19th Century Industrialization Essay

The end of the nineteenth century brought about a huge change in the way the United States worked as a nation, making the United States the worlds most productive nation. The nation as a whole was advancing rapidly and new inventions were bringing about new ways of life. There was a rise in big businesses and financial corporations which were looking to expand as much as possible.

Technology was advancing rapidly and new inventions were being used to further our expansion. Thomas Edison, after inventing the phonograph, through long work was able to invent a light bulb that would last for a long time thus changing the world so that now large buildings and Wall Street could now be lighted up with electric. J. P. Morgan was one of the earliest to use this invention buy lighting up his house and bank with the new technology. By 1888 Edison formed the Edison General Electric Company.

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Another breakthrough invention was the electric streetcars. Replacing the slow moving horse-drawn wagons, the streetcars were quickly moving citizens to destinations and ran off of electric wires that hung above. By 1900 there were about 15,000 miles of electric streetcar lines in American cities. The electric streetcars were helping the working man, who had to travel long distances, to better getting to work on time. It was connecting cities and bringing in new residents looking for homes.

The invention of motion pictures was helped by the invention of the electric light and photography. This new form of entertainment astonished people as they were able to watch a story be told on a screen in front of them although it was silent. Another form of entertainment that caught a lot of attention was baseball. Although played in the 1840's it wasn't until the civil war when it began to pick up more interest. Teams of soldiers spread the interest of the game which lead to the formation of more teams. In 1869 the first team to pay was formed and soon after the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs was formed.

By the end of the nineteenth century railroads covered half of the United States, transporting goods and materials wherever needed, helping with further production and bigger businesses ready to industrialize. Steel was a major business for this and Andrew Carnegie saw this and helped produce the worlds steel. Steel was needed for just about all new structures and especially the rail roads.

Businesses flourished and men became rich. With the times changing with new inventions and people looking for work, businesses were able to expand and rise to the top of their industry. Carnegie bought up all the iron mines and took on coal as a partner for his industry to lead in the steel industry. He was able to produce steel so cheaply and lower his prices that any other steel company was forced into letting him buy them out, thus monopolizing the industry. This was called vertical integration.

Another form of making a monopoly was horizontal integration. This was done by controlling not all the stages in the business, but the business itself. The railroads would expand and make money only because all the other companies were doing the same thing as them, moving freight and passengers from place to place.

Laissez-faire and Social Darwinism and impacts in industrialization that would change the way people paid their employees and they was people would work as a social community. The main idea of Laissez-faire was that in order to get the greatest and cheapest productivity possible, you must leave the individual employer and the worker to the free market. By this they meant that there would be no interaction with the government or unions for that would decrease the productivity. By following the concept of Laissez-faire, the factory owners would not pay their workers enough to even cover their basic needs.

Social Darwinism, the concept of survival of the fittest and not letting anything interfere with man, followed the concept of Laissez-faire very closely. It supported that an individual should be free to manage their own property and their own contracts that they chose without any government interference. Any interference on behalf of that or between labor and management would violate the employer's property rights and the right of employer and self contract.

In giant corporations all the concepts of Social Darwinism and Laissez-faire were nonsense. There was no equality in the bargaining of positions whether it was for a coal miner or of Baer's coal company over terms of employment. There were no free individual contracts for the employee and the only contract they had was to do that of the employer or face hunger.

In this industrial age the workers were thriving to find a job. The typical American though couldn't compete with the low wages that immigrants were willing to work for and this forced many Americans onto the streets only to leave their job for a new immigrant to the country. For the people that were willing to work for the low wages and the intense hours, there were jobs willing to pay the men, women, and children that would stand the smoke filled rooms, or digging in the coal mines for the long hour days of no rest. Many workers died or got ill from diseases. Tuberculosis was a product of crowding, overwork, and poor nutrition of thousands that worked.

The Supreme Court held a big role in industrialization, creating new laws and denying businesses of unconstitutional acts. Court cases were held for labor laws and financial issues that individuals and companies faced. In 1973 the Supreme Court ruled that a monopoly was invalid. With the monopolies the company could charge substantial rates to their customers. This would affect the well being of the public and it was up to the legislature to protect the public interest. States were taking the power of their government to regulate business. The Supreme Court ruled that this was unconstitutional that a state use a power only granted to Congress. The court would also prevent the state from acting in matters such as child labor.

