The Missouri Compromise :: American America History

The Missouri Compromise A compromise is when two or more parties in disagreement reach an agreement that does not give all sides exactly what they want, but enough of what they want so that they can be happy. Compromise is the best possible solution to a conflict however it does not always work. One needs only to look at situations such as the Bosnia-Herzegovina to see that. During the events prior to the American Civil War, many different compromises were made in an attempt to impede the growing disagreements. However this merely prolonged the inevitable. The differences between North and South were far to great and compromise did not stand a chance at preventing the impending conflict. This was most clearly shown in the ways in which the three main compromises, the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act, failed. In 1820 Missouri wanted to join the Union as a slave state. As this would ruin the balance between Slave states and Free states in the Senate, Henry Clay proposed the Missouri compromise. This arranged it that while Missouri was admitted as a Slave state, Maine was also admitted as a free state. It also created an imaginary line along the 36o latitude, where slavery was allowed below it but prevented above it. However they limited themselves by only applying the Compromise to lands gained in the Louisiana purchase. This led to conflict after the Mexican war in which America gained new territories in the West. This doomed the Missouri Compromise, which was probably the most promising of the three. Had the Compromise been applied to all American lands then perhaps it could have succeeded. Instead the Missouri Compromise failed and only led to further conflict between north and south in the future. In 1849 once again the Union was facing the same crises it had faced in 1820. California now wanted to be admitted as a free state. Once again Henry Clay came up with a compromise to resolve this conflict. California would indeed be admitted as free while the rest of the Southwest territories would decide the slavery issue by popular sovereignty. It would also abolish slavery altogether in Washington DC and initiate a stronger fugitive slave law to appease the South. This last concession angered people in the North however. Free blacks were concerned as now a Southerner could accuse any black person as being a runaway slave.

The Dictatorial Prospero of Shakespeares The Tempest Essay -- Tempest

The Dictatorial Prospero of The Tempest      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Motivation often propels people to achieve high goals. Sometimes, however, motivation is too strong a tool and can manifest into selfish desires. The exploitation of the weak invariably results from the strong abusing their power, especially in a political setting. In William Shakespeare's ‘The Tempest’, Prospero is displayed as a tyrannical character who spawns a disastrous storm as part of a grand scheme to regain his title of Duke of Milan. His subsequent treatment of each character in the play, even his beloved daughter are purely based on his self-centered motives. Prospero can be seen as an overbearing racist, as well as a usurper to land that does not belong to him, but rather to Caliban. Being that Prospero's nature is dictatorial, every aspect of his life concerns achieving his narrow and self-centered goals of regaining political power through his former title of Duke of Milan.    Prospero treats his young daughter, Miranda, in a controlling way by sheltering her from the outside world and even devises a marriage for her to the son of his enemy, King Alonso to better his efforts of obtaining back the dukedom. Whilst Prospero is explaining how they once were royalty, he continually interjects "Dost thou attend me?" (1.2.77) and "Dost thou hear?" (1.2.106) to his acquies... ...ward. "Prospero: A Critical Study. " 336-82. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1991. Corfield, Cosmo. "Why Does Prospero Abjure His 'Rough Magic,'" Shakespeare Quarterly. 36 (1985): 31-4 8. Curry, Walter C. "The Characters of Shakespeare's The Tempest," Early Early Modern Literary Studies. Vers. 5.1. May 1999. Levin, Harry. "Two Magian Comedies: 'The Tempest' and 'The Alchemist,'" Shakespeare Survey . 22 (1969): 47-58. Miko, Stephen J. "Tempest," ELH. 49 (1982): 1-17. Mowat, Barbara A. "Prospero, Agrippa, and Hocus Pocus," English Literary Renaissance. 11 (1981): 281-3 03. West, Robert. "The Mystery of 'The Tempest'. Lexington: UP of Kentucky, 1968.    