa emerald mountain expressway in wetumpka and beach express in orange beach ports the port of mobile alabama only saltwater port is large seaport on the gulf of mexico with inland waterway access to the midwest by way of the tennessee tombigbee waterway the port of mobile was ranked th by tons of traffic in the united states during the newly expanded container terminal at the port of mobile was ranked as the th busiest for container traffic in the nation during the state other ports are on rivers with access to the gulf of mexico water ports of alabama listed from north to south port name location connected to port of florence florence muscle shoals on pickwick lake tennessee river port of decatur decatur on wheeler lake tennessee river port of guntersville guntersville on lake guntersville tennessee river port of birmingham birmingham on black warrior river tenn tom waterway port of tuscaloosa tuscaloosa on black warrior river tenn tom waterway port of montgomery montgomery on woodruff lake alabama river port of mobile mobile on mobile bay gulf of mexico see also outline of alabama organized list of topics about alabama index of alabama related articles lgbt rights in alabama gun rights in alabama right to work in alabama references further reading for detailed bibliography see the history of alabama atkins leah rawls wayne flynt william warren rogers and david ward alabama the history of deep south state flynt wayne alabama in the twentieth century owen thomas history of alabama and dictionary of alabama biography vols jackson harvey inside alabama personal history of my state mohl raymond latinization in the heart of dixie hispanics in late twentieth century alabama alabama review peirce neal the deep south states of america people politics and power in the seven deep south states information on politics and economics williams benjamin buford literary history of alabama the nineteenth century wpa guide to alabama external links alabama gov official state government web site alabama state guide from the library of congress all about alabama at the alabama department of archives and history alabama association of regional councils alabama attractions and events energy data statistics for alabama from the department of energy touralabama org alabama department of tourism and travel alabamamosaic digital repository of materials on alabama history culture places and people code of alabama at the alabama legislature site usgs real time geographic and other scientific resources of alabama alabama quickfacts from the census bureau alabama state fact sheet from the department of agriculture
achilles and the nereid cymothoe attic red figure kantharos from volci cabinet des médailles bibliothèque nationale paris kremaste phthia reverse thetis wearing chiton and holding shield of achilles with his ax monogram in greek mythology achilles akhilleus was greek hero of the trojan war and the central character and greatest warrior of homer iliad his mother was the nymph thetis and his father peleus was the king of the myrmidons achilles most notable feat during the trojan war was the slaying of the trojan hero hector outside the gates of troy although the death of achilles is not presented in the iliad other sources concur that he was killed near the end of the trojan war by paris who shot him in the heel with an arrow later legends beginning with poem by statius in the st century ad state that achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except for his heel because of his death from small wound in the heel the term achilles heel has come to mean person point of weakness etymology achilles name can be analyzed as combination of grief and people tribe nation in other words achilles is an embodiment of the grief of the people grief being theme raised numerous times in the iliad frequently by achilles achilles role as the hero of grief forms an ironic juxtaposition with the conventional view of achilles as the hero of glory usually glory in war laos has been construed by gregory nagy following leonard palmer to mean corps of soldiers muster with this derivation the name would have double meaning in the poem when the hero is functioning rightly his men bring grief to the enemy but when wrongly his men get the grief of war the poem is in part about the misdirection of anger on the part of leadership beekes has suggested pre greek origin of the name the name achilleus was common and attested name among the greeks soon after the th century bc it was also turned into the female form ἀχιλλεία achilleía attested in attica in the th century bc ig ii² and in the form achillia on stele in halicarnassus as the name of female gladiator fighting an amazon birth thetis dipping the infant achilles into the river styx ca peter paul rubens achilles was the son of the nereid thetis and peleus the king of the myrmidons zeus and poseidon had been rivals for the hand of thetis until prometheus the fore thinker warned zeus of prophecy that thetis would bear son greater than his father for this reason the two gods withdrew their pursuit and had her wed peleus there is tale which offers an alternative version of these events in argonautica iv zeus sister and wife hera alludes to thetis chaste resistance to the advances of zeus that thetis was so loyal to hera marriage bond that she coolly rejected him thetis although daughter of the sea god nereus was also brought up by hera further explaining her resistance to the advances of zeus james barry according to the achilleid written by statius in the st century ad and to no surviving previous sources when achilles was born thetis tried to make him immortal by dipping him in the river styx however he was left vulnerable at the part of the body by which she held him his heel see achilles heel achilles tendon it is not clear if this version of events was known earlier in another version of this story thetis anointed the boy in ambrosia and put him on top of fire to burn away the mortal parts of his body she was interrupted by peleus and abandoned both father and son in rage however none of the sources before statius makes any reference to this general invulnerability to the contrary in the iliad homer mentions achilles being wounded in book the paeonian hero asteropaeus son of pelagon challenged achilles by the river scamander he cast two spears at once one grazed achilles elbow drawing spurt of blood also in the fragmentary poems of the epic cycle in which we can find description of the hero death cypria unknown author aithiopis by arctinus of miletus little iliad by lesche of mytilene iliou persis by arctinus of miletus there is no trace of any reference to his general invulnerability or his famous weakness heel in the later vase paintings presenting achilles death the arrow or in many cases arrows hit his body peleus entrusted achilles to chiron the centaur on mt pelion to be reared achilles in the trojan war the rage of achilles by giovanni battista tiepolo the first two lines of the iliad read sing goddess of the rage of peleus son achilles the accursed rage that brought great suffering to the achaeans achilles consuming rage is at times wavering but at other times he cannot be cooled thetis foretold that her son fate was either to gain glory and die young or to live long but uneventful life in obscurity achilles chose the former and decided to take part in the trojan war according to the iliad achilles arrived at troy with ships each carrying myrmidons book he appointed five leaders each leader commanding myrmidons menesthius eudorus peisander phoenix and alcimedon book telephus when the greeks left for the trojan war they accidentally stopped in mysia ruled by king telephus in the resulting battle achilles gave telephus wound that would not heal telephus consulted an oracle who stated that he that wounded shall heal guided by the oracle he arrived at argos where achilles healed him in order that he might become their guide for the voyage to troy according to other reports in euripides lost play about telephus he went to aulis pretending to be beggar and asked achilles to heal his wound achilles refused claiming to have no medical knowledge alternatively telephus held orestes for ransom the ransom being achilles aid in healing the wound odysseus reasoned that the spear had inflicted the wound therefore the spear must be able to heal it pieces of the spear were scraped off onto the wound and telephus was healed troilus according to the cypria the part of the epic cycle that tells the events of the trojan war before achilles wrath when the achaeans desired to return home they were restrained by achilles who afterwards attacked the cattle of aeneas sacked neighboring cities and killed troilus in dares phrygius account of the destruction of troy the latin summary through which the story of achilles was transmitted to medieval europe troilus was young trojan prince the youngest of king priam or sometimes apollo and hecuba five legitimate sons despite his youth he was one of the main trojan war leaders prophecies linked troilus fate to that of troy and so he was ambushed in an attempt to capture him yet achilles struck by the beauty of both troilus and his sister polyxena and overcome with lust directed his sexual attentions on the youth who refusing to yield instead found himself decapitated upon an altar omphalos of apollo later versions of the story suggested troilus was accidentally killed by achilles in an over ardent lovers embrace in this version of the myth achilles death therefore came in retribution for this sacrilege ancient writers treated troilus as the epitome of dead child mourned by his parents had troilus lived to adulthood the first vatican mythographer claimed troy would have been invincible achilles in the iliad achilles sacrificing to zeus from the ambrosian iliad th century illuminated manuscript homer iliad is the most famous narrative of achilles deeds in the trojan war achilles wrath is the central theme of the poem the homeric epic only covers few weeks of the decade long war and does not narrate achilles death it begins with achilles withdrawal from battle after he is dishonored by agamemnon the commander of the achaean forces agamemnon had taken woman named chryseis as his slave her father chryses priest of apollo begs agamemnon to return her to him agamemnon refuses and apollo sends plague amongst the greeks the prophet calchas correctly determines the source of the troubles but will not speak unless achilles vows to protect him achilles does so and calchas declares chryseis must be returned to her father agamemnon consents but then commands that achilles battle prize briseis be brought to him to replace chryseis angry at the dishonor of having his plunder and glory taken away and as he says later because he loved briseis with the urging of his mother thetis achilles refuses to fight or lead his troops alongside the other greek forces at this same time burning with rage over agamemnon theft achilles prays to thetis to convince zeus to help the trojans gain ground in the war so that he may regain his honor as the battle turns against the greeks thanks to the influence of zeus nestor declares that the trojans are winning because agamemnon has angered achilles and urges the king to appease the warrior agamemnon agrees and sends odysseus and two other chieftains ajax and phoenix to achilles with the offer of the return of briseis and other gifts achilles rejects all agamemnon offers him and simply urges the greeks to sail home as he was planning to do the trojans led by hector subsequently push the greek army back toward the beaches and assault the greek ships with the greek forces on the verge of absolute destruction patroclus leads the myrmidons into battle wearing achilles armor though achilles remains at his camp patroclus succeeds in pushing the trojans back from the beaches but is killed by hector before he can lead proper assault on the city of troy triumphant achilles dragging hector lifeless body in front of the gates of troy from panoramic fresco on the upper level of the main hall of the achilleion after receiving the news of the death of patroclus from antilochus the son of nestor achilles grieves over his beloved companion death his mother thetis comes to comfort the distraught achilles she persuades hephaestus to make new armor for him in place of the armor that patroclus had been wearing which was taken by hector the new armor includes the shield of achilles described in great detail in the poem enraged over the death of patroclus achilles ends his refusal to fight and takes the field killing many men in his rage but always seeking out hector achilles even engages in battle with the river god scamander who becomes angry that achilles is choking his waters with all the men he has killed the god tries to drown achilles but is stopped by hera and hephaestus zeus himself takes note of achilles rage and sends the gods to restrain him so that he will not go on to sack troy itself before the time allotted for its destruction seeming to show that the unhindered rage of achilles can defy fate itself finally achilles finds his prey achilles chases hector around the wall of troy three times before athena in the form of hector favorite and dearest brother deiphobus persuades hector to stop running and fight achilles face to face after hector realizes the trick he knows the battle is inevitable wanting to go down fighting he charges at achilles with his only weapon his sword but misses accepting his fate hector begs achilles not to spare his life but to treat his body with respect after killing him achilles tells hector it is hopeless to expect that of him declaring that my rage my fury would drive me now to hack your flesh away and eat you raw such agonies you have caused me achilles then kills hector and drags his corpse by its heels behind his chariot after having dream where patroclus begs achilles hold his funeral achilles hosts series of funeral games in his honor with the assistance of the god hermes hector father priam goes to achilles tent to plead with achilles for the return of hector body so that he can be buried achilles relents and promises truce for the duration of the funeral the poem ends with description of hector funeral with the doom of troy and achilles himself still to come penthesilea achilles after his temporary truce with priam fought and killed the amazonian warrior queen penthesilea but later grieved over her death at first he was so distracted by her beauty he did not fight as intensely as usual once he realized that his distraction was endangering his life he refocused and killed her memnon and the fall of achilles achilleion in corfu following the death of patroclus achilles closest companion was nestor son antilochus when memnon king of ethiopia slew antilochus achilles once more obtained revenge on the battlefield killing memnon the fight between achilles and memnon over antilochus echoes that of achilles and hector over patroclus except that memnon unlike hector was also the son of goddess many homeric scholars argued that episode inspired many details in the iliad description of the death of patroclus and achilles reaction to it the episode then formed the basis of the cyclic epic aethiopis which was composed after the iliad possibly in the th century the aethiopis is now lost except for scattered fragments quoted by later authors the death of achilles as predicted by hector with his dying breath was brought about by paris with an arrow to the heel according to statius in some versions the god apollo guided paris arrow some retellings also state that achilles was scaling the gates of troy and was hit with poisoned arrow attic black figure lekythos ca bc from sicily staatliche munich all of these versions deny paris any sort of valor owing to the common conception that paris was coward and not the man his brother hector was and achilles remained undefeated on the battlefield his bones were mingled with those of patroclus and funeral games were held he was represented in the aethiopis as living after his death in the island of leuke at the mouth of the river danube another version of achilles death is that he fell deeply in love with one of the trojan princesses polyxena achilles asks priam for polyxena hand in marriage priam is willing because it would mean the end of the war and an alliance with the world greatest warrior but while priam is overseeing the private marriage of polyxena and achilles paris who would have to give up helen if achilles married his sister hides in the bushes and shoots achilles with divine arrow killing him in the odyssey agamemnon informs achilles of his burial mound while they are receiving the dead suitors in hades he claims they built massive burial mound on the beach of ilion that could be seen by anyone approaching from the ocean achilles was cremated and his ashes buried in the same urn as those of patroclus paris was later killed by philoctetes using the enormous bow of heracles fate of achilles armor achilles armor was the object of feud between odysseus and telamonian ajax ajax the greater they competed for it by giving speeches on why they were the bravest after achilles to their trojan prisoners who after considering both men came to consensus in favor of odysseus furious ajax cursed odysseus which earned the ire of athena athena temporarily made ajax so mad with grief and anguish that he began killing sheep thinking them his comrades after while when athena lifted his madness and ajax realized that he had actually been killing sheep ajax was left so ashamed that he committed suicide odysseus eventually gave the armor to neoptolemus the son of achilles relic claimed to be achilles bronze headed spear was for centuries preserved in the temple of athena on the acropolis of phaselis lycia port on the pamphylian gulf the city was visited in bc by alexander the great who envisioned himself as the new achilles and carried the iliad with him but his court biographers do not mention the spear however it was shown in the time of pausanias in the nd century ad achilles and ajax playing the board game petteia black figure attic lekythos ca bc achilles ajax and game of petteia numerous paintings on pottery have suggested tale not mentioned in the literary traditions at some point in the war achilles and ajax were playing board game petteia they were absorbed in the game and oblivious to the surrounding battle the trojans attacked and reached the heroes who were saved only by an intervention of athena achilles and patroclus the exact nature of achilles relationship with patroclus has been subject of dispute in both the classical period and modern times in the iliad it appears to be the model of deep and loyal friendship homer does not suggest that achilles and his close friend patroclus were lovers despite there being no direct evidence in the text of the iliad that achilles and patroclus were lovers this theory was expressed by some later authors commentators from classical antiquity to the present have often interpreted the relationship through the lens of their own cultures in th century bc athens the intense bond was often viewed in light of the greek custom of paiderasteia in plato symposium the participants in dialogue about love assume that achilles and patroclus were couple phaedrus argues that achilles was the younger and more beautiful one so he was the beloved and patroclus was the lover but ancient greek had no words to distinguish heterosexual and homosexual and it was assumed that man could both desire handsome young men and have sex with women worship of achilles in antiquity achilles and briseis penthesilea brought her amazon warriors to help the trojans defend their city but was killed in combat by achilles here achilles looms above her as she sinks to the ground there was an archaic heroic cult of achilles on the white island leuce in the black sea off the modern coasts of romania and ukraine with temple and an oracle which survived into the roman period in the lost epic aithiopis continuation of the iliad attributed to arktinus of miletos achilles mother thetis returned to mourn him and removed his ashes from the pyre and took them to leuce at the mouths of the danube there the achaeans raised tumulus for him and celebrated funeral games pliny natural history mentions tumulus that is no longer evident insula akchillis tumulo eius viri clara on the island consecrated to him located at distance of fifty roman miles from peuce by the danube delta and the temple there pausanias has been told that the island is covered with forests and full of animals some wild some tame in this island there is also achilles temple and his statue ruins of square temple meters to side possibly that dedicated to achilles were discovered by captain kritzikly in but there has been no modern archeological work done on the island pomponius mela tells that achilles is buried in the island named achillea between boristhene and ister the greek geographer dionysius periegetus of bithynia who lived at the time of domitian writes that the island was called leuce because the wild animals which live there are white it is said that there in leuce island reside the souls of achilles and other heroes and that they wander through the uninhabited valleys of this island this is how jove rewarded the men who had distinguished themselves through their virtues because through virtue they had acquired everlasting honor the periplus of the euxine sea gives the following details it is said that the goddess thetis raised this island from the sea for her son achilles who dwells there here is his temple and his statue an archaic work this island is not inhabited and goats graze on it not many which the people who happen to arrive here with their ships sacrifice to achilles in this temple are also deposited great many holy gifts craters rings and precious stones offered to achilles in gratitude one can still read inscriptions in greek and latin in which achilles is praised and celebrated some of these are worded in patroclus honor because those who wish to be favored by achilles honor patroclus at the same time there are also in this island countless numbers of sea birds which look after achilles temple every morning they fly out to sea wet their wings with water and return quickly to the temple and sprinkle it and after they finish the sprinkling they clean the hearth of the temple with their wings other people say still more that some of the men who reach this island come here intentionally they bring animals in their ships destined to be sacrificed some of these animals they slaughter others they set free on the island in achilles honor but there are others who are forced to come to this island by sea storms as they have no sacrificial animals but wish to get them from the god of the island himself they consult achilles oracle they ask permission to slaughter the victims chosen from among the animals that graze freely on the island and to deposit in exchange the price which they consider fair but in case the oracle denies them permission because there is an oracle here they add something to the price offered and if the oracle refuses again they add something more until at last the oracle agrees that the price is sufficient and then the victim doesn run away any more but waits willingly to be caught so there is great quantity of silver there consecrated to the hero as price for the sacrificial victims to some of the people who come to this island achilles appears in dreams to others he would appear even during their navigation if they were not too far away and would instruct them as to which part of the island they would better anchor their ships quoted in densuşianu the heroic cult of achilles on leuce island was widespread in antiquity not only along the sea lanes of the pontic sea but also in maritime cities whose economic interests were tightly connected to the riches of the black sea achilles from leuce island was venerated as pontarches the lord and master of the pontic sea the protector of sailors and navigation sailors went out of their way to offer sacrifice to achilles of leuce were dedicated number of important commercial port cities of the greek waters achilleion in messenia stephanus byzantinus achilleios in laconia pausanias iii nicolae densuşianu densuşianu even though he recognized achilles in the name of aquileia and in the north arm of the danube delta the arm of chilia achileii though his conclusion that leuce had sovereign rights over pontos evokes modern rather than archaic sea law leuce had also reputation as place of healing pausanias iii reports that the delphic pythia sent lord of croton to be cured of chest wound ammianus marcellinus xxii attributes the healing to waters aquae on the island worship of achilles in modern times the achilleion in corfu in the region of gastouri γαστούρι to the south of the city of corfu greece empress of austria elisabeth of bavaria also known as sissi built in summer palace with achilles as its central theme and it is monument to platonic romanticism the palace naturally was named after achilles achilleion αχίλλειον this elegant structure abounds with paintings and statues of achilles both in the main hall and in the lavish gardens depicting the heroic and tragic scenes of the trojan war other stories achilleion in corfu he gazes northward toward the city the inscription in greek reads αχιλλευς achilles some post homeric sources claim that in order to keep achilles safe from the war thetis or in some versions peleus hides the young man at the court of lycomedes king of skyros there achilles is disguised as girl and lives among lycomedes daughters perhaps under the name pyrrha the red haired girl with lycomedes daughter deidamia whom in the account of statius he rapes achilles there fathers son neoptolemus also called pyrrhus after his father possible alias according to this story odysseus learns from the prophet calchas that the achaeans would be unable to capture troy without achilles aid odysseus goes to skyros in the guise of peddler selling women clothes and jewelry and places shield and spear among his goods when achilles instantly takes up the spear odysseus sees through his disguise and convinces him to join the greek campaign in another version of the story odysseus arranges for trumpet alarm to be sounded while he was with lycomedes women while the women flee in panic achilles prepares to defend the court thus giving his identity away in book of homer odyssey odysseus sails to the underworld and converses with the shades one of these is achilles who when greeted as blessed in life blessed in death responds that he would rather be slave to the worst of masters than be king of all the dead but achilles then asks odysseus of his son exploits in the trojan war and when odysseus tells of neoptolemus heroic actions achilles is filled with satisfaction this leaves the reader with an ambiguous understanding of how achilles felt about the heroic life achilles was worshipped as sea god in many of the greek colonies on the black sea the location of the mythical white island which he was said to inhabit after his death together with many other heroes the kings of the epirus claimed to be descended from achilles through his son neoptolemus alexander the great son of the epirote princess olympias could therefore also claim this descent and in many ways strove to be like his great ancestor he is said to have visited the tomb of achilles at achilleion while passing troy in ad the roman emperor caracalla while on his way to war against parthia emulated alexander by holding games around achilles tumulus achilles fought and killed the amazon helene some also said he married medea and that after both their deaths they were united in the elysian fields of hades as hera promised thetis in apollonius argonautica in some versions of the myth achilles has relationship with his captive briseis achilles in greek tragedy the greek tragedian aeschylus wrote trilogy of plays about achilles given the title achilleis by modern scholars the tragedies relate the deeds of achilles during the trojan war including his defeat of hector and eventual death when an arrow shot by paris and guided by apollo punctures his heel extant fragments of the achilleis and other aeschylean fragments have been assembled to produce workable modern play the first part of the achilleis trilogy the myrmidons focused on the relationship between achilles and chorus who represent the achaean army and try to convince achilles to give up his quarrel with agamemnon only few lines survive today in plato symposium phaedrus points out that aeschylus portrayed achilles as the lover and patroclus as the beloved phaedrus argues that this is incorrect because achilles being the younger and more beautiful of the two was the beloved who loved his lover so much that he chose to die to revenge him the tragedian sophocles also wrote the lovers of achilles play with achilles as the main character only few fragments survive towards the end of the th century bc more negative view of achilles emerges in greek drama euripides refers to achilles in bitter or ironic tone in hecuba electra and iphigenia in aulis achilles in greek philosophy the philosopher zeno of elea centered one of his paradoxes on an imaginary footrace between swift footed achilles and tortoise by which he attempted to show that achilles could not catch up to tortoise with head start and therefore that motion and change were impossible as student of the monist parmenides and member of the eleatic school zeno believed time and motion to be illusions achilles in roman and medieval literature the romans who traditionally traced their lineage to troy took highly negative view of achilles virgil refers to achilles as savage and merciless