History

This paper mainly deals with various aspects of women lives in Egypt and Aztec civilizations. Aspects of gender balance, social conditions, authority that women commanded have been dealt with in detail. Scant mention has been given on the role and place of women in Greek civilization just to elaborate the specific details.
An attempt has also been made to draw parallels between these two civilizations. It comes out clearly that though women occupied different stratums in these two civilizations they were able to assert their authority and place in the society at least economically. However, they were alienated from mainstream leadership positions and only ascended by accident as the case is in Egypt. However, they played limited leadership roles as can be seen in Aztecs market places. 
Lastly, it comes out clearly that these two civilizations some up the treatment and roles of women in antiquity. This is because they cover both extremes. In Egypt, women were respected, and indeed protected by the law. In Aztec, they were looked down upon, and counted as property and even given out as sacrifices
Introduction
For a very long time, even in the early centuries, the position of women in most societies has been second to that of men. In most communities, a patriarchal relationship of authority that was strictly observed served to compromise the position of the woman in the community. Even today, this is true for most indigenous communities, which has perhaps failed to master the courage to embrace gender equity. Or should we say they have failed to break out of their comforts zones, characterized by male dominance. The tribal clan structure of most communities also played a role in not only complicating but pushing the womans role to the periphery of societal issues. Although in the early ages there were some communities whereby women came out strongly in leadership and position of authority, and were more visible, such were an exception. The common denominator is the fact that the womans role and position in the society since the early ages has restricted the development and meaningful societal participation of the women.
From todays standpoint of the womans place, it is in order to try and look at how women were regarded, and indeed treated in the early civilizations.According to Wilfong (1997), in some early historical civilizations women were not viewed as being very important to society. In those civilizations the men controlled the women at all times and the women would often have very little or no freedom to even go out of the house unaccompanied or have a say in their society(Robbins, 1993).Most early  civilizations such as Greece which were patriarchal followed this course. On the other hand, other civilizations such as Egypt were very open and granted their women more freedoms.
Egyptian Women
Early ages in Egypt have been broken down into the Old, Middle and New World to depict the trend in civilization.Occupations
Unlike other civilizations such as Greece, women were allowed to go out in public. This appears to be the notion we get even among the Aztec society. In the public, some women would trade freely. But, Wilfong (1997) observes that Egyptian women mostly worked in the fields at home and in the workshops owned by the family. Though they had this immense freedom, compared to other civilizations, their occupations were limited. Most women simply stayed at home and took care of the house and the family. A few of the women in high status would be leaders. Others however would simply be housekeepers, servants, field hands, and skilled workers in workshops.
Gender Equity
According to Wilfong (1997) legal distinctions in Egypt were apparently based much more upon differences in the social classes, rather than differences in gender. Accordingly, rights and privileges were not uniform from one class to another, but within the given classes, it seems that equal economic and legal rights were, for the most part, accorded to both men and women (Robbins, 1993). Infact, Wilfong (1997) points out that the Egyptian womans rights extended to all the legally defined areas of society. Hence women could manage and dispose of private property such as land, portable goods, servants, slaves, livestock as well as financial instruments like endowments and annuities(Robbins,1993).It is therefore significant that a woman could do a wide range of things without the need of a male representative. In Aztec, this could not have happened given that some institutions like Snake Woman were entirely composed of men.
According to Capel and Glenn (2002) women were regarded within in the Ancient Egyptian society for their roles as child bearer and keeper of the household. Indeed fertility was highly regarded and an infertile woman could be divorced summarily. This is similar to how women were regarded in Aztec culture. Though there was relatively  some semblance of gender balance, when it came to administrative roles, women appear to take a back seat, perhaps because the succession rule gave more prominence to the males. Consequently, observes that very few women achieved status and power through these elite roles and only six women are documented to have achieved the position of pharaoh.
Music
Music permeated all aspects of Ancient Egyptians lives. It featured prominently as an aspect of mourning in funerary scenes, used for entertainment in the home and the fields. In all these settings, women were the main participants.
According to Capel and Glenn (2002) it is within the tradition of music, both sacred and secular, that women of Ancient Egypt were accorded titles of status that remained unparalleled for their gender elsewhere in the public sphere. Music primarily functioned within the religious sphere in Ancient Egypt even secular music often had its roots in the religious tradition of the society.
Orchestras composed entirely of women and bands of female musicians that were attached to elite estates and the palace of Akhenaton were featured prominently on monuments throughout Tell el Amarna (Robbins, 1993). The status of women as musicians was accorded more and more prestige as the eras of Ancient Egyptian civilization progressed.  According to Wilfong (1997) one of the most widespread roles for female musicians was that of chantress.This role kind of tended to link their musical activities to the religious temples service where some served as priestesses.
Religious Practices
In the Old and Middle Kingdoms Robbins (1993) observes that many elite women bore the title priestess in the temple of Hathor or Neith. There were also a few women who were wab priestesses, but no woman held higher rank than that. There were a few male priests in these temples also. The roles played by these priests and priestesses are not clear, but Robbins (1993) observes that by the New Kingdom the title Priestess had disappeared completely. On the other hand Wilfong (1997) points that a woman bearing the title of shemayet in the New Kingdom was a musician with the duties of  singing hymns and playing sistrum in the temple of a particular god or goddess.