The Dictatorial Prospero of Shakespeare's The Tempest Essay -- Tempest The Dictatorial Prospero of The Tempest      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Motivation often propels people to achieve high goals. Sometimes, however, motivation is too strong a tool and can manifest into selfish desires. The exploitation of the weak invariably results from the strong abusing their power, especially in a political setting. In William Shakespeare's ‘The Tempest’, Prospero is displayed as a tyrannical character who spawns a disastrous storm as part of a grand scheme to regain his title of Duke of Milan. His subsequent treatment of each character in the play, even his beloved daughter are purely based on his self-centered motives. Prospero can be seen as an overbearing racist, as well as a usurper to land that does not belong to him, but rather to Caliban. Being that Prospero's nature is dictatorial, every aspect of his life concerns achieving his narrow and self-centered goals of regaining political power through his former title of Duke of Milan.    Prospero treats his young daughter, Miranda, in a controlling way by sheltering her from the outside world and even devises a marriage for her to the son of his enemy, King Alonso to better his efforts of obtaining back the dukedom. Whilst Prospero is explaining how they once were royalty, he continually interjects "Dost thou attend me?" (1.2.77) and "Dost thou hear?" (1.2.106) to his acquies... ...ward. "Prospero: A Critical Study. " 336-82. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1991. Corfield, Cosmo. "Why Does Prospero Abjure His 'Rough Magic,'" Shakespeare Quarterly. 36 (1985): 31-4 8. Curry, Walter C. "The Characters of Shakespeare's The Tempest," Early Early Modern Literary Studies. Vers. 5.1. May 1999. Levin, Harry. "Two Magian Comedies: 'The Tempest' and 'The Alchemist,'" Shakespeare Survey . 22 (1969): 47-58. Miko, Stephen J. "Tempest," ELH. 49 (1982): 1-17. Mowat, Barbara A. "Prospero, Agrippa, and Hocus Pocus," English Literary Renaissance. 11 (1981): 281-3 03. West, Robert. "The Mystery of 'The Tempest'. Lexington: UP of Kentucky, 1968.   

Comparing Southwest and Continental Airlines Essay -- Business, Compar

Introduction In order for companies to maximize profits and productivity, it is important that they implement managerial economics on both a day-to-day and strategic basis. This paper will compare and contrast Southwest and Continental Airlines from a managerial economic perspective. The goal of the paper is to critically analyze both companies on their use of managerial economic practices. The Airline industry is a capitally intensive industry, and because of this companies within the Airline industry focus greatly upon cost, as well as revenue generation. If costs increase beyond control, profitability will soon decrease. Southwest were quick to learn that if they were going to run their company in a profitable manner they had to first establish their market, and then make every effort to keep costs low. In the early 1970’s soon after their inception, Southwest established the ten-minute turn. This was the ability to unload and reload passengers, refill the plane with gasoline, and make all the necessary checks, all within a ten-minute window. They had to keep their planes in the air as much as possible, because of their low price, high frequency market niche. â€Å"Part of the great strength they’ve had, is that they have consistently followed a pattern of keeping costs low in every place they have gone.† (Freiberg, 1996, p35) Continental also looked to keep costs low. In 1994, Continental was renowned as a cost cutting airline. â€Å"We were stuck in our mold of being a cost cutting airline, and if you weren’t talking about cutting costs, nobody at the top wanted to hear you† (Bethune, 1998, p10) The problem Continental experienced were that they cut costs to such an extent that it became the culture of the company. When Gordon ... ... in the right direction. Southwest, built on a solid foundation, have developed into a well-managed company that continues to move forward into the future. My main criticism of the Southwest book, was that is was written from an extremely optimistic viewpoint, the authors obviously being big fans of Southwest. The book was not shy in retelling the many successful ventures of Southwest, but held back on the many problems they have encountered in their history. From Worst to First on the other hand gave information from a negative and positive perspective, although as Gordon Bethune wrote the book, we also might assume some level of bias. Both books were an extremely useful learning tool, a refreshing change from many dry textbooks. They demonstrate that there is no one-way to run a company, even within the same industry, Southwest and Continental being examples.

