Friday, November 29, 2019

Medieval Torture Paper free essay sample

People have these romantic notions that the medieval time period was full of knights in shining armor and fairytale princesses, when in all reality, the medieval time period was a bloodthirsty and violent time period. Government and religious officials used sadistic torture to punish suspects and obtain confessions. Torture is the deliberate and cruel infliction of mental and physical suffering to obtain information or for any other reason. †The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear† ( Lovecraft). The tools and devices used brought extreme pain to the victim. This cruel infliction of mental and physical suffering was said to be done in the name of crime and its deserved punishment. It was also done as a means to intimidate a suspect or for revenge. The laws of this time period did not have any fixed rules for the treatment of prisoners or suspects. The different types of torture were used depending on the victim’s crime and social status. We will write a custom essay sample on Medieval Torture Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The government turned its back on these practices, which lead to the creation of gory torture chambers because of the misuse of freedom. In bigger cities like London, crime was more harshly enforced. A skilled torturer used instruments, methods and devices to prolong life as long as they could, while inflicting the most pain before they executed the victim. Many castles had torture chambers in the dungeon or in the tallest tower, where they can torture many victims at once. Medieval tortures had two types of devices. Devices they used to torture victims and devices they used to execute victims. Torture chambers of the medieval time period are designed to scare the victims. These chambers are built underground or in the tallest tower of the castle. When the victim enters the chamber, there awaits the torturer wearing a black hood with their face covered. The entrance of these chambers were accessed through winding passages, which served the function of muffling the screams of the victims throughout the rest of the castle. The torture chambers are small, usually eleven feet by seven feet. Most of the chambers were dingy, vermin infested and dimly lit. Tortures could hold ten to twenty victims in the room at once and would never clean the blood or flesh, so victims would suffer from diseases and viruses. Physical torture is the most common type of torture during the medieval time period. They created many types of torture devices that they would use on their victims to obtain confessions. Their method of torture depended on the victims crime and social class. What strikes us most in considering the mediaeval tortures is not so much their diabolical barbarity †¦ as the extraordinary variety, and what may be termed the artistic skill, they displayed. They represent a condition of thought in which men had pondered long and carefully on all the forms of suffering, had compared and combined the different kinds of torture, till they had become the most consummate masters of their art, had expended on the subject all the resources of the utmost ingenuity, and had pursued it with the ardour of a passion† (Parry). During this time period there were no laws that stated how prisoners or suspects should be treated, so people of this time period decided torture was the best. The government knew of these practices and turned their backs to them, which lead to the creation of gory torture devices. They created two different types of devices, ones they used for torture and ones they used for execution. These torture devices were feared among the people because they didn’t want to be the torturers next victims. Some of the most gruesome and feared devices that were created were the judas cradle, brazen bull, the wheel, the stake, the rack, pear of anguish, and the breast ripper. The judas cradle was a terrible medieval torture device. The victims were placed on top of a pyramid-like seat. The victim was usually naked to increase the humiliation and had their feet tied together. The tip of the pyramid was placed into the victims anus or vagina. This torture could last between a couple hours to a couple days. The time it took for a victim to die varied from victim to victim. To speed up the dying process, tortures would add weights to the victims legs or they would put oil on the device. Some torturers tried to speed up the process where as others tried to prolong the process as much as possible. Some tortures would lift the victim off the device at night with ropes and continue the torture in the morning. To obtain vital information from a victim, or if a victim refused to talk, the torturer would rock the victim on the pyramid, or make the victim fall repeatedly. The pyramid was never washed, so if the victim did not die quickly enough, or if the torture was interrupted, they would end up dying from and infection. The brazen bull was a hollow statue made out of brass to look like a bull. First the victims tongue would be cut out, then they were placed in the hollow statue. After the door was shut, a fire would be lit around the bull. The movements and screams made the bull seem alive, which brought amusement to the audience and took away from the fact that a person was being burned alive inside the bull, because the people could not see or hear the victim. Legends say that the brazen bull was made by a Greek named Perillus. He made it for a tyrant. Expecting a reward, Perillus was the first person put into the bull. The wheel was one of the most adaptable torture devices the medieval time period used. Earlier torturers would tie victims to a wheel and send them rolling down a rocky hill side. Through the medieval time period torture devices became more elaborate. Torturers mounted the wheel to a frame so it could spin freely. They would tie the victim to the wheel and