butcher of men while horace portrays achilles ruthlessly slaying women and children other writers such as catullus propertius and ovid represent second strand of disparagement with an emphasis on achilles erotic career this strand continues in latin accounts of the trojan war by writers such as dictys cretensis and dares phrygius and in benoît de sainte maure roman de troie and guido delle colonne historia destructionis troiae which remained the most widely read and retold versions of the matter of troy until the th century achilles was described by the byzantine chronicler leo the deacon not as hellene but as scythian while according to the byzantine author john malalas his army was made up of tribe previously known as myrmidons and later as bulgars popular culture the wrath of achilles by françois léon benouville musée fabre achilles is portrayed as former hero who has become lazy and devoted to the love of patroclus in william shakespeare troilus and cressida achilles appears in dante inferno he is seen in hell circle of lust achilles is the subject of the poem achilleïs fragment by johann wolfgang von goethe achilles is major character in madeline miller debut novel the song of achilles which won the orange prize for fiction the novel explores the relationship between patroclus and achilles from boyhood to the fateful events of the iliad achilles is central and playable character in koei warriors legends of troy he is later special guest character in warriors orochi achilles is mentioned in tennyson ulysses we shall touch the happy isles and meet there the great achilles whom we knew achilles akhilles is killed by poisoned kentaur arrow shot by kassandra in marion zimmer bradley novel the firebrand in disney hercules achilles was mentioned to have been student of philoctetes and reference to his heel being his weakness was made later in the film some people of thebes mock philoctetes for his training of achilles achilles appears in hercules episode achilles and the living legend voiced by dom irrera he is shown as washed out has been ever since he was defeated achilles appears in the light novel fate apocrypha as the rider of red achilles is one of various narrators in colleen mccullough novel the song of troy achilles is the main character in david malouf novel ransom the ghost of achilles appears in rick riordan the last olympian he warns percy jackson about the curse of achilles and its side effects achilles is one of the main characters in dan simmons novels ilium and olympos achilles armor appears as downloadable content in the video game god of war ascension in the web series rwby the character pyrrha nikos alludes to achilles like him she is very skilled warrior wielding javelin called miló which can also turn into rifle and xiphos and shield called akoúo her name and gender is reference to when achilles was disguised as girl named pyrrha in skyros in the finale of volume before she is killed by the villain cinder fall pyrrha is crippled with an arrow at the right heel and turned into ashes alluding to achilles death and cremation in the video game halo guardians the achilles armor and helmet are the most challenging cosmetic items to obtain the description for the armor only spartans who have mastered themselves bound their wrath and passion within shell of hyper dense steel fueled by star fire are granted access to the achilles lesser warriors will lose themselves in storm of blood the role of achilles has been played in film by piero lulli in ulysses stanley baker in helen of troy riley ottenhof in something about zeus arturo dominici in la guerra di troia gordon mitchell in the fury of achilles steve davislim in la belle hélène tv richard trewett in the miniseries the odyssey tv joe montana in helen of troy tv brad pitt in troy achilles has frequently been mentioned in music achilles is hardcore band achilles is an oratorio by german composer max bruch achilles agony ecstasy in eight parts by manowar the triumph of steel achilles last stand is song by led zeppelin presence achilles revenge is song by warlord achilles wrath is concert piece by sean loughlin achilles is referred to in bob dylan song temporary like achilles cry of achilles is the lead track off of alter bridge fourth album fortress namesakes the name of achilles has been used for at least nine royal navy warships since both as hms achilles and with the french spelling hms achille gun ship of that name served at the battle of belleisle in while gun ship served at the battle of trafalgar other battle honours include walcheren an armored cruiser of that name served in the royal navy during the first world war hmnzs achilles was leander class cruiser which served with the royal new zealand navy in world war ii it became famous for its part in the battle of the river plate alongside and in addition to earning the battle honour river plate hmnzs achilles also served at guadalcanal and okinawa in after returning to the royal navy the ship was sold to the indian navy in but when she was scrapped parts of the ship were saved and preserved in new zealand capois la mort slave who fought in the haitian revolution was nicknamed the black achilles because of his heroic performance during the last battle against the french prince achileas andreas of greece and denmark was the grandson of the deposed greek king constantine ii the character achilles in ender shadow by orson scott card shares his namesake cunning mind and ruthless attitude in the star trek universe the achilles class is an advanced type of federation battleship brought into service at the outbreak of the dominion war though not seen in any of the canonical star trek tv series achilles armor and valor are included in the video games titan quest and tq immortal throne the video game spartan total warrior features two campaign missions located in the fictional buried city of troy with the story arc for this segment of the game culminating in the discovery of the tomb of achilles and the acquisition of the spear of achilles notes references homer iliad homer odyssey xi pseudo apollodorus bibliotheca iii xiii apollodorus epitome iii ovid metamorphoses xi xii xiii ovid heroides iii apollonius rhodius argonautica iv dante alighieri the divine comedy inferno bibliography ileana chirassi colombo heroes achilleus theos apollon in il mito greco ed bruno gentili giuseppe paione rome anthony edwards achilles in the underworld iliad odyssey and æthiopis greek roman and byzantine studies pp achilles in the odyssey ideologies of heroism in the homeric epic beiträge zur klassischen philologie meisenheim kleos aphthiton and oral theory classical quarterly pp hélène monsacré les larmes achille le héros la femme et la souffrance dans la poésie homère paris albin michel gregory nagy the best of the acheans concepts of the hero in archaic greek poetry johns hopkins university rev edition the name of achilles questions of etymology and folk etymology illinois classical studies dale sinos the entry of achilles into greek epic ph thesis johns hopkins university jonathan burgess the death and afterlife of achilles baltimore johns hopkins university press external links trojan war resources gallery of the ancient art achilles poem by florence earle coates
abraham lincoln february april was the th president of the united states serving from march until his assassination in april lincoln led the united states through its civil war its bloodiest war and its greatest moral constitutional and political crisis in doing so he preserved the union abolished slavery strengthened the federal government and modernized the economy born in hodgenville kentucky lincoln grew up on the western frontier in kentucky and indiana largely self educated he became lawyer in illinois whig party leader and member of the illinois house of representatives in which he served for twelve years elected to the united states house of representatives in lincoln promoted rapid modernization of the economy through banks tariffs and railroads because he had originally agreed not to run for second term in congress and because his opposition to the mexican american war was unpopular among illinois voters lincoln returned to springfield and resumed his successful law practice reentering politics in he became leader in building the new republican party which had statewide majority in illinois in while taking part in series of highly publicized debates with his opponent and rival democrat stephen douglas lincoln spoke out against the expansion of slavery but lost the senate race to douglas in lincoln secured the republican party presidential nomination as moderate from swing state though he gained very little support in the slaveholding states of the south he swept the north and was elected president in lincoln victory prompted seven southern slave states to form the confederate states of america before he moved into the white house no compromise or reconciliation was found regarding slavery and secession subsequently on april confederate attack on fort sumter inspired the north to rally behind the union as the leader of the moderate faction of the republican party lincoln confronted radical republicans who demanded harsher treatment of the south war democrats who called for more compromise anti war democrats called copperheads who despised him and irreconcilable secessionists who plotted his assassination politically lincoln fought back by pitting his opponents against each other by carefully planned political patronage and by appealing to the american people with his powers of oratory his gettysburg address became an iconic endorsement of the principles of nationalism republicanism equal rights liberty and democracy lincoln initially concentrated on the military and political dimensions of the war his primary goal was to reunite the nation he suspended habeas corpus leading to the controversial ex parte merryman decision and he averted potential british intervention in the war by defusing the trent affair in late lincoln closely supervised the war effort especially the selection of top generals including his most successful general ulysses grant he also made major decisions on union war strategy including naval blockade that shut down the south normal trade moves to take control of kentucky and tennessee and using gunboats to gain control of the southern river system lincoln tried repeatedly to capture the confederate capital at richmond each time general failed lincoln substituted another until finally grant succeeded as the war progressed his complex moves toward ending slavery included the emancipation proclamation of lincoln used the army to protect escaped slaves encouraged the border states to outlaw slavery and pushed through congress the thirteenth amendment to the united states constitution which permanently outlawed slavery an exceptionally astute politician deeply involved with power issues in each state lincoln reached out to the war democrats and managed his own re election campaign in the presidential election anticipating the war conclusion lincoln pushed moderate view of reconstruction seeking to reunite the nation speedily through policy of generous reconciliation in the face of lingering and bitter divisiveness on april five days after the april th surrender of confederate commanding general robert lee lincoln was assassinated by john wilkes booth confederate sympathizer lincoln has been consistently ranked both by scholars and the public as one of the three greatest presidents family and childhood early life and family ancestry abraham lincoln was born february the second child of thomas and nancy hanks lincoln in one room log cabin on the sinking spring farm in hardin county kentucky now larue county he was descendant of samuel lincoln who migrated from norfolk england to hingham massachusetts in samuel grandson and great grandson began the family western migration which passed through new jersey pennsylvania and virginia lincoln paternal grandfather and namesake captain abraham lincoln moved the family from virginia to jefferson county kentucky in the captain lincoln was killed in an indian raid in his children including six year old thomas the future president father witnessed the attack after his father murder thomas was left to make his own way on the frontier working at odd jobs in kentucky and in tennessee before settling with members of his family in hardin county kentucky in the early lincoln mother nancy is widely assumed to have been the daughter of lucy hanks although no record of nancy hanks birth has ever been found according to william ensign lincoln book the ancestry of abraham lincoln nancy was the daughter of joseph hanks however the debate continues over whether she was born out of wedlock still another researcher adin baber claims that nancy hanks was the daughter of abraham hanks and sarah harper of virginia thomas lincoln and nancy hanks were married on june in washington county and moved to elizabethtown kentucky following their marriage they became the parents of three children sarah born on february abraham on february and another son thomas who died in infancy thomas lincoln bought or leased several farms in kentucky including the sinking spring farm where abraham was born however land title dispute soon forced the lincolns to move in the family moved eight miles north to knob creek farm where thomas acquired title to of land in claimant in another land dispute sought to eject the family from the farm of the acres that thomas held in kentucky he lost all but of his land in court disputes over property titles frustrated over the lack of security provided by kentucky courts thomas sold the remaining land he held in kentucky in and began planning move to indiana where the land survey process was more reliable and the ability for an individual to retain land titles was more secure in the family moved north across the ohio river to indiana free non slaveholding territory where they settled in an unbroken forest in hurricane township perry county their land in southern indiana became part of spencer county indiana when the county was established in the farm is preserved as part of the lincoln boyhood national memorial in lincoln noted that the family move to indiana was partly on account of slavery but mainly due to land title difficulties in kentucky during the family years in kentucky and indiana thomas lincoln worked as farmer cabinetmaker and carpenter he owned farms several town lots and livestock paid taxes sat on juries appraised estates served on country slave patrols and guarded prisoners thomas and nancy lincoln were also members of separate baptists church which had restrictive moral standards and opposed alcohol dancing and slavery within year of the family arrival in indiana thomas claimed title to of indiana land despite some financial challenges he eventually obtained clear title to of land in what became known as the little pigeon creek community in spencer county prior to the family move to illinois in thomas had acquired an additional twenty acres of land adjacent to his property alt statue of young lincoln sitting on stump holding book open on his lap several significant family events took place during lincoln youth in indiana on october nancy lincoln died of milk sickness leaving eleven year old sarah in charge of household that included her father nine year old abraham and dennis hanks nancy nineteen year old orphaned cousin on december lincoln father married sarah sally bush johnston widow from elizabethtown kentucky with three children of her own abraham became very close to his stepmother whom he referred to as mother those who knew lincoln as teenager later recalled him being very distraught over his sister sarah death on january while giving birth to stillborn son as youth lincoln disliked the hard labor associated with frontier life some of his neighbors and family members thought for time that he was lazy for all his reading scribbling writing ciphering writing poetry etc and must have done it to avoid manual labor his stepmother also acknowledged he did not enjoy physical labor but loved to read lincoln was largely self educated his formal schooling from several itinerant teachers was intermittent the aggregate of which may have amounted to less than year however he was an avid reader and retained lifelong interest in learning family neighbors and schoolmates of lincoln youth recalled that he read and reread the king james bible aesop fables bunyan the pilgrim progress defoe robinson crusoe weems the life of washington and franklin autobiography among others as he grew into his teens lincoln took responsibility for the chores expected of him as one of the boys in the household he also complied with the customary obligation of son giving his father all earnings from work done outside the home until the age of twenty one abraham became adept at using an axe tall for his age lincoln was also strong and athletic he attained reputation for brawn and audacity after very competitive wrestling match with the renowned leader of group of ruffians known as the clary grove boys in early march fearing milk sickness outbreak along the ohio river the lincoln family moved west to illinois non slaveholding state they settled on site in macon county illinois west of decatur historians disagree on who initiated the move after the family relocated to illinois abraham became increasingly distant from his father in part because of his father lack of education and occasionally lent him money in as thomas and other members of the family prepared to move to new homestead in coles county illinois abraham was old enough to make his own decisions and struck out on his own traveling down the sangamon river he ended up in the village of new salem in sangamon county later that spring denton offutt new salem merchant hired lincoln and some friends to take goods by flatboat from new salem to new orleans via the sangamon illinois and mississippi rivers after arriving in new orleans and witnessing slavery firsthand lincoln returned to new salem where he remained for the next six years marriage and children lincoln first romantic interest was ann rutledge whom he met when he first moved to new salem by they were in relationship but not formally engaged she died at the age of on august most likely of typhoid fever in the early he met mary owens from kentucky when she was visiting her sister late in lincoln agreed to match with mary if she returned to new salem mary did return in november and lincoln courted her for time however they both had second thoughts about their relationship on august lincoln wrote mary letter suggesting he would not blame her if she ended the relationship she never replied and the courtship ended in lincoln became engaged to mary todd who was from wealthy slave holding family in lexington kentucky they met in springfield illinois in december and were engaged the following december wedding set for january was canceled when the two broke off their engagement at lincoln initiative they later met again at party and married on november in the springfield mansion of mary married sister while preparing for the nuptials and feeling anxiety again lincoln when asked where he was going replied to hell suppose in the couple bought house in springfield near lincoln law office mary todd lincoln kept house often with the help of relative or hired servant girl he was an affectionate though often absent husband and father of four children robert todd lincoln was born in and edward baker lincoln eddie in edward died on february in springfield probably of tuberculosis willie lincoln was born on december and died of fever on february the lincolns fourth son thomas tad lincoln was born on april and died of heart failure at the age of on july robert was the only child to live to adulthood and have children the lincolns last descendant great grandson robert todd lincoln beckwith died in lincoln was remarkably fond of children and the lincolns were not considered to be strict with their own the deaths of their sons had profound effects on both parents later in life mary struggled with the stresses of losing her husband and sons and robert lincoln committed her temporarily to mental health asylum in abraham lincoln suffered from melancholy condition which now is referred to as clinical depression lincoln father in law and others of the todd family were either slave owners or slave traders lincoln was close to the todds and he and his family occasionally visited the todd estate in lexington during his term as president of the united states of america mary was known to cook for lincoln often since she was raised by wealthy family her cooking abilities were simple but satisfied lincoln tastes which included particularly imported oysters early career and militia service lincoln depicted protecting native american from his own men in scene often related about lincoln service during the black hawk war in at age lincoln and partner bought small general store on credit in new salem illinois although the economy was booming in the region the business struggled and lincoln eventually sold his share that march he began his political career with his first campaign for the illinois general assembly he had attained local popularity and could draw crowds as natural raconteur in new salem though he lacked an education powerful friends and money which may be why he lost he advocated navigational improvements on the sangamon river before the election lincoln served as captain in the illinois militia during the black hawk war following his return lincoln continued his campaign for the august election for the illinois general assembly at he was tall and strong enough to intimidate any rival at his first speech when he saw supporter in the crowd being attacked lincoln grabbed the assailant by his neck and the seat of his trousers and threw him lincoln finished eighth out of candidates the top four were elected though he received of the votes cast in the new salem precinct lincoln served as new salem postmaster and later as county surveyor all the while reading voraciously he then decided to become lawyer and began teaching himself law by reading blackstone commentaries on the laws of england and other law books of his learning method lincoln stated studied with nobody his second campaign in was successful he won election to the state legislature though he ran as whig many democrats favored him over more powerful whig opponent admitted to the bar in he moved to springfield illinois and began to practice law under john stuart mary todd cousin lincoln became an able and successful lawyer with reputation as formidable adversary during cross examinations and closing arguments he partnered with stephen logan from until then lincoln began his practice with william herndon whom lincoln thought studious young man successful on his second run for office lincoln served four successive terms in the illinois house of representatives as whig representative from sangamon county he supported the construction of the illinois and michigan canal which he remained involved with later as canal commissioner in the legislative session he voted to expand suffrage to white males whether landowners or not he was known for his free soil stance of opposing both slavery and abolitionism he first articulated this in saying the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy but the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than abate its evils his stance closely followed henry clay in supporting the american colonization society program of making the abolition of slavery practical by its advocation and helping the freed slaves to settle in liberia in africa house of representatives lincoln in his late as member of the house of representatives photo taken by one of lincoln law students around from the early lincoln was steadfast whig and professed to friends in to be an old line whig disciple of henry clay the party including lincoln favored economic modernization in banking protective tariffs to fund internal improvements including railroads and espoused urbanization as well in lincoln was elected to the house of representatives where he served one two year term he was the only whig in the illinois delegation but he showed his party loyalty by participating in almost all votes and making speeches that echoed the party line lincoln in collaboration with abolitionist congressman joshua giddings wrote bill to abolish slavery in the district of columbia with compensation for the owners enforcement to capture fugitive slaves and popular vote on the matter he abandoned the bill when it failed to garner sufficient whig supporters on foreign and military policy lincoln spoke out against the mexican american war which he attributed to president polk desire for military glory that attractive rainbow that rises in showers of blood lincoln also supported the wilmot proviso which if it had been adopted would have banned slavery in any territory won from mexico lincoln emphasized his opposition to polk by drafting and introducing his spot resolutions the war had begun with mexican slaughter of american soldiers in territory disputed by mexico and the polk insisted that mexican soldiers had invaded our territory and shed the blood of our fellow citizens on our own soil lincoln demanded that polk show congress the exact spot on which blood had been shed and prove that the spot was on american soil congress never enacted the resolution or even debated it the national papers ignored it and it resulted in loss of political support for lincoln in his district one illinois newspaper derisively nicknamed him spotty lincoln lincoln later regretted some of his statements especially his attack on the presidential war making powers realizing clay was unlikely to win the presidency lincoln who had pledged in to serve only one term in the house supported general zachary taylor for the whig nomination in the presidential election taylor won and lincoln hoped to be appointed commissioner of the general land office but that lucrative patronage job went to an illinois rival justin butterfield considered by the administration to be highly skilled lawyer but in lincoln view an old fossil the administration offered him the consolation prize of secretary or governor of the oregon territory this distant territory was democratic stronghold and acceptance of the post would have effectively ended his legal and political career in illinois so he declined and resumed his law practice prairie lawyer lincoln in lincoln returned to practicing law in springfield handling every kind of business that could come before prairie lawyer twice year for years weeks at time he appeared in county seats in the midstate region when the county courts were in session lincoln handled many transportation cases in the midst of the nation western expansion particularly the conflicts arising from the operation of river barges under the many new railroad bridges as riverboat man lincoln initially favored those interests but ultimately represented whoever hired him in fact he later represented bridge company against riverboat company in landmark case involving canal boat that sank after hitting bridge in he received patent for flotation device for the movement of boats in shallow water the idea was never commercialized but lincoln is the only president to hold patent in he represented the alton sangamon railroad in dispute with one of its shareholders james barret who had refused to pay the balance on his pledge to buy shares in the railroad on the grounds that the company had changed its original train route lincoln successfully argued that the railroad company was not bound by its original charter extant at the time of barret pledge the charter was amended in the public interest to provide newer superior and less expensive route and the corporation retained the right to demand barret payment the decision by the illinois supreme court has been cited by numerous other courts in the nation lincoln appeared before the illinois supreme court in cases in as sole counsel of which were decided in his favor from to another of lincoln largest clients was the illinois central railroad lincoln reputation with clients gave rise to his nickname honest abe lincoln most notable criminal trial occurred in when he defended william duff armstrong who was on trial for the murder of james preston metzker the case is famous for lincoln use of fact established by judicial notice in order to challenge the credibility of an eyewitness after an opposing witness testified seeing the crime in the moonlight lincoln produced farmers almanac showing the moon was at low angle drastically reducing visibility based on this evidence armstrong was acquitted lincoln rarely raised objections in the courtroom but in an case where he defended cousin peachy harrison who was accused of stabbing another to death lincoln angrily protested the judge decision to exclude evidence favorable to his client instead of holding lincoln in contempt of court as was expected the judge democrat reversed his ruling allowing the evidence and acquitting harrison republican politics slavery and house divided by the slavery was still legal in the southern united states but had been generally outlawed in the northern states including illinois whose original constitution forbade slavery as required by the northwest ordinance lincoln disapproved of slavery and the spread of slavery to new territory in the west he returned to politics to oppose the pro slavery kansas nebraska act this law repealed the slavery restricting missouri compromise senior senator stephen douglas of illinois had incorporated popular sovereignty into the act douglas provision which lincoln opposed specified settlers had the right to determine