Kevin Putnam

Per. 3, Haskell

Sept. 10, 2003

Unresolved Problems Study Guide

I.                    Northern Ireland

In the history of Ireland, there were many invasions. The Celtics, who settled in Ireland in 400 BC, were always being invaded. The Vikings invaded Ireland between 1016 BC and 800 AD. Later, in 1066, the Celtics were taken over by the French “Norman” invaders. By the time 1172 rolled around, King Henry II of England declared himself the king of Ireland. Later in 1534, King Henry the VIII of England left the Catholic church, declaring himself the ruler of Ireland. King Henry gained followers in breaking away from the Catholic church. Although some people of Ireland still remained in with the Catholics, he tried to convince all of the Irish to give up Catholicism. Battles arose, and in the end, the English won and gave a part of Ireland to English Protestant Settlers. When a split between economics and religion broke out, the protestant minority had gained control of the wealth. But the Irish side slipped into poverty. This caused Ireland to be split into 2 parts, in 1921. The north part (with the better fertile land) was English, and the South became a Free State.

The conflict in Ireland still exists today. In Northern Ireland two-thirds of the people are Protestant and one-third left are Catholic. As the first religion in Ireland, the Catholics want Northern Ireland back from England. This is called reunification.

      A group called the Irish Republican Army (IRA) tries to prove their point by using violence against innocent civilians. This is to try to scare the British.

   

II.                 Pacific Rim/Trade

 

Japan, in 1961, asked our president, JFK, in assistance of revolving the “unfair” trade balance. JFK asked the Trade Representative to see what the Japanese needed to be done. In November, JFK worked out a satisfactory trade agreement with Japan. In 1965, the U.S. realized that they were the ones in the unfair favor.  The imbalance is about 27 billion dollars a year. The Projection is over 50 billion dollars this year alone.

 

III.               National Debt

As the Deficit in the U.S. today is up, and everything is running well, the national Debt is bringing us all down. The national Debt is so big that if you lined the money down and drove to the end it would circle the earth 7 times. In our grandparent’s generation, they only had to pay 6% on the dollar for tax. Today it is more, and in the future it will be even greater. They will have to pay a lot more. It just keeps on growing.

 

IV.              AIDS

AIDS (acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) originated in Africa in 1976. The virus spreads very rapidly. AIDS causes the Immune system to die and allows other infectious diseases to get in. An infection occurs about every 14 minutes and it is the leading cause of death for males, ages 25-35. About 136,000 people have aids in the U.S. today. There is no vaccine yet for AIDS but scientists say it could be within 10 years.