Library research guide to education: illustrated search strategy and sources Essay

Sodium supports the proper functioning of the nerves by playing its role in action potentials action potentials are electrical impulses sent when the nerve cells received signals down the length of the cells hence triggering communication with the neighboring cells. During the action potentials, sodium ions rushes out of the nerve cells to initiate electrochemical impulse (Budvytyte et al, 2014). Why is this approach relevant or useful to understanding the loss of function in neurons? This approach is useful to understand neurons loss of functions because lack of sodium in the blood hinders the communication of the nerves, hence deficiency of sodium can result to muscle cramps because of abnormal communication between the muscle fibers and the nerves (Budvytyte et al, 2014). Question 2 What is the normal concentration gradient of sodium in the nervous system (should the sodium concentration be higher or lower within the cell compared to the extracellular fluid)? For a resting neuron, there is high concentration of chlorine and sodium ions in the extracellular fluid than the intracellular fluid. However, in the intracellular fluids, there is high concentration of potassium compared to the extracellular fluid (Madelin et al, 2010). How does the change in the sodium concentration detected from MRI of the hippocampus suggest that the neurons in the hippocampus became diseased and were not functioning properly? To detect a neuron death, Sodium MRI imaging is used. The higher sodium (Na+) concentration indicate that there were dead or damaged cells. When making comparisons of the two images of the control patients and the Alzheimer brain, brighter areas are seen in the Alzheimer patent brain than the control patient. This is an indication of higher concentration levels of sodium and indicates dysfunction of neurons. Before the death of cells, the increased levels of sodium in the tissue could be as a result of sodium direct leak because if the Na/K ATPase retro-gradation or amyloid beta channels (Mellon et al, 2009). What sort of a change in the Na+ concentration gradient would you expect when neurons are damaged or malfunctioning? Only a small intracellular sodium increase would be expected to produce signal intensity change. After the death of the neurons, the space I the intracellular shrinks and the extra cellular space expands. Moreover, the extra cellular space will have a large concentration of sodium which produce a large signal intensity of sodium (Mellon et al, 2009). Question 4 The peer reviewed article on â€Å"Sodium MR imaging detection of mild Alzheimer disease† discusses how the changes in the concentration of sodium detected from the hippocampus MRI suggest that the hippocampus neuron became diseased and does not functioning properly. The article about â€Å"Action Potential Collision in Nerves† discusses the action Potential Collision in Nerves. I used the article in this assignment to understand what role sodium play in neuronal action. This article â€Å"Sodium MRI with Triple Quantum Filter and Inversion Recovery at 7T† is about the current awareness in NNR in in medicine. I used the article in understanding the differences in the relative concentrations of sodium (Na+) in the hippocampus using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). 5. In what ways are the studies similar in their method and conclusions? All the three studies used experimental methodology in their research design. Moreover, in their conclusions, there were similarity since all of them proved their hypothesis in relation to sodium innerves. In what ways are the studies different in their method and conclusions? The three studies used different equipment in their data collection. For instance, in the study of â€Å"Sodium MR imaging detection of mild Alzheimer disease,† used 3T clinical scanner, in the study â€Å"Sodium MRI with Triple Quantum Filter and Inversion Recovery at 7T,† used 7T Whole Body Scanner and a single tuned Na head coil. Question 7 What other observations might we expect to find in cases with similar issues? The other observations expected to be found include using sodium imaging as a clinical tool in detecting neuropathologic changes that are related with Alzheimer disease What would we want to look for in the future, now that we know what this case has taught us? In future, we would want to look for the implementation of IR23NaMRI and TQR fir the human brain at 7T in vivo in order to assess the intracellular concentration of sodium. Question 8 Give your resolution of the case: What does it tell us about autopoiesis in human anatomy and physiology? My resolution is that the