Womens Property Rights
According to Capel and Glenn (2002)) there were several ways in which an Egyptian woman could acquire possessions and real property. Most frequently, she received it as gifts or as an inheritance from her parents or husband. Again, an Egyptian woman could acquire property by purchasing it out of proceeds from her or borrowed assets.
Under Egyptian property law, a woman had claim to one-third of all the community property in her marriage (Capel and Glenn, 2002).This was normally the property which accrued to her husband and her only after they were married. When a woman brought her own private property like dowry to a marriage, this remained hers, despite the fact that the husband gained free use if such property. What come out clearly is that in both the Aztec and Early Egypt, women could inherit property.
Marriage
There was no age limit as to when people could be married, but generally a girl did not get married until she had begun to menstruate at about the age of 14. Unlike in the Aztec traditions where marriage required an elaborate banqueting, in Egypt no religious or legal ceremony was performed (Robbins, 1993). There were no special bridal clothes, no exchange of rings, no change of names to indicate marriage, and no word meaning wedding.
Surprisingly, even after a wife was married, she kept her independence, and still controlled her own assets. Even though the husband controlled any joint property obtained during the marriage it was acknowledged that a share of this belonged to the wife and when the marriage ended, she could collect he share. Divorce was a private matter, and for the most part, the government did not interfere. According to Wilfong (1997) almost any excuse could be used to end a marriage, and an alliance could be terminated at will. Examining the Aztec culture, marriage could only end in the event that the husband mistreated his wife. In such a case, the wifes relatives collected her from her patriarchal home.

AZTEC WOMAN
Gender Balance
The Aztec society was a patriarchy, a male dominated society, ruled by kings and noble loads. As a result, women in this society were considered subordinate of men, possibly even property. As a result, women had little chance to take part in government and religious activities.Consequent to this, all government and religious functions were closed off to women. Hassig (1992) observes that one of the most important religious offices, the Snake Woman, was always filled by men. Women contribution in such gatherings was thus not valued.
Aztec womans life  was decided the very moment she was borne, and was not expected to either challenge or compete with the men.Hassig (1992),succinctly captures this when he says that the moment a female child was borne, the  midwife said to a female baby, You must live in the house like the heart in the body You must not leave the house...You must be like the ashes and the hearth. Hence the girl child was promised the house and family very early in life. In fact, according to (Hassig, 1992) women were most especially required to behave with chastity and high moral standards. This remotely points to the fact that women, in this society were mostly regarded as people whose main function was child bearing and above all, to be seen and not heard.
Spirituality
According to Olgun (2002), girls could become priestesses if their mother desired. In such a case the mother of the infant, twenty to forty day old baby to the temple to establish an agreement with the priest (Hassig, 1992). At the temple, the girl then learned writing and interpretation of the calendar, pictographs, and prophecy. Besides, the girls learnt to write poetry and the art of oratory.
A priestess performed many roles in the community. In some celebrations, the priestess were the principle deity in the religious celebrations (Hassig ,1992) .For example, during the fourteenth month women took their children to the temple, where the old priestesses would take the children in their arms and dance with them .Other duties included sweeping the holy places and lighting the fires in the temple. These priestesses, though vowed to the church, this was not forever, and they could leave to go and get married. At times, even those who grew at home could dedicate some of their time to the temple, in the hope that the gods will bless them with a happy marriage.
Education
Hassig (1992) observes that at the age of fifteen, girls entered the public school system. This system was different from other systems of the time in that all children, male or female, attended school. This shows some level of equality of genders. This equality could also be seen when later women could help men with various roles, especially as regards trade. In Europe only the upper class was able to attend school (Hassig, 1992).There the young girls learned to make feathered cloaks and to weave. They also learnt the history and rites of being a woman. When the girl was of the marriageable age, they young girls left school, to go and start their own families.

Daily Life
In daily life, there was a clear division of roles between men and women. While men worked in the fields and fought in wars or took the job of his father and became tradesmen, women stayed at home and put their efforts into domestic duties like childbearing, weaving, and cooking. Women were educated for these activities from young ages. However, it is important to point out that women roles were not restricted to the house. They also played a role in the workforce. They worked as merchants, traders, scribes, courtesans, healers and midwifes.
Taxes
All women were required to pay tribute in the form of cloth and woven goods to the imperial Aztec state. With time, the Aztec state increased the demands of female tribute, which caused women on both the local and national level to pay more taxes through the production of woven goods. This called for them to put in more time and resources for fear of the consequences of failure. In some instances, men could also help with the weaving.
Economy
Apart from domestic roles, women in the Aztec empire could be merchants, and trades people in the marketplace. Olgun (2002), observed that Aztec women participated in long distance trade. Such women were referred as pochtea and they could acquire wealth, riches, and learn foreign languages and cultures. They could sell what they made in the marketplace and gain some wealth for their families, besides making a name for themselves. Some of the things they dealt in included raw and prepared food, cloth, and other items in the market.  According to , Olgun (2002),  women in the Aztec society even held places as official arbiters to resolve disputes that arose in the marketplace.
