THE DESTRUCTIVE EFFECTS OF RACISM ON BIGGER THOMAS Essay -- Essays Pap

THE DESTRUCTIVE EFFECTS OF RACISM ON BIGGER THOMAS THESIS: Bigger Thomas represents the black man’s condition and his revolt against the injustices of the white caste society. When one looks at the contribution of blacks in the world of American literature, Richard Wright is considered one of the great contributors. Truly one of his books which highlights the black’s view of American society has to be Native Son. In Native Son, Richard Wright creates the characterization of â€Å"native sons† who are products of American civilization. From his own life experience, he portrays in Bigger Thomas a combination of character traits that illustrate persons who have lost meaning in their lives. Bigger Thomas represents the black man’s condition and his revolt against the injustices of the white caste society. Richard Wright creates Bigger Thomas into a social symbol for Americans by making him a victim of oppression. Bigger, as well as all other African Americans, is forced to live in poverty. He lives in a crowded, dirty apartment with his mother, brother, and sister. His only way of seeing the white world is through the lives of the Dalton family, his rich employers (Smith 392). An important factor in Wright’s development of Bigger is the struggle to keep power from the Black society. White men wants the Negro to be restricted from as much control as possible, â€Å"for had he had a chance to vote, he would have automatically controlled the richest lands of the South and with them the social, political, and economic destiny of a third of the Republic† (Wright Bigger X1). Bigger is an ideal portrait of a product of Western culture. Bigger has little control over his life. â€Å"Wright builds up rather extensive documentation to prove that Bigger’s actions, behavior, values, attitudes, and fate have already been determined by his status and place in American life† (Margolies Art 1). Bigger is alienated from any kind of relationship. â€Å"[Wright] claimed he valued the ‘state of abandonment, aloneness.’ In this he was, finally, a true product of Western culture† (Discovering 5). Western culture places Bigger, as well as other African Americans, in a position where they are expected to be submissive to whites. Bigger sees violence as the only alternative to â€Å"dumb submission to a dehumanizing lot† (Margolies Study 65-66). In Nat... ...5). Richard Wright uses his surroundings and his acquaintances to create his fictional world. For this reason Bigger Thomas becomes real, a combination of many men in the author’s world. The â€Å"native son† represents all â€Å"native sons† during this period of American history. Bigger Thomas searches for the answer to the question of how to live in the white man’s society. Native Son is his conclusion. Bibliography: Margolies, Edward. The Art of Richard Wright. Southern Ilinois University Press, 1969. Gale Research Inc., 1993. Native Sons A Critical Study of Twentieth-Century Negro American Writers. Philadelphia: J. V. Lippincott Company, 1968. â€Å"Richard Nathaniel Wright 1908-1960.† Discovering Authors. Gale Research Inc., 1993. Sanders, Ronald. â€Å"Richard Wright and the Sixties.† Mainstream. Vol. XIV, August- September, 1968. Gale Research, Inc. 1993. Smith, Valerie, Lea Baechier, and A Walton Litz. African American Writers. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993. Wright, Richard. Native Son. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1940. â€Å"How Bigger Was Born.† Native Son. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1940.