place fire under the victim or spikes to rip the victims flesh to shreds. The wheel itself could have spikes on it so pain came from all the different sides. The worst torture by the wheel was when the torturers broke all four of the victims limbs and threaded them through the spokes on the wheel. The wheel would be attached to a tall pole and left outside. â€Å"The rack is commonly considered the most painful form of medieval torture† (Medievality). The rack was a wooden frame with two ropes tied at the bottom and two tied into a handle at the top. Using a handle that pulled the ropes, the torturer pulled the victims arms. After so long of the victim being pulled, the victims bones were dislocated. If the torturer kept pulling, the victims limbs could be torn apart. This method was mostly used for obtaining confessions, but it was also used to bring psychological fear to the victims. If a torturer went too far, they could leave the arms and legs useless. As the medieval period advanced the rack was also advanced. Spikes were put on the wood frame to penetrate the victims back as their limbs were being pulled apart. Being burned at the stake was the last stop for the tortured victims, because this torture was always fatal. All torturers had to do was make a pile of dry wood with a stake in the middle to tie the victim to, then light the wood. Most of the time it only took thirty minutes for the victim to lose consciousness, unless it was windy, then the victim could endure up to two hours of being burned alive. Before being burned at the stake, victims were tortured using other devices. Being burned at the stake was a public event where people brought their kids to watch, hoping to put fear in their minds, so that they wouldn’t grow up and break the law. Torturers had special practices they used on women. Women only torturers were designed to destroy and mutilate aspects of femininity. The practice of sexually torturing women can be traced back to the roman times. â€Å"Female victims were given to soldiers to be raped, or sent to brothels. They might be tied up or paraded through public streets naked. These public humiliations were sometimes followed by bizarre sexual mutilations† (Grabianowski). Torturers were fixated on womens breasts. They would burn, brand and amputate them. The worst device used on a woman was the breast ripper. The breast ripper was a metal claw that pierced the skin of the breasts. The victim would be tied to the wall and the claw would pull the breast away from the body, shredding them. This method was used as an interrogation practice or it would be used to punish women that had children without being married and or were convicted of hearsay, adultery or an accomplice of another crime. The pear of anguish of anguish was a torture device that was worse than the breast ripper. This torture device was a pear shaped device made up of four metal leaves joined by a hinge at the top along with a key or a crank. The pear could be inserted into the anus, vagina or the mouth. When the torturer turns the key, the pears leaves open up causing internal damage. The orifice that received the pear was symbolic. If the victim received the oral pear they were convicted of hearsay. Anal pears were received by homosexuals and the vaginal pear was received by women. Tortures not only use physical torture, they also use psychological torture. Psychological torture uses non-physical methods of torture. Psychological torture of the medieval time period is not as well known as the physical torture the tortures inflict on their victims. Psychological torture is subtle and easier to conceal than physical torture. This type of torture uses extreme stressors and situations, like shunning, mock execution, violation of sexual or social norms and solitary confinement. Psychological torture can induce severe psychological pain, suffering and trauma with no visible effects. Tortures often use physical and psychological torture in combination, to make the effects more terrifying. If the victims survived the hours, even days of torture and weren’t put to execution, they suffered lasting physical and psychological effects. All the devices and torture tactics used in the medieval period left the victims permanently disfigured, mutilated and crippled. â€Å"Prolonged confinement in a scavenger’s daughter would render the victim permanently unable to stand up† (medievalwarefare). The torture brought immediate pain, but just because the torture stopped, doesn’t mean the pain stopped unless the victim were put to execution. Victims of torture would suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder with symptoms such as flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, anxiety, insomnia, nightmares, depression and memory lapses. Victims also feel emotions like quilt and shame brought on by the humiliation they have endured. Victims may also feel betrayed not only by themselves but by their family and friends. Not only do victims suffer from psychological effects, they also have physical effects that go along with their torture. Physical effects can be wide ranging. They can suffer from sexually transmitted diseases, musculo-skeletal problems, brain injury, dementia and chronic pain syndromes. The medieval time period was a blood thirsty and violent period. They created numerous torture devices that they used on victims to obtain confessions. They also created torture chambers that were used to add psychological harm to the victim before they were tortured and then executed, depending on their crime and social class. They used psychological torture and physical torture like the judas cradle and the rack. If the victim was spared or wasn’t killed by being tortured, they ended up with lasting mental and physical problems. They were left permanently disfigured, mutilated and crippled and also ended up with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Monday, November 25, 2019

