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business plans and marketing strategy

2011-08-16T10:24:00.000-07:00

brainstorming - process and tips
business process modelling
business networking
business/career new direction planner tool
diagrams and other free tools
leadership tips
marketing, business development and advertising
pest market analysis - free template
porter's five forces of competition
project management
the psychological contract
sales and selling
sostac® planning model
swot analysis - free template and examples
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home » business/selling » business plans and marketing strategy
business plans and marketing strategy
free business planning and marketing tips, samples, examples and tools - how to write a business plan, techniques for writing a marketing strategy, strategic business plans and sales plans
Here are tips, examples, techniques, tools and a process for writing business plans to produce effective results.
This free online guide explains how to write a marketing or business strategy, a basic business plan, and a sales plan, using free templates, tools and examples, such as SWOT Analysis, PEST Analysis, the 'Ansoff Matrix' and the 'Boston Matrix'.
Separately the marketing guide offers more specific explanation and theories and tools for marketing strategy and marketing planning, including techniques and tips for advertising, public relations (PR), press and media publicity, sales enquiry lead generation, advertising copy-writing, internet and website marketing, etc.
The sales training guide offers detailed theories and methods about sales planning and selling, extending to cold calling and negotiation skills and techniques, especially relating to selling.
Sometimes people use the term business plan when they are referring to a project. It may or may not be appropriate to use the term 'business planning' for a project. Some projects are very substantial and equate to an autonomous (independent) business activity, in which case a business plan is entirely appropriate. Other projects are smaller, perhaps limited to internal change or development, and are less likely to require a conventional business plan, and are quite adequately planned and managed via project management methods.
Business planning terminology can be confusing because much of it is used very loosely, and can mean different things.
Here is a way to understand it better:

business planning terminology..
Terminology in business planning is often used very loosely. When people talk and write about business planning different terms may mean the same thing, and a single term can mean different things.
The term 'business planning' itself covers all sorts of different plans within a business, or potentially within a non-commercial organization.
The words 'strategy' and 'strategic' arise often in the subject of buisness planning, although there is no actual difference between a 'business plan' and a 'strategic business plan'. Every business plan is arguably 'strategic'. Everyone involved in planning arguably adopts a 'strategic' approach.
Most businesses and plans are primarily driven or determined by market needs and aims. This increasingly applies to many non-commercial activities (government services, education, health, charities, etc), whose planning processes may also be described as 'business planning', even though such organizations may not be businesses in the way we normally imagine. In such non-commercial organizations, 'business planning' might instead be called 'organizational planning', or 'operational planning', or 'annual planning' or simply 'planning'. Essentially all these terms mean the same, and increasingly the tendency is for 'business planning' to become a generic (general) term to refer to them.
I should clarify that finance is of course a major and unavoidable aspect of business and organizational activities, but in terms of planning, finance is a limiting or enabling factor; finance is a means to an end, or a restriction; finance in itself is not a basis for growth or strategy. Markets/customers, product/service development, and sales, provide the only true basis for businesses to define direction, development, growth, etc., and thereby business strategy and planning.
Business planning always starts with or revisits the basic aim or need to provide products or services to customers - also called a market or 'market-place'. Consequently business plans tend first to look outwards, at a market, before they look inwards, at finance and production, etc.
This means that most business plans are driven by marketing, since marketing is the function which addresses market opportunity and need, and how to fulfil it.
Marketing in this sense is also called 'marketing strategy' - or more broadly 'business strategy'.
In many simple, small, and/or old traditional businesses, 'marketing' is often seen instead to be 'sales' or 'selling' (usually because in such businesses selling is the only marketing activity), in which case a 'sales plan' may be the main driver of strategy and the business plan.
Many people use the words 'sales' or 'selling' and 'marketing' to mean the same thing - basically selling products or services to customers, in the broadest sense. In fact, marketing refers to much wider issues than sales and selling. Marketing involves the strategic planning of a business (or other organizational provider) through to every aspect of customer engagement, including market reserach, product development, branding, advertising and promotion, methods of selling, customer service, and extending to the acquisition or development of new businesses. Sales or selling is an activity within marketing, referring to the methods and processes of communicating and agreeing and completing the transaction (sale) with the customer.
Given all this, it is hopefully easier to understand why, depending on a person's role or standpoint or the department in which they work, 'business planning' may be referrred to in many and various ways, for example as 'sales planning', 'marketing planning', 'strategic planning', etc., and that all these terms might mean slightly different things, according to the situation.
If there is a technically correct definition of 'business planning', then perhaps we can best say that 'business planning' refers to the plan of the overall organization, or to a unit or division within an organization with responsibility for a trade or profit. A business plan technically contains and reflects the individual plans for the different functions within the whole operation, each of which may have its own detailed 'business plans', which might be called business plans, or more correctly departmental or functional plans according to their purpose, such as a marketing plan, sales plan, production plan, financial plan, etc.
Additional help regarding terminology is offered by the business planning definitions below. Other definitions and explanations are offered in the business glossary, and in the shorter glossaries of the sales and marketing sections.
Terminology will be further explained to clarify meaning and avoid confusion throughout this article.

introduction
Approached correctly, writing business plans and marketing strategy is usually simpler than first seems.
Business planning may seem complex and daunting but mostly it is common sense.
Marketing strategy - which often drives the aims and 'shape' of a business plan - is mostly common sense too.
Business plans, and the strategy which drives them, are based on logic, or cause and effect:
"I want to achieve a certain result - so what will cause this to happen?"
Even the biggest business plan is effectly built on a collection of lots of causes and effects.
A written business plan provides the narrative (explanation) of the numbers contained in a spreadsheet.
A format or template for the written business plan, including numbers as required, is given below.
When we see lots of numbers in a computer spreadsheet we can forget this, but the numbers are merely a reflection of scale and detail, and of computerised calculations and modelling, etc.
In fact often when we are confronted with a complex planning spreadsheet containing thousands of numbers, what we are actually being offered is a ready-made planning tool. In many cases, where business planning is a continuation of an ongoing situation, the most frightening spreadsheets can provide a very easy template for future plans, especially with a little help from a colleague in the acciounts department who understands how it all works.
Ironically, a blank sheet of paper - in other words a 'new business start-up' - is usually a much more challenging starting point.
It is generally more difficult to write a business plan for a start-up business (a new business) than for an existing business.
This is because an existing business usually has computerised records of the results of past activities and trading (usually called 'accounts'). Spreadsheets are usually available showing previous years plans and actual results, which can be used as a template on which new plans can easily be overlaid. Writing a new business plan for the continuation or development of such an existing situation obviously enables much of the planning to be based on existing figures, ratios, statistics, etc.
New business start-up situations by their nature tend to have no previous results, so we often refer to this sort of planning as 'starting with a blank sheet of paper'.
New business start-ups - especially if you are the owner or entrepreneur - present bigger planning challenges in some respects because we have no previous records to act as a guide, but in other respects they offer wonderful opportunities to create genuinely innovative and exciting founding principles - your own new business philosophy - on which your plans can be built and developed.
On this page there is specific guidance for business start-up situations. See the simple business start-up principles.
Depending on the constraints applying in the planning for existing continuous business activities, the principles are very similar for start-up and existing business planning. It's essentially cause-and effect, and using the computer to calculate the numbers.
See the free business plan and marketing plan sample/template.
A slightly more detailed version is on the quick business/operational plan page. , and begins with
To explore personal direction and change (for example for early planning of self-employment or new business start-up) see the passion-to-profit exercise and template on the teambuilding exercises page.
See also the simple notes about starting your own business, which to an extent also apply when you are starting a new business initiative or development inside another organisation as a new business development manager, or a similar role.
Here's a free profit and loss account spreadsheet template tool (xls) for incorporating these factors and financials into a more formal phased business trading plan, which also serves as a business forecasting and reporting tool too.
Adapt it to suit your purposes. This plan example is also available as a PDF, see the Profit and Loss Account (P&L) Small Enterprise Business Plan Example (PDF). The numbers could be anything: ten times less, ten times more, a hundred times more - the principle is the same.
Towards the end of this article there is also a simple template/framework for a feasibility study or justification report, such as might be required to win funding, authorisation or approval for starting a project, or the continuation of a project or group, in a commercial or voluntary situation.
If you are starting a new business you might also find the tips and information about buying a franchise business to be helpful, since they cover many basic points about choice of business activity and early planning.

(Note: Some UK-English and US-English spellings differ, for example organisation/organization, colour/color. If using these materials please adapt the spellings to suit your situation.)

how to write strategic marketing plans, business plans and sales plans
People use various terms referring to the business planning process - business plans, business strategy, marketing strategy, strategic business planning, sales planning - they all cover the same basic principles. When faced with business planning or strategy development task it's important to clarify exactly what is required: clarify what needs to be done rather than assume the aim from the description given to it - terms are confused and mean different things to different people. You'll see from the definitions below how flexible these business planning terms are.

business planning definitions
a plan - a statement of intent - a calculated intention to organize effort and resource to achieve an outcome - in this context a plan is in written form, comprising explanation, justification and relevant numerical and financial statistical data. In a business context a plan's numerical data - costs and revenues - are normally scheduled over at least one trading year, broken down weekly, monthly quarterly and cumulatively.
a business - an activity or entity, irrespective of size and autonomy, which is engaged in an activity, normally the provision of products and/or services, to produce commercial gain, extending to non-commercial organizations whose aim may or may not be profit (hence why public service sector schools and hospitals are in this context referred to as 'businesses').
business plan - this is now rightly a very general and flexible term, applicable to the planned activities and aims of any entity, individual group or organization where effort is being converted into results, for example: a small company; a large company; a corner shop; a local window-cleaning business; a regional business; a multi-million pound multi-national corporation; a charity; a school; a hospital; a local council; a government agency or department; a joint-venture; a project within a business or department; a business unit, division, or department within another organization or company, a profit centre or cost centre within an an organization or business; the responsibility of a team or group or an individual. The business entity could also be a proposed start-up, a new business development within an existing organization, a new joint-venture, or any new organizational or business project which aims to convert action into results. The extent to which a business plan includes costs and overheads activities and resources (eg., production, research and development, warehouse, storage, transport, distribution, wastage, shrinkage, head office, training, bad debts, etc) depends on the needs of the business and the purpose of the plan. Large 'executive-level' business plans therefore look rather like a 'predictive profit and loss account', fully itemised down to the 'bottom line'. Business plans written at business unit or departmental level do not generally include financial data outside the department concerned. Most business plans are in effect sales plans or marketing plans or departmental plans, which form the main bias of this guide.
strategy - originally a military term, in a business planning context strategy/strategic means/pertains to why and how the plan will work, in relation to all factors of influence upon the business entity and activity, particularly including competitors (thus the use of a military combative term), customers and demographics, technology and communications.
marketing - believed by many to mean the same as advertising or sales promotion, marketing actually means and covers everything from company culture and positioning, through market research, new business/product development, advertising and promotion, PR (public/press relations), and arguably all of the sales functions as well. Marketing is the process by which a business decides what it will sell, to whom, when and how, and then does it.
marketing plan - logically a plan which details what a business will sell, to whom, when and how, implicitly including the business/marketing strategy. The extent to which financial and commercial numerical data is included depends on the needs of the business. The extent to which this details the sales plan also depends on the needs of the business.
sales - the transactions between the business and its customers whereby services and/or products are provided in return for payment. Sales (sales department/sales team) also describes the activities and resources that enable this process, and sales also describes the revenues that the business derives from the sales activities.
sales plan - a plan describing, quantifying and phased over time, how the the sales will be made and to whom. Some organizations interpret this to be the same as a business plan or a marketing plan.
business strategy - see 'strategy' - it's the same.
marketing strategy - see 'strategy' - it's the same.
service contract - a formal document usually drawn up by the supplier by which the trading arrangement is agreed with the customer. See the section on service contracts and trading agreements.
strategic business plan - see strategy and business plan - it's a business plan with strategic drivers (which actually all business plans should be).
strategic business planning - developing and writing a strategic business plan.
philosophy, values, ethics, vision - these are the fundamentals of business planning, and determine the spirit and integrity of the business or organisation - see the guide to how philosophical and ethical factors fit into the planning process, and also the principles and materials relating to corporate responsibility and ethical leadership.
You can see that many of these terms are interchangeable, so it's important to clarify what needs to be planned for rather than assuming or inferring a meaning from the name given to the task. That said, the principles explained here can be applied to business plans of all sorts. Business plans are often called different names - especially by senior managers and directors delegating a planning exercise that they do not understand well enough to explain. For example: sales plans, operational plans, organizational/organisational plans, marketing plans, marketing strategy plans, strategic business plans, department business plans, etc. Typically these names reflect the department doing the planning, despite which, the planning process and content required in the document is broadly similar.
Other useful and relevant business planning definitions are in the business dictionary; the sales and selling glossary; some are also in the financial terms glossary, and more - especially for training - are in the business and training acronyms listing, which also provides amusing light relief if this business planning gets a little dry (be warned, the acronyms listings contain some adult content).

when writing a business or operating plan, remember...
A useful first rule of business planning is to decide what you are actually trying to achieve and always keep this in mind. Write your aim large as a constant reminder to yourself, and to anyone else involved. Keeping your central aim visible will help you minimise the distractions and distortions which frequently arise during the planning process.
An increasingly vital and perhaps second rule of business planning is to establish a strong ethical philosophy at the outset of your planning. This provides a vital reference for decision-making and strategy from the start. A strong clear ethical code communicates your values to staff, customers, suppliers, and creates a simple consistent basis for operations which conventional financials, processes, systems and even people, do not address. It is very difficult to introduce ethical principles later into an enterprise, especially when planning shifts into implementation, and more so if problems arise relating to integrity, honesty, corporate responsibility, trust, governance, etc., any of which can have massive impact on relationships and reputation. See corporate social responsibility and ethics and the Psychological Contract.
It is easy to address issues of ethics and corporate responsibility when you are the owner of a new enterprise. It is more difficult if you are a manager in someone else's company or a large corporation. Nevertheless ethics and corporate responsibility are highly significant in planning, and strong justification for their proper consideration can now be made. There are now plenty of recent examples of corporations - indeed entire national economies and governments - which have failed because of poor regard to ethical considerations. The world is changing and learning, slowly, but it is, and anyone ignoring ethics in planning today does so at their own peril.
A third crucial requirement for business plans is return on investment, or for public services and non-profit organisations: effective use of investment and resources, which is beyond simple 'cost control'.
For the vast majority of organisations, whether companies, public services, not-for-profit trusts and charities, all organisations need to be financially effective in what they do, otherwise they will cease to function.
Ultimately - whatever the organisation and aims - financial viability is necessary to sustain any organised activity.
While it's essential to manage ethical and socially responsible aspects of organisational aims, these must allow for adequate return on investment (or in less traditional and 'non-profit' enterprises, must allow for the effective use of investment and resources, according to the financial requirements of the particular organisation).
Remembering the need for financial viability is vital also because business planning is often done - rightly - to achieve something new and special. This tends to focus thinking on creativity, innovation, ambition, quality, excellence, perhaps even social good, etc., which can easily distract planning away from the basic need to be financially viable - and crucially not to make a loss. By treating return on investment as a vital requirement of planning we increase the likelihood that plans will be viable and therefore sustainable.
Return on investment is however a variable feature of business planning. It is flexible according to the type of enterprise, its main purpose and philosophy.
In a conventional profit-driven corporation return on investment (at an optimal rate) is typically a strong strategic driver for local planning and decisions, and by implication also a basic requirement of the enterprise as a whole. On the other hand, in a business or organization less focused on shareholder reward, such as a public services trust or charity, or a social enterprise or cooperative, return on investment (at a relatively lower rate), may be a requirement simply to sustain viable operations, according to the aims of the enterprise. In the first example, return on investment is the aim; in the second example, return on investment enables some other higher aim to be achieved. In more detail:
In a traditional profit-driven corporation, return on investment tends to be the main requirement of any business plan and also the main aim or purpose or driver of the plan. In most traditional corporations return on investment tends to be at the heart of all activities, since typically the corporation exists to maximize the yield (profit and growth effectively) of shareholder funds invested in the business. Planning in traditional corporations at times forgets this basic obligation, especially when a junior manager is asked to 'write a business plan' for the first time.
In traditional profit-driven corporations, when a new manager starts to write a business plan or operational plan for the first time (and for some experienced managers also, for the umpteenth time), the manager wonders: What is the aim? What am I trying to achieve? Often when they ask their own manager, the manager has the same doubts. The central aim is usually return on investment.
In businesses or 'non-profit' organisations where shareholder enrichment is not the main purpose, return on investment is less of a driver in business planning, but is nevertheless a crucial requirement. Such enterprises are becoming more popular, and will continue to become so, since the collapse of the western economies in 2008, and increasing disillusionment with old-style business thinking. Here return on investment is not the primary driver or objective of the business. Instead the main driver of enterprise may be some other purpose.
An example of 'some other purpose' might be the activities of a social enterprise or cooperative, or maybe an employee ownership company, or perhaps a trust or charity, whose main aim is (rather than the traditional profit generation for external/institutional shareholders) perhaps to benefit its members/staff, and/or to sustain local jobs, and/or to benefit the local community, or maybe to advance science or learning or health, etc. Here, while return on investment may seem less crucial or appropriate to planning and operations, the enterprise must nevertheless remain financially viable, or it ceases to be able to operate at all.
In such examples, return on investment in business planning is not usually maximized, but must still be treated as an underpinning requirement to planning, and flexed according to the fundamental aims and financial requirements of the enterprise.
Before planning, therefore, it is helpful to understand clearly:
1. What are we actually aiming to achieve?
2. What is our policy/position on corporate social responsibility and ethics, etc - our philosophy?
3. And what return on investment (or alternative financial performance) does our activity/enterprise require - is this a strategic driver in itself, or simply the means by which we maintain our activities in support of our (point 1) aims?
planning - cause and effect..
The basic methodology of business planning is identifying causes and effects, according to your relevant business requirements (financials and ethics) and strategic drivers (what we are actually aiming to achieve).
Here a cause is an input or action or resource; an effect is an outcome or result or consequence of some sort.
We want to achieve xyz effect (for example a given return on investment, or a certain sales level or market share, whatever) - so what should we plan to cause this to happen?
Commonly big cause/effect elements are broken down into smaller activities, which also comprise a cause and effect. (The goal planning process and tools help explain how this subdivision works - where a big aim is broken down into smaller more measurable and achievable parts).
Junior managers have responsibility for plans and activities which feed into larger departmental plans and activities of senior managers. The plans and activities of senior managers feed into the divisional plans of executives and directors. There is a hierarchy or tree structure of cause and effects, all hopefully contributing to the overall organizational aim.
In many good businesses a substantial business planning responsibility extends now to front line customer-facing staff, and the trend is increasing. In this context, the business plan could be called also be called a marketing plan, or a sales plan - all departmental plans are basically types of business planning:
"What you are going to sell to whom, when and how you are going to sell it, how much contribution (gross profit) the sales will produce, what the marketing and/or selling cost will be, and what will be the return on investment."
Where a department is a 'cost centre' not a 'profit-centre' - providing products or services internally to other departments rather than externally to customers - then the language and planning elements may alter, but the principles remain the same.
Also, these principles and methods apply to very large complex multinational organizations, which tend to entail more and different costs, fixed overheads, revenues, and consequently larger planning formats; more and bigger spreadsheets, more lines and columns on each, more attention and people working on the numbers, more accountants, and typically - especially at middle-management level and above - more emphasis on cashflow and the balance sheet, alongside basic 'profit and loss' planning.
carry out your market research, including understanding your competitor activity
'The market' varies according to the business or organisation concerned, but every organised activity has a market. Knowing the market enables you to assess and value and plan how to engage with it. A common failing of business planning or operational planning outside of the 'business' world, is to plan in isolation, looking inward, when ideas can seem very positive and reliable because there's no context and nothing to compare. Hence research is critical. And this applies to any type of organisation - not just to businesses. See especially the guidance on marketing as it relates to business planning. Planning very much concerns processes. The principles of marketing will explain additionally how to put meaning and values into what you plan.
Your market research should focus on the information you need, to help you to formulate strategy and make business decisions. Market research should be pragmatic and purposeful - a means to an end, and not a means in itself. Market information potentially covers a vast range of data, from global macro-trends and statistics, to very specific and detailed local or technical information, so it's important to decide what is actually relevant and necessary to know. Market information about market and industry trends, values, main corporations, market structure, etc, is important to know for large corporations operating on a national or international basis. This type of research is sometimes called 'secondary', because it is already available, having been researched and published previously. This sort of information is available from the internet, libraries, research companies, trade and national press and publications, professional associations and institutes. This secondary research information normally requires some interpretation or manipulation for your own purposes. However there's no point spending days researching global statistical economic and demographic data if you are developing a strategy for a relatively small or local business. Far more useful would be to carry out your own 'primary' research (i.e. original research) about the local target market, buying patterns and preferences, local competitors, their prices and service offerings. A lot of useful primary market research can be performed using customer feed-back, surveys, questionnaires and focus groups (obtaining indicators and views through discussion among a few representative people in a controlled discussion situation). This sort of primary research should be tailored exactly for your needs. Primary research requires less manipulation than secondary research, but all types of research need a certain amount of analysis. Be careful when extrapolating or projecting figures to avoid magnifying initial mistakes or wrong assumptions. If the starting point is inaccurate the resulting analysis will not be reliable. For businesses of any size; small, local, global and everything in between, the main elements you need to understand and quantify are:
• customer (and potential customer) numbers, profile and mix
• customer perceptions, needs, preferences, buying patterns, and trends, by sub-sector if necessary
• products and services, mix, values and trends
• demographic issues and trends (especially if dependent on consumer markets)
• future regulatory and legal effects
• prices and values, and customer perceptions in these areas
• distribution and routes to market
• competitor activities, strengths, weaknesses, products, services, prices, sales methods, etc
Primary research is recommended for local and niche services. Keep the subjects simple and the range narrow. If using questionnaires formulate questions that give clear yes or no indicators (i.e. avoid three and five options in multi-choices which produce lots of uncertain answers) always understand how you will analyse and measure the data produced. Try to convert data to numerical format and manipulate on a spreadsheet. Use focus groups for more detailed work. For large research projects consider using a market research organization because they'll probably do it better than you, even though this is likely to be more costly. If you use any sort of marketing agency ensure you issue a clear brief, and that your aims are clearly understood. Useful frameworks for research are PEST analysis and SWOT analysis.
establish your corporate philosophy and the aims of your business or operation
First establish or confirm the aims of the business, and if you are concerned with a part of a business, establish and validate the aims of your part of the business. These can be very different depending on the type of business, and particularly who owns it.
Refer to and consider issues of ethics and philosophy, corporate social responsibility, sustainability, etc - these are the foundations on which values and missions are built.
Look at the reasons ethics and corporate responsibility are so important. And see also the fundamental organisational planning stages.
Consider the Psychological Contract and the benefits of establishing a natural balance and fairness between all interests (notably staff, customers, the organization).
Traditional business models are not necessarily the best ones. The world is constantly changing, and establishing a new business is a good time to challenge preconceptions of fundamental business structure and purpose. A business based on a narrow aim of enriching a few investors while relegating the needs and involvement of everyone else may contain conflicts and tensions at a deep level. There are other innovative business structures which can inherently provide a more natural, cooperative and self-fuelling relationship - especially between employees and the organization, and potentially between customers and the organization too.
When you have established or confirmed your philosophical and ethical position, state the objectives of the business unit you are planning to develop - your short, medium and long term aims - (typically 'short, medium and long' equate to 1 year, 2-3 years and 3 years plus). In other words, what is the business aiming to do over the next one, three and five years?
Bear in mind that you must reliably ensure the success and viability of the business in the short term or the long term is merely an academic issue. Grand visions need solid foundations. All objectives and aims must be prioritised and as far as possible quantified. If you can't measure it, you can't manage it.
define your 'mission statement'
All businesses need a ‘mission statement'. It announces clearly and succinctly to your staff, shareholders and customers what you are in business to do. Your mission statement may build upon a general ‘service charter' relevant to your industry. You can involve staff in defining and refining the business's mission statement, which helps develop a sense of ownership and responsibility. Producing and announcing the mission statement is also an excellent process for focusing attention on the business's priorities, and particularly the emphasis on customer service. Whole businesses need a mission statement - departments and smaller business units within a bigger business need them too.
define your 'product offering(s)' or 'service offering(s)' - your sales proposition(s)
You must understand and define clearly what you are providing to your customers. This description should normally go beyond your products or services, and critically must include the way you do business, and what business benefits your customers derive from your products and services, and from doing business with you. Develop offerings or propositions for each main area of your business activity - sometimes referred to as 'revenue streams', or 'business streams' - and/or for the sector(s) that you serve. Under normal circumstances competitive advantage is increased the more you can offer things that your competitors cannot. Good research will tell you where the opportunities are to increase your competitive advantage in areas that are of prime interest to your target markets. Develop your service offering to emphasise your strengths, which should normally relate to your business objectives, in turn being influenced by corporate aims and market research. The important process in developing a proposition is translating your view of these services into an offer that means something to your customer. The definition of your service offer must make sense to your customer in terms that are advantageous and beneficial to the customer, not what is technically good, or scientifically sound to you. Think about what your service, and the manner by which you deliver it, means to your customer.
Traditionally, in sales and marketing, this perspective is referred to as translating features into benefits. The easiest way to translate a feature into a benefit is to add the prompt ‘which means that...'. For example, if a strong feature of a business is that it has 24-hour opening, this feature would translate into something like: "We're open 24 hours (the feature) which means that you can get what you need when you need it - day or night." (the benefit). Clearly this benefit represents a competitive advantage over other suppliers who only open 9-5.
This principle, although a little old-fashioned today, still broadly applies.
The important thing is to understand your services and proposition in terms that your customer will recognise as being relevant and beneficial to them.
Most businesses have a very poor understanding of what their customers value most in the relationship, so ensure you discover this in the research stage, and reflect it in your stated product or service proposition(s).
Customers invariably value these benefits higher than all others:
• Making money
• Saving money
• Saving time
If your proposition(s) cannot be seen as leading to any of the above then customers will not be very interested in you.
A service-offer or proposition should be an encapsulation of what you do best, that you do better than your competitors (or that they don't do at all); something that fits with your business objectives, stated in terms that will make your customers think ‘Yes, that means something to me and I think it could be good for my business (and therefore good for me also as a buyer or sponsor).'
This is the first 'brick in the wall' in the process of business planning, sales planning, marketing planning, and thereafter, direct marketing, and particularly sales lead generation.

write your business plan - include sales, costs of sales, gross margins, and if necessary your business overheads
Business plans come in all shapes and sizes. Pragmatism is essential. Ensure your plan shows what your business needs it to show. Essentially your plan is a spreadsheet of numbers with supporting narrative, explaining how the numbers are to be achieved. A plan should show all the activities and resources in terms of revenues and costs, which together hopefully produce a profit at the end of the trading year. The level of detail and complexity depends on the size and part of the business that the plan concerns. Your business plan, which deals with all aspects of the resource and management of the business (or your part of the business), will include many decisions and factors fed in from the marketing process. It will state sales and profitability targets by activity. In a marketing plan there may also be references to image and reputation, and to public relations. All of these issues require thought and planning if they are to result in improvement, and particularly increasing numbers of customers and revenue growth. You would normally describe and provide financial justification for the means of achieving these things, together with customer satisfaction improvement. Above all a plan needs to be based on actions - cost-effective and profitable cause and effect; inputs required to achieved required outputs, analysed, identified and quantified separately wherever necessary to be able to manage and measure the relevant activities and resources.
quantify the business you seek from each of your market sectors, segments, products and customer groupings, and allocate investment, resources and activities accordingly
These principles apply to a small local business, a department within a business, or a vast whole business. Before attending to the detail of how to achieve your marketing aims you need to quantify clearly what they are. What growth targets does the business have? What customer losses are you projecting? How many new customers do you need, by size and type, by product and service? What sales volumes, revenues and contributions values do you need for each business or revenue stream from each sector? What is your product mix, in terms of customer type, size, sector, volumes, values, contribution, and distribution channel or route to market? What are your projected selling costs and net contributions per service, product, sector? What trends and percentage increase in revenues and contributions, and volumes compared to last year are you projecting? How is your market share per business stream and sector changing, and how does this compare with your overall business aims? What are your fast-growth high-margin opportunities, and what are your mature and low-margin services; how are you treating these different opportunities, and anything else in between? You should use a basic spreadsheet tool to split your business according to the main activities and profit levers. See the simple sales/business planning tool example below.
ansoff product-market growth matrix - strategic tool
A useful planning tool in respect of markets and products is the matrix developed by Igor Ansoff (H Igor Ansoff, 1918-2002), who is regarded by some as the 'Father of Strategic Management'.
Fully titled the Ansoff Product-Market Growth Matrix, the tool was first published in Harvard Business Review, 1957, in Ansoff's paper Strategies for Diversification.
The Ansoff product-market matrix helps to understand and assess marketing or business development strategy. Any business, or part of a business can choose which strategy to employ, or which mix of strategic options to use.
This is a fundamentally simple and effective way of looking at strategic development options.
existing products new products
existing markets market penetration product development
new markets market development diversification
Each of these strategic options holds different opportunities and downsides for different organizations, so what is right for one business won't necessarily be right for another. Think about what option offers the best potential for your own business and market. Think about the strengths of your business and what type of growth strategy your strengths will enable most naturally. Generally beware of diversification - this is, by its nature, unknown territory, and carries the highest risk of failure.
Here are the Ansoff strategies in summary:
market penetration - Developing your sales of existing products to your existing market(s). This is fine if there is plenty of market share to be had at the expense of your competitors, or if the market is growing fast and large enough for the growth you need. If you already have large market share you need to consider whether investing for further growth in this area would produce diminishing returns from your development activity. It could be that you will increase the profit from this activity more by reducing costs than by actively seeking more market share. Strong market share suggests there are likely to be better returns from extending the range of products/services that you can offer to the market, as in the next option.
product development - Developing or finding new products to take to your existing market(s). This is an attractive strategy if you have strong market share in a particular market. Such a strategy can be a suitable reason for acquiring another company or product/service capability provided it is relevant to your market and your distribution route. Developing new products does not mean that you have to do this yourself (which is normally very expensive and frequently results in simply re-inventing someone else's wheel) - often there are potential manufacturing partners out there who are looking for their own distribution partner with the sort of market presence that you already have. However if you already have good market share across a wide range of products for your market, this option may be one that produces diminishing returns on your growth investment and activities, and instead you may do better to seek to develop new markets, as in the next strategic option.
market development - Developing new markets for your existing products. New markets can also mean new sub-sectors within your market - it helps to stay reasonably close to the markets you know and which know you. Moving into completely different markets, even if the product/service fit looks good, holds risks because this will be unknown territory for you, and almost certainly will involve working through new distribution channels, routes or partners. If you have good market share and good product/service range then moving into associated markets or segments is likely to be an attractive strategy.
diversification - taking new products into new markets. This is high risk - not only do you not know the products, but neither do you know the new market(s), and again this strategic option is likely to entail working through new distribution channels and routes to market. This sort of activity should generally be regarded as additional and supplementary to the core business activity, and should be rolled out carefully through rigorous testing and piloting.
Consider also your existing products and services themselves in terms of their market development opportunity and profit potential. Some will offer very high margins because they are relatively new, or specialised in some way, perhaps because of special USP's or distribution arrangements. Other products and services may be more mature, with little or no competitive advantage, in which case they will produce lower margins. The Boston Matrix is a useful way to understand and assess your different existing product and service opportunities:
boston matrix model - product/service development
The Boston Matrix model (also called the BSG Matrix, Growth-Share Matrix, and variations around these titles) is a tool for assessing existing and development products in terms of their market potential, and thereby implying strategic action for products and services in each of the four categories reflected in the model. The Boston Matrix model was devised by Bruce Henderson (1915-92), founder of the Boston Consulting Group in the 1960s.
It has been adapted in many ways. A simple version is shown here below.
Like other four-part 2x2 matrix models, the Boston Matrix is a very quick and easy method for analysis, thinking and decision-making, while being unavoidably limited in its handling of subtlety and detail. Often in business and strategic thinking too much detail is unhelpful - instead, clarity and ease of understanding are extremely helpful, especially in communicating ideas to teams and groups, in which circumstances the Boston Matrix is an excellent aid.
low market share high market share
growing market problem child (rising) star
mature market dog cash cow
cash cow - The rather crude metaphor is based on the idea of 'milking' the returns from previous investments which established good distribution and market share for the product. Products in this quadrant need maintenance and protection activity, together with good cost management, not growth effort, because there is little or no additional growth available.
dog - This is any product or service of yours which has low market presence in a mature or stagnant market. There is no point in developing products or services in this quadrant. Many organizations discontinue products/services that they consider fall into this category, in which case consider potential impact on overhead cost recovery. Businesses that have been starved or denied development find themselves with a high or entire proportion of their products or services in this quadrant, which is obviously not very funny at all, except to the competitors.
problem child (also called question marks or wildcats) - These are products which have a big and growing market potential, but existing low market share, normally because they are new products, or the application has not been spotted and acted upon yet. New business development and project management principles are required here to ensure that these products' potential can be realised and disasters avoided. This is likely to be an area of business that is quite competitive, where the pioneers take the risks in the hope of securing good early distribution arrangements, image, reputation and market share. Gross profit margins are likely to be high, but overheads, in the form of costs of research, development, advertising, market education, and low economies of scale, are normally high, and can cause initial business development in this area to be loss-making until the product moves into the rising star category, which is by no means assured - many problem children products remain as such.
rising star - Or 'star' products, are those which have good market share in a strong and growing market. As a product moves into this category it is commonly known as a 'rising star'. When a market is strong and still growing, competition is not yet fully established. Demand is strong; saturation or over-supply do not exists, and so pricing is relatively unhindered. This all means that these products produce very good returns and profitability. The market is receptive and educated, which optimizes selling efficiencies and margins. Production and manufacturing overheads are established and costs minimised due to high volumes and good economies of scale. These are great products and worthy of continuing investment provided good growth potential continues to exist. When it does not these products are likely to move down to cash cow status, and the company needs to have the next rising stars developing from its problem children.
After considering your business in terms of the Ansoff matrix and Boston matrix (which are thinking aids as much as anything else, not a magic solution in themselves), on a more detailed level, and for many businesses just as significant as the Ansoff-type-options, what is the significance of your major accounts - do they offer better opportunity for growth and development than your ordinary business? Do you have a high quality, specialised offering that delivers better business benefit on a large scale as opposed to small scale? Are your selling costs and investment similar for large and small contracts? If so you might do better concentrating on developing large major accounts business, rather than taking a sophisticated product or service solution to smaller companies which do not appreciate or require it, and cost you just as much to sell to as a large organization.
customer matrix
This customer matrix model is used by many companies to understand and determine strategies according to customer types.
good products not so good products
good customers develop and find more customers like these - allocate your best resources to these existing customers and to prospective customers matching this profile educate and convert these customers to good products if beneficial to them, failing which, maintain customers via account management
not so good customers invest cautiously to develop and improve relationship, failing which, maintain customers via account management assess feasibility of moving these customers left or up, failing which, withdraw from supplying sensitively
Assessing product type is helped by reference to the Boston matrix model. There is a lot of flexibility as to what constitutes 'good' and 'not so good customers' - use your own criteria. A good way to do this is to devise your own grading system using criteria that mean something to your own situation. Typical criteria are: size, location, relationship, credit-rating and payment terms, is the customer growing (or not), the security of the supply contract, the service and support overhead required, etc. This kind of customer profiling tool and exercise is often overlooked, but it is a critical aspect of marketing and sales development, and of optimizing sales effectiveness and business development performance and profitability. Each quadrant requires a different sales approach. The type of customer also implies the type of sales person who should be responsible for managing the relationship. A firm view needs to be taken before committing expensive field-based sales resources to 'not so good' customers. Focus prospect development (identifying and contacting new prospective customers) on the profile which appears in the top left quadrant. Identify prospective new customers who fit this profile, and allocate your business development resources (people and advertising) to this audience.
Consider also What are your competitor weaknesses in terms of sectors, geographical territory and products or services, and how might these factors affect your options? Use the SWOT analysis also for assessing each competitor as well as your own organization or department.
Many organizations issue a marketing budget from the top down (a budget issued by the Centre/HQ/Finance Director), so to speak, in which case, what is your marketing budget and how can you use it to produce the best return on investment, and to help the company best to meet its overall business aims? Use the models described here to assess your best likely returns on marketing investment.
The best way to begin to model and plan your marketing is to have a record of your historical (say last year's) sales results (including selling and advertising costs if appropriate and available) on a spreadsheet. The level of detail is up to you; modern spreadsheets can organize massive amounts of data and make very complex analysis quick easy. Data is vital and will enable you to do most of the analysis you need for marketing planning. In simple terms you can use last year's results as a basis for planning and modelling the next year's sales, and the marketing expenditure and activities required to achieve them.
simple business plan or sales plan tools examples
These templates examples help the planning process. Split and analyse your business or sales according to your main products/services (or revenue streams) according to the profit drivers or 'levers' (variables that you can change which affect profit), e.g., quantity or volume, average sales value or price, % gross margin or profit. Add different columns which reflect your own business profit drivers or levers, and to provide the most relevant measures.
quantity total sales value average value % gross margin total sales or gross margin
product 1
product 2
product 3
product 4
totals
Do the same for each important aspect of your business, for example, split by market sector (or segment):
quantity total sales value average value % gross margin total sales or gross margin
sector 1
sector 2
sector 3
sector 4
totals
And, for example, split by distributor (or route to market):
quantity total sales value average value % gross margin total sales or gross margin
distributor 1
distributor 2
distributor 3
distributor 4
totals
These simple split analysis tools are an extremely effective way to plan your sales and business. Construct a working spreadsheet so that the bottom-right cell shows the total sales or gross margin, or profit, whatever you need to measure, and by changing the figures within the split (altering the mix, average prices, quantities, etc) you can carry out 'what if?' analysis to develop the best plans.
If you are a competent working with spreadsheets it is normally possible to assemble all of this data onto a single spreadsheet and then show different analyses by sorting and graphing according to different fields.
When you are happy with the overall totals for the year, convert this into a phased monthly plan, with as many lines and columns as you need and are appropriate for the business. Develop this spreadsheet by showing inputs as well as sales outputs - the quantifiable activity (for example, the numbers of enquiries necessary to produce the planned sales levels) required to produce the planned performance. Large businesses need extensive and multiple page spreadsheets. A business plan needs costs as well as sales, and will show profit as well as revenue and gross margin, but the principle is the same: plan the detailed numbers and values of what the business performance will be, and what inputs are required to achieve it.
Here's a free MSExcel profit and loss account template tool for incorporating these factors and financials into a more formal phased business trading plan, which also serves as a business forecasting and reporting tool too. Adapt it to suit your purposes. This plan example is also available as a PDF, see the Profit and Loss Account (P&L) Small Enterprise Business Plan Example (PDF). The numbers could be anything: ten times less, ten times more, a hundred times more - the principle is the same.
Consider also indirect activities that affect sales and business levels, such as customer service. Identify key performance indicators here too, such as customer complaints response and resolution levels and timescales. Internal lead referral schemes, strategic partnership activity; the performance of other direct sales activities such as sales agencies, distributorships, export activities, licensing, etc. These performance factors won't normally appear on a business plan spreadsheet, but a separate plan should be made for them, otherwise they won't happen.
write your marketing plan or business plan
Your marketing plan is actually a statement, supported by relevant financial data, of how you are going to develop your business. Plans should be based on actions, not masses of historical data. The historical and market information should be sufficient just to explain and justify the opportunities, direction, strategy, and most importantly, the marketing actions, methods and measures - not to tell the story of the past 20 years of your particular industry.
"What you are going to sell to whom, when and how you are going to sell it, how much contribution (gross profit) the sales produce, what the marketing cost will be, and what will be the return on investment."
As stated above it is easiest and best to assemble all of this data onto a spreadsheet, which then allows data to be manipulated through the planning process, and then changed and re-projected when the trading year is under way. The spreadsheet then becomes the basis of your sales and marketing forecasting and results reporting tool.
As well as sales and marketing data, in most types of businesses it is also useful to include measurable aims concerning customer service and satisfaction.
The marketing plan will have costs that relate to a marketing budget in the overall business plan. The marketing plan will also have revenue and gross margin/profitability targets that relate to the turnover and profitability in the overall business plan. This data is essentially numerical, and so needs also some supporting narrative as to how the numbers will be achieved - the actions - but keep the narrative concise; if it extends to more than a half-dozen sheets make sure you put a succinct executive summary on the front.
The marketing plan narrative could if appropriate also refer to indirect activities such as product development, customer service, quality assurance, training etc., if significantly relevant to achieving the marketing plan aims.
Be pragmatic - marketing plans vary enormously depending on the type, size and maturity of business. Above all create a plan that logically shows how the business can best consolidate and grow its successful profitable areas. The marketing plan should be a working and truly useful tool - if it is, then it's probably a good one.
sample business plan, marketing plan or sales plan sample structure and example format/template
Keep the written part of the business plan as concise and brief as possible - most situations and high-ranking executives do not need to see plans that are an inch thick. If you can make your case on a half dozen pages then do so. Particularly if your plan is more than 5-6 pages long, produce an executive summary (easiest to do when you have completed the plan) and insert it at the beginning of the document. If you need to include lots of reference material, examples, charts, evidence, etc, show these as appendices at the back of the document and make sure they are numbered and referenced during the main body of the plan. Each new section should start at the top of a new page. Number the pages. Important plans should be suitably bound. All business plans should be professionally and neatly presented, with no grammar and spelling errors, clearly laid out in an easy to read format (avoid lots of upper-case or fancy fonts or italics as these are all difficult to read). Your business plan contents and structure should be as follows:
business plans structure - a business planning template
• Title page: Title or heading of the plan and brief description if required, author, date, company/organization if applicable, details of circulation and confidentiality.
• Contents page: A list of contents (basically the sections listed here, starting with the Introduction page) showing page numbers, plus a list of appendices or addendums (added reference material at the back of the document) allowing the reader to find what they need and navigate the document easily, and to refer others to particular items and page numbers when reviewing or querying.
• Introduction page: Introduction and purpose of the plan, terms of reference if applicable (usually for formal and large plans or projects).
• Executive summary page: Optional and usually beneficial, this should normally be no more than a page long (or it's not an executive summary) - the key points of the whole plan including conclusions, recommendations, actions, financial returns on investment, etc., clearly readable in a few minutes.
• Main body of plan: sections and headings as required, see template below.
• Acknowledgments and bibliography/reference sources: if relevant (only required normally for very large formal plans)
• Appendices: appendices or addendums - additional detailed reference material, examples, statistics, spreadsheets, etc., for reference and not central to the main presentation of your plan.
business plans - main body sections examples template
This sample template is typical for a sales/marketing/new business development business plan. (A business plan for a more complex project such as an international joint-venture, or the formation of a new company including manufacturing plant or other overhead activities would need to include relevant information and financials about the overheads and resources concerned, and the financials would need to show costs and profits more like a fully developed profit and loss account, with cashflow projections, balance sheet, etc.) Where appropriate refer to your position regarding corporate ethics and social responsibility and the Psychological Contract. While these aspects are not mechanisms within the plan, they are crucial reference points.
1. Define your market - sector(s) and segment(s) definitions
2. Quantify your market (overview only) - size, segmentation, relevant statistics, values, numbers (locations, people/users, etc) - make this relevant to you business
3. Explain your market(s) - sector trends, eg., growth, legislation, seasonality, PEST factors where relevant, refer to Ansoff matrix, show the strategic business drivers within sector and segments, purchasing mechanisms, processes, restrictions - what are the factors that determine customers' priorities and needs - this is a logical place to refer to ethics and CSR (corporate social responsibility
4. Explain your existing business - your current business according to sector, products/services, quantities, values, distributor, etc.
5. Analyse your existing customer spread by customer type, values and products/services including major accounts (the 'Pareto Principle' or the '80:20 rule' often applies here, eg., 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers)
6. Explain your products and services - refer to Boston matrix and especially your strategic propositions (what these propositions will do for your customers) including your USP's and UPB's (see sales training section and acronyms)
7. Explain you routes to market, gatekeepers, influencers and strategic partners - the other organizations/individuals you will work with to develop your market, including 'what's in it for them', commissions, endorsements, accreditations, approvals, licenses, etc.
8. Case studies and track record - the credibility, evidence and proof that your propositions and strategic partnerships work
9. Competitor analysis, eg., SWOT analysis of your own business compared to SWOT analysis of each competitor
10. Sales/marketing/business plan (1 year min) showing sales and margins by product/service stream, mix, values, segment, 'distributor', etc, whatever is relevant, phased monthly, in as much detail as you need. This should be on a spreadsheet, with as many different sheets as necessary to quantify relevant inputs and outputs.
11. List your strategic actions (marketing campaigns, sales activities, advertising, etc) that will deliver the above, with costs and returns. This should be supported with a spreadsheet, showing cost and return on investment for each activity.
Tip: If the business plan concerns an existing activity, use the previous year's sales/business analysis as the basis for the next year's sales/business plan. Adapt as necessary according to your new strategic plans.