case is that there is a dysfunction in the neurons or cell death because of the brighter areas on the patient’s brain. Brighter areas are an indication of higher concentration levels of sodium on the neurons that have dysfunctional On a scale of 1–5, rate how confident you are in your conclusions in questions 1 and 2. I would rate my conclusions at 5 Question 9 Describe how you located the information you used in this case. To begin the search, I started with the most comprehensive data base that is Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (NINAH) (Kennedy 2009). The search then continued to search engines such as British Nursing Index, MEDLINE. Moreover PubMed and NCBI were other major search engines which assisted some of the relevant articles. These search engines were used because they contained most of the peer review articles and books. To limit and narrow down the search for articles, internal searches of the databases was used by inserting full length of texts and searching the relevant articles from the list of journals displayed. Moreover, I limited myself to the current articles of up to 5 years If you had it to do over again, what you might do differently? I would use different resources to get different information so as to make comparisons of different studies References Budvytyte, R., Gonzalez-Perez, A., Mosgaard, L., & Heimburg, T. (January 01, 2014). Action Potential Collision in Nerves. Biophysical Journal, 106, 2.)G. Madelin, N. Oesingmann, G. Johnson, A. Jerschow, and M. Inglese (2010). Sodium MRI with Triple Quantum Filter and Inversion Recovery at 7T. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCcQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.med.nyu.edu%2Fradiology_research%2Fassets%2F03251.pdf&ei=tTyNVJmdH9GcugS5lYCIAw&usg=AFQjCNEbJrsrWJx0NrRJ0UjQSQ7y7IPJtA&sig2=4GdWwL6yW-a0Obj6LLMEmA&bvm=bv.81828268,d.c2E. [Last Accessed 14th November 2014]. Kennedy, J. R. (2009). Library research guide to education: illustrated search strategy and sources. Ann Arbor, Mich, Pierian Press.Mellon, E. A., Pilkinton, D. T., Clark, C. M., Elliott, M. A., Witschey, W. R. ., Borthakur, A., & Reddy, R. (January 01, 2009). Sodium MR imaging detection of mild Alzheimer disease: preliminary study. Ajnr. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 30, 5, 978-84. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2866317/ Source document

Poem Play Story

House of Cards is a series that was produced by Beau Williamson and takes place in a present- day Washington D. C. Setting. The main character Frank underworld, Is a Democrat congressman from South Carolina's district, who creates a devious plan In order to get himself into a position of power. With the assistance of his wife, he is able to under mind and scheme against the President of the united States, by befriending him and other people of power through blackmail, scheming, and even murder. Frank Underworld used his power to influence electoral votes.He made deals and passed laws 2 not for economical growth but for his own personal endeavors. Frank wasn't always this way, he was very loyal to the president at one time. The president chose another congressman to become Vice President, knowing that Frank waited many years for the position. After the president assigned another person is when Frank became enraged, taking matters into his own hands. â€Å"A great man once said, every thing is about sex. Except sex. Sex is about power† Is one of his favorite quotes.I chose this lay not because I am Intrigued by politics, but because of all the deferent turns the plot has taken during the show. Life a Journey Is a poem that Is written by Noreen Carded. A few lines from her poem goes as follows † Now I'm in my sunset years. I've learned my lessons have no fear. I made mistakes along the way. Each time my conscience made me pay. Advice to youth if they allow. Life is precious live well now. † In this poem the Author discusses that in life we all make mistakes that we have to live with and that we should learn from them and move on.She also writes on how we should Just enjoy life. Chose this poem because a lot of my teen and early twenty years I spent not really enjoying life the way a teenager topically would. I am currently in process of changing that and just living one day at a time. The poem describes her as being young and making mistakes, and allowing it to bother her conscience Once growing older realizing there is much more to be enjoyed in life and telling younger people not to make the same mistakes she has. The short story I chose was of David from the Bible.Some of us may know the story of David, who was the small Sheppard that grew up and became king. When David was 3 just a