The Treatment of the Holocaust essays

The Treatment of the Holocaust essays The Treatment of the Holocaust in Films Films concerning the holocaust used comedy and aesthetics in order to exhibit social problems and send an antifascist message. In response to Germanys inhumane actions during the World Wars, the German Nazi party was satirized in several films. Often, these films focus on the effects of current organizational and socio-political structures on the working man and exaggerate the control of the Dictator. In times of war, people may benefit from the humor in these films, as they can distract them from their hardships. Additionally, this type of film allows the filmmaker to express the side of the story that the government ignores. The Great Dictator, To Be or Not To Be, and Seven Beauties, contain aesthetic elements that can affect the emotions of the viewer. The Great Dictator was written and directed by Charlie Chaplin in 1940. From the start of the film, the socio-political satire begins with the following text: "This is a story of a period between two world wars an interim in which Insanity cut loose, Liberty took a nose dive, and Humanity was kicked around somewhat". When he wrote the screenplay for this film, Chaplin had no idea what kind of atrocities would be committed by the Nazis; therefore, the issue of the Holocaust was not treated quite as sensitively as it would be in years to come. The most memorable scene depicts Adenoid Hynkel (Chaplin), kicking a balloon-like globe around his office gently and beautifully; after a few minutes of lovely musical accompaniment, Hynkel (a characterization of Hitler) pops the globe and is left with nothing but ripped plastic. Chaplin also plays the role of a little Jewish barber who gets sent to a concentration camp. The camp is not representative of what we now know had been going on; the concentration camp was actually portrayed to be nothing more than crammed, poverty-stricken, living. The similar physiq...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Impact of Personal Finance on UK Housing Market Essay

Impact of Personal Finance on UK Housing Market - Essay Example The measurement concept is vital in understanding the future prospects of the housing market because it provides a rough estimate of the income and the disposable income of the household and the tenants. In UK, the residual income concept is used for estimating the monthly disposable income, after the payment of the monthly mortgage system. The affordability factor is largely triggered by the average income of the household individuals and tenant owners by computing ratio. However, huge crisis was seen in both the household and rental category during 1999 to 2003 due to factors like low income of the individuals, legal inability to purchase the housing property, instability in the tenure of security ownership and also the highly geared financial exposure caused by the price variations. Therefore, it is observed that the UK housing prices was largely affected by the hike in the customer prices and the household incomes (Macgregor, Lizieri and Ball, 2008).The UK housing price grew by 4 7 percent, consumer price by 12 percent and household sector by 33 percent during the tenure 1996 to 2003 (Macgregor, Lizieri and Ball, 2008). The high income elasticity of the individuals with respect to the increase in the price valuation of the household property is responsible for the growth in housing market. The level of mortgage debts on the household balance sheet which is relative to the disposable income of the consumers is also a major factor for the development in the housing market (Poon and Garratt, 2012). During the tenure 2000 to 2003, the growth in the housing market depicted variability and stability in the varying rates of the price... This report stresses that in UK, the procurement of the housing facility is largely facilitated by the financial risk and the structural pattern of the housing market. Apart from the traditional banks, UK housing market is financed largely by the large amount of investors from other countries. The requirements for the strong growth in the UK housing market were largely dependent on the pricing of the residential and non-residential property. The UK housing market then consisted of submarkets and the quantitative analysis was the most common method to determine the market issues and segmentation. The UK housing market consists of owner, rental and industrial owners and the affordability concept is measured through econometric concept. This essay makes a conclusion that the housing scheme not only helped in decreasing the housing prices but also increased the repossession in the rental property land. The decrease was also due to the fact that the lenders were asked to pay only the capital sum at the end of the repayment term and tenure. The government has also increased the process of facilitation of the housing loans which have increased and doubled up to 15 percent in the last tenure. It is also observed form the graph that the government’s mortgage guarantee scheme of  £12 billion helped in stoking the bubble to a large extent. With the emergence of the Household Guarantee scheme proposed by the UK government, an increase in the supply of the individual and rental property was witnessed in the following areas.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Child neglect, abuse and its effect on juvenile delinquency Research Paper