other business planning and marketing issues
staffing and training implications
Your people are unlikely to have all the skills they need to help you implement a marketing plan. You may not have all the people that you need so you have to consider justifying and obtaining extra. Customer service is acutely sensitive to staffing and training. Are all of your people aware of the aims of the business, its mission statement and your sales propositions? Do they know what their responsibilities are? How will you measure their performance? Many of these issues feed back into the business plan under human resources and training, where budgets need to be available to support the investment in these areas.
customer service charter
You should formulate a customer service charter, extending both your mission statement and your service offer, so as to inform staff and customers what your standards are. These standards can cover quite detailed aspects of your service, such as how many times the telephone will be permitted to ring until the caller is gets an answer. Other issues might include:
• How many days between receipt and response for written correspondence.
• Complaints procedure and timescales for each stage.
This charter sets customer expectations, so be sure you can meet them. Customers get disappointed particularly when their expectations are not met, and when so many standards can be set at arbitrary levels, think of each one as a promise that you should keep. Business-to-business customers would expect to agree these standards with their suppliers and have them recorded as part of their contracts, or as SLA's (service level agreements). Increasingly, large customers demand SLA's to be tailored to their own specific needs, and the process of developing these understandings and agreements is absolutely crucial to the maintenance and development of large contracts.
Remember an important rule about customer service: It's not so much the failure to meet standards that causes major dissatisfaction among customers - everyone can make a mistake - the biggest cause of upset is the failure of suppliers to inform customers and keep them updated when problems arise. Not being told in advance, not receiving any apology, not getting any explanation why, and not hearing what's going to be done to put things right, are key areas of customer dissatisfaction, and therefore easy areas for suppliers to focus their efforts to achieve and communicate improvements.
A special point of note for businesses that require a strong technical profile among their service staff: these people are often reactive by nature and so not good at taking initiative to identify and anticipate problem areas in customer service. It's therefore helpful to establish suitable mechanisms and responsibility to pick up problems and deal with them - a kind of trouble-shooting capability - which can be separately managed and monitored at a strategic level. Do not assume that technically-oriented staff will be capable of proactively developing customer service solutions and revisions to SLA's - they generally need help in doing so from staff with high creativity, empathy, communications and initiative capabilities.
establish systems to measure customer service and staff performance
These standards and the SLA's established for large customers need to be visible, agreed with customers, absolutely measurable. You must keep measuring your performance against them, and preferably publishing the results, internally and externally. Customer complaints handling is a key element:
Measuring customer complaints is crucial because individual complaints are crucial areas to resolve, and also as a whole, complaints serve as a barometer for the quality and performance of the business. You need to have a scheme which encourages, not discourages, customers to complain, to open the channels as wide as possible. Most businesses are too defensive where complaints are concerned, preferring to minimise their importance, or to seek to justify and excuse them. Wrong. Complaints are the opportunities to turn ordinary service into unbeatable service.
Moreover, time and again surveys suggest that anything up to nine out of ten people do not complain to the provider when they feel dissatisfied - they just keep their dissatisfaction to themselves and the provider never finds out there's a problem, even when the customer chooses to go elsewhere. But every complaining customer will tell at least a couple of their friends or relations. Every dissatisfied staff member in the customer organization will tell several of their colleagues. Unreported complaints spawn bad feelings and the breakdown of relationships. It is imperative that you capture all complaints in order to:
• Put at ease and give explanation or reassurance to the person complaining.
• Reduce the chances of them complaining to someone else.
• Monitor exactly how many dissatisfied customers you have and what the causes are, and that's even more important if you're failing to deliver your mission statement or service offer!
• Take appropriate corrective action to prevent a re-occurrence.
• If appropriate (ie for large customers) review SLA's and take the opportunity to agree new SLA's with the customer.
implications for IT, premises, and reporting systems
Also relating to your business plan are the issues of:
Information Technology - are your computers and communications systems capable of giving you the information and analysis you need? How do you use email - is it helping or hindering your business and the quality of service you give to your customers? What internet presence and processes do you need? How should your voice and data systems work together? What systems need to be available to mobile staff? What customer relationship management (CRM) systems should you have? How should you consider all these issues to see the needs and opportunities? IT and communications systems increasingly offer marketing and competitive advantage to businesses in all sectors - make sure you know hat IT can do for you and for your customers.
Premises - Review your premises and sites in light of your customer service, distribution, and customer relationship requirements. Pay particular attention anywhere in your organization that your customers visit - the impression and service you give here is critical.
Reporting systems - If you can't measure it you can't manage it, and where finance and business performance is concerned this is certainly true. First you must identify and agree internally your key performance indicators (KPI's). Identify every aspect of your service or performance that is important - then you need to be able to measure it and report on it, and where people are involved in performing to certain standards then the standards and the reporting needs to be transparent to them also.
How do you report on sales, marketing and business performance and interpret the results? Who needs to know? Who needs to capture the data?
communications and ongoing customer feedback are essential
Having an open dialogue with your customers is vital. There's a double benefit to your business in ensuring this happens:
• You nip problems in the bud and stay aware of how you're performing.
• Your customers feel better about the service you provide as a result of the communications, or from the fact that the channel is open even if they don't use it - it's human nature.
Try to devise a standard feedback form. It can double as a promotional tool as well if it's made available on a wider scale. The form can carry details of your mission statement, service offer and your customer service charter.
Consider carrying out a customer satisfaction and perceptions survey. There are many ways to do this on a small or large scale, and valuable feedback is always obtained from customer survey exercises.

tips for starting a small business or self-employment - for non-financial people
Some of us are not naturally inclined towards the sort of detailed financial thinking that is required for traditional detailed business planning. If this is you, you'll possess other valuable capabilities that will be useful in your own enterprise, and you'll maybe find it helpful to use this alternative approach to planning a new enterprise or self-employment. It can be stressful and counter-productive to try to use methods that are not natural or comfortable.
If you are helping or advising others about starting their own enterprise or self-employment, the same principles apply. Not everyone is naturally good at business planning, but everyone who dreams of being self-employed or who wants to start and run their own independent enterprise is capable of doing so, provided they work to their strengths, capabilities and passions.
People running successful enterprises come in all shapes and sizes, from all backgrounds, all ages, with skills, passions, and capabilities in any field you can imagine. Anyone can run their own business or be successful in self-employment given the simple determination to do so. Business and enterprise is not just for stereotypical 'business-types'; the benefits and advantages of being your own boss are available to us all.
Here are some pointers for people considering starting their own new enterprise, or for helping others to do the same.
First, and especially if you are not clear of your own real strengths, or what direction to pursue, focus on using tools to understanding your own personality style and strengths. Then use this knowledge to imagine and realise how your natural capabilities can be used to best effect in defining and providing your own services or running your own enterprise.
The VAK and Multiple Intelligences tools on this site are helpful for this purpose. They assess people's strengths completely differently to traditional IQ or academic evaluations, which are extremely narrow and generally not relevant at all for people who want to be their own boss.
Understanding personality is also useful since personality-type greatly influences the way that a person approaches self-employment or running an enterprise, and what sort of service or business to offer. The Personality Styles page provides a lot of explanation about this.
Many people are conditioned by schools and over-cautious parents to under-estimate their own potential and capabilities, which is a big reason to take a fresh look at what you are good at, and to re-think and understand better the ways that your personality type tends to be successful in life and business.
There are many ways to be successful and independent in life aside from building and running a conventional business and adhering to conventional financial planning methods.
The basic economics of becoming successfully independent in any sort of venture are actually extremely simple, and focusing on the following simple fundamentals (a process really) can help many folk turn your dream or an idea into a successful enterprise or self-employment reality. It's usually easiest to think first of these factors in terms of daily, weekly or monthly numbers and values, and then to extend the figures to give totals for a whole year:
1. What's your product or service? (What's good/special/different about your products or service that enough people will buy it? And importantly is this something that you have a real passion for? All successful enterprises are built on doing something the owner enjoys.)
2. What does it cost to make/buy in/provide the product or service? (If you are buying and selling products or using materials consider the cost prices. If the main resource is your own time then attach a cost to your labour that reflects your available time for the work and the wage you need to draw. Divide your required annual wage by the number of work hours available to you, and this is your notional hourly labour cost.)
3. What price will the product/service sell for? (Ideally small businesses need a healthy profit margin or mark-up - doubling the cost is good if the market will accept it. A mark-up of less than 50% is cause for concern unless you are selling products in relatively high volumes or values. Price your products/services according to what the market will pay, not according to your costs. Take into account your competitors and what they charge and their relative quality. Service businesses that use only the person's time are often very attractive and profitable because there is no added complication of buying and holding stock - hence why window-cleaning, sign-writing, repairs, gardening, decorating, tutoring, writing, therapy, training, coaching and consultancy, etc., are such good businesses for people who prefer a simple approach to self-employment and enterprise. Consider the effect of VAT especially for 'consumer' businesses - ie., selling to the general public - assuming your business is or must be VAT registered. Private consumers of course are more sensitive to VAT than business customers who can generally reclaim VAT should you have to add it to your prices.)
4. Who will buy the product/service? (Identify your customers and market. Do you know this for sure? Test your assumptions: this is a critical part of the proposition and generally benefits from more thought and research to confirm that a big enough market exists for your idea. Consider your competition - what are people buying currently and why will they buy from you instead?)
5. How much/many do you need to sell in a year? And how many customers do you need? (This is a vital part of the proposition to confirm that the gross profit (the difference between costs of bought in products/labour and sales revenues) covers your/their financial needs (including a living wage and other fixed costs of running the enterprise. Again remember the affect of VAT on your selling prices if applicable.)
6. How will people know about the service/product? (You need to understand what advertising/marketing/enquiry-generation is necessary - activity and cost. There is usually a cost for generating new customers, especially in the early stages of a new enterprise. Once the business is established, say after six months to a year, 'word-of-mouth' referrals are for some businesses all that is required to produce new customers - especially those based in a local community, but virtually any new enterprise requires marketing at its launch. See the articles on marketing and selling.)
7. Does all this add up, and better still provide a cash surplus at the end of a year? - if so then it's probably a good business model.
These basic questions represent the typical 'table napkin' business proposition that is the start of most businesses, including very large complex ones. People who dislike and are not fluent in detailed business calculations might find the above process a useful starting point when thinking about how to begin a new enterprise or a venture in self-employment.
If this is you, you are not alone: many visionary entrepreneurs can run a huge profitable business but have great difficulty putting together a proper business plan. Hence many highly successful business leaders rely heavily on their financial directors to take care of the financial details, leaving them free to get on with the business activity that makes best use of their natural skill, be it creativity, selling, service-provision, people-skills, technical skills, or whatever.
Incidentally the above factors are the essential components which make up a basic Profit and Loss Account, which is the primary management tool for a business of any scale and complexity. Here's a free MSExcel profit and loss account template tool for extending these factors and financials into a more formal phased plan, which also serves as a business forecasting and reporting tool too. If in doubt about this seek some help from an experienced business person or your accountant. Adapt it to suit your purposes. The example P&L trading plan is also available as a pdf. The numbers could be anything - ten times less, ten times more, a hundred times more - the principle is the same.

company types and financial set up - quick guide
When you have confirmed and refined the basic viability of your business idea you can then begin getting to grips with the more detailed aspects of forming the business itself.
This necessarily includes deciding your type of business constitution - the legal format of your company - or 'company type' as it is often described.
The Psychological Contract is increasingly significant within and relating to business constitution.
Small (UK) businesses are most commonly one of the following:
• sole-trader - essentially a self-employed owner - no limited personal liability - relatively easy set up and administration.
• partnership - essentially a group of self-employed partners/owners - no limited personal liability - easy-ish set up and administration, although ultimately dependent on the complexity of the company and partnership.
• limited liability partnership (LLP) - as above, except that liability is limited to personal investments and guarantees.
• limited company (abbreviated to Ltd after the company name) - liability is limited to the assets of the company - registered with Companies House and legally obliged to publish accounts.
There are less common variations of limited companies, and other business structures and constitutions, for example:
• social enterprise - various structures including , trusts, associations and especially cooperatives - these are not common typical or traditional business structures, but social enterprises are growing in popularity, and will be explained in more detail on this website in due course. Meanwhile here is useful information about cooperatives.
• public limited company (plc) - not appropriate for small companies.
Sole-trader and partnership companies are very easy to set up and administer, but the owner/partners are personally liable for all business debts and potential claims, so good insurance cover (including professional indemnity and public liability) is essential especially if business liabilities are potentially serious.
A limited liability partnership offers protection to partners in terms of personal liabilities, in that liabilities are limited to the extent of personal investment and any other guarantees. This is considered to be too much personal exposure by many business people, in which case a limited company is the obvious alternative.
A limited company exists in its own right - a tricky concept to understand for many people - basically meaning that financial liabilities belong to the company (its shareholders, to the value of their shares in other words) rather than the directors and executives of the business, as would apply in a partnership. Limited companies ultimately offer more flexibility for large complex businesses but can be over-complicated and administratively heavy if all you want to do is run a local shop or landscape gardening business or modest training or coaching business.
Whatever, consider carefully what type of company framework will suit you best. Once established it can be quite difficult to unravel and change if you get it wrong - not impossible, but a nuisance if you could have got it right first time with a bit of extra thought at the planning stage.
A good accountant will help you decide what is best for your situation from a legal and financial standpoint, although before this you should think for yourself what sort of business structure best fits your wider business situation, and especially your business aims and philosophy. Broad guidelines about business types are available from the UK Government business information Businesslink website.
You'll need a business bank account. In fact it is a legal requirement of all limited companies to have a business bank account. Shop around. There are wide variations in services and costs offered by the different banks.
You must also understand and organize the tax implications for your type of business.
Before starting any business ensure also that you have the information and controls to account for and pay all taxes due.
Helpfully to learn more about this in the UK, most tax affairs are within the responsibilities of HM Revenue and Customs - until they too change their name to something very silly. That said, the relevance today of HM (Her Majesty's) is a bit puzzling when you stop to think about it and surely due for updating to the modern age. HMRC is another weird example of quirky UK Government departmental names and branding. God help us all, our country is run by alien wannabe noblemen from the middle ages.
VAT (Value Added Tax or your national equivalent) is an issue warranting serious thought if your business is small enough to have a choice in the matter. Beyond a certain turnover (£68,000 as at 2010) any UK business must register for VAT. Check the HMRC website for the current position.
Being VAT registered means you must charge VAT on all VAT-rated supplies, which means also that the VAT you receive on payments from your customers must be paid to HM Revenue and Customs. (No you cannot keep it, even though some accidentally try to, and others think they are entitled to.)
Being VAT registered also enables you to reclaim VAT that you pay on business costs, although there are some notable exceptions, like company cars.
Retail and consumer businesses are especially affected by VAT. Private consumers cannot claim back VAT, so the effect of VAT on pricing and margins needs careful thought in planning any consumer business.
Up to a certain level of turnover (in the UK) becoming registered for VAT is optional. If your business turnover is likely to be below the threshold for mandatory VAT registration, you must decide for yourself if the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The main advantages of VAT registration are:
• your business will be perceived by certain people - especially other businesses - to be larger and more credible (not being registered for VAT indicates immediately that your turnover is below the VAT threshold)
• you will be able to reclaim VAT that you are charged on legitimate allowable business costs
The main disadvantages of being VAT registered are:
• the administrative burden in keeping VAT records and submitting VAT returns (although this has been enormously simplified in recent years so that for small simple businesses it is really not a problem at all)
• risks of getting onto cashflow difficulties if you fail to set funds aside to pay your VAT bills (see the tax tips below)
Information about VAT (and all other tax issues) is at the UK Government HM Revenue and Customs website: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk
VAT is not the only tax. Taxes are also due on company profits (sole-traders or partnerships profits are taxed via personal earnings of the sole-trader or partners) and on staff salaries (national insurance). A sole-trader or partnership can employ staff, in which case national insurance tax is due on salaries paid to employees, which is different to the tax that employees pay themselves.
Failing to retain funds in a company to pay taxes is a serious problem that's easily avoided with good early planning. Contact your tax office. Inform them of your plans and seek their help. Tax offices are generally extremely helpful, so ask. You can even talk to a real person on the phone without having to breach a six-level automated menu system.
Ideally find a decent accountant too. Preferably one who comes recommended to you. With all the greatest respect to accountants everywhere, accountants are quite commonly very intense people, like solicitors and scientists, very much focused on process, accuracy, rules, etc., which in terms of personality fit can be a little at odds with the style of many entrepreneurs. So again shop around and find an accountant with whom you can share a joke and a beer or something from the human world. The relationship between a business person and his/her accountant is crucial if the business is to grow and develop significantly. Accountants might seem at times to be from another planet, but I can assure you the good ones are bloody magicians when it comes to business development, especially when the figures get really interesting. The statement that one stroke of an accountant's pen is mightier than the world's most successful sales team, is actually true.
For many entrepreneurs, the ideal scenario is to grow your business large enough to support the cost of a really excellent finance director, who can take care of all the detailed legal and financial matters for you, and leave you completely free to concentrate on growing the business - concentrating your efforts and ideas and strategy externally towards markets and customers, and internally towards optimizing innovation and your staff.
See the quick tax tips below, especially for small businesses which might not easily be able to achieve immediate and accurate control of their tax liabilities, which is one of the major early risks for a new successful small business.

tax tips - understanding and accounting for taxes from the start
A significant potential problem area for newly self-employed people, and for new business start-ups, is failing to budget and save for inevitable taxes which arise from your business activities.
N.B. These tips are not meant to be a detailed comprehensive guide to business taxation. This section merely addresses a particular vulnerability of new start-up businesses in failing to set aside sufficient reserves to meet tax liabilities, especially small businesses, and even more especially sole-traders and partnerships and small limited companies, which lack expertise in accounting and consequently might benefit from these simple warnings and tips related to tax liabilities.
In general these issues would normally be managed via a cashflow forecast, together with suitable financial processes to allocate and make payments for all costs and liabilities arising in the course of trading. I recognise however that many small business start-ups do not begin with such attention to financial processes, and it's primarily for those situations that these particular notes are provided.
These notes in no way suggest that this is the normal fully controlled approach to planning and organizing tax liabilities and other cashflow issues within any business of significant scale. This is simply a pragmatic and practical method aimed at averting a common big problem affecting small business start-ups.
While your type of company and business determines precisely which taxes apply to you, broadly taxes are due on sales (for VAT registered businesses in the UK, or your VAT equivalent if outside the UK), and on the profits of your business and your earnings. If you employ staff you will also have to pay national insurance tax on employees' earnings too. Generally sole-traders and partnerships have simpler tax arrangements - for example, profits are typically taxed as personal earnings - as compared with the more complex taxes applicable to limited companies, which also pay taxes on company profits and staff salaries.
Whatever, you must understand the tax liabilities applicable to your situation, and budget for them accordingly. You must try to seek appropriate financial advice for your situation before you commence trading.
Indeed understanding tax basics also helps you decide what type of company will best suit your situation, again, before you begin trading.
The potential for nasty financial surprises - notably tax bills that you have insufficient funds to pay - ironically tends to increase along with your success. This is because bigger sales and profits and earnings inevitably produce bigger tax bills (percentage of tax increases too in the early growth of a business), all of which becomes a very big problem if you've no funds to pay taxes when due.
The risks of getting into difficulties can be greater for the self-employed and small partnerships which perhaps do not have great financial knowledge and experience, than for larger Limited Company start-ups which tend to have more systems and support in financial areas.
Start-ups are especially prone to tax surprises because the first set of tax bills can commonly be delayed, and if you fail to account properly for all taxes due then obviously you increase the chances of spending more than you should do, resulting in not having adequate funds to cover the payments when they are due.
Risks are increased further if you are new to self-employment, previously having been employed and accustomed to receiving a regular salary on which all taxes have already been deducted, in other words 'net' of tax. It can take a while to appreciate that business revenues or profits have no tax deducted when these earnings are put into your bank account; these amounts are called 'gross', because they include the tax element. Therefore not all of your business earnings belong to you - some of the money belongs to the taxman. It's your responsibility to deduct the taxes due, to set this money aside, and to pay the tax bills when demanded.
Additionally, if you are a person who is in the habit of spending everything that you earn, you must be even more careful, since this tendency will increase the risks of your being unable to pay your taxes.
Failing to get on top of the reality of taxes from the very beginning can lead to serious debt and cashflow problems, which is a miserable way to run a business.
So you must anticipate and set aside funds necessary to meet your tax liabilities from the very start of your business, even if you do not initially have a very accurate idea of what taxes will be due, or you lack effective systems to calculate them - many small start-ups are in this position. Nevertheless it is too late to start thinking about tax when the first demands fall due.
If when starting your business you do not have information and systems to identify and account accurately for your tax liabilities, here are two simple quick tax tips to avoid problems with the taxman:
1. You must estimate your tax liabilities and ensure that you set aside funds to cover these liabilities while you are banking your payments received into the business. The easiest way to do this is to identify the taxes applicable to your business, for example VAT and your own personal income tax and national insurance. Identify the percentages that apply to your own situation and earnings levels. You can do this approximately. It does not need to be very precise. Add these percentages together, and then set aside this percentage of all your earnings that you receive into your business. Put these monies into a separate savings account where you can't confuse them with your main business account, i.e., your 'working capital' typically held in a current account.
2. Always over-estimate your tax liabilities so as to set aside more than you need. Having a surplus is not a problem. Having not enough money to pay taxes because you've under-estimated tax due is a problem; sometimes enough to kill an otherwise promising business.
Here's an example to show how quickly and easily you can plan and set aside a contingency to pay your tax bills, even if you've no experience or systems to calculate them precisely. This example is based on a self-employed consultancy-type business, like a training or coaching business, in which there are no significant costs of sales (products or services bought in) or overheads, i.e., revenues are effectively the profits too, since there are minimal costs to offset against profits:
example of estimating and setting aside money to pay taxes
1. In the UK VAT on most products and services is 17.5%. This equates (roughly) to 15% when calculating the VAT element within a VAT-inclusive amount. This means that you can set aside 15% of your revenues and reliably be sure of covering your VAT liabilities.
2. In the UK personal income tax and national insurance combined is roughly 30% of earnings up to about £30,000 (a little over in fact), rising to 49% - call it 50% - of earnings above £30k - roughly.
N.B. Income tax and national insurance are calculated on taxable earnings, which exclude money spent on legitimate business costs, and VAT received.
These figures in the above example are approximate I emphasise again, which is all you need for this purpose, moreover the approximations are on the high side of what the precise liabilities actually are. Accountants call this sort of thinking 'prudent'. It's a pessimistic approach to forecasting liabilities rather than optimistic, which is fundamental to good financial planning and management: if the pessimism is wrong then you end up with a surplus (which is good), but if you are wrong in making optimistic forecasts and estimates (over-ambitious sales, and lower-than-actual costs and liabilities), then you run out of money (which is bad).
Back to the percentages.. Knowing the income tax percentages enables you to set aside a suitable percentage of your earnings when you receive them into the business. Roughly speaking, for earnings up to £30k you need to set aside 30% to cover income tax and national insurance. For earnings over £30k you need to set aside 50% to cover your income tax and national insurance. (Earnings below £30k remain taxable at 30%). Remember you can arrive at these figures based on the VAT exclusive revenues, but to keep matters simpler it is easier to use an adjusted total percentage figure to apply to the total gross earnings. If it's kept very simple and quick you'll be more likely to do it - and/or to communicate the method effectively to your partner if they are responsible for handling the financials, as often happens.
Given this example, if in your first year your gross revenues (banked payments received) are say £50,000, assuming you are VAT registered, then your tax liabilities will be (roughly):
17.5% VAT liabilities equates to 15% of gross sales revenues £7.5k (again we are assuming no significant costs to offset these figures)
30% Income tax/NI on first £30k earnings £9.0k total net earnings are say £42.5k, being £50k less £7.5k VAT, again we are assuming negligible costs to offset against earnings
50% Income tax/NI on remaining £12.5k earnings £6.25k £12.5k of the net £43.5k earnings is taxed at the higher rate, again assuming negligible costs offset against earnings
total tax liabilities = 45.5%, or to be extra prudent call it 50%... £22.75k (£22.75k total tax ÷ £50k gross revenues = 45.5%)
From this example you can see that setting aside 45.5% of earnings (yes it's a lot isn't it - which is why you need to anticipate it and set the money aside) would comfortably cover VAT and income tax liabilities. To be extra safe and simpler in this example you could round it up to 50%. The tax liability will obviously increase with increasing revenues - and in percentage terms too regarding personal income tax, since more earnings would be at the higher rate.
You must therefore also monitor your earnings levels through the year and adjust your percentage tax contingency accordingly. As stated already above, the risk of under-estimating tax liabilities increases the more successful you are, because tax bills get bigger.
In truth you will have some costs to offset against the earnings figures above, but again for the purposes of establishing a very quick principle of saving a fixed percentage as a tax reserve until you know and can control these liabilities more accurately, the above is a very useful simple easy method of initially staying solvent and on top of your tax affairs, which are for many people the most serious source of nasty financial surprises in successful start-up businesses.
The above example is very simple, and is provided mainly for small start-up businesses which might otherwise neglect to provide for tax liabilities. The figures and percentages are not appropriate (but the broad principle of forecasting and providing funds for tax liabilities is) to apply to retail businesses for example, or businesses in which staff are employed, since these businesses carry significant costs of sales and overheads, which should be deducted from revenues before calculating profits and taxes liabilities. Neither does the example take account of the various ways to reduce tax liabilities by reinvesting profits in the business, writing off stock, putting money into pensions, charitable donations, etc.
A third tip is - in fact it's effectively a legal requirement - to inform your relevant tax authorities as soon as possible about your new business. Preferably do this a few weeks before you actually begin trading. That way you can be fully informed of the tax situation - and your best methods of dealing with tax, because there are usually different ways, and sometimes the differences can be worth quite a lot of money.
I do not go into more detail about tax here because it's a very complex subject with wide variations depending on your own situation, for which you should seek relevant information and advice from a qualified accountant and/or the relevant tax authorities.

template and structure for a feasibility study or project justification report
First, and importantly, you need to clarify/confirm the criteria that need to be fulfilled in order to justify starting or continuing the project or group, in other words, what do the decision-makers need to see in order to approve the project or its continuation?
Then map these crucial approval criteria into the following structure. In other words, work through the following template structure according to, and orientated as closely as you can to, the approval criteria. (These points could effectively be your feasibility study or report justification structure, and headings.)
• past, present and particularly future ('customer') need (for the outputs/results produced by group or project)
• benefits and outcomes achieved to date for what cost/investment
• benefits and outcomes to be produced in the future
• resources, costs, investment, etc., required to produce future required outcomes and benefits (identify capital vs revenue costs, i.e., acquisition of major assets and ongoing overheads)
• alternative methods or ways of satisfying needs, with relative cost/return (return on investment) comparisons (ie., what other ways might there be for satisfying the need if the group or project doesn't happen or ceases?)
• outline strategy and financial plan, including people, aims, philosophy, etc (ideally tuned to meet the authorising power's fulfilment criteria) for proposed start or continuation of project (assuming you have a case, and assuming there is no better alternative)
Keep it simple. Keep to the facts and figures. Provide evidence. Be clear and concise. Refer to the tips about effective writing. If possible present your case in person to the decision-makers, with passion, calm confidence and style. Look at the tips on presentations, and assertiveness.

tips on finding and working with business planning advisors and consultants
If you need help putting together a business plan, and if you want to get the best from the engagement, it's important to find the right person to work with, and to establish and maintain a good working relationship with them. If you are great big organisation you'll probably not need to work with outsiders, and if you do then you'll probably opt for a great big supplier, however there are significant benefits from working with much smaller suppliers - even single operators - and if you are a small business yourself, then this is probably the best choice anyway: to seek a good single operator, or small partnership of experts. Here are some ideas of what to look for.
You'll be best finding someone who meets as much of this criteria as possible:
• lives close-by you so you can work face-to-face with them and get to know each other properly, and so that their time is efficiently used, instead of being in traffic on their way to and from your place
• is high integrity and very discreet
• is grown-up and got no baggage or emotional triggers - wise and mature - and it needn't be an age thing
• can help you see and decide where and how you want to take the business, rather than tell you where he/she thinks you need to go - a mentor not an instructor
• understands or can immediately relate to your industry sector and type of work
• is experienced working with small family companies, but is also a big picture strategist and visionary (advisors who've only ever worked with big corporations can sometimes be a bit free and easy with relatively small amounts of money - you need someone with a very very practical approach to managing cash-flow, and real business realities, who've worked in situations without the protection of vast corporate bureaucracy and the lack of transparency that this often brings)
• is triple-brained or whole-brained - mostly front-brained - (see the stuff on Benziger) - intuitive-creative, thinking, but also able to be personable and grounded, subject to the point below
• complements your own strengths and fills the gaps and weaknesses in your collective abilities (again see the stuff on Benziger and Jung etc) - ie., if collectively you need hard facts and figures and logic then seek people with these strengths - conversely if you are strong on all this, then seek the creative humanist ethical strengths - he/she must work with you in a balanced team - so that the team has no blind spots, and no subjective biases in style or emphasis
• has two or three referees you can talk to and see evidence of past work (although if you check most of the above it will be a formality)
• doesn't smoke or drink too much
• isn't desperate for the work
As regards finding someone like this, without doubt the most reliable and quickest method is by networking introductions through trusted people. The person you seek might be three or more links away, but if it's a friend or associate of someone trusted, by someone who's trusted, by someone you trust, then probably they'll be right for you. Start by talking to people you know and asking if they know anyone, or if they know anyone who might know anyone - and take it from there.
The chances of finding the right person in the local business listings or directory, out of the blue and from cold, are pretty remote.
Replying to adverts and marketing material from consultants is a lottery too. You'll find someone eventually but you'll need to kiss a lot of frogs first, which takes ages and is not the cleverest way to spend your valuable time.
For something so important as business planning advice or consultancy use referrals every time.
Referrals work not only because you get to find someone trusted, but the person you find has a reasonable assurance that you can be trusted too, you see: good suppliers are just as choosy as good clients. It works both ways.
Be prepared to reward the person in whatever way is appropriate and fair (I'm thinking percentage share of incremental success beyond expectations - perhaps even equity share if the person is really good and you'd value their on-going contribution and help).
Often the best people won't ask for much money up front at all, but from your point of view you will attract a lot more commitment and work beyond the call of normal duty from them if you reward higher than they ask or need.
Good suppliers are immensely motivated by good clients and lots of appreciation, even if they don't want the financial reward.
Good suppliers have usually seen too many ungrateful greedy people taking them for granted and penny pinching, and will tend to sack clients like these without even telling them why, and move on to more deserving enjoyable work with people who are fair and appreciative, which is how you'll be I'm sure.
Finally, when you've found the right person, always continually agree expectations and invite feedback about how the relationship is working, not just how the work is going.

starting your own business - or starting any new business
These are the simple rules for planning and starting your own business. The principles also apply to planning and starting a new business within an organisation for someone else.
In amongst the distractions and details of new business planning, it is important to keep sight of the basic rules of new business success:
Your successful new business must offer something unique that people want.
Uniqueness is vital because otherwise there is no reason for customers to buy from you.
Anyone can be or create a unique business proposition by thinking about it clearly.
Uniqueness comes in all shapes and sizes - it's chiefly being especially good and different in a particular area, or field or sector.
Uniqueness can be in a product or service, or in a trading method, or in you yourself, or any other aspect of your business which makes what you are offering special and appealing to people.
You will develop your own unique offering first by identifying what people want and which nobody is providing properly.
Second you must ensure that your chosen unique offering is also an extension of your own passion or particular expertise or strength - something you will love and enjoy being the best at - whatever it is.
Every successful business is built on someone's passion.
new business start-ups by older people
If you already have a career behind you, and you wonder if you've got it in you to compete and succeed in the modern world, consider this.
First - you have definitely got it in you to succeed.
Experience and wisdom are fundamental building blocks of success, and will be for you from the moment you start looking at yourself in this way.
The reassuring wisdom that older people generally possess is extremely helpful in forming trusting relationships - with customers, suppliers, partners, colleagues, etc - which are essential for good business.
Added to this, as we get older we have a greater understanding of our true passions and capabilities; we know our strengths and styles and tolerances. This gives older people a very special potency in business. Older people know what they are good at. They play to their strengths. They know which battles they can win, and which to avoid.
Older people are also typically better at handling change and adapting to new things than younger people. This is because older people have had more experience doing just this. Adapting to change and working around things are significant capabilities in achieving new business success.
If you are an older person considering starting a new business, think about the things you can do better than most other people - think about your strengths and use them.
business start-ups for younger people
Younger people can be very successful starting new businesses just as much as older people can be.
The essential principle of playing to your strengths applies, although the implications are different for younger people compared to older people.
Younger people are likely to have lots of fresh ideas. This is an advantage, so avoid people pour cold water on them.
Test your ideas on potential customers, rather than to take advice from those people who are ready with their buckets of water.
Next, get the help you need. It's difficult for young people to know all the answers.
You'll have the ideas and the energy to make things happen, but consider the gaps in your experience, and the things you don't enjoy doing, and seek good quality reliable help for these things.
Getting good help at what you can't do or don't want to do will enable you to put all your energy into what you are good at and what you want to spend your time doing.
Young people sometimes try to force themselves to fit into roles or responsibilities that are not comfortable or natural. This is de-stabilising and stressful. Learn what you love and excel at, and focus on building success from this.
Which brings us back to playing to your strengths.
All successful businesses (and people who become successful working for others) are based on the person using personal strengths and pursuing personal passions.
Success in business is always based on doing something you love and enjoy, which is fundamentally related to your natural strengths and unique personal potential, whatever that is.
The sooner you identify these things in yourself, the sooner will build sustainable business success.
planning business success - in summary
Spreadsheets, mission statements, planning templates and other process elements of new business creation and development are tools. They enable the business to be properly structured, started and run. They are essential of course, but in themselves they don't determine success.
Business success is determined by deeper factors.
Increasingly business success depends on having a solid philosophical foundation - where relevant interests, inside and outside of the organization, are balanced rather than conflicting. The bigger the business, the more widely it must consider how it relates to external interests and responsibilities - to society and the world at large.
A business with this sort of harmony and balance built into its shape and principles at the outset has a huge advantage over a business which contains tensions and competing pressures. Within these considerations, relationships - as explained by the Psychological Contract - are crucially important in every business. Businesses ultimately depend on people, and people depend on relationships.
Aside from this - and without diminishing the significance of other vital business components such as reliability, value, quality, etc., which are necessary merely to survive at a basic level - uniqueness and passion are the remaining special ingredients for success:
• Uniqueness (just one word, with so many implications) - so that people will want what you offer, and
• Passion, so that you will enjoy being and offering your best - and so that this belief and commitment conveys to others.