Women in Aztec enjoyed some form of autonomy from their male counterparts .Most conspicuously to this autonomy is the fact that both men and women were entitled to own and inherited property as well as enjoy social status based on kinship and lineages (Hassig ,1992). Consequently, women could also acquire wealth through various social and economic activities .However, Hassig (1992) observes that this was based on their genetic affiliations to culturally important ancestors.
Social Status
According to Hassig (1992) women also worked as prostitutes and courtesans, but they do not seem to have been social outcasts as a result. The Aztec courtesans served young noble warriors and danced with them at ritual celebrations.This suggest that they had an elevated status in their own society. According to Hassig (1992)  the Aztec culture did not place the same value on individuals as our modern culture, and in many cases  women (wives and daughters) were offered to visiting guests for sexual pleasure(Olgun ,2002).Besides, Olgun (2002), points out that women were also offered for sacrifice. The worst of the voluntary offerings of women for sacrifice was the ritual of Xipe Totec - where a young girl or woman would be offered by her family to the Aztec priests - raped by the Aztec priests, then skinned alive - after which the priest would wear the womans skin in a ritual of transformation (Olgun, 2002).
Medicine
Aztec women also served as healers or midwives. During the colonial period, Spanish tried to quell this practice, believing it to be a distraction from the one true Christian God. Hassig (1992) observes that documents from the Spanish accounts indicate that the women healers were more highly skilled than European doctors. However, such accounts lacked the depth and appear to gloss over what these women were doing. Consequently, a good deal of the cultural knowledge of these women was lost, given also that that the  Spanish began to repress the religion of the Aztecs and prosecute and persecute women healers as witches(Olgun ,2002).Aztec women may have pioneered in prenatal care, as records indicate they began ministering to pregnant women in their seventh month(Olgun ,2002).

The author of the document is Salvian who is a Christian writer of the 5th century. Most historians believed that he was probably born in Cologne between years 400 and 405 (Biography of Salvian,  HYPERLINK httpwww.ccel.org www.ccel.org). He wrote documents that provided a vivid description of life in Gaul in the fifth century wherein the decline and fall of the Roman Empire occurred. 
    Gaul is part of the Western Roman Empire who at that period is under siege from the Germanic tribes. The experience of war and conquest varies across the empire but particular to Gaul, warring group includes the Romans, Goths and the Bagaudae (Ward-Perkins 14). Both the Goths and the Bagaudae had established states independent from Rome. The latter are peasants who led revolts against the Roman administration and against aristocratic landlords (Van Dam 27), this implies that there is a direct conflict between the local populace and the central administration of the empire. This is because the empire is viewed as oppressive and exploitative due to the abuse of the local aristocracy and the burden of taxation to the people (Van Dam 206).
    Originally Christianity was banned by the Roman Empire and its members persecuted, but despite these adverse conditions the religion still flourished. A turning point in the history of Christianity is when Constantine became the emperor and he legalised, emancipated, protected, and given lands and buildings (Flick 116) to the church. The Edict of Milan, which allowed religious liberty provided Christians a way to proclaim their faith and organized publicly. A lot of Romans at this point deserted paganism and embraced the Christian faith (Flick 119). The spread of Christianity was phenomenal that for over a thousand years after Constantines support it was still the most powerful moral, social, and political agency the world has ever seen (Flick 126).
    Needless to say this is the prevalent belief during the time of Salvian. People suffering from the abuse of the Roman authority and the fear of the barbaric invasions embraces the religion even more because it provides hope. Hope that with good deeds they would reap the rewards in heaven.

Identification
    This document is a letter written by Salvian probably to the community of Lerins in order for them to accept his kinsman. According to the Christian Classic Library it is probably in Marseilles where he wrote his first letter and was published after the capture of Litorius at Toulouse in (439) and after the Vandal conquest of Carthage in the same year (Biography of Salvian,  HYPERLINK httpwww.ccel.org www.ccel.org).
    This provides a vivid description of the conflict that is happening in Gaul and Spain. Salvian describes the desertion of the Roman citizens and their willingness to pledge their allegiance to the Goths or the rebels known as Bagaudae. He further discussed the reasons behind this desertion, for even he, is now planning to search and join the Bagaudae. The reasons that he provided includes tyranny of the local aristocrats and their abusive way in exhorting taxes from the people. Also he believes that widows and orphans are being taken advantage by the local authorities. He further points out that ones safety is only assured if one is bad and is part of the robbers.
    Regarding the Bagaudae, Salvian believes that they are wronged. It is the unjust decision of the judges and the local authorities that branded them as rebels and outcast. They are outcasts because they are not allowed to be a citizen of Rome. After loosing their right to become Roman citizens they also lost the right to use their Roman name. This misfortune of the rebels who are considered criminals by society is due to the unjust authorities. The local Roman authorities, who are characterized by selfishness and only thinks of their own gains, should be blamed for the eventual downfall of Rome.  According to him even Roman citizens who previously perceive citizenship as the highest splendor of dignity now hates to even be associated with Rome.
    This is a political document that attacks the wrongdoings of persons in authority, specifically the local aristocrats and judges. It shows the social stratification, wherein the influential people tend to take care of only their own interest and let their constituents, mostly the poor people to fend for themselves. This contradicts the Christian value that Rome proclaims. This conflict of principle and action influence people to shift allegiance to the invading barbarians where their faith is tolerated and their relative freedom and dignity valued.