locally whether to allow slavery in new territory rather than have such decision restricted by the national congress eric foner contrasts the abolitionists and anti slavery radical republicans of the northeast who saw slavery as sin with the conservative republicans who thought it was bad because it hurt white people and blocked progress foner argues that lincoln was moderate in the middle opposing slavery primarily because it violated the republicanism principles of the founding fathers especially the equality of all men and democratic self government as expressed in the declaration of independence portrait of dred scott lincoln denounced the supreme court decision in dred scott sandford as part of conspiracy to extend slavery on october in his peoria speech lincoln declared his opposition to slavery which he repeated en route to the presidency speaking in his kentucky accent with very powerful voice he said the kansas act had declared indifference but as must think covert real zeal for the spread of slavery cannot but hate it hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world in late lincoln ran as whig for the senate at that time senators were elected by the state legislature after leading in the first six rounds of voting but unable to obtain majority lincoln instructed his backers to vote for lyman trumbull trumbull was an antislavery democrat and had received few votes in the earlier ballots his supporters also antislavery democrats had vowed not to support any whig lincoln decision to withdraw enabled his whig supporters and trumbull antislavery democrats to combine and defeat the mainstream democratic candidate joel aldrich matteson nationally the whigs had been irreparably split by the kansas nebraska act and other efforts to compromise on the slavery issue lincoln wrote think am whig but others say there are no whigs and that am an abolitionist do no more than oppose the extension of slavery drawing on the antislavery portion of the whig party and combining free soil liberty and antislavery democratic party members the new republican party formed as northern party dedicated to antislavery lincoln was one of those instrumental in forging the shape of the new party at the republican national convention he placed second in the contest to become its candidate for vice president in douglas broke with president james buchanan leading to fight for control of the democratic party some eastern republicans even favored the reelection of douglas for the senate in since he had led the opposition to the lecompton constitution which would have admitted kansas as slave state in march the supreme court issued its decision in dred scott sandford chief justice roger taney opined that blacks were not citizens and derived no rights from the constitution lincoln denounced the decision alleging it was the product of conspiracy of democrats to support the slave power lincoln argued the authors of the declaration of independence never intended to say all were equal in color size intellect moral developments or social capacity but they did consider all men created equal equal in certain inalienable rights among which are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness after the state republican party convention nominated him for the senate in lincoln delivered his house divided speech drawing on house divided against itself cannot stand believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free do not expect the union to be dissolved do not expect the house to fall but do expect it will cease to be divided it will become all one thing or all the other the speech created an evocative image of the danger of disunion caused by the slavery debate and rallied republicans across the north the stage was then set for the campaign for statewide election of the illinois legislature which would in turn select lincoln or douglas as its senator lincoln douglas debates and cooper union speech his debates with stephen douglas over slavery the senate campaign featured the seven lincoln douglas debates of the most famous political debates in american history the principals stood in stark contrast both physically and politically lincoln warned that the slave power was threatening the values of republicanism and accused douglas of distorting the values of the founding fathers that all men are created equal while douglas emphasized his freeport doctrine that local settlers were free to choose whether to allow slavery or not and accused lincoln of having joined the abolitionists the debates had an atmosphere of prize fight and drew crowds in the thousands lincoln stated douglas popular sovereignty theory was threat to the nation morality and that douglas represented conspiracy to extend slavery to free states douglas said that lincoln was defying the authority of the supreme court and the dred scott decision though the republican legislative candidates won more popular votes the democrats won more seats and the legislature re elected douglas to the senate despite the bitterness of the defeat for lincoln his articulation of the issues gave him national political reputation in may lincoln purchased the illinois staats anzeiger german language newspaper which was consistently supportive most of the state german americans voted democratic but there was republican support that german language paper could mobilize on february new york party leaders invited lincoln to give speech at cooper union to group of powerful republicans lincoln argued that the founding fathers had little use for popular sovereignty and had repeatedly sought to restrict slavery lincoln insisted the moral foundation of the republicans required opposition to slavery and rejected any groping for some middle ground between the right and the wrong despite his inelegant appearance many in the audience thought him awkward and even ugly lincoln demonstrated an intellectual leadership that brought him into the front ranks of the party and into contention for the republican presidential nomination journalist noah brooks reported no man ever before made such an impression on his first appeal to new york audience historian donald described the speech as superb political move for an unannounced candidate to appear in one rival william seward own state at an event sponsored by the second rival salmon chase loyalists while not mentioning either by name during its delivery in response to an inquiry about his presidential intentions lincoln said the taste is in my mouth little presidential nomination and campaign the rail candidate lincoln candidacy is depicted as held up by the slavery issue slave on the left and party organization on the right on may the illinois republican state convention was held in decatur lincoln followers organized campaign team led by david davis norman judd leonard swett and jesse dubois and lincoln received his first endorsement to run for the presidency exploiting the embellished legend of his frontier days with his father clearing the land and splitting fence rails with an ax lincoln supporters adopted the label of the rail candidate in lincoln described himself am in height six feet four inches nearly lean in flesh weighing on an average one hundred and eighty pounds dark complexion with coarse black hair and gray eyes his biographers added that he had large head with high crown of skull thick bushy hair large and deep eye caverns heavy eyebrows large nose large ears large mouth thin upper and somewhat thick under lip very high and prominent cheek bones cheeks thin and sunken strongly developed jawbone chin slightly upturned thin but sinewy neck rather long long arms large hands chest thin and narrow as compared with his great height legs of more than proportionate length and large feet on may at the republican national convention in chicago lincoln friends promised and manipulated and won the nomination on the third ballot beating candidates such as william seward and salmon chase former democrat hannibal hamlin of maine was nominated for vice president to balance the ticket lincoln success depended on his reputation as moderate on the slavery issue and his strong support for whiggish programs of internal improvements and the protective tariff on the third ballot pennsylvania put him over the top pennsylvania iron interests were reassured by his support for protective tariffs lincoln managers had been adroitly focused on this delegation as well as the others while following lincoln strong dictate to make no contracts that bind me most republicans agreed with lincoln that the north was the aggrieved party as the slave power tightened its grasp on the national government with the dred scott decision and the presidency of james buchanan throughout the lincoln doubted the prospects of civil war and his supporters rejected claims that his election would incite secession meanwhile douglas was selected as the candidate of the northern democrats delegates from slave states walked out of the democratic convention disagreeing with douglas position on popular sovereignty and ultimately selected john breckinridge as their candidate the wide awake parade was formed in by republicans in the northern states to help nominate abraham lincoln as the president of the united states as lincoln ideas of abolishing slavery grew so did his supporters people of the northern states knew the southern states would vote against lincoln because of his ideas of anti slavery and took action to rally supporters for lincoln as douglas and the other candidates went through with their campaigns lincoln was the only one of them who gave no speeches instead he monitored the campaign closely and relied on the enthusiasm of the republican party the party did the leg work that produced majorities across the north and produced an abundance of campaign posters leaflets and newspaper editorials there were thousands of republican speakers who focused first on the party platform and second on lincoln life story emphasizing his childhood poverty the goal was to demonstrate the superior power of free labor whereby common farm boy could work his way to the top by his own efforts the republican party production of campaign literature dwarfed the combined opposition chicago tribune writer produced pamphlet that detailed lincoln life and sold to copies presidency election and secession on november lincoln was elected the th president of the united states beating democrat stephen douglas john breckinridge of the southern democrats and john bell of the new constitutional union party he was the first president from the republican party his victory was entirely due to the strength of his support in the north and west no ballots were cast for him in of the southern slave states and he won only two of counties in all the southern states lincoln received votes douglas votes breckinridge votes and bell votes turnout was percent with lincoln winning the free northern states as well as california and oregon douglas won missouri and split new jersey with lincoln bell won virginia tennessee and kentucky and breckinridge won the rest of the south although lincoln won only plurality of the popular vote his victory in the electoral college was decisive lincoln had and his opponents added together had only there were fusion tickets in which all of lincoln opponents combined to support the same slate of electors in new york new jersey and rhode island but even if the anti lincoln vote had been combined in every state lincoln still would have won majority in the electoral college the first photographic image of the new president as lincoln election became evident secessionists made clear their intent to leave the union before he took office the next march on december south carolina took the lead by adopting an ordinance of secession by february florida mississippi alabama georgia louisiana and texas followed six of these states then adopted constitution and declared themselves to be sovereign nation the confederate states of america the upper south and border states delaware maryland virginia north carolina tennessee kentucky missouri and arkansas listened to but initially rejected the secessionist appeal president buchanan and president elect lincoln refused to recognize the confederacy declaring secession illegal the confederacy selected jefferson davis as its provisional president on february there were attempts at compromise the crittenden compromise would have extended the missouri compromise line of dividing the territories into slave and free contrary to the republican party free soil platform lincoln rejected the idea saying will suffer death before consent to any concession or compromise which looks like buying the privilege to take possession of this government to which we have constitutional right lincoln however did tacitly support the proposed corwin amendment to the constitution which passed congress before lincoln came into office and was then awaiting ratification by the states that proposed amendment would have protected slavery in states where it already existed and would have guaranteed that congress would not interfere with slavery without southern consent few weeks before the war lincoln sent letter to every governor informing them congress had passed joint resolution to amend the constitution lincoln was open to the possibility of constitutional convention to make further amendments to the constitution en route to his inauguration by train lincoln addressed crowds and legislatures across the north the president elect then evaded possible assassins in baltimore who were uncovered by lincoln head of security allan pinkerton on february he arrived in disguise in washington which was placed under substantial military guard lincoln directed his inaugural address to the south proclaiming once again that he had no intention or inclination to abolish slavery in the southern states the president ended his address with an appeal to the people of the south we are not enemies but friends we must not be enemies the mystic chords of memory stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land will yet swell the chorus of the union when again touched as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature the failure of the peace conference of signaled that legislative compromise was impossible by march no leaders of the insurrection had proposed rejoining the union on any terms meanwhile lincoln and the republican leadership agreed that the dismantling of the union could not be tolerated lincoln said as the war was ending both parties deprecated war but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive and the other would accept war rather than let it perish and the war came beginning of the war major anderson ft sumter commander the commander of fort sumter south carolina major robert anderson sent request for provisions to washington and the execution of lincoln order to meet that request was seen by the secessionists as an act of war on april confederate forces fired on union troops at fort sumter forcing them to surrender and began the war historian allan nevins argued that the newly inaugurated lincoln made three miscalculations underestimating the gravity of the crisis exaggerating the strength of unionist sentiment in the south and not realizing the southern unionists were insisting there be no invasion william tecumseh sherman talked to lincoln during inauguration week and was sadly disappointed at his failure to realize that the country was sleeping on volcano and that the south was preparing for war historian donald concludes that his repeated efforts to avoid collision in the months between inauguration and the firing on ft sumter showed he adhered to his vow not to be the first to shed fraternal blood but he also vowed not to surrender the forts the only resolution of these contradictory positions was for the confederates to fire the first shot they did just that on april lincoln called on all the states to send detachments totaling troops to recapture forts protect washington and preserve the union which in his view still existed intact despite the actions of the seceding states this call forced the states to choose sides virginia declared its secession and was rewarded with the confederate capital despite the exposed position of richmond so close to union lines north carolina tennessee and arkansas also voted for secession over the next two months secession sentiment was strong in missouri and maryland but did not prevail kentucky tried to be neutral the confederate attack on fort sumter rallied americans north of the mason dixon line to the defense of the american nation historian allan nevins says the thunderclap of sumter produced startling crystallization of northern sentiment anger swept the land from every side came news of mass meetings speeches resolutions tenders of business support the muster of companies and regiments the determined action of governors and legislatures states sent union regiments south in response to lincoln call to save the capital and confront the rebellion on april mobs in baltimore which controlled the rail links attacked union troops who were changing trains and local leaders groups later burned critical rail bridges to the capital the army responded by arresting local maryland officials lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus in areas the army felt it needed to secure for troops to reach washington john merryman maryland official involved in hindering the troop movements petitioned supreme court chief justice and marylander roger taney author of the controversial pro slavery dred scott opinion to issue writ of habeas corpus and in june taney acting as circuit judge and not speaking for the supreme court issued the writ because in his opinion only congress could suspend the writ lincoln continued the army policy that the writ was suspended in limited areas despite the ex parte merryman ruling assuming command for the union in the war after the battle of fort sumter lincoln realized the importance of taking immediate executive control of the war and making an overall strategy to put down the rebellion lincoln encountered an unprecedented political and military crisis and he responded as commander in chief using unprecedented powers he expanded his war powers and imposed blockade on all the confederate shipping ports disbursed funds before appropriation by congress and after suspending habeas corpus arrested and imprisoned thousands of suspected confederate sympathizers lincoln was supported by congress and the northern public for these actions in addition lincoln had to contend with reinforcing strong union sympathies in the border slave states and keeping the war from becoming an international conflict running the machine an political cartoon takes swing at lincoln administration featuring william fessenden edwin stanton william seward gideon welles lincoln and others the war effort was the source of continued disparagement of lincoln and dominated his time and attention from the start it was clear that bipartisan support would be essential to success in the war effort and any manner of compromise alienated factions on both sides of the aisle such as the appointment of republicans and democrats to command positions in the union army copperheads criticized lincoln for refusing to compromise on the slavery issue conversely the radical republicans criticized him for moving too slowly in abolishing slavery on august lincoln signed the confiscation act that authorized judiciary proceedings to confiscate and free slaves who were used to support the confederate war effort in practice the law had little effect but it did signal political support for abolishing slavery in the confederacy in late august general john frémont the republican presidential nominee issued without consulting his superiors in washington proclamation of martial law in missouri he declared that any citizen found bearing arms could be court martialed and shot and that slaves of persons aiding the rebellion would be freed frémont was already under cloud with charges of negligence in his command of the department of the west compounded with allegations of fraud and corruption lincoln overruled frémont proclamation lincoln believed that fremont emancipation was political neither militarily necessary nor legal after lincoln acted union enlistments from maryland kentucky and missouri increased by over troops lincoln left most diplomatic matters to his secretary of state william seward at times seward was too bellicose so for balance lincoln stuck close working relationship with senator charles sumner the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee the trent affair of late threatened war with great britain the navy had illegally intercepted british mail ship the trent on the high seas and seized two confederate envoys britain protested vehemently while the cheered lincoln ended the crisis by releasing the two diplomats biographer james randall has dissected lincoln successful techniques his restraint his avoidance of any outward expression of truculence his early softening of state department attitude toward britain his deference toward seward and sumner his withholding of his own paper prepared for the occasion his readiness to arbitrate his golden silence in addressing congress his shrewdness in recognizing that war must be averted and his clear perception that point could be clinched for america true position at the same time that full satisfaction was given to friendly country lincoln painstakingly monitored the telegraphic reports coming into the war department headquarters he kept close tabs on all phases of the military effort consulted with governors and selected generals based on their past success as well as their state and party in january after many complaints of inefficiency and profiteering in the war department lincoln replaced simon cameron with edwin stanton as war secretary stanton was staunchly unionist pro business conservative democrat who moved toward the radical republican faction nevertheless he worked more often and more closely with lincoln than any other senior official stanton and lincoln virtually conducted the war together say thomas and hyman in terms of war strategy lincoln articulated two priorities to ensure that washington was well defended and to conduct an aggressive war effort that would satisfy the demand in the north for prompt decisive victory major northern newspaper editors expected victory within days twice week lincoln would meet with his cabinet in the afternoon and occasionally mary lincoln would force him to take carriage ride because she was concerned he was working too hard lincoln learned from reading the theoretical book of his chief of staff general henry halleck disciple of the european strategist jomini he began to appreciate the critical need to control strategic points such as the mississippi river lincoln saw the importance of vicksburg and understood the necessity of defeating the enemy army rather than simply capturing territory general mcclellan after the union defeat at the first battle of bull run and the retirement of the aged winfield scott in late lincoln appointed major general george mcclellan general in chief of all the union armies mcclellan young west point graduate railroad executive and pennsylvania democrat took several months to plan and attempt his peninsula campaign longer than lincoln wanted the campaign objective was to capture richmond by moving the army of the potomac by boat to the peninsula and then overland to the confederate capital mcclellan repeated delays frustrated lincoln and congress as did his position that no troops were needed to defend washington lincoln insisted on holding some of mcclellan troops in defense of the capital mcclellan who consistently overestimated the strength of confederate troops blamed this decision for the ultimate failure of the peninsula campaign george mcclellan after the battle of antietam in lincoln removed mcclellan as general in chief in march after mcclellan harrison landing letter in which he offered unsolicited political advice to lincoln urging caution in the war effort the office remained empty until july when henry halleck was selected for it mcclellan letter incensed radical republicans who successfully pressured lincoln to appoint john pope republican as head of the new army of virginia pope complied with lincoln strategic desire to move toward richmond from the north thus protecting the capital from attack however lacking requested reinforcements from mcclellan now commanding the army of the potomac pope was soundly defeated at the second battle of bull run in the summer of forcing the army of the potomac to defend washington for second time the war also expanded with naval operations in when the css virginia formerly the uss merrimack damaged or destroyed three union vessels in norfolk virginia before being engaged and damaged by the uss monitor lincoln closely reviewed the dispatches and interrogated naval officers during their clash in the battle of hampton roads despite his dissatisfaction with mcclellan failure to reinforce pope lincoln was desperate and restored him to command of all forces around washington to the dismay of all in his cabinet but seward two days after mcclellan return to command general robert lee forces crossed the potomac river into maryland leading to the battle of antietam in september the ensuing union victory was among the bloodiest in american history but it enabled lincoln to announce that he would issue an emancipation proclamation in january having composed the proclamation some time earlier lincoln had waited for military victory to publish it to avoid it being perceived as the product of desperation mcclellan then resisted the president demand that he pursue lee retreating and exposed army while his counterpart general don carlos buell likewise refused orders to move the army of the ohio against rebel forces in eastern tennessee as result lincoln replaced buell with william rosecrans and after the midterm elections he replaced mcclellan with republican ambrose burnside both of these replacements were political moderates and prospectively more supportive of the commander in chief fredericksburg just prior to the battle of may burnside against the advice of the president prematurely launched an offensive across the rappahannock river and was stunningly defeated by lee at fredericksburg in december not only had burnside been defeated on the battlefield but his soldiers were disgruntled and undisciplined desertions during were in the thousands and they increased after fredericksburg lincoln brought in joseph hooker despite his record of loose talk about the need for military dictatorship the mid term elections in brought the republicans severe losses due to sharp disfavor with the administration over its failure to deliver speedy end to the war as well as rising inflation new high taxes rumors of corruption the suspension of habeas corpus the military draft law and fears that freed slaves would undermine the labor market the emancipation proclamation announced in september gained votes for the republicans in the rural areas of new england and the upper midwest but it lost votes in the cities and the lower midwest while republicans were discouraged democrats were energized and did especially well in pennsylvania ohio indiana and new york the republicans did maintain their majorities in congress and in the major states except new york the cincinnati gazette contended that the voters were depressed by the interminable nature of this war as so far conducted and by the rapid exhaustion of the national resources without progress in the spring of lincoln was optimistic about upcoming military campaigns to the point of thinking the end of the war could be near if string of victories could be put together these plans included hooker attack on lee north of richmond rosecrans on chattanooga grant on vicksburg and naval assault on charleston hooker was routed by lee at the battle of in may but continued to command his troops for some weeks he ignored lincoln order to divide his troops and possibly force lee to do the same in harper ferry and tendered his resignation which lincoln accepted he was replaced by george meade who followed lee into pennsylvania for the gettysburg campaign which was victory for the union though lee army avoided capture at the same time after initial setbacks grant laid siege to vicksburg and the union navy attained some success in charleston harbor after the battle of gettysburg lincoln clearly understood that his military decisions would be more effectively carried out by conveying his orders through his war secretary or his general in chief on to his generals who resented his civilian interference with their own plans even so he often continued to give detailed directions to his generals as commander in chief emancipation proclamation lincoln presents the first draft of the emancipation proclamation to his cabinet painted by alt dark haired bearded middle aged man holding documents is seated among seven other men lincoln understood that the federal government power to end slavery was limited by the constitution which before committed the issue to individual states he argued before and during his election that the eventual extinction of slavery would result from preventing its expansion into new territory at the beginning of the war he also sought to persuade the states to accept compensated emancipation in return for their prohibition of slavery lincoln believed that curtailing slavery in these ways would economically expunge it as envisioned by the founding fathers under the constitution president lincoln rejected two geographically limited emancipation attempts by major general john frémont in august and by major general