________________________________________
see also
• New Business/Career Change Direction Planning - 'passion-to profit' process and planner tool
• Understand your own multiple intelligence and learning/working style
• Assertiveness and Self-Confidence - develop the right attitude and emotional strength
• Free Resources Files Section - containing various planning and reporting tools and working files
• Tips and Information for Buying a Franchise Business - buying and starting a franchise offers many benefits because usually the business model is proven to successful, and support is available for those who need it
• Superb Free E-Book: The Game of Business by Paul Gorman - wonderful practical guide to business success from a leading business thinker - with grateful acknowledgements to Paul Gorman
• Another superb free E-Book: Business Survival and Prosperity Guaranteed - An excellent, very helpful, practical and encouraging guide to starting up a new business, or improving an existing one - 15MB pdf file - with grateful acknowledgements to Paul Hurst
• Profit and Loss Account (P&L) planning/accounting/reporting template tool (MSExcel) monthly phased financials trading plan (including examples) for small enterprise or self-employment, which also serves as a business forecasting and reporting tool too. Adapt it to suit your purposes.
• This plan example is also available as a PDF, see the Profit and Loss Account (P&L) Small Enterprise Business Plan Example (PDF). The numbers could be anything: ten times less, ten times more, a hundred times more - the principle is the same.
• Service and Trading Contracts and Supply Agreements - Template and Tips
• SOSTAC® - PR Smith's business marketing planning system
• Monthly Sales Report Template (MSExcel) - adapt and develop for your own situation. Also available in pdf format - Monthly Sales Report Template (PDF)
• At-a-glance market development process
• Strategy Realisation and Implementation Methods
• Change Management principles
• Sharon Drew Morgen's Facilitative Innovation and Change Template
• Cold Calling - make it easier and more effective
• The Psychological Contract - deeply and increasingly significant in the ways that employment is managed, and businesses and organizations are structured

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ONLINE TRAINING FORM

2011-08-15T11:24:00.000-07:00

GET YOU TRAINING FORM ON LINE

2011-08-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

7 TIPS ON HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL GRAPHIC DESIGNER

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1. Be Literate to Computer: If you are a novice or you know alittle about computing, try to get your self more familiar to the appliances and their uses when operating. It is easy to know and get their functions it only require a little patience.

2. Commitment: Firstly, to become a graphic artist, you have to have the fore knowledge of Corel draw and commit yourself surfing to the system. Also have the believe that you can create what does not exist and bring it into existence.

3. Confidence: Personal confidence is the first thing you ought to have when hoping to design and have the soul aim of achieving a goal.

4. Orientation: When starting a design you are expected to know the measurement of what you want to create, change the page orientation, choose the paper type i.e. A3, A4, B5, letter, custom etc then measure the size of the leaflet you are to work on to start your design.

5. Trial/Frequent Practice: Give yourself a trial/frequent practice on all sort of graphic design you found around you such as flyers, postal, complimentary cards, invitation cards, greeting cards etc and make a copy of what they have done try it often and often and you will see gradually you are drawing closer to be a successful designer.

6. Arrangement: In any design the arrangement of the text, object and picture is very important, take note of the settings and order of arrangement. Also when given a layout try to improve the arrangement in your own way and make it look attractive and beautiful.

7. Colour Selection/ Matching: A qualified graphic artist must know much about colours and how they go, matching each other when designing. The background of colour you use mostly tells the type of colour to be used on other text for viewers to legibly see and read what you’ve created.

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2011-08-05T10:32:00.001-07:00

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2011-07-29T10:37:00.000-07:00

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2011-07-26T06:24:00.001-07:00

Convergence

2011-07-26T06:15:00.000-07:00

Convergence (Net-25 program)

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for NBN-4 program, see Convergence with Freddie Abando

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Convergence
The Convergence present logo
Format	Information
Created by	ABS-CBN (1995-1999) Net 25 (2000-present)
Starring	Nikki Veron Cruz Roxanne Benedicto Candy Megia Dave Peralta
Country of origin	Philippines
Language(s)	English (1995-1998, 1999-present) Filipino and English (1998-1999)
No. of episodes	NA
Production
Running time	1 hour (1995-1998) 30 minutes (1999-present) 45 minutes (1998-1999)
Broadcast
Original channel	ABS-CBN (1995-1999) Net 25 (1999-present)
Original run	June 18, 1995 – present
External links
Website

Convergence is a 30-minute television program in the Philippines featuring the latest tech buzz, new websites, answers tech questions, new game releases, and celebrities who have converged with technology. The show is aired every Sundays at 8:00 PM Philippine Time(12:00 NN UTC) on Net-25, and it is hosted by Nikki Veron Cruz, while Candy Megia, Roxanne Benedicto, and Dave Peralta from the Net-25 US bureau handles hosting chores for the segments E-mail 4 Help, Gamelab, and Web Watch respectively.

[hide]

[edit] History

The show was originally aired on June 18, 1995 on ABS-CBN with Paolo Abrera on Sunday nights at 11:00 pm and its the first interactive show with latest tech buzz, answers, tech questions and celebrities who have converged with technology in the Philippines. It was broadcast for 1 hour with segements Game Time, Time Out and Email On Call. In 1998, David Celdran became the host replacing Abrera and switches to Taglish with new segements Balitang Tek and Huling Segundo and it switched to 45 minutes. The show was relaunched in 1999 and switched back to English coinciding Net-25's launch as the first and only IT station in the country. Since then until now, Convergence is the consistent holder of the first and premier IT show in the country. Through the years, Convergence continues to give you updates in the world of information technology, the latest games and online sites, latest new gadgets, and answers to all the tech questions. Truly indeed, it is still the first and only IT show in the country where Filipinos inform all of the latest about info tech.

[edit] Segments

E-mail 4 Help - Viewers will send questions with regards to the problems regarding computers and internet.

Gamelab - The latest news about the gaming industry, and the latest game gadgets.

Web watch - Roxanne Benedicto discloses new websites to browse on the Internet.

E-Life - Celebrities tell their stories on how their life converged with technology.

Cool Stuff - The show will feature all the latest gadgets available soon.

[edit] Former

Game Time! (1995-1999) - The latest news about the gaming industry and the game gadgets also feature all the latest gadgets available soon.
Time Out! (1995-1998) - Discloses new websites converged with technology.
E-mail On Call (1995-1999) - Viewers will send questions with regards to the problems of computers and internet.
Balitang Tek (1998-1999) - The latest news of gadgets all around the world. * Huling Segundo (1998-1999) - The final reports on the latest news of gadgets and discloses new websites converged with technology.

[edit] Hosts

Nikki Veron Cruz
Roxanne Benedicto (Time Out host 1995-1998, Web watch host 1999-present)
Candy Megia
Dave Peralta

[edit] Former hosts

Ryan "Seven" Aniciete
Lisa Docena (E-mail On Call host 1995-1999, Full time host from 2000's)
Alisson Pablo (Time Out! host 1998-1999, Full time host from 2000's)
Aliw Pablo
Paolo Abrera (1995-1998)
Sarah Meier (Game Time! host, 1995-1999)
David Celdran (1998-1999)

History of Nigeria

2011-07-16T12:11:00.001-07:00

History of Nigeria
This article is part of a series
Prehistory
Ancient and Middle Ages (Before 1500)
Early modern period (1500–1800)
Colonial Nigeria (1800–1960)
Nigerian First Republic (1960-1979)
Civil War (1967–1970)
History of Nigeria (1979–1999)
Nigerian Second Republic (1979-1983)
Nigerian Third Republic (1993-1999)
Nigerian Fourth Republic (1999–present)
Topics
History of the Igbo people
History of the Yoruba people
Nigeria Portal v · d · e

Main article: Nigeria

[edit] Early history

Archaeological research, pioneered by Thurstan Shaw and Steve Daniels,^[1] has shown that people were already living in southwestern Nigeria (specifically Iwo-Eleru) as early as 9000 BC and perhaps earlier at Ugwuelle-Uturu (Okigwe) in southeastern Nigeria, where microliths were used.^[2] Smelting furnaces at Taruga dating from the 4th century BC provide the oldest evidence of metalworking in Archaeology.
The earliest known example of a fossil skeleton with negroid features, perhaps 10,000 years old, was found at Iii Ileru in western Nigeria and attests to the antiquity of habitation in the region.^[3]
Microlithic and ceramic industries were also developed by savanna pastoralists from at least the 4th millennium BC and were continued by subsequent agricultural communities. In the south, hunting and gathering gave way to subsistence farming in the first millennium BC and the cultivation of staple foods.
The stone axe heads, imported in great quantities from the north and used in opening the forest for agricultural development, were venerated by the Yoruba descendants of neolithic pioneers as "thunderbolts" hurled to earth by the gods.^[3]
Kainji Dam excavations revealed iron-working by the 2nd century BC. The transition from Neolithic times to the Iron Age apparently was achieved without intermediate bronze production. Others suggest the technology moved west from the Nile Valley, although the Iron Age in the Niger River valley and the forest region appears to predate the introduction of metallurgy in the upper savanna by more than 800 years. The earliest identified iron using Nigerian culture is that of the Nok culture that thrived between approximately 900 BC and 200 AD on the Jos Plateau in northeastern Nigeria. Information is lacking from the first millennium AD following the Nok ascendancy, but by the 2nd millennium AD there was active trade from North Africa through the Sahara to the forest, with the people of the savanna acting as intermediaries in exchanges of various goods.

[edit] Yoruba

Historically the Yoruba have been the dominant group on the west bank of the Niger. Of mixed origin, they were the product of periodic waves of migrants. Their nearest linguistic relatives are the Igala who live on the opposite side of the Benue/Niger divergence, and from whom they are believed to have split about 2,000 years ago. The Yoruba were organized in patrilineal groups that occupied village communities and subsisted on agriculture. From approximately the 8th century AD., adjacent village compounds called ile coalesced into numerous territorial city-states in which clan loyalties became subordinate to dynastic chieftains. Urbanization was accompanied by high levels of artistic achievement, particularly in terracotta and ivory sculpture and in the sophisticated metal casting produced at Ife.
The Yoruba paid tribute to a pantheon headed by an impersonal deity, Olorun, as well as lesser deities who performed various tasks. Oduduwa was regarded as the creator of the earth and the ancestor of the Yoruba kings. According to myth Oduduwa founded Ife and dispatched his sons to establish it.

[edit] The Igbo states

Main articles: Awka, Onitsha, Owerri, Aro Confederacy, and Abiriba

With the decline of Nri kingdom in the 1400-1600 AD, several states once under their influence, became powerful economic oracular oligarchies and large commercial states that dominated Igboland. The neighboring Awka city-state rose in power as a result of their powerful Agbala oracle and metalworking expertise. The Onitsha Kingdom, which was originally inhabited by Igbos from East of the Niger, was founded in the 16th century by migrants from Anioma (Western Igboland) and Benin. Later groups like the Igala traders from the hinterland settled in Onitsha in the 18nth century. Western Igbo kingdoms like Aboh, dominated trade in the lower Niger area from the 17th century until European penetration. The Umunoha state in the Owerri area used the Igwe ka Ala oracle at their advantage. However, the Cross River Igbo state like the Aro had the greatest influence in Igboland and adjacent areas after the decline of Nri.
The Arochukwu kingdom which emerged after the Aro-Ibibio wars from 1630–1720, and went on to form the Aro Confederacy which economically dominated parts of midwestern and eastern Nigeria with pockets of influence in Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. The source of the Aro Confederacy's economic dominance was based on the judicial oracle of Ibini Ukpabi ("Long Juju") and their military forces which included powerful allies such as Ohafia, Abam, Ezza, and other related neighboring states. The related Abiriba (Abiriba and Aro Are Brothers who's migration is traced to Ekpa Kingdom in East of Cross Qua Ibo River)(their exact take of location was at Ekpa (Mkpa) east of the Cross (Qua Ibo) river. They crossed the river to urupkam (Usukpam) west of the Cross river and founded two settlements - Ena Uda and Ena Ofia in present day Erai in Cross River state Nigeria) Aro and Abiriba cooperated to become a powerful economic force.
Igbo gods, like those of the Yoruba, were numerous, but their relationship to one another and human beings was essentially egalitarian, reflecting Igbo society as a whole. A number of oracles and local cults attracted devotees while the central deity, the earth mother and fertility figure Ala, was venerated at shrines throughout Igboland.
The weakness of a popular theory that Igbos were stateless rests on the paucity of historical evidence of pre-colonial Igbo society. There is a huge gap between the archaeological finds of Igbo Ukwu, which reveal a rich material culture in the heart of the Igbo region in the 8th century, and the oral traditions of the 20th century. Benin exercised considerable influence on the western Igbo who adopted many of the political structures familiar to the Yoruba-Benin region. Ofega was the queen.

[edit] Nri Kingdom

Main article: Kingdom of Nri

The city of Nri is considered to be the foundation of Igbo culture.^[4] Nri and Aguleri, where the Igbo creation myth originates, are in the territory of the Umueri clan, who trace their lineages back to the patriarchal king-figure, Eri.^[5] Eri's origins are unclear, though he has been described as a "sky being" sent by Chukwu (God).^[5]^[6] He has been characterized as having first given societal order to the people of Anambra.^[6]
Archaeological evidence suggests that Nri hegemony in Igboland may go back as far as the 9th century,^[7] and royal burials have been unearthed dating to at least the 10th century. Eri, the god-like founder of Nri, is believed to have settled the region around 948 with other related Igbo cultures following after in the 13th century.^[8] The first Eze Nri (King of Nri), Ìfikuánim, followed directly after him. According to Igbo oral tradition, his reign started in 1043.^[9] At least one historian puts Ìfikuánim's reign much later, around 1225 AD.^[10]

“

Each king traces his origin back to the founding ancestor, Eri. Each king is a ritual reproduction of Eri. The initiation rite of a new king shows that the ritual process of becoming Ezenri (Nri priest-king) follows closely the path traced by the hero in establishing the Nri kingdom.
E. Elochukwu Uzukwu^[11]

”

“

Nri and Aguleri and part of the Umueri clan, a cluster of Igbo village groups which traces its origins to a sky being called Eri, and, significantly, includes (from the viewpoint of its Igbo members) the neighbouring kingdom of Igala. Elizabeth Allo Isichei^[12]

”

The Kingdom of Nri was a religio-polity, a sort of theocratic state, that developed in the central heartland of the Igbo region.^[8] The Nri had a taboo symbolic code with six types. These included human (such as the birth of twins), animal (such as killing or eating of pythons),^[13] object, temporal, behavioral, speech and place taboos.^[14] The rules regarding these taboos were used to educate and govern Nri's subjects. This meant that, while certain Igbo may have lived under different formal administration, all followers of the Igbo religion had to abide by the rules of the faith and obey its representative on earth, the Eze Nri.^[14]^[15] by mfonini usoro

[edit] Early states before 1500

Main article: History of Nigeria before 1500

The early independent Kingdoms and states that make the present day British colonialized Nigeria are (in alphabetical order):

[edit] Oyo and Benin

Main article: Oyo Empire

During the 15th century Oyo and Benin surpassed Ife as political and economic powers, although Ife preserved its status as a religious center. Respect for the priestly functions of the oni of Ife was a crucial factor in the evolution of Yoruban culture. The Ife model of government was adapted at Oyo, where a member of its ruling dynasty controlled several smaller city-states. A state council (the Oyo Mesi) named the alafin (king) and acted as a check on his authority. Their capital city was situated about 100 km north of present-day Oyo. Unlike the forest-bound Yoruba kingdoms, Oyo was in the savanna and drew its military strength from its cavalry forces, which established hegemony over the adjacent Nupe and the Borgu kingdoms and thereby developed trade routes farther to the north.

Main article: Benin Empire

[edit] Northern kingdoms of the Savanna

The Songhai Empire, c. 1500

Trade is the key to the emergence of organized communities in the savanna portions of Nigeria. Prehistoric inhabitants adjusting to the encroaching desert were widely scattered by the third millennium BC, when the desiccation of the Sahara began. Trans-Saharan trade routes linked western Sudan with the Mediterranean since the time of Carthage and with the Upper Nile from a much earlier date, establishing avenues of communication and cultural influence that remained open until the end of the 19th century. By these same routes, Islam made its way south into West Africa after the 9th century AD.
By then a string of dynastic states, including the earliest Hausa states, stretched across western and central Sudan. The most powerful of these states were Ghana, Gao, and Kanem, which were not within the boundaries of modern Nigeria but which influenced the history of the Nigerian savanna. Ghana declined in the 11th century but was succeeded by the Mali Empire which consolidated much of western Sudan in the 13th century.
Following the breakup of Mali a local leader named Sonni Ali (1464–1492) founded the Songhai Empire in the region of middle Niger and the western Sudan and took control of the trans-Saharan trade. Sonni Ali seized Timbuktu in 1468 and Jenne in 1473, building his regime on trade revenues and the cooperation of Muslim merchants. His successor Askia Muhammad Ture (1493–1528) made Islam the official religion, built mosques, and brought Muslim scholars, including al-Maghili (d.1504), the founder of an important tradition of Sudanic African Muslim scholarship, to Gao.^[16]
Although these western empires had little political influence on the Nigerian savanna before 1500, they had a strong cultural and economic impact that became more pronounced in the 16th century, especially because these states became associated with the spread of Islam and trade. Throughout the 16th century much of northern Nigeria paid homage to Songhai in the west or to Borno, a rival empire in the east.

[edit] Kanem-Bornu Empire

Main article: Kanem-Bornu Empire

Borno's history is closely associated with Kanem, which had achieved imperial status in the Lake Chad basin by the 13th century. Kanem expanded westward to include the area that became Borno. The mai (king) of Kanem and his court accepted Islam in the 11th century, as the western empires also had done. Islam was used to reinforce the political and social structures of the state although many established customs were maintained. Women, for example, continued to exercise considerable political influence.
The mai employed his mounted bodyguard and an inchoate army of nobles to extend Kanem's authority into Borno. By tradition the territory was conferred on the heir to the throne to govern during his apprenticeship. In the 14th century, however, dynastic conflict forced the then-ruling group and its followers to relocate in Borno, where as a result the Kanuri emerged as an ethnic group in the late 14th century and 15th century. The civil war that disrupted Kanem in the second half of the 14th century resulted in the independence of Borno.
Borno's prosperity depended on the trans-Sudanic slave trade and the desert trade in salt and livestock. The need to protect its commercial interests compelled Borno to intervene in Kanem, which continued to be a theater of war throughout the 15th century and into the 16th century. Despite its relative political weakness in this period, Borno's court and mosques under the patronage of a line of scholarly kings earned fame as centers of Islamic culture and learning.

[edit] Hausa states

Map of Nigeria (source: CIA's The World Factbook)

Hausa-Fulani Sokoto Caliphate in the 19th century

Main article: Hausa Kingdoms

By the 11th century some Hausa states - such as Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, and Gobir - had developed into walled towns engaging in trade, servicing caravans, and the manufacture of various goods. Until the 15th century these small states were on the periphery of the major Sudanic empires of the era. They were constantly pressured by Songhai to the west and Kanem-Borno to the east, to which they paid tribute. Armed conflict was usually motivated by economic concerns, as coalitions of Hausa states mounted wars against the Jukun and Nupe in the middle belt to collect slaves or against one another for control of trade.
Islam arrived to Hausaland along the caravan routes. The famous Kano Chronicle records the conversion of Kano's ruling dynasty by clerics from Mali, demonstrating that the imperial influence of Mali extended far to the east. Acceptance of Islam was gradual and was often nominal in the countryside where folk religion continued to exert a strong influence. Nonetheless, Kano and Katsina, with their famous mosques and schools, came to participate fully in the cultural and intellectual life of the Islamic world. The Fulani began to enter the Hausa country in the 13th century and by the 15th century they were tending cattle, sheep, and goats in Borno as well. The Fulani came from the Senegal River valley, where their ancestors had developed a method of livestock management based on transhumance. Gradually they moved eastward, first into the centers of the Mali and Songhai empires and eventually into Hausaland and Borno. Some Fulbe converted to Islam as early as the 11th century and settled among the Hausa, from whom they became racially indistinguishable. There they constituted a devoutly religious, educated elite who made themselves indispensable to the Hausa kings as government advisers, Islamic judges, and teachers.

[edit] Pre-colonial states, 1500-1800

Main article: History of Nigeria (1500-1800)

[edit] Savanna states

During the 16th century the Songhai Empire reached its peak, stretching from the Senegal and Gambia rivers and incorporating part of Hausaland in the east. Concurrently the Saifawa Dynasty of Borno conquered Kanem and extended control west to Hausa cities not under Songhai authority. Largely because of Songhai's influence, there was a blossoming of Islamic learning and culture. Songhai collapsed in 1591 when a Moroccan army conquered Gao and Timbuktu. Morocco was unable to control the empire and the various provinces, including the Hausa states, became independent. The collapse undermined Songhai's hegemony over the Hausa states and abruptly altered the course of regional history.
Borno reached its apogee under mai Idris Aloma (ca. 1569-1600) during whose reign Kanem was reconquered. The destruction of Songhai left Borno uncontested and until the 18th century Borno dominated northern Nigeria. Despite Borno's hegemony the Hausa states continued to wrestle for ascendancy. Gradually Borno's position weakened; its inability to check political rivalries between competing Hausa cities was one example of this decline. Another factor was the military threat of the Tuareg centered at Agades who penetrated the northern districts of Borno. The major cause of Borno's decline was a severe drought that struck the Sahel and savanna from in the middle of the 18th century. As a consequence Borno lost many northern territories to the Tuareg whose mobility allowed them to endure the famine more effectively. Borno regained some of its former might in the succeeding decades, but another drought occurred in the 1790s, again weakening the state.
Ecological and political instability provided the background for the jihad of Usman dan Fodio. The military rivalries of the Hausa states strained the regions economic resources at a time when drought and famine undermined farmers and herders. Many Fulani moved into Hausaland and Borno, and their arrival increased tensions because they had no loyalty to the political authorities, who saw them as a source of increased taxation. By the end of the 18th century, some Muslim ulema began articulating the grievances of the common people. Efforts to eliminate or control these religious leaders only heightened the tensions, setting the stage for jihad.^[16]

[edit] Akwa Akpa

Main article: Akwa Akpa

The modern city of Calabar was founded in 1786 by Efik families who had left Creek Town, further up the Calabar river, settling on the east bank in a position where they were able to dominate traffic with European vessels that anchored in the river, and soon becoming the most powerful in the region.^[17] Akwa Akpa became a center of the slave trade, where slaves were exchanged for European goods.^[18] Most slave ships that transported slaves from Calabar were English, and around 85% of these ships being from Bristol and Liverpool merchants.^[19] The main ethnic group taken out of Calabar as slaves were the Igbo, although they were not the main ethnicity in the area.^[20]
With the suppression of the slave trade, palm oil and palm kernels became the main exports. The chiefs of Akwa Akpa placed themselves under British protection in 1884.^[21] From 1884 until 1906 Old Calabar was the headquarters of the Niger Coast Protectorate, after which Lagos became the main center.^[21] Now called Calabar, the city remained an important port shipping ivory, timber, beeswax, and palm produce until 1916, when the railway terminus was opened at Port Harcourt, 145 km to the west.^[22]

[edit] A British sphere of influence

Main article: Colonial Nigeria

Stamp of Southern Nigeria, 1901

Colonial Flag of Nigeria

Following the Napoleonic wars, the British expanded trade with the Nigerian interior. In 1885 British claims to a West African sphere of influence received international recognition and in the following year the Royal Niger Company was chartered under the leadership of Sir George Taubman Goldie. In 1900 the company's territory came under the control of the British Government, which moved to consolidate its hold over the area of modern Nigeria. On January 1, 1901 Nigeria became a British protectorate, part of the British Empire, the foremost world power at the time.
In 1914, the area was formally united as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. Administratively, Nigeria remained divided into the Northern and Southern Provinces and Lagos Colony. Western education and the development of a modern economy proceeded more rapidly in the south than in the north, with consequences felt in Nigeria's political life ever since. Following World War II, in response to the growth of Nigerian nationalism and demands for independence, successive constitutions legislated by the British Government moved Nigeria toward self-government on a representative and increasingly federal basis. On 1 October 1954, the colony became the autonomous Federation of Nigeria. By the middle of the 20th century, the great wave for independence was sweeping across Africa.

[edit] Independence

Main article: History of Nigeria (1960-1979)

Jaja Wachuku, First Nigerian Speaker of the House: 1959 - 1960

The Federation of Nigeria was granted full independence on the 1st October 1960 under a constitution that provided for a parliamentary government and a substantial measure of self-government for the country's three regions. From 1959 to 1960, Jaja Wachuku was the First black Speaker of the Nigerian Parliament - also called the "House of Representatives". Wachuku replaced Sir Frederick Metcalfe of Great Britain. Notably, as First Speaker of the House, Jaja Wachuku received Nigeria's Instrument of Independence - also known as Freedom [Charter - on October 1, 1960, from Princess Alexandra of Kent, the Queen's representative at the Nigerian independence ceremonies.
The federal government was given exclusive powers in defense, foreign relations, and commercial and fiscal policy. The monarch of Nigeria was still head of state but legislative power was vested in a bicameral parliament, executive power in a prime minister and cabinet, and judicial authority in a Federal Supreme Court. Political parties, however, tended to reflect the make up of the three main ethnic groups. The Nigerian People's Congress (NPC) represented conservative, Muslim, largely Hausa interests, and dominated the Northern Region. The National Convention of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) was Igbo- and Christian-dominated, ruling in the Eastern Region, and the Action Group (AG) was a left-leaning party that controlled the Yoruba west. The first post-independence national government was formed by a conservative alliance of the NCNC and the NPC, with Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, a Hausa, becoming Nigeria's first Prime Minister. The Yoruba-dominated AG became the opposition under its charismatic leader Chief Obafemi Awolowo

[edit] First Republic

Main article: Nigerian First Republic

In October 1963 Nigeria proclaimed itself the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and former Governor General Nnamdi Azikiwe became the country's first President. From the outset Nigeria's ethnic and religious tensions were magnified by the disparities in economic and educational development between the south and the north. The AG was maneuvered out of control of the Western Region by the Federal Government and a new pro-government Yoruba party, the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP), took over. Shortly afterward the AG opposition leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was imprisoned on treason charges that were later admitted to be without foundation. The 1965 national election produced a major realignment of politics and a disputed result that set the country on the path to civil war. The dominant northern NPC went into a conservative alliance with the new Yoruba NNDP, leaving the Igbo NCNC to coalesce with the remnants of the AG in a progressive alliance. In the vote, widespread electoral fraud was alleged and riots erupted in the Yoruba West where heartlands of the AG discovered they had apparently elected pro-government NNDP representatives.

[edit] First period of military rule

Main article: Nigerian Civil War

On 15 January 1966 a group of army officers, mostly southeastern Igbos, overthrew the NPC-NNDP government and assassinated the prime minister and the premiers of the northern and western regions. The federal military government that assumed power under General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi was unable to quiet ethnic tensions or produce a constitution acceptable to all sections of the country.^[23] Its efforts to abolish the federal structure and the renaming the country the Republic of Nigeria on 24 May 1966 raised tensions and led to another coup by largely northern officers in July 1966, which established the leadership of Major General Yakubu Gowon. The name Federal Republic of Nigeria was restored on 31 August 1966. However, the subsequent massacre of thousands of Igbo in the north prompted hundreds of thousands of them to return to the southeast where increasingly strong Igbo secessionist sentiment emerged. In a move towards greater autonomy to minority ethnic groups the military divided the four regions into 12 states. However the Igbo rejected attempts at constitutional revisions and insisted on full autonomy for the east. On May 29, 1967 Lt. Col. Emeka Ojukwu, the military governor of the eastern region who emerged as the leader of increasing Igbo secessionist sentiment, declared the independence of the eastern region as the Republic of Biafra. The ensuing Nigerian Civil War resulted in an estimated one million deaths before the war ended with the famous "No victor, no vanquished" speech in 1970.^[24]
Following the civil war the country turned to the task of economic development. Foreign exchange earnings and government revenues increased spectacularly with the oil price rises of 1973-74. On July 29, 1975 Gen. Murtala Mohammed and a group of officers staged a bloodless coup, accusing Gen. Yakubu Gowon of corruption and delaying the promised return to civilian rule. General Mohammed replaced thousands of civil servants and announced a timetable for the resumption of civilian rule by October 1, 1979. He was assassinated on February 13, 1976 in an abortive coup and his chief of staff Lt. Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo became head of state.

[edit] Second Republic

Main article: History of Nigeria (1979-1999)

A constituent assembly was elected in 1977 to draft a new constitution, which was published on September 21, 1978, when the ban on political activity was lifted. In 1979, five political parties competed in a series of elections in which Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) was elected president. All five parties won representation in the National Assembly. In August 1983 Shagari and the NPN were returned to power in a landslide victory, with a majority of seats in the National Assembly and control of 12 state governments. But the elections were marred by violence and allegations of widespread vote rigging and electoral malfeasance led to legal battles over the results.^[25]
On December 31, 1983 the military overthrew the Second Republic. Major General Muhammadu Buhari emerged as the leader of the Supreme Military Council (SMC), the country's new ruling body. The Buhari government was peacefully overthrown by the SMC's third-ranking member General Ibrahim Babangida in August 1985. Babangida (IBB) cited the misuse of power, violations of human rights by key officers of the SMC, and the government's failure to deal with the country's deepening economic crisis as justifications for the takeover. During his first days in office President Babangida moved to restore freedom of the press and to release political detainees being held without charge. As part of a 15-month economic emergency plan he announced pay cuts for the military, police, civil servants and the private sector. President Babangida demonstrated his intent to encourage public participation in decision making by opening a national debate on proposed economic reform and recovery measures. The public response convinced Babangida of intense opposition to an economic rec.

[edit] The abortive Third Republic

Main article: Nigerian Third Republic

Head of State, Babangida, promised to return the country to civilian rule by 1990 which was later extended until January 1993. In early 1989 a constituent assembly completed a constitution and in the spring of 1989 political activity was again permitted. In October 1989 the government established two parties, the National Republican Convention (NRC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) - other parties were not allowed to register.
In April 1990 mid-level officers attempted unsuccessfully to overthrow the government and 69 accused plotters were executed after secret trials before military tribunals. In December 1990 the first stage of partisan elections was held at the local government level. Despite low turnout there was no violence and both parties demonstrated strength in all regions of the country, with the SDP winning control of a majority of local government councils.
In December 1991 state legislative elections were held and Babangida decreed that previously banned politicians could contest in primaries scheduled for August. These were canceled due to fraud and subsequent primaries scheduled for September also were canceled. All announced candidates were disqualified from standing for president once a new election format was selected. The presidential election was finally held on June 12, 1993 with the inauguration of the new president scheduled to take place August 27, 1993, the eighth anniversary of President Babangida's coming to power.
In the historic June 12, 1993 presidential elections, which most observers deemed to be Nigeria's fairest, early returns indicated that wealthy Yoruba businessman M.K.O. Abiola won a decisive victory. However, on June 23, Babangida, using several pending lawsuits as a pretense, annulled the election, throwing Nigeria into turmoil. More than 100 were killed in riots before Babangida agreed to hand power to an interim government on August 27, 1993. He later attempted to renege this decision, but without popular and military support, he was forced to hand over to Ernest Shonekan, a prominent nonpartisan businessman. Shonekan was to rule until elections scheduled for February 1994. Although he had led Babangida's Transitional Council since 1993, Shonekan was unable to reverse Nigeria's economic problems or to defuse lingering political tension.

[edit] Sani Abacha

With the country sliding into chaos Defense Minister Sani Abacha assumed power and forced Shonekan's resignation on November 17, 1993. Abacha dissolved all democratic institutions and replaced elected governors with military officers. Although promising restoration of civilian rule he refused to announce a transitional timetable until 1995. Following the annulment of the June 12 election the United States and others imposed sanctions on Nigeria including travel restrictions on government officials and suspension of arms sales and military assistance Additional sanctions were imposed as a result of Nigeria's failure to gain full certification for its counter-narcotics efforts.
Although Abacha was initially welcomed by many Nigerians, disenchantment grew rapidly. Opposition leaders formed the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which campaigned to reconvene the Senate and other disbanded democratic institutions. On June 11, 1994 Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola declared himself president and went into hiding until his arrest on June 23. In response petroleum workers called a strike demanding that Abacha release Abiola and hand over power to him. Other unions joined the strike, bringing economic life around Lagos and the southwest to a standstill. After calling off a threatened strike in July the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) reconsidered a general strike in August after the government imposed conditions on Abiola's release. On August 17, 1994 the government dismissed the leadership of the NLC and the petroleum unions, placed the unions under appointed administrators, and arrested Frank Kokori and other labor leaders.
The government alleged in early 1995 that military officers and civilians were engaged in a coup plot. Security officers rounded up the accused, including former Head of State Obasanjo and his deputy, retired General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua. After a secret tribunal most of the accused were convicted and several death sentences were handed down. In 1994 the government set up the Ogoni Civil Disturbances Special Tribunal to try Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and others for their alleged roles in the killings of four Ogoni politicians. The tribunal sentenced Saro-Wiwa and eight others to death and they were executed on November 10, 1995.
On October 1, 1995 Abacha announced the timetable for a 3-year transition to civilian rule. Only five political parties were approved by the regime and voter turnout for local elections in December 1997 was under 10%. On December 21, 1997 the government arrested General Oladipo Diya, ten officers, and eight civilians on charges of coup plotting. The accused were tried before a military tribunal in which Diya and eight others were sentenced to death. Abacha enforced authority through the federal security system which is accused of numerous human rights abuses, including infringements on freedom of speech, assembly, association, travel, and violence against women.

[edit] Abubakar's transition to civilian rule

Abacha died of heart failure on June 8, 1998 and was replaced by General Abdulsalami Abubakar. The military Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) under Abubakar commuted the sentences of those accused in the alleged coup during the Abacha regime and released almost all known civilian political detainees. Pending the promulgation of the constitution written in 1995, the government observed some provisions of the 1979 and 1989 constitutions. Neither Abacha nor Abubakar lifted the decree suspending the 1979 constitution, and the 1989 constitution was not implemented. The judiciary system continued to be hampered by corruption and lack of resources after Abacha's death. In an attempt to alleviate such problems Abubakar's government implemented a civil service pay raise and other reforms.
In August 1998 Abubakar appointed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct elections for local government councils, state legislatures and governors, the national assembly, and president. The NEC successfully held elections on December 5, 1998, January 9, 1999, February 20, and February 27, 1999, respectively. For local elections nine parties were granted provisional registration with three fulfilling the requirements to contest the following elections. These parties were the People's Democratic Party (PDP), the All People's Party (APP), and the predominantly Yoruba Alliance for Democracy (AD). Former military head of state Olusegun Obasanjo, freed from prison by Abubakar, ran as a civilian candidate and won the presidential election. The PRC promulgated a new constitution based largely on the suspended 1979 constitution, before the May 29, 1999 inauguration of the new civilian president. The constitution includes provisions for a bicameral legislature, the National Assembly consisting of a 360-member House of Representatives and a 109-member Senate.