Critical Appraisal Essay

This exclusive practical session revolves around students’ attachment to family doctor or general practitioner. Beforehand, a sound understanding and distinguishable comparison between these two specialty is necessary to perform this task efficiently. Family medicine is a medical specialty that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and all parts of the body. It is based on knowledge of the patient in the context of the family and community, emphasizing disease prevention and health promotion. According to the World Organization of Family Doctors, the aim of family medicine is to provide personal, comprehensive and continuing care for the individual in the context of the family and community. On the other hand, general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education to patients. The good general practitioners will treat patients both as people and as a population. In some healthcare systems general practitioners work in primary care healthcare centers where they play a central role in the healthcare team. Nevertheless, in some models of care general practitioners work as single-handed practitioners. In conjunction with this block, I visited a local puskesmas to understand more about role of a general practitioner and family physician. Physical Access , Convenience and Facilities The clinic I was designated to is Puskesmas Danurejan I. The puskesmas is located in Bausasran, Danurejan in Yogyakarta. After being renovated and improvised since December 2011, Puskesmas Danurejan possesses new physical structure and more sophisticated facilities. Now, the puskesmas has a new building, whereas the ground floor serves as an infectious and non-infectious area. The puskesmas is almost 656 meter squared in size with general consultation rooms, dental consultation rooms, emergency room, pharmacy and laboratory fitted in the ground floor. On the other hand, the first floor serves as the supporting facility . This floor contains the office, hygiene and sanitation department and prayer room. This health center is located in the midst of housing estates, and therefore very accessible to those living within close proximity. The housing area is also densely populated, with numerous shops, public amenities which makes it a rather ideal and conducive stay. The puskesmas is open daily on weekdays and Saturdays from 7. 30am to 3. 00pm. The puskesmas also has a landline which makes it reachable for any prior information before the peoples’ visit. One distinct setback of the setting is that of, the signboard was unclear and hidden in tree branches. The direction guiding the visitors are vague and not specified. This may be inconvenient for anyone who is about to make their very first visit without prominently knowing the location. Furthermore, there were not enough parking lots near the puskesmas. The Waiting Room The waiting room is spacious, sufficient to fit about 20 patients at an instance with appropriate number of chairs provided. The cleanliness and tidiness of the waiting room is also well maintained . There were garbage bins provided. The ventilation of the room is also well considered as there are presence windows for good air movement. Huge healthcare pamphlets and banners are also seen in the waiting room, aimed educate and enlighten patients. A staff was bserved in the waiting area as she is assigned to take vital signs of the patients and direct them to the physician as their turn comes. As we were walking pass the waiting room, I noticed surreptitious gazes from the patients who were rather clueless of our enthusiastic presence with white coats. I managed to start a conversation with a few patients even before tending to the consultation room for observation. Patient Load and Examination Room The patients who visit this puskesmas are mostly from the community living within close proximity to the center. Apparently, the densely populated housing estate are attracted to the recently renovated health center. The health center receives a generous average of 40 patients daily, most probably due to the satisfactory health care received and affordable charges. The examination room is rather small but sufficient to carry out basic physical examination, equipped with racks, table for physician and an examination bed. During my observation period, the physician received 5 patients. in which 3 of them were regular patients under controlled medications (hypertension and diabetes mellitus patients), with the other 2 having ordinary fever and viral flu. According to the doctor, most of his patients are children with acute illnesses and elderly patients facing chronic diseases. However, any serious medical complication which cannot be diagnosed or treated by the doctor is referred to the possible hospital. Physician-Patient Communication Based on my observation, the physician seemed to have mastered all crucial skills in order to provide the best for the patient. Firstly, I would like to discuss about the primary care management of the physician towards the patient. The doctor successfully connects with the patient via good communication and interpersonal skills, and subsequently put the patient at ease to express his complaints and condition. Therefore, the physician is able do deal competently with the problems presented to her. Even though the physician I observed has just completed internship, she has an amazing person centered care towards each of her patient. She understands and relates her patients as individuals and developed the ability to work in partnership. The physician encountered various different cases involving different ranging from a myriad of genders, age group and illness. However, she applies specific problem-solving skills about the context-specific aspects of general practice and successfully dealt with undifferentiated illness and skills. The duration of consultancy was about 10 minutes per patient for chronic diseases like hypertension and diabetes mellitus and the interaction process took about 5 minutes. Shortly after my observation, I managed to have a word with the physician. She explained to me that the key to a good family physician is the comprehensive approach. It is about how one as a physician must be able to co-ordinate care of acute illness, chronic illness, health promotion and disease prevention in the general practice setting. Not to forget, to respect and honor the patients for an impeccable physician-patient communication. Besides