    This aims to educate other communities of the Roman Empire, for them to be forewarned about the possibility of desertion due to abuse. That authorities may change the way they are handling the affairs of the community or for the people to decide immediately to go to the other side and avoid prolonged violence.

Evaluation
    The effect of the political structure to the life of the individual in the society is the central them of this letter. Society is made up of citizens with a government that administers to their needs. This is not limited to these elements because there are certain belief systems of culture that is being followed by the community. In this case it is Christianity.
    After Constantine legalized the practice of Christianity in Rome (Flick 116) most of the people embraced this religion. This includes the belief in the rewards in the after life which is only possible through faith in Jesus Christ and good deeds while on earth. This belief also led people to be more idealistic when it comes to values of charity and democracy that were exemplified by Christ. Christianity also put forth the belief that an individual should respect authority.
    A conflict is inevitable when the political leaders not only fails to exhibit Christian values expected by the community but further shows abusive behavior in the treatment of the people and further strangle them with  demands on higher payments for taxes. The people in the community understand that they are being forced unjustly to pay taxes while their right as citizens is not even honored. Examples such as the unjust removal of citizenship rights from the Bagaudae and also the fact that the Roman authorities are not concern about their safety from the invading barbarians.
    The abuse of authority and unjustifiable judgment discussed here conflicts with the Christian values of the community and thus they move or in Salvians words flee towards the barbarians or the rebels and live in their independent states that could provide the safety and freedom they desire. These Roman citizens who deserted Rome would continue their life, their work and their belief with only a minor difference and that is the fact that their leaders are not people appointed by Rome anymore.

A myth is a tale that more often than not is considered sacred and used to elucidate some natural occurrences or cultural observances. Myths revolve about doings performed by gods or heroes. In more simplistic terms, they are used to provide insight to a peoples value system, traditions and beliefs, pattern of behavior and customs. Myths have different functions from which they can be classified accordingly. Religious myths form the origins of rituals while the behavioral patterns and ways of thinking are covered by the psychological myths. Relationship ties between individuals and groups are explained by the social myths and edification functions in the subjects of moral integrity, justice and punishment are explored by the social more category. 
    Wonder Woman is a heroic figure in various comic series and she is a member of the Amazons who are a tribe of female warriors forming part of the Greek mythology. Created in 1940 during the period of World War Two, she is the representation of a social more charter by the fact that her sole duty to humanity is to instill the Amazon idyllic of love, harmony and sexual impartiality in the world that is ailing from the hatred that men have towards each other. To aid her in her responsibility, she possesses supernormal strength and swiftness, stamina and flying skills. In addition to this, she has undergone an extensive training, overseen by her mother, in the areas of hand combat and other types of strategic warfare techniques for a period of three thousand years. On her hands, she wears indestructible wristlets that help in shielding off bullets while her magic lasso (noose) gives her the special ability of extracting truth from anyone that it binds. Her extraordinary abilities have their foundation in the religious ties that she has with her Greek ancestry and culture (Daniels, 2004).
    The Greek religious practice, which is polytheistic in nature, attributes different functions to different gods and through the creation of Wonder Woman, the myth of religious ritual charter is developed. The origin of life here is attributed to creationism as it is traced to the combined ideas of six Olympian gods. Her body is modeled from clay and afterwards her soul is infused and she now becomes a living being. Her strength is given to her by Demeter the agriculture and fertility deity, Aphrodite the love, beauty grants her a loving heart, and physical beauty, Pallas grants her military expertise from her wisdom and war duty. Goddess of hunt, animals and moon, Artemis gives her the ability to communicate with animals Hermes the speed god gives her the flight and velocity ability and Hestia the deity of fire and home grants her the ability to be able to search mens hearts and minds through her lasso. From this god given abilities, Wonder Woman has an incredible advantage over dangers that tend to arise in the path of her destiny, though her humanity is emphasized from the fact that she can get hurt through her delicate skin (Beatty, 2003).
    From her tale, the belief of creationism that is widely spread across different cultures and religious customs around the globe is explored. Abilities and talents that are considered as in born as a gift from God are also seen from the ones that are awarded to her by the gods. However, training that is required in the different areas of life like in the working environment are also given their purpose in life as we see her having physical training sessions in hand combat and war techniques to keep her in shape for her career as a warrior. Personal destiny that Wonder Woman has in her life as being responsible for instilling love and peace in men, the promotion of justice to those who are rightfully alienated and the punishment that the evil doers are applied to emphasizes on the acceptable ethics and needs that are prevalent in the globe. Women are symbols of love and tenderness, which are brought out from the peace and love that she is sent to instill in men (Rucka  Johnson, 2004).
    Ideals and values that she stands for are peace, love and justice with more emphasis on the justice bit. All the wars that she fights for are in all ways connected to the need to uphold impartiality in all areas of the humanity. Indeed, she is a representation of American femininity as it argues for the cause of women empowerment in the view that they are not subordinate to men in any way. In the 1940s when the character was introduced, the cartoon industry had been dominated by male action figures like Superman and Batman. This actually presented the biased view that women were treated with in the society especially in the work places with the generalized view that men were better than women in most of the jobs, especially those that involved hard and intellectual work. The idealistic change created an entry point for women to be represented as an equal substitute to the males as seen by the first creation of Wonder Woman and the subsequent adaptation of the character in the Justice Society of America, where she now fought side by side with her male counterparts and as the only woman in the group.