[edit] Fourth Republic

The emergence of democracy in Nigeria on May 1999 ended 16 years of consecutive military rule. Olusegun Obasanjo inherited a country suffering economic stagnation and the deterioration of most democratic institutions. Obasanjo, a former general, was admired for his stand against the Abacha dictatorship, his record of returning the federal government to civilian rule in 1979, and his claim to represent all Nigerians regardless of religion.
The new President took over a country that faced many problems, including a dysfunctional bureaucracy, collapsed infrastructure, and a military that wanted a reward for returning quietly to the barracks. The President moved quickly and retired hundreds of military officers holding political positions, established a blue-ribbon panel to investigate human rights violations, released scores of persons held without charge, and rescinded numerous questionable licenses and contracts left by the previous regimes. The government also moved to recover millions of dollars in funds secreted to overseas accounts.
Most civil society leaders and Nigerians witnessed marked improvements in human rights and freedom of the press under Obasanjo. As Nigeria works out representational democracy, conflicts persist between the Executive and Legislative branches over appropriations and other proposed legislation. A sign of federalism has been the growing visibility of state governors and the inherent friction between Abuja and the state capitals over resource allocation.^[26]
Communal violence has plagued the Obasanjo government since its inception. In May 1999 violence erupted in Kaduna State over the succession of an Emir resulting in more than 100 deaths. In November 1999, the army destroyed the town of Odi, Bayelsa State and killed scores of civilians in retaliation for the murder of 12 policemen by a local gang. In Kaduna in February–May 2000 over 1,000 people died in rioting over the introduction of criminal Shar'ia in the State. Hundreds of ethnic Hausa were killed in reprisal attacks in southeastern Nigeria. In September 2001, over 2,000 people were killed in inter-religious rioting in Jos. In October 2001, hundreds were killed and thousands displaced in communal violence that spread across the states of Benue, Taraba, and Nasarawa. On October 1, 2001 Obasanjo announced the formation of a National Security Commission to address the issue of communal violence. Obasanjo was reelected in 2003.
The new president faces the daunting task of rebuilding a petroleum-based economy, whose revenues have been squandered through corruption and mismanagement. Additionally, the Obasanjo administration must defuse longstanding ethnic and religious tensions if it hopes to build a foundation for economic growth and political stability. Currently there is unrest in the Niger delta over the environmental destruction caused by oil drilling and the ongoing poverty in the oil-rich region.
A further major problem created by the oil industry is the drilling of pipelines by the local population in an attempt to drain off the petroleum for personal use or as a source of income. This often leads to major explosions and high death tolls.^[27] Particularly notable disasters in this area have been: 1) October 1998, Jesse, 1100 deaths, 2) July 2000, Jesse, 250 deaths, 3) September 2004, near Lagos, 60 deaths, 4) May 2006, Ilado, approx. 150-200 deaths (current estimate).^[28]
Two militants of an unknown faction shot and killed Ustaz Ja'afar Adam, a northern Muslim religious leader and Kano State official, along with one of his disciples in a mosque in Kano during dawn prayers on 13 April 2007. Obasanjo had recently stated on national radio that he would "deal firmly" with election fraud and violence advocated by "highly placed individuals." His comments were interpreted by some analysts as a warning to his Vice President and 2007 presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar.^[29]
In the 2007 general election, Umaru Yar'Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, both of the People's Democratic Party, were elected President and Vice President, respectively. The election was marred by electoral fraud, and denounced by other candidates and international observers.^[30]^[31]

[edit] Yar'Adua's disappearance and Jonathan's succession

Yar'Adua's presidency was fraught with uncertainty as media reports said he suffered from kidney and heart disease. In November 2009, he fell ill and was flown out of the country to Saudi Arabia for medical attention. He remained incommunicado for 50 days, by which time rumours were rife that he had died. This continued until the BBC aired an interview that was allegedly done via telephone from the president's sick bed in Saudi Arabia. As of January 2010, he was still abroad.
In February 2010, Goodluck Jonathan began serving as acting President in the absence of Yaradua.^[32] In May 2010, the Nigerian government learned of Yar'Adua's death after a long battle with existing health problems and an undisclosed illness. This lack of communication left the new acting President Jonathan with no knowledge of his predecessor's plans. Yar'Adua's Hausa-Fulani background gave him a political base in the northern regions of Nigeria, while Goodluck does not have the same ethnic and religious affiliations. This lack of primary ethnic support makes Jonathan a target for militaristic overthrow or regional uprisings in the area. With the increase of resource spending and oil exportation, Nigerian GDP and HDI (Human Development Index) have risen phenomenally since the economically-stagnant rule of Sani Abacha, but the primary population still survives on less than $2 USD per day. Goodluck Jonathan called for new elections and stood for re-election in April 2011. He won and is currently the president of Nigeria.^[33]

[edit] Further reading

[edit] References

^ {Citation | last = Shaw | first = Ian | last2 = Jameson | first2 = Robert | title = A dictionary of archaeology | publisher = Wiley-Blackwell | year = 2002 | edition = 6, illustrated, reprint | page =314 | language = english | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=zmvNogJO2ZgC&lpg=PA314&dq=%22Excavations%20At%20Iwo-Eleru%2C%20Ondo%20State%2C%20Nigeria%22&pg=PA314#v=onepage&q=%22Excavations%20At%20Iwo-Eleru,%20Ondo%20State,%20Nigeria%22&f=false | isbn =9780631235835}}
^ Shaw, T.& Daniells, S. G. H. 1984. Excavations At Iwo-Eleru, Ondo State, Nigeria. West African Journal of Archaeology
^ ^a ^b "Nigeria EARLY HISTORY Sourced from The Library of Congress Country Studies". Retrieved 2010-05-15..
^ Griswold, Wendy (2000). Bearing Witness: Readers, Writers, and the Novel in Nigeria. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. p. XV. ISBN 0-691-05829-6.
^ ^a ^b Isichei, Elizabeth Allo (1997). A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press Cambridge, UK. p. 512. ISBN 0-521-45599-5.
^ ^a ^b Uzukwu, E. Elochukwu (1997). Worship as Body Language. Liturgical Press. p. 93. ISBN 0814661513.
^ Hrbek, Ivan; Fāsī, Muḥammad (1988). Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century. London: Unesco. p. 254. ISBN 92-3-101709-8.
^ ^a ^b Lovejoy, Paul (2000). Identity in the Shadow of Slavery. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 62. ISBN 0-826-44725-2.
^ Onwuejeogwu, M. Angulu (1981). Igbo Civilization: Nri Kingdom & Hegemony. Ethnographica. ISBN 0-905-78808-7.
^ Chambers, Douglas B. (2005). Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia (illustrated ed.). Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 33. ISBN 1-578-06706-5.
^ Uzukwu, E. Elochukwu (1997). Worship as Body Language. Liturgical Press. p. 93. ISBN 0814661513.
^ Isichei, Elizabeth Allo. A History of African Societies to 1870. p. 246. ISBN 0521455995. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
^ Hodder, Ian (1987). The Archaeology of Contextual Meanings (illustrated ed.). CUP Archive. p. 72. ISBN 0-521-32924-8.
^ ^a ^b Nyang, Sulayman; Olupona, Jacob K. (1995). Religious Plurality in Africa: Essays in Honour of John S. Mbiti. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. p. 118. ISBN 3-110-14789-0.
^ Hodder, Ian (1987). The Archaeology of Contextual Meanings (illustrated ed.). CUP Archive. p. 72. ISBN 0-521-32924-8.
^ ^a ^b Ira M. Lapidus, A History of Islamic Societies, Cambridge 1988
^ Arthur Glyn Leonard (2009). The Lower Niger and Its Tribes. BiblioBazaar, LLC. pp. 21–22. ISBN 1113810572.
^ "The Middle Passage". National Great Blacks in Wax Museum. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
^ Sparks, Randy J. (2004). The Two Princes of Calabar: An Eighteenth-century Atlantic Odyssey. Harvard University Press. p. 39. ISBN 0-674-01312-3.
^ Chambers, Douglas B. (2005). Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 22. ISBN 1-578-06706-5.
^ ^a ^b "CALABAR (or OLD CALABAR)". 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume V04, Page 962. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
^ "History of Calabar". The African Executive. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
^ [www.conflictologist.narod.ru/nig66.html]
^ John de St. Jorre. The Nigerian Civil War. London:Hodder and Stoughton, 1972
^ Falola, Toyin, and Julius Omozuanvbo Ihonvbere. The Rise and Fall of Nigeria's Second Republic, 1979-1983. London: Zed Books, 1985
^ http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2836.htm
^ "CNN.com - Gasoline pipeline blast kills up to 200 in Nigeria - May 12, 2006". CNN. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
^ Taylor, Jerome (May 13, 2006). "Nigerian petrol thieves suspected as blast kills 200". The Independent (London). Retrieved May 4, 2010.
^ Cleric killed in Nigeria mosque BBC News
^ "Nigeria election 'worst ever seen'", SMH News, 24 April 2007.
^ Tom Ashby, "Yar'Adua wins Nigeria poll 'charade'", Reuters (IOL), 24 April 2007.
^ "Obituary: President Yar'Adua". BBC News. May 6, 2010.
^ "Nigeria country profile". BBC News. April 19, 2011.

History of the United States

2011-07-16T11:48:00.000-07:00

History of the United States

"American history" redirects here. For the history of the continents, see History of the Americas.

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The history of the United States traditionally starts with the Declaration of Independence in the year 1776, yet its territory was occupied first by the Native Americans since prehistoric times and then also by European colonists who followed the voyages of Christopher Columbus starting in 1492. The largest settlements were by the English on the East Coast, starting in 1607. By the 1770s the Thirteen Colonies contained two and half million people, were prosperous, and had developed their own political and legal systems. The British government's threat to American self-government led to war in 1775 and the Declaration of Independence in 1776. With major military and financial support from France, the patriots won the American Revolution. In 1789 the Constitution became the basis for the United States federal government, with war hero George Washington as the first president. The young nation continued to struggle with the scope of central government and with European influence, creating the first political parties in the 1790s, and fighting a second war for independence in 1812.
U.S. territory expanded westward across the continent, brushing aside Native Americans and Mexico, and overcoming modernizers who wanted to deepen the economy rather than expand the geography. Slavery of Africans was abolished in the North, but heavy world demand for cotton let it flourish in the Southern states. The 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln calling for no more expansion of slavery triggered a crisis as eleven slave states seceded to found the Confederate States of America in 1861. The bloody American Civil War (1861–65) redefined the nation and remains the central iconic event. The South was defeated and, in the Reconstruction era, the U.S. ended slavery, extended rights to African Americans, and readmitted secessionist states with loyal governments. The national government was much stronger, and it now had the explicit duty to protect individuals. Reconstruction was rolled back by the white South, leaving the blacks in a world of Jim Crow political, social and economic inferiority. The entire South remained poor while the North and West grew rapidly.
Thanks to an outburst of entrepreneurship in the North and the arrival of millions of immigrant workers from Europe, the U.S. became the leading industrialized power by 1900. Disgust with corruption, waste, and traditional politics stimulated the Progressive movement, 1890s-1920s, which pushed for reform in industry and politics and put into the Constitution women's suffrage and Prohibition of alcohol (the latter repealed in 1933). Initially neutral in World War I, the U.S. declared war on Germany in 1917, and funded the Allied victory. The nation refused to follow President Woodrow Wilson's leadership and never joined the League of Nations. After a prosperous decade in the 1920s the Wall Street Crash of 1929 marked the onset of the decade-long world-wide Great Depression. A political realignment expelled the Republicans from power and installed Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt and his elaborate and expensive New Deal programs for relief, recovery, and reform. Roosevelt's Democratic coalition, comprising ethics in the north, labor unions, big-city machines, intellectuals, and the white South, dominated national politics into the 1960s. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S. entered World War II alongside the Allies and helped defeat Nazi Germany in Europe and, with the detonation of newly-invented atomic bombs, Japan in Asia and the Pacific.
The Soviet Union and the U.S. emerged as opposing superpowers after the war and began the Cold War confronting indirectly in an arms race, the Space Race, and intervention in Europe and eastern Asia. Liberalism reflected in the civil rights movement and opposition to war in Vietnam peaked in the 1960s–70s before giving way to conservatism in the early 1980s. The Cold War ended when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, leaving the U.S. to prosper in the booming Information Age economy that was boosted, at least in part, by information technology. International conflict and economic uncertainty heightened by 2001 with the September 11 attacks and subsequent War on Terror and the late-2000s recession.

[hide]

[edit] Pre-Columbian era

Main article: Pre-Columbian era

It is not definitively known how or when the Native Americans first settled the Americas and the present-day United States. The prevailing theory proposes that people migrated from Eurasia across Beringia, a land bridge that connected Siberia to present-day Alaska, and then spread southward throughout the Americas. This migration might have begun as early as 30,000 years ago^[1] and continued through to about 10,000 years ago, when the land bridge became submerged by the rising sea level caused by the ending of the last glacial period.^[2] These early inhabitants, called Paleoamericans, soon diversified into many hundreds of culturally distinct nations and tribes.
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during the Early Modern period. While technically referring to the era before Christopher Columbus' voyages of 1492 to 1504, in practice the term usually includes the history of American indigenous cultures until they were conquered or significantly influenced by Europeans, even if this happened decades or even centuries after Columbus' initial landing.

[edit] Colonial period

The Spanish conquistador Coronado explored parts of the American Southwest from 1540 to 1542.

Main article: Colonial history of the United States

After a period of exploration by people from various European countries, Spanish, Dutch, English, French, Swedish, and Portuguese settlements were established. In the 16th century, Europeans brought horses, cattle, and hogs to the Americas and, in turn, took back to Europe maize, potatoes, tobacco, beans, and squash. The disease environment was very unhealthy for explorers and early settlers. The Native Americans became exposed to new diseases such as smallpox and measles and died in very large numbers, usually before large-scale European settlement began.

[edit] Spanish, Dutch, and French colonization

Spanish explorers were the first Europeans to arrive in what is now the United States with Christopher Columbus' second expedition, which reached Puerto Rico on November 19, 1493; others reached Florida in 1513.^[3] Quickly Spanish expeditions reached the Appalachian Mountains, the Mississippi River, the Grand Canyon^[4] and the Great Plains. In 1540, Hernando de Soto undertook an extensive exploration of Southeast. Also in 1540 Francisco Vázquez de Coronado explored from Arizona to central Kansas.^[5] The Spanish sent some settlers, creating the first permanent European settlement in the continental United States at St. Augustine, Florida in 1565, but it attracted few permanent settlers. Much larger and more important Spanish settlements included Santa Fe, Albuquerque, San Antonio, Tucson, San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco.^[6]

European territorial claims in North America, c. 1750

France

Kingdom of Great Britain

Spain

New Netherland was the 17th century Dutch colony centered on New York City and the Hudson River Valley, where they traded furs with the Native Americans to the north and were a barrier to Yankee expansion from New England. The Dutch were Calvinists who built the Reformed Church in America, but they were tolerant of other religions and cultures. The colony was taken over by Britain in 1664. It left an enduring legacy on American cultural and political life, including a secular broadmindedness and mercantile pragmatism in the city, a rural traditionalism in the countryside typified by the story of Rip Van Winkle, and politicians such as Martin Van Buren, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt.^[7]
New France was the area colonized by France from 1534 to 1763. There were few permanent settlers outside Quebec, but Indian tribes often became military allies in France's wars with Britain. After 1750 the Acadians—French settlers who had been expelled by the British from Acadia (Nova Scotia)—resettled in Louisiana, where they developed a distinctive rural Cajun culture that still exists. They became American citizens in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase.^[8] Other French villages along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers were absorbed when the Americans started arriving after 1770.

[edit] British colonization

Further information: British colonization of the Americas

The Mayflower, which transported Pilgrims to the New World. During the first winter at Plymouth, about half of the Pilgrims died.^[9]

The strip of land along the eastern seacoast was settled primarily by English colonists in the 17th century, along with much smaller numbers of Dutch and Swedes. Colonial America was defined by a severe labor shortage that employed forms of unfree labor such as slavery and indentured servitude,^[10] and by a British policy of benign neglect (salutary neglect) that permitted the development of an American spirit distinct from that of its European founders.^[11] Over half of all European immigrants to Colonial America arrived as indentured servants.^[12]
The first successful English colony was established in 1607, on the James River at Jamestown. It languished for decades until a new wave of settlers arrived in the late 17th century and established commercial agriculture based on tobacco. Between the late 1610s and the Revolution, the British shipped an estimated 50,000 convicts to their American colonies.^[13] One example of conflict between Native Americans and English settlers was the 1622 Powhatan uprising in Virginia, in which Native Americans had killed hundreds of English settlers. The largest conflict between Native Americans and English settlers in the 17th century was King Philip's War in New England,^[14] although the Yamasee War may have been bloodier.^[15]
The Plymouth Colony was established in 1620. New England was initially settled primarily by Puritans who established the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630.^[16] The Middle Colonies, consisting of the present-day states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, were characterized by a large degree of diversity. The first attempted English settlement south of Virginia was the Province of Carolina, with Georgia Colony the last of the Thirteen Colonies established in 1733.^[17] Methodism became the prevalent religion among colonial citizens after the First Great Awakening, a religious revival led by preacher Jonathan Edwards in 1734.^[16]

[edit] Political integration and autonomy

Join, or Die: This 1756 political cartoon by Benjamin Franklin urged the colonies to join together during the French and Indian War.

The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a watershed event in the political development of the colonies. The influence of the main rivals of the British Crown in the colonies and Canada, the French and North American Indians, was significantly reduced. Moreover, the war effort resulted in greater political integration of the colonies, as symbolized by Benjamin Franklin's call for the colonies to "Join or Die".
Following Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America, King George III issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763 with the goal of organizing the new North American empire and stabilizing relations with the native Indians. In ensuing years, strains developed in the relations between the colonists and the Crown. The British Parliament passed the Stamp Act of 1765, imposing a tax on the colonies to help pay for troops stationed in North America following the British victory in the Seven Years' War.
The British government felt that the colonies were the primary beneficiaries of this military presence, and should pay at least a portion of the expense. The colonists did not share this view. Rather, with the French and Indian threat diminished, the primary outside influence remained that of Britain. A conflict of economic interests increased with the right of the British Parliament to govern the colonies without representation being called into question.

Nathaniel Currier's 1846 depiction of the Boston Tea Party.^[18]

The Boston Tea Party in 1773 was a direct action by colonists in the town of Boston to protest against the taxes levied by the British government. Parliament responded the next year with the Coercive Acts, which sparked outrage and resistance in the Thirteen Colonies. Colonists convened the First Continental Congress to coordinate their resistance to the Coercive Acts. The Congress called for a boycott of British trade, published a list of rights and grievances, and petitioned the king for redress of those grievances.
The Congress also called for another meeting if their petition did not halt enforcement of the Coercive Acts. Their appeal to the Crown had no effect, and so the Second Continental Congress was convened in 1775 to organize the defense of the colonies at the onset of the American Revolutionary War.

[edit] Formation of the United States of America (1776–1789)

Main article: History of the United States (1776–1789)

Washington's surprise crossing of the Delaware River in Dec. 1776 was a major comeback after the loss of New York City; his army defeated the British in two battles and recaptured New Jersey.

The Thirteen Colonies began a rebellion against British rule in 1775 and proclaimed their independence in 1776 as the United States of America. In the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) the American capture of the British invasion army at Saratoga in 1777 secured the Northeast and encouraged the French to make a military alliance with the United States. France brought in Spain and the Netherlands, thus balancing the military and naval forces on each side as Britain had no allies.^[19] General George Washington (1732-1799) proved an excellent organizer and administrator, who worked successfully with Congress and the state governors, selecting and mentoring his senior officers, supporting and training his troops, and maintaining an idealistic Republican Army. His biggest challenge was logistics, since neither Congress nor the states had the funding to provide adequately for the equipment, munitions, clothing, paychecks, or even the food supply of the soldiers. As a battlefield tactician Washington was often outmaneuvered by his British counterparts. As a strategist, however, he had a better idea of how to win the war than they did. The British sent four invasion armies. Washington's strategy forced the first army out of Boston in 1776, and was responsible for the surrender of the second and third armies at Saratoga (1777) and Yorktown (1781). He limited the British control to New York and a few places while keeping Patriot control of the great majority of the population. The Loyalists, whom the British counted upon too heavily, comprised about 20% of the population but never were well organized. As the war ended, Washington watched proudly as the final British army quietly sailed out of New York City in November 1783, taking the Loyalist leadership with them. Washington astonished the world when instead of seizing power for himself, he retired quietly to his farm in Virginia. ^[20] Political scientist Seymour Martin Lipset observes, "The United States was the first major colony successfully to revolt against colonial rule. In this sense, it was the first 'new nation'."^[21]

Trumbull's Declaration of Independence

On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, declared the independence of "the United States of America" in the Declaration of Independence. July 4 is celebrated as the nation's birthday. The new nation was founded on Enlightenment ideals of liberalism in what Thomas Jefferson called the unalienable rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," and dedicated strongly to republican principles. Republicanism emphasized the people are sovereign (not hereditary kings), demanded civic duty, feared corruption, and rejected any aristocracy.^[22]
In the 1780s the national government was able to settle the issue of the western territories, which were ceded by the states to Congress and became territories; soon they became states. Nationalists worried that the new nation was too fragile to withstand an international war, or even internal revolts such as the Shays' Rebellion of 1786 in Massachusetts. Nationalists—most of them war veterans—organized in every state and convinced Congress to call the Philadelphia Convention in 1787. The delegates from every state wrote a new Constitution that created a much more powerful and efficient central government, one with a strong president, and powers of taxation. The new government reflected the prevailing republican ideals of guarantees of individual liberty and upon constraining the power of government through a system of separation of powers.^[23]
To assuage the Anti-Federalists who feared a too-powerful national government, the nation adopted the United States Bill of Rights in 1791. Comprising the first ten amendments of the Constitution, it guaranteed individual liberties such as freedom of speech and religious practice, jury trials, and stated that citizens and states had reserved rights (which were not specified).^[24]

[edit] Early national era (1789–1849)

Main article: History of the United States (1789–1849)

See also: First Party System and Second Party System

Economic growth in America per capita income

George Washington—a renowned hero of the American Revolutionary War, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, and president of the Constitutional Convention—became the first President of the United States under the new Constitution in 1789.
The major accomplishments of the Washington Administration were creating a strong national government that was recognized without question by all Americans, and, following the plans of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, assuming the debts of the states (the debt holders received federal bonds), creating the Bank of the United States to stabilize the financial system, setting up a uniform system of tariffs (taxes on imports) and other taxes to pay off the debt and provide a financial infrastructure. To support his programs Hamilton created a new political party—the first in the world based on voters—the Federalist Party. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison led the opposition, forming an opposition Republican Party (usually called the Democratic-Republican Party by historians). Hamilton and Washington presented the country in 1794 with the Jay Treaty that reestablished good relations with Britain. The Jeffersonians vehemently protested, and the voters aligned behind one party or the other, thus setting up the First Party System. The treaty passed, but politics became very heated.^[25]
The Whiskey Rebellion in 1794, when western settlers protested against a federal tax on liquor, was the first serious test of the federal government. Washington called out the state militia and personally led an army, as the insurgents melted away and the power of the national government was firmly established.^[26]
Washington refused to serve more than two terms--setting a precedent--and in famous his farewell address, he extolled the benefits of federal government and importance of ethics and morality while warning against foreign alliances and formation of political parties.^[27]
John Adams, a Federalist, defeated Jefferson in the 1796 election. War loomed with France and the Federalists used the opportunity to try to silence the Republicans with the Alien and Sedition Acts, build up a large army with Hamilton at the head, and prepare for a French invasion. However, the Federalists became divided after Adams sent a successful peace mission to France that ended the Quasi-War of 1798. Jefferson defeated Adams for the presidency in the 1800 election.^[28]

Territorial expansion of the United States, omitting Oregon and other claims.

Although the Constitution included a Supreme Court, its functions were vague until John Marshall, the Chief Justice (1801–35), defined them, especially the power to overturn acts of Congress that violated the Constitution, first enunciated in 1803 in Marbury v. Madison.^[29] The Louisiana Purchase, in 1803, removed the French presence from the western border of the United States and provided U.S. settlers with vast potential for expansion west of the Mississippi River.^[30]
In response to multiple grievances, the Congress declared war on Britain in 1812. The grievances included humiliating the Americans in the Chesapeake incident of 1807, continued British impressment of American sailors into the Royal Navy, restrictions on trade with France, and arming hostile Indians in Ohio and the western territories.^[31] The War of 1812 ended in a draw after bitter fighting that lasted until January 8, 1815, during the Battle of New Orleans. The Americans gained no territory but were cheered by a sense of victory in what they called a "second war of independence". The war was a major loss for Native American tribes in the Northwest and Southeast who had allied themselves with Britain and were defeated on the battlefield.
As strong opponents of the war, the Federalists held the Hartford Convention in 1814 that hinted at disunion. National euphoria after the victory at New Orleans ruined the prestige of the Federalists and they no longer played a significant role.^[32] President Madison and most Republicans realized it had been a mistake to let the Bank of the United States close down, for its absence greatly hindered the financing of the war. So they chartered the Second Bank of the United States in 1816. The Republicans also imposed tariffs designed to protect the infant industries that had been created when Britain was blockading the U.S. With the collapse of the Federalists as a party, the adoption of many Federalist principles by the Republicans, and the systematic policy of President James Monroe in his two terms (1817–25) to downplay partisanship, the nation entered an Era of Good Feelings, with far less partisanship than before (or after), and closed out the First Party System.^[33]^[34]
The Monroe Doctrine, expressed in 1823, proclaimed the United States' opinion that European powers should no longer colonize or interfere in the Americas. This was a defining moment in the foreign policy of the United States. The Monroe Doctrine was adopted in response to American and British fears over Russian and French expansion into the Western Hemisphere.^[35]

Settlers crossing the Plains of Nebraska

In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which authorized the president to negotiate treaties that exchanged Native American tribal lands in the eastern states for lands west of the Mississippi River. This established Andrew Jackson, a military hero and President, as a proponent of the forcible removal of native populations to the West.^[36] The act resulted most notably in the Trail of Tears, a forced migration of several native tribes to the West, with several thousand people dying en route, and the Creeks' violent opposition and eventual defeat. The Indian Removal Act also directly caused the ceding of Spanish Florida and led to the many Seminole Wars.^[37]
After 1840 the abolitionist movement redefined itself, mobilized its supporters (especially among religious people in the Northeast affected by the Second Great Awakening), escalated its attacks, and proclaimed slave ownership a sin, not just an unfortunate social evil. It gained tens of thousands of followers. William Lloyd Garrison published the most influential of the many anti-slavery newspapers, The Liberator, while Frederick Douglass, an ex-slave, began writing for that newspaper around 1840 and started his own abolitionist newspaper North Star in 1847.^[38]
The Republic of Texas was annexed in 1845.^[39] The U.S. army, using regulars and large numbers of volunteers, defeated Mexico in 1848 during the Mexican-American War. Public sentiment in the U.S. was divided as Whigs^[40] and anti-slavery forces^[41] opposed the war. The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ceded California, New Mexico, and adjacent areas to the United States, about thirty percent of Mexico. Westward expansion was enhanced further by the California Gold Rush, the discovery of gold in that state in 1848. Numerous "forty-niners" trekked to California in pursuit of gold; land-hungry European immigrants also contributed to the rising white population in the west.^[16] In 1849 cholera spread along the California and Oregon Trails. An estimated 150,000 Americans died during the two cholera pandemics between 1832 and 1849.^[42]

[edit] Civil War era (1849–1865)

Main article: History of the United States (1849–1865)

The Union: blue (free), yellow (slave);
The Confederacy: brown
*territories in light shades

In the middle of the 19th century, white Americans of the North and South were to reconcile fundamental differences in their approach to government, economics, society and African American slavery. The issue of slavery in the new territories was settled by the Compromise of 1850 brokered by Whig Henry Clay and Democrat Stephen Douglas; the Compromise included admission of California as a free state and the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act to make it easier for masters to reclaim runaway slaves.^[39] In 1854, the proposed Kansas-Nebraska Act abrogated the Missouri Compromise by providing that each new state of the Union would decide its stance on slavery.^[43]
By 1860, there were nearly four million slaves residing in the United States, nearly eight times as many from 1790; within the same time period, cotton production in the U.S. boomed from less than a thousand tons to nearly one million tons per year. There were some slave rebellions—including by Gabriel Prosser (1800), Denmark Vesey (1822), and Nat Turner (1831)—but they all failed and led to tighter slave oversight in the south.^[44]

Abraham Lincoln with Allan Pinkerton and Major General John Alexander McClernand at the Battle of Antietam.

After Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 election, eleven Southern states seceded from the union between late 1860 and 1861, establishing a new government, the Confederate States of America, on February 8, 1861.^[45] Along with the northwestern portion of Virginia, which became West Virginia, four of the five northernmost "slave states" did not secede and became known as the Border States.^[45]

[edit] Civil War

Further information: American Civil War

The Civil War began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked a U.S. military installation at Fort Sumter in South Carolina.^[46] In response to the attack, on April 15, Lincoln called on the states to send detachments totaling 75,000 troops to recapture forts, protect the capital, and "preserve the Union", which in his view still existed intact despite the actions of the seceding states. The two armies had their first major clash at the First Battle of Bull Run, which ended in a surprising Union defeat, but, more importantly, proved to both the Union and Confederacy that the war was going be much longer and bloodier than they had originally anticipated.
The war soon divided into two theaters: Eastern and Western. In the western theater, the Union was quite successful, with major battles, such as Perryville, producing strategic Union victories and destroying major confederate operations.

Anger at military conscription during the American Civil War led to the New York Draft Riots of 1863, one of the worst incidents of civil unrest in American history. The city's Irish and Excelsior brigades were among the five Union brigades with the most combat dead.

In the Eastern theater, things did not start well for the Union. In the summer of 1861, General Irvin McDowell was given the task of destroying the Confederacy in one quick battle with the newly created Army of Northeastern Virginia. Union and Confederate forces engaged in combat at Manassas Junction (Bull Run), which resulted in a surprising Union defeat due in part to steadfast Confederate defense. Following McDowell's failure, Major General George B. McClellan was put in charge of the Union armies. After reorganizing the new Army of the Potomac, McClellan failed to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia in his Peninsula Campaign and retreated after attacks from newly appointed Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
Feeling confident in his army after defeating the Union at Second Bull Run, Lee embarked on an invasion of the north that was stopped by McClellan at the bloody Battle of Antietam. Despite this, McClellan was relieved from command for refusing to pursue Lee's crippled army. The next commander, General Ambrose Burnside, suffered a humiliating defeat by Lee's smaller army at the Battle of Fredericksburg late in 1862, causing yet another change in commanders. Lee won again at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, while losing his top aide, Stonewall Jackson. But Lee pushed too hard and ignored the Union threat in the west.^{[citation needed]} Lee invaded Pennsylvania in search of supplies and to cause war weariness in the North. In perhaps the turning point of the war, Lee's army was badly beaten at the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1–3, 1863, and barely made it back to Virginia.
Simultaneously on July 4, 1863, Union forces under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant gained control of the Mississippi River at the Battle of Vicksburg, thereby splitting the Confederacy. Lincoln made General Grant commander of all Union armies.
The last two years of the war was bloody for both sides, with Grant launching a war of attrition against General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. This war of attrition was divided into three main campaigns. The first of these, the Overland Campaign forced Lee to retreat into the city of Petersburg where Grant launched his second major offensive, the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign in which he sieged Petersburg. After a near ten-month siege, Petersburg surrendered. However, the defense of Fort Gregg allowed Lee to move his army out of Petersburg. Grant pursued and launched the final, Appomattox Campaign which resulted in Lee surrendering his Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House.^[45] Other Confederate armies followed suit and the war ended.
Based on 1860 census figures, about 8% of all white males aged 13 to 43 died in the war, including about 6% in the North and approximately 18% in the South,^[47] establishing the American Civil War as the deadliest war in American history. Its legacy includes ending slavery in the United States, restoring the Union, and strengthening the role of the federal government. The social, political, economic and racial issues of the war decisively shaped the Reconstruction era, which lasted through 1877, and brought about changes that would eventually help make the country a united superpower.

[edit] Reconstruction and a rise in power (1865–1918)

Main article: History of the United States (1865–1918)

[edit] Reconstruction

Further information: Reconstruction era of the United States

Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad (1869) at First Transcontinental Railroad, by Andrew J. Russell

Reconstruction took place for most of the decade following the Civil War. During this era, the "Reconstruction Amendments" were passed to expand civil rights for black Americans. Those amendments included the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment that guaranteed citizenship for all people born or naturalized within U.S. territory, and the Fifteenth Amendment that granted the vote for all men regardless of race. While the Civil Rights Act of 1875 forbade discrimination in the service of public facilities, the Black Codes denied blacks privileges readily available to whites.^[48]
In response to Reconstruction, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) emerged around the late 1860s as a white-supremacist organization opposed to black civil rights. Congress passed the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1870 and vigorous enforcement closed down the Klan and classified the KKK as a terrorist group. However, an 1883 Supreme Court decision nullified the Civil Rights Act of 1875 and ended federal efforts to stop private acts of violence designed to suppress legal rights.^[49]
During the era, many regions of the southern U.S. were military-governed and often corrupt; Reconstruction ended after the disputed 1876 election between Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes and Democratic candidate Samuel J. Tilden. Hayes won the election, and the South soon re-entered the national political scene.^[50]

[edit] Gilded Age and Progressivism

Further information: Gilded Age and Progressive Era

The "Gilded Age" was a term that Mark Twain used to describe the period of the late 19th century when there had been a dramatic expansion of American wealth and prosperity. Reform of the Age included the Civil Service Act, which mandated a competitive examination for applicants for government jobs. Other important legislation included the Interstate Commerce Act, which ended railroads' discrimination against small shippers, and the Sherman Antitrust Act, which outlawed monopolies in business. Twain believed that this age was corrupted by such elements as land speculators, scandalous politics, and unethical business practices.^[51]
By 1890 American industrial production and per capita income exceeded those of all other world nations. In response to heavy debts and decreasing farm prices, wheat and cotton farmers joined the Populist Party.^[52] An unprecedented wave of immigration from Europe served both to provide the labor for American industry and create diverse communities in previously undeveloped areas. From 1880 to 1914, peak years of immigration, more than 22 million people migrated to the United States.^[53] The workers' demand for control of their workplace led to the often violent rise of the labor movement in the cities and mining camps. Industrial leaders included John D. Rockefeller in oil and Andrew Carnegie in steel; both became leaders of philanthropy, giving away their fortunes to create the modern system of hospitals, universities, libraries and foundations.

Mulberry Street, along which Manhattan's Little Italy is centered. Lower East Side, circa 1900. Almost 97% of residents of the 10 largest American cities of 1900 were non-Hispanic whites.^[54]

Dissatisfaction on the part of the growing middle class with the corruption and inefficiency of politics as usual, and the failure to deal with increasingly important urban and industrial problems, led to the dynamic Progressive Movement starting in the 1890s. In every major city and state, and at the national level as well, and in education, medicine, and industry, the progressives called for the modernization and reform of decrepit institutions, the elimination of corruption in politics, and the introduction of efficiency as a criteria for change. Leading politicians from both parties, most notably Theodore Roosevelt, Charles Evans Hughes, and Robert LaFollette on the Republican side, and William Jennings Bryan on the Democratic side, took up the cause of progressive reform. Women became especially involved in demands for woman suffrage, prohibition, and better schools; their most prominent leader was Jane Addams of Chicago. Progressives implemented anti-trust laws and regulated such industries of meat-packing, drugs, and railroads. Four new constitutional amendments—the Sixteenth through Nineteenth—resulted from progressive activism, bringing the federal income tax, direct election of Senators, prohibition, and woman suffrage.^[55] The Progressive Movement lasted through the 1920s; the most active period was 1900–1918.^[56]

[edit] Imperialism

Further information: American imperialism

The United States emerged as a world economic and military power after 1890. The main episode was the Spanish–American War, which began when Spain refused American demands to reform its oppressive policies in Cuba. The "splendid little war", as one official called it, involved a series of quick American victories on land and at sea. At the Treaty of Paris peace conference the United States acquired the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Cuba became an independent country, under close American tutelage. Although the war itself was widely popular, the peace terms proved controversial. William Jennings Bryan led his Democratic Party in opposition to control of the Philippines, which he denounced as imperialism unbecoming to American democracy. President William McKinley defended the acquisition, and was riding high as the nation had returned to prosperity and felt triumphant in the war. McKinley easily defeated Bryan in a rematch in the 1900 presidential election. After defeating an insurrection by Filipino nationalists, the United States engaged in a large scale program to modernize the economy of the Philippines, and dramatically upgrade the public health facilities.^[57] By 1908, however, Americans lost interest in an empire, and turned their international attention to the Caribbean, and especially the building of the Panama Canal. The canal opened in 1914, and increased trade with Japan and the rest of the Far East. A key innovation was the Open Door Policy, whereby the imperial powers were given equal access to Chinese business, with no one of them allowed to take control of China.^[58]

[edit] World War I

Main articles: American entry into World War I and United States home front during World War I

While World War I raged in Europe from 1914, the U.S. pursued a policy of neutrality until disputes with Germany over unrestricted submarine warfare, among other disagreements, erupted into an American declaration of war in April 1917.^[59] The U.S. had previously shown interest in world peace by participating in the Hague Conferences. American involvement in the war proved essential to the Allied victory in 1918. President Woodrow Wilson also implemented a set of propositions titled the Fourteen Points to ensure peace, but they were denied at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. Isolationist sentiment following the war also blocked the U.S. from participating in the League of Nations, an important part of the Treaty of Versailles.^[16]

[edit] Woman suffrage

Further information: Women's suffrage in the United States

Alice Paul wrote the Equal Rights Amendment, whose passage would become an important goal of the Women's Liberation Movement half a century later.

The women's suffrage movement began with the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, and the Declaration of Sentiments demanding equal rights for women. Many of the activists became politically aware during the abolitionist movement. The women's rights campaign during "first-wave feminism" was led by Mott, Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, among many others. The movement reorganized after the Civil War, gaining experienced campaigners, many of whom had worked for prohibition in the Women's Christian Temperance Union. By the end of the 19th century a few western states had granted women full voting rights,^[60] though women had made significant legal victories, gaining rights in areas such as property and child custody.^[61]
Around 1912 the feminist movement, which had grown sluggish, began to reawaken, putting an emphasis on its demands for equality and arguing that the corruption of American politics demanded purification by women, because men could not do that job.^[62] Protests became increasingly common as suffragette Alice Paul led parades through the capital and major cities. Paul split from the large National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), which favored a more moderate approach and supported the Democratic Party and Woodrow Wilson, led by Carrie Chapman Catt, and formed the more militant National Woman's Party. Suffragists were arrested during their "Silent Sentinels" pickets at the White House, the first time such a tactic was used, and were taken as political prisoners.^[63]
Finally, the suffragettes were ordered released from prison, and Wilson urged Congress to pass a Constitutional amendment enfranchising women. The old anti-suffragist argument that only men could fight a war, and therefore only men deserve the right to vote, was refuted by the enthusiastic participation of tens of thousands of American women on the home front in World War I. Across the world, grateful nations gave women the right to vote. Furthermore, most of the Western states had already given the women the right to vote in state and national elections, and the representatives from those states, including the first woman Jeannette Rankin of Montana, demonstrated that woman suffrage was a success. The main resistance came from the south, where white leaders were worried about the threat of black women voting. Nevertheless Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment in 1919. It became constitutional law on August 26, 1920, after ratification by the 36th required state.^[64]
NAWSA became the League of Women Voters and the National Woman's Party began lobbying for full equality and the Equal Rights Amendment which would pass Congress during the second wave of the women's movement in 1972. Politicians responded to the new electorate by emphasizing issues of special interest to women, especially prohibition, child health, and world peace.^[65]^[66] The main surge of women voting came in 1928, when the big-city machines realized they needed the support of women to elect Al Smith, while rural dries mobilized women to support Prohibition and vote for Republican Herbert Hoover.^[67]

[edit] Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and World War II (1918–1945)

Main article: History of the United States (1918–1945)

Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in Chicago, 1921

Following World War I, the U.S. grew steadily in stature as an economic and military world power. The United States Senate did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles imposed by its Allies on the defeated Central Powers; instead, the United States chose to pursue unilateralism, if not isolationism.^[68] The aftershock of Russia's October Revolution resulted in real fears of communism in the United States, leading to a three-year Red Scare. In 1918 the U.S. lost 675,000 people to the Spanish flu pandemic.^[69]
In 1920, the manufacture, sale, import and export of alcohol was prohibited by the Eighteenth Amendment. Prohibition encouraged illegal breweries and dealers to make substantial amounts of money selling alcohol illegally. The Prohibition ended in 1933, a failure. Additionally, the KKK re-formed during that decade and gathered nearly 4.5 million members by 1924, and the U.S. government passed the Immigration Act of 1924 restricting foreign immigration.^[70] The 1920s were also known as the Roaring Twenties, due to the great economic prosperity during this period.^{[citation needed]} Jazz became popular among the younger generation, and thus was also called the Jazz Age.

[edit] Great Depression

Further information: Great Depression

Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother depicts destitute pea pickers in California, centering on a mother of seven, age 32, in Nipomo, California, March 1936.