david hunter in may on the grounds that it was not within their power and it would upset the border states loyal to the union on june endorsed by lincoln congress passed an act banning slavery on all federal territory in july the confiscation act of was passed which set up court procedures that could free the slaves of anyone convicted of aiding the rebellion although lincoln believed it was not within congress power to free the slaves within the states he approved the bill in deference to the legislature he felt such action could only be taken by the commander in chief using war powers granted to the president by the constitution and lincoln was planning to take that action in that month lincoln discussed draft of the emancipation proclamation with his cabinet in it he stated that as fit and necessary military measure on january all persons held as slaves in the confederate states will thenceforward and forever be free privately lincoln concluded at this point that the slave base of the confederacy had to be eliminated however copperheads argued that emancipation was stumbling block to peace and reunification republican editor horace greeley of the highly influential new york tribune fell for the ploy and lincoln refuted it directly in shrewd letter of august although he said he personally wished all men could be free lincoln stated that the primary goal of his actions as the president he used the first person pronoun and explicitly refers to his official duty was that of preserving the union the emancipation proclamation issued on september and put into effect on january declared free the slaves in states not then under union control with exemptions specified for areas already under union control in two states lincoln spent the next days preparing the army and the nation for emancipation while democrats rallied their voters in the off year elections by warning of the threat freed slaves posed to northern whites once the abolition of slavery in the rebel states became military objective as union armies advanced south more slaves were liberated until all three million of them in confederate territory were freed lincoln comment on the signing of the proclamation was never in my life felt more certain that was doing right than do in signing this paper for some time lincoln continued earlier plans to set up colonies for the newly freed slaves he commented favorably on colonization in the emancipation proclamation but all attempts at such massive undertaking failed few days after emancipation was announced republican governors met at the war governors conference they supported the president proclamation but suggested the removal of general george mcclellan as commander of the union army enlisting former slaves in the military was official government policy after the issuance of the emancipation proclamation by the spring of lincoln was ready to recruit black troops in more than token numbers in letter to andrew johnson the military governor of tennessee encouraging him to lead the way in raising black troops lincoln wrote the bare sight of armed and drilled black soldiers on the banks of the mississippi would end the rebellion at once by the end of at lincoln direction general lorenzo thomas had recruited regiments of blacks from the mississippi valley frederick douglass once observed of lincoln in his company was never reminded of my humble origin or of my unpopular color gettysburg address the speech with the great union victory at the battle of gettysburg in july and the defeat of the copperheads in the ohio election in the fall lincoln maintained strong base of party support and was in strong position to redefine the war effort despite the new york city draft riots the stage was set for his address at the gettysburg battlefield cemetery on november defying lincoln prediction that the world will little note nor long remember what we say here the address became the most quoted speech in american history in words and three minutes lincoln asserted the nation was born not in but in conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal he defined the war as an effort dedicated to these principles of liberty and equality for all the emancipation of slaves was now part of the national war effort he declared that the deaths of so many brave soldiers would not be in vain that slavery would end as result of the losses and the future of democracy in the world would be assured that government of the people by the people for the people shall not perish from the earth lincoln concluded that the civil war had profound objective new birth of freedom in the nation general grant sherman and grant and admiral porter painting of events aboard the river queen in march meade failure to capture lee army as it retreated from gettysburg and the continued passivity of the army of the potomac persuaded lincoln that change in command was needed general ulysses grant victories at the battle of shiloh and in the vicksburg campaign impressed lincoln and made grant strong candidate to head the union army responding to criticism of grant after shiloh lincoln had said can spare this man he fights with grant in command lincoln felt the union army could relentlessly pursue series of coordinated offensives in multiple theaters and have top commander who agreed on the use of black troops nevertheless lincoln was concerned that grant might be considering candidacy for president in as mcclellan was lincoln arranged for an intermediary to make inquiry into grant political intentions and being assured that he had none submitted to the senate grant promotion to commander of the union army he obtained congress consent to reinstate for grant the rank of lieutenant general which no officer had held since george washington grant waged his bloody overland campaign in this is often characterized as war of attrition given high union losses at battles such as the battle of the wilderness and cold harbor even though they had the advantage of fighting on the defensive the confederate forces had almost as high percentage of casualties as the union forces the high casualty figures of the union alarmed the north grant had lost third of his army and lincoln asked what grant plans were to which the general replied propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer the confederacy lacked reinforcements so lee army shrank with every costly battle grant army moved south crossed the james river forcing siege and trench warfare outside petersburg virginia lincoln then made an extended visit to grant headquarters at city point virginia this allowed the president to confer in person with grant and william tecumseh sherman about the hostilities as sherman coincidentally managed hasty visit to grant from his position in north carolina lincoln and the republican party mobilized support for the draft throughout the north and replaced the union losses lincoln authorized grant to target the confederate infrastructure such as plantations railroads and bridges hoping to destroy the south morale and weaken its economic ability to continue fighting grant move to petersburg resulted in the obstruction of three railroads between richmond and the south this strategy allowed generals sherman and philip sheridan to destroy plantations and towns in virginia shenandoah valley the damage caused by sherman march to the sea through georgia in was limited to swath but neither lincoln nor his commanders saw destruction as the main goal but rather defeat of the confederate armies mark neely jr has argued that there was no effort to engage in total war against civilians which he believed did take place during world war ii confederate general jubal anderson early began series of assaults in the north that threatened the capital during early raid on washington in lincoln was watching the combat from an exposed position captain oliver wendell holmes shouted at him get down you damn fool before you get shot after repeated calls on grant to defend washington sheridan was appointed and the threat from early was dispatched as grant continued to wear down lee forces efforts to discuss peace began confederate vice president stephens led group to meet with lincoln seward and others at hampton roads lincoln refused to allow any negotiation with the confederacy as coequal his sole objective was an agreement to end the fighting and the meetings produced no results on april grant successfully outflanked lee forces in the battle of five forks and nearly encircled petersburg and the confederate government evacuated richmond days later when that city fell lincoln visited the vanquished confederate capital as he walked through the city white southerners were stone faced but freedmen greeted him as hero on april lee surrendered to grant at appomattox and the war was effectively over re election while the war was still being waged lincoln faced reelection in lincoln was master politician bringing together and holding together all the main factions of the republican party and bringing in war democrats such as edwin stanton and andrew johnson as well lincoln spent many hours week talking to politicians from across the land and using his patronage powers greatly expanded over peacetime to hold the factions of his party together build support for his own policies and fend off efforts by radicals to drop him from the ticket at its convention the republican party selected johnson war democrat from the southern state of tennessee as his running mate to broaden his coalition to include war democrats as well as republicans lincoln ran under the label of the new union party when grant spring campaigns turned into bloody stalemates and union casualties mounted the lack of military success wore heavily on the president re election prospects and many republicans across the country feared that lincoln would be defeated sharing this fear lincoln wrote and signed pledge that if he should lose the election he would still defeat the confederacy before turning over the white house lincoln did not show the pledge to his cabinet but asked them to sign the sealed envelope while the democratic platform followed the peace wing of the party and called the war failure their candidate general george mcclellan supported the war and repudiated the platform lincoln provided grant with more troops and mobilized his party to renew its support of grant in the war effort sherman capture of atlanta in september and david farragut capture of mobile ended defeatist jitters the democratic party was deeply split with some leaders and most soldiers openly for lincoln by contrast the national union party was united and energized as lincoln made emancipation the central issue and state republican parties stressed the perfidy of the copperheads on november lincoln was re elected in landslide carrying all but three states and receiving percent of the union soldiers vote on march lincoln delivered his second inaugural address in it he deemed the high casualties on both sides to be god will historian mark noll concludes it ranks among the small handful of semi sacred texts by which americans conceive their place in the world lincoln said reconstruction reconstruction began during the war as lincoln and his associates anticipated questions of how to reintegrate the conquered southern states and how to determine the fates of confederate leaders and freed slaves shortly after lee surrender general had asked lincoln how the defeated confederates should be treated and lincoln replied let em up easy in keeping with that sentiment lincoln led the moderates regarding reconstruction policy and was opposed by the radical republicans under rep thaddeus stevens sen charles sumner and sen benjamin wade political allies of the president on other issues determined to find course that would reunite the nation and not alienate the south lincoln urged that speedy elections under generous terms be held throughout the war his amnesty proclamation of december offered pardons to those who had not held confederate civil office had not mistreated union prisoners and would sign an oath of allegiance political cartoon of vice president andrew johnson former tailor and lincoln entitled the rail splitter at work repairing the union the caption reads johnson take it quietly uncle abe and will draw it closer than ever lincoln few more stitches andy and the good old union will be mended as southern states were subdued critical decisions had to be made as to their leadership while their administrations were re formed of special importance were tennessee and arkansas where lincoln appointed generals andrew johnson and frederick steele as military governors respectively in louisiana lincoln ordered general nathaniel banks to promote plan that would restore statehood when percent of the voters agreed to it lincoln democratic opponents seized on these appointments to accuse him of using the military to ensure his and the republicans political aspirations on the other hand the radicals denounced his policy as too lenient and passed their own plan the wade davis bill in when lincoln vetoed the bill the radicals retaliated by refusing to seat representatives elected from louisiana arkansas and tennessee lincoln appointments were designed to keep both the moderate and radical factions in harness to fill chief justice taney seat on the supreme court he named the choice of the radicals salmon chase who lincoln believed would uphold the emancipation and paper money policies after implementing the emancipation proclamation which did not apply to every state lincoln increased pressure on congress to outlaw slavery throughout the entire nation with constitutional amendment lincoln declared that such an amendment would clinch the whole matter by december proposed constitutional amendment that would outlaw slavery was brought to congress for passage this first attempt at an amendment failed to pass falling short of the required two thirds majority on june in the house of representatives passage of the proposed amendment became part of the republican unionist platform in the election of after long debate in the house second attempt passed congress on january and was sent to the state legislatures for ratification upon ratification it became the thirteenth amendment to the united states constitution on december as the war drew to close lincoln presidential reconstruction for the south was in flux having believed the federal government had limited responsibility to the millions of freedmen he signed into law senator charles sumner freedmen bureau bill that set up temporary federal agency designed to meet the immediate material needs of former slaves the law assigned land for lease of three years with the ability to purchase title for the freedmen lincoln stated that his louisiana plan did not apply to all states under reconstruction shortly before his assassination lincoln announced he had new plan for southern reconstruction discussions with his cabinet revealed lincoln planned short term military control over southern states until readmission under the control of southern unionists historians agree that it is impossible to predict exactly what lincoln would have done about reconstruction if he had lived but they make projections based on his known policy positions and political acumen lincoln biographers james randall and richard current according to david lincove argue that it is likely that had he lived lincoln would have followed policy similar to johnson that he would have clashed with congressional radicals that he would have produced better result for the freedmen than occurred and that his political skills would have helped him avoid johnson mistakes eric foner argues that unlike sumner and other radicals lincoln did not see reconstruction as an opportunity for sweeping political and social revolution beyond emancipation he had long made clear his opposition to the confiscation and redistribution of land he believed as most republicans did in april that the voting requirements should be determined by the states he assumed that political control in the south would pass to white unionists reluctant secessionists and forward looking former confederates but time and again during the war lincoln after initial opposition had come to embrace positions first advanced by abolitionists and radical republicans lincoln undoubtedly would have listened carefully to the outcry for further protection for the former slaves it is entirely plausible to imagine lincoln and congress agreeing on reconstruction policy that encompassed federal protection for basic civil rights plus limited black suffrage along the lines lincoln proposed just before his death redefining the republic and republicanism lincoln in february about two months before his death the successful reunification of the states had consequences for the name of the country the term the united states has historically been used sometimes in the plural these united states and other times in the singular without any particular grammatical consistency the civil war was significant force in the eventual dominance of the singular usage by the end of the th century in recent years historians such as harry jaffa herman belz john diggins vernon burton and eric foner have stressed lincoln redefinition of republican values as early as the time when most political rhetoric focused on the sanctity of the constitution lincoln redirected emphasis to the declaration of independence as the foundation of american political values what he called the sheet anchor of republicanism the declaration emphasis on freedom and equality for all in contrast to the constitution tolerance of slavery shifted the debate as diggins concludes regarding the highly influential cooper union speech of early lincoln presented americans theory of history that offers profound contribution to the theory and destiny of republicanism itself his position gained strength because he highlighted the moral basis of republicanism rather than its legalisms nevertheless in lincoln justified the war in terms of legalisms the constitution was contract and for one party to get out of contract all the other parties had to agree and then in terms of the national duty to guarantee republican form of government in every state burton argues that lincoln republicanism was taken up by the freedmen as they were emancipated in march in lincoln first inaugural address he explored the nature of democracy he denounced secession as anarchy and explained that majority rule had to be balanced by constitutional restraints in the american system he said majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments is the only true sovereign of free people other enactments lincoln adhered to the whig theory of the presidency which gave congress primary responsibility for writing the laws while the executive enforced them lincoln vetoed only four bills passed by congress the only important one was the wade davis bill with its harsh program of reconstruction he signed the homestead act in making millions of acres of government held land in the west available for purchase at very low cost the morrill land grant colleges act also signed in provided government grants for agricultural colleges in each state the pacific railway acts of and granted federal support for the construction of the united states first railroad which was completed in the passage of the homestead act and the pacific railway acts was made possible by the absence of southern congressmen and senators who had opposed the measures in the other important legislation involved two measures to raise revenues for the federal government tariffs policy with long precedent and new federal income tax in lincoln signed the second and third morrill tariff the first having become law under james buchanan also in lincoln signed the revenue act of creating the first income tax this created flat tax of percent on incomes above in current dollar terms which was later changed by the revenue act of to progressive rate structure lincoln also presided over the expansion of the federal government economic influence in several other areas the creation of the system of national banks by the national banking act provided strong financial network in the country it also established national currency in congress created with lincoln approval the department of agriculture in lincoln sent senior general john pope to put down the sioux uprising in minnesota presented with execution warrants for convicted santee dakota who were accused of killing innocent farmers lincoln conducted his own personal review of each of these warrants eventually approving for execution one was later reprieved president lincoln had planned to reform federal indian policy in the wake of grant casualties in his campaign against lee lincoln had considered yet another executive call for military draft but it was never issued in response to rumors of one however the editors of the new york world and the journal of commerce published false draft proclamation which created an opportunity for the editors and others employed at the publications to corner the gold market lincoln reaction was to send the strongest of messages to the media about such behavior he ordered the military to seize the two papers the seizure lasted for two days lincoln is largely responsible for the institution of the thanksgiving holiday in the united states before lincoln presidency thanksgiving while regional holiday in new england since the th century had been proclaimed by the federal government only sporadically and on irregular dates the last such proclamation had been during james madison presidency years before in lincoln declared the final thursday in november of that year to be day of thanksgiving in june lincoln approved the yosemite grant enacted by congress which provided unprecedented federal protection for the area now known as yosemite national park judicial appointments supreme court appointments noah haynes swayne samuel freeman miller david davis stephen johnson field salmon portland chase chief justice salmon portland chase was lincoln choice to be chief justice of the united states lincoln declared philosophy on court nominations was that we cannot ask man what he will do and if we should and he should answer us we should despise him for it therefore we must take man whose opinions are known lincoln made five appointments to the united states supreme court noah haynes swayne nominated january and appointed january was chosen as an anti slavery lawyer who was committed to the union samuel freeman miller nominated and appointed on july supported lincoln in the election and was an avowed abolitionist david davis lincoln campaign manager in nominated december and appointed december had also served as judge in lincoln illinois court circuit stephen johnson field previous california supreme court justice was nominated march and appointed march and provided geographic balance as well as political balance to the court as democrat finally lincoln treasury secretary salmon chase was nominated as chief justice and appointed the same day on december lincoln believed chase was an able jurist would support reconstruction legislation and that his appointment united the republican party other judicial appointments lincoln appointed federal judges including four associate justices and one chief justice to the supreme court of the united states and judges to the united states district courts lincoln appointed no judges to the united states circuit courts during his time in office states admitted to the union west virginia admitted to the union june contained the former north westernmost counties of virginia that seceded from virginia after that commonwealth declared its secession from the union as condition for its admission west virginia constitution was required to provide for the gradual abolition of slavery nevada which became the third state in the far west of the continent was admitted as free state on october assassination and funeral shown in the presidential booth of ford theatre from left to right are assassin john wilkes booth abraham lincoln mary todd lincoln clara harris and henry rathbone abraham lincoln was assassinated by john wilkes booth on good friday april while attending play at ford theatre as the american civil war was drawing to close the assassination occurred five days after the surrender of robert lee and the confederate army of northern virginia booth was well known actor and confederate spy from maryland though he never joined the confederate army he had contacts with the confederate secret service in booth formulated plan very similar to one of thomas conrad previously authorized by the confederacy to kidnap lincoln in exchange for the release of confederate prisoners after attending an april speech in which lincoln promoted voting rights for blacks an incensed booth changed his plans and became determined to assassinate the president learning that the president and grant would be attending ford theatre booth formulated plan with co conspirators to assassinate lincoln and grant at the theater as well as vice president johnson and secretary of state seward at their homes without his main bodyguard ward hill lamon lincoln left to attend the play our american cousin on april at the last minute grant decided to go to new jersey to visit his children instead of attending the play lincoln bodyguard john parker left ford theater during intermission to drink at the saloon next door the now unguarded president sat in his state box in the balcony seizing the opportunity booth crept up from behind and at about pm aimed at the back of lincoln head and fired at point blank range mortally wounding the president major henry rathbone momentarily grappled with booth but booth stabbed him and escaped after being on the run for days booth was tracked down and found on farm in virginia some south of washington after refusing to surrender to union troops booth was killed by sergeant boston corbett on april doctor charles leale an army surgeon found the president unresponsive barely breathing and with no detectable pulse having determined that the president had been shot in the head and not stabbed in the shoulder as originally thought he made an attempt to clear the blood clot after which the president began to breathe more naturally the dying president was taken across the street to petersen house after remaining in coma for nine hours lincoln died at am on april secretary of war stanton saluted and said now he belongs to the ages lincoln flag enfolded body was then escorted in the rain to the white house by bareheaded union officers while the city church bells rang president johnson was sworn in at am less than hours after lincoln death the late president lay in state in the east room and then in the capitol rotunda from april through april for his final journey with his son willie both caskets were transported in the executive coach united states and for three weeks the lincoln special funeral train decorated in black bunting bore lincoln remains on slow circuitous waypoint journey from washington to springfield illinois stopping at many cities across the north for large scale memorials attended by hundreds of thousands as well as many people who gathered in informal trackside tributes with bands bonfires and hymn singing or silent reverence with hat in hand as the railway procession slowly passed by poet walt whitman composed when lilacs last in the dooryard bloom to eulogize lincoln one of four poems he wrote about the assassinated president historians have emphasized the widespread shock and sorrow but also noted that some lincoln haters cheered when they heard the news african americans were especially moved they had lost their moses in larger sense the outpouring of grief and anguish was in response to the deaths of so many men in the war that had just ended religious and philosophical beliefs lincoln painting by george peter alexander healy in as young man lincoln was religious skeptic or in the words of biographer an iconoclast later in life lincoln frequent use of religious imagery and language might have reflected his own personal beliefs or might have been device to appeal to his audiences who were mostly evangelical protestants he never joined church although he frequently attended with his wife however he was deeply familiar with the bible and he both quoted and praised it he was private about his beliefs and respected the beliefs of others lincoln never made clear profession of christian beliefs however he did believe in an all powerful god that shaped events and by was expressing those beliefs in major speeches in the lincoln subscribed to the doctrine of necessity belief that asserted the human mind was controlled by some higher power in the lincoln believed in providence in general way and rarely used the language or imagery of the evangelicals he regarded the republicanism of the founding fathers with an almost religious reverence when he suffered the death of his son edward lincoln more frequently expressed need to depend on god the death of his son willie in february may have caused lincoln to look toward religion for answers and solace after willie death lincoln considered why from divine standpoint the severity of the war was necessary he wrote at this time that god could have either saved or destroyed the union without human contest yet the contest began and having begun he could give the final victory to either side any day yet the contest proceeds on the day lincoln was assassinated he reportedly told his wife he desired to visit the holy land health several claims abound that lincoln health was declining before the assassination these are often based on photographs appearing to show weight loss and muscle wasting one such claim is that he suffered