boy, he had brothers that went off to war. The Philistines were hounding them, and blaspheming God. David ventured out to give his brothers food and noticed had faith in God. Knowing that God will protect him against a large man/giant like Goliath, he took five stones into his hand. One stone for Goliath and each of his four brothers. The Philistines all laughed at him, being such a small boy, challenging a giant.They all stood in disbelief after witnessing David taking Goliath Down with a single stone. I chose this story because it displays the true meaning of self confidence. The story of David is in the Bible 1 Samuel 17. Each of these pie ces have impacted me in some way whether it be life, my way of thinking or self confidence. House of Cards series has given me insight on what I would like to call the down side of politics. Even though this â€Å"show† is Just that, it really makes me wonder if politicians are really that corrupt, and whether their decision making really s for the greater good.Like Frank Underworld road to power is paved with hypocrisy, and casualties. † The poem that I chose gave me insight on how to enjoy the simplicity of life and how not to dwell on the mistakes I have made along the way, but rather to learn from them and keep living. Noreen Carded has wonderful themes and her poems are pleasant. Last but not least the story of David helps me to really understand the importance on believing in yourself, even more when you are doubted by others. I don't think of David as an underdog, but more so a confident being with skills.

What are the most important considerations?

INTRODUCTIONMultimedia, which is in essence a presentation of information that includes multiples media, is becoming a very important medium in learning. Multimedia learning materials have soared since the growth of internet. Yet its effective must rely on the design was tailored to cater specific audiences.PURPOSEThe purpose of this document is to present the most important considerations when designing a multimedia material for adult learners. This document also further explains these considerations.IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONSOverview of ConsiderationsWhen designing multimedia materials for adult learners, the following important considerations should be taken into account (Lieb, 1991):1) Adults are autonomous and self-directed.2) Adults have accumulated a foundation of life experiences and knowledge that may include work-related activities, family responsibilities, and previous education. Generally these are established values, beliefs, and opinions.3) Â  Adults are goal oriented4) Â  Adults are relevance oriented and practical5) Â  Adults should be respectedOther minor factors which are not very common to all includes, low level literacy, lacking in confidence and displaying a higher level of anxiety towards academic tasks, limited problem-solving and critical thinking skills, and little or no computer-related skills.Autonomous and Self-directedAdult learners tend to be autonomous and self-directed. Thus a multimedia learning material should have the alternatives that may fit the interest of adult learners. It should not be limiting in options but rather acts as guide or facilitating control. Adults can direct themselves to specific areas of interest at a time to achieve the most efficient learning.Established Values, Beliefs, Knowledge and OpinionsAdult learners experience in life has formed established values, beliefs, and opinions. Thus a multimedia learning material should take into account that new ideas and principles should be explained carefully and explicitly. The explanation should connect these ideas and principles to the established values, beliefs and opinions in order for them to understand. Otherwise they might misunderstood it and think that these are not in accordance with their previous knowledge.Goal OrientedAdults are goal oriented so that they should have a purpose in every module or chapter. The multimedia learning material should clear the objective at the start. Without a goal, adult learners tend to loose their interest because to them life experience has taught them that life is all about goals. The multimedia learning material should provide them an organized layout of the content at the start.Relevance oriented and PracticalAdult learners seek relevance of studies in their daily lives. They need to understand the practical purpose of these lessons. Thus multimedia learning materials should relate the ideas to real world scenarios where they offer a certain level of use.RespectThe most important to all of th is is respect. Multimedia learning materials should not try to break the respect by overdoing with jokes to ignite interest.CONCLUSIONMultimedia products should take into consideration the that adult learners are autonomous, have establish values and opinions, goal oriented, relevance oriented, practical and needs respect in order for these products to be effective.ReferencesLieb, S (1991). Principles of Adult Learning. Retrieved from the BALS website: http://balsontheweb.wikispaces.com/Adult+Learning?responseToken=a02492aded209b11678103756fc3f32b ,January 17, 2007