During most of the 1920s, the United States enjoyed a period of unbalanced prosperity: farm prices and wages fell, while new industries and industrial profits grew. The boom was fueled by an inflated stock market, which later led to the Stock Market Crash on October 29, 1929.^[71] This, along with many other economic factors, triggered a worldwide depression known as the Great Depression. During this time, the United States experienced deflation, unemployment soared from 3% in 1929 to 25% in 1933, and manufacturing output collapsed by one-third.
In 1932, Democratic presidential nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt promised "a new deal for the American people",^[72] a phrase that has endured as a label for his administration and its many domestic achievements. The desperate economic situation, along with the substantial Democratic victories in the 1932 elections, gave Roosevelt unusual influence over Congress in the "First Hundred Days" of his administration. He used his leverage to win rapid passage of a series of measures to create welfare programs and regulate the banking system, stock market, industry and agriculture, along with many other government efforts to end the Great Depression and reform the American economy. Some programs that were a part of Roosevelt's New Deal include the Works Progress Administration (WPA) relief program, the Social Security Act, the Emergency Banking Act, and the Economy Act. The recovery was rapid in all areas except unemployment,^{[citation needed]} which decreased yet remained fairly high until 1940.^[73]

[edit] World War II

The Japanese hoped to cripple American naval power in the Pacific with the attack on Pearl Harbor, a naval base in Hawaii.

Further information: World War II and United States home front during World War II

In the Depression years the United States remained focused on domestic concerns while democracy declined across the world and many countries fell under the control of dictators. Imperial Japan asserted dominance in East Asia and in the Pacific. Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy militarized to and threatened conquests, while Britain and France attempted appeasement to avert another war in Europe. U.S. legislation in the Neutrality Acts sought to avoid foreign conflicts, however policy clashed with increasing anti-Nazi feelings following the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 that started World War II. Roosevelt positioned the U.S. as the "Arsenal of Democracy" pledging full-scale financial and munitions support for the Allies—but no soldiers.^[74] Japan tried to neutralize America's power in the Pacific by attacking Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which catalyzed American support to enter the war and seek revenge.^[75]
The main contributions of the U.S. to the Allied war effort comprised money, industrial output, food, petroleum, technological innovation, and (especially 1944-45), soldiers. Much of the focus in Washington was maximizing the economic output of the nation. The overall result was a dramatic increase in GDP, the export of vast quantities of supplies to the Allies and to American forces overseas, the end of unemployment, and a rise in civilian consumption even as 40% of the GDP went to the war effort. This was achieved by tens of millions of workers moving from low-productivity occupations to high efficiency jobs, improvements in productivity through better technology and management, and the move into the active labor force of students, retired people, housewives, and the unemployed, and an increase in hours worked. It was exhausting; leisure activities declined sharply. People tolerated the extra work because of patriotism, the pay, and the confidence it was only "for the duration" and life would return to normal as soon as the war was won. Most durable goods became unavailable, and meat, clothing, and gasoline was tightly rationed. In industrial areas housing was in short supply as people doubled up and lived in cramped quarters. Prices and wages were controlled, and Americans saved a high portion of their incomes, which led to renewed growth after the war instead of a return to depression.^[76]^[77]
The Allies--the U.S., Britain and the Soviet Union, as well as China, Canada and other countries—fought the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan. The Allies saw Germany as the main threat, and gave highest priority to Europe. The U.S. dominated the war against Japan, and stopped Japanese expansion in the Pacific in 1942. After losing to the Japanese Pearl Harbor and in the Philippines, and drawing the Battle of the Coral Sea (May 1942), the American Navy inflicted a decisive blow at Midway (June 1942). American ground forces assisted in the North African Campaign that eventually concluded with the collapse of Mussolini's fascist government in 1943, as Italy switched to the Allied side. A more significant European front was opened on D-Day, June 6, 1944, in which American and Allied forces invaded Nazi-occupied France from Britain.

The Normandy landings began the Allied march toward Germany from the west.

On the home front, mobilization of the U.S. economy was managed by Roosevelt's War Production Board. The wartime production boom led to full employment, wiping out this vestige of the Great Depression. Indeed, labor shortages encouraged industry to look for new sources of workers, finding new roles for women and blacks.^[78]
However the fervor also inspired anti-Japanese sentiment, which responded by removing everyone of Japanese descent from the West Coast war zone.^[79] Research and development took flight as well, best seen in the Manhattan Project, a secret effort to harness nuclear fission to produce highly-destructive atomic bombs.^[80]
The Allied pushed the Germans out of France, but faced an unexpected counterattack at the Battle of the Bulge in December. The last-ditch German effort failed, and as 1945 opened Allied armies in East and West were converging on Berlin, as the Nazis hurriedly tried to kill the last remaining Jews. The western front stopped short, leaving Berlin to the Soviets as the Nazi regime formally capitulated in May 1945, ending the war in Europe.^[81] Over in the Pacific, the U.S. implemented an island hopping strategy toward Tokyo, establishing airfields for bombing runs against mainland Japan from the Mariana Islands and achieving hard-fought victories at Iwo Jima and Okinawa in 1945.^[82] Bloodied at Okinawa, the U.S. prepared to invade Japane's home islands when B-29's dropped two atomic bombs on Japanese cities, forcing the empire's surrender in a matter of days and thus ending World War II.^[83] The U.S. occupied Japan (and part of Germany), sending Douglas MacArthur to restructure the Japanese economy and political system along American lines.^[84]
Though the nation lost more than 400,000 soldiers,^[85] the mainland prospered untouched by the devastation of war that inflicted a heavy toll on Europe and Asia.
Participation in postwar foreign affairs marked the end of predominant American isolationism. The awesome threat of nuclear weapons inspired both optimism and fear. Nuclear weapons were never used after 1945, as both sides drew back from the brink and a "long peace" characterized the Cold War years, 1947–1991. There were, however, regional wars in Korea and Vietnam.^[86]

[edit] The Cold War begins (1945–1964)

Main article: History of the United States (1945–1964)

President Kennedy's Civil Rights Address, June 11, 1963.

Following World War II, the United States emerged as one of the two dominant superpowers. The U.S. Senate on a bipartisan vote approved U.S. participation in the United Nations (UN), which marked a turn away from the traditional isolationism of the U.S. and toward more international involvement.
The primary American goal of 1945–48 was to rescue Europe from the devastation of World War II and to contain the expansion of Communism, represented by the Soviet Union. The Truman Doctrine of 1947 provided military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey to counteract the threat of Communist expansion in the Balkans. In 1948, the United States replaced piecemeal financial aid programs with a comprehensive Marshall Plan, which pumped money into the economy of Western Europe, and removed trade barriers, while modernizing the managerial practices of businesses and governments. The Plan's $13 billion budget was in the context of a U.S. GDP of $258 billion in 1948, and was on top of $12 billion in American aid to Europe between the end of the war and the start of the Marshall Plan. Soviet head of state Joseph Stalin prevented his satellites from participating, and from that point on Eastern Europe, with inefficient centralised economies, fell further and further behind Western Europe in terms of economic development and prosperity. In 1949, the United States, rejecting the long-standing policy of no military alliances in peacetime, formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance, which continues into the 21st century. In response the Soviets formed the Warsaw Pact of communist states.^[87]
In 1950 the Soviets tested their first nuclear weapon, thereby escalating the risk of warfare. Indeed, the threat of mutually assured destruction prevented both powers from going too far, and resulted in proxy wars, especially in Korea and Vietnam, in which the two sides did not directly confront each other.^[86] Within the United States, the Cold War prompted concerns about Communist influence. The unexpected leapfrogging of American technology by the Soviets in 1957 with Sputnik, the first Earth satellite, began the Space Race, won by the Americans as Apollo 11 landed astronauts on the moon in 1969. The angst about the weaknesses of American education led to large-scale federal support for science education and research.^[88]
In the decades after World War II, the United States became a global influence in economic, political, military, cultural, and technological affairs. Beginning in the 1950s, middle-class culture had a growing obsession with consumer goods. White Americans made up nearly 90% of the population in 1950.^[89]^{[clarification needed]}
In 1960, the charismatic politician John F. Kennedy was elected as the first and—thus far—only Roman Catholic President of the United States. The Kennedy family brought a new life and vigor to the atmosphere of the White House. His time in office was marked by such notable events as the acceleration of the United States' role in the Space Race; escalation of the American role in the Vietnam War; the Cuban missile crisis; the Bay of Pigs Invasion; the jailing of Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Birmingham campaign; and the appointment of his brother Robert F. Kennedy to his Cabinet as Attorney General. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, leaving the nation in profound shock.^[90]

[edit] Climax of liberalism

The climax of liberalism came in the mid-1960s with the success of President Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–69) in securing congressional passage of his Great Society programs, including civil rights, the end of segregation, Medicare, extension of welfare, federal aid to education at all levels, subsidies for the arts and humanities, environmental activism, and a series of programs designed to wipe out poverty.^[91]^[92] As recent historians have explained:

"Gradually, liberal intellectuals crafted a new vision for achieving economic and social justice. The liberalism of the early 1960s contained no hint of radicalism, little disposition to revive new deal era crusades against concentrated economic power, and no intention to fast and class passions or redistribute wealth or restructure existing institutions. Internationally it was strongly anti-Communist. It aimed to defend the free world, to encourage economic growth at home, and to ensure that the resulting plenty was fairly distributed. Their agenda-much influenced by Keynesian economic theory-envisioned massive public expenditure that would speed economic growth, thus providing the public resources to fund larger welfare, housing, health, and educational programs."^[93]

Johnson was rewarded with an electoral landslide in 1964 against conservative Barry Goldwater, which broke the decades-long control of Congress by the Conservative coalition. But the Republicans bounced back in 1966 and elected Richard Nixon in 1968. Nixon largely continued the New Deal and Great Society programs he inherited; conservative reaction would come with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980.

Meanwhile, the American people completed a great migration from farms into the cities and experienced a period of sustained economic expansion. At the same time, institutionalized racism across the United States, but especially in the South, was increasingly challenged by the growing Civil Rights movement. The activism of African American leaders Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which launched the movement. For years African Americans would struggle with violence against them, but would achieve great steps towards equality with Supreme Court decisions, including Brown v. Board of Education and Loving v. Virginia, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which ended the Jim Crow laws that legalized racial segregation between Whites and Blacks.
Martin Luther King, Jr., who had won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to achieve equality of the races, was assassinated in 1968. Following his death others led the movement, most notably King's widow, Coretta Scott King, who was also active, like her husband, in the Opposition to the Vietnam War, and in the Women's Liberation Movement. Over the first nine months of 1967, 128 American cities suffered 164 riots.^[94] The late 1960s and early 1970s saw the strengthening of Black Power, however the decade would ultimately bring about positive strides toward integration.

[edit] The Women's Movement

Further information: Second-wave feminism

Gloria Steinem at a meeting of the Women's Action Alliance, 1972.

A new consciousness of the inequality of American women began sweeping the nation, starting with the 1963 publication of Betty Friedan's best-seller, The Feminine Mystique, which explained how many housewives felt trapped and unfulfilled, assaulted American culture for its creation of the notion that women could only find fulfillment through their roles as wives, mothers, and keepers of the home, and argued that women were just as able as men to do every type of job. In 1966 Friedan and others established the National Organization for Women, or NOW, to act for women as the NAACP did for African Americans.^[61]^[95]
Protests began, and the new Women's Liberation Movement grew in size and power, gained much media attention, and, by 1968, had replaced the Civil Rights Movement as the U.S.'s main social revolution. Marches, parades, rallies, boycotts, and pickets brought out thousands, sometimes millions; Friedan's Women's Strike for Equality (1970) was a nation-wide success. The Movement was split into factions by political ideology early on, however (with NOW on the left, the Women's Equity Action League (WEAL) on the right, the National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC) in the center, and more radical groups formed by younger women on the far left).
Along with Friedan, Gloria Steinem was an important feminist leader, co-founding the NWPC, the Women's Action Alliance, and editing the Movement's magazine, Ms. The proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, passed by Congress in 1972 and favored by about seventy percent of the American public, failed to be ratified in 1982, with only three more states needed to make it law. The nation's conservative women, led by activist Phyllis Schlafly, defeated the ERA by arguing that it degraded the position of the housewife, and made young women susceptible to the military draft.^[96]^[97]
However, many federal laws (i.e. those equalizing pay, employment, education, employment opportunites, credit, ending pregnancy discrimination, and requiring NASA, the Military Academies, and other organizations to admit women), state laws (i.e. those ending spousal abuse and marital rape), Supreme Court rulings (i.e. ruling the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applied to women), and state ERAs established women's equal status under the law, and social custom and consciousness began to change, accepting women's equality. The controversial issue of abortion, deemed by the Supreme Court as a fundamental right in Roe v. Wade (1973), is still a point of debate today.^[98]

[edit] The Counterculture Revolution and Cold War Détente (1964–1980)

Main article: History of the United States (1964–1980)

Amid the Cold War, the United States entered the Vietnam War, whose growing unpopularity fed already existing social movements, including those among women, minorities and young people. President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society social programs and the judicial activism^{[citation needed]} of the Warren Court added to the wide range of social reform during the 1960s and 1970s. Feminism and the environmental movement became political forces, and progress continued toward civil rights for all Americans. The Counterculture Revolution swept through the nation and much of the western world in the late sixties and early seventies, dividing the already hostile environment but also bringing forth more liberated social views.

United States Navy F-4 Phantom II shadows a Soviet Tu-95 Bear D aircraft in the early 1970s

Johnson was succeeded by Republican Richard Nixon in 1969, who turned the war over to the South Vietnamese forces and ended American combat roles; he negotiated a peace treaty in 1973, secured the release of POWs and ended the draft. The war had cost the lives of 58,000 American troops. Nixon manipulated the fierce distrust between the Soviet Union and China to the advantage of the United States, achieving détente (cooperation) with both parties.^[99] The Watergate scandal, involving Nixon's coverup of his operatives break-in into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex destroyed his political base, sent many aides to prison, and forced Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974. He was succeeded by Vice President Gerald Ford, who was subsequently helpless to prevent the conquest of South Vietnam when North Vietnam invaded in 1975.^[100]
The OPEC oil embargo marked a long-term economic transition, as for the first time energy prices skyrocketed and American factories faced serious competition from foreign automobiles, clothing, electronics and consumer goods. By the late 1970s the economy suffered an energy crisis, slow economic growth, high unemployment, and very high inflation coupled with high interest rates (the term stagflation was coined). While economists agreed on the wisdom of deregulation, many of the New Deal era regulations were ended, as in transportation, banking and telecommunications.^[101]
Jimmy Carter, running as someone who was not a part of the Washington political establishment, was elected president in 1976.^[102] On the world stage, Carter brokered the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt. In 1979, Iranian students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took 66 Americans hostage, resulting in the Iran hostage crisis. With the hostage crisis and continuing stagflation, Carter lost the 1980 election to the Republican Ronald Reagan.^[103] On January 20, 1981, minutes after Carter's term in office ended, the remaining U.S. captives held at the U.S. embassy in Iran were released, ending the 444-day hostage crisis.^[104]

[edit] The end of the Cold War (1980–1991)

Main article: History of the United States (1980–1991)

Ronald Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate challenges Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall in 1987, shortly before the end of the Cold War

Ronald Reagan produced a major realignment with his 1980 and 1984 landslide elections. Reagan's economic policies (dubbed "Reaganomics") and the implementation of the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 lowered income taxes from 70% to 28% over the course of seven years.^{[citation needed]} Reagan continued to downsize government taxation and regulation.^[105] The U.S. experienced a recession in 1982; unemployment and business failures soon entered rates close to Depression-era levels. These negative trends reversed the following year, when the inflation rate decreased from 11% to 2%, the unemployment rate decreased from 10.8% in December 1982 to 7.5% in November 1984,^[106] and the economic growth rate increased from 4.5% to 7.2%.^[107]
Reagan ordered a massive buildup of the U.S. military, incurring a costly budget deficit. Reagan introduced a complicated missile defense system known as the Strategic Defense Initiative (dubbed "Star Wars" by opponents) in which the U.S. could, in theory, shoot down missiles with laser systems in space. Though it was never fully developed or deployed,^[108] the Soviets were genuinely concerned about the possible effects of the program^[109] and the research and technologies of SDI paved the way for the anti-ballistic missile systems of today.^[110]
The Reagan administration also provided covert funding and assistance to anti-Communist resistance movements worldwide. Reagan's interventions against Grenada and Libya were popular in the U.S., though his backing of the Contra rebels was mired in controversy.^[111] The arms-for-hostages scandal led to the convictions of such figures as Oliver North and John Poindexter.^[112]
Reagan met four times with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who ascended to power in 1985, and their summit conferences led to the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Gorbachev tried to save Communism in the Soviet Union first by ending the expensive arms race with America,^[113] then by shedding the East European empire in 1989. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, ending the U.S.–Soviet Cold War.

[edit] World superpower (1991–present)

Main article: History of the United States (1991–present)

The NASDAQ Composite index swelled with the dot-com bubble in the optimistic "New Economy". The bubble burst in 2000.

The United States emerged as the world's sole remaining superpower and continued to intervene in international affairs, including the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq. During the 1990s, President Bill Clinton oversaw one of the longest periods of economic expansion and unprecedented gains in securities values, a side effect of the digital revolution and new business opportunities created by the Internet. In 1998, Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives on charges of "high crimes and misdemeanors" for lying about a sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. However, the Senate voted to acquit Clinton of the charges. The failure of impeachment and the Democratic gains in the 1998 election forced House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican, to resign from Congress.^[114]
The presidential election in 2000 between George W. Bush and Al Gore was one of the closest in U.S. history, and helped lay the seeds for political polarization to come. The vote in the decisive state of Florida was extremely close and produced a dramatic dispute over the counting of votes. The U.S. Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore ended the recount with a 5–4 vote. That meant Bush, then in the lead, carried Florida and the election.^[115]

[edit] 9/11 and the War on Terror

The September 11 attacks led to the War on Terror.

Once again the United States was attacked by terrorism with the September 11, 2001 attacks (9/11) in which al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four transcontinental airliners and intentionally crashed two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon killing 3,000 people.^[116] President George W. Bush announced a "War on Terror" in response. The United States and NATO launched an invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban regime that had harbored al-Qaeda and its founder, Osama bin Laden. The federal government established new domestic efforts to prevent future attacks. The controversial USA PATRIOT Act increased government's power to monitor communications and removed legal restrictions on information sharing between federal law enforcement and intelligence services. A cabinet-level agency called the Department of Homeland Security was created to lead and coordinate federal counter-terrorism activities.^[117] Some of these anti-terrorism efforts, particularly the U.S. government's handling of detainees at the prison at Guantanamo Bay, led to allegations toward the U.S. government of human rights violations.^[118]
In 2003, the United States launched an invasion of Iraq, which led to the collapse of the Iraqi government and the eventual capture of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, whom the U.S. had long-standing tense relations with. The reasons for the invasion cited by the Bush administration included the spreading of democracy, the elimination of weapons of mass destruction^[119] (a key demand of the UN as well, though later investigations found parts of the intelligence reports to be inaccurate)^[120] and the liberation of the Iraqi people. The invasion and continued Iraq War fueled international protests and gradually saw domestic support waver,^[121] despite initial successes early in the invasion. In 2007, after years of violence by the Iraqi insurgency, President Bush deployed more troops in a strategy dubbed "the surge". While the death toll decreased, the political stability of Iraq remained in doubt.^[122]
In 2008, the unpopularity of President Bush and the Iraq war, along with the 2008 financial crisis, led to the election of Barack Obama, the first African American President of the United States. After he took offce, Obama began to decrease troop levels in Iraq, and officially ended combat operations in the country on August 31, 2010. At the same time, he kept 50,000 in Iraq to assist Iraqi forces, help protect withdrawing forces, and work on counter-terrorism until December 31, 2011, the date Bush scheduled for the full withdrawal.^[123]^[124] Obama increased American involvement in Afghanistan, starting a surge strategy using an additional 30,000 troops, while proposing to begin withdrawing troops in July 2011.^[125] In May 2011, after nearly a decade in hiding, Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. armed forces acting under President Obama's direct orders, in a covert operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan, about 50 km (31 mi) north of Islamabad.^[126]

[edit] Recent events

Lehman Brothers (headquarters pictured) filed for bankruptcy in September 2008 at the height of the U.S. financial crisis.

In December 2007, the United States, and most of Europe, entered the longest post–World War II recession,^[127] which included a housing market crisis, a subprime mortgage crisis, soaring oil prices,^[128] an automotive industry crisis, rising unemployment, and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.^[129]^[130]^[131] The financial crisis hit a critical point in September 2008 when Lehman Brothers and other important financial institutions failed.^[132] Starting the following month the federal government lent $245 billion to financial institutions through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.^[133] Shortly after taking office, Obama signed into law a $787 billion economic stimulus package aimed at helping the economy recover from the deepening recession. In addition to the economic stimulus, the government took steps to rescue the auto industry and prevent future economic meltdowns. These included a bailout of General Motors and Chrysler, putting ownership temporarily in the hands of the government, and the "cash for clunkers" program which temporarily boosted new car sales.^[134] Congress enacted the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, making sweeping changes to financial regulation.^[135] The recession officially ended in June 2009 as the U.S. economy began to expand once again,^[136] however the unemployment rate has continued to linger near 9% and above into 2011.^[137]
In the 111th Congress the GOP was unified in almost total opposition to the programs of the Congressional Democrats. Heated national debates emerged over numerous issues such as health care reform, which was rekindled by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.^[138] In the 2010 midterm elections, the Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives and cut into the Democratic majority in the Senate.^[139] Another factor in these results was the Tea Party, a populist conservative movement that since 2009 has promoted political candidates and protests^[140] with the goal of adherence to an originalist interpretation of the Constitution and reductions in government spending, taxes, and the federal budget deficit. As of 2011, debates continue over the economy, the 8.8% unemployment rate, deficit spending, health care reform, the financial crisis in state government, the role of corporate spending in election campaigns,^[141] and U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and Libya.

[edit] See also

Lists:

Timelines:

[edit] References

Notes

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^ Kennedy, Cohen & Bailey 2006, p. 6
^ Robert Greenberger, Juan Ponce de León: the exploration of Florida and the search for the Fountain of Youth (2003)
^ Pyne, Stephen J. (1998). How the Canyon Became Grand. New York, New York: Penguin Books. pp. 4–7. ISBN 0670881104.
^ A. Grove Day, Coronado's Quest: The Discovery of the Southwestern States (U. of California Press, 1940) online
^ David J. Weber, New Spain's Far Northern Frontier: Essays on Spain in the American West, 1540-1821 (1979)
^ Jaap Jacobs, The Colony of New Netherland: A Dutch Settlement in Seventeenth-Century America (2nd ed. Cornell University Press; 2009) online
^ Dean Jobb, The Cajuns: A People's Story of Exile and Triumph (2005)
^ Mintz, Steven. "Death in Early America". Digital History. Retrieved 2011-02-15.
^ Zinn 2003, p. 24
^ Henretta, James A. (2007). "History of Colonial America". Encarta Online Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 2009-10-31.
^ Barker, Deanna. "Indentured Servitude in Colonial America". National Association for Interpretation, Cultural Interpretation and Living History Section. Archived from the original on 2009-10-24.
^ "British Convicts Shipped to American Colonies". American Historical Review 2. Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History. October 1896. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
^ Tougias, Michael (1997). "King Philip's War in New England". HistoryPlace.com.
^ Oatis, Steven J. (2004). A Colonial Complex: South Carolina's Frontiers in the Era of the Yamasee War, 1680-1730. University of Nebraska Press. p. 167. ISBN 0-8032-3575-5. Online at Google Books
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "United States: History". The Columbia Encyclopedia (6th ed.). 2007.
^ "Chapter 1: Early America". Outline of U.S. History. America.gov. November 2005. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
^ Young 2000, pp. 183–185
^ John E. Ferling, Independence: The Struggle to Set America Free (2011)
^ Lesson Plan on "What Made George Washington a Good Military Leader?" NEH EDSITEMENT
^ Lipset, The First New Nation (1979) p. 2
^ Gordon S. Wood, The American Revolution: A History (2003)
^ Jack P. Greene, and J. R. Pole, eds. A Companion to the American Revolution (2004)
^ Richard Labunski, James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights (2008) excerpt and text search
^ John C. Miller, The Federalist Era: 1789-1801 (1960)
^ Lesson Plan on "Washington and the Whiskey Rebellion" NEH EDSITEMENT
^ "George Washington's Farewell Address". Archiving Early America. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
^ Gordon S. Wood, Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815 (2009)
^ Irons 2006, pp. 105–107
^ Gordon S. Wood, Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815 (2009) pp 368-74
^ Wood, Empire of Liberty (2009) ch 18
^ James Banner, To the Hartford Convention: the Federalists and the Origins of Party Politics in Massachusetts, 1789-1815 (1969)
^ George Dangerfield, The Era of Good Feellings: America Comes of Age in the Period of Monroe and Adams Between the War of 1812, and the Ascendancy of Jackson (1963)
^ Paul Goodman, "The First American Party System" in William Nisbet Chambers and Walter Dean Burnham, eds. The American Party Systems: Stages of Political Development (1967), 56–89.
^ Mark T. Gilderhus, "The Monroe Doctrine: Meanings and Implications," Presidential Studies Quarterly March 2006, Vol. 36#1 pp 5-16
^ W. J. Rorabaugh, Donald T. Critchlow, Paula C. Baker (2004). "America's promise: a concise history of the United States". Rowman & Littlefield. p.206. ISBN 0742511898
^ Robert Vincent Remini, Andrew Jackson and His Indian Wars (2002)
^ John Stauffer, Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln (2009)
^ ^a ^b "Chapter 6: Sectional Conflict". Outline of U.S. History. America.gov. November 2005. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
^ "Mexican War Lithograph". Smithsonian Source. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
^ Pletcher, David M. (2006). "Manifest Destiny". The U.S.-Mexican War. PBS. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
^ The 1832 Cholera Epidemic in New York State - Page 2. By G. William Beardslee
^ "Kansas-Nebraska Act". The History Place. 1996. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
^ Zinn 2003, pp. 171–172
^ ^a ^b ^c "Chapter 7: The Civil War and Reconstruction". Outline of U.S. History. America.gov. November 2005. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
^ "Civil War, in U.S. history". The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia (6th ed.). Columbia University Press. 2007.
^ Maris Vinovskis (1990). "Toward a social history of the American Civil War: exploratory essays". Cambridge University Press. p.7. ISBN 0521395593
^ Zinn 2003, pp. 198–200
^ Irons 2006, p. 197
^ Heather Cox Richardson, West from Appomattox: The Reconstruction of America after the Civil War (2008)
^ Alan Trachtenberg, The Incorporation of America: Culture and Society in the Gilded Age (2007)
^ Mintz, Steven (2008-06-05). "Learn About the Gilded Age". Digital History. University of Houston. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
^ "Growth of U.S. Population". TheUSAonline.com.
^ ""The First Measured Century: An Illustrated Guide to Trends in America, 1900–2000"". Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
^ Mintz, Steven (2006). "Learn About the Progressive Era". Digital History. University of Houston. Retrieved 2008-02-06.
^ George Mowry, The Era of Theodore Roosevelt and the Birth of Modern America, 1900-1912 (Harpers, 1954)
^ Peter W. Stanley, A Nation in the Making: The Philippines and the United States, 1899-1921 (1974)
^ Richard J. Jensen, Jon Thares Davidann, and Yoneyuki Sugital, eds. Trans-Pacific relations: America, Europe, and Asia in the twentieth century (Greenwood, 2003)
^ McNabb, James B. (2005). "Germany's Decision for Unrestricted Submarine Warfare and Its Impact on the U.S. Declaration of War". In Roberts, Priscilla Mary and Spencer Tucker. World War I: Encyclopedia. Volume 1. ABC-CLIO. pp. 482–483. ISBN 9781851094202.
^ Rebecca J. Mead, How the Vote Was Won: Woman Suffrage in the Western United States, 1868-1914 (2006)
^ ^a ^b Glenda Riley, Inventing the American Woman: An Inclusive History (2001)
^ Aileen S. Kraditor, The Ideas of the Woman Suffrage Movement: 1890-1920 (1967)
^ Katherine H. Adams and Michael L. Keene, Alice Paul and the American Suffrage Campaign (2007)
^ Elizabeth Frost-Knappman and Kathryn Cullen-Dupont, Women's Suffrage in America (2004)
^ Lynn Dumenil, The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s (1995) pp 98-144
^ Kristi Andersen, After Suffrage: Women in Partisan and Electoral Politics before the New Deal (1996)
^ Allan J. Lichtman, Prejudice and the Old Politics: The Presidential Election of 1928 (1979)
^ "Feature: World War I and isolationism, 1913-33". U.S. Department of State. 1991-04-29.
^ "Pandemics and Pandemic Scares in the 20th Century". U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
^ Zinn 2003, p. 382
^ Shlaes 2008, pp. 85, 90
^ Roosevelt, Franklin D. (July 2, 1932). "Address Accepting the Presidential Nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago". In John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters. The American Presidency Project. Santa Barbara, CA.
^ Burns, David (2004). "Charting The New Deal and Unemployment (Sec. 7)". Fasttrack to America's Past.
^ Conrad Black, Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom (2003) pp 648-82
^ Gordon W. Prange, Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon, At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor (1982)
^ Harold G. Vatter, The U.S. Economy in World War II (1988) pp 27-31
^ David Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 (2001) pp 615-68
^ David M. Kennedy, Freedom from Fear (1999) pp 615-668
^ Roger Daniels, Prisoners Without Trial: Japanese Americans in World War II (2004)
^ Richard Rhodes, The Making of the Atomic Bomb (1995)
^ Stephen Ambrose, Eisenhower and Berlin, 1945: The Decision to Halt at the Elbe 2000)
^ Ronald H. Spector, Eagle Against the Sun (1985) ch 12-18
^ D. M. Giangreco, Hell to Pay: Operation DOWNFALL and the Invasion of Japan, 1945-1947 (2009)
^ Richard B. Finn, Winners in Peace: MacArthur, Yoshida, and Postwar Japan (1992) pp 43-103
^ Leland, Anne; Oboroceanu, Mari-Jana (February 26, 2010). "American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics". Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 2011-02-18. p. 2.
^ ^a ^b John Lewis Gaddis, The Long Peace: Inquiries Into the History of the Cold War (1989)
^ John Lewis Gaddis, The Cold War: A New History (2005)
^ James T. Patterson, Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974 (1988)
^ "Table 1. United States - Race and Hispanic Origin: 1790 to 1990" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-01-31.
^ Michael O'Brien, John F. Kennedy: A Biography (2005)
^ Robert Dallek, Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President (2004)
^ Irving Bernstein, Guns or Butter: The Presidency of Lyndon Johnson (1994)
^ David Edwin Harrell, Jr., Edwin S. Gaustad, John B. Boles, Sally Foreman Griffith, Randall M. Miller, Randall B. Woods, Unto a Good Land: A History of the American People (2005) pp 1052-53
^ Joshua Zeitz. "Why Did America Explode in Riots in 1967?". AmericanHeritage.com. July 23, 2007.
^ Angela Howard Zophy, ed. Handbook of American Women's History (2nd ed. 2000).
^ Donald T. Critchlow, Phyllis Schlafly and Grassroots Conservatism: A Woman's Crusade (2005)
^ Jane J. Mansbridge, Why We Lost the ERA (1986)
^ Donald T. Critchlow, Intended Consequences: Birth Control, Abortion, and the Federal Government in Modern America (2001)
^ Dallek 2007, p. 144
^ John Robert Greene, The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford (1995)
^ Martha Derthick, The Politics of Deregulation (1985)
^ "People & Events: The Election of 1976". American Experience. PBS. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
^ Urofsky, Melvin I. (2000). The American Presidents. Taylor & Francis. p. 545. ISBN 9780815321842.
^ "Jan 20, 1981: Iran Hostage Crisis ends". This Day in History. History.com. Retrieved 2010-06-08.
^ Wilentz 2008, pp. 140–141
^ "The United States Unemployment Rate". Miseryindex.us. 2008-11-08. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
^ Wilentz 2008, p. 170
^ Wilentz 2008, pp. 163–164
^ "Foreign Affairs: Ronald Reagan". PBS. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
^ Bonsor, Kevin. "HowStuffWorks "How Missile Defense Systems Will Work"". Science.howstuffworks.com. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
^ Williams, William Appleman. "Expansion, Continental and Overseas". Foner, Eric; Garraty, John Arthur, ed (1991). The Reader's companion to American history. Houghton Mifflin Books. p. 368. ISBN 0395513723.
^ Wilentz 2008, p. 241
^ Wilentz 2008, pp. 243–244
^ Wilentz 2008, p. 400
^ Wilentz 2008, pp. 420–427
^ National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, The 9/11 Commission Report (2004)
^ Julian E. Zelizer, ed. The Presidency of George W. Bush: A First Historical Assessment (2010) pp 59-87
^ http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=27051
^ Zelizer, ed. The Presidency of George W. Bush: A First Historical Assessment (2010) pp 88-113
^ "CIA's final report: No WMD found in Iraq". MSNBC.com. Associated Press. 2005-04-25. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
^ Milbank, Dana; Deane, Claudia (2005-06-08). "Poll Finds Dimmer View of Iraq War". Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
^ Wilentz 2008, p. 453
^ "Obama to extend Iraq withdrawal timetable; 50,000 troops to stay". McClatchy. 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
^ Deyoung, Karen (2009-02-28). "Obama Sets Timetable for Iraq Withdrawal, Calling It Part of Broader Middle East Strategy". Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
^ "Obama Afghanistan strategy: More troops in quickly, drawdown in 2011". CNN. 2009-12-01.
^ Baker, Peter; Cooper, Helene; Mazzetti, Mark (2011-05-01). "Bin Laden Is Dead, Obama Says". The New York Times.
^ "SF Fed economist sees longest recession since WW2". Reuters. 2009-04-24. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
^ Carmichael, Kevin (2011-02-25). "Oil price spikes and recession intertwined". The Globe and Mail (Toronto).
^ Elliott, Larry (2008-03-18). "A financial crisis unmatched since the Great Depression". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2010-03-31.
^ "Worst Financial Crisis Since '30s". Fox News. 2008-09-18.
^ "Three Top Economists Agree 2009 Worst Financial Crisis Since Great Depression; Risks Increase if Right Steps are Not Taken". Reuters. 2009-02-27.
^ "Inside the Meltdown". Frontline. PBS. 2009-02-17. Retrieved on 2009-02-27.
^ Riley, Charles (2011-02-03). "Treasury close to profit on TARP bank loans". CNN Money.
^ Steven Rattner, Overhaul: An Insider's Account of the Obama Administration's Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry (2010)
^ "Obama Signs Sweeping Financial Overhaul, Pledges 'No More' Bailouts". FOX News. 2010-07-21. Retrieved 2010-07-22.
^ Kaiser, Emily (2010-09-20). "Recession ended in June 2009: NBER". Reuters.
^ "Employment Situation Summary". U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2011-02-04. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
^ Keck, Kristi (2010-03-29). "Lawmakers take health care debate home". CNN.
^ Debevec, Nicole (2010-11-03). "Politics 2010: GOP claims House, Dems keep Senate". UPI.
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Bibliography

Dallek, Robert (2007). Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power. New York, New York, U.S.: HarperCollins
Hamby, Alonzo L. (2005). Outline of U.S. History. U.S. Department of State.
Irons, Peter (2006). A People's History of the Supreme Court. New York, New York, U.S.: Penguin Books. ISBN 0143037382
Kennedy, David M.; Cohen, Lizabeth; Bailey, Thomas A. (2006). The American Pageant: A History of the Republic (13th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 9780618479405.
Shlaes, Amity (2008). The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression. New York, New York, U.S.: HarperPerennial. ISBN 0060936426
Wilentz, Sean (2008). The Age of Reagan: A History, 1974-2008. New York, New York, U.S.: Harper. ISBN 0060744809
Young, Alfred Fabian (2000). The Shoemaker and the Tea Party: Memory and the American Revolution. Beacon Press. ISBN 9780807054055
Zinn, Howard (2003). A People's History of the United States. New York, New York, U.S.: HarperPerennial Modern Classics. ISBN 0060838655

[edit] Further reading

Agnew, Jean-Christophe, and Roy Rosenzweig, eds. A Companion to Post-1945 America (2006)
Anderson, Fred, ed. The Oxford Companion to American Military History (2000)
Barney, William. A Companion to 19th-Century America (2006)
Bender, Thomas. A Nation Among Nations : America’s place in world history, New York : Hill and Wang, 2006. ISBN 978-0-8090-9527-8
Carnes, Mark C., and John A. Garraty, The American Nation: A History of the United States: AP Edition (2008); university textbook
Diner, Hasia, ed. Encyclopedia of American Women's History (2010)
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty! An American History (2nd ed. 2008), university textbook
Gilbert, Martin. The Routledge Atlas of American History (2010)
Hornsby Jr., Alton. A Companion to African American History (2008) excerpt and text search
Kennedy, David M. Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 (Oxford History of the United States) (2001), Pulitzer Prize
Lancaster, Bruce, Bruce Catton, and Thomas Fleming. The American Heritage History of the American Revolution (2004)
Milner, Clyde A., Carol A. O'Connor, and Martha A. Sandweiss, eds. The Oxford History of the American West (1996) excerpt and text search
Perry, Elisabeth Israels, and Karen Manners Smith, eds. The Gilded Age & Progressive Era: A Student Companion (2006)
Pole, Jack P. and J.R. Pole. A Companion to the American Revolution (2003) excerpt and text search
Resch, John, ed. Americans at War: Society, Culture, and the Homefront (4 vol 2004)
Schweikart, Larry, and Michael Allen. A Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus's Great Discovery to the War on Terror (2007), view from the right excerpt and text search
Tindall, George Brown, and David E. Shi. America: A Narrative History (8th ed. 2009), university textbook
Troy, Gil, et al. eds. History of American Presidential Elections, 1789-2008 (2011) 3 vol; detailed analysis of each election, with primary documents
Vickers, Daniel, ed. A Companion to Colonial America (2006)
Zophy, Angela Howard, ed. Handbook of American Women's History. (2nd ed. 2000). 763 pp. articles by experts

History of Manchester United F.C.

2011-07-16T11:43:00.000-07:00

Manchester United F.C.

"MUFC" redirects here. MUFC (disambiguation).

Manchester United

Full name

Manchester United Football Club

Nickname(s)

The Red Devils^[1]

Founded

1878, as Newton Heath LYR F.C.