from rare genetic disorder men which manifests with medullary thyroid carcinoma mucosal neuromas and marfanoid appearance others simply claim he had marfan syndrome based on his tall appearance with spindly fingers and the association of possible aortic regurgitation which can cause bobbing of the head demusset sign based on blurring of lincoln head in photographs which back then had long exposure time dna analysis was being refused by the grand army of the republic museum in philadelphia historical reputation lincoln image is carved into the stone of mount rushmore in surveys of scholars ranking presidents conducted since the lincoln is consistently ranked in the top three often as number one study found that scholars in the fields of history and politics ranked lincoln number one while legal scholars placed him second after washington in presidential ranking polls conducted in the united states since lincoln has been rated at the very top in the majority of polls schlesinger schlesinger murray blessing survey chicago tribune poll schlesinger cspan ridings mciver time and cspan generally the top three presidents are rated as lincoln george washington and franklin roosevelt although lincoln and washington and washington and roosevelt are occasionally reversed president lincoln assassination increased his status to the point of making him national martyr lincoln was viewed by abolitionists as champion for human liberty republicans linked lincoln name to their party many though not all in the south considered lincoln as man of outstanding ability schwartz argues that lincoln reputation grew slowly in the late th century until the progressive era when he emerged as one of the most venerated heroes in american history with even white southerners in agreement the high point came in with the dedication of the lincoln memorial on the national mall in washington in the new deal era liberals honored lincoln not so much as the self made man or the great war president but as the advocate of the common man who they believe would have supported the welfare state in the cold war years lincoln image shifted to emphasize the symbol of freedom who brought hope to those oppressed by communist regimes by the lincoln had become hero to political conservatives for his intense nationalism support for business his insistence on stopping the spread of human bondage his acting in terms of lockean and burkean principles on behalf of both liberty and tradition and his devotion to the principles of the founding fathers as whig activist lincoln was spokesman for business interests favoring high tariffs banks internal improvements and railroads in opposition to the agrarian democrats william harris found that lincoln reverence for the founding fathers the constitution the laws under it and the preservation of the republic and its institutions undergirded and strengthened his conservatism james randall emphasizes his tolerance and especially his moderation in his preference for orderly progress his distrust of dangerous agitation and his reluctance toward ill digested schemes of reform randall concludes that he was conservative in his complete avoidance of that type of so called radicalism which involved abuse of the south hatred for the slaveholder thirst for vengeance partisan plotting and ungenerous demands that southern institutions be transformed overnight by outsiders by the late liberals such as historian lerone bennett were having second thoughts especially regarding lincoln views on racial issues bennett won wide attention when he called lincoln white supremacist in he noted that lincoln used ethnic slurs told jokes that ridiculed blacks insisted he opposed social equality and proposed sending freed slaves to another country defenders such as authors dirck and cashin retorted that he was not as bad as most politicians of his day and that he was moral visionary who deftly advanced the abolitionist cause as fast as politically possible the emphasis shifted away from lincoln the emancipator to an argument that blacks had freed themselves from slavery or at least were responsible for pressuring the government on emancipation historian barry schwartz wrote in that lincoln image suffered erosion fading prestige benign ridicule in the late th century on the other hand donald opined in his biography that lincoln was distinctly endowed with the personality trait of negative capability defined by the poet john keats and attributed to extraordinary leaders who were content in the midst of uncertainties and doubts and not compelled toward fact or reason in the st century president barack obama named lincoln his favorite president and insisted on using lincoln bible for his swearing in of office at both his inaugurations lincoln has often been portrayed by hollywood almost always in flattering light memory and memorials lincoln memorial in washington lincoln portrait appears on two denominations of united states currency the penny and the bill his likeness also appears on many postage stamps and he has been memorialized in many town city and county names including the capital of nebraska the most famous and most visited memorials are lincoln sculpture on mount rushmore lincoln memorial ford theatre and petersen house where he died in washington and the abraham lincoln presidential library and museum in springfield illinois not far from lincoln home as well as his tomb there was also the great moments with mr lincoln exhibit in disneyland and the hall of presidents at walt disney world which had to do with walt disney admiring lincoln ever since he was little boy barry schwartz sociologist who has examined america cultural memory argues that in the and the memory of abraham lincoln was practically sacred and provided the nation with moral symbol inspiring and guiding american life during the great depression he argues lincoln served as means for seeing the world disappointments for making its sufferings not so much explicable as meaningful franklin roosevelt preparing america for war used the words of the civil war president to clarify the threat posed by germany and japan americans asked what would lincoln do however schwartz also finds that since world war ii lincoln symbolic power has lost relevance and this fading hero is symptomatic of fading confidence in national greatness he suggested that postmodernism and have diluted greatness as concept see also list of presidents of the united states list of presidents of the united states sortable by previous experience blab school dakota war of lincoln tower list of photographs of abraham lincoln list of civil rights leaders references bibliography cited in footnotes mcclintock russell lincoln and the decision for war the northern response to secession online also published as vol of ordeal of the union also published as vol of ordeal of the union historiography holzer harold and craig symonds eds exploring lincoln great historians reappraise our greatest president essays by scholars manning chandra the shifting terrain of attitudes toward abraham lincoln and emancipation journal of the abraham lincoln association winter smith adam the cult of abraham lincoln and the strange survival of liberal england in the era of the world wars twentieth century british history dec pp spielberg steven goodwin doris kearns kushner tony mr lincoln goes to hollywood smithsonian pp additional references green michael lincoln and the election of concise lincoln library excerpt and text search vol of detailed biography peraino kevin lincoln in the world the making of statesman and the dawn of american power external links official abraham lincoln presidential library and museum white house biography organizations abraham lincoln association abraham lincoln bicentennial foundation media coverage other abraham lincoln resource guide from the library of congress life portrait of abraham lincoln from span american presidents life portraits june writings of abraham lincoln from span american writers journey through history abraham lincoln original letters and manuscripts shapell manuscript foundation lincoln net abraham lincoln historical digitization project northern illinois university libraries teaching abraham lincoln national endowment for the humanities in popular song our noble chief has passed away by cooper thomas
aristotle aristotélēs bc was greek philosopher and scientist born in the city of stagira chalkidice on the northern periphery of classical greece his father nicomachus died when aristotle was child whereafter proxenus of atarneus became his guardian at seventeen eighteen he joined plato academy in athens and remained there until the age of thirty seven bc his writings cover many subjects including physics biology zoology metaphysics logic ethics aesthetics poetry theater music rhetoric linguistics politics and government and constitute the first comprehensive system of western philosophy shortly after plato died aristotle left athens and at the request of philip of macedon tutored alexander the great starting from bc teaching alexander the great gave aristotle many opportunities and an abundance of supplies he established library in the lyceum which aided in the production of many of his hundreds of books the fact that aristotle was pupil of plato contributed to his former views of platonism but following plato death aristotle immersed himself in empirical studies and shifted from platonism to empiricism he believed all peoples concepts and all of their knowledge was ultimately based on perception aristotle views on natural sciences represent the groundwork underlying many of his works aristotle views on physical science profoundly shaped medieval scholarship their influence extended into the renaissance and were not replaced systematically until the enlightenment and theories such as classical mechanics some of aristotle zoological observations such as on the hectocotyl reproductive arm of the octopus were not confirmed or refuted until the th century his works contain the earliest known formal study of logic which was incorporated in the late th century into modern formal logic in metaphysics aristotelianism profoundly influenced judeo islamic philosophical and theological thought during the middle ages and continues to influence christian theology especially the scholastic tradition of the catholic church aristotle was well known among medieval muslim intellectuals and revered as the first teacher his ethics though always influential gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics all aspects of aristotle philosophy continue to be the object of active academic study today though aristotle wrote many elegant treatises and dialogues cicero described his literary style as river of gold it is thought that only around third of his original output has survived life mieza macedonia greece aristotle whose name means the best purpose was born in bc in stagira chalcidice about km miles east of modern day thessaloniki his father nicomachus was the personal physician to king amyntas of macedon although there is little information on aristotle childhood he probably spent some time within the macedonian palace making his first connections with the macedonian monarchy at about the age of eighteen aristotle moved to athens to continue his education at plato academy he remained there for nearly twenty years before leaving athens in bc the traditional story about his departure records that he was disappointed with the academy direction after control passed to plato nephew speusippus although it is possible that he feared anti macedonian sentiments and left before plato died aristotle by francesco hayez aristotle then accompanied xenocrates to the court of his friend hermias of atarneus in asia minor there he traveled with theophrastus to the island of lesbos where together they researched the botany and zoology of the island aristotle married pythias either hermias adoptive daughter or niece she bore him daughter whom they also named pythias soon after hermias death aristotle was invited by philip ii of macedon to become the tutor to his son alexander in bc aristotle was appointed as the head of the royal academy of macedon during that time he gave lessons not only to alexander but also to two other future kings ptolemy and cassander aristotle encouraged alexander toward eastern conquest and his attitude towards persia was unabashedly ethnocentric in one famous example he counsels alexander to be leader to the greeks and despot to the barbarians to look after the former as after friends and relatives and to deal with the latter as with beasts or plants by bc artistotle had returned to athens establishing his own school there known as the lyceum aristotle conducted courses at the school for the next twelve years while in athens his wife pythias died and aristotle became involved with herpyllis of stagira who bore him son whom he named after his father nicomachus according to the suda he also had an eromenos palaephatus of abydus this period in athens between and bc is when aristotle is believed to have composed many of his works he wrote many dialogues of which only fragments have survived those works that have survived are in treatise form and were not for the most part intended for widespread publication they are generally thought to be lecture aids for his students his most important treatises include physics metaphysics nicomachean ethics politics de anima on the soul and poetics aristotle not only studied almost every subject possible at the time but made significant contributions to most of them in physical science aristotle studied anatomy astronomy embryology geography geology meteorology physics and zoology in philosophy he wrote on aesthetics ethics government metaphysics politics economics psychology rhetoric and theology he also studied education foreign customs literature and poetry his combined works constitute virtual encyclopedia of greek knowledge near the end of his life alexander and aristotle became estranged over alexander relationship with persia and persians widespread tradition in antiquity suspected aristotle of playing role in alexander death but there is little evidence following alexander death anti macedonian sentiment in athens was rekindled in bc demophilus and eurymedon the hierophant reportedly denounced aristotle for impiety prompting him to flee to his mother family estate in chalcis at which occasion he was said to have stated will not allow the athenians to sin twice against philosophy reference to athens prior trial and execution of socrates he died in euboea of natural causes later that same year having named his student antipater as his chief executor and leaving will in which he asked to be buried next to his wife charles walston argues that the tomb of aristotle is located on the sacred way between chalcis and eretria and to have contained two styluses pen signet ring and some terra cottas as well as what is supposed to be the earthly remains of aristotle in the form of some skull fragments in general the details of the life of aristotle are not well established the biographies of aristotle written in ancient times are often speculative and historians only agree on few salient points thought logic aristotle portrayed in the nuremberg chronicle as scholar of the th century ad with the prior analytics aristotle is credited with the earliest study of formal logic and his conception of it was the dominant form of western logic until th century advances in mathematical logic kant stated in the critique of pure reason that aristotle theory of logic completely accounted for the core of deductive inference history aristotle says that on the subject of reasoning he had nothing else on an earlier date to speak of however plato reports that syntax was devised before him by prodicus of ceos who was concerned by the correct use of words logic seems to have emerged from dialectics the earlier philosophers made frequent use of concepts like reductio ad absurdum in their discussions but never truly understood the logical implications even plato had difficulties with logic although he had reasonable conception of deductive system he could never actually construct one thus he relied instead on his dialectic plato believed that deduction would simply follow from premises hence he focused on maintaining solid premises so that the conclusion would logically follow consequently plato realized that method for obtaining conclusions would be most beneficial he never succeeded in devising such method but his best attempt was published in his book sophist where he introduced his division method analytics and the organon what we today call aristotelian logic aristotle himself would have labeled analytics the term logic he reserved to mean dialectics most of aristotle work is probably not in its original form because it was most likely edited by students and later lecturers the logical works of aristotle were compiled into six books in about the early st century ce categories on interpretation prior analytics posterior analytics topics on sophistical refutations the order of the books or the teachings from which they are composed is not certain but this list was derived from analysis of aristotle writings it goes from the basics the analysis of simple terms in the categories the analysis of propositions and their elementary relations in on interpretation to the study of more complex forms namely syllogisms in the analytics and dialectics in the topics and sophistical refutations the first three treatises form the core of the logical theory stricto sensu the grammar of the language of logic and the correct rules of reasoning there is one volume of aristotle concerning logic not found in the organon namely the fourth book of metaphysics aristotle epistemology plato left and aristotle right detail of the school of athens fresco by raphael aristotle gestures to the earth representing his belief in knowledge through empirical observation and experience while holding copy of his nicomachean ethics in his hand whilst plato gestures to the heavens representing his belief in the forms while holding copy of timaeus like his teacher plato aristotle philosophy aims at the universal aristotle ontology however finds the universal in particular things which he calls the essence of things while in plato ontology the universal exists apart from particular things and is related to them as their prototype or exemplar for aristotle therefore epistemology is based on the study of particular phenomena and rises to the knowledge of essences while for plato epistemology begins with knowledge of universal forms or ideas and descends to knowledge of particular imitations of these for aristotle form still refers to the unconditional basis of phenomena but is instantiated in particular substance see universals and particulars below in certain sense aristotle method is both inductive and deductive while plato is essentially deductive from priori principles in aristotle terminology natural philosophy is branch of philosophy examining the phenomena of the natural world and includes fields that would be regarded today as physics biology and other natural sciences in modern times the scope of philosophy has become limited to more generic or abstract inquiries such as ethics and metaphysics in which logic plays major role today philosophy tends to exclude empirical study of the natural world by means of the scientific method in contrast aristotle philosophical endeavors encompassed virtually all facets of intellectual inquiry in the larger sense of the word aristotle makes philosophy coextensive with reasoning which he also would describe as science note however that his use of the term science carries different meaning than that covered by the term scientific method for aristotle all science dianoia is either practical poetical or theoretical metaphysics by practical science he means ethics and politics by poetical science he means the study of poetry and the other fine arts by theoretical science he means physics mathematics and metaphysics if logic or analytics is regarded as study preliminary to philosophy the divisions of aristotelian philosophy would consist of logic theoretical philosophy including metaphysics physics and mathematics practical philosophy and poetical philosophy in the period between his two stays in athens between his times at the academy and the lyceum aristotle conducted most of the scientific thinking and research for which he is renowned today in fact most of aristotle life was devoted to the study of the objects of natural science aristotle metaphysics contains observations on the nature of numbers but he made no original contributions to mathematics he did however perform original research in the natural sciences botany zoology physics astronomy chemistry meteorology and several other sciences aristotle writings on science are largely qualitative as opposed to quantitative beginning in the th century scientists began applying mathematics to the physical sciences and aristotle work in this area was deemed hopelessly inadequate his failings were largely due to the absence of concepts like mass velocity force and temperature he had conception of speed and temperature but no quantitative understanding of them which was partly due to the absence of basic experimental devices like clocks and thermometers his writings provide an account of many scientific observations mixture of precocious accuracy and curious errors for example in his history of animals he claimed that human males have more teeth than females in similar vein john philoponus and later galileo showed by simple experiments that aristotle theory that heavier object falls faster than lighter object is incorrect on the other hand aristotle refuted democritus claim that the milky way was made up of those stars which are shaded by the earth from the sun rays pointing out correctly even if such reasoning was bound to be dismissed for long time that given current astronomical demonstrations that the size of the sun is greater than that of the earth and the distance of the stars from the earth many times greater than that of the sun then the sun shines on all the stars and the earth screens none of them in places aristotle goes too far in deriving laws of the universe from simple observation and over stretched reason today scientific method assumes that such thinking without sufficient facts is ineffective and that discerning the validity of one hypothesis requires far more rigorous experimentation than that which aristotle used to support his laws aristotle also had some scientific blind spots he posited geocentric cosmology that we may discern in selections of the metaphysics which was widely accepted up until the th century from the rd century to the th century the dominant view held that the earth was the rotational center of the universe because he was perhaps the philosopher most respected by european thinkers during and after the renaissance these thinkers often took aristotle erroneous positions as given which held back science in this epoch however aristotle scientific shortcomings should not mislead one into forgetting his great advances in the many scientific fields for instance he founded logic as formal science and created foundations to biology that were not superseded for two millennia moreover he introduced the fundamental notion that nature is composed of things that change and that studying such changes can provide useful knowledge of underlying constants geology as quoted from charles lyell principles of geology he aristotle refers to many examples of changes now constantly going on and insists emphatically on the great results which they must produce in the lapse of ages he instances particular cases of lakes that had dried up and deserts that had at length become watered by rivers and fertilized he points to the growth of the nilotic delta since the time of homer to the shallowing of the palus maeotis within sixty years from his own time he alludes to the upheaving of one of the eolian islands previous to volcanic eruption the changes of the earth he says are so slow in comparison to the duration of our lives that they are overlooked and the migrations of people after great catastrophes and their removal to other regions cause the event to be forgotten he says th chapter of his meteorics the distribution of land and sea in particular regions does not endure throughout all time but it becomes sea in those parts where it was land and again it becomes land where it was sea and there is reason for thinking that these changes take place according to certain system and within certain period the concluding observation is as follows as time never fails and the universe is eternal neither the tanais nor the nile can have flowed for ever the places where they rise were once dry and there is limit to their operations but there is none to time so also of all other rivers they spring up and they perish and the sea also continually deserts some lands and invades others the same tracts therefore of the earth are not some always sea and others always continents but every thing changes in the course of time physics five elements aristotle proposed fifth element aether in addition to the four proposed earlier by empedocles earth which is cold and dry this corresponds to the modern idea of solid water which is cold and wet this corresponds to the modern idea of liquid air which is hot and wet this corresponds to the modern idea of gas fire which is hot and dry this corresponds to the modern ideas of plasma and heat aether which is the divine substance that makes up the heavenly spheres and heavenly bodies stars and planets each of the four earthly elements has its natural place all that is earthly tends toward the center of the universe the center of the earth water tends toward sphere surrounding the center air tends toward sphere surrounding the water sphere fire tends toward the lunar sphere in which the moon orbits when elements are moved out of their natural place they naturally move back towards it this is natural motion motion requiring no extrinsic cause so for example in water earthy bodies sink while air bubbles rise up in air rain falls and flame rises outside all the other spheres the heavenly fifth element manifested in the stars and planets moves in the perfection of circles motion aristotle defined motion as the actuality of potentiality as such aquinas suggested that the passage be understood literally that motion can indeed be understood as the active fulfillment of potential as transition toward potentially possible state because actuality and potentiality are normally opposites in aristotle other commentators either suggest that the wording which has come down to us is erroneous or that the addition of the as such to the definition is critical to understanding it causality the four causes aristotle suggested that the reason for anything coming about can be attributed to four different types of simultaneously active causal factors material cause describes the material out of which something is composed thus the material cause of table is wood and the material cause of car is rubber and steel it is not about action it does not mean one domino knocks over another domino the formal cause is its form the arrangement of that matter it tells us what thing is that any thing is determined by the definition form pattern essence whole synthesis or archetype it embraces the account of causes in terms of fundamental principles or general laws as the whole macrostructure is the cause of its parts relationship known as the whole part causation plainly put the formal cause is the idea existing in the first place as exemplar in the mind of the sculptor and in the second place as intrinsic determining cause embodied in the matter formal cause could only refer to the essential quality of causation simple example of the formal cause is the mental image or idea that allows an artist architect or engineer to create his drawings the efficient cause is the primary source or that from which the change under consideration proceeds it identifies what makes of what is made and what causes change of what is changed and so suggests all sorts of agents nonliving or living acting as the sources of change or movement or rest representing the current understanding of causality as the relation of cause and effect this covers the modern definitions of cause as either the agent or agency or particular events or states of affairs so take the two dominoes this time of equal weighting the first is knocked over causing the second also to fall over the final cause is its purpose or that for the sake of which thing exists or is done including both purposeful and instrumental actions and activities the final cause or teleos is the purpose or function that something is supposed to serve this covers modern ideas of motivating causes such as volition need desire ethics or spiritual beliefs additionally things can be causes of one another causing each other reciprocally as hard work causes fitness and vice versa although not in the same way or function the one is as the beginning of change the other as the goal thus aristotle first suggested reciprocal or circular causality as relation of mutual dependence or influence of cause upon effect moreover aristotle indicated that the same thing can be the cause of contrary effects its presence and absence may result in different outcomes simply it is the goal or purpose that brings about an event our two dominoes require someone or something to intentionally knock over the first domino because it cannot fall of its own accord aristotle marked two modes of causation proper prior causation and accidental chance causation all causes proper and incidental can be spoken as potential