Child neglect, abuse and its effect on juvenile delinquency - Research Paper Example The unseen types of child abuse are more destructive and make lifetime scars on the victims. This paper is a discussion on cases of child abuse, child negligence, and its effects on juvenile delinquency. The risk factors for child abuse and neglect are families with domestic violence, untreated mental illness cases, alcohol and drug abuse, and lack of parenting skills. Federal law on child abuse and prevention Act (CAPTA) defines child abuse and neglect as, â€Å"Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, severe physical or emotional harm, or sexual abuse† (Child welfare web). Some myths depict that, for an action to amount to a child abuse, it must be cruel and only done by dishonest persons to the child. This is not always the case since other types of injury are invisible and do not include any violence. Additionally, some parents find themselves caught up with acts of violence due to mental and personal problems. Another myth is that child abuse does not occur in respectable families. The truth is that child abuse happens across all tribes, cultures, and economic status including reasonable, bad, and poor neighbourhoods. The following is some forms of child abuse. The first and serious category of child abuse is neglect. Statistics show that of all the child abuse cases reported every year, over 60 % of these cases are of minor neglect. Child negligence is a failure of the parent or a caregiver to bear a child’s basic needs. They may take the form of physical needs like food and shelter, medical needs, educational needs, and emotional needs. Additionally, child negligence result when a child is left alone to suffer from pain and damage from the harsh conditions of the surroundings without any communication from the parents. In such a case, the caregiver’s name and their whereabouts remain unknown. Negligence as a form of child abuse can also be

Monday, November 18, 2019

Aging and the Family Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Aging and the Family - Essay Example The book emphasizes upon the issue that is often overlooked in the sociology and anthropological research studies. The family life related studies mostly focuses upon the responsibilities and problems of the people while managing their family lives however, the problems of lonely males are often not given much importance in the research studies. The author realized that there is a big gap in the literature that must be filled with the help of a detailed research work focusing upon the lives and experiences of the elderly males. The book strives to present the individuals’ views about their own life and life patterns. Their activities and feelings are basically described in the book to let the readers feel the meanings of living alone in the elderly phase of the live and the problems the people have to bear in making their lives busy, interesting and exciting. The book also provides information that is necessary for running the senior centres. The book also lists out 16 pages long recommendations meant to the senior centres in which the author has attempted to suggest different activities that the senior centres should provide to the elderly alone people in order to keep them busy and satisfy with the lives. The book has been written with the help of information collected from the interviews of 47 live alone elderly males in Philadelphia. The participants belong to the ages from 60 to 92. The book is based upon qualitative research approach and the author has conducted primary research to collect the information for writing the book. The book uses the interviews as research method and 47 out of 15,000 alone elderly males have been approaches and interviewed to have an insight over their problems and experienced that they faced while living alone in the elderly phase of their lives. The people were approached for the interviews using different methods. 26 old

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Compare and Contrast between Scientific School of Thought