    Her representation is a psychological awakening of the female class to be able to view themselves as equally talented and well capable of accomplishing anything that they put their mind and heart to, including all that men can do. Note that, women are also depicted as well able to perform some of the duties better that men can do in the area of specialization. The power and strength that she possesses is used to identify the build and achievements of female sport persons, martial artisans and the other group of strongly built category of women in other social areas like arts.  Hence, we can conclusively agree that the creation and introduction of Wonder Woman into the world of comics brought along the culture of gender equality in all the social areas with the emphasis being laid on the values of love, peace and justice.

Queen Elizabeth I of England is considered to be one of the greatest monarchs in the history of the royal England. She had a tough childhood experience with her mother being executed when she was only three and her father engaging in numerous relationships with different women. Elizabeth was born in the year 1533 being daughter to King Henry VIII and Ann Boleyn. Elizabeths challenges started even before she was born with most people opposed to her mothers marriage to the King who was in search for a male heir. Her birth as a girl child did not go down well in the power circles. Her birth was contrary to the predictions of astrologers and physicians who had unanimously predicted it to be the birth of a prince. Some people described her birth as a great disappointment to the King, the Lady herself and to others of her party (Harington and Antiquae, para 2). At a tender age of 25, Elizabeth ascended to the throne to provide timely leadership that England required at the moment. Much credit is owed to her for having steered England back to economic and political prosperity after many years of poor leadership from her predecessors (Britannia, para 1).
Elizabeth and the position of women in her times
    The position of women during the Elizabeth times was very low considering that it was a male dominated society. This is clearly demonstrated by how Elizabeths father, King Henry VIII treated his wives. He divorced and imprisoned his first wife Katherine of Aragon for not bearing him a son. His marriage to Anne Boleyn was motivated by the search for a son. This clearly indicates how women were disregarded as possible heirs to the throne. Women were treated with a lot of contempt in the sense that the King at one time called upon his elder daughter Mary who had fled to become the Princess of Wales to relinquish her title and acknowledge the annulment of her mothers marriage to him and the validity of his new marriage. Meanwhile, Marys mother was in prison. In an attempt to rid Elizabeths own mother for failing to bear a son to the King, she was imprisoned on false allegations including treason and later executed in May 1536 (Harington and Antiquae, para 4). Women, as we can see, were mistreated by the male dominant society who could not stop at anything in search for their demands. Elizabeth herself experienced the wrath of being a woman when even her father could not refer to her as princess but instead called her Lady Elizabeth, the daughter of the King.
    Despite all these trials and tribulations, Elizabeth was not deterred to achieve what she ever wanted in life. At the age of 10 under the care of Katherine, the sixth wife of King Henry VIII, Elizabeth was enrolled in school where she distinguished herself as one of the promising young stars. One of her tutors observed that she did not exhibit weaknesses most associated with women. This was an exceptional performance putting in mind that women were considered to be inferior to men (Harington and Antiquae, para 8).
    Elizabeths character came to the limelight when she ascended to power upon the death of her elder stepsister Queen Mary in 1558. By this time, the politics and the economy of the English empire were in shambles. There were also sharp divisions amongst the religious groups in the country.  Elizabeth, having known all the problems ahead of her, proved to be calm and calculative, employing capable and distinguished men to carry out the royal prerogatives (Britannia, para 2). Her first priority was to eliminate the religious unrest thereby establishing the Henrician reforms and leaning towards the Protestantism in response to the persecutions carried out by the strongly catholic France and Spain. Queen Elizabeth was reluctantly forced to support wars in France, Scotland in aid of Protestants who were being persecuted, and also supported Belgium in its bid to gain independence from Spain (Britannia, para 5). In the year 1588, the Queen was put to test when England went to war with the much feared Armada of Spain. This was the opportunity that the Queen used to demonstrate those qualities of heart that nobody expected to find in women (MacCaffrey, p 17).
    Queen Elizabeth was a courageous woman considering that she faced the authorities in some of the most intriguing situations. She cleverly defended herself against Thomas Seymour who became husband to her stepmother after her fathers death on allegations of being his mistress when she was only 15 (Ruggeri, para 4). During her sisters reign, she was imprisoned for allegedly participating in a revolt led by Sir Thomas Wyatt Harington. She endured three months in custody at the Tower of London and a whole year under a house arrest (Antiquae, para 49).
    During her reign as a Queen of England many issues stood in the way of the young Queen. She was not married at that time and many people around her wanted her married considering that her council composed of males who were not used to working with an unmarried Queen. She showed a strong mental character in not allowing the issues of her successor bother to influence her reign. Elizabeth was determined to be an exceptional Queen and she stood her ground despite many attempts of engagement. She ruled and died unmarried and famously became known as the Virgin Queen (Ruggeri, para 8).
    Elizabeth was a dedicated scholar who devoted much of her time learning in school. She studied Greek, theology, and classical subjects such as rhetoric, languages, philosophy and history. In her time as the Queen of England, literature blossomed considering the works of Spenser, Marlowe, and William Shakespeare. The English influence expanded with the efforts from Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh in exploring the new worlds. Her time saw the prosperity of the economy and the general welfare of the people. She was not a hardliner on religious matters as her stepsiblings who had preceded her and this was crucial in stabilizing and defusing the tensions that previously existed between the Catholics and the Protestants (Eliza and Elana, para 6).