or as actual particular or generic the same language refers to the effects of causes so that generic effects assigned to generic causes particular effects to particular causes operating causes to actual effects essentially causality does not suggest temporal relation between the cause and the effect optics aristotle held more accurate theories on some optical concepts than other philosophers of his day the second oldest written evidence of camera obscura after mozi bc can be found in aristotle documentation of such device in bc in problemata aristotle apparatus contained dark chamber that had single small hole or aperture to allow for sunlight to enter aristotle used the device to make observations of the sun and noted that no matter what shape the hole was the sun would still be correctly displayed as round object in modern cameras this is analogous to the diaphragm aristotle also made the observation that when the distance between the aperture and the surface with the image increased the image was magnified chance and spontaneity according to aristotle spontaneity and chance are causes of some things distinguishable from other types of cause chance as an incidental cause lies in the realm of accidental things it is from what is spontaneous but note that what is spontaneous does not come from chance for better understanding of aristotle conception of chance it might be better to think of coincidence something takes place by chance if person sets out with the intent of having one thing take place but with the result of another thing not intended taking place for example person seeks donations that person may find another person willing to donate substantial sum however if the person seeking the donations met the person donating not for the purpose of collecting donations but for some other purpose aristotle would call the collecting of the donation by that particular donator result of chance it must be unusual that something happens by chance in other words if something happens all or most of the time we cannot say that it is by chance there is also more specific kind of chance which aristotle names luck that can only apply to human beings because it is in the sphere of moral actions according to aristotle luck must involve choice and thus deliberation and only humans are capable of deliberation and choice what is not capable of action cannot do anything by chance metaphysics aristotle defines metaphysics as the knowledge of immaterial being or of being in the highest degree of abstraction he refers to metaphysics as first philosophy as well as the theologic science substance potentiality and actuality aristotle examines the concepts of substance and essence ousia in his metaphysics book vii and he concludes that particular substance is combination of both matter and form in book viii he distinguishes the matter of the substance as the substratum or the stuff of which it is composed for example the matter of house is the bricks stones timbers etc or whatever constitutes the potential house while the form of the substance is the actual house namely covering for bodies and chattels or any other differentia see also predicables that let us define something as house the formula that gives the components is the account of the matter and the formula that gives the differentia is the account of the form with regard to the change kinesis and its causes now as he defines in his physics and on generation and corruption he distinguishes the coming to be from growth and diminution which is change in quantity locomotion which is change in space and alteration which is change in quality the coming to be is change where nothing persists of which the resultant is property in that particular change he introduces the concept of potentiality dynamis and actuality entelecheia in association with the matter and the form referring to potentiality this is what thing is capable of doing or being acted upon if the conditions are right and it is not prevented by something else for example the seed of plant in the soil is potentially dynamei plant and if is not prevented by something it will become plant potentially beings can either act poiein or be acted upon paschein which can be either innate or learned for example the eyes possess the potentiality of sight innate being acted upon while the capability of playing the flute can be possessed by learning exercise acting actuality is the fulfillment of the end of the potentiality because the end telos is the principle of every change and for the sake of the end exists potentiality therefore actuality is the end referring then to our previous example we could say that an actuality is when plant does one of the activities that plants do for that for the sake of which thing is is its principle and the becoming is for the sake of the end and the actuality is the end and it is for the sake of this that the potentiality is acquired for animals do not see in order that they may have sight but they have sight that they may see in summary the matter used to make house has potentiality to be house and both the activity of building and the form of the final house are actualities which is also final cause or end then aristotle proceeds and concludes that the actuality is prior to potentiality in formula in time and in substantiality with this definition of the particular substance matter and form aristotle tries to solve the problem of the unity of the beings for example what is it that makes man one since according to plato there are two ideas animal and biped how then is man unity however according to aristotle the potential being matter and the actual one form are one and the same thing universals and particulars aristotle predecessor plato argued that all things have universal form which could be either property or relation to other things when we look at an apple for example we see an apple and we can also analyze form of an apple in this distinction there is particular apple and universal form of an apple moreover we can place an apple next to book so that we can speak of both the book and apple as being next to each other plato argued that there are some universal forms that are not part of particular things for example it is possible that there is no particular good in existence but good is still proper universal form bertrand russell is th century philosopher who agreed with plato on the existence of uninstantiated universals aristotle disagreed with plato on this point arguing that all universals are instantiated aristotle argued that there are no universals that are unattached to existing things according to aristotle if universal exists either as particular or relation then there must have been must be currently or must be in the future something on which the universal can be predicated consequently according to aristotle if it is not the case that some universal can be predicated to an object that exists at some period of time then it does not exist in addition aristotle disagreed with plato about the location of universals as plato spoke of the world of the forms location where all universal forms subsist aristotle maintained that universals exist within each thing on which each universal is predicated so according to aristotle the form of apple exists within each apple rather than in the world of the forms biology and medicine in aristotelian science especially in biology things he saw himself have stood the test of time better than his retelling of the reports of others which contain error and superstition he dissected animals but not humans his ideas on how the human body works have been almost entirely superseded empirical research program octopus swimming torpedo fuscomaculata leopard shark aristotle is the earliest natural historian whose work has survived in some detail aristotle certainly did research on the natural history of lesbos and the surrounding seas and neighbouring areas the works that reflect this research such as history of animals generation of animals and parts of animals contain some observations and interpretations along with sundry myths and mistakes the most striking passages are about the sea life visible from observation on lesbos and available from the catches of fishermen his observations on catfish electric fish torpedo and angler fish are detailed as is his writing on cephalopods namely octopus sepia cuttlefish and the paper nautilus argonauta argo his description of the hectocotyl arm used in sexual reproduction was widely disbelieved until its rediscovery in the th century he separated the aquatic mammals from fish and knew that sharks and rays were part of the group he called selachē selachians another good example of his methods comes from the generation of animals in which aristotle describes breaking open fertilized chicken eggs at intervals to observe when visible organs were generated he gave accurate descriptions of ruminants four chambered fore stomachs and of the ovoviviparous embryological development of the hound shark mustelus mustelus classification of living things aristotle distinguished about species of birds mammals and fishes his classification of living things contains some elements which still existed in the th century what the modern zoologist would call vertebrates and invertebrates aristotle called animals with blood and animals without blood he did not know that complex invertebrates do make use of hemoglobin but of different kind from vertebrates animals with blood were divided into live bearing mammals and egg bearing birds and fish invertebrates animals without blood are insects crustacea divided into non shelled cephalopods and shelled and testacea molluscs in some respects this incomplete classification is better than that of linnaeus who crowded the invertebrata together into two groups insecta and vermes worms for charles singer nothing is more remarkable than aristotle efforts to exhibit the relationships of living things as scala naturae aristotle history of animals classified organisms in relation to hierarchical ladder of life scala naturae or great chain of being placing them according to complexity of structure and function so that higher organisms showed greater vitality and ability to move aristotle believed that intellectual purposes final causes guided all natural processes such teleological view gave aristotle cause to justify his observed data as an expression of formal design noting that no animal has at the same time both tusks and horns and single hooved animal with two horns have never seen aristotle suggested that nature giving no animal both horns and tusks was staving off vanity and giving creatures faculties only to such degree as they are necessary noting that ruminants had multiple stomachs and weak teeth he supposed the first was to compensate for the latter with nature trying to preserve type of balance in similar fashion aristotle believed that creatures were arranged in graded scale of perfection rising from plants on up to man the scala naturae his system had eleven grades arranged according to the degree to which they are infected with potentiality expressed in their form at birth the highest animals laid warm and wet creatures alive the lowest bore theirs cold dry and in thick eggs aristotle also held that the level of creature perfection was reflected in its form but not preordained by that form ideas like this and his ideas about souls are not regarded as science at all in modern times he placed emphasis on the type of soul an organism possessed asserting that plants possess vegetative soul responsible for reproduction and growth animals vegetative and sensitive soul responsible for mobility and sensation and humans vegetative sensitive and rational soul capable of thought and reflection aristotle in contrast to earlier philosophers but in accordance with the egyptians placed the rational soul in the heart rather than the brain notable is aristotle division of sensation and thought which generally went against previous philosophers with the exception of alcmaeon successor theophrastus frontispiece to version of the expanded and illustrated edition of historia plantarum ca which was originally written around bc aristotle successor at the lyceum theophrastus wrote series of books on botany the history of plants which survived as the most important contribution of antiquity to botany even into the middle ages many of theophrastus names survive into modern times such as carpos for fruit and pericarpion for seed vessel rather than focus on formal causes as aristotle did theophrastus suggested mechanistic scheme drawing analogies between natural and artificial processes and relying on aristotle concept of the efficient cause theophrastus also recognized the role of sex in the reproduction of some higher plants though this last discovery was lost in later ages influence on hellenistic medicine after theophrastus the lyceum failed to produce any original work though interest in aristotle ideas survived they were generally taken unquestioningly it is not until the age of alexandria under the ptolemies that advances in biology can be again found the first medical teacher at alexandria herophilus of chalcedon corrected aristotle placing intelligence in the brain and connected the nervous system to motion and sensation herophilus also distinguished between veins and arteries noting that the latter pulse while the former do not though few ancient atomists such as lucretius challenged the teleological viewpoint of aristotelian ideas about life teleology and after the rise of christianity natural theology would remain central to biological thought essentially until the th and th centuries ernst mayr claimed that there was nothing of any real consequence in biology after lucretius and galen until the renaissance aristotle ideas of natural history and medicine survived but they were generally taken unquestioningly psychology aristotle psychology given in his treatise on the soul peri psyche often known by its latin title de anima posits three kinds of soul psyches the vegetative soul the sensitive soul and the rational soul humans have rational soul this kind of soul is capable of the same powers as the other kinds like the vegetative soul it can grow and nourish itself like the sensitive soul it can experience sensations and move locally the unique part of the human rational soul is its ability to receive forms of other things and compare them for aristotle the soul psyche was simpler concept than it is for us today by soul he simply meant the form of living being because all beings are composites of form and matter the form of living beings is that which endows them with what is specific to living beings the ability to initiate movement or in the case of plants growth and chemical transformations which aristotle considers types of movement memory according to aristotle memory is the ability to hold perceived experience in your mind and to have the ability to distinguish between the internal appearance and an occurrence in the past in other words memory is mental picture phantasm in which aristotle defines in de anima as an appearance which is imprinted on the part of the body that forms memory aristotle believed an imprint becomes impressed on semi fluid bodily organ that undergoes several changes in order to make memory memory occurs when stimuli is too complex that the nervous system semi fluid bodily organ cannot receive all the impressions at once these changes are the same as those involved in the operations of sensation common sense and thinking the mental picture imprinted on the bodily organ is the final product of the entire process of sense perception it does not matter if the experience was seen or heard every experience ends up as mental image in memory aristotle uses the word memory for two basic abilities first the actual retaining of the experience in the mnemonic imprint that can develop from sensation second the intellectual anxiety that comes with the imprint due to being impressed at particular time and processing specific contents these abilities can be explained as memory is neither sensation nor thinking because is arises only after lapse of time therefore memory is of the past prediction is of the future and sensation is of the present the retrieval of our imprints cannot be performed suddenly transitional channel is needed and located in our past experiences both for our previous experience and present experience aristotle proposed that slow witted people have good memory because the fluids in their brain do not wash away their memory organ used to imprint experiences and so the imprint can easily continue however they cannot be too slow or the hardened surface of the organ will not receive new imprints he believed the young and the old do not properly develop an imprint young people undergo rapid changes as they develop while the elderly organs are beginning to decay thus stunting new imprints likewise people who are too quick witted are similar to the young and the image cannot be fixed because of the rapid changes of their organ because intellectual functions are not involved in memory memories belong to some animals too but only those in which have perception of time recollection because aristotle believes people receive all kinds of sense perceptions and people perceive them as images or imprints people are continually weaving together new imprints of things they experience in order to search for these imprints people search the memory itself within the memory if one experience is offered instead of specific memory that person will reject this experience until they find what they are looking for recollection occurs when one experience naturally follows another if the chain of images is needed one memory will stimulate the other if the chain of images is not needed but expected then it will only stimulate the other memory in most instances when people recall experiences they stimulate certain previous experiences until they have stimulated the one that was needed recollection is the self directed activity of retrieving the information stored in memory imprint after some time has passed retrieval of stored information is dependent on the scope of mnemonic capabilities of being human or animal and the abilities the human or animal possesses only humans will remember imprints of intellectual activity such as numbers and words animals that have perception of time will be able to retrieve memories of their past observations remembering involves only perception of the things remembered and of the time passed recollection of an imprint is when the present experiences person remembers are similar with elements corresponding in character and arrangement of past sensory experiences when an imprint is recalled it may bring forth large group of related imprints aristotle believed the chain of thought which ends in recollection of certain imprints was connected systematically in three sorts of relationships similarity contrast and contiguity these three laws make up his laws of association aristotle believed that past experiences are hidden within our mind force operates to awaken the hidden material to bring up the actual experience according to aristotle association is the power innate in mental state which operates upon the unexpressed remains of former experiences allowing them to rise and be recalled dreams sleep before understanding aristotle take on dreams first his idea of sleep must be examined aristotle gives an account of his explanation of sleep in on sleep and wakefulness sleep takes place as result of overuse of the senses or of digestion so it is vital to the body including the senses so it can be revitalized while person is asleep the critical activities which include thinking sensing recalling and remembering do not function as they do during wakefulness since person cannot sense during sleep they can also not have desire which is the result of sensation however the senses are able to work during sleep albeit differently than when person is awake because during sleep person can still have sensory experiences also all of the senses are not inactive during sleep only the ones that are weary theory of dreams dreams do not involve actually sensing stimulus because as discussed the senses do not work as they normally do during sleep in dreams sensation is still involved but in an altered manner than when awake aristotle explains the phenomenon that occurs when person stares at moving stimulus such as the waves in body of water when they look away from that stimulus the next thing they look at appears to be moving in wave like motion when person perceives stimulus and the stimulus is no longer the focus of their attention it leaves an impression when the body is awake and the senses are functioning properly person constantly encounters new stimuli to sense and so the impressions left from previously perceived stimuli become irrelevant however during sleep the impressions stimuli made throughout the day become noticed because there are not new sensory experiences to distract from these impressions that were made so dreams result from these lasting impressions since impressions are all that are left and not the exact stimuli dreams will not resemble the actual experience that occurred when awake during sleep person is in an altered state of mind aristotle compares sleeping person to person who is overtaken by strong feelings toward stimulus for example person who has strong infatuation with someone may begin to think they see that person everywhere because they are so overtaken by their feelings when person is asleep their senses are not acting as they do when they are awake and this results in them thinking like person who is influenced by strong feelings since person sleeping is in this suggestible state they become easily deceived by what appears in their dreams when asleep person is unable to make judgments as they do when they are awake due to the senses not functioning normally during sleep they are unable to help person judge what is happening in their dream this in turn leads the person to believe the dream is real dreams may be absurd in nature but the senses are not able to discern whether they are real or not so the dreamer is left to accept the dream because they lack the choice to judge it one component of aristotle theory of dreams introduces ideas that are contradictory to previously held beliefs he claimed that dreams are not foretelling and that they are not sent by divine being aristotle reasoned that instances in which dreams do resemble future events are happenstances not divinations these ideas were contradictory to what had been believed about dreams but at the time in which he introduced these ideas more thinkers were beginning to give naturalistic as opposed to supernatural explanations to phenomena aristotle also includes in his theory of dreams what constitutes dream and what does not he claimed that dream is first established by the fact that the person is asleep when they experience it if person had an image appear for moment after waking up or if they see something in the dark it is not considered dream because they were awake when it occurred secondly any sensory experience that actually occurs while person is asleep and is perceived by the person while asleep does not qualify as part of dream for example if while person is sleeping door shuts and in their dream they hear door is shut aristotle argues that this sensory experience is not part of the dream the actual sensory experience is perceived by the senses the fact that it occurred while the person was asleep does not make it part of the dream lastly the images of dreams must be result of lasting impressions of sensory experiences had when awake practical philosophy ethics aristotle considered ethics to be practical rather than theoretical study one aimed at becoming good and doing good rather than knowing for its own sake he wrote several treatises on ethics including most notably the nicomachean ethics aristotle taught that virtue has to do with the proper function ergon of thing an eye is only good eye in so much as it can see because the proper function of an eye is sight aristotle reasoned that humans must have function specific to humans and that this function must be an activity of the psuchē normally translated as soul in accordance with reason logos aristotle identified such an optimum activity of the soul as the aim of all human deliberate action eudaimonia generally translated as happiness or sometimes well being to have the potential of ever being happy in this way necessarily requires good character ēthikē aretē often translated as moral or ethical virtue or excellence aristotle taught that to achieve virtuous and potentially happy character requires first stage of having the fortune to be habituated not deliberately but by teachers and experience leading to later stage in which one consciously chooses to do the best things when the best people come to live life this way their practical wisdom phronesis and their intellect nous can develop with each other towards the highest possible human virtue the wisdom of an accomplished theoretical or speculative thinker or in other words philosopher politics aristotle classification of constitutions in addition to his works on ethics which address the individual aristotle addressed the city in his work titled politics aristotle considered the city to be natural community moreover he considered the city to be prior in importance to the family which in turn is prior to the individual for the whole must of necessity be prior to the part he also famously stated that man is by nature political animal and also arguing that humanity defining factor among others in the animal kingdom is its rationality aristotle conceived of politics as being like an organism rather than like machine and as collection of parts none of which can exist without the others aristotle conception of the city is organic and he is considered one of the first to conceive of the city in this manner the common modern understanding of political community as modern state is quite different from aristotle understanding although he was aware of the existence and potential of larger empires the natural community according to aristotle was the city polis which functions as political community or partnership koinōnia the aim of the city is not just to avoid injustice or for economic stability but rather to allow at least some citizens the possibility to live good life and to perform beautiful acts the political partnership must be regarded therefore as being for the sake of noble actions not for the sake of living together this is distinguished from modern approaches beginning with social contract theory according to which individuals leave the state of nature because of fear of violent death or its inconveniences excerpt from speech by the character aristotle in the book protrepticus hutchinson and johnson for we all agree that the most excellent man should rule the supreme by nature and that the law rules and alone is authoritative but the law is kind of intelligence discourse based on intelligence and again what standard do we have what criterion of good things that is more precise than the intelligent man for all that this man will choose if the choice is based on his knowledge are good things and their contraries are bad and since everybody chooses most of all what conforms to their own proper dispositions just man choosing to live justly man with bravery to live bravely likewise self controlled man to live with self control it is clear that the intelligent man will choose most of all to be intelligent for this is the function of that capacity hence it evident that according to the most authoritative judgment intelligence is supreme among goods rhetoric and poetics aristotle considered epic poetry tragedy comedy dithyrambic poetry and music to be imitative each varying in imitation by medium object and manner for example music imitates with the media of rhythm and harmony whereas dance imitates with rhythm alone and poetry with language the forms also differ in their object of imitation comedy for instance is dramatic imitation of men worse than average whereas tragedy imitates men slightly better than average lastly the forms differ in their manner of imitation through narrative or character through change or no change and through drama or no drama aristotle believed that imitation is natural to mankind and constitutes one of mankind advantages over animals while it is believed that aristotle poetics comprised two books one on comedy and one on tragedy only the portion that focuses on tragedy has survived aristotle taught that tragedy is composed of six elements plot structure character style thought spectacle and lyric poetry the characters in tragedy are merely means of driving the story and the plot not the characters is the chief focus of tragedy tragedy is the imitation of action arousing pity and fear and is meant to effect the catharsis of those same emotions aristotle concludes poetics with discussion on which if either is superior epic or tragic mimesis he suggests that because tragedy possesses all the attributes of an epic possibly possesses additional attributes such as spectacle and music is more unified and achieves the aim of its mimesis in shorter scope it can be considered superior to epic aristotle was keen systematic collector of riddles folklore and proverbs he and his school had special interest in the riddles of the delphic oracle and studied the fables of aesop views on women aristotle analysis of procreation describes an active ensouling masculine element bringing life to an inert passive female element on this ground feminist metaphysics have accused aristotle of misogyny and sexism however aristotle