The Supreme Court passed the Interstate Commerce Act after railroads were charging higher rates to others for the transportation of the same goods. The Act stated that the same rate must be applied equally through shipping of goods and that all rates should be reasonable. There would be an investigation of each rail-road to find if the rates were in fact of reasonable price.

Labor was affected due to industrialization. Labor Union had tried to form for many years after the Civil War. Once a successful union was formed they turned to getting an eight-hour day. In 1872 the group supported the labor party, but with the panic of 1873 the union collapsed, along with many other unions. Violence broke out between workers and employers. Workers wanted less hours and better rates. Many formed strikes until something was done. The Homestead Steel Strike was one of the most successful strikes formed. The workers new that everyone would follow and that without them the steel factory could not continue. They were confident before hand on what would happen in response to their strike.

As a response to the Industrial Age, the United States changed and adapted in many ways. Unions were formed, inventions were used to progress, businesses flourished and workers achieved some of what they wanted. The States were advancing and leading the world as the most productive nation, making the Industrial Age one of the biggest impacts in American history.

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Terra Nullius Essay

For at least 40,000 years Aborigines have lived in and called Australia home. However the lives of Indigenous Australians changed in 1770 when European white men, unfairly took possession of the land (Simpson,1997). They wrongly declared the country "terra nullius", land owned by no one, and dramatically decreased the population of the aborigines dues to their invasion. Only in the past decade has Australian law recognised that prior to 1770 Indigenous people did live on the land, and in knowing this, the High Court of Australia rejected "terra nullius" from our law. This overturn however, did not and still does not address the fact that Europeans took land from Aborigines with no consent or agreement.

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European, Captain James Cook, arrived in Botany Bay, on the south-eastern coast of Australia in 1770. He claimed possession of the east coast of country for Britain under the doctrine of "terra nullius" (racismnoway.com.au). This doctrine was part of international law, which stated that Britain could take possession of another country if it was uninhabited, if the indigenous people gave them permission, or if they defeated that country in war. However Britain did not follow these rules in Australia, and acted as though the country was uninhabited. The land was declared "terra nullius" and free for appropriation. It has been debated that this occurred because Australia was the only country in the world where Indigenous people were not recognised, therefore no consent was needed. However the British Government may have purposely not acted in accordance with the international law of the time. Either way Australian land was declared empty as if the Aborigines did not exist. Those of different culture, language and lifestyle unfairly claimed their home.

Prior to Australia being taken over by Europeans, Aborigines lived unique and different lives to the rest of the world. They lived in hundreds of different tribes all over the country, and each spoke separate languages. Simple devices like spears and fishnets were highly effective ways of securing food for living. Aborigines also had a very deep connection with their land. Every rock and mountain had a name, and everything from a tree, to animal, to rainbow had a story and meaning (Luling,1979). The arrival of white people not only stole land, but also took away the Aborigines special way of life and culture. Britain made towns and cities, forced Indigenous people to work for them and enforced a totally different way of life. They brought about deadly diseases like smallpox and ultimately reduced the aboriginal population down to the 1.5% of the total population that it is today. Unjustifiably the culture and lifestyle of Indigenous Australians was demolished to the tiny amount that still exists today, but after over 200 years since invasion Australian law has begun to recognise what unfairly occurred in the 18th century.

For hundreds of yeas the rights of Aboriginal people were not recognised, but with the mid 20th century came the acknowledgement of the civil and legal rights of this small proportion of the population. In 1967 the first step toward recognition came when Aborigines were given voting rights. However it was in 1992 with the Mabo and Others v the State of Queensland, that Australia removed the principle of terra nullius for the law, and acknowledged that Aboriginal existence in Australia pre-dates that of Europeans (Farrer, 1999) This case involved Indigenous Australians appealing to the High Court of Australia in an effort to claim land that was rightfully theirs. Along with the outcome removing terra nullius, the Native Title Act 1993 (Cwlth) was implemented into Australian law. This act identifies the common law rights of Indigenous people in regard to land and their ability to negotiate matters involving sacred ground (Farrer, 1999). Nevertheless the Australian government still has not signed anything to formally admit that Australia was not terra nullius and that Europeans broke the law when invading the country. Today and for years to come, Aborigines will be fighting for the written recognition of their pre-1770 existence. The elimination of terra nullius in 1992 has made a stepping-stone for others to one day take action and for the government to one day sign a longed for treaty.