Ground

Old Trafford
(Capacity: 75,957^[2])

Owner

Co-chairmen

Manager

League

Premier League, 1st

Website

Club home page

Home colours

Away colours

Current season

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.
In 1968, under the management of Matt Busby, Manchester United was the first English football club to win the European Cup, ten years after the Munich air disaster that claimed the lives of eight players. The current manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, is the most successful manager in English football history, having won 27 major honours since he took over in November 1986.^[3]^[4]
Manchester United is the most successful club in English football, having won a record 19 league titles, a record 11 FA Cups^[5] and four League Cups. The club has also won three European Cups and have twice been club world champions, in 1999 and 2008.
Manchester United is one of the wealthiest and most widely supported football teams in the world.^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9] The club is said to be worth £1.13 billion, making it the most valuable football club in the world.^[10] After being floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1991, the club was purchased by Malcolm Glazer in May 2005 in a deal valuing the club at almost £800 million.^[11]

History

Early years (1878–1945)

Main article: History of Manchester United F.C. (1878–1945)

A chart showing the progress of Manchester United F.C. through the English football league system from joining as Newton Heath in 1892–93 to 2007–08

Manchester United was formed in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR Football Club by the Carriage and Wagon department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath.^[12] The team initially played games against other departments and rail companies, but on 20 November 1880, they competed in their first recorded match; wearing the colours of the railway company – green and gold – they were defeated 6–0 by Bolton Wanderers' reserve team.^[13] By 1888, the club had become a founding member of The Combination, a regional football league. However, following the league's dissolution after just one season, Newton Heath joined the newly formed Football Alliance, which ran for three seasons before being merged with the Football League. This resulted in the club starting the 1892–93 season in the First Division, by which time it had become independent of the rail company and dropped the "LYR" from its name.^[12] After just two seasons, the club was relegated to the Second Division.^[12]

The Manchester United team at the start of the 1905–06 season, in which they were runners-up in the Second Division

In January 1902, with debts of £2,670 – equivalent to £210,000 as of 2011^[14] – the club was served with a winding-up order.^[15] Captain Harry Stafford found four local businessmen, including John Henry Davies (who became club president), each willing to invest £500 in return for a direct interest in running the club and who subsequently changed the name;^[16] on 24 April 1902, Manchester United was officially born.^[17]^[18] Under Ernest Mangnall, who assumed managerial duties in 1903, the team finished as Second Division runners-up in 1906 and secured promotion to the First Division, which they won in 1908 – the club's first league title. The following season began with victory in the first ever Charity Shield^[19] and ended with the club's first FA Cup title. Manchester United won the First Division for the second time in 1911, but at the end of the following season, Mangnall left the club to join Manchester City.^[20]
In 1922, three years after the resumption of football following the First World War, the club was relegated to the Second Division, where it remained until regaining promotion in 1925. Relegated again in 1931, Manchester United became a yo-yo club, achieving its all-time lowest position of 20th place in the Second Division in 1934. Following the death of the club's principal benefactor, J. H. Davies, in October 1927, the club's finances deteriorated to the extent that Manchester United would likely have gone bankrupt had it not been for James W. Gibson, who, in December 1931, invested £2,000 and assumed control of the club.^[21] In the 1938–39 season, the last year of football before the Second World War, the club finished 14th in the First Division.^[21]

Busby years (1945–1969)

Main article: History of Manchester United F.C. (1945–1969)

The Busby Babes in Denmark in 1955

In October 1945, the impending resumption of football led to the managerial appointment of Matt Busby, who demanded an unprecedented level of control over team selection, player transfers and training sessions.^[22] Busby led the team to second-place league finishes in 1947, 1948 and 1949, and to FA Cup victory in 1948. In 1952, the club won the First Division, its first league title for 41 years.^[23] With an average age of 22, the media labelled the back-to-back title winning side of 1956 "the Busby Babes", a testament to Busby's faith in his youth players.^[24] In 1957, Manchester United became the first English team to compete in the European Cup, despite objections from The Football League, who had denied Chelsea the same opportunity the previous season.^[25] En route to the semi-final, which they lost to Real Madrid, the team recorded a 10–0 victory over Belgian champions Anderlecht, which remains the club's biggest victory on record.^[26]

A plaque at Old Trafford in memory of those who died in the Munich air disaster, including players names

The following season, on the way home from a European Cup quarter-final victory against Red Star Belgrade, the aircraft carrying the Manchester United players, officials and journalists crashed while attempting to take off after refuelling in Munich, Germany. The Munich air disaster of 6 February 1958 claimed 23 lives, including those of eight players – Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Duncan Edwards, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor and Billy Whelan – and injured several more.^[27]^[28]
Reserve team manager Jimmy Murphy took over as manager while Busby recovered from his injuries and the club's makeshift side reached the FA Cup final, which they lost to Bolton Wanderers. In recognition of the team's tragedy, UEFA invited the club to compete in the 1958–59 European Cup alongside eventual League champions Wolverhampton Wanderers. Despite approval from the FA, the Football League determined that the club should not enter the competition, since it had not qualified.^[29]^[30] Busby rebuilt the team through the 1960s by signing players such as Denis Law and Pat Crerand, who combined with the next generation of youth players – including George Best – to win the FA Cup in 1963. The following season, they finished second in the league, then won the title in 1965 and 1967. In 1968, Manchester United became the first English club to win the European Cup, beating Benfica 4–1 in the final^[31] with a team that contained three European Footballers of the Year: Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best.^[32] Matt Busby resigned as manager in 1969 and was replaced by the reserve team coach, former Manchester United player Wilf McGuinness.^[33]

1969–1986

Main article: History of Manchester United F.C. (1969–1986)

Bryan Robson was the captain of Manchester United for 12 years, longer than any other player.^[34]

Following an eighth-place finish in the 1969–70 season and a poor start to the 1970–71 season, Busby was persuaded to temporarily resume managerial duties, and McGuinness returned to his position as reserve team coach. In June 1971, Frank O'Farrell was appointed as manager, but lasted less than 18 months before being replaced by Tommy Docherty in December 1972.^[35] Docherty saved Manchester United from relegation that season, only to see them relegated in 1974; by that time the trio of Best, Law, and Charlton had left the club.^[31] The team won promotion at the first attempt and reached the FA Cup final in 1976, but were beaten by Southampton. They reached the final again in 1977, beating Liverpool 2–1. Docherty was dismissed shortly afterwards, following the revelation of his affair with the club physiotherapist's wife.^[33]^[36]
Dave Sexton replaced Docherty as manager in the summer of 1977. Despite major signings, including Joe Jordan, Gordon McQueen, Gary Bailey, and Ray Wilkins, the team failed to achieve any significant results; they finished in the top two in 1979–80 and lost to Arsenal in the 1979 FA Cup Final. Sexton was dismissed in 1981, even though the team won the last seven games under his direction.^[37] He was replaced by Ron Atkinson, who immediately broke the British record transfer fee to sign Bryan Robson from West Bromwich Albion. Under Atkinson, Manchester United won the FA Cup twice in three years – in 1983 and 1985. In 1985–86, after 13 wins and two draws in its first 15 matches, the club was favourite to win the league, but finished in fourth place. The following season, with the club in danger of relegation by November, Atkinson was dismissed.^[38]

Ferguson years (1986–present)

Main article: History of Manchester United F.C. (1986–present)

Alex Ferguson has been manager of Manchester United since November 1986.

Alex Ferguson and his assistant Archie Knox arrived from Aberdeen on the day of Atkinson's dismissal,^[39] and guided the club to an 11th-place finish in the league.^[40] Despite a second-place finish in 1987–88, the club was back in 11th place the following season.^[41] Reportedly on the verge of being dismissed, victory over Crystal Palace in the 1990 FA Cup Final replay (after a 3–3 draw) saved Ferguson's career.^[42]^[43] The following season, Manchester United claimed its first Cup Winners' Cup title and competed in the 1991 UEFA Super Cup, beating European Cup holders Red Star Belgrade 1–0 in the final at Old Trafford. A second consecutive League Cup final appearance followed in 1992, in which the team beat Nottingham Forest 1–0 at Wembley.^[38] In 1993, the club won its first league title since 1967, and a year later, for the first time since 1957, it won a second consecutive title – alongside the FA Cup – to complete the first "Double" in the club's history.^[38]

Ryan Giggs is the most decorated player in English football history.^[44]

Manchester United's 1998–99 season was the most successful in English club football history as they became the first team to win the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League – "The Treble" – in the same season.^[45] Losing 1–0 going into injury time in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær scored late goals to claim a dramatic victory over Bayern Munich, in what is considered one of the greatest comebacks of all time.^[46] The club also won the Intercontinental Cup after beating Palmeiras 1–0 in Tokyo.^[47] Ferguson was subsequently knighted for his services to football.^[48]
In 2000, Manchester United competed in the inaugural FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil,^[49] and won the league again in the 1999–2000 and 2000–01 seasons. The team finished as runners-up in 2001–02, before regaining the title in 2002–03. They won the 2003–04 FA Cup, beating Millwall 3–0 in the final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.^[50] In the 2005–06 season, Manchester United failed to qualify for the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in over a decade, but recovered to secure a second-place league finish and victory over Wigan Athletic in the 2006 Football League Cup Final. The club regained the Premier League in the 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons, and completed the European double by beating Chelsea 6–5 on penalties in the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium. Ryan Giggs made a record 759th appearance for the club in this game, overtaking previous record holder Bobby Charlton.^[51] In December 2008, the club won the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup and followed this with the 2008–09 Football League Cup, and its third successive Premier League title.^[52]^[53] That summer, Cristiano Ronaldo was sold to Real Madrid for a world record £80 million.^[54] In 2010, Manchester United defeated Aston Villa 2–1 at Wembley to retain the League Cup, its first successful defence of a knockout cup competition.^[55]
After finishing as runner-up to Chelsea in the 2009–10 season, United achieved a record 19th league title in 2010–11, securing the championship with a 1–1 away draw against Blackburn Rovers on 14 May 2011.^[56]

Crest and colours

Manchester United badge in the 1960s

The club crest is derived from the Manchester City Council coat of arms, although all that remains of it on the current crest is the ship in full sail.^[57] The devil stems from the club's nickname "The Red Devils"; it was included on club programmes and scarves in the 1960s, and incorporated into the club crest in 1970, although the crest was not included on the chest of the shirt until 1971 (unless the team was playing in a Cup Final).^[57]
A photograph of the Newton Heath team, taken in 1892, is believed to show the players wearing a red-and-white quartered jerseys and blue shorts.^[58] Between 1894–96, the players wore distinctive green and gold jerseys^[58] which were replaced in 1896 by white shirts, which were worn with blue shorts.^[58] After its name change in 1902, the club colours were changed to red shirts, white shorts, and black socks, which has become the standard Manchester United home kit.^[58] Very few changes were made to the kit until 1922 when the club adopted white shirts bearing a deep red "V" around the neck, similar to the shirt worn in the 1909 FA Cup Final. They would remain part of their home kits until 1927.^[58] In 1934, players sported cherry and white hooped shirts, but the following season the red shirt was recalled after the club's lowest ever league placing of 20th in the Second Division.^[58] The black socks were changed to white from 1959 to 1965, where they were replaced with red socks up until 1971, when the club reverted to black. The current home kit is a red shirt with a white collar, worn with white shorts and black socks.^[59]
The Manchester United away strip has more often than not been a white shirt, black shorts and white socks, but there have been several exceptions. These include the navy blue shirt with silver horizontal pinstripes worn during the 1999–2000 season,^[60] and the current away kit, which has a royal blue body and sleeves with hoops made of small midnight navy blue and black stripes, with black shorts and socks.^[61] An all-grey away kit worn during the 1995–96 season was dropped after just two games because players claimed to have trouble finding their team-mates against the crowd.^[62] In 2001, to celebrate 100 years as "Manchester United", a reversible white/gold away kit was released, although the actual match day shirts were not reversible.^[63]
The club's third kit is often all-blue, this was most recently the case during the 2008–09 season, to celebrate 40 years since it was worn for the club's first European Cup win in 1968.^[64] Exceptions include blue-and-white striped shirts worn during the 1994–96 season, an all black kit worn during the Treble winning season, and white shirts with black-and-red horizontal pinstripes worn between 2003–05.^[65]

Grounds

Main articles: North Road, Bank Street, and Old Trafford

Old Trafford
Theatre of Dreams

Location	Sir Matt Busby Way, Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England
Broke ground	1909
Opened	19 February 1910
Owner	Manchester United
Operator	Manchester United
Construction cost	£90,000 (1909)
Architect	Archibald Leitch (1909)
Capacity	75,957 seated^[2]
Tenants
Manchester United (1910–present)

Newton Heath initially played on a field on North Road, close to the railway yard; the original capacity was about 12,000, but club officials deemed the facilities inadequate for a club hoping to join The Football League.^[66] Some expansion took place in 1887, and in 1891 Newton Heath used its minimal financial reserves to purchase two grandstands, each able to hold 1,000 spectators.^[67] Although attendances were not recorded for many of the earliest matches at North Road, the highest documented attendance was approximately 15,000 for a First Division match against Sunderland on 4 March 1893.^[68] A similar attendance was also recorded for a friendly match against Gorton Villa on 5 September 1889.^[69]
In June 1893, after the club was evicted from North Road by its owners, Manchester Deans and Canons, who felt it was inappropriate for the club to charge an entry fee to the ground, secretary A. H. Albut procured the use of the Bank Street ground in Clayton.^[70] It initially had no stands, by the start of the 1893–94 season, two had been built; one spanning the full length of the pitch on one side and the other behind the goal at the "Bradford end". At the opposite end, the "Clayton end", the ground had been "built up, thousands thus being provided for".^[70] Newton Heath's first league match at Bank Street was played against Burnley on 1 September 1893, when 10,000 people saw Alf Farman score a hat-trick, Newton Heath's only goals in a 3–2 win. The remaining stands were completed for the following league game against Nottingham Forest three weeks later.^[70] In October 1895, before the visit of Manchester City, the club purchased a 2,000-capacity stand from the Broughton Rangers rugby league club, and put up another stand on the "reserved side" (as distinct from the "popular side"). However, weather restricted the attendance for the Manchester City match to just 12,000.^[71]
When the Bank Street ground was temporarily closed by bailiffs in 1902, club captain Harry Stafford raised enough money to pay for the club's next away game at Bristol City and found a temporary ground at Harpurhey for the next reserves game against Padiham.^[72] Following financial investment, new club president J.H. Davies paid £500 for the erection of a new 1,000-seat stand at Bank Street.^[73] Within four years, the stadium had cover on all four sides, as well as the ability to hold approximately 50,000 spectators, some of whom could watch from the viewing gallery atop the Main Stand.^[73]
However, following Manchester United's first league title in 1908 and the FA Cup a year later, it was decided that Bank Street was too restrictive for Davies' ambition;^[73] in February 1909, six weeks before the club's first FA Cup title, Old Trafford was named as the home of Manchester United, following the purchase of land for around £60,000. Architect Archibald Leitch was given a budget of £30,000 for construction; original plans called for seating capacity of 100,000, though budget constraints forced a revision to 77,000. The building was constructed by Messrs Brameld and Smith of Manchester. The stadium's record attendance was registered on 25 March 1939, when an FA Cup semi-final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Grimsby Town drew 76,962 spectators.^[74]
Bombing in the Second World War destroyed much of the stadium; the central tunnel in the South Stand was all that remained of that quarter. After the war, the club received compensation from the War Damage Commission in the amount of £22,278. While reconstruction took place, the team played its "home" games at Manchester City's Maine Road ground; Manchester United was charged £5,000 per year, plus a nominal percentage of gate receipts.^[75] Later improvements included the addition of roofs, first to the Stretford End and then to the North and East Stands. The roofs were supported by pillars that obstructed many fans' views, and they were eventually replaced with a cantilevered structure. The Stretford End was the last stand to receive a cantilevered roof, completed in time for the 1993–94 season.^[33] First used on 25 March 1957 and costing £40,000, four 180-foot (55 m) pylons were erected, each housing 54 individual floodlights. These were dismantled in 1987 and replaced by a lighting system embedded in the roof of each stand, which remains in use today.^[76]
The Taylor Report's requirement for an all-seater stadium lowered capacity at Old Trafford to around 44,000 by 1993. In 1995, the North Stand was redeveloped into three tiers, restoring capacity to approximately 55,000. At the end of the 1998–99 season, second tiers were added to the East and West Stands, raising capacity to around 67,000, and between July 2005 and May 2006, 8,000 more seats were added via second tiers in the north-west and north-east quadrants. Part of the new seating was used for the first time on 26 March 2006, when an attendance of 69,070 became a new Premier League record.^[77] The record was pushed steadily upwards before reaching its peak on 31 March 2007, when 76,098 spectators saw Manchester United beat Blackburn Rovers 4–1, with just 114 seats (0.15 percent of the total capacity of 76,212) unoccupied.^[78] In 2009, reorganisation of the seating resulted in a reduction of capacity by 255 to 75,957.^[2]^[79]

Support

Manchester United is reputed to be the most popular football club in the world, with the highest average home attendance in Europe.^[80] The club's worldwide fan base includes more than 200 officially recognised branches of the Manchester United Supporters Club (MUSC), in at least 24 countries.^[81] The club takes advantage of this support through its worldwide summer tours. Accountancy firm and sports industry consultants Deloitte estimate that Manchester United has 75 million fans worldwide,^[7] while other estimates put this figure closer to 333 million.^[8]
Supporters are represented by two independent bodies; the Independent Manchester United Supporters Association (IMUSA), which maintains close links to the club through the MUFC Fans Forum,^[82] and the Manchester United Supporters' Trust (MUST). After the Glazer family's takeover in 2005, a group of fans formed a splinter club, F.C. United of Manchester. The West Stand of Old Trafford – the "Stretford End" – is the home end and the traditional source of the club's most vocal support.^[83]

Rivalries

Main articles: Manchester derby, Liverpool F.C. and Manchester United F.C. rivalry, and Leeds United A.F.C. and Manchester United F.C. rivalry

Manchester United has rivalries with three clubs: Leeds United, Liverpool, and Manchester City, against whom they contest the Manchester derby.^[84]^[85]
The rivalry with Liverpool is rooted in competition between the cities during the Industrial Revolution when Manchester was famous for its textile industry while Liverpool was a major port.^[86]
The "Roses Rivalry" with Leeds stems from the Wars of the Roses, fought between the House of Lancaster and the House of York, with Manchester United representing Lancashire and Leeds representing Yorkshire.^[87]

Global brand

Manchester United has been described as a global brand; a 2009 report valued the club's trademarks and associated intellectual property at £329 million, and gave the brand a strength rating of AAA (Extremely Strong).^[88] In 2010, Forbes magazine ranked Manchester United second only to the New York Yankees in its list of the ten most valuable sports team brands, valuing the Manchester United brand at $285 million (16 percent of the club's $1.835 billion value).^[9] The club is currently ranked third in the Deloitte Football Money League (behind Real Madrid and Barcelona).^[89]
The core strength of Manchester United's global brand is often attributed to Matt Busby's rebuilding of the team and subsequent success following the Munich air disaster, which drew worldwide acclaim.^[83] The "iconic" team included Bobby Charlton and Nobby Stiles (members of England's World Cup winning team), Denis Law and George Best. The attacking style of play adopted by this team (in contrast to the defensive-minded "catenaccio" approach favoured by the leading Italian teams of the era) "captured the imagination of the English footballing public".^[90] Busby's team also became associated with the liberalisation of Western society during the 1960s; George Best, known as the "fifth Beatle" for his iconic haircut, was the first footballer to significantly develop an off-the-field media profile.^[90]
As the first English football club to float on the London Stock Exchange in 1991, the club raised significant capital, with which it further developed its commercial strategy. The club's focus on commercial and sporting success brought significant profits in an industry often characterised by chronic losses.^[91] The strength of the Manchester United brand was bolstered by intense off-the-field media attention to individual players, most notably David Beckham (who quickly developed his own global brand). This attention often generates greater interest in on-the-field activities, and hence generates sponsorship opportunities – the value of which is driven by television exposure.^[92] During his time with the club, Beckham's popularity across Asia was integral to the club's commercial success in that part of the world.^[93]
Because higher league placement results in a greater share of television rights, success on the field generates greater income for the club. Since the inception of the Premier League, Manchester United has received the largest share of the revenue generated from the BSkyB broadcasting deal.^[94] Manchester United has also consistently enjoyed the highest commercial income of any English club; in 2005–06, the club's commercial arm generated £51 million, compared to £42.5 million at Chelsea, £39.3 million at Liverpool, £34 million at Arsenal and £27.9 million at Newcastle United. A key sponsorship relationship is with sportswear company Nike, who manage the club's merchandising operation as part of a £303 million 13-year partnership established in 2002.^[95] Through Manchester United Finance and the club's membership scheme, One United, those with an affinity for the club can purchase a range of branded goods and services. Additionally, Manchester United-branded media services – such as the club's dedicated television channel, MUTV – have allowed the club to expand its fan base to those beyond the reach of its Old Trafford stadium.^[7]

Sponsorship

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
1945–1975	Umbro	none
1975–1980	Admiral
1980–1982	Adidas
1982–1992	Adidas	Sharp Electronics
1992–2000	Umbro	Sharp Electronics
2000–2002	Umbro	Vodafone
2002–2006	Nike	Vodafone
2006–2010		AIG
2010–		Aon

In an initial five-year deal worth £500,000, Sharp Electronics became the club's first shirt sponsor at the beginning of the 1982–83 season, a relationship that lasted until the end of the 1999–2000 season, when Vodafone agreed a four-year, £30 million deal.^[96] Vodafone agreed to pay £36 million to extend the deal by four years, but after two seasons triggered a break clause in order to concentrate on its sponsorship of the Champions League.^[96]
To commence at the start of the 2006–07 season, American insurance corporation AIG agreed a four-year £56.5 million deal which in September 2006 became the most valuable in the world.^[97]^[98] At the beginning of the 2010–11 season, American reinsurance company Aon became the club's principal sponsor in a four-year deal reputed to be worth approximately £80 million, making it the most lucrative shirt sponsorship deal in football history.^[99]
The club's first kit manufacturer was Umbro, until a five-year deal was agreed with Admiral Sportswear in 1975.^[100] Adidas received the contract in 1980,^[101] before Umbro started a second spell in 1992.^[102] Umbro's sponsorship lasted for ten years, followed by Nike's record-breaking £302.9 million deal that will last until 2015; 3.8 million replica shirts were sold in the first 22 months with the company.^[103]^[104] In addition to Nike and Aon, the club also has several lower-level "platinum" sponsors, including Audi and Budweiser.^[105]

Ownership and finances

Originally funded by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, the club became a limited company in 1892 and sold shares to local supporters for £1 via an application form.^[16] In 1902, majority ownership passed to the four local businessmen who invested £500 to save the club from bankruptcy, including future club president J.H Davies.^[16] After his death in 1927, the club faced bankruptcy yet again, but was saved in December 1931 by James W. Gibson, who assumed control of the club after investing £2,000.^[21] Gibson promoted his son, Alan, to the board in 1948,^[106] but died three years later; the Gibson family retained ownership of the club,^[107] but the position of chairman passed to former player Harold Hardman.^[108]
Promoted to the board a few days after the Munich air disaster, Louis Edwards, a friend of Matt Busby, began acquiring shares in the club; for an investment of approximately £40,000, he accumulated a 54 percent shareholding and took control in January 1964.^[109] When Lillian Gibson died in January 1971, her shares passed to Alan Gibson who sold a percentage of his shares to Louis Edwards' son, Martin in 1978; Martin Edwards went on to become chairman upon his father's death in 1980.^[110] Media tycoon Robert Maxwell attempted to buy the club in 1984, but did not meet Edwards' asking price.^[110] In 1989, chairman Martin Edwards attempted to sell the club to Michael Knighton for £20 million, but the sale fell through and Knighton joined the Board of Directors instead.^[110] . Manchester United was floated on the stock market in June 1991 (raising £6.7 million),^[111] and received yet another takeover bid in 1998, this time from Rupert Murdoch's British Sky Broadcasting Corporation. This resulted in the formation of Shareholders United Against Murdoch – now the Manchester United Supporters' Trust – who encouraged supporters to buy shares in the club in an attempt to block any hostile takeover. The Manchester United board accepted a £623 million offer,^[112] but the takeover was blocked by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission at the final hurdle in April 1999.^[113] A few years later, a power struggle emerged between the club's manager, Alex Ferguson, and his horse-racing partners, John Magnier and J. P. McManus, who had gradually become the majority shareholders. In a dispute that stemmed from contested ownership of the horse Rock of Gibraltar, Magnier and McManus attempted to have Ferguson removed from his position as manager, and the board responded by approaching investors to attempt to reduce the Irishmen's majority.^[114]
In May 2005, Malcolm Glazer purchased the 28.7 percent stake held by McManus and Magnier, thus acquiring a controlling interest through his investment vehicle Red Football Ltd in a highly leveraged takeover valuing the club at approximately £800 million (then approx. $1.5 billion).^[115]^[116] In July 2006, the club announced a £660 million debt refinancing package, resulting in a 30 percent reduction in annual interest payments to £62 million a year.^[117]^[118] In January 2010, with debts of £716.5 million ($1.17 billion),^[119] Manchester United further refinanced through a bond issue worth £504 million, enabling them to pay off most of the £509 million owed to international banks.^[120] The annual interest payable on the bonds – which mature on 1 February 2017 – is approximately £45 million per annum.^[121] Despite restructuring, the club's debt prompted protests from fans on 23 January 2010, at Old Trafford and the club's Trafford Training Centre.^[122]^[123] Supporter groups encouraged match-going fans to wear green and gold, the colours of Newton Heath. On 30 January, reports emerged that the Manchester United Supporters' Trust had held meetings with a group of wealthy fans, dubbed the "Red Knights", with plans to buying out the Glazers' controlling interest.^[124]

Players

First-team squad

As of 10 July 2011.^[125]

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	David de Gea
3	DF	Patrice Evra
4	DF	Phil Jones
5	DF	Rio Ferdinand
7	FW	Michael Owen
8	MF	Anderson
9	FW	Dimitar Berbatov
10	FW	Wayne Rooney
11	MF	Ryan Giggs
12	DF	Chris Smalling
13	MF	Park Ji-Sung
14	FW	Javier Hernández
15	DF	Nemanja Vidić (captain)
16	MF	Michael Carrick
17	MF	Nani
18	MF	Ashley Young
19	FW	Danny Welbeck
20	DF	Fábio
21	DF	Rafael

No.	Position	Player
23	DF	Jonny Evans
24	MF	Darren Fletcher
25	MF	Antonio Valencia
26	FW	Gabriel Obertan
27	FW	Federico Macheda
28	MF	Darron Gibson
29	GK	Tomasz Kuszczak
32	FW	Mame Biram Diouf
34	GK	Anders Lindegaard
35	MF	Tom Cleverley
37	MF	Robert Brady
40	GK	Ben Amos
41	FW	Joshua King
42	MF	Paul Pogba
45	DF	Oliver Gill
47	MF	Oliver Norwood
49	MF	Ravel Morrison
50	GK	Sam Johnstone

On loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.		Position	Player
30		DF	Ritchie De Laet (at Norwich City until 30 June 2012)^[126]
33		FW	Bébé (at Beşiktaş until 30 June 2012)^[127]

No.		Position	Player
46		MF	Ryan Tunnicliffe (at Peterborough United until 31 December 2011)^[128]

Reserves and academy

For the reserve and academy squads, see Manchester United F.C. Reserves and Academy.

Former players

For details of former players, see List of Manchester United F.C. players and Category:Manchester United F.C. players.

Club captains

For a list of club captains, see List of Manchester United F.C. players#Club captains.

Player records

For player records, including player awards, see List of Manchester United F.C. records and statistics.

Club officials

Owner: Glazer family via Red Football Shareholder Limited^[129]
Honorary president: Martin Edwards^[130]

Manchester United Limited

Co-chairmen: Joel Glazer & Avram Glazer^[131]
Chief executive: David Gill^[131]
Chief operating officer: Michael Bolingbroke^[131]
Commercial director: Richard Arnold^[132]
Chief of Staff: Ed Woodward^[133]
Non-executive directors: Bryan Glazer, Kevin Glazer, Edward Glazer & Darcie Glazer^[131]

Manchester United Football Club

Directors: David Gill, Michael Edelson, Sir Bobby Charlton, Maurice Watkins^[134]
Club secretary: John Alexander^[135]
Global ambassador: Bryan Robson^[136]

Coaching and medical staff

Manager: Sir Alex Ferguson^[137]
Assistant manager: Mike Phelan^[138]
First team coach: René Meulensteen^[139]
Goalkeeping coach: Eric Steele^[140]
Fitness coach: Tony Strudwick^[141]
Reserve team manager: Warren Joyce^[142]

Managerial history

Main article: List of Manchester United F.C. managers

Dates^[143]	Name	Notes
1878–1892	Unknown
1892–1900	A. H. Albut
1900–1903	James West
1903–1912	Ernest Mangnall
1912–1914	John Bentley
1914–1922	Jack Robson
1922–1926	John Chapman	First manager from outside England
1926–1927	Lal Hilditch
1927–1931	Herbert Bamlett
1931–1932	Walter Crickmer
1932–1937	Scott Duncan
1937–1945	Walter Crickmer
1945–1969	Matt Busby
1969–1970	Wilf McGuinness
1970–1971	Matt Busby
1971–1972	Frank O'Farrell	First manager from outside the United Kingdom
1972–1977	Tommy Docherty
1977–1981	Dave Sexton
1981–1986	Ron Atkinson
1986–present	Alex Ferguson	Both most honours won and longest serving in Manchester United's history^[137]

Honours

Manchester United's first trophy was the Manchester Cup, which it won as Newton Heath in 1886.^[144] In 1908, the club won its first league title, and won the FA Cup for the first time the following year. In terms of the number of trophies won, Manchester United's most successful decade was the 1990s; the club won five league titles, four FA Cups, one League Cup, five Charity Shields (one shared), one UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, one UEFA Super Cup and one Intercontinental Cup.
The club currently holds the record for most top-division titles (19), the most FA Cups (11), and the most FA Cup Final appearances (18).^[145] Manchester United holds the record for the most Premier League titles (12), and was the first English team to win the European Cup in 1968. The club's most recent trophy came in May 2011 with the 2010–11 Premier League title.
The only major honour that Manchester United has never won is the UEFA Europa League,^[146] although the team reached the quarter-finals in 1984–85 and the semi-finals of the competition's precursor tournament, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, in 1964–65.^[147]^[148]

Domestic

Especially short competitions such as the Charity/Community Shield, Intercontinental Cup (now defunct), FIFA Club World Cup or Super Cup are not generally considered to contribute towards a Double or Treble.^[150]

References

Bibliography

Barnes, Justyn; Bostock, Adam; Butler, Cliff; Ferguson, Jim; Meek, David; Mitten, Andy; Pilger, Sam; Taylor, Frank OBE et al. (2001) [1998]. The Official Manchester United Illustrated Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). London: Manchester United Books. ISBN 0-233-99964-7.
Bose, Mihir (2007). Manchester Disunited: Trouble and Takeover at the World's Richest Football Club. London: Aurum Press. ISBN 1-84513-121-5.
Crick, Michael; Smith, David (1990). Manchester United – The Betrayal of a Legend. London: Pan Books. ISBN 0-330-31440-8.
Devlin, John (2005). True Colours: Football Kits from 1980 to the Present Day. London: A & C Black. ISBN 0-7136-7389-3.
Dobson, Stephen; Goddard, John (2004). "Ownership and Finance of Professional Soccer in England and Europe". In Fort, Rodney; Fizel, John. International Sports Economics Comparisons. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0-275-98032-4.
Dunning, Eric (1999). Sport Matters: Sociological Studies of Sport, Violence and Civilisation. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-09378-1.
Hamil, Sean (2008). "Case 9: Manchester United: the Commercial Development of a Global Football Brand". In Chadwick, Simon; Arth, Dave. International Cases in the Business of Sport. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-8543-6.
Inglis, Simon (1996) [1985]. Football Grounds of Britain (3rd ed.). London: CollinsWillow. ISBN 0-00-218426-5.
James, Gary (2008). Manchester: A Football History. Halifax: James Ward. ISBN 978-0-9558127-0-5.
Morgan, Steve (March 2010). McLeish, Ian. ed. "Design for life". Inside United (Haymarket Network) (212). ISSN 1749-6497.
Murphy, Alex (2006). The Official Illustrated History of Manchester United. London: Orion Books. ISBN 0-7528-7603-1.
Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack. Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2008–2009. London: Headline Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-7553-1820-9.
Shury, Alan; Landamore, Brian (2005). The Definitive Newton Heath F.C. SoccerData. ISBN 1-899468-16-1.
Tyrrell, Tom; Meek, David (1996) [1988]. The Hamlyn Illustrated History of Manchester United 1878–1996 (5th ed.). London: Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-59074-7.
White, Jim (2008). Manchester United: The Biography. London: Sphere. ISBN 978-1-84744-088-4.
White, John (2007) [2005]. The United Miscellany (2nd ed.). London: Carlton Books. ISBN 978-1-84442-745-1.

Biology

2011-07-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

Biology (disambiguation).

Biology deals with the study of the many varieties of living organisms. Clockwise from top left: Salmonella typhimurium, Phascolarctos cinereus, Athyrium filix-femina, Amanita muscaria, Agalychnis callidryas, and Brachypelma smithi

Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy.^[1] Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines. Among the most important topics are five unifying principles that can be said to be the fundamental axioms of modern biology:^[2]

Subdisciplines of biology are recognized on the basis of the scale at which organisms are studied and the methods used to study them: biochemistry examines the rudimentary chemistry of life; molecular biology studies the complex interactions of systems of biological molecules; cellular biology examines the basic building block of all life, the cell; physiology examines the physical and chemical functions of the tissues, organs, and organ systems of an organism; and ecology examines how various organisms interact and associate with their environment.^[3]

[hide]

History

Main article: History of biology

Ernst Haeckel's Tree of Life (1879)

The term biology in its modern sense appears to have been introduced independently by Karl Friedrich Burdach (1800), Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus (Biologie oder Philosophie der lebenden Natur, 1802), and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (Hydrogéologie, 1802).^[4]^[5] It is a classical compound inspired by the Greek word βίος, bios, "life" and the suffix -λογία, -logia, "study of."
Although biology in its modern form is a relatively recent development, sciences related to and included within it have been studied since ancient times. Natural philosophy was studied as early as the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indian subcontinent, and China. However, the origins of modern biology and its approach to the study of nature are most often traced back to ancient Greece.^[6] While the formal study of medicine dates back to Hippocrates (ca. 460 BC – ca. 370 BC), it was Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) who contributed most extensively to the development of biology. Especially important are his History of Animals and other works where he showed naturalist leanings, and later more empirical works that focused on biological causation and the diversity of life. Aristotle's successor at the Lyceum, Theophrastus, wrote a series of books on botany that survived as the most important contribution of antiquity to the plant sciences, even into the Middle Ages.
Scholars of the medieval Islamic world who wrote on biology included al-Jahiz (781–869), Al-Dinawari (828–896), who wrote on botany,^[7] and Rhazes (865–925) who wrote on anatomy and physiology. Medicine was especially well studied by Islamic scholars working in Greek philosopher traditions, while natural history drew heavily on Aristotelian thought, especially in upholding a fixed hierarchy of life.
Biology began to quickly develop and grow with Antony van Leeuwenhoek's dramatic improvement of the microscope. It was then that scholars discovered spermatozoa, bacteria, infusoria and the sheer strangeness and diversity of microscopic life. Investigations by Jan Swammerdam led to new interest in entomology and built the basic techniques of microscopic dissection and staining.^[8]
Advances in microscopy also had a profound impact on biological thinking itself. In the early 19th century, a number of biologists pointed to the central importance of the cell. In 1838 and 1839, Schleiden and Schwann began promoting the ideas that (1) the basic unit of organisms is the cell and (2) that individual cells have all the characteristics of life, although they opposed the idea that (3) all cells come from the division of other cells. Thanks to the work of Robert Remak and Rudolf Virchow, however, by the 1860s most biologists accepted all three tenets of what came to be known as cell theory.^[9]
Meanwhile, taxonomy and classification became a focus in the study of natural history. Carolus Linnaeus published a basic taxonomy for the natural world in 1735 (variations of which have been in use ever since), and in the 1750s introduced scientific names for all his species.^[10] Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, treated species as artificial categories and living forms as malleable—even suggesting the possibility of common descent. Though he was opposed to evolution, Buffon is a key figure in the history of evolutionary thought; his work influenced the evolutionary theories of both Lamarck and Darwin.^[11]
Serious evolutionary thinking originated with the works of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. However, it was the British naturalist Charles Darwin, combining the biogeographical approach of Humboldt, the uniformitarian geology of Lyell, Thomas Malthus's writings on population growth, and his own morphological expertise, that created a more successful evolutionary theory based on natural selection; similar reasoning and evidence led Alfred Russel Wallace to independently reach the same conclusions.^[12]
The discovery of the physical representation of heredity came along with evolutionary principles and population genetics. In the 1940s and early 1950s, experiments pointed to DNA as the component of chromosomes that held genes. A focus on new model organisms such as viruses and bacteria, along with the discovery of the double helical structure of DNA in 1953, marked the transition to the era of molecular genetics. From the 1950s to present times, biology has been vastly extended in the molecular domain. The genetic code was cracked by Har Gobind Khorana, Robert W. Holley and Marshall Warren Nirenberg after DNA was understood to contain codons. Finally, the Human Genome Project was launched in 1990 with the goal of mapping the general human genome. This project was essentially completed in 2003,^[13] with further analysis still being published. The Human Genome Project was the first step in a globalized effort to incorporate accumulated knowledge of biology into a functional, molecular definition of the human body and the bodies of other organisms.

Foundations of modern biology

Much of modern biology can be encompassed within five unifying principles: cell theory, evolution, genetics, homeostasis, and energy.^[2]

Cell theory

Main article: Cell theory

Cells in culture, stained for keratin (red) and DNA (green)

Cell theory states that the cell is the fundamental unit of life, and that all living things are composed of one or more cells or the secreted products of those cells (e.g. shells). All cells arise from other cells through cell division. In multicellular organisms, every cell in the organism's body derives ultimately from a single cell in a fertilized egg. The cell is also considered to be the basic unit in many pathological processes.^[14] Additionally, the phenomenon of energy flow occurs in cells in processes that are part of the function known as metabolism. Finally, cells contain hereditary information (DNA) which is passed from cell to cell during cell division.

Evolution

Natural selection of a population for dark coloration.