Compare and Contrast between Scientific School of Thought Scientific school of management (also known as Taylorism or Taylor system) is a theory of management which analyzes synthesizes the processes of workflow, while improving labor efficiency. The theory as a whole was developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor between 1880s 1890s, was first published in many of his monographs such as Shop Management in 1905 The Principles of Scientific Management in 1911. He also believed that decisions which were based upon tradition rules of thumb should be replaced by procedures which are precise and were developed after careful study of a volunteer at work. The behavioral school of management thought was developed, because of weaknesses that were perceived in the assumptions formulated from the classical school. The classical school had emphasized on efficiency, process principles. Many people felt that this emphasis did not give any importance to any of the important aspects of life of an organization, particularly as it related to human behavior. Therefore, the behavioral school of management was mainly focused on trying to get the meaning of the factors which would affect human behavior at the workplace. As organizations developed became more complex, there aroused a need for systematic understanding of managing the overall process of getting things done through many other people. Management is combination of a vast spectrum of theories. Management is divided into two important divisions i.e. The classical school of thoughts the Neo-classical school of thoughts. Process of designing and maintain an environment in which individual working together in groups efficiently accomplish selected aims Management is an essential organ for all business organizations. Management consists of sires of interrelated functions which are performed by all managers. Management is a process of planning, organization, staffing, directing and controlling. So now we can say that management is a continuous process of interrelated functions of an organization in order to set basic goals which are to be performed for the existence of the company. Management is a complex activity .Management is an intangible force that cannot be seen but its presence can be felt in the way the organization functions. It is a group activity with different types of individuals getting together to achieve the organizational goals .Management is very dynamic .It operates in a changing environment .It adapts these changes so, that the business is able to maintain its competitiveness .Management ensures that the organization makes profit which is an incentive for continued successful operation of the enterprise. Management is essential for achieving the goals of an organization. The task of a manager is to give a common direction to the individual effort in achieving overall goals of the organization. Management aims at reducing cost increasing productivity. Management also operates in an ever changing environment. It has to make changes to adapt to face challenges that may come up in the future. Managers motivate and lead the individual in such a way so that he can achieve his personal individual goals or objectives. Management helps the development of society by providing good and durable quality products and service by creating an employment opportunity and adopting new technology. Fredrick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) is known as the father of scientific management. The disciplines given by Taylor became famous in their own way. Scientific management is the word or the phrase given to the principle practices which grew out of the work done by Taylor. The Four basic principles contributed by Taylor are given below:- (i) Scientific, not rule of thumb (ii)Harmony, not discord (iii) cooperation, not individualism (iv) development of each and every person to his or her greatest efficiency and prosperity. Therefore the scientific methods provide an understanding framework for the overview of the problems. It usually consists of defining the problem gathering data, analyzing the data, developing alternatives and the best alternatives. Taylor believed that the scientific method would provide a useful way to determine the most productive method to perform the work. Henri Fayol (1841-1925) was a French management theorist whose theories on scientific organization of labor were hugely influential in the end of the nineteenth century. Fayol graduated from the mining academy of St.Ethian in 1960. His theories dealt with the organization of production in the context of a competitive enterprise that has to control its production costs. Fayol was the first person to identify four functions of management-planning, organizing, directing controlling although his method was a bit different as in plan, organize, command, coordinate and control. According to Fayol all the activities done by an industry can be divided into technical; commercial; financial; security; accounting and managerial. Fayol even told that one should have the qualities possessed by a manager such as physical, moral, education, knowledge experience. He gave fourteen principles of management which are Division of work Authority responsibility Discipline Unity of command Unity of direction subordination of individual interest to general interest remuneration of employees centralization and decentralization scalar chain order equity stability of personnel initiative Spirit de corps. Max Weber (1864-1920) was a sociologist and a political economist who originated from Germany. The most notable organization was huge fully industrialized. They often included ongoing routine tasks that produced a variety of products. Tasks were standardized as much as they could. Max focused on dividing organizations into hierarchies, by establishing a strong line of authority control. He suggested that organizations should develop comprehensive detailed standard operating procedures for all tasks that are reutilized. Eventually unions government regulations reacted to the rather dehumanizing effects of these theories. Too much attention was given to individual their unique capabilities in the organization. Human resource departments were added to the organizations. The behavioral sciences played a major and an important role in helping to understand the needs of the workers as well as the needs of the organizations. The six major principles of Max Weber are A formal hierarchical structure Management by rules organization by functional specialty An up- focused or in-focused mission purposely impersonal Employment based on technical qualification. The classical or traditional thought of management was generally concerned with the structure the activities of a formal organization. The importance derived from the achievement of an effective efficient organization were seen to be the issues like the creation of a hierarchy of authority, the division of work, the span of control. The classical thought of management focuses on the efficiency or productivity and includes scientific, bureaucratic administrative management. The scientific approach requires many major principles in its application on management: Develops a science for each operation to replace opinion the rule-of-thumb. It suggests that workers should be scientifically selected and should be based on their qualifications trained to perform their jobs in the most optimistic manner. It advocates genuine cooperation between workers management based on mutual self-interest. Suggests that management should take full responsibility for planning the work that workers primary responsibility should be the achievement of managements plans. Scientific thought of management is a series of approaches which are aimed at improving the performance or efficiency of individual workers through the use of analytical procedures to lift workplace productivity. The system was developed by Fredrick Taylor (1856-1915), in the hope of providing the workplace with greater productivity efficiency, which in turn gave the individuals a whole better understanding of management. He defined his theory as the one best way for a job to be done .Scientific management had brought many improvements to productivity of an organization, which was much needed impressive. Highly repetitive jobs were re-designed, with a remarkable increase in output, which has contributed to the workplace greatly. Despite all the criticisms of Taylor`s work, his work is considered to be an essential study in management. By recruiting the best employees training them in the best useful way and also giving them satisfactory wages according to the up-to-date values can improve the stage of work and yield (productivity). This will certainly lead to an increase in the efficiency or productivity of business. We still rely on these ideas along with some of the aims of human relations theory which are flexibility, informal communication, and motivation. Both overlook the organizational excellence through increased efficiency. This can be achieved today by equally depending upon both the theories. Scientific management is very important, therefore, because it could raise the standard of living of all the countries by making workers more efficient productive adding their wages. Unlike the theorist of the human relation movement, the behavioral theorist engaged in objective research of human behavior movement in organization. They carefully attempted to keep their personal belief out of their work life. It has added the importance meaning to our understanding of power, conflict, organization. Our vote of thanks leads to all those who introduced these theories to the world. This is the conclusion for this project.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