In 1770 Europeans invaded Australia, a country already inhabited with Aborigines. The British government defied international laws of the time, declared the land terra nullius, and took over the country. The lives of Aborigines were changed forever and only in the last century has Australian law begun to acknowledge that Australia was not terra nullius because Indigenous Australians have lived here for many more years than Europeans. Although terra nullius has not been removed from our law, the Australian government is yet to formally endorsed that Europeans took land from Aborigines with no consent or agreement.

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Women's Suffrage Essay

The fight for women's suffrage, or voting, went on for about seventy years. The fight first officially started in 1848 with the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. This was the start of a long, complicated battle.

The woman's rights issue was actually first motivated by another cause, anti-slavery. There were meetings that women weren't allowed to vote in. At the World's Anti-slavery Convention, women weren't allowed in. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, later suffrage leaders, were two of the women who were excluded admittance.

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It was 1848, and Stanton and Mott were starting their journey on the road to suffrage with the first women's rights convention. The women at the convention made up a list of complaints to show that for years men have been dominant over women. This became the first public protest for women's rights in America, "The Declaration of Sentiments."

Many people opposed to the idea of women's rights. Men, of course, being the majority of it. They thought that women weren't as smart. They thought they could represent women better than women themselves. There were also women who thought that women in politics would be the end of family life.

In May 1869, two women's suffrage organizations formed. The first was the National omen's Suffrage Organization formed by Stanton and Anthony. This group was the more radical of the two, their goal being to have an amendment ratified for women's suffrage. The other was the American Women's Suffrage Organization, the conservative one. Their goal was to get individual states to grant women the right to vote. Later, in 1890, the two joined together to make the National American Women's Suffrage Organization.

For over fifty years, these women were determined to win voting rights. So determined in fact, that in 1872, Susan B. Anthony and 50 other women went to register to vote in the presidential election. They were refused at first, but demanded to be able to register. Fifteen women along with the inspectors who allowed them to register were arrested and tried with a $500 bail.

The unwavering determination of these women was starting to wear down the all-male government. First came Wyoming in 1869. The next was Utah in 1870 and then Colorado in 1893. The boundaries of women were expanding. By 1919, 37 states gave women full or partial suffrage. In 1918, the suffrage amendment, which was proposed in 1878 but left unchanged, was defeated and then a year later. But in 1920, the women's suffrage amendment was finally ratified.

After a very long battle, the women's struggle paid off. Their long-awaited goal was granted. This was official with the nineteenth amendment. After suffrage was granted, women continued working on women's rights.

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Western Expansion Essay

In the early years of the American government, expansion of the United States was a very big issue. Our countries leaders believed in Manifest Destiny, or the right to rule from the tip of the east to the western shores. There were many different people who supported this idea for many different reasons. These groups of people included economists, militants, intellectuals, journalists, as well as religious leaders and missionaries.

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Economists pushed for the expansion of American soil. With more land came more worth. There would be more room for settlers and immigrants to build homes on. New towns would develop, and along with that came businesses. The more business, the more money, the more power and economic stability. One supporter from this point of view was Thomas Hart Benton. Benton preferred gaining territory through occupation rather than conflict. His ideas were used to create the Homestead Act of 1862, granting free land to settlers so long as they stayed on it for five years. He also encouraged the creation of overland transportation making travel to the west shorter and easier. Benton was chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs as well, and strived towards the removal of Native Americans to make room for the white settlers. He might not have had the most honest intentions, but he was driven to expand. His Son-in-Law followed in his footsteps and is well known for his conquests in California over the Spanish. With enough land and citizens, the U.S. could become a very stable and powerful nation.