Main article: Evolution

A central organizing concept in biology is that life changes and develops through evolution, and that all life-forms known have a common origin. Introduced into the scientific lexicon by Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck in 1809,^[15] evolution was established by Charles Darwin fifty years later as a viable theory when he articulated its driving force: natural selection.^[16]^[17] (Alfred Russel Wallace is recognized as the co-discoverer of this concept as he helped research and experiment with the concept of evolution.)^[18] Evolution is now used to explain the great variations of life found on Earth.
Darwin theorized that species and breeds developed through the processes of natural selection and artificial selection or selective breeding.^[19] Genetic drift was embraced as an additional mechanism of evolutionary development in the modern synthesis of the theory.^[20]
The evolutionary history of the species—which describes the characteristics of the various species from which it descended—together with its genealogical relationship to every other species is known as its phylogeny. Widely varied approaches to biology generate information about phylogeny. These include the comparisons of DNA sequences conducted within molecular biology or genomics, and comparisons of fossils or other records of ancient organisms in paleontology.^[21] Biologists organize and analyze evolutionary relationships through various methods, including phylogenetics, phenetics, and cladistics. (For a summary of major events in the evolution of life as currently understood by biologists, see evolutionary timeline.)
The theory of evolution postulates that all organisms on the Earth, both living and extinct, have descended from a common ancestor or an ancestral gene pool. This last universal common ancestor of all organisms is believed to have appeared about 3.5 billion years ago.^[22] Biologists generally regard the universality and ubiquity of the genetic code as definitive evidence in favor of the theory of universal common descent for all bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes (see: origin of life).^[23]

Genetics

Main article: Genetics

A Punnett square depicting a cross between two pea plants heterozygous for purple (B) and white (b) blossoms

Genes are the primary units of inheritance in all organisms. A gene is a unit of heredity and corresponds to a region of DNA that influences the form or function of an organism in specific ways. All organisms, from bacteria to animals, share the same basic machinery that copies and translates DNA into proteins. Cells transcribe a DNA gene into an RNA version of the gene, and a ribosome then translates the RNA into a protein, a sequence of amino acids. The translation code from RNA codon to amino acid is the same for most organisms, but slightly different for some. For example, a sequence of DNA that codes for insulin in humans also codes for insulin when inserted into other organisms, such as plants.^[24]^[25]
DNA usually occurs as linear chromosomes in eukaryotes, and circular chromosomes in prokaryotes. A chromosome is an organized structure consisting of DNA and histones. The set of chromosomes in a cell and any other hereditary information found in the mitochondria, chloroplasts, or other locations is collectively known as its genome. In eukaryotes, genomic DNA is located in the cell nucleus, along with small amounts in mitochondria and chloroplasts. In prokaryotes, the DNA is held within an irregularly shaped body in the cytoplasm called the nucleoid.^[26] The genetic information in a genome is held within genes, and the complete assemblage of this information in an organism is called its genotype.^[27]

Homeostasis

Main article: Homeostasis

The hypothalamus secretes CRH, which directs the pituitary gland to secrete ACTH. In turn, ACTH directs the adrenal cortex to secrete glucocorticoids, such as cortisol. The GCs then reduce the rate of secretion by the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland once a sufficient amount of GCs has been released.^[28]

Homeostasis is the ability of an open system to regulate its internal environment to maintain stable conditions by means of multiple dynamic equilibrium adjustments controlled by interrelated regulation mechanisms. All living organisms, whether unicellular or multicellular, exhibit homeostasis.^[29]
To maintain dynamic equilibrium and effectively carry out certain functions, a system must detect and respond to perturbations. After the detection of a perturbation, a biological system normally respond through negative feedback. This means stabilizing conditions by either reducing or increasing the activity of an organ or system. One example is the release of glucagon when sugar levels are too low.

Energy

Basic overview of energy and human life.

The survival of a living organism depends on the continuous input of energy. Chemical reactions that are responsible for its structure and function are tuned to extract energy from substances that act as its food and transform them to help form new cells and sustain them. In this process, molecules of chemical substances that constitute food play two roles; first, they contain energy that can be transformed for biological chemical reactions; second, they develop new molecular structures made up of biomolecules.
The organisms responsible for the introduction of energy into an ecosystem are known as producers or autotrophs. Nearly all of these organisms originally draw energy from the sun.^[30] Plants and other phototrophs use solar energy via a process known as photosynthesis to convert raw materials into organic molecules, such as ATP, whose bonds can be broken to release energy.^[31] A few ecosystems, however, depend entirely on energy extracted by chemotrophs from methane, sulfides, or other non-luminal energy sources.^[32]
Some of the captured energy is used to produce biomass to sustain life and provide energy for growth and development. The majority of the rest of this energy is lost as heat and waste molecules. The most important processes for converting the energy trapped in chemical substances into energy useful to sustain life are metabolism^[33] and cellular respiration.^[34]

Research

Structural

Schematic of typical animal cell depicting the various organelles and structures.

Main articles: Molecular biology, Cell biology, Genetics, and Developmental biology

Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular level.^[35] This field overlaps with other areas of biology, particularly with genetics and biochemistry. Molecular biology chiefly concerns itself with understanding the interactions between the various systems of a cell, including the interrelationship of DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis and learning how these interactions are regulated.
Cell biology studies the structural and physiological properties of cells, including their behaviors, interactions, and environment. This is done on both the microscopic and molecular levels, for single-celled organisms such as bacteria as well as the specialized cells in multicellular organisms such as humans. Understanding the structure and function of cells is fundamental to all of the biological sciences. The similarities and differences between cell types are particularly relevant to molecular biology.
Anatomy considers the forms of macroscopic structures such as organs and organ systems.^[36]
Genetics is the science of genes, heredity, and the variation of organisms.^[37]^[38] Genes encode the information necessary for synthesizing proteins, which in turn play a large role in influencing (though, in many instances, not completely determining) the final phenotype of the organism. In modern research, genetics provides important tools in the investigation of the function of a particular gene, or the analysis of genetic interactions. Within organisms, genetic information generally is carried in chromosomes, where it is represented in the chemical structure of particular DNA molecules.
Developmental biology studies the process by which organisms grow and develop. Originating in embryology, modern developmental biology studies the genetic control of cell growth, differentiation, and "morphogenesis," which is the process that progressively gives rise to tissues, organs, and anatomy. Model organisms for developmental biology include the round worm Caenorhabditis elegans,^[39] the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster,^[40] the zebrafish Danio rerio,^[41] the mouse Mus musculus,,^[42] and the weed Arabidopsis thaliana.^[43]^[44] (A model organism is a species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in that organism provide insight into the workings of other organisms.)^[45]

Physiological

Main article: Physiology

Physiology studies the mechanical, physical, and biochemical processes of living organisms by attempting to understand how all of the structures function as a whole. The theme of "structure to function" is central to biology. Physiological studies have traditionally been divided into plant physiology and animal physiology, but some principles of physiology are universal, no matter what particular organism is being studied. For example, what is learned about the physiology of yeast cells can also apply to human cells. The field of animal physiology extends the tools and methods of human physiology to non-human species. Plant physiology borrows techniques from both research fields.
Physiology studies how for example nervous, immune, endocrine, respiratory, and circulatory systems, function and interact. The study of these systems is shared with medically oriented disciplines such as neurology and immunology.

Evolutionary

Evolutionary research is concerned with the origin and descent of species, as well as their change over time, and includes scientists from many taxonomically oriented disciplines. For example, it generally involves scientists who have special training in particular organisms such as mammalogy, ornithology, botany, or herpetology, but use those organisms as systems to answer general questions about evolution.
Evolutionary biology is partly based on paleontology, which uses the fossil record to answer questions about the mode and tempo of evolution,^[46] and partly on the developments in areas such as population genetics^[47] and evolutionary theory. In the 1980s, developmental biology re-entered evolutionary biology from its initial exclusion from the modern synthesis through the study of evolutionary developmental biology.^[48] Related fields often considered part of evolutionary biology are phylogenetics, systematics, and taxonomy.

Systematics

A phylogenetic tree of all living things, based on rRNA gene data, showing the separation of the three domains bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes as described initially by Carl Woese. Trees constructed with other genes are generally similar, although they may place some early-branching groups very differently, presumably owing to rapid rRNA evolution. The exact relationships of the three domains are still being debated.

Main article: Systematics

Multiple speciation events create a tree structured system of relationships between species. The role of systematics is to study these relationships and thus the differences and similarities between species and groups of species.^[49] However, systematics was an active field of research long before evolutionary thinking was common.^[50] The classification, taxonomy, and nomenclature of biological organisms is administered by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, and International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria for animals, plants, and bacteria, respectively. The classification of viruses, viroids, prions, and all other sub-viral agents that demonstrate biological characteristics is conducted by the International Code of Virus classification and nomenclature.^[51]^[52]^[53]^[54] However, several other viral classification systems do exist.
Traditionally, living things have been divided into five kingdoms: Monera; Protista; Fungi; Plantae; Animalia.^[55]
However, many scientists now consider this five-kingdom system outdated. Modern alternative classification systems generally begin with the three-domain system: Archaea (originally Archaebacteria); Bacteria (originally Eubacteria); Eukaryota (including protists, fungi, plants, and animals)^[56] These domains reflect whether the cells have nuclei or not, as well as differences in the chemical composition of the cell exteriors.^[56]
Further, each kingdom is broken down recursively until each species is separately classified. The order is: Domain; Kingdom; Phylum; Class; Order; Family; Genus; Species.
There is also a series of intracellular parasites that are "on the edge of life"^[57] in terms of metabolic activity, meaning that many scientists do not actually classify these structures as alive, due to their lack of at least one or more of the fundamental functions that define life. They are classified as viruses, viroids, prions, or satellites.
The scientific name of an organism is generated from its genus and species. For example, humans are listed as Homo sapiens. Homo is the genus, and sapiens the species. When writing the scientific name of an organism, it is proper to capitalize the first letter in the genus and put all of the species in lowercase. Additionally, the entire term may be italicized or underlined.^[58]^[59]
The dominant classification system is called the Linnaean taxonomy. It includes ranks and binomial nomenclature. How organisms are named is governed by international agreements such as the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN), the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), and the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria (ICNB).
A merging draft, BioCode, was published in 1997 in an attempt to standardize nomenclature in these three areas, but has yet to be formally adopted.^[60] The BioCode draft has received little attention since 1997; its originally planned implementation date of January 1, 2000, has passed unnoticed. However, a 2004 paper concerning the cyanobacteria does advocate a future adoption of a BioCode and interim steps consisting of reducing the differences between the codes.^[61] The International Code of Virus Classification and Nomenclature (ICVCN) remains outside the BioCode.

Ecology

Mutual symbiosis between clownfish of the genus Amphiprion that dwell among the tentacles of tropical sea anemones. The territorial fish protects the anemone from anemone-eating fish, and in turn the stinging tentacles of the anemone protects the clown fish from its predators

Main articles: Ecology, Ethology, Behavior, and Biogeography

Ecology studies the distribution and abundance of living organisms, and the interactions between organisms and their environment.^[62] The habitat of an organism can be described as the local abiotic factors such as climate and ecology, in addition to the other organisms and biotic factors that share its environment.^[63] One reason that biological systems can be difficult to study is that so many different interactions with other organisms and the environment are possible, even on the smallest of scales. A microscopic bacterium responding to a local sugar gradient is responding to its environment as much as a lion is responding to its environment when it searches for food in the African savanna. For any given species, behaviors can be co-operative, aggressive, parasitic, or symbiotic. Matters become more complex when two or more different species interact in an ecosystem. Studies of this type are within the province of ecology.
Ecological systems are studied at several different levels, from individuals and populations to ecosystems and the biosphere. The term population biology is often used interchangeably with population ecology, although population biology is more frequently used when studying diseases, viruses, and microbes, while population ecology is more commonly when studying plants and animals. As can be surmised, ecology is a science that draws on several disciplines.
Ethology studies animal behavior (particularly that of social animals such as primates and canids), and is sometimes considered a branch of zoology. Ethologists have been particularly concerned with the evolution of behavior and the understanding of behavior in terms of the theory of natural selection. In one sense, the first modern ethologist was Charles Darwin, whose book, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, influenced many ethologists to come.^[64]
Biogeography studies the spatial distribution of organisms on the Earth,^[65] focusing on topics like plate tectonics, climate change, dispersal and migration, and cladistics.

Branches of biology

Main article: List of biology disciplines

These are the main branches of biology:^[66]^[67]

Aerobiology — the study of airborne organic particles
Agriculture — the study of producing crops from the land, with an emphasis on practical applications
Anatomy — the study of form and function, in plants, animals, and other organisms, or specifically in humans
Astrobiology — the study of evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe—also known as exobiology, exopaleontology, and bioastronomy
Biochemistry — the study of the chemical reactions required for life to exist and function, usually a focus on the cellular level
Bioengineering — the study of biology through the means of engineering with an emphasis on applied knowledge and especially related to biotechnology
Biogeography — the study of the distribution of species spatially and temporally
Bioinformatics — the use of information technology for the study, collection, and storage of genomic and other biological data
Biomathematics or Mathematical Biology — the quantitative or mathematical study of biological processes, with an emphasis on modeling
Biomechanics — often considered a branch of medicine, the study of the mechanics of living beings, with an emphasis on applied use through prosthetics or orthotics
Biomedical research — the study of the human body in health and disease
Biophysics — the study of biological processes through physics, by applying the theories and methods traditionally used in the physical sciences
Biotechnology — a new and sometimes controversial branch of biology that studies the manipulation of living matter, including genetic modification and synthetic biology
Building biology — the study of the indoor living environment
Botany — the study of plants
Cell biology — the study of the cell as a complete unit, and the molecular and chemical interactions that occur within a living cell
Conservation Biology — the study of the preservation, protection, or restoration of the natural environment, natural ecosystems, vegetation, and wildlife
Cryobiology — the study of the effects of lower than normally preferred temperatures on living beings.
Developmental biology — the study of the processes through which an organism forms, from zygote to full structure
Ecology — the study of the interactions of living organisms with one another and with the non-living elements of their environment
Embryology — the study of the development of embryo (from fecundation to birth). See also topobiology.
Entomology — the study of insects
Environmental Biology — the study of the natural world, as a whole or in a particular area, especially as affected by human activity
Epidemiology — a major component of public health research, studying factors affecting the health of populations
Ethology — the study of animal behavior
Evolutionary Biology — the study of the origin and descent of species over time
Genetics — the study of genes and heredity
Herpetology — the study of reptiles and amphibians
Histology — the study of cells and tissues, a microscopic branch of anatomy
Ichthyology — the study of fish
Integrative biology — the study of whole organisms
Limnology — the study of inland waters
Mammalogy — the study of mammals
Marine Biology — the study of ocean ecosystems, plants, animals, and other living beings
Microbiology — the study of microscopic organisms (microorganisms) and their interactions with other living things
Molecular Biology — the study of biology and biological functions at the molecular level, some cross over with biochemistry
Mycology — the study of fungi
Neurobiology — the study of the nervous system, including anatomy, physiology and pathology
Oceanography — the study of the ocean, including ocean life, environment, geography, weather, and other aspects influencing the ocean
Oncology — the study of cancer processes, including virus or mutation oncogenesis, angiogenesis and tissues remoldings
Ornithology — the study of birds
Population biology — the study of groups of conspecific organisms, including
- Population ecology — the study of how population dynamics and extinction
- Population genetics — the study of changes in gene frequencies in populations of organisms
Paleontology — the study of fossils and sometimes geographic evidence of prehistoric life
Pathobiology or pathology — the study of diseases, and the causes, processes, nature, and development of disease
Parasitology — the study of parasites and parasitism
Pharmacology — the study and practical application of preparation, use, and effects of drugs and synthetic medicines
Physiology — the study of the functioning of living organisms and the organs and parts of living organisms
Phytopathology — the study of plant diseases (also called Plant Pathology)
Psychobiology — the study of the biological bases of psychology
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Primate

2011-07-06T12:53:00.000-07:00

Primate

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the type of animal. For other uses, see Primate (disambiguation).

Primates^[1] Temporal range: Late Paleocene–recent PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N

Olive baboon, Papio anubis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Eutheria
Superorder:	Euarchontoglires
Order:	Primates Linnaeus, 1758
Families
16, See classification

Range of the non-human primates (green)

A primate ( /ˈpraɪmeɪt/ US dict: prī′·māt) is a mammal of the order Primates ( /praɪˈmeɪtiːz/ US dict: prī·mā′·tēz; Latin: "prime, first rank"),^[2] which contains prosimians (including lemurs, lorises, galagos and tarsiers) and simians (monkeys and apes – including humans).^[3] Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment. All but a few primate species remain at least partly arboreal.
With the exception of humans, who inhabit every continent,^[a] most primates live in tropical or subtropical regions of the Americas, Africa and Asia.^[4] Primates range in size from Madame Berthe's mouse lemur, which weighs only 30 grams (1 oz), to the mountain gorilla, weighing 200 kilograms (440 lb). According to fossil evidence, the primitive ancestors of primates may have existed in the late Cretaceous period around 65 million years ago; the oldest known primate is the Late Paleocene Plesiadapis, c. 55–58 million years ago.^[5] Molecular clock studies suggest that the primate branch may be even older, originating in the mid-Cretaceous period around 85 mya.^[5]
Order Primates has traditionally been divided into two main groupings: prosimians and anthropoids (simians). Prosimians have characteristics more like those of the earliest primates, and include the lemurs of Madagascar, lorisiforms and tarsiers. Simians include the monkeys and apes. More recently, taxonomists have preferred to split primates into the suborder Strepsirrhini, or curly-nosed primates, consisting of non-tarsier prosimians, and the suborder Haplorhini, or dry-nosed primates, consisting of tarsiers and the simians. Simians are divided into two groups: platyrrhine ("flat nosed") or New World monkeys of South and Central America and catarrhine (narrow nosed) monkeys and apes of Africa and southeastern Asia. New World monkeys include the capuchin, howler and squirrel monkeys; catarrhines consist of Old World monkeys (such as baboons and macaques), gibbons and great apes. Humans are the only extant catarrhines that have spread successfully outside of Africa, South Asia, and East Asia, although fossil evidence shows many other species were formerly present in Europe.
Considered generalist mammals, primates exhibit a wide range of characteristics. Some primates (including some great apes and baboons) are primarily terrestrial rather than arboreal, but all species possess adaptations for climbing trees. Locomotion techniques used include leaping from tree to tree, walking on two or four limbs, knuckle-walking, and swinging between branches of trees (known as brachiation). Primates are characterized by large brains relative to other mammals, as well as an increased reliance on stereoscopic vision at the expense of smell, the dominant sensory system in most mammals. These features are more developed in monkeys and apes and noticeably less so in lorises and lemurs. Three-color vision has developed in some primates. Most also have opposable thumbs and some have prehensile tails. Many species are sexually dimorphic, which means males and females have different physical traits, including body mass, canine tooth size, and coloration. Primates have slower rates of development than other similarly sized mammals and reach maturity later but have longer lifespans. Depending on the species, adults may live in solitude, in male–female pairs, or in groups of up to hundreds of members.

[edit] Evolutionary history

Euarchontoglires

Glires

	Rodentia (rodents)

	Lagomorpha (rabbits, hares, pikas)

Euarchonta

Scandentia (treeshrews)

Primatomorpha

Dermoptera (colugos)

	†Plesiadapiformes

	Primates

Order Primates is part of the clade Euarchontoglires, which is nested within the clade Eutheria of Class Mammalia. Recent molecular genetic research on primates, colugos, and treeshrews has shown that the two species of colugos are more closely related to primates than treeshrews,^[6] even though treeshrews were at one time considered primates.^[7] These three orders make up the clade Euarchonta. The combination of this clade with the clade Glires (composed of Rodentia and Lagomorpha) forms the clade Euarchontoglires. Variously, both Euarchonta and Euarchontoglires are ranked as superorders. Some scientists consider Dermoptera a suborder of Primates and call the "true" primates the suborder Euprimates.^[8]

[edit] Evolution

Further information: List of fossil primates and Lemur evolutionary history

The primate lineage is thought to go back at least 65 mya (million years ago),^[9] even though the oldest known primate from the fossil record is Plesiadapis (c. 55–58 mya) from the Late Paleocene.^[10]^[11] Other studies, including molecular clock studies, have estimated the origin of the primate branch to have been in the mid-Cretaceous period, around 85 mya.^[12]^[13]^[14]
By modern cladistic reckoning, Order Primates is monophyletic. Suborder Strepsirrhini, the curly-nosed or "wet-nosed" primates, is generally thought to have split off from the primitive primate line about 63 mya,^[15] although earlier dates are also supported.^[16] The seven strepsirhine families are the five related lemur families and the two remaining families that include the lorisids and the galagos.^[1]^[17] Older classification schemes wrap Lepilemuridae into Lemuridae and Galagidae into Lorisidae, yielding a four-one family distribution instead of five-two as presented here.^[1] During the Eocene, most of the northern continents were dominated by two groups, the adapiforms and the omomyids.^[18]^[19] The former are considered members of Strepsirrhini, but did not have a toothcomb like modern lemurs; recent analysis has suggested Darwinius masillae fits into this grouping.^[20] The latter was related closely to tarsiers, monkeys, and apes. It is unclear exactly how these two groups relate to extant primates. Omomyids perished about 30 mya,^[19] while adapids survived until about 10 mya.^[21]

Ring-tailed lemur, a strepsirrhine primate

According to genetic studies, the lemurs of Madagascar diverged from the lorisiforms approximately 75 mya.^[16] These studies, as well as chromosomal and molecular evidence, also show that lemurs are more closely related to each other than to other strepsirrhine primates.^[16]^[22] However, Madagascar split from Africa 160 mya and from India 90 mya.^[23] To account for these facts, it is thought that a founding lemur population of a few individuals reached Madagascar from Africa via a single rafting event between 50 and 80 million years ago.^[16]^[22]^[23] Other colonization options have been examined, such as multiple colonizations from Africa and India, but none are supported by the genetic and molecular evidence.^[18]
Until recently the aye-aye has been difficult to place within Strepsirrhini.^[1] Theories had been proposed that its family, Daubentoniidae, was either a lemuriform primate (meaning its ancestors split from the lemur line more recently than lemurs and lorises split) or a sister group to all the other strepsirrhines. In 2008, the aye-aye family was confirmed to be most closely related to the other Malagasy lemurs, likely having descended from the same ancestral population that colonized the island.^[16]
Suborder Haplorhini, the simple-nosed or "dry-nosed" primates, is composed of two sister clades.^[1] Prosimian tarsiers in the family Tarsiidae (monotypic in its own infraorder Tarsiiformes), represent the most basal division, originating about 58 mya.^[24]^[25] The infraorder Simiiformes emerged about 40 mya,^[19] and contains two clades, both parvorders: Platyrrhini, which developed in South America, consisting of New World monkeys, and Catarrhini, which developed in Africa, consisting of Old World monkeys, humans and the other apes.^[1] A third clade, which included the eosimiids, developed in Asia but went extinct millions of years ago.^[26]
As in the case of lemurs, the origin of New World monkeys is unclear. Molecular studies of concatenated nuclear sequences have yielded a widely varying estimated date of divergence between platyrrhines and catarrhines, ranging from 33 to 70 mya, while studies based on mitochondrial sequences produce a narrower range of 35 to 43 mya.^[5]^[27] It is possible that anthropoid primates traversed the Atlantic ocean from Africa to South America during the Eocene by island hopping, facilitated by Atlantic Ocean ridges and a lowered sea level.^[18] Alternatively, a single rafting event may explain this transoceanic colonization. Due to continental drift, the Atlantic Ocean was not nearly as wide at the time as it is today.^[18] Research suggests that a small 1 kg (2.2 lb) primate could have survived 13 days on a raft of vegetation.^[28] Given estimated current and wind speeds, this would have provided enough time to make the voyage between the continents.

Emperor tamarin, a New World monkey

Apes and monkeys spread from Africa into Europe and Asia starting in the Miocene.^[29] Soon after, the lorises and tarsiers made the same journey. The first hominid fossils were discovered in Northern Africa and date back 5–8 mya.^[19] Old World monkeys disappeared from Europe about 1.8 mya.^[30] Molecular and fossil studies generally show that modern humans originated in Africa 100,000–200,000 years ago.^[31]
Although primates are well studied in comparison to other animal groups, several new species have been recently discovered, and genetic tests have revealed previously unrecognised species in known populations. Primate Taxonomy listed about 350 species of primates in 2001;^[32] the author, Colin Groves, increased that number to 376 for his contribution to the third edition of Mammal Species of the World (MSW3).^[1] However, publications since the taxonomy in MSW3 was compiled in 2003 have pushed the number to 424 species, or 658 including subspecies.^[33]

[edit] Classification of living primates

A 1927 drawing of chimpanzees, a gibbon (top right) and two orangutans (center and bottom center). The chimp in the upper left is brachiating; the orangutan at the bottom center is knuckle-walking.

Homo sapiens, a member of the order Primates

The following is the listing of the various families of primates:^[1]^[17]^[33]

Order Primates
- Suborder Strepsirrhini: non-tarsier prosimians
  - Infraorder Lemuriformes
    - Family Cheirogaleidae: dwarf lemurs and mouse-lemurs (32 species)
    - Family Daubentoniidae: aye-aye (1 species)
    - Family Lemuridae: lemurs (22 species)
    - Family Lepilemuridae: sportive lemurs (26 species)
    - Family Indriidae: woolly lemurs and allies (19 species)
  - Infraorder Lorisiformes
    - Family Lorisidae: lorises, pottos and allies (9 species)
    - Family Galagidae: galagos (19 species)
- Suborder Haplorhini: tarsiers, monkeys and apes
  - Infraorder Tarsiiformes
    - Family Tarsiidae: tarsiers (9 species)
  - Infraorder Anthropoidea
    - Parvorder Platyrrhini: New World monkeys
      - Family Callitrichidae: marmosets and tamarins (42 species)
      - Family Cebidae: capuchins and squirrel monkeys (17 species)
      - Family Aotidae: night or owl monkeys (douroucoulis) (10 species)
      - Family Pitheciidae: titis, sakis and uakaris (42 species)
      - Family Atelidae: howler, spider, woolly spider and woolly monkeys (28 species)
    - Parvorder Catarrhini
      - Superfamily Cercopithecoidea
        Family Cercopithecidae: Old World monkeys (135 species)
      - Superfamily Hominoidea
        Family Hylobatidae: gibbons or "lesser apes" (13 species)
        
        Family Hominidae: great apes, including humans (7 species)

Philippine tarsier, once considered a prosimian, now predominantly considered a haplorrhine

Order Primates was established by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, in the tenth edition of his book Systema Naturae,^[34] for the genera Homo (humans), Simia (other apes and monkeys), Lemur (prosimians) and Vespertilio (bats). In the first edition of the same book (1735), he had used the name Anthropomorpha for Homo, Simia and Bradypus (sloths).^[35] In 1839, Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville, following Linnaeus and imitating his nomenclature, established the orders Secundates (including the suborders Chiroptera, Insectivora and Carnivora), Tertiates (or Glires) and Quaternates (including Gravigrada, Pachydermata and Ruminantia),^[36] but these new taxa were not accepted.
Before Anderson and Jones introduced the classification of Strepsirhini and Haplorhini in 1984,^[37] (followed by McKenna and Bell's 1997 work Classification of Mammals: Above the species level),^[38] the Primates were divided into two superfamilies: Prosimii and Anthropoidea.^[39] Prosimii included all of the prosimians: Strepsirrhini plus the tarsiers. Anthropoidea contained all of the simians.

[edit] Hybrids

Primate hybrids usually arise in captivity,^[40] but there have also been examples in the wild.^[41]^[42] Hybridization occurs where two species' range overlap to form hybrid zones; hybrids may be created by humans when animals are placed in zoos or due to environmental pressures such as predation.^[41] Intergeneric hybridizations, hybrids of different genera, have also been found in the wild. Although they belong to genera that have been distinct for several million years, interbreeding still occurs between the gelada and the Hamadryas baboon.^[43]

[edit] Distinguishing features

Primates have diversified in arboreal habitats (trees and bushes) and possess many characteristics that are adaptations to this environment.^[44] They are distinguished by:

retention of the collar bone in the pectoral girdle;^[44]
shoulder joints which allow high degrees of movement in all directions;^[44]
five digits on the fore and hind limbs with opposable thumbs and big toes;^[44]
nails on the fingers and toes (in most species);^[45]
a flat nail on the hallux (in all extant species);^[45]
sensitive tactile pads on the ends of the digits;^[44]
orbits encircled in bone;^[46]
a trend towards a reduced snout and flattened face, attributed to a reliance on vision at the expense of olfaction (most notably in haplorrhines, and less so in strepsirrhines);^[46]
a complex visual system with stereoscopic vision, high visual acuity and color vision;^[44]
a brain having a well-developed cerebellum with posterior lobe and a calcarine fissure;^[46]
a large brain in comparison to body size, especially in simians;^[44]
differentiation of an enlarged cerebral cortex;^[44]
reduced number of teeth compared to primitive mammals;^[44]
three kinds of teeth;^[46]
a well-developed cecum;^[46]
two pectoral mammary glands;^[44]
typically one young per pregnancy;^[44]
a pendulous penis and scrotal testes;^[46]
a long gestation and developmental period;^[44] and
a trend towards holding the torso upright leading to bipedalism.^[44]

Not all primates exhibit these anatomical traits, nor is every trait unique to primates. For example, other mammals have collar bones, three kinds of teeth and a pendulous penis, while spider monkeys have greatly reduced thumbs, ruffed lemurs have six mammary glands and strepsirrhines generally have longer snouts and a strong sense of smell.^[46]
In regard to behavior, primates are frequently highly social, with flexible dominance hierarchies.^[47] New World species form monogamous pair bonds, and show substantial paternal care of their young, unlike most Old World monkeys.^[48]

[edit] Anatomy, physiology, and morphology

Primates have forward-facing eyes on the front of the skull; binocular vision allows accurate distance perception, useful for the brachiating ancestors of all great apes.^[44] There is a bony ridge above the eye sockets; this ridge reinforces weaker bones in the face which are put under strain during chewing. Strepsirrhines have a postorbital bar, a bone which runs around the eye socket, to protect their eyes; in contrast, the higher primates, haplorrhines, have evolved fully enclosed sockets.^[49]

Primate crania. The labels indicate brain mass.

The primate skull has a large domed cranium which is particularly prominent in anthropoids. The cranium protects the large brain, a distinguishing characteristic of this group.^[44] The endocranial volume (the volume within the skull) is three times greater in humans than in the greatest non-human primate, reflecting a larger brain size.^[50] The mean endocranial volume is 1201 cubic centimeters in humans, 469 cm³ in gorillas, 400 cm³ in chimpanzees and 397 cm³ in orangutans.^[50] The primary evolutionary trend of primates has been the elaboration of the brain, in particular the neocortex (a part of the cerebral cortex), which is involved with sensory perception, generation of motor commands, spatial reasoning, conscious thought and, in humans, language.^[4] While other mammals rely heavily on their sense of smell, the arboreal life of primates has led to a tactile, visually dominant sensory system,^[4] a reduction in the olfactory region of the brain and increasingly complex social behavior.^[51]

An 1893 drawing of the hands and feet of various primates

Primates generally have five digits on each limb (pentadactyly), with keratin nails on the end of each finger. The bottom sides of the hands and feet have sensitive pads on the fingertips. Most have opposable thumbs, a characteristic primate feature; however, opposing thumbs are not limited to this order (opossums, for example, also have them).^[44] Thumbs allow some species to use tools. In primates, the combination of opposing thumbs, short fingernails (rather than claws) and long, inward-closing fingers is a relict of the ancestral practice of gripping branches, and has, in part, allowed some species to develop brachiation (swinging by the arms from tree limb to tree limb) as a significant means of transportation. Prosimians have clawlike nails on the second toe of each foot, called toilet-claws, which they use for grooming.^[44]
The primate collar bone is retained as prominent element of the pectoral girdle; this allows the shoulder joint broad mobility.^[47] Apes have more mobile shoulder joints and arms due to the dorsal position of the scapula, broad ribcages that are flatter front-to-back, and a shorter, less mobile spine compared to Old World monkeys (with lower vertebrae greatly reduced, resulting in tail loss in some species). Old World monkeys are unlike apes in that most have tails. The only primate family with fully prehensile tails are the New World atelids, including the howler, spider, woolly spider and woolly monkeys (New World capuchins have partially prehensile tails).
Primates show an evolutionary trend towards a reduced snout.^[47] Technically, Old World monkeys are distinguished from New World monkeys by the structure of the nose, and from apes by the arrangement of their teeth.^[51] In New World monkeys the nostrils face sideways; in Old World monkeys, they face downwards.^[51] There is a considerably varied dental pattern in primates and although some have lost most of their incisors, all retain at least one lower incisor.^[51] In most strepsirhines, the lower incisors and canines form a toothcomb, which is used in grooming and sometimes foraging,^[46]^[51] and the first lower premolar is shaped like a canine.^[46] Old World monkeys have eight premolars, compared with twelve in New World monkeys.^[51] The Old World species are divided into apes and monkeys depending on the number of cusps on their molars; apes have five, Old World monkeys have four,^[51] although humans may have 4 or 5.^[52] The main hominid molar cusp (hypocone) evolved in early primate history, while the cusp of the corresponding primitive lower molar (paraconid) was lost. Prosimians are distinguished by their immobilized upper lips, the moist tip of their nose and forward-facing lower front teeth.
The evolution of color vision in primates is unique among most eutherian mammals. While the remote vertebrate ancestors of the primates possessed three color vision (trichromaticism), the nocturnal, warm-blooded, mammalian ancestors lost one of three cones in the retina during the Mesozoic era. Fish, reptiles and birds are therefore trichromatic or tetrachromatic while all mammals, with the exception of some primates and marsupials,^[53] are dichromats or monochromats (totally color blind).^[46] Nocturnal primates, such as the night monkeys and bush babies, are often monochromatic. Catarrhines are routinely trichromatic due to a gene duplication of the red-green opsin gene at the base of their lineage, 30 to 40 million years ago.^[46]^[54] Platyrrhines, on the other hand, are trichromatic in a few cases only.^[55] Specifically, individual females must be heterozygous for two alleles of the opsin gene (red and green) located on the same locus of the X chromosome.^[46] Males, therefore, can only be dichromatic, while females can be either dichromatic or trichromatic. Color vision in strepsirrhines is not as well understood; however, research indicates a range of color vision similar to that found in platyrrhines.^[46]
Like catarrhines, howler monkeys (a family of platyrrhines) show routine trichromatism that has been traced to an evolutionarily recent gene duplication.^[56] Howler monkeys are one of the most specialized leaf-eaters of the New World monkeys; fruits are not a major part of their diet,^[57] and the type of leaves they prefer to consume (young, nutritive, and digestible) are detectable only by a red-green signal. Field work exploring the dietary preferences of howler monkeys suggests that routine trichromaticism was environmentally selected for.^[55]

[edit] Sexual dimorphism

Main article: Sexual dimorphism in non-human primates

Distinct sexual size dimorphism can be seen between the female and two male Hamadryas baboons.

Sexual dimorphism, the variation between individuals of different sex in the same species, is often exhibited in simians, though to a greater degree in Old World species (apes and some monkeys) than New World species. Recent studies involve comparing DNA to examine both the variation in the expression of the dimorphism among primates and the fundamental causes of sexual dimorphism. Primates usually have dimorphism in body mass^[58]^[59] and canine tooth size^[60]^[61] along with pelage and skin color.^[62] The dimorphism can be attributed to and affected by different factors, including mating system,^[63] size,^[63] habitat and diet.^[64]
Comparative analyses have generated a more complete understanding of the relationship between sexual selection, natural selection, and mating systems in primates. Studies have shown that dimorphism is the product of changes in both male and female traits.^[65] Ontogenetic scaling, where relative extension of a common growth trajectory occurs, may give some insight into the relationship between sexual dimorphism and growth patterns.^[66] Some evidence from the fossil record suggests that there was convergent evolution of dimorphism, and some extinct hominids probably had greater dimorphism than any living primate.^[65]

[edit] Locomotion

Diademed sifaka, a lemur species, is a vertical clinger and leaper

Primate species move by brachiation, bipedalism, leaping, arboreal and terrestrial quadrupedalism, climbing, knuckle-walking or by a combination of these methods. Several prosimians are primarily vertical clinger and leapers. These include many bushbabies, all indriids (i.e., sifakas, avahis and indris), sportive lemurs, and all tarsiers.^[67] Other prosimians are arboreal quadrupeds and climbers. Some are also terrestrial quadrupeds, while some are leapers. Most monkeys are both arboreal and terrestrial quadrupeds and climbers. Gibbons, muriquis and spider monkeys all brachiate extensively,^[30] with gibbons sometimes doing so in remarkably acrobatic fashion. Woolly monkeys also brachiate at times.^[57] Orangutans use a similar form of locomotion called quadramanous climbing, in which they use their arms and legs to carry their heavy bodies through the trees.^[30] Chimpanzees and gorillas knuckle walk,^[30] and can move bipedally for short distances. Although numerous species, such as australopithecines and early hominids, have exhibited fully bipedal locomotion, humans are the only extant species with this trait.

[edit] Behavior

[edit] Social systems

Richard Wrangham stated that social systems of non-human primates are best classified by the amount of movement by females occurring between groups.^[68] He proposed four categories:

Female transfer systems – females move away from the group in which they were born. Females of a group will not be closely related whereas males will have remained with their natal groups, and this close association may be influential in social behavior. The groups formed are generally quite small. This organization can be seen in chimpanzees, where the males, who are typically related, will cooperate in defense of the group's territory. Among New World Monkeys, spider monkeys and muriquis use this system.^[69]

Japanese macaques bathe together in Jigokudani Hot Springs

Male transfer systems – while the females remain in their natal groups, the males will emigrate as adolescents. Polygynous and multi-male societies are classed in this category. Group sizes are usually larger. This system is common among the ring-tailed lemur, capuchin monkeys and cercopithecine monkeys.^[30]
Monogamous species – a male–female bond, sometimes accompanied by a juvenile offspring. There is shared responsibility of parental care and territorial defense. The offspring leaves the parents' territory during adolescence. Gibbons essentially use this system, although "monogamy" in this context does not necessarily mean absolute sexual fidelity.^[70]
Solitary species – often males who defend territories that include the home ranges of several females. This type of organization is found in the prosimians such as the slow loris. Orangutans do not defend their territory but effectively have this organization.^[71]

Other systems are known to occur as well. For example, with howler monkeys both the males and females typically transfer from their natal group on reaching sexual maturity, resulting in groups in which neither the males nor females are typically related.^[57] Some prosimians, colobine monkeys and callitrichid monkeys use this system.^[30]

Chimpanzees are social animals.