she emphasized the importance to keep patients informed about their condition, listen and respect their views about their health and respond to their question. Documentation and Medical Records The medical records are stored very systematically in the center. There is an allocated room with limited accessibility to keep all of the documents safely in order to avoid breach of confidentiality of the documents. Only the administration personnel are permitted to enter. As we were informed, the documents of the medical record has been computerized using a programme called MedCis System. However, the manual means are still practiced in the physicians desk. The information is then transferred by the administration personnel. The medical record on the hysicians desk is a piece of white-colored paper with patient identity particulars such as name, age, gender, registration number, and consultation date at the top. The remainder of the page is filled up by writing by the doctor himself, which are anamnesis, medical history, drug allergies, vital sign results, physical examination results, diagnosis, treatment and prescription. By the implementation of the computerized system, loss of data due to natural disaster is prevented. Besides, the patients privacy and confidentially is recognised as the system is well secured, in the sense no changes of previous medical history is made possible. The system can only be viewed by physicians for follow-ups and patient himself upon request. Clinical Care Processes The overall process of treatment is very structured indeed. It begins with registration and recording of vital signs. Later, the patients are directed accordingly to the appropriate departments namely psychology, nutrition, general consultation and dental consultation. After receiving their treatment, they were to settle payments before collecting their prescription from the pharmacy. As per clinical care specifically, the physician has performed necessary procedures to diagnose and treat the patient. The physician accomplishes her role as a family physician very successfully. Her anamnesis was very detailed and intricate. She thoroughly skims the past medical history, medication history, and latest prescription before she proceeds further. Concerning chronic diseases of the elderly like hypertension, she initiated by asking the patient how did they feel lately and if there were any relieve or aggravation from their condition. As the temperature, height, weight, blood pressure, respiratory rate and pulse rate has been obtained earlier from the registration personnel, she proceeds with treatment and prescription. The physician prescribes simple generic medicine for the patient which was available in the pharmacy. As for the child, she performed basic physical examination as he complained of body ache. I also observed that treating an elderly person and a child requires different approach altogether. Obviously, they had to be nurtured with care and respect. The physician was seen to have given importance to personal safety by the usage of gloves, masks, and hand sanitizer. This is an undisputedly important step to prevent nosocomial infections in the health center. One setback that I observed was in terms of educating the patients. The physician only provided the patients with very minimal input and education. Payment There are several paying methods made feasible by the puskesmas to facilitate the patients, namely insurance coverage and direct payment. For instance, Jaminan Kesihatan Masyarakat, Jaminan Kesihatan Daerah, Jaminan Kesihatan Social, Jaminan Kesihatan Persendirian and Jaminana Kesihatan AKS. Patients who owns insurance coverage as mentioned need not make any payment, whereas those without pays an amount as low as RP5000. 00. However, the medications has to be purchased by the patients at their own expense. For the most part of my observation, the patients receives prescription of their medication to be purchased themselves in the pharmacies, unless generic medicines which are provided in the puskesmas. I could deduce that the charges are very affordable compared to that of private practices. Therefore, quality medical care is made accessible to everyone regardless of their economic background. This is indeed extremely favorable in reaching out to the needs of the people in an actively developing region. Discussion In the context of satisfactory health care, patients gratification is substantial. This explains why health care providers should make extraordinary efforts in providing the best achievable standards of health care. In the context of Indonesia, family medicine is developing slowly, however a clear structure and guideline for patients has not been constructed. On the other hand, due to limited number of specialist available, most specialists carry out private general practice outside their work hours. This may reduce the efficiency of the physicians due to stress and overwork. Moreover, the general practitioners training programme is not welcomed and well supported by the specialist because they are held in direct competitions with the general practitioners. Pertaining the clinical attachment, the physician tried their level best to provide appropriate health care to her patients despite the limited resources. However, there is also abundant room for improvement in terms of educating the patient about prevention of diseases and the effects of medication prescribed. Besides, the physician should have given more enlightenment when concerning lifestyle related iseases, because at all times, prevention is better than care. On the whole, the entire health care team should work on the regulations concerning controlled medication to avoid abuse and overuse. Another most crucial point in family medicine is the community orientation. Community orientation is about the physical environment of your practice population, the need to understand the interrelationship between health and social care, and the tensions that may exist between individual wants and needs and the needs of the wider community. As a conclusion, holistic approach is about your ability to understand and respect your patients’ values, culture, family beliefs and structure, and understand the ways in which these will affect the experience and management of illness and health. I am very contented to be granted an opportunity for this clinical attachment. This would, in time, help me in my future endeavors as a doctor.