While journalists wrote of gold and free land, and the militia fought with the Native Americans all over the continent, religious leaders and missionaries began to act as well. Missionaries spread out far and wide, trying to save the "savage" Native Americans from hell. They decided that the Native American way was wrong, and that they had to save these people from themselves. Many socially rejected religious leaders on the other hand saw the expansion as freedom from persecution. One such man, Brigham Young, was waiting for just such an opportunity. Young was the leader of the Mormon church. At this time the Mormons were feared because of their un-Christian ways. Young determined to lead his followers far west, where church members could gather without interruption. Other religions wished to follow in the same footsteps. New land meant freedom from the violence and negative attitude of others, and they could actually build communities based on their religions.

Later came a very important advocate for more expansion, President Theodore Roosevelt. He wanted to further expand the U.S., thus forth furthering the United States trade and power. Roosevelt wanted the U.S. was to be strong. He felt that through more expansion, the U.S. could become an even bigger and richer world power. As the president, he had very much success in doing so.

There were many reasons for expansion into the west, and everybody had their own. Religion, military, and economy were just a few. Although a lot of the methods used to expand were not quite honorable, they worked. And, U.S. citizens got what they wanted. Because of the expansion into the west, we have one of the strongest military powers in the world, along with a very strong economy, and open religious worship everywhere in the country. Those who dreamt of expansion, and those who made it happen helped this country succeed.

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Ancient Mesopotamia Essay

Mesopotamia Essay

The world is in turmoil over the war, but there has been one country affected drastically; and that is the center of it all: Iraq. Iraq's people have been affected directly by the war with bombings and troops marching all over, but they have also suffered indirectly. The destruction of the Iraqi cultural heritage has been a major issue.

Scholars claim that conflict will "result in devastating and irrecoverable losses to human civilization and to participate in or allow such destruction may inflame resentment and anger throughout the world" (EducationGuardian.co.uk).

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Ancient Mesopotamia is indeed ancient, reaching back more that 500 years, and scholars agree that this heritage is as important to the people as their economic survival. They also agree on several recommendations they wish to forward to the United Nations. They ask that the United Nations not to target such things as archaeological sites, museums, libraries and other institutions where the ancient heritage is housed.

In the 1920's, a famous British archaeologist by the name of Leonard Woolley discovered Sumerian royal tombs in Ur, Mesopotamia that dated back over 4500 years. It was obvious that these tombs housed royalty because they were surrounded with extravagant gold and jewelry. They also found numerous other items such as weapons and musical instruments, gaming pieces and sculptures. All of these luxury items are on display to form a unique exhibition. This exhibition prides one of the earliest and richest collections.

As the downward spiral of ancient cultural heritage is a devastation of the war, so is looting. The public went up in a fury, and rampages were on the agenda. They tore down buildings, set places on fire and took what did not belong to them. An institution that suffered the consequences of the terror was the Iraq National Museum: It was tore apart. In the aftermath, the museum was filled with broken artifacts, and if they were not broken, they were missing.

What is said to be the museum's most famous artifacts, were the tablets with Hammurabi's Code one of mankind's earliest codes of law. Another important treasure was the Ram in the Thicket - statue representing deity from 2600BCE.

The thoughts of many is that their ancient history is gone forever; thousands of years obliterated in an angry rage. Does it seem worth it now? A museum employee states, "It is all the fault of the Americans. This is Iraqi civilization. And it is all gone now."

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Yugoslav Holocaust Essay

In what can be considered a modern day Holocaust, between 1992 and 1995, an unthinkable atrocity against man reared its ugly head yet again in Europe; only this time the setting was Bosnia. What is clear is that all three nationalities behavior (Croats, Bosnian-Serbs and Muslims) undermined any claim to moral superiority. Slovodan Milosevic, president of Yugoslavia, tired to deny any wrongdoing, but after numerous stories of the misconduct began to surface; it was only a matter of time before the international community took notice. The revelation came at a bad time for Milosevic who was trying to ease sanctions against Serbia and end the fighting in Bosnia.

The multi-ethnicity that Bosnia consists of is the aftermath of centuries of wars, invasions, and migrations from different groups. Yugoslavia, which means land of the South Slavs, (Friedman 5) was born in 1929 after World War I. After the death of the leader of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito, in 1980 and later with the fall of the Soviet Union and communism, the country started to split apart little by little. Finally, in 1991 Yugoslavia broke into five republics: Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Serbia and Montenegro, which merged to create the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Before the war in Bosnia erupted, survivors recall how under Communist rule the multi-ethnic community was able to coexist peacefully.