Expansion of Islam during the Medieval Period Essay

The development of Islam in world history has resulted in major political, economic, and military ramifications, not only in the Islamic world, but also in the global community at that period. Only decades following the first recitations of the Qur’an by Prophet Muhammad, a vast empire of the Islam religion can be traced from the Atlantic Ocean going all the way to Central Asia in the east. Islam has expanded greatly indeed during the Medieval Era. This new global order has massive implications, and resulted into various wars, and states and governments fought with each other and outside forces. Despite counter-revolutions in the spread of the religion, Islam continued to gain ground in the vast regions of Africa, the India, and Southeast Asia. The Islamic civilization was indeed one of the most highly developed in the world during the Medieval Era, which was later on exceeded by the Europe empires with the economic and military growth of the West. The advancement of Islam during the Medieval period was great and notable, as the religion that is fairly young grew to be one of the most dominant world religions even today, with an estimated more than 1 billion follower, second only in size to Christianity. The preceding paragraphs shall be the historical account of this rise of the Islam religion. Islam religion: Brief Overview The Islamic tradition finds its origins from the teachings of their prophet Muhammad during the 7th Century. Consisting of more than a billion followers all over the world, Islam can be said to be the 2nd biggest of all the world religions. The most holy text of Islam is the Quran, which is believed to have been given to Muhammad by God, or Allah. This religion also recognizes Moses and Jesus as prophets, and regard their teachings as important, which would account for certain parallelisms with world religions such as Christianity. The Islamic life is basically guided by the Five Pillars, which prescribes certain aspects of life and forms their culture and traditions. Believing in a single God whom Muslims would call Allah, most of the Quranic teachings are even used as laws of states that have Islam as the state religion. Like Christianity, the teachings of Jesus are one viewed with high regard; but for Islam, Jesus is a prophet rather than God, hence they reject the Trinity concept. Muslims follow certain codes of conduct, like the daily requirement of praying for a number of times a day and a strict diet, like the refusal to ingest pork. The church of Islam is called the Mosque, wherein like all other religions, certain rituals are being conducted. The history in the medieval era: Rise of the caliphate (632–750) Before starting his move to Medina, where he migrated, Muhammad commenced his teaching of Islam at the holy city of Mecca, and achieved the goal of uniting the Arabian tribes of Arabia into a unified Arab Muslim religious polity. Following the death of Muhammad during the year of 632, there were rising conflicts in the Islamic community on who would succeed him as leader of the community. Nominated to obtain such position was Abu Bakr, who was one of the closest people and collaborator to Muhammad; his name was raised by Umar ibn al-Khattab, also Muhammad’s companion. Abu Bakr was then became the first â€Å"caliph†, as his leadership gained great support. Although his leadership walso experience some opposition who would support another person in the name of Ali ibn Abi Talib, is argued to be a designated successor. The avengement of a defeat in war by the Byzantine forces was made one of the first agenda, although the Ridda wars, or â€Å"Wars of Apostasy†, which was an Arab tribe rebellion, were the first acts of Abu Bakr. The territory of the Caliphate in 750 Umar succeeded as the caliph, when Abu Bakr passed away in the year 634, which was then followed respectively by Uthman ibn al-Affan and Ali ibn Abi Talib, and these first four leaders where dubbed as the al-khulafa’ ar-rashidun or Rightly Guided Caliphs. Under their collective leadership, the Islamic territory saw continual expansion into Persian and Byzantine empires. When Umar was assassinated in 644, the election of Uthman as successor was met with increasing opposition. In 