Policing Practices and Operations Essay

Law enforcement officers have many duties. Law enforcement officers are sworn to serve and protect society as well as to fight crime. They also maintain order within their jurisdiction, as well as providing other services that the community will benefit from. Most of the time, police officers are considered to be crime fighters, in which this image has been brought to citizen’s attention by the media. The styles of policing should match the community in which they serve, so there is no conflict between the community and the law enforcement officer. The future policing structure does have a huge impact socially, economically, and politically within the community and the police departments general needs so that they can provide the proper policing that is needed. Life threatening situations take place in different circumstances, which includes the law enforcement agencies. Dangers Law enforcement officers face being wounded or murdered as they are on the line of duty in the United States, every year. The greatest threat a police officer will ever face is bodily harm and death. When a law enforcement officer is called to a scene and responds to a disturbance call, the law enforcement officer is confronted with the possibilities of violent actions from an armed suspect. Although, bodily harm as well as death upon a law enforcement officer are not the only dangers in policing. Family issues and stress related illnesses also can be contributing factors to the danger of a law enforcement officer and policing. Law enforcement officer’s jobs can surely take a toll on their lives as well as their well-being. If the pressures of their type of work are handled and coped with property, it could end up becoming life threatening. Today’s law enforcement officers are faced with many dangers within their everyday duties, like rival threats of getting shot. Examples are: vehicle pursuits, traffic control, and foot pursuit, stress, making an arrest, and sun exposure/duty equipment and biohazard exposure. These dangers are exposed to law enforcement officers on a daily basis. This is why it is important for law enforcement officers to wear their bulletproof vests as well as their belts that contain pepper spray, radio, handgun, baton, and handcuffs. All of this specified equipment usually will weigh up to about twenty pounds, which adds stress to the law enforcement officers hips, feet, knees, and back areas. Stress to the law enforcement officers body by getting in and out of their patrol vehicle up to about fifty times within one day, as they have to wear all of their equipment. Law enforcement officers are exposed to the extreme temperatures for many hours at a time. They may have to be in extreme heat c onditions, such as one hundred degree heat, while conducting traffic control at a scene of an accident. They also sometimes have to provide crime scene security when the weather may be in freezing conditions. Law enforcement officers are at the mercy of all weather conditions. Also, a lot of the times law enforcement officers are called to a scene and they are not properly prepared for it because of the weather conditions and they do not have the time to stop somewhere to get what they need to prepare themselves. They may have to stand out in extremely hot or freezing weather without the proper protection they may need or hydration they so desperately have to have. Law enforcement officer’s physical dangers have to be dealt with as well as trying to always be ready for the worst. As this can add so much mental and physical stress upon the law enforcement officer. They have to be aware of their surroundings and environment all the time. Law enforcement officers have to be alert as well as being prepared for all situations that may occur. The officer will rarely have time to get prepared for an emergency call. They have to sometimes rely on the training the received to be able to make important, split second decisions that are based on different circumstances. The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks gained the attention from all the departments within law enforcement. Within the federal policing agencies, they took precautionary measures to make sure that the people of  the United States were safe. Even though, the local and state agencies have managed to keep the people’s fears under control within the United States and communities as well. All of the agencies in the United States have to work fearlessly on preventing and reducing the citizen’s fears caused by terrorism. When terrorism is looked into, law enforcement agencies and Homeland security across the world are very imperative that the agencies try to work together in solving the crimes by using shared information and by having departmental as sistance. All in all, terrorism is always a danger for law enforcement officers. Statistics As reports were published by the National Police Officer Memorial Funds said that in 2010, officer’s fatalities treacherously rose. There was a two year drop of law enforcement mortalities in 2010 that rose to 160. This was intensified by about forty percent compared by looking at the year before. The data gathered by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund indicated that for the thirteenth consecutive year, the number one cause of law enforcement officers deaths were contributed by traffic fatalities, within thirty nine states. Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia were also involved in law enforcement officer’s related deaths in 2010. Within the third consecutive year in a row, Texas, Florida, and California were ranked on top of the five states that involved the most of law enforcement fatalities. The Federal law enforcement Officers had a total of eleven law enforcement officers that were lost, including the Federal agents that lost their lives in the line of duty during 2010, along with United States Customs, two United States Border Patrol agents, and three Border Protection officers. According with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (2011) website, it stated that fifty-six law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty. Thirty two law enforcement officers that were among the fifty-six, were employed within city police departments. Thirteen of them were employed for law enforcement agencies within cities of a population consisting of 250,000 or more people that reside there. In Puerto Rico and twenty two other states, there was also line of duty deaths as well. There were fifteen law enforcement officers who lost their lives in ambush situations as well. There were fourteen law enforcement officers that lost their lives in felonious attacks while involved in arrest situations. There were eight law enforcement officers that were killed when they were investigating suspicious persons/circumstances. There were seven law enforcement officers that were killed while working on traffic stops/pursuits. Six law enforcement officers were killed while answering to disturbance calls. There were three law enforcement officers that were killed while they were involved in tactical situations, like high risk entry, barricaded offender, hostage situations, etc. There were two law enforcement officers that were killed upon conducting investigations while searching, interviewing, and looking at surveillance. And one law enforcement officer was killed as they were maintaining custody of a prisoner or while transporting a prisoner. With future policing, I feel that it is important to have close communication with the homeland security. I personally feel that the more communication there is, the more we will progress and bring better policing skills. It is equally as important to have communication with all law enforcement agencies to help in improving all policing operations that are dealt with. In future policing, the importance of keeping law enforcement agencies relationships maintained will build better and stronger agencies. With the relationship within law enforcement agencies and homeland security are not as accurate as seemed. It is understood that all agencies serve different purposes, as they are all in charge of different types of areas within society to serve and protect. I believe that joining forces with other agencies would be beneficial. It would be beneficial because by all working together, there could be issues that could be addressed a lot better. Along with lack of communication among law enforcement agencies and homeland security, we would be able to better handle the various criminal issues better. I feel that this can also improve community policing and law enforcement relationships. With the new technology equipment that police officers receive, they can work on their policing styles, such as being reactive or proactive. Once these issues are changed, there will be better communication with other law enforcement agencies, as they would be able to serve and protect in much more positive ways. This will decrease crime rates as well as increasing practices that  are reactive. As crime rates decrease, and proactive and reactive practices are being practiced, then the start of confidence will show within all law enforcement agencies. Although, there are many differences in the power as well as the authority, responsibilities and roles, and the difference in jurisdiction at the local, state, and federal levels within law enforcement officers. It is clearly apparent that all of the dangers within them remain equally the same. References American bar association. (2011). Standards on urban police functions. Retrieved from http://www.americanbar.org/publications/criminal_justice_section_archive/crimjust_standards_urbanpolice.html Federal bureau of investigations. (2011). Officers feloniously killed. Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/leoka/leoka-2010/officers-feloniously-killed Crime in America.NET. (2011). Law enforcement fatalities dramatically increase in 2010. Retrieved from http://crimeinamerica.net/2011/01/04/law-enforcement-fatalities-dramatically-increase-in-2010/