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Our neighbors - we were like a family. Our flats were like one home. They had two kids. We lived together. We vacationed together. Spent holidays together. Over night, they changed. (Weine 15)

During the early stages of the war in Bosnia, Croats fell victims of ethnic cleansing by both the Serbians and Muslims. In 1993, during the Croat-Muslim war, forty-two Croatian villagers perished in the village of Doljani. Hundreds more were forced out of their homes and fled to cities and towns in central Bosnia. According to Croatian sources, local Serbian forces engaged in ethic cleansing against Croats. In late 1992, Serbs took over Posavina and began to ethnically cleanse Croatian villages.

Deliberate efforts were made to embed fear into the local Serbian community, who initially were not interested in joining the war against Muslims. Serbian leaders would recount a fabricated story of a Serbian farmer's wife being murdered by Muslims. This ploy was one of the tactics used to recruit local Serbs. At the end of the fighting only several thousand Muslims and Croats remained in territories under Serbian control. Most women and children were not incarcerated, but they were at the mercy of their tormentors. Men and boys were not as fortunate; many were killed upon capture or later during incarceration. It was like World War II, but now instead of Jews, Muslims leaders, teachers, and professionals were weeded out and executed by the Serbian forces.

Ethic cleansing achieved two objectives: it created irreversible facts on the ground, and incorporated the locals in the cover-up of the atrocities. Ethic cleansing, by definition, is killing off an ethnic community or causing it to flee its traditional place of residence for the purpose of creating an ethnically homogeneous population as a basis for claiming political control over the territory. More than 700,000 Muslims were uprooted from their homes throughout the Balkan region during the war.

The Serbian concentration camps can be closely identified with the Nazi concentration camps, even though they were not as organized as the Nazi camps. In World War II, the Nazis camps were highly systematized death factories with the end solution being the extermination of all Jews. This does not mean that the mass killings and rapes that did take place in the Serbian camps were less traumatic than during the Holocaust. This is just an attempt to clarify that the Serbian camps were not as systematic as their Nazi counterparts. The Serbian camps were sloppily set up in public places such as sports stadiums, schools, farms, mines, and warehouses. Most locations were not prepared to handle sewage, water, or food. The fact that these sites were not designed for such uses it had dire consequences for the detainees. (Weine 50)

Because the camps consisted of people from the same regions, many of the detainees knew each other as well as some of the camp guards and soldiers. These acquaintances had both advantages and disadvantages. On the upside, some guards or soldiers granted some detainees special favors. Also, the guards and soldiers informed the detainees about their families status. In most cases the information provided to the detainees was false. The disadvantages of such acquaintances were lethal. One survivor recalled the worst thing that could happen to someone in the camp.

When a new contingent of Serbian troops arrived every fifteen days to relieve the older guards. An acquaintance from one's hometown might be among the newcomers. That acquaintance would murder you because he didn't want a living witness to remain. The survivor grew a beard so as not to be recognized. (Weine 51)

When foreign journalists, human rights observers, or health care workers visited the camps the detainees were not allowed to tell them stories of the atrocities that were taking place there. Those who did speak out had their names written down and were later executed. One survivor recalls such an incident after the Red Cross visited one of the camps.

They took out ten men and had them lie on the ground, and then they stood on some blocks about a meter and a half high and jumped off and landed on their chests. They broke their chests and killed the men that way. That was the hardest for me, seeing their ribs broken, sticking out through their skin, seeing them rolled over, no skin on their back, just black. (Weine 52)

The fate of the detainees survival also depended a great deal on chance and impulse. In one camp the commandant believed that it was "unethical" to kill after 9 p.m., so detainees were executed between 8:45-9 p.m. The detainees recall that the guards would think up sadistic ways to torture and kill them. The guards played games reminiscent of a scene from Star Trek in which Captain Kirk and Spock had to fight to the death. The difference is that these were real people. The detainees were dammed if they did and dammed if they didn't, because after hours of beating each other, the soldiers would kill them. Many of the soldiers seemed to torture and kill for sport. One survivor remembers that these soldiers arrived at the camps on weekends only and they would "kill as much as they wanted to." (Weine 53) The detainees referred to these soldiers as "weekend warriors". (Weine 53) Still other soldiers were motivated by greed. The soldiers would force the detainees to sign over all their properties and money to them, and they had to buy bus tickets to Croatia before they were released.