gave equal weight to women happiness as he did to men and commented in his rhetoric that the things that lead to happiness need to be in women as well as men loss and preservation of his works first page of edition of the nicomachean ethics in greek and latin modern scholarship reveals that aristotle lost works stray considerably in from the surviving aristotelian corpus whereas the lost works appear to have been originally written with an intent for subsequent publication the surviving works do not appear to have been so rather the surviving works mostly resemble lecture notes unintended for publication the authenticity of portion of the surviving works as originally aristotelian is also today held suspect with some books duplicating or summarizing each other the authorship of one book questioned and another book considered to be unlikely aristotle at all some of the individual works within the corpus including the constitution of athens are regarded by most scholars as products of aristotle school perhaps compiled under his direction or supervision others such as on colors may have been produced by aristotle successors at the lyceum theophrastus and straton still others acquired aristotle name through similarities in doctrine or content such as the de plantis possibly by nicolaus of damascus other works in the corpus include medieval palmistries and astrological and magical texts whose connections to aristotle are purely fanciful and self promotional according to distinction that originates with aristotle himself his writings are divisible into two groups the exoteric and the esoteric most scholars have understood this as distinction between works aristotle intended for the public exoteric and the more technical works intended for use within the lyceum course school esoteric modern scholars commonly assume these latter to be aristotle own unpolished lecture notes or in some cases possible notes by his students however one classic scholar offers an alternative interpretation the th century neoplatonist ammonius hermiae writes that aristotle writing style is deliberately obscurantist so that good people may for that reason stretch their mind even more whereas empty minds that are lost through carelessness will be put to flight by the obscurity when they encounter sentences like these another common assumption is that none of the exoteric works is extant that all of aristotle extant writings are of the esoteric kind current knowledge of what exactly the exoteric writings were like is scant and dubious though many of them may have been in dialogue form fragments of some of aristotle dialogues have survived perhaps it is to these that cicero refers when he characterized aristotle writing style as river of gold it is hard for many modern readers to accept that one could seriously so admire the style of those works currently available to us however some modern scholars have warned that we cannot know for certain that cicero praise was reserved specifically for the exoteric works few modern scholars have actually admired the concise writing style found in aristotle extant works one major question in the history of aristotle works then is how were the exoteric writings all lost and how did the ones we now possess come to us the story of the original manuscripts of the esoteric treatises is described by strabo in his geography and plutarch in his parallel lives the manuscripts were left from aristotle to his successor theophrastus who in turn willed them to neleus of scepsis neleus supposedly took the writings from athens to scepsis where his heirs let them languish in cellar until the st century bc when apellicon of teos discovered and purchased the manuscripts bringing them back to athens according to the story apellicon tried to repair some of the damage that was done during the manuscripts stay in the basement introducing number of errors into the text when lucius cornelius sulla occupied athens in bc he carried off the library of apellicon to rome where they were first published in bc by the grammarian tyrannion of amisus and then by the philosopher andronicus of rhodes carnes lord attributes the popular belief in this story to the fact that it provides the most plausible explanation for the rapid eclipse of the peripatetic school after the middle of the third century and for the absence of widespread knowledge of the specialized treatises of aristotle throughout the hellenistic period as well as for the sudden reappearance of flourishing aristotelianism during the first century lord voices number of reservations concerning this story however first the condition of the texts is far too good for them to have suffered considerable damage followed by apellicon inexpert attempt at repair second there is evidence lord says that the treatises were in circulation during the time in which strabo and plutarch suggest they were confined within the cellar in scepsis third the definitive edition of aristotle texts seems to have been made in athens some fifty years before andronicus supposedly compiled his and fourth ancient library catalogues predating andronicus intervention list an aristotelian corpus quite similar to the one we currently possess lord sees number of post aristotelian interpolations in the politics for example but is generally confident that the work has come down to us relatively intact on the one hand the surviving texts of aristotle do not derive from finished literary texts but rather from working drafts used within aristotle school as opposed on the other hand to the dialogues and other exoteric texts which aristotle published more widely during his lifetime the consensus is that andronicus of rhodes collected the esoteric works of aristotle school which existed in the form of smaller separate works distinguished them from those of theophrastus and other peripatetics edited them and finally compiled them into the more cohesive larger works as they are known today legacy aristotle by jusepe de ribera aristotle with bust of homer by rembrandt an thirteenth century islamic portrayal of aristotle right statue by cipri adolf bermann at the university of freiburg freiburg im breisgau more than years after his death aristotle remains one of the most influential people who ever lived he contributed to almost every field of human knowledge then in existence and he was the founder of many new fields according to the philosopher bryan magee it is doubtful whether any human being has ever known as much as he did among countless other achievements aristotle was the founder of formal logic pioneered the study of zoology and left every future scientist and philosopher in his debt through his contributions to the scientific method despite these achievements the influence of aristotle errors is considered by some to have held back science considerably bertrand russell notes that almost every serious intellectual advance has had to begin with an attack on some aristotelian doctrine russell also refers to aristotle ethics as repulsive and calls his logic as definitely antiquated as ptolemaic astronomy russell notes that these errors make it difficult to do historical justice to aristotle until one remembers how large of an advance he made upon all of his predecessors later greek philosophers the immediate influence of aristotle work was felt as the lyceum grew into the peripatetic school aristotle notable students included aristoxenus dicaearchus demetrius of phalerum eudemos of rhodes harpalus hephaestion mnason of phocis nicomachus and theophrastus aristotle influence over alexander the great is seen in the latter bringing with him on his expedition host of zoologists botanists and researchers he had also learned great deal about persian customs and traditions from his teacher although his respect for aristotle was diminished as his travels made it clear that much of aristotle geography was clearly wrong when the old philosopher released his works to the public alexander complained thou hast not done well to publish thy acroamatic doctrines for in what shall surpass other men if those doctrines wherein have been trained are to be all men common property influence on byzantine scholars greek christian scribes played crucial role in the preservation of aristotle by copying all the extant greek language manuscripts of the corpus the first greek christians to comment extensively on aristotle were john philoponus elias and david in the sixth century and stephen of alexandria in the early seventh century john philoponus stands out for having attempted fundamental critique of aristotle views on the eternity of the world movement and other elements of aristotelian thought after hiatus of several centuries formal commentary by eustratius and michael of ephesus reappears in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries apparently sponsored by anna comnena influence on islamic theologians aristotle was one of the most revered western thinkers in early islamic theology most of the still extant works of aristotle as well as number of the original greek commentaries were translated into arabic and studied by muslim philosophers scientists and scholars averroes avicenna and alpharabius who wrote on aristotle in great depth also influenced thomas aquinas and other western christian scholastic philosophers alkindus considered aristotle as the outstanding and unique representative of philosophy and averroes spoke of aristotle as the exemplar for all future philosophers medieval muslim scholars regularly described aristotle as the first teacher the title teacher was first given to aristotle by muslim scholars and was later used by western philosophers as in the famous poem of dante who were influenced by the tradition of islamic philosophy in accordance with the greek theorists the muslims considered aristotle to be dogmatic philosopher the author of closed system and believed that aristotle shared with plato essential tenets of thought some went so far as to credit aristotle himself with neo platonic metaphysical ideas influence on western christian theologians with the loss of the study of ancient greek in the early medieval latin west aristotle was practically unknown there from ad to except through the latin translation of the organon made by boethius in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries interest in aristotle revived and latin christians had translations made both from arabic translations such as those by gerard of cremona and from the original greek such as those by james of venice and william of moerbeke after thomas aquinas wrote his theology working from moerbeke translations the demand for aristotle writings grew and the greek manuscripts returned to the west stimulating revival of aristotelianism in europe that continued into the renaissance aristotle is referred to as the philosopher by scholastic thinkers such as thomas aquinas see summa theologica part question etc these thinkers blended aristotelian philosophy with christianity bringing the thought of ancient greece into the middle ages it required repudiation of some aristotelian principles for the sciences and the arts to free themselves for the discovery of modern scientific laws and empirical methods the medieval english poet chaucer describes his student as being happy by having at his beddes heed twenty bookes clad in blak or reed of aristotle and his philosophie the italian poet dante says of aristotle in the first circles of hell saw the master there of those who know amid the philosophic family by all admired and by all reverenced there plato too saw and socrates who stood beside him closer than the rest post enlightenment thinkers the german philosopher friedrich nietzsche has been said to have taken nearly all of his political philosophy from aristotle however debatable this is aristotle rigid separated action from production and argued for the deserved subservience of some people natural slaves and the natural superiority virtue arete of others it is martin heidegger not nietzsche who elaborated new interpretation of aristotle intended to warrant his deconstruction of scholastic and philosophical tradition ayn rand accredited aristotle as the greatest philosopher in history and cited him as major influence on her thinking more recently alasdair macintyre has attempted to reform what he calls the aristotelian tradition in way that is anti elitist and capable of disputing the claims of both liberals and nietzscheans list of works the works of aristotle that have survived from antiquity through medieval manuscript transmission are collected in the corpus aristotelicum these texts as opposed to aristotle lost works are technical philosophical treatises from within aristotle school reference to them is made according to the organization of immanuel bekker royal prussian academy edition aristotelis opera edidit academia regia borussica berlin which in turn is based on ancient classifications of these works eponyms aristotle near the ceiling of the great hall in the library of congress the aristotle mountains along the oscar ii coast of graham land antarctica are named after aristotle he was the first person known to conjecture in his book meteorology the existence of landmass in the southern high latitude region and call it antarctica aristoteles crater is crater on the moon bearing the classical form of aristotle name see also aristotelian physics aristotelian society aristotelian theology conimbricenses list of writers influenced by aristotle otium philia pseudo aristotle notes and references further reading the secondary literature on aristotle is vast the following references are only small selection ackrill essays on plato and aristotle oxford university press usa popular exposition for the general reader these translations are available in several places online see external links bakalis nikolaos handbook of greek philosophy from thales to the stoics analysis and fragments trafford publishing isbn bolotin david an approach to aristotle physics with particular attention to the role of his manner of writing albany suny press contribution to our understanding of how to read aristotle scientific works burnyeat et al notes on book zeta of aristotle metaphysics oxford sub faculty of philosophy chappell aristotle conception of matter journal of philosophy code alan potentiality in aristotle science and metaphysics pacific philosophical quarterly de groot jean aristotle empiricism experience and mechanics in the th century bc parmenides publishing isbn frede michael essays in ancient philosophy minneapolis university of minnesota press gendlin eugene line by line commentary on aristotle de anima volume books ii volume book iii spring valley new york the focusing institute available online in pdf gill mary louise aristotle on substance the paradox of unity princeton princeton university press halper edward one and many in aristotle metaphysics volume books alpha delta parmenides publishing isbn halper edward one and many in aristotle metaphysics volume the central books parmenides publishing isbn irwin aristotle first principles oxford clarendon press isbn jori alberto aristotele milano bruno mondadori editore prize of the international academy of the history of science isbn knight kelvin aristotelian philosophy ethics and politics from aristotle to macintyre polity press lewis frank substance and predication in aristotle cambridge cambridge university press lloyd aristotle the growth and structure of his thought cambridge cambridge univ pr isbn lord carnes introduction to the politics by aristotle chicago chicago university press loux michael primary ousia an essay on aristotle metaphysics and ithaca ny cornell university press maso stefano ed natali carlo ed seel gerhard ed reading aristotle physics vii what is alteration proceedings of the international esap hyele conference parmenides publishing isbn reprinted in barnes schofield and sorabji eds articles on aristotle vol science london duckworth pangle lorraine smith aristotle and the philosophy of friendship cambridge cambridge university press aristotle conception of the deepest human relationship viewed in the light of the history of philosophic thought on friendship reeve substantial knowledge aristotle metaphysics indianapolis hackett classic overview by one of aristotle most prominent english translators in print since scaltsas substances and universals in aristotle metaphysics ithaca cornell university press strauss leo on aristotle politics in the city and man chicago rand mcnally for the general reader external links at the internet encyclopedia of philosophy from the stanford encyclopedia of philosophy timeline of aristotle life collections of works at the massachusetts institute of technology primarily in english perseus project at tufts university at the university of adelaide primarily in english remacle the volume bekker edition of aristotle works in greek pdf djvu bekker prussian academy of sciences edition of the complete works of aristotle at archive org aristotle collection translation
an american in paris is jazz influenced symphonic poem by the american composer george gershwin written in inspired by the time gershwin had spent in paris it evokes the sights and energy of the french capital in the and is one of his best known compositions gershwin composed an american in paris on commission from the conductor walter damrosch he scored the piece for the standard instruments of the symphony orchestra plus celesta saxophones and automobile horns he brought back some parisian taxi horns for the new york premiere of the composition which took place on december in carnegie hall with damrosch conducting the new york philharmonic gershwin completed the orchestration on november less than four weeks before the work premiere gershwin collaborated on the original program notes with the critic and composer deems taylor noting that my purpose here is to portray the impression of an american visitor in paris as he strolls about the city and listens to various street noises and absorbs the french atmosphere when the tone poem moves into the blues our american friend has succumbed to spasm of homesickness but nostalgia is not fatal disease the american visitor once again is an alert spectator of parisian life and the street noises and french atmosphere are triumphant background gershwin was attracted by maurice ravel unusual chords after transatlantic letters back and forth as to whether ravel took students and how much he charged ravel looked at gershwin prior year earnings and sent telegram to gershwin jokingly saying he ravel should study with gershwin but he accepted him as student gershwin went to paris in ready to study and to enjoy his first trip to paris after his initial student audition with ravel turned into sharing of musical theories ravel said he couldn teach him but he would send letter referring him to nadia boulanger while the studies were cut short that trip resulted in the initial version of an american in paris written as thank you note to gershwin hosts robert and mabel shirmer gershwin called it rapsodic ballet written so freely and much more modern than his prior works gershwin strongly encouraged ravel to come to the united states for tour something ravel had been reluctant to do to this end upon his return to new york gershwin joined the efforts of ravel friend robert schmitz pianist ravel had met during the war to urge ravel to tour the schmitz was the head of pro musica promoting franco american musical relations and was able to offer ravel fee for the tour an enticement gershwin knew would be important to ravel gershwin greeted ravel in new york in february at the start of ravel tour and joined ravel again later in the tour in los angeles after lunch together with chaplin in beverly hills ravel was persuaded to perform an unscheduled house concert in friend music salon performing among kindred spirits ravel tour reignited gershwin desire to return to paris which he did in march ravel high praise of gershwin in an introductory letter to boulanger caused gershwin to seriously consider taking much more time to study abroad in paris yet after playing for her she told him she could not teach him nadia boulanger gave gershwin basically the same advice she gave all of her accomplished master students don copy others be yourself in this case why try to be second rate ravel when you are already first rate gershwin this did not set gershwin back as his real intent abroad was to complete new work based on paris and perhaps second rhapsody for piano and orchestra to follow his rhapsody in blue paris at this time hosted many expatriate writers among them ezra pound yeats ernest hemingway and artist pablo picasso composition gershwin based an american in paris on melodic fragment called very parisienne written in on his first visit to paris as gift to his hosts robert and mabel schirmer he described the piece as rhapsodic ballet because it was written freely and is more modern than his previous works gershwin explained in musical america my purpose here is to portray the impressions of an american visitor in paris as he strolls about the city listens to the various street noises and absorbs the french atmosphere the piece is structured into five sections which culminate in loose aba format gershwin first episode introduces the two main walking themes in the allegretto grazioso and develops third theme in the subito con brio the style of this section is written in the typical french style of composers claude debussy and les six this section featured duple meter singsong rhythms and diatonic melodies with the sounds of oboe english horn and taxi horns the section andante ma con ritmo deciso introduces the american blues and spasms of homesickness the allegro that follows continues to express homesickness in faster twelve bar blues in the section gershwin uses common time syncopated rhythms and bluesy melodies with the sounds of trumpet saxophone and snare drum moderato con grazia is the last section that returns to the themes set in after recapitulating the walking themes gershwin overlays the slow blues theme from section in the final grandioso instrumentation an american in paris is scored for flutes rd doubling on piccolo oboes english horn clarinets in flat bass clarinet in flat bassoons horns in trumpets in flat trombones tuba timpani snare drum bass drum triangle wood block cymbals low and high tom toms xylophone glockenspiel celesta taxi horns labeled as and with circles around them alto saxophone soprano saxophone tenor saxophone soprano saxophone alto saxophone baritone saxophone soprano saxophone alto saxophone and strings although most modern audiences have heard the taxi horns using the notes and it has recently come to light that gershwin intention was to have used the notes and it is likely that in labeling the taxi horns as and with circles he may have been referring to the use of the four different horns and not the notes that they played the revised edition by campbell watson calls for three saxophones alto tenor and baritone in this arrangement the soprano and alto doublings have been rewritten to avoid changing instruments william daly arranged the score for piano solo which was published by new world music in response gershwin did not particularly like walter damrosch interpretation at the world premiere of an american in paris he stated that damrosch sluggish dragging tempo caused him to walk out of the hall during matinee performance of this work the audience according to edward cushing responded with demonstration of enthusiasm impressively genuine in contrast to the conventional applause which new music good and bad ordinarily arouses critics believed that an american in paris was better crafted than his lukewarm concerto in some did not think it belonged in program with classical composers césar franck richard wagner or guillaume lekeu on its premiere gershwin responded to the critics it not beethoven symphony you know it humorous piece nothing solemn about it it not intended to draw tears if it pleases symphony audiences as light jolly piece series of impressions musically expressed it succeeds preservation status on september it was announced that musicological critical edition of the full orchestral score will be eventually released the gershwin family working in conjunction with the library of congress and the university of michigan are working to make scores available to the public that represent gershwin true intent it is unknown if the critical score will include the four minutes of material gershwin later deleted from the work such as the restatement of the blues theme after the faster bar blues section or if the score will document changes in the orchestration during gershwin composition process the score to an american in paris is currently scheduled to be issued first in series of scores to be released the entire project may take to years to complete but an american in paris will be an early volume in the series two urtext editions of the work have been published by the german publisher note music in the changes made by campbell watson have been withdrawn in both editions in the extended urtext bars of music have been re integrated conductor walter damrosch had cut them shortly before the first performance recordings first recording an american in paris has been frequently recorded the first recording was made for rca victor in with nathaniel shilkret conducting the victor symphony orchestra drawn from members of the philadelphia orchestra gershwin was on hand to supervise the recording however shilkret was reported to be in charge and eventually asked the composer to leave the recording studio then little later shilkret discovered there was no one to play the brief celesta solo during the slow section so he hastily asked gershwin if he might play the solo gershwin said he could and so he briefly participated in the actual recording this recording is believed to use the taxi horns in the way that gershwin had intended using the notes flat flat higher and lower the radio broadcast of the september hollywood bowl george gershwin memorial concert in which an american in paris also conducted by shilkret was second on the program was recorded and was released in in two cd set arthur fiedler and the boston pops orchestra recorded the work for rca victor including one of the first stereo recordings of the music in arturo toscanini and the nbc symphony orchestra recorded the music in carnegie hall one of the few commercial recordings toscanini made of music by an american composer the seattle symphony also recorded version in of gershwin original score before he made numerous edits resulting in the score as we hear it today harry james released version of the blues section on his album one night stand recorded live at the aragon ballroom in chicago columbia gl and cl use in film in mgm released the musical film an american in paris featuring gene kelly and leslie caron winning the best picture oscar and numerous other awards the film was directed by vincente minnelli featured many tunes of gershwin and concluded with an extensive elaborate dance sequence built around the an american in paris symphonic poem arranged for the film by johnny green costing references further reading rimler walter george gershwin an intimate portrait urbana university of illinois press pollack howard george gershwin his life and work berkeley university of california press external links recording by the new york philharmonic conducted by artur rodziński new york philharmonic leonard bernstein