the devastation of the indies :: essays research papers

Upon reading the devastation of the Indies, it is apparent that many ailments of prejudice existed in those times of newly discovered lands and territories unchartered to the Europeans. Those of racism towards an unfamiliar people, a sense of Heathenism assumed upon the Native American civilization, and the brutal savagery demonstrated against the peaceful Native American Indians of this "new world." In the brief account from a sympathetic eyewitness, we see these horrible prejudices manifested through raids and massacrers by a foolish fleet of explorers whom fate would have to land on an unfortunate tribe far devoid of hatred and war. The role that racism plays in this historical account seems to be the foundation on which the oppression was built. Racism can be defined as one group of people claiming another to be inferior by the assumption that there is a connection between biology and culture, that the way one looks determines the way one behaves (Kennedy, lines 2-4). Based upon this definition, it is apparent that the Europeans drew many racist conclusions from the immediate appearance of the native people. The way the native people wore next to no clothing and seemed to be so in touch with nature planted thoughts of inferiority into the minds of the Europeans. The prejudices applied by the explorers ultimately lead to the enslavement and battery of the innocent Indians. Heathenism also played into the unfortunate events following Columbus’ discovery of the new world. Heathenism is a term applied to a group of people which do not follow the god of Christianity, Islam, or Judaism. The Native Americans had no prior knowledge of such religions. That is, they did not reject these teachings, they were merely ignorant to the existence of such institutions. The Europeans, who held religion in the highest regards, took great offense to this different culture and instead of spreading their gospel, condemned the natives to be godless heathens. As a result, treating them as if they were not even human, and took no mercy on the people. the devastation of the indies :: essays research papers Upon reading the devastation of the Indies, it is apparent that many ailments of prejudice existed in those times of newly discovered lands and territories unchartered to the Europeans. Those of racism towards an unfamiliar people, a sense of Heathenism assumed upon the Native American civilization, and the brutal savagery demonstrated against the peaceful Native American Indians of this "new world." In the brief account from a sympathetic eyewitness, we see these horrible prejudices manifested through raids and massacrers by a foolish fleet of explorers whom fate would have to land on an unfortunate tribe far devoid of hatred and war. The role that racism plays in this historical account seems to be the foundation on which the oppression was built. Racism can be defined as one group of people claiming another to be inferior by the assumption that there is a connection between biology and culture, that the way one looks determines the way one behaves (Kennedy, lines 2-4). Based upon this definition, it is apparent that the Europeans drew many racist conclusions from the immediate appearance of the native people. The way the native people wore next to no clothing and seemed to be so in touch with nature planted thoughts of inferiority into the minds of the Europeans. The prejudices applied by the explorers ultimately lead to the enslavement and battery of the innocent Indians. Heathenism also played into the unfortunate events following Columbus’ discovery of the new world. Heathenism is a term applied to a group of people which do not follow the god of Christianity, Islam, or Judaism. The Native Americans had no prior knowledge of such religions. That is, they did not reject these teachings, they were merely ignorant to the existence of such institutions. The Europeans, who held religion in the highest regards, took great offense to this different culture and instead of spreading their gospel, condemned the natives to be godless heathens. As a result, treating them as if they were not even human, and took no mercy on the people.