One piece of technology I can’t live without Essay

In today’s modern day and age, we are accompanied daily by little electronic gadgets. They provide us with entertainment, or as a means of communication with the rest of the world. I own a Samsung Galaxy S4, and I know that if I were to lose or not have it one day, I would go ballistic! My phone keeps me in touch with everyone around me, not only that but, it stores a lot of my personal events and pictures, and not to mention the amount of money I paid for this expensive trinket was ridiculous! To begin I am a very busy woman with a very busy schedule. I am a full time mother and student throughout the whole week, and I work at a salon on the weekends. My job consists of scheduling appointments, confirming appointments, and providing my clients with phone consultations. If I were to be phoneless, my appointments would be a disaster. Also, I receive a lot of phone calls all day from my family regarding my son. In addition, I could receive an important phone call from my doctor or health services center regarding my checkups or lab work. Not to mention, I couldn’t imagine going through an emergency and not being able to reach anyone! Next my phone has internet service, so I use it to navigate with various applications like GPS, look up phone numbers and businesses most of all I use it to check my email. I would literally be lost without it. For example, communication today is mostly done thru emails, conversation between teachers and students, important information you need to know about your major. You also can get great deals on coupons in your email which I love. There are many things you can receive in your inbox this is why I cannot live without my phone checking my email every day is very important to me. Finally phones nowadays have video cameras/cameras installed in them along with additional storage devices, planners and calendars. For instance, my phone is loaded with personal and professional pictures and videos from many years ago; they have a lot of sentimental value for me. If I were to lose them I would be devastated, I would have no way of recovering them. Also, my calendars and planners are packed with important personal dates and professional appointments, those planners are the success to my structured working days filled with appointments. The contents inside the phone are very personal and private. It consists of diary entries and personal journals about my life. In summary these are reason I cannot live without my cell phone.