the academy award for best production design recognizes achievement for art direction in film the category original name was best art direction but was changed to its current name in for the th academy awards this change resulted from the art director branch of the academy of motion picture arts and sciences ampas being renamed the designer branch since the award is shared with the set decorator it is awarded to the best interior design in film the films below are listed with their production year for example the academy award for best art direction is given to film from in the lists below the winner of the award for each year is shown first followed by the other nominees superlatives category name superlative notes most awards cedric gibbons awards awards resulted from nominations most nominations cedric gibbons nominations nominations resulted in awards most nominations without ever winning roland anderson nominations nominations resulted in no awards best interior decoration year interior decorator film william cameron menzies the dove tempest harry oliver seventh heaven rochus gliese sunrise cedric gibbons the bridge of san luis rey mitchell leisen dynamite william cameron menzies alibi the awakening hans dreier the patriot harry oliver street angel year interior decorator film herman rosse king of jazz william cameron menzies bulldog drummond hans dreier the love parade jack okey sally hans dreier the vagabond king max ree cimarron stephen goosson ralph hammeras just imagine hans dreier morocco anton grot svengali richard day whoopee gordon wiles transatlantic lazare meerson nous la liberté richard day arrowsmith william darling cavalcade hans dreier roland anderson farewell to arms cedric gibbons when ladies meet cedric gibbons fredric hope the merry widow van nest polglase carroll clark the gay divorcee richard day the affairs of cellini richard day the dark angel hans dreier roland anderson the lives of bengal lancer carroll clark van nest polglase top hat richard day dodsworth anton grot anthony adverse cedric gibbons eddie imazu edwin willis the great ziegfeld william darling lloyd of london albert agostino jack otterson the magnificent brute cedric gibbons frederic hope edwin willis romeo and juliet perry ferguson winterset stephen goosson lost horizon cedric gibbons william horning conquest carroll clark damsel in distress richard day dead end ward ihnen every day holiday anton grot the life of emile zola john victor mackay manhattan merry go round lyle wheeler the prisoner of zenda hans dreier roland anderson souls at sea alexander toluboff vogues of william darling david hall wee willie winkie jack otterson you re sweetheart carl weyl the adventures of robin hood lyle wheeler the adventures of tom sawyer bernard herzbrun boris leven alexander ragtime band alexander toluboff algiers van nest polglase carefree richard day the goldwyn follies stephen goosson lionel banks holiday hans dreier john goodman if were king jack otterson mad about music cedric gibbons marie antoinette charles hall merrily we live lyle wheeler gone with the wind hans dreier robert odell beau geste charles hall captain fury jack otterson martin obzina first love van nest polglase alfred herman love affair john victor mackay man of conquest lionel banks mr smith goes to washington anton grot the private lives of elizabeth and essex william darling george dudley the rains came alexander toluboff stagecoach cedric gibbons william horning the wizard of oz james basevi wuthering heights year interior decorator film black and white richard day paul groesse pride and prejudice hans dreier robert usher arise my love lionel banks robert peterson arizona john otterson the boys from syracuse john victor mackay dark command alexander golitzen foreign correspondent richard day joseph wright lillian russell van nest polglase mark lee kirk my favorite wife john ducasse schulze my son my son lewis rachmil our town lyle wheeler rebecca anton grot the sea hawk nomination withdrawn sis hopkins james basevi the westerner color vincent korda the thief of bagdad cedric gibbons john detlie bitter sweet richard day joseph wright down argentine way hans dreier roland anderson north west mounted police black and white cedric gibbons nathan juran thomas little how green was my valley perry ferguson van nest polglase al fields darrell silvera citizen kane martin obzina jack otterson russell gausman the flame of new orleans hans dreier robert usher samuel comer hold back the dawn lionel banks george montgomery ladies in retirement stephen goosson howard bristol the little foxes john hughes fred maclean sergeant york john ducasse schultze edward boyle son of monte cristo alexander golitzen richard irvine sundown vincent korda julia heron that hamilton woman cedric gibbons randall duell edwin willis when ladies meet color cedric gibbons urie mccleary edwin willis blossoms in the dust richard day joseph wright thomas little blood and sand raoul pene du bois stephen seymour louisiana purchase black and white richard day joseph wright thomas little this above all max parker mark lee kirk casey roberts george washington slept here albert agostino al fields darrell silvera the magnificent ambersons perry ferguson howard bristol the pride of the yankees cedric gibbons randall duell edwin willis jack moore random harvest boris leven the shanghai gesture ralph berger emile kuri silver queen john goodman jack otterson russell gausman edward ray robinson the spoilers hans dreier roland anderson samuel comer take letter darling lionel banks rudolph sternad fay babcock the talk of the town color richard day joseph wright thomas little my gal sal alexander golitzen jack otterson russell gausman ira webb arabian nights ted smith casey roberts captains of the clouds vincent korda julia heron jungle book hans dreier roland anderson george sawley reap the wild wind black and white james basevi william darling thomas little the song of bernadette hans dreier ernst fegte bertram granger five graves to cairo albert agostino carroll clark darrell silvera harley miller flight for freedom cedric gibbons paul groesse edwin willis hugh hunt madame curie carl weyl george hopkins mission to moscow perry ferguson howard bristol the north star color alexander golitzen john goodman russell gausman ira webb phantom of the opera hans dreier haldane douglas bertram granger for whom the bell tolls james basevi joseph wright thomas little the gang all here john hughes george hopkins this is the army cedric gibbons daniel cathcart edwin willis jacques mersereau thousands cheer black and white cedric gibbons william ferrari paul huldschinsky edwin willis gaslight lionel banks walter holscher joseph kish address unknown john hughes fred maclean the adventures of mark twain perry ferguson julia heron casanova brown lyle wheeler leland fuller thomas little laura hans dreier robert usher samuel comer no time for love mark lee kirk victor gangelin since you went away nomination withdrawn song of the open road albert agostino carroll clark darrell silvera claude carpenter step lively color wiard ihnen thomas little wilson john goodman alexander golitzen russell gausman ira webb the climax lionel banks cary odell fay babcock cover girl charles novi jack mcconaghy the desert song cedric gibbons daniel cathcart edwin willis richard pefferle kismet hans dreier raoul pene du bois ray moyer lady in the dark ernst fegte howard bristol the princess and the pirate black and white wiard ihnen roland fields blood on the sun albert agostino jack okey darrell silvera claude carpenter experiment perilous james basevi william darling thomas little frank hughes the keys of the kingdom hans dreier roland anderson samuel comer ray moyer love letters cedric gibbons hans peters edwin willis john bonar hugh hunt the picture of dorian gray color hans dreier ernst fegte samuel comer frenchman creek lyle wheeler maurice ransford thomas little leave her to heaven cedric gibbons urie mccleary edwin willis mildred griffiths national velvet ted smith jack mcconaghy san antonio stephen goosson rudolph sternad frank tuttle thousand and one nights black and white william darling lyle wheeler thomas little frank hughes anna and the king of siam hans dreier walter tyler samuel comer ray moyer kitty richard day nathan juran thomas little paul fox the razor edge color cedric gibbons paul groesse edwin willis the yearling john bryan caesar and cleopatra paul sheriff carmen dillon henry best art direction set decoration year art director set decorator film black and white wilfred shingleton john bryan great expectations lyle wheeler maurice ransford thomas little paul fox the foxes of harrow color alfred junge black narcissus robert haas george james hopkins life with father black and white carmen dillon roger furse hamlet robert haas william wallace johnny belinda color arthur lawson hein heckroth the red shoes richard day edwin casey roberts joseph kish joan of arc black and white harry horner john meehan emile kuri the heiress lyle wheeler joseph wright thomas little paul fox come to the stable cedric gibbons jack martin smith edwin willis richard pefferle madame bovary color cedric gibbons paul groesse edwin willis jack moore little women edward carrere lyle reifsnider adventures of don juan jim morahan william kellner michael relph saraband for dead lovers year art director set decorator film black and white hans dreier john meehan samuel comer ray moyer sunset boulevard george davis lyle wheeler thomas little walter scott all about eve cedric gibbons hans peters edwin willis hugh hunt the red danube color hans dreier walter tyler samuel comer ray moyer samson and delilah cedric gibbons paul groesse edwin willis richard pefferle annie get your gun ernst fegté george sawley destination moon black and white richard day george james hopkins streetcar named desire leland fuller lyle wheeler thomas little fred rode fourteen hours john decuir lyle wheeler paul fox thomas little house on telegraph hill jean eaubonne la ronde cedric gibbons paul groesse edwin wills jack moore too young to kiss color preston ames cedric gibbons edwin willis keogh gleason an american in paris george davis lyle wheeler paul fox thomas little david and bathsheba leland fuller lyle wheeler thomas little walter scott on the riviera edward carfagno cedric gibbons william horning hugh hunt quo vadis hein heckroth the tales of hoffmann black and white edward carfagno cedric gibbons keogh gleason edwin willis the bad and the beautiful roland anderson hal pereira emile kuri carrie john decuir lyle wheeler walter scott my cousin rachel so matsuyama motsumoto rashōmon leland fuller lyle wheeler claude carpenter thomas little viva zapata color marcel vertès paul sheriff moulin rouge clavé richard day howard bristol hans christian andersen cedric gibbons paul groesse arthur krams edwin willis the merry widow frank hotaling john mccarthy jr charles thompson the quiet man john decuir lyle wheeler paul fox thomas little the snows of kilimanjaro black and white edward carfagno cedric gibbons hugh hunt edwin willis julius caesar paul markwitz fritz maurischat martin luther leland fuller lyle wheeler paul fox the president lady hal pereira walter tyler roman holiday maurice ransford lyle wheeler stuart reiss titanic color george davis lyle wheeler paul fox walter scott the robe alfred junge hans peters john jarvis knights of the round table cedric gibbons paul groesse arthur krams edwin willis lili preston ames edward carfagno cedric gibbons gabriel scognamillo keogh gleason arthur krams jack moore edwin willis the story of three loves cedric gibbons urie mccleary jack moore edwin willis young bess black and white richard day on the waterfront roland anderson hal pereira samuel comer grace gregory the country girl cedric gibbons edward carfagno edwin willis emile kuri executive suite max ophüls le plaisir hal pereira walter tyler samuel comer ray moyer sabrina color john meehan emile kuri leagues under the sea cedric gibbons preston ames edwin willis keogh gleason brigadoon lyle wheeler leland fuller walter scott paul fox désirée hal pereira roland anderson samuel comer ray moyer red garters malcolm bert gene allen irene sharaff george james hopkins star is born black and white hal pereira tambi larsen samuel comer arthur krams the rose tattoo cedric gibbons randall duell edwin willis henry grace blackboard jungle cedric gibbons malcolm brown edwin willis hugh hunt ll cry tomorrow joseph wright darrell silvera the man with the golden arm edward haworth walter simonds robert priestley marty color william flannery jo mielziner robert priestley picnic lyle wheeler john decuir walter scott paul fox daddy long legs oliver smith joseph wright howard bristol guys and dolls lyle wheeler george davis walter scott jack stubbs love is many splendored thing hal pereira joseph mcmillan johnson samuel comer arthur krams to catch thief black and white cedric gibbons malcolm brown edwin willis keogh gleason somebody up there likes me hal pereira earl hedrick samuel comer frank mckelvy the proud and profane so matsuyama seven samurai ross bellah william kiernan louis diage the solid gold cadillac lyle wheeler jack martin smith walter scott stuart reiss teenage rebel color lyle wheeler john decuir walter scott paul fox the king and james sullivan ken adam ross dowd around the world in days boris leven ralph hurst giant cedric gibbons hans peters preston ames edwin willis keogh gleason lust for life hal pereira walter tyler albert nozaki samuel comer ray moyer the ten commandments ted haworth robert priestley sayonara hal pereira george davis samuel comer ray moyer funny face william horning gene allen edwin willis richard pefferle les girls walter holscher william kiernan louis diage pal joey william horning urie mccleary edwin willis hugh hunt raintree county william horning preston ames henry grace keogh gleason gigi malcolm bert george james hopkins auntie mame cary odell louis diage bell book and candle lyle wheeler john decuir walter scott paul fox certain smile hal pereira henry bumstead samuel comer frank mckelvy vertigo black and white lyle wheeler george davis walter scott stuart reiss the diary of anne frank hal pereira walter tyler samuel comer arthur krams career carl anderson william kiernan the last angry man ted haworth edward boyle some like it hot oliver messel william kellner scott slimon suddenly last summer color william horning edward carfagno hugh hunt ben hur john de cuir julia heron the big fisherman lyle wheeler franz bachelin herman blumenthal walter scott joseph kish journey to the center of the earth william horning robert boyle merrill pye henry grace frank mckelvy north by northwest richard riedel russell gausman ruby levitt pillow talk year art director set decorator film black and white alexander trauner edward boyle the apartment joseph mcmillan johnson kenneth reid ross dowd the facts of life joseph hurley robert clatworthy george milo psycho tom morahan lionel couch sons and lovers hal pereira walter tyler samuel comer arthur krams visit to small planet color harry horner russell gausman julia heron spartacus george davis addison hehr henry grace hugh hunt otto siegel cimarron hal pereira roland anderson samuel comer arrigo breschi it started in naples ted haworth william kiernan pepe edward carrere george james hopkins sunrise at campobello black and white alexander trauner gene callahan the hustler carroll clark emile kuri hal gausman the absent minded professor fernando carrere edward boyle the children hour rudolf sternad george milo judgment at nuremberg piero gherardi la dolce vita color boris leven victor gangelin west side story hal pereira roland anderson samuel comer ray moyer breakfast at tiffany veniero colasanti john moore el cid alexander golitzen joseph wright howard bristol flower drum song hal pereira walter tyler samuel comer arthur krams summer and smoke black and white alexander golitzen henry bumstead oliver emert to kill mockingbird joseph wright george james hopkins days of wine and roses ted haworth léon barsacq vincent korda gabriel bechir the longest day george davis edward carfagno henry grace dick pefferle period of adjustment hal pereira roland anderson samuel comer frank mckelvy the pigeon that took rome color john box john stoll dario simoni lawrence of arabia paul groesse george james hopkins the music man george davis mcmillan johnson henry grace hugh hunt mutiny on the bounty alexander golitzen robert clatworthy george milo that touch of mink george davis edward carfagno henry grace dick pefferle the wonderful world of the brothers grimm black and white gene callahan america america piero gherardi hal pereira tambi larsen samuel comer robert benton hud hal pereira roland anderson samuel comer grace gregory love with the proper stranger george davis paul groesse henry grace hugh hunt twilight of honor color john decuir jack martin smith hilyard brown herman blumenthal elven webb maurice pelling boris juraga walter scott paul fox ray moyer cleopatra lyle wheeler gene callahan the cardinal hal pereira roland anderson samuel comer james payne come blow your horn george davis william ferrari addison hehr henry grace don greenwood jr jack mills how the west was won ralph brinton ted marshall jocelyn herbert josie macavin tom jones black and white vassilis fotopoulos zorba the greek george davis hans peters elliot scott henry grace robert benton the americanization of emily william glasgow raphael bretton hush hush sweet charlotte stephen grimes the night of the iguana cary odell edward boyle seven days in may color gene allen cecil beaton george james hopkins my fair lady john bryan maurice carter patrick mcloughlin robert cartwright becket carroll clark william tuntke emile kuri hal gausman mary poppins george davis preston ames henry grace hugh hunt the unsinkable molly brown jack martin smith ted haworth walter scott stuart reiss what way to go black and white robert clatworthy joseph kish ship of fools robert emmet smith frank tuttle king rat george davis urie mccleary henry grace charles thompson patch of blue hal pereira jack poplin robert benton joseph kish the slender thread hal pereira tambi larsen ted marshall josie macavin the spy who came in from the cold color john box terence marsh dario simoni doctor zhivago john decuir jack martin smith dario simoni the agony and the ecstasy richard day william creber david hall ray moyer fred maclean norman rockett the greatest story ever told robert clatworthy george james hopkins inside daisy clover boris leven walter scott ruby levitt the sound of music black and white richard sylbert george james hopkins who afraid of virginia woolf robert luthardt edward boyle the fortune cookie luigi scaccianoce the gospel according to st matthew willy holt marc frederix pierre guffroy is paris burning george davis paul groesse henry grace hugh hunt mister buddwing color jack martin smith dale hennesy walter scott stuart reiss fantastic voyage alexander golitzen george webb john mccarthy jr john austin gambit piero gherardi juliet of the spirits hal pereira arthur lonergan robert benton james payne the oscar boris leven walter scott john sturtevant william kiernan the sand pebbles john truscott edward carrere john brown camelot mario chiari jack martin smith ed graves walter scott stuart reiss doctor dolittle robert clatworthy frank tuttle guess who coming to dinner renzo mongiardino john decuir elven webb giuseppe mariani dario simoni luigi gervasi the taming of the shrew alexander golitzen george webb howard bristol thoroughly modern millie john box terence marsh vernon dixon ken muggleston oliver george davis edward carfagno the shoes of the fisherman boris leven walter scott howard bristol star anthony masters harry lange ernie archer space odyssey mikhail bogdanov gennady myasnikov georgi koshelev vladimir uvarov war and peace john decuir jack martin smith herman blumenthal walter scott george hopkins raphael bretton hello dolly maurice carter lionel couch patrick mcloughlin anne of the thousand days robert boyle george chan edward boyle carl biddiscombe gaily gaily alexander golitzen george webb jack moore sweet charity harry horner frank mckelvy they shoot horses don they year art director set decorator film urie mccleary gil parrondo antonio mateos pierre louis thevenet patton alexander golitzen preston ames jack moore mickey michaels airport tambi larsen darrell silvera the molly maguires terence marsh bob cartwright pamela cornell scrooge jack martin smith yoshirō muraki richard day taizoh kawashima samuel comer arthur krams norman rockett tora tora tora john box ernest archer jack maxsted gil parrondo vernon dixon nicholas and alexandra boris leven william tuntke ruby levitt the andromeda strain john mansbridge peter ellenshaw emile kuri hal gausman bedknobs and broomsticks robert boyle michael stringer peter lamont fiddler on the roof terence marsh robert cartwright peter howitt mary queen of scots rolf zehetbauer jurgen kiebach herbert strabel cabaret carl anderson reg allen lady sings the blues william creber raphael bretton the poseidon adventure john box gil parrondo robert laing travels with my aunt donald ashton geoffrey drake john graysmark william hutchinson peter james young winston henry bumstead james payne the sting lorenzo mongiardino gianni quaranta carmelo patrono brother sun sister moon bill malley jerry wunderlich the exorcist philip jefferies robert de vestel tom sawyer stephen grimes william kiernan the way we were dean tavoularis angelo graham george nelson the godfather part ii richard sylbert stewart campbell ruby levitt chinatown alexander golitzen preston ames frank mckelvy earthquake peter ellenshaw john mansbridge walter tyler al roelofs hal gausman the island at the top of the world william creber ward preston raphael bretton the towering inferno ken adam roy walker vernon dixon barry lyndon edward carfagno frank mckelvy the hindenburg alexander trauner tony inglis peter james the man who would be king richard sylbert stewart campbell george gaines shampoo albert brenner marvin march the sunshine boys george jenkins george gaines all the president men elliot scott norman reynolds the incredible sarah gene callahan jack collis jerry wunderlich the last tycoon dale hennesy robert de vestel logan run robert boyle arthur jeph parker the shootist john barry norman reynolds leslie dilley roger christian star wars george webb mickey michaels airport joe alves dan lomino phil abramson close encounters of the third kind ken adam peter lamont hugh scaife the spy who loved me albert brenner marvin march the turning point paul sylbert edwin donovan george gaines heaven can wait dean tavoularis angelo graham george nelson the brink job albert brenner marvin march california suite mel bourne daniel robert interiors tony walton philip rosenberg edward stewart robert drumheller the wiz philip rosenberg tony walton edward stewart gary brink all that jazz michael seymour les dilley roger christian ian whittaker alien dean tavoularis angelo graham george nelson apocalypse now george jenkins arthur jeph parker the china syndrome harold michelson joe jennings leon harris john vallone linda descenna star trek the motion picture year art director set decorator film pierre guffroy jack stephens tess john corso john dwyer coal miner daughter stuart craig robert cartwright hugh scaife the elephant man norman reynolds leslie dilley harry lange alan tomkins michael ford star wars episode the empire strikes back yoshirō muraki kagemusha norman reynolds leslie dilley michael ford raiders of the lost ark assheton gorton ann mollo the french lieutenant woman tambi larsen james berkey heaven gate john graysmark patrizia von brandenstein tony reading george detitta sr george detitta jr peter howitt ragtime richard sylbert michael seirton reds stuart craig robert laing michael seirton gandhi dale hennesy marvin march annie lawrence paull david snyder linda descenna blade runner franco zeffirelli gianni quaranta la traviata rodger maus tim hutchinson william craig smith harry cordwell victor victoria anna asp susanne lingheim fanny and alexander norman reynolds fred hole james schoppe michael ford star wars episode vi return of the jedi geoffrey kirkland richard lawrence stewart campbell peter romero jim poynter george nelson the right stuff polly platt harold michelson tom pedigo anthony mondell terms of endearment roy walker leslie tomkins tessa davies yentl patrizia von brandenstein karel černý amadeus richard sylbert george gaines the cotton club mel bourne angelo graham bruce weintraub the natural john box hugh scaife passage to india albert brenner rick simpson stephen grimes josie macavin out of africa norman garwood maggie gray brazil michael riva bo welch linda descenna the color purple yoshirō muraki shinobu muraki ran stan jolley john anderson witness gianni quaranta brian ackland snow brian savegar elio altamura room with view peter lamont crispian sallis aliens boris leven karen hara the color of money stuart wurtzel carol joffe hannah and her sisters stuart craig jack stephens the mission ferdinando scarfiotti bruno cesari osvaldo desideri the last emperor norman reynolds harry cordwell empire of the sun anthony pratt joanne woollard hope and glory santo loquasto carol joffe leslie bloom george detitta jr radio days patrizia von brandenstein william elliott hal gausman the untouchables stuart craig gérard james dangerous liaisons albert brenner garrett lewis beaches ida random linda descenna rain man dean tavoularis armin ganz tucker the man and his dream elliot scott peter howitt who framed roger rabbit anton furst peter young batman leslie dilley anne kuljian the abyss dante ferretti francesca lo schiavo the adventures of baron munchausen bruno rubeo crispian sallis driving miss daisy norman garwood garrett lewis glory year film art director set decorator rd dick tracy richard sylbert rick simpson cyrano de bergerac ezio frigerio jacques rouxel dances with wolves jeffrey beecroft lisa dean the godfather part iii dean tavoularis gary fettis hamlet dante ferretti francesca lo schiavo th bugsy dennis gassner nancy haigh barton fink dennis gassner nancy haigh the fisher king mel bourne cindy carr hook norman garwood garrett lewis the prince of tides paul sylbert caryl heller th howards end luciana arrighi ian whittaker bram stoker dracula thomas sanders garrett lewis chaplin stuart craig chris butler toys ferdinando scarfiotti linda descenna unforgiven henry bumstead janice blackie goodine th schindler list allan starski ewa braun addams family values ken adam marvin march the age of innocence dante ferretti robert franco orlando ben van os and jan roelfs the remains of the day luciana arrighi ian whittaker th the madness of king george ken adam carolyn scott bullets over broadway santo loquasto susan bode forrest gump rick carter nancy haigh interview with the vampire dante ferretti francesca lo schiavo legends of the fall lilly kilvert dorree cooper th restoration eugenio zanetti apollo michael corenblith merideth boswell babe roger ford kerrie brown little princess bo welch cheryl carasik richard iii tony burrough th the english patient stuart craig stephenie mcmillan the birdcage bo welch cheryl carasik evita brian morris philippe turlure hamlet tim harvey romeo juliet catherine martin brigitte broch th titanic peter lamont michael ford gattaca jan roelfs nancy nye kundun dante ferretti francesca lo schiavo confidential jeannine oppewall jay hart men in black bo welch cheryl carasik st shakespeare in love martin childs jill quertier elizabeth john myhre peter howitt pleasantville jeannine oppewall jay hart saving private ryan tom sanders lisa dean kavanaugh what dreams may come eugenio zanetti cindy carr nd sleepy hollow rick heinrichs peter young anna and the king luciana arrighi ian whittaker the cider house rules david gropman beth rubino the talented mr ripley roy walker bruno cesari topsy turvy eve stewart john bush year film art director set decorator rd crouching tiger hidden dragon tim yip gladiator arthur max crispian sallis how the grinch stole christmas michael corenblith merideth boswell quills martin childs jill quertier vatel jean rabasse françoise benoît fresco th moulin rouge catherine martin brigitte broch amélie aline bonetto marie laure valla gosford park stephen altman anna pinnock harry potter and the sorcerer stone stuart craig stephenie mcmillan the lord of the rings the fellowship of the ring grant major dan hennah th chicago john myhre gordon sim frida felipe fernández del paso hania robledo gangs of new york dante ferretti francesca lo schiavo the lord of the rings the two towers grant major dan hennah and alan lee road to perdition dennis gassner nancy haigh th the lord of the rings the return of the king grant major dan hennah and alan lee girl with pearl earring ben van os cecile heideman the last samurai lilly kilvert gretchen rau master and commander the far side of the world william sandell robert gould seabiscuit jeannine oppewall leslie pope th the aviator dante ferretti francesca lo schiavo finding neverland gemma jackson trisha edwards lemony snicket series of unfortunate events rick heinrichs cheryl carasik the phantom of the opera anthony pratt celia bobak very long engagement aline bonetto th memoirs of geisha john myhre gretchen rau good night and good luck jim bissell jan pascale harry potter and the goblet of fire stuart craig stephenie mcmillan king kong grant major dan hennah and simon bright pride prejudice sarah greenwood katie spencer th pan labyrinth eugenio caballero pilar revuelta dreamgirls john myhre nancy haigh the good shepherd jeannine claudia oppewall gretchen rau and leslie rollins pirates of the caribbean dead man chest rick heinrichs cheryl carasik the prestige nathan crowley julie ochipinti th sweeney todd the demon barber of fleet street dante ferretti francesca lo schiavo american gangster arthur max beth rubino atonement sarah greenwood katie spencer the golden compass dennis gassner anna pinnock there will be blood jack fisk jim erickson st the curious case of benjamin button donald graham burt victor zolfo changeling james murakami gary fettis the dark knight nathan crowley peter lando the duchess michael carlin rebecca alleway revolutionary road kristi zea debra schutt nd avatar rick carter and robert stromberg kim sinclair the imaginarium of doctor parnassus dave warren and anastasia masaro caroline smith nine john myhre gordon sim sherlock holmes sarah greenwood katie spencer the young victoria patrice vermette maggie gray year film art director set decorator rd alice in wonderland robert stromberg karen hara harry potter and the deathly hallows part stuart craig stephenie mcmillan inception guy hendrix dyas larry dias and doug mowat the king speech eve stewart judy farr true grit jess gonchor nancy haigh th hugo dante ferretti francesca lo schiavo the artist laurence bennett robert gould harry potter and the deathly hallows part stuart craig stephenie mcmillan midnight in paris anne seibel hélène dubreuil war horse rick carter lee sandales th lincoln rick carter jim erickson anna karenina sarah greenwood katie spencer the hobbit an unexpected journey dan hennah ra vincent and simon bright les misérables eve stewart anna lynch robinson life of pi david gropman anna pinnock th the great gatsby catherine martin beverley dunn years slave adam stockhausen alice baker american hustle judy becker heather loeffler gravity andy nicholson rosie goodwin and joanne woollard her barrett gene serdena th the grand budapest hotel adam stockhausen anna pinnock the imitation game maria djurkovic tatiana macdonald interstellar nathan crowley gary fettis into the woods dennis gassner anna pinnock mr turner suzie davies charlotte watts th mad max fury road colin gibson lisa thompson bridge of spies adam stockhausen rena deangelo and bernhard henrich the danish girl michael standish eve stewart the martian celia bobak arthur max the revenant jack fisk hamish purdy references