    Elizabeths rule had its share of challenges just like any other. For many years, she had a problem with the Queen of Scotland, Mary, who happened to be her cousin. Mary claimed that she was the rightful Queen of England and she launched numerous attempts to overthrow Elizabeth. Eventually, Mary was captured and held in prison for 19 years. When revealing evidence linking her with an overthrow and life attempts on Elizabeth, she was finally executed. In one of the plots, commonly known as the Babington plot, young catholic gentlemen loyal to Mary of Scotland were captured and executed by Elizabeth having faced full punishment (Ruggeri, para10). These incidences showed that Elizabeth was a firm and patient leader who would depend on her head in making politically important decisions.
    She had unique leadership qualities that helped her stay in power. She was popular with all the people - the rich and the poor. Elizabeth was graceful in public and was never aloof and constantly kept in touch with common people. She was also careful and always cautious in her approach to political matters. The Queen never rushed in making decisions that could be unpopular to the public. She stood by her principles and decisions as evidenced by the council interrogations concerning the two scandals touching on her. The first one was on Seymour and the second one was during the reign of her stepsister when she was accused of conspiring to overthrow her.  She can be described as a determined politician, a practical who could not yield to unpopular issues. For instance, she is said to have backed down to the public opposition on the policies that granted monopolies in 1601 (FAQ, para 5). Elizabeth was a master of politics and knew that she required the devotion of her councils advice. The council was comprised of men who were astonished by the Queens character of holding back until the last minute to come up with a decision. By this, she refused to be manipulated and only acted when she saw it necessary based on her own judgment. She appointed intelligent men in the council who included Sir Robert Cecil, Sir William Cecil, and Sir Francis Walsingham who gave her good advice on political matters (Harington and Antiquae, para 16).
    Perhaps the most memorable thing that Queen Elizabeth is remembered for is the defeat of the Spanish Army that was regarded as the best army in the world at the time. The triumph was a major breakthrough as English army took the crown of the most dreaded army from Spain. England became a very powerful nation in Europe under Elizabeth. In one of her speeches to the army before the war with Spain, the Queen showed her firmness and assertiveness previously associated with men. She is on record for having said that she was aware of her status as a woman but in real sense she knew that she had the qualities of a King (Harington and Antiquae, para 35).
Conclusion
    Queen Elizabeth I shall be remembered for her greatest contribution to the success of the English empire during her years in power. She had inherited a virtually bankrupt kingdom which was religiously torn apart, coupled by many allegations that she was not the rightful queen for England. She rose to the occasion and provided sober governance that was yet to be witnessed in England, especially from a woman. Her sister had offered disastrous leadership but Elizabeth overcame the contemporary prejudices about women leadership to show that she had incredible strength. Elizabeths years at the helm saw Renaissance flourish in England and the general prosperity of England as a nation. England became a leading nation in Europe having overtaken Spain and France that had previously dominated Europe. She was a woman of character that fought all odds to establish herself in the male dominated society.

The most effective of way in which leaders influence people is by being models themselves. According to the Leadership Practice Inventory, a leader models hisher way by setting an example for others by behaving in ways that are consistent with their stated values. ( HYPERLINK httpwww.concordgrowth.comimagesTLC httpwww.concordgrowth.comimagesTLC).
Martin Luther King rose to the limelight during the civil rights movements in the 60s, as an advocate of an egalitarian American society. What made him stood out than other black leaders who pursued the same cause was his insistence of integration as opposed to separation of the blacks from the whites and, the proposition of the use of non-violence to achieve that goal even in the face of violence that was unleashed on his demonstrators by law enforcers.   
Infusing the Mahatma Gandhis methods of non-violence with the spirituality of the black churches, King in his sermons and writings urged blacks to non-violently disobey laws that transgressed their dignity as human beings. Eventually, this philosophy transformed the social and political relations of both blacks and whites throughout the nation.  ( HYPERLINK httpbooks.google.combooksqinauthor22MariJoBuhle22 Buhle,  HYPERLINK httpbooks.google.combooksqinauthor22MariJoBuhle22 Buhle and Kaye, 1994)
How Martin Luther King Inspired Others
Mwewa (2009), points out that leadership is the art of creating a vision, because a dream or vision invents the future. The Leadership Practice Inventory claims that a leader inspires others by envisioning an uplifting and ennobling future and enlisting others in a common vision by appealing to peoples values, interest, hopes and dreams. ( HYPERLINK httpwww.concordgrowth.comimagesTLC httpwww.concordgrowth.comimagesTLC).
     Martin Luther King was an effective communicator with a pedigree education. He was able to galvanize people through his oratory skills, by clearly communicating the social and political pressures that made blacks second-rate citizens and, was able to inject hope in the whole process. His vision was all encompassing, as best demonstrated in his I Have a Dream speech, where he sees blacks and whites living in harmony at some time in the future. While discouraging the separation of blacks from the larger white American society through the formation of a Negro community in the South, in his speech to social scientists at an APA Annual Convention in Washington, D.C IN 1967, King claimed that the racial problem of America must be solved with all races together, not separately. (APA Monitor, 1999)
Far from that, King was also present to face police brutality alongside other demonstrators on the streets and this connected to people, as they perceived him as ready to die for the cause.