Generational Differences About the Use of Technology in the Workplace Research Paper

Generational Differences About the Use of Technology in the Workplace and What Public Managers Can Do About It - Research Paper Example 79). What the introduction of new technology in workplaces seems to be offering are opportunities and a wide variety of services being offered. All things being offered by technology seems to be unified by a single factor; increased productivity and efficiency. On the hand, several companies have been quick to take advantage of technological advancement, adopt these technologies in their office premises, and tout improvements in their business performance that has been significant. With time, the physical office seems to be losing its importance and significance. Therefore, the employees are encouraged to embrace technology and telecommunicate from any locate that they prefer. With the workers physically isolated from each other, it is inevitable for them to suffer a blow in the interpersonal skills and workplace relationship deterioration. With the media hypes on the subject of technology in the past few years, the revolution in business technology would transform slowly with the inventions of new office equipment’s. Those willing to adapt and keep pace with the flexibility and advancement in technological development have chances of surviving and prospering in business world as compared to other business that are not ready to use of technology in their offices (Smola and Sutton, p. 363). In today’s world, business has taken unprecedented twist; it does not happen face-to-face, as many people would think. Instead, in today’s communication is fully depending on calls made from conferences and chains of emails that make it challenging for employees or any business person involved to know his or her partner. Unprecedented laments have also been heard among business people who have been dissatisfied with the advancement in technology in the workplace that has been adopted as the norm in business daily lives. With the increasing number of workers who are

Developing yourself and others Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Developing yourself and others - Coursework Example I always wanted to be a leader, and therefore, I attempted to make some sort of headway in this regard as well, but I failed miserably due to my raw nature of the communication skills. I am looking to have a career in human and social sciences, and in those fields, one has to have great interpersonal skills before he or she can professionally thrive and develop. The goal of this plan is to develop my powers to influence others, and I want to accomplish my goals and objectives through them. The manager has to be a leader as well in the modern times. I will however not go behind traditional jobs, and I am planning to be an entrepreneur in the industry of fast food2. The prices of meals are increasing with the passage of time, and therefore, even in America, people are finding it hard to keep their bellies full. The capitalistic mindset is robbing people from their competencies in order to fulfill fiscal goals and objectives that hardly qualify as ethically and humanly right, but the world is running to create profit all the time. The humanistic values are dying out, and I want to make a difference in this world by providing the poor with food and beverages at a lower cost. The customers are going to be able to open credit lines with the store so that they can pay at the end of each month. In this way, they will never experience hunger as a result of empty pocket. The evolution of entrepreneurship into a socialistic notion needs the people like me in order to expand deep and wide in the nations of the world because social workers do not work to earn a living, but they do that in order to serve the humanity3. The business professionals have to exert themselves so that they can attain some kind of higher purpose in life, and when they succeed in this regard then, they will attain the lower on es as well. The businesses have to go beyond the requirement of

Economic and Political Motives for European Expansion into Africa Essay

Economic and Political Motives for European Expansion into Africa - Essay Example Missionaries persuaded their respective European governments to colonize Africa and thereby provide a supportive environment for the expansion of commerce. European powers used mineral exploitation, large-scale agricultural production, mixed economies as well as the supply of labor as modes of economic activity to generate revenue in colonial Africa. The major political reason that led to European expansion in Africa was political rivalries between the countries. England and France loathed one another for a considerable length of time due to the infamous hundred year’s war, and they both wanted to outdo each other in Africa. Nonetheless, the race for power was not limited to France and Britain. Other European nations wanted to benefit as well. Nationalism was popular among most western European nations as each nation wanted to be strongest. Nationalism is a strong identification with and pride in one's nation.This resulted in competition between European powers leading to wars . This competition made most nations to acquire more territories to uphold the spirit of nationalism in order to be seen superior than other nations. The strategy was another political reason for colonization of Africa. Most European countries were keen to maintain control of specific territories for strategic reasons. The British considered that South Africa offered a useful stop for ships on their way to India. Besides, the Suez Canal in Egypt significantly created a much shorter route between the UK and her colonies further east.