Women also fell victim to Serbian torture and death. Although the precise number of women raped is undetermined, the United Nations Human Rights Commission approximated that number to be 12,000. They were taken to flats or schools that were set up like brothels for Serbian forces. The troops would rape and beat the women before either killing them or sending them back to their families. Serbian soldiers impregnated Muslim women in order to give birth to Serbian children.

In 1992 in Sarajevo, an epic siege ensued, leaving 12,000 people dead, 1,600 of whom were children. The three-year long siege of Sarajevo began with a barrage of shells raining on the capital city from the hilltops. The attackers where form all three factions. The city of Sarajevo is in a river valley surrounded by mountains. Before the war, it had a population of 500,000. It was the most multi ethnic city in the Balkan region. The location of the city gave shape to a unique coexistence of different nationalities and religions. However, during the siege of Sarajevo, residents who attempted to escape the city, without distinction of religion or nationality, were killed by sniper fire. Two young lovers from Sarajevo became targets of sniper fire. Admira Ismic and Bosko Brkic were dubbed Romeo and Juliet because of their age and their different ethnicities. The two lovers, one Muslim and the other Serbian, had lived together for nine years when they decided to flee war torn Sarajevo. As they crossed into Serbian territory Bosko was shot and killed. Admira, wounded, crawled to her boyfriend's side and died. NATO finally launched an air strike against Serbian forces in August 1995 following a fatal bombing in a Sarajevo marketplace. (www.liv-coll.ac.uk 2)

By far the most horrific incident occurred in Srebrenica in the summer of 1995. Srebrenica was supposed to be a "safe haven" for refugees. The people in this town were disarmed and U.N. was to send troops to protect the people. The Dutch government dispatched 110 troops to defend 30,000 mostly Bosnian Muslim refugees from Serb forces. Dutch troops were outnumbered by the Serbian forces, led by the infamous General Ratko Mladic, and the town was taken over without any resistance from the Dutch army. Between July 11, 1995, and July 16, 1995, General Mladic's army killed more than 7,000 Muslim men and threw their bodies in mass graves. The Dutch government, after 7 years, finally admitted in April 2002, that it could have done more to prevent the atrocities that ensued. (Brown 1) Before the war, Srebrenica was one of the most developed towns in Eastern Bosnia. Now only one in 10 members of the workforce has a paid job, and the average monthly salary is no more than $100. (Tmusic 4)

On November 21, 1995, the republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the republic of Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia reached an agreement in Dayton, Ohio.

It is known as the Dayton Peace Accord. It is not only an agreement to cease-fire; it is an agreement to respect one another and to tolerate each other. Bosnia and Herzegovina is now divided into two: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in control of the Muslims and Croats, and the Republika Srpska, which is under Bosnian-Serb rule. Life in Bosnia is very different nowadays from the times of communist rule. The state does not provide like it used to, now Bosnians have to work hard and they cannot expect something in return from their government. For now the international community is helping rebuild the country but that is not going to last forever.

It really is a shame that such a beautiful country with so much history and culture has to go through such nightmare. Like World War II, the Bosnia war should serve as a moral lesson. "Never again" really does mean "Never again." The exact number of Bosnians who perished is unknown at the moment and probably we are never going to have an exact number. The atrocities that befell those people were genocide. One thing is certain: the global community has to remain involved so that it will never happen again.

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Essay on Wu Chao

Wu Chao was born in 624 in China. Where at is unknown. In her early years she was called Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian lived during the medieval period of Chinese history, when people were strongly influenced by Confucian ideology. Women were generally held in low esteem, and there was considerable opposition to their participation in public affairs. In such a political climate, the struggle and unique success of We Zetian must be seen as remarkable. Her gifts were evident at any early age. She was 14 years old when here reputation for beauty reached the Emperor Tai Zong, and she was summoned to live in his palace. Although she began life in the palace as a low ranking concubine, Wu Zetian managed to attract the attention of Emperor Tai Zong, who was 26 years older than her. In admirations of her beauty and cleverness, he gave her the name Wu Mei, meaning charming female. In 646, Tang Zong was in his early 50's when he fell seriously ill. His ninth son and formally appointed heir was Li Zhi who kept close to his father's bedside. It was then that the young prince grew deeply attracted to Wu Zetian.