656, Uthman was also killed, and Ali assumed the position of caliph. After fighting off opposition in the first civil war (the â€Å"First Fitna†), Ali was assassinated by Kharijites in 661. Following this, Mu’awiyah, who was governor of Levant, seized power and began the Umayyad dynasty. These disputes over religious and political leadership would give rise to schism in the Muslim community. The majority accepted the legitimacy of the three rulers prior to Ali, and became known as Sunnis. A minority disagreed, and believed that Ali was the only rightful successor; they became known as the Shi’a. After Mu’awiyah’s death in 680, conflict over succession broke out again in a civil war known as the â€Å"Second Fitna†. Afterward, the Umayyad dynasty prevailed for seventy years, and was able to conquer the Maghrib and Al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula, former Visigothic Hispania) and the Narbonnese Gaul} in the west as well as expand Muslim territory into Sindh and the fringes of Central Asia. While the Muslim-Arab elite engaged in conquest, some devout Muslims began to question the piety of indulgence in a worldly life, emphasizing rather poverty, humility and avoidance of sin based on renunciation of bodily desires. Devout Muslim ascetic exemplars such as Hasan al-Basri would inspire a movement that would evolve into Sufism. For the Umayyad aristocracy, Islam was viewed as a religion for Arabs only; the economy of the Umayyad empire was based on the assumption that a majority of non-Muslims (Dhimmis) would pay taxes to the minority of Muslim Arabs. A non-Arab who wanted to convert to Islam was supposed to first become a client of an Arab tribe. Even after conversion, these new Muslims (mawali) did not achieve social and economic equality with the Arabs. The descendants of Muhammad’s uncle Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib rallied discontented mawali, poor Arabs, and some Shi’a against the Umayyads and overthrew them with the help of their propagandist and general Abu Muslim, inaugurating the Abbasid dynasty in 750. Under the Abbasids, Islamic civilization flourished in the â€Å"Islamic Golden Age†, with its capital at the cosmopolitan city of Baghdad. The Islamic Golden Age (750–1258) By the late 9th century, the Abbasid caliphate began to fracture as various regions gained increasing levels of autonomy. Across North Africa, Persia, and Central Asia emirates formed as provinces broke away. The monolithic Arab empire gave way to a more religiously homogenized Muslim world where the Shia Fatimids contested even the religious authority of the caliphate. By 1055 the Seljuq Turks had eliminated the Abbasids as a military power, nevertheless they continued to respect the caliph’s titular authority. During this time expansion of the Muslim world continued, by both conquest and peaceful proselytism even as both Islam and Muslim trade networks were extending into sub-Saharan West Africa, Central Asia, Volga Bulgaria and the Malay archipelago. The Golden Age saw new legal, philosophical, and religious developments. The major hadith collections were compiled and the four modern Sunni Madh’habs were established. Islamic law was advanced greatly by the efforts of the early 9th century jurist al-Shafi’i; he codified a method to establish the reliability of hadith, a topic which had been a locus of dispute among Islamic scholars. Philosophers Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Al-Farabi sought to incorporate Greek principles into Islamic theology, while others like the 11th century theologian Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali argued against them and ultimately prevailed. Finally, Sufism and Shi’ism both underwent major changes in the 9th century. Sufism became a full-fledged movement that had moved towards mysticism and away from its ascetic roots, while Shi’ism split due to disagreements over the succession of Imams. The spread of the Islamic dominion induced hostility among medieval ecclesiastical Christian authors who saw Islam as an adversary in the light of the large numbers of new Muslim converts. This opposition resulted in polemical treatises which depicted Islam as the religion of the antichrist and of Muslims as libidinous and subhuman. In the medieval period, a few Arab philosophers like the poet Al-Ma’arri adopted a critical approach to Islam, and the Jewish philosopher Maimonides contrasted Islamic views of morality to Jewish views that he himself elaborated. Starting in the 9th century, Muslim conquests in the West began to be reversed. The Reconquista was launched against Muslim principalities in Iberia, and Muslim Italian possessions were lost to the Normans. From the 11th century