How King Enabled Others to Act
    The Leadership Practice Inventory points out that effective leaders enable their followers to act by strengthening them through the sharing of information and power and, increasing their discretion and visibility. Mwewa (2009), further states that however great a leader may be, heshe never achieves their success by themselves. They must rely on those who must live with the results of their cause, and make it possible for others to do their best. Whenever a leader enables hisher followers to act, they in turn feel strong, capable and committed.
    The preparations of the Montgomery bus boycott, which was triggered by the arrest of Rosa Parks, was organized not by King but the Women Political Council, who later invited him to lead in the demonstrations. Previously, Kings interest was in NAACP, an organization he greatly admired. He even influenced his Dexter Avenue Baptist Church to become its largest contributor. He was also active in human relation organizations that brought a few blacks and white middle class professional together to talk about how to improve race relations. King was a reluctant radical. ( HYPERLINK httpbooks.google.combooksqinauthor22MariJoBuhle22 Buhle,  HYPERLINK httpbooks.google.combooksqinauthor22PaulBuhle22 Buhle, and HYPERLINK httpbooks.google.combooksqinauthor22HarveyJ.Kaye22  Kaye, 1994)
Challenging the Process. Effective leadership consists in seeing challenges as sources of good ideas. An effective leader therefore, harnesses these challenges and seeks for the seeds of growth in them. (Mwewa, 2009)
The greatest resistance faced by the non-violence civil right activism by King was a stubborn American regime that didnt want to change the status quo, and a white majority that whose prejudice was informed more by fear than the knowledge of the black man.
King managed to challenge whites to join blacks in the struggle for justice by telling them that they were caught up they were all caught up in an inescapable mutuality. He too troubled the conscience of the Congress and White House by putting it to them that they could not claim to be leaders of a free world, yet remain a segregated nation. After the Montgomery bus boycott, Kings most successful campaigns were the Birmingham demonstrations in 1963 and the Selma March in 1965. Both events created so much social disruption that the leaders of the federal government were pressured into enacting the Civil Right Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Bill of 1965. ( HYPERLINK httpbooks.google.combooksqinauthor22MariJoBuhle22 Buhle, et al)
How King Encouraged and Convicted the Hearts and Emotions of Others
In order to encourage and convict hearts and emotions of their followers leaders recognize the individual contributions to the success of every of their projects ( HYPERLINK httpwww.concordgrowth.comimagesTLC httpwww.concordgrowth.comimagesTLC). During the Montgomery bus boycott, King recognized the fact that it would take the conviction of individuals to make the demonstration a success. He urged them to stick together and have the moral courage to stand up for their rights. In 381 days, fifty thousand blacks, under his courageous leadership, walked the streets on Montgomery with dignity rather than ride the buses with humiliation. ( HYPERLINK httpbooks.google.combooksqinauthor22MariJoBuhle22 Buhle, et al)
The strategies mentioned herein made Martin Luther successful in his quest to ensuring the attainment of social equality in America, and today he is remembered one of the greatest American for having shaped the conscience, and thus history of America for the better.

In the case of British North America, one of the most significant crises of the Old Regime centered around the fact that it had fought a very long and expensive war against France in 1757-63, a global conflict called the Seven Years War (or in North America the French and Indian War) and now had to find a way to pay off its massive debts by imposing new taxes on the colonies.  In recent times, historians have also realized that the 1760s were an era of postwar economic depression which exacerbated the difficulties Britain had with its North American colonies and intensified resistance to imperial measures. To the planters, layers and merchants who ran the colonial legislatures this seemed like royal and parliamentary usurpation of their rights to tax and govern themselves which they opposed on general principles. For decades before the war, the British government had mostly left the colonies alone, especially under the long Whig administration by Robert Walpole and his successors.  Historians have called this a period of Benign Neglect, when the Navigation Acts controlling colonial trade were not that stringently enforced and the colonies were generally left to govern themselves except in foreign affairs and military policy in wartime. 