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In June, Li Zhi succeeded his father to the throne, the third emperor of the Tan Dynast, known historically as Tang Goa Zong. Most of his father's concubines left the palace. Wu Zetian shaved her head and entered a Buddhist temple as a nun. Goa Zong found a woman names Wang to be his empress. Several months later when he visited the temple where Wu Zetian was, their romance resumed. Wu Zetian was now 28 years old. In 651 she entered the palace for the second time. She cleverly cultivated her relationships with the empress as well as other concubines, and shared gifts and favors granted to her by the emperor with others in his service. In return, the servants became her spies, keeping her informed about the empress and other concubines. The empress in the meant time was still childless, and Wu Zetian's influence over the Emperor grew enormously. In China, it was a serious political move to consider replacing an empress. In 654, Wu Zetian gave birth to a daughter, whom the Emperor was said to love very much. One day after the empress has been playing with the baby, Wu Zetian secretly strangled her daughter in the cradle. Once the death was discovered, servants informed the emperor that the empress had been playing with the child, and the death of it became Goa Zong's excuse for making Wu Zetian empress.

In her new role as empress, Wu Zetian soon demonstrated remarkable ability as well as being very ruthless. She initiated transfers of statesmen who opposed her, including the emperors own uncle. She tormented the former empress and is believed to have been responsible for her death. As Goa Zong showed increasing signs of weakness, Wu Zetian found ways of extending her power throughout the whole empire. Now know as Empress Wu, she took charge of affairs of state both large and small, and she became involved into the formulation of all new policies. In 674, for the first time ever in Chinese History, Empress Wu instituted the titles of Heavenly Empress and Heavenly Emperor for herself and her husband. That same year, she further demonstrated her political power with her proposal of a 12-point program of reform. The provisions encouraged agricultural production, reduced taxes and labor services, and decreased military operation, provide wide opportunities for criticisms and reform of the government, provided long-serving officials, and increased officials salaries, thereby winning support from everyone.

The following year, the eldest son of Gao Zong and Empress Wu, the heir, Li Hong, died suddenly. Since he had been in total disagreement with the empress, it was believed that his mother, Empress Wu had him murdered. In 680, Wu Zetian's second son, the new heir, Li Xian, was charged with preparing a coup and was banished to a remote area. In late 683, Emperor Goa Zong died, making way for Li Xean, the third son of Goa Zong and Wu Zetian. He was 23 years old and his royal name was Tang Zhong Zong. Unfortunately, the new emperor was weak and even more incompetent than his father, so the Empress stayed in power. After that, Li Xean promoted his father-in-law to Emperor but was dethroned by Wu Zetian soon after. His younger brother Li Dan, known as Rui Zong, replaced him. This reckless intervention in so many state affairs eventually evoked strong opposition and an armed rebellion against her started in 686. The rebellion collapsed about three months later. Wu Zetian wanted to rule as Emperor in her own name so she drew together her supporters in a campaign devoted to winning widespread popularity. She helped the poor and ferreted out corrupt officials and fraudulent merchants for punishment.

In autumn of 690, after she had received three successive petitions requesting her to ascend the imperial throne, the Tang Dynasty was declared replaced by the Zhao Dynasty. Wu Zetian named herself Wu Zhao, the first and only female emperor in Chinese history. She continued her rule for 15 more years. Attentive to those who excelled in examinations, she prompted many talented men to key post and gave strong backing to the honest and upright officials in her government. Population grew form3.8 million households to 6.15 million, and her troops won signal victories in the war against Turk, Tu-bu, and Khitan. Finally, weakened by age, Wu Zhao could no longer control crimes committed by trusted followers. In February of 705, her chief chancellor, Zhang Jian-zhi led a palace coup to reinstate the deposed Zhong Zong (Li Xean). Hundreds of solders invaded the palace where Wu Zhao had been confined to her bed for weeks. The Empress got up to listen to the request to return the throne back to her son. She agreed and returned to bed. She died in November the same year. She had controlled China for half a century and was the first and only female emperor.

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