onwards alliances of European Christian kingdoms mobilized to launch a series of wars known as the Crusades, bringing the Muslim world into conflict with Christendom. Initially successful in their goal of taking the Holy land, and establishing the Crusader states, Crusader gains in the Holy Land were later reversed by subsequent Muslim generals such as Saladin; who recaptured Jerusalem during the Second Crusade. In the east the Mongol Empire put an end to the Abbassid dynasty at the Battle of Baghdad in 1258, as they overran in Muslim lands in a series of invasions. Meanwhile in Egypt, the slave-soldier Mamluks took control in an uprising in 1250 and in alliance with the Golden Horde were able halt the Mongol armies at the Battle of Ain Jalut. Mongol rule extended across the breadth of almost all Muslim lands in Asia and Islam was temporarily replaced by Buddhism as the official religion of the land. Over the next century the Mongol Khanates converted to Islam and this religious and cultural absorption ushered in a new age of Mongol-Islamic synthesis that shaped the further spread of Islam in central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Ottomans and Islamic empires in India (1258–1918) The Seljuk Turks conquered Abbassid lands and adopted Islam and become the de facto rulers of the caliphate. They captured Anatolia by defeating the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert, thereby precipitating the call for Crusades. They however fell apart rapidly in the second half of the 12th century giving rise to various semi-autonomous Turkic dynasties. In the 13th and 14th centuries the Ottoman empire (named after Osman I) emerged from among these â€Å"Ghazi emirates† and established itself after a string of conquests that included the Balkans, parts of Greece, and western Anatolia. In 1453 under Mehmed II the Ottomans laid siege to Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium. The Byzantine fortress succumbed shortly thereafter, having been battered by superior Ottoman cannonry. Beginning in the 13th century, Sufism underwent a transformation, largely as a result of the efforts of al-Ghazzali to legitimize and reorganize the movement. He developed the model of the Sufi order—a community of spiritual teachers and students. Also of importance to Sufism was the creation of the Masnavi, a collection of mystical poetry by the 13th century Persian poet Rumi. The Masnavi had a profound influence on the development of Sufi religious thought; to many Sufis it is second in importance only to the Qur’an. In the early 16th century, the Shi’ite Safavid dynasty assumed control in Persia and established Shi’a Islam as an official religion there, and despite periodic setbacks, the Safavids remained powerful for two centuries. Meanwhile, Mamluk Egypt fell to the Ottomans in 1517, who then launched a European campaign which reached as far as the gates of Vienna in 1529. After the invasion of Persia, and sack of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258, Delhi became the most important cultural centre of the Muslim east. Many Islamic dynasties ruled parts of the Indian subcontinent starting from the 12th century. The prominent ones include the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526) and the Mughal empire (1526–1857). These empires helped in the spread of Islam in South Asia. but by the mid-18th century the British empire had ended the Mughal dynasty. In the 18th century the Wahhabi movement took hold in Saudi Arabia. Founded by the preacher Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Wahhabism is a fundamentalist ideology that condemns practices like Sufism and the veneration of saints as un-Islamic. By the 17th and 18th centuries, despite attempts at modernization, the Ottoman empire had begun to feel threatened by European economic and military advantages. In the 19th century, the rise of nationalism resulted in Greece declaring and winning independence in 1829, with several Balkan states following suit after the Ottomans suffered defeat in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. The Ottoman era came to a close at the end of World War I. Conclusion The history of the Islamic religion during the medieval era is great and dynamic indeed, as the rise into global prominence could be noted to be a magnificent and unprecedented event in world history. Truly, the historical struggle of Islam is one that has witnessed countless conflicts and eventually successes. Even today, even as the religion has not regained the glory of the Golden Ages, it remains to be one of the most dominant world religions in our global community, as billions of followers continue to adhere to the teachings of their prophet Mohammad.