Over the decades the colonial leaders had grown accustomed to this situation, and the sudden and dramatic shift in policy toward tighter imperial control came as a shock to them.  When they openly resisted the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Duties on imports two years later, the British government backed down both times, but also asserted that it still had the right to tax the colonies and would not retreat again when the next test came.  The last straw was colonial resistance to the tax on imported tea and the requirement that it be purchased from the East India Company monopoly.  After the Boston Tea party in 1773, George III suspended the civil government of Massachusetts, closed the port of Boston and put the colony under martial law.  For colonial leaders like George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, this was proof positive that George III was a tyrant unworthy of any further allegiance, although even after the shooting war had begun, they hesitated for a year before actually declaring independence.  Jefferson listed the many examples of the tyranny and abuses of George III in the Declaration of Independence, including dissolving the colonial legislatures at will, removing judges, maintaining standing armies outside of civil control, denying trial by jury and taxation without consent.  (Document 1.3 Declaration of Independence 1776, Unit I United States 11-13)
In addition, the new king George III was hardly the most intelligent, stable or effective of Britain s rulers, and in fact had episodes of insanity that only grew more severe as he aged.  His choice of prime ministers and advisers such as Lord Bute and Lord North reflected more his insecurity and lack of ability than selection of the best and the brightest, and often during the 1760s there was no stable government, ministry or parliamentary majority at all.  George III was more insistent on using his royal powers and prerogatives than George I and II, and also inclined to take more repressive action against opponents and critics, both at home and abroad.  One of these was the radical John Wilkes, who dared to criticize the king and royal family openly in his newspaper and on the floor of parliament, and was regularly threatened with imprisonment, exile or worse.  Wilkes was a great hero in the North American colonies, however, since he seemed to embody the resistance to tyranny in the spirit of the English Civil War of the 1640s and the Glorious Revolution of 1688 which also had its counterpart in the North American colonies in 1689.  All the colonial leaders were very familiar with the precedent set by this revolution and the Declaration of Rights that followed it, which denounced King James II for ruling without Parliament, passing laws, raising taxes and maintaining armies without the consent of the legislature, and imposing excessive fines, bail and cruel punishments on his subjects, often without benefit of trial by jury.  (Document 1.1 English Declaration of Rights 1689. Unit I United States 1-4) Its similarities with the grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence are obvious.
To be sure, the colonists of British North America had many other grievances against the Old Regime.  They opposed the royal proclamations of 1763-64 which made western settlement across the Appalachian Mountains more difficult, and the Quebec Act of 1774 which granted religious tolerance to Roman Catholics in Canada and also seemed to be designed to prevent the British North American colonies from expanding too far to the west.  Many colonial leaders were involved in speculation in western lands, and thought that the British government opposed expansion in order to keep its colonies under tighter control.  They also believed that was its real purpose in maintaining a large military force in North America and requiring the colonists to pay for it.  Moreover, the common people, who were mostly small family farmers, also had grievances against the large landowners and proprietors who controlled access to land, such as the Penn family of Pennsylvania and the Calverts (Lord Baltimore) of Maryland, while dissenting and evangelical Protestants opposed the Anglican Church establishments in many colonies.  For them, the Revolution was not simply about taxes and tea, but sweeping away an old social order that they regarded as feudal and outdated and replacing it with a more liberal or even democratic one.
In Russia, the political, economic, social and military crises of the Old Regime were almost too numerous to list, and the reforms the Tsars and their ministers passed to deal with them were generally too little, too late.  Revolution in Russia had been widely expected both at home and abroad for a century or more by the time it finally did take place and in every case the spark was defeat in war.  Even the reforms of Tsar Alexander II, such as the abolition of serfdom in 1861 had their origins in the loss of the Crimean War in 1854-55 and the patent inadequacies of the reactionary regime of Nicholas I that preceded him.  Revolution in 1905 came about after the victory of Japan and the loss of two Russian fleets and its bases in China and Korea, while German victory in the First World War precipitated the fall of the Tsar in February-March 1917.  In October, Lenin and the Bolsheviks came to power on a program promising land, peace and bread after the Provisional government unwisely decided to continue that war.  (Document 2.6 Vladimir Lenin, State and Revolution 1917  Unit II Russia and the US SR 22-25) Time and time again, Russia had by beaten by more modern, advanced nations that showed up the flaws, bungling and inadequacies of the regime in a glaring light. For Lenin, Trotsky and the other Bolsheviks, of course, defeat in what they all regarded as imperialist wars was most useful as a stepping stone to power, although they also hoped that Communist Revolutions would also sweep through Europe, especially Germany.  This did not happen, however, and instead Russia faced four years of civil war, famine and destruction that left the country in dire condition.  Only then did they have to face the prospect of what Stalin called  Socialism in One Country  which had not been part of the original plan of the revolutionaries.
Count Sergei Witte had been one of the leading supporters of industrialization in Russia and construction of the Trans-Siberian Railroad, although he was somewhat more diffident and hesitant about political liberalization.  With the benefit of foreign loans from France and other Western nations, Russia did make considerable progress in industrialization in the last decades of the Old Regime, although even in 1917 the majority of the people were still peasants, often illiterate, landless and desperately poor, and discontented over the fact that emancipation in 1861 had generally not provided them with land or improved their social and economic condition.  For Witte, the October Manifesto of 1905 was most useful in divide and conquer politics, or as he put it destroying  the unified front that opposition camp some formidable  by splitting apart liberals and radicals.  He was also conscious that in a revolutionary situation, reactionary forces might gain the upper hand, especially those eager to persecute the Jews and other minorities.(Document 2.4, Count Sergei Witte Memoirs, Unit II, Russia and the USSR, 15-16)  If Russia was in any way a constitutional monarchy after 1905, it was surely the only one in which the emperor and empress still possessed the  supreme autocratic power  and the  initiative in all legislative matters  with the absolute right to control foreign policy and declare war and to dismiss the parliament (Duma) at will. (Document 2.5 Fundamental Law of 23 April 1906, Unit II, Russia and the USSR, 17-22)  It was not democratic enough to satisfy the liberals and social democrats, while Lenin and the Bolsheviks never had any intention of establishing a  bourgeois  parliamentary democracy at all, but only rule by their party in the name of the working class.  In any event, the limited political and economic reforms passed by the later Tsars proved unable to stand the test of time or the strain of renewed national crisis after 1914