Primatologist Jane Goodall, who studied in the Gombe Stream National Park, noted fission-fusion societies in chimpanzees.^[72] There is fission where the main group splits up to forage during the day, then fusion when the group returns at night to sleep as a group. This social structure can also be observed in the Hamadryas baboon,^[73] spider monkeys^[57] and the bonobo.^[73] The gelada has a similar social structure in which many smaller groups come together to form temporary herds of up to 600 monkeys.^[73]
These social systems are affected by three main ecological factors: distribution of resources, group size and predation.^[48] Within a social group there is a balance between cooperation and competition. Cooperative behaviors include social grooming (removing skin parasites and cleaning wounds), food sharing, and collective defense against predators or of a territory. Aggressive behaviors often signal competition for availability of food, sleeping sites or mates. Aggression is also used in establishing dominance hierarchies.^[48]^[74]

[edit] Interspecific associations

Several species of primates are known to associate in the wild. Some of these associations have been extensively studied. In the Tai Forest of Africa several species coordinate anti-predator behavior. These include the Diana monkey, Campbell's mona monkey, lesser spot-nosed monkey, western red colobus, king colobus and sooty mangabey, which coordinate anti-predator alarm calls.^[75] Among the predators of these monkeys is the common chimpanzee.^[76]
The red-tailed monkey associates with several species, including the Western red colobus, blue monkey, Wolf's mona monkey, mantled guereza, black crested mangabey and Allen's swamp monkey.^[73] Several of these species are preyed upon by the common chimpanzee.^[77]
In South America, squirrel monkeys associate with capuchin monkeys.^[78] This may have more to do with foraging benefits to the squirrel monkeys than anti-predation benefits.^[78]

[edit] Cognition and communication

Main article: Primate cognition

Further information: Great ape language

Primates have advanced cognitive abilities: some make tools and use them to acquire food and for social displays;^[79]^[80] some have sophisticated hunting strategies requiring cooperation, influence and rank;^[81] they are status conscious, manipulative and capable of deception;^[82] they can recognise kin and conspecifics;^[83]^[84] and they can learn to use symbols and understand aspects of human language including some relational syntax and concepts of number and numerical sequence.^[85]^[86]^[87] Research in primate cognition explores problem solving, memory, social interaction, a theory of mind, and numerical, spatial, and abstract concepts.^[88] Comparative studies show a trend towards higher intelligence going from prosimians to New World monkeys to Old World monkeys, and significantly higher average cognitive abilities in the great apes.^[89]^[90] However, there is a great deal of variation in each group (e.g., among New World monkeys, both spider^[89] and capuchin monkeys^[90] have scored highly by some measures), as well as in the results of different studies.^[89]^[90]
Lemurs, lorises, tarsiers, and New World monkeys rely on olfactory signals for many aspects of social and reproductive behavior.^[4] Specialized glands are used to mark territories with pheromones, which are detected by the vomeronasal organ; this process forms a large part of the communication behavior of these primates.^[4] In Old World monkeys and apes this ability is mostly vestigial, having regressed as trichromatic eyes evolved to become the main sensory organ.^[91] Primates also use vocalizations, gestures, and facial expressions to convey psychological state.^[92]

[edit] Life history

Primates have slower rates of development than other mammals.^[30] All primate infants are breastfed by their mothers (with the exception of some human cultures and various zoo raised primates which are fed formula) and rely on them for grooming and transportation.^[30] In some species, infants are protected and transported by males in the group, particularly males who may be their fathers.^[30] Other relatives of the infant, such as siblings and aunts, may participate in its care as well.^[30] Most primate mothers cease ovulation while breastfeeding an infant; once the infant is weaned the mother can reproduce again.^[30] This often leads to weaning conflict with infants who attempt to continue breastfeeding.^[30]
Primates have a longer juvenile period between weaning and sexual maturity than other mammals of similar size.^[30] During the juvenile period, primates are more susceptible than adults to predation and starvation; they gain experience in feeding and avoiding predators during this time ^[30] They learn social and fighting skills, often through playing.^[30]
Primates, especially females, have longer lifespans than other similarly sized mammals.^[30] Late in life, female catarrhine primates appear to undergo a cessation of reproductive function known as menopause; other groups are less studied.^[93]

[edit] Diet and feeding

Leaf eating mantled guereza, a species of black-and-white colobus

Foraging crab-eating macaques temporarily store food in their cheek pouches

Primates exploit a variety of food sources. It has been said that many characteristics of modern primates, including humans, derive from an early ancestor's practice of taking most of its food from the tropical canopy.^[94] Most primates include fruit in their diets to obtain easily digested carbohydrates and lipids for energy.^[30] However, they require other foods, such as leaves or insects, for amino acids, vitamins and minerals. Primates in the suborder Strepsirrhini (non-tarsier prosimians) are able to synthesize vitamin C, like most other mammals, while primates of the suborder Haplorrhini (tarsiers, monkeys and apes) have lost this ability, and require the vitamin in their diet.^[95]
Many primates have anatomical specializations that enable them to exploit particular foods, such as fruit, leaves, gum or insects.^[30] For example, leaf eaters such as howler monkeys, black-and-white colobuses and sportive lemurs have extended digestive tracts which enable them to absorb nutrients from leaves that can be difficult to digest.^[30] Marmosets, which are gum eaters, have strong incisor teeth, enabling them to open tree bark to get to the gum, and claws rather than nails, enabling them to cling to trees while feeding.^[30] The aye-aye combines rodent-like teeth with a long, thin middle finger to fill the same ecological niche as a woodpecker. It taps on trees to find insect larvae, then gnaws holes in the wood and inserts its elongated middle finger to pull the larvae out.^[96] Some species have additional specializations. For example, the grey-cheeked mangabey has thick enamel on its teeth, enabling it to open hard fruits and seeds that other monkeys cannot.^[30]
The gelada is the only primate species that feeds primarily on grass.^[97] Tarsiers are the only extant obligate carnivorous primates, exclusively eating insects, crustaceans, small vertebrates and snakes (including venomous species).^[98] Capuchin monkeys, on the other hand, can exploit many different types of food, including fruit, leaves, flowers, buds, nectar, seeds, insects and other invertebrates, bird eggs, and small vertebrates such as birds, lizards, squirrels and bats.^[57] The common chimpanzee has a varied diet that includes predation on other primate species, such as the western red colobus monkey.^[76]^[77]

[edit] Habitat and distribution

Rhesus macaque at Agra Fort, India

Primates evolved from arboreal animals, and many species live most of their lives in trees. Most primate species live in tropical rain forests. The number of primate species within tropical areas has been shown to be positively correlated to the amount of rainfall and the amount of rain forest area.^[99] Accounting for 25% to 40% of the fruit-eating animals (by weight) within tropical rainforests, primates play an important ecological role by dispersing seeds of many tree species.^[100]
Some species are partially terrestrial, such as baboons and patas monkeys, and a few species are fully terrestrial, such as geladas and humans. Non-human primates live in a diverse number of forested habitats in the tropical latitudes of Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and South America, including rainforests, mangrove forests, and montane forests. There are some examples of non-human primates that live outside of the tropics; the mountain-dwelling Japanese macaque lives in the north of Honshū where there is snow-cover eight months of the year; the Barbary macaque lives in the Atlas Mountains of Algeria and Morocco. Primate habitats span a range of altitudes: the black snub-nosed monkey has been found living in the Hengduan Mountains at altitudes of 4,700 meters (15,400 ft),^[101] the mountain gorilla can be found at 4,200 meters (13,200 ft) crossing the Virunga Mountains,^[102] and the gelada has been found at elevations of up to 5,000 metres (16,000 ft) in the Ethiopian Highlands. Although most species are generally shy of water, a few are good swimmers and are comfortable in swamps and watery areas, including the proboscis monkey, De Brazza's monkey and Allen's swamp monkey, which has developed small webbing between its fingers. Some primates, such as the rhesus macaque and gray langurs, can exploit human-modified environments and even live in cities.^[73]^[103]

[edit] Interactions between humans and other primates

Close interactions between humans and other primates (NHPs) can create pathways for the transmission of zoonotic diseases. Viruses such as Herpesviridae (most notably Herpes B Virus), Poxviridae, measles, ebola, rabies, the Marburg virus and viral hepatitis can be transmitted to humans; in some cases the viruses produce potentially fatal diseases in both humans and non-human primates.^[104]

[edit] Legal and social status

Only humans are recognized as persons and protected in law by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.^[b] The legal status of NHPs, on the other hand, is the subject of much debate, with organizations such as the Great Ape Project (GAP) campaigning to award at least some of them legal rights.^[105] In June 2008, Spain became the first country in the world to recognize the rights of some NHPs when its parliament's cross-party environmental committee urged the country to comply with GAP's recommendations, which are that chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, and gorillas not be used for animal experiments.^[106]^[107]

Capuchin monkeys' manual dexterity is one reason they can assist quadriplegic humans.

Many species of NHP are kept as pets by humans. GAP estimates that around 3,000 NHPs live as exotic pets in the United States, while the Humane Society of the United States puts the figure much higher, at around 15,000.^[108] The expanding Chinese middle class has increased demand for NHPs as exotic pets in recent years.^[109] Although NHP import for the pet trade was banned in the U.S. in 1975, smuggling still occurs along the United States – Mexico border, with prices ranging from US$3000 for monkeys to $30,000 for apes.^[110]
Primates are used as model organisms in laboratories and have been used in space missions.^[111] They serve as service animals for disabled humans. Capuchin monkeys can be trained to assist quadriplegic humans; their intelligence, memory, and manual dexterity make them ideal helpers.^[112]
NHPs are kept in zoos around the globe. Historically, zoos were primarily a form of entertainment, but more recently have shifted their focus to conservation, education and research. Many zoos now feature naturalistic exhibits and educational material for the public; in the United States many participate in the Species Survival Plan (SSP), developed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), to maximize genetic diversity through captive breeding. Zoos and other animal welfare supporters generally oppose animal rights initiatives and the GAP's insistence that all NHPs be released from captivity for two primary reasons. First, captive-born primates lack the knowledge and experience to survive in the wild if released. Second, zoos provide living space for primates and other animals threatened with extinction in the wild.

[edit] Role in scientific research

Further information: Animal testing on non-human primates and International trade in primates

Thousands of non-human primates are used around the world in research because of their psychological and physiological similarity to humans.^[113]^[114] In particular, the brains and eyes of NHPs more closely parallel human anatomy than those of any other animals. NHPs are commonly used in preclinical trials, neuroscience, ophthalmology studies, and toxicity studies. Rhesus macaques are often used, as are other macaques, African green monkeys, chimpanzees, baboons, squirrel monkeys, and marmosets, both wild-caught and purpose-bred.^[113]^[115] In 2005, GAP reported that 1,280 of the 3,100 NHPs living in captivity in the United States were used for experiments.^[105] In 2004, the European Union used around 10,000 NHPs in such experiments; in 2005 in Great Britain, 4,652 experiments were conducted on 3,115 NHPs.^[116] Governments of many nations have strict care requirements of NHPs kept in captivity. In the US, federal guidelines extensively regulate aspects of NHP housing, feeding, enrichment, and breeding.^[117] European groups such as the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments are seeking a ban on all NHP use in experiments as part of the European Union's review of animal testing legislation.^[118]

[edit] Conservation

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists more than a third of primates as critically endangered or vulnerable. Trade is regulated, as all species are listed by CITES in Appendix II, except 50 species and subspecies listed in Appendix I, which gain full protection from trade.^[119]^[120] Common threats to primate species include deforestation, forest fragmentation, monkey drives (resulting from primate crop raiding),^[121] and primate hunting for use in medicines, as pets, and for food. Large-scale tropical forest clearing is widely regarded as the process that most threatens primates.^[122]^[123]^[124] More than 90% of primate species occur in tropical forests.^[123]^[125] The main cause of forest loss is clearing for agriculture, although commercial logging, subsistence harvesting of timber, mining, and dam construction also contribute to tropical forest destruction.^[125] In Indonesia large areas of lowland forest have been cleared to increase palm oil production, and one analysis of satellite imagery concluded that during 1998 and 1999 there was a loss of 1,000 Sumatran orangutans per year in the Leuser Ecosystem alone.^[126]

The critically endangered Sumatran orangutan

Primates with a large body size (over 5 kg) are at increased extinction risk due to their greater profitability to poachers compared to smaller primates.^[125] They reach sexual maturity later and have a longer period between births. Populations therefore recover more slowly after being depleted by poaching or the pet trade.^[127] Data for some African cities show that half of all protein consumed in urban areas comes from the bushmeat trade.^[128] Endangered primates such as guenons and the drill are hunted at levels that far exceed sustainable levels.^[128] This is due to their large body size, ease of transport and profitability per animal.^[128] As farming encroaches on forest habitats, primates feed on the crops, causing the farmers large economic losses.^[129] Primate crop raiding gives locals a negative impression of primates, hindering conservation efforts.^[130]
Madagascar, home to five endemic primate families, has experienced the greatest extinction of the recent past; since human settlement 1,500 years ago, at least eight classes and fifteen of the larger species have become extinct due to hunting and habitat destruction.^[4] Among the primates wiped out were Archaeoindris (a lemur larger than a silverback gorilla) and the families Palaeopropithecidae and Archaeolemuridae.^[4]
In Asia, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam prohibit eating primate meat; however, primates are still hunted for food.^[125] Some smaller traditional religions allow the consumption of primate meat.^[131]^[132] The pet trade and traditional medicine also increase demand for illegal hunting.^[109]^[133]^[134] The rhesus macaque, a model organism, was protected after excessive trapping threatened its numbers in the 1960s; the program was so effective that they are now viewed as a pest throughout their range.^[124]

The critically endangered Cross River gorilla

In Central and South America forest fragmentation and hunting are the two main problems for primates. Large tracts of forest are now rare in Central America.^[122]^[135] This increases the amount of forest vulnerable to edge effects such as farmland encroachment, lower levels of humidity and a change in plant life.^[136]^[137] Movement restriction results in a greater amount of inbreeding, which can cause deleterious effects leading to a population bottleneck, whereby a significant percentage of the population is lost.^[138]^[139]
There are 21 critically endangered primates, 7 of which have remained on the IUCN's "The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates" list since the year 2000: the silky sifaka, Delacour's langur, the white-headed langur, the gray-shanked douc, the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey, the Cross River gorilla and the Sumatran orangutan.^[140] Miss Waldron's red colobus was recently declared extinct when no trace of the subspecies could be found from 1993 to 1999.^[141] A few hunters have found and killed individuals since then, but the subspecies' prospects remain bleak.^[142]

LIFE HISTORY OF MISS KATY PERRY

2011-07-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

Katy Perry

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"Katy Hudson" redirects here. For the actress, see Kate Hudson.

For the Australian fashion designer, see Katie Perry.

Katy Perry
Katy Perry in 2009
Background information
Birth name	Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson
Born	October 25, 1984 (1984-10-25) (age 26) Santa Barbara, California, United States
Genres	Pop, pop rock, dance-pop, electropop, europop, CCM (early)
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, actress
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Red Hill, Island, Columbia, Capitol
Associated acts	The Matrix
Website	katyperry.com Katy Perry's signature

Katy Perry (born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson; October 25, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a career in music. As Katy Hudson, she released a self-titled gospel album in 2001, which was unsuccessful. She later recorded an album with production team The Matrix and completed the majority of a solo album from 2004–5, neither of which were released.
After signing with Capitol Music Group in 2007, her fourth record label in seven years, she adopted the stage name Katy Perry and released her first Internet single "Ur So Gay" that November, which garnered public attention but failed to chart. She rose to fame with the release of her second single "I Kissed a Girl" in 2008, which went on to top international charts. Perry's first mainstream studio album One of the Boys followed later that year and subsequently, became the thirty third-best selling album worldwide of 2008.^[1] It was accredited platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America, while "I Kissed a Girl" and her second single "Hot n Cold" both received multi-platinum certifications. Her sophomore studio album Teenage Dream was released in August 2010 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The album included hit singles "California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T." and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" , all of which topped the charts on the Billboard Hot 100, making the Teenage Dream album one of only nine albums to ever produce four or more Hot 100 number ones.^[2] With "E.T." at number one on the chart of May 12, 2011, Perry became the first artist in history to spend a whole year, 52 consecutive weeks, in the top 10 of Billboard Hot 100.^[3]
Perry was credited as a guest judge on the seventh series of British television show The X Factor; has released a fragrance called "Purr"; and will appear in the upcoming 2011 film The Smurfs. Perry had a long relationship with Travie McCoy; she married Russell Brand on October 23, 2010.^[4]

Early life and career

1984–2006: Early life and career beginnings

Perry was born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson in Santa Barbara, California^[5]^[6] to Keith, a West Coast scenester in the 1960s,^[7] and Mary Hudson (née Perry), an evangelist who grew up in Southern California and had "a tempestuous first marriage in Zimbabwe".^[7] Perry has German, Portuguese, Irish, and English ancestry.^[8]^[9] She is the second child of two pastors.^[10] She has an older sister and younger brother.^[7] Perry's mother's aunt and uncle were screenwriter Eleanor Perry and director Frank Perry.^[7]
Perry was incorporated into her parents' ministry^[10] and sang in their church between the ages of nine and seventeen.^[6]^[11] She grew up listening to gospel music,^[12] was not allowed to listen to what her mother called "secular music",^[11]^[13] and attended Christian schools and camps.^[10] As a child, Perry learned how to dance in a recreation building in Santa Barbara. She was taught by seasoned dancers and began with swing, Lindy Hop, and jitterbug.^[14] She took her GED after her freshman year at Dos Pueblos High School and decided to leave school in the pursuit of a career in music.^[15] Perry initially started singing "because [she] was at that point in [her] childhood where [she] was copycatting [her] sister and everything she [would do]."^[15] Her sister practiced with cassette tapes, while Perry took the tapes herself when her sister was not around. She rehearsed the songs and performed them in front of her parents, who suggested she take vocal coaching. She grabbed the opportunity and began taking lessons at the age of nine and continued until she was sixteen. She later enrolled in at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, and studied Italian opera for a short period of time.^[15]

Perry performing on her guitar; an instrument she learned to play when she was just starting her record career

At the age of 15, Perry's singing in church attracted the attention of rock veterans from Nashville, Tennessee, who brought her there to polish her writing skills.^[16] In Nashville, Perry started recording demos and was taught by country music veterans on how to craft songs and play guitar.^[11]^[13] Perry signed to the Christian music label Red Hill, under which she recorded her first album at the age of 15.^[17] Performing as Katy Hudson, she released the self-titled Gospel-rock album in 2001.^[7]^[16] The album was unsuccessful, however, after the label ceased operations at the end of 2001.^[17] She later changed her surname to Perry, her mother's maiden name, because "Katy Hudson" was too close to film actress Kate Hudson.^[16]^[18] At the age of 17, Perry left her home for Los Angeles, where she worked with Glen Ballard on an album for record label Island.^[19] The album was due for release in 2005,^[6]^[16]^[17] but Billboard reported it also went nowhere.^[17] Perry was dropped by The Island Def Jam Music Group.^[7] Some of Perry and Ballard's collaborations included "Box", "Diamonds" and "Long Shot", were posted on her official MySpace page. "Simple", one of the songs she recorded with Ballard, was released on the soundtrack to the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.^[20]
Perry signed to Columbia Records in 2004. However, the label was not amenable with her vision, not putting her in the "driver's seat".^[17] Instead, one of Columbia's ideas was to pair Perry with the record production team The Matrix, who was working on an album, to serve as its female vocalist. Although the album was later shelved,^[21] she caught the attention of the music press: Her burgeoning music career led to her being named "The Next Big Thing" in October 2004 by Blender magazine.^[6]^[17] With no album project ongoing, Perry began recording her own. Eighty percent completed, however, Columbia decided not to finish it and dropped her off the label.^[17] While waiting to find another label, she worked in an independent A&R company called Taxi Music. In 2006, Perry was featured in the tail-end of the video to P.O.D.'s single "Goodbye for Now".^[22] She made a cameo appearance in Carbon Leaf's video, "Learn to Fly".

2007–09: One of the Boys and MTV Unplugged

While in the process of being dropped by Columbia in 2006, the company's publicity executive Angelica Cob-Baehler enthusiastically recommended Perry to Virgin Records chairman Jason Flom.^[23] At the time Flom was leading a complete revival in fortunes at the label and looking to crown recent achievements by breaking a global pop act.^[23] Despite mixed reactions from fellow Virgin executives, Flom became convinced that Perry could be that breakthrough star, and at the start of 2007 extended discussions with Columbia resulted in Katy Perry signing to the newly created Capitol Music Group, a merger between Virgin and Capitol. As part of the deal, the label secured the masters to the unfinished album, recorded while at Columbia, that would go on form a significant part of her official mainstream debut album, One of the Boys.^[23]

Perry performing in August 2008

The Columbia recordings were seen by Flom as being "very strong but lacking an undeniable smash or two that would work both at U.S. pop radio and internationally" and so one of the executive's first actions after completing the signing was to set up a collaboration between Perry and the writer-producer Dr. Luke.^[23] The results were the songs "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold". Establishing her image was one of the immediate concerns of her management.^[17] A campaign was started in November 2007 with the release of the video to "Ur So Gay", aimed at introducing her to the music market. A digital EP led by "Ur So Gay" was later released to create online buzz and press story.^[10]^[17]^[24] This was a successful move that resulted in bringing Perry to the attention of Madonna,^[17] who mentioned her on KISS FM and KRQ's JohnJay & Rich morning show in Arizona. On March 10, 2008, she appeared as herself on the ABC Family television series, Wildfire, on the episode "Life's Too Short".^[25]
She went on the next step of promoting the album, undertaking a two-month tour of radio stations. The album's official lead single, "I Kissed a Girl", was released on May 6, 2008. Perry's A&R, Chris Anokute, told HitQuarters the song and its controversial theme met with strong resistance at the label, "People said, 'This is never going to get played on the radio. How do we sell this? How’s this going to be played in the bible belt?'"^[24] Anokute said that they needed the support of one of the label's radio promoters to convince people to believe in the record otherwise Perry would have likely been dropped again. Capitol's SVP of Promotions Dennis Reese saw the vision and helped push the single on national radio. The first station to pick it up and take a chance was The River in Nashville. After playing it for three days they were innundated with enthusiastic calls.^[24] With the song climbing atop the charts, Perry embarked on the annual Warped Tour music festival, which her management used to "establish her as a credible performer and make sure she wasn't seen as just a one-hit wonder."^[17] The single was a commercial success, peaking at number one for seven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.^[17] It has since become a major worldwide hit, topping charts in 30 countries,^[21] including Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.^[26] On June 12, 2008, Perry appeared as herself on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless,^[25] posing for the cover to the June 2008 issue of the fictional magazine Restless Style.^[27] Perry also performed backing vocals on the song, "Another Night in the Hills" from Gavin Rossdale's 2008 solo album Wanderlust.^[28]

Perry performs live in Berlin, September 2008.

One of the Boys was released on June 17, 2008 to mixed critical reviews.^[29] The album has reached number nine on the Billboard 200,^[30] and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.^[31] Perry released her second single, "Hot n Cold", which became her second top three single in dozens of countries around the world, including the United States where it reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100,^[17] as well as topping the charts in Germany, Canada, and Denmark. After Perry wrapped up her appearance at the Warped Tour, she went on tours in Europe. She later launched her first headlining tour, the Hello Katy Tour, in January 2009.^[17] "I Kissed a Girl" earned Perry a nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2009 Grammy Awards.^[32] Perry was nominated in five categories at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, including Best New Artist and Best Female Video, but lost to Britney Spears.^[33] She won Best New Act at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards, which she co-hosted,^[34] and Best International Female Artist at the 2009 BRIT Awards.^[35] On February 9, 2009, both "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold" were certified three-time platinum by Recording Industry Association of America for individual digital sales of over three million.^[36] The Guinness Book of World Records recognized Perry in its 2010 version as the "Best Start on the US Digital Chart by a Female Artist," for having her first two singles sell over two million digital copies.^[37]
The Matrix's self-titled debut album, which features Perry, was later released via the team's label, Let's Hear It, during Perry's solo tour. When the release date was scheduled, "I Kissed a Girl" had been charting well. Matrix member Lauren Christy spoke to Perry about the decision, but she wanted to hold the release until the fourth single of One of the Boys had been dispatched. Despite their communication, The Matrix was released on January 27, 2009, via iTunes Store.^[38]

Perry performing in June 2009

In December 2008, Perry apologized to British singer Lily Allen for remarks in which she called herself a "skinnier version" of her, saying she meant it as a joke.^[39] Allen retaliated and told a British radio station that she "happen[ed] to know for a fact that she [Perry] was an American version" of her because their record company needed "to find something controversial and 'kooky'" like her.^[40]
On May 16, 2009, Perry performed at the opening ceremony of the annual Life Ball in Vienna, Austria.^[41] In June 2009, lawyers acting for Katy Perry opposed the recent trademark of Australian fashion designer Katie Perry who uses her own name to market loungewear.^[42] Some media outlets reported this as a lawsuit, which Katy Perry has denied on her blog.^[43] Katie Perry the designer reports on her blog that at a hearing with IP Australia on July 10, 2009, the singer's lawyers withdrew their opposition to the trademark.^[44] During the summer of 2009 Perry filmed a cameo appearance for Get Him to the Greek; her scene, in which she kisses her future fiancé Russell Brand was cut, and does not appear in the final film. Discussing the issue with MTV, Perry hypothesized there may have been some fear that seeing the two make out would have taken viewers out of the experience.^[45] In 2009, Perry was featured on two singles: a remix of Colorado-based band 3OH!3's song "Starstrukk" in August (the idea for the collaboration came after Perry's tour that featured 3OH!3 as the supporting act). The song was released over iTunes on September 8, 2009; and "If We Ever Meet Again", the fourth single off Timbaland's album Shock Value II in December.^[46] In October 2009, MTV Unplugged revealed that Perry was one of the artists to perform for them, and that she would be releasing a live album of the performance, including two new tracks, "Brick by Brick" and Fountains of Wayne cover "Hackensack".^[47] The album was released on November 17, and includes both a CD and a DVD.^[48]

2010–present: Teenage Dream

Perry performing in November 2010

Perry appeared as a guest judge alongside Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole and Louis Walsh during the Dublin audition stage of the seventh series of the British television show The X Factor on June 28, 2010^[49] (later televised on August 28). She was one of the many celebrities chosen to fulfil the role of judge whilst Dannii Minogue was on maternity leave. She later returned to the show on October 17 to perform "Firework".^[50] Perry's second mainstream studio album was titled Teenage Dream^[51] and was released in August 2010. The first single from the album was titled "California Gurls". The single peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the fastest rising single from a Capitol Records artist since Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe" in 1967.^[52] The cover art for Teenage Dream is a painting by Will Cotton in which depicts Perry lying naked on clouds of cotton candy; resembling the shots of Perry in the video for "California Gurls".^[53] The booklet of the physical edition of the album, in keeping with the theme of cotton candy, has a cotton candy scent.^[54] The album's second single "Teenage Dream" was released in July 2010.^[55] "Firework" is the album's third single.
Katy Perry appeared at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010.^[56] She was nominated for two awards and presented the award of "Best Male Video" with Nicki Minaj to Eminem. On September 14, she returned to her old high school, Dos Pueblos High School, where she performed a short set for the school's students.^[57]^[58] Perry performed "Hot n Cold" with Elmo from Sesame Street, which was originally to appear on the forty-first-season premiere of the educational children's program on September 27, 2010. However, four days before the scheduled airing, Sesame Workshop announced, "In light of the feedback we've received on the Katy Perry music video ... we have decided we will not air the segment on the television broadcast of Sesame Street, which is aimed at preschoolers. Katy Perry fans will still be able to view the video on YouTube."^[59] The main reason was that parents complained about what appeared to be a great amount of cleavage shown by her dress. Perry shot the video for Firework in Budapest in September 2010. An open casting call drew an unprecedented 38,000 applicants.^[60] She proceeded to perform at a concert in Budapest on October 1, her first concert in Central and Eastern Europe. Perry has announced her own fragrance to be released in autumn of this year, named "Purr". It will come in a cat-shaped bottle, and will be available through Nordstrom stores.^[61]^[62] 'Teenage Dream led Perry to nominations four awards at the 2011 Grammy Awards: Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Teenage Dream", and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "California Gurls". Following the Grammys, Perry released the fourth single from her album "Teenage Dream", "E.T." The single was a remixed version featuring Kanye West. The music video for E.T. was directed by Floria Sigismondi and features Shaun Ross as the main love interest.

Musical style and themes

Perry performing in 2009

Perry has a contralto vocal range.^[63] Because of her low vocal range, she lowers the key of many of her songs while singing live in order to perfect her sound. Among Perry's musical influences are Alanis Morissette,^[12]^[21] pop rockers Cyndi Lauper, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, Shirley Manson,^[64] and Freddie Mercury,^[11] the late frontman of the British band Queen. Growing up listening to gospel music, Perry had few references when she began recording songs.^[11] Asked by the producer with whom she would like to collaborate, Perry had no idea. That night, she went with her mother to a hotel. Inside, she turned on VH1 and saw producer Glen Ballard talking about Morissette;^[11] Ballard produced Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, the album that had a "huge influence" on Perry.^[16] She told her initial collaborator that she had decided to work with Ballard. The producer arranged a meeting for her and Ballard in Los Angeles. Perry presented him a song, and a day later she was called. Ballard developed Perry for a few years.^[11]
Perry described her music by saying, "Someone kind of penned it for me the other day, and I've been using it ever since."^[11] According to her, she has "changed a lot between the ages of 15 to 23."^[10] Her first album dwells on Gospel music.^[10]^[17] She related that her perspective in music was "a bit enclosed and very strict", and everything she did was church-related.^[10] Her second album, One of the Boys, is described as "secular" and "rock," and reflects a departure from her religious musical roots.^[65] Perry expects to record more pop songs for her next album.^[14]^[66]
Perry is artistically involved in her projects, especially in the writing process. Since she could play guitar, she would start writing songs at home and present it to her producers. Perry is mostly inspired by specific moments of her life. She said it is easy for her to write songs about heartbreak.^[11] Most of the themes in One of the Boys deal with heartbreak, teen adventure, and "puking into toilets".^[16] Perry's mother reportedly told British tabloid Daily Mail that she dislikes her daughter's music, calling it "shameful and disgusting".^[10]^[67] Perry said her mother was misquoted and told MTV that it was false information.^[67] Her songs "Ur So Gay" and "I Kissed a Girl" have received negative reactions from both religious and gay sectors.^[67] The songs have been respectively labeled as being homophobic and promoting homosexuality, as well as "lez ploitational".^[10] MTV mentioned criticism suggesting that Perry is using "bi-curiosity" as a way to sell records.^[67] Perry responded to the controversy surrounding "Ur So Gay": "It's not a negative connotation. It's not, 'you're so gay,' like, 'you're so lame,' but the fact of the matter is that this boy should've been gay. I totally understand how it could be misconstrued or whatever ... It wasn't stereotyping anyone in particular, I was talking about ex-boyfriends."^[68]

Public image

Perry performing in July 2009

Perry is known for her unconventional style of dress.^[14] It is often humorous, bright in color, and reminiscent of different decades, and she frequently uses fruit-shaped accessories, mainly watermelon, as part of her outfits.^[64] Having learned dancing at an early age, she fantasized about having her own style. Perry's transformation into an artist began with fashion, inspired by American film actress Dominique Swain's portrayal in 1997 film adaptation of the novel Lolita.^[16] She defines her fashion style as "a bit of a concoction of different things".^[14] Johnny Wujek, Perry's stylist, described her style, upon meeting her for the first time, as "very colorful and vintage".^[69] Her fashion has caught the attention of designers.^[10]^[64] In June 2008, a publicity photo that showed Perry posing with a switchblade was criticized.^[70] The picture was defended as only an effort to give Perry a "sexy, harder edge".^[70] The criticism leveled at her was mocked by Perry who subsequently posed with a spoon instead.^[71] She has appeared in FHM Magazine's 100 Sexiest Women poll twice, ranking at No.23 in 2009 and No.37 in 2010.^[72]

Personal life

Perry dated Gym Class Heroes frontman Travie McCoy, whom she met in a recording studio in New York,^[18] on and off for several years. Perry and McCoy broke up in December 2008.^[73]
Perry first met British comedian Russell Brand in the summer of 2008^[74] when Perry filmed a cameo appearance for Brand's film Get Him to the Greek. Perry and Brand began dating after meeting again in September 2009^[75] at the MTV Video Music Awards, where Brand, as host, remarked, "Katy Perry didn't win an award and she's staying at the same hotel as me, so she's gonna need a shoulder to cry on. So in a way, I'm the real winner tonight." The couple became engaged in December 2009 while vacationing in India.^[76]^[77]^[78] In a July 2010 YouTube interview, Perry said Brand would be a "perfect" father.^[79] Perry stated that she plans to take dual British citizenship after marrying Brand. "One of the first things I'll do is apply for dual citizenship. I'm not too sure if I have to take a test as I've not had time to look into it. But England is like my second home".^[80] Perry and Brand married on October 23, 2010 in a traditional Hindu ceremony near the Ranthambhore tiger sanctuary in Rajasthan, India, the same location where Brand had proposed.^[81]^[82]
In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine she said, "I am sensitive to Russell taking the Lord's name in vain and to Lady Gaga putting a rosary in her mouth, I think when you put sex and spirituality in the same bottle and shake it up, bad things happen." ^[83]^[84]^[85]

2011-07-02T04:42:00.003-07:00

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2011-07-02T04:42:00.001-07:00

2011-06-30T11:37:00.000-07:00

Health care

Health care (or healthcare) is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers. It refers to the work done in providing primary care, secondary care and tertiary care, as well as in public health.

Access to services by health care practitioners varies across countries, groups and individuals, largely influenced by social and economic conditions as well as the health policies in place. Countries and jurisdictions have different policies and plans in relation to the personal and population-based health care goals within their societies. Health care systems are organizations established to meet the health needs of target populations. Their exact configuration varies from country to country. In some countries and jurisdictions, health care planning is distributed among market participants, whereas in others planning is made more centrally among governments or other coordinating bodies. In all cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), a well-functioning health care system requires a robust financing mechanism; a well-trained and adequately-paid workforce; reliable information on which to base decisions and policies; and well maintained facilities and logistics to deliver quality medicines and technologies.^[1]

Health care can form an enormous part of a country's economy. In 2008, the health care industry consumed an average of 9.0 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) across the most developed OECD countries.^[2] The United States (16.0%), France (11.2%), and Switzerland (10.7%) were the top three spenders.

Health care is conventionally regarded as an important determinant in promoting the general health and well being of peoples around the world. An example of this is the worldwide eradication of smallpox in 1980 - declared by the WHO as the first disease in human history to be completely eliminated by deliberate health care interventions.^[3]

Health care delivery

Health care providers

Primary care may be provided in community health centres.

The delivery of modern health care depends on groups of trained professionals and paraprofessionals coming together as interdisciplinary teams.^[4]^[5] This includes professionals in medicine, nursing, dentistry and allied health, plus many others such as public health practitioners, community health workers and assistive personnel, who systematically provide personal and population-based preventive, curative and rehabilitative care services.

While the definitions of the various types of health care vary depending on the different cultural, political, organizational and disciplinary perspectives, there appears to be some consensus that primary care constitutes the first element of a continuing health care process, that may also include the provision of secondary and tertiary levels of care.^[6]

Primary care

Primary health care and Primary care

Primary care is the term for the health care services which play a central role in the local community. It refers to the work of health care professionals who act as a first point of consultation for all patients within the health care system.^[6]^[7] Such a professional would usually be a primary care physician, such as a general practitioner or family physician. Depending on the locality, health system organization, and sometimes at the patient's discretion, they may see another health care professional first, such as a pharmacist, a nurse (such as in the United Kingdom), a clinical officer (such as in parts of Africa), or an Ayurvedic or other traditional medicine professional (such as in parts of Asia). Depending on the nature of the health condition, patients may then be referred for secondary or tertiary care.

Primary care involves the widest scope of health care, including all ages of patients, patients of all socioeconomic and geographic origins, patients seeking to maintain optimal health, and patients with all manner of acute and chronic physical, mental and social health issues, including multiple chronic diseases. Consequently, a primary care practitioner must possess a wide breadth of knowledge in many areas. Continuity is a key characteristic of primary care, as patients usually prefer to consult the same practitioner for routine check-ups and preventive care, health education, and every time they require an initial consultation about a new health problem. The International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC) is a standardized tool for understanding and analyzing information on interventions in primary care by the reason for the patient visit.^[8]

Common chronic illnesses usually treated in primary care may include, for example: hypertension, diabetes, asthma, COPD, depression and anxiety, back pain, arthritis or thyroid dysfunction. Primary care also includes many basic maternal and child health care services, such as family planning services and vaccinations.

In context of global population ageing, with increasing numbers of older adults at greater risk of chonic non-communicable diseases, rapidly increasing demand for primary care services is expected around the world, in both developed and developing countries.^[9]^[10] The World Health Organization attributes the provision of essential primary care as an integral component of an inclusive primary health care strategy.^[6]

Secondary care

Secondary care is the health care services provided by medical specialists and other health professionals who generally do not have first contact with patients, for example, cardiologists, urologists and dermatologists.

It includes acute care: necessary treatment for a short period of time for a brief but serious illness, injury or other health condition, such as in a hospital emergency department. It also includes skilled attendance during childbirth, intensive care, and medical imaging services.

The "secondary care" is sometimes used synonymously with "hospital care". However many secondary care providers do not necessarily work in hospitals, such as psychiatrists or physiotherapists, and some primary care services are delivered within hospitals. Depending on the organization and policies of the national health system, patients may be required to see a primary care provider for a referral before they can access secondary care.

For example in the United States, which operates under a mixed market health care system, some physicians might voluntarily limit their practice to secondary care by requiring patients to see a primary care provider first, or this restriction may be imposed under the terms of the payment agreements in private/group health insurance plans. In other cases medical specialists may see patients without a referral, and patients may decide whether self-referral is preferred.

In the United Kingdom and Canada, patient self-referral to a medical specialist for secondary care is rare as prior referral from another physician (either a primary care physician or another specialist) is considered necessary, regardless of whether the funding is from private insurance schemes or national health insurance.

Allied health professionals, such as occupational therapists, speech therapists, and dietitians, also generally work in secondary care, accessed through either patient self-referral or through physician referral.

Tertiary care

Quaternary care

The term quaternary care is also used sometimes as an extension of tertiary care in reference to medicine of advanced levels which are highly specialized and not widely accessed. Experimental medicine and some types of uncommon diagnostic or surgical procedures are considered quaternary care. These services are usually only offered in a limited number of regional or national health care centres.^[12]^[13]

Home and community care

Related sectors

For general descriptions of health care financing and delivery systems by country, please see Health care system

Health care extends beyond the delivery of services to patients, encompassing many related sectors, and set within a bigger picture of financing and governance structures.

Health care industry

Health care industry and Health economics

A group of Chilean 'Damas de Rojo' volunteering at their local hospital.

The health care industry incorporates several sectors that are dedicated to providing health care services and products. As a basic framework for defining the sector, the United Nations' International Standard Industrial Classification categorizes health care as generally consisting of hospital activities, medical and dental practice activities, and "other human health activities". The last class involves activities of, or under the supervision of, nurses, midwives, physiotherapists, scientific or diagnostic laboratories, pathology clinics, residential health facilites, or other allied health professions, e.g. in the field of optometry, hydrotherapy, medical massage, yoga therapy, music therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, chiropody, homeopathy, chiropractics, acupuncture, etc.^[14]

In addition, according to industry and market classifications, such as the Global Industry Classification Standard and the Industry Classification Benchmark, health care includes many categories of medical equipment, instruments and services as well as biotechnology, diagnostic laboratories and substances, and drug manufacturing and delivery.

For example, pharmaceuticals and other medical devices are the leading high technology exports of Europe and the United States.^[15]^[16] The United States dominates the biopharmaceutical field, accounting for three-quarters of the world’s biotechnology revenues.^[17]^[15]

Health care research

List of medical journals and List of health care journals

The quantity and quality of many health care interventions are improved through the results of science, such as advanced through the medical model of health which focuses on the eradication of illness through diagnosis and effective treatment. Many important advances have been made through health research, including biomedical research and pharmaceutical research. They form the basis of evidence-based medicine and evidence-based practice in health care delivery.

For example, in terms of pharmaceutical research and development spending, Europe spends a little less than the United States (€22.50bn compared to €27.05bn in 2006). The United States accounts for 80% of the world's research and development spending in biotechnology.^[15]^[17]

In addition, the results of health services research can lead to greater efficiency and equitable delivery of health care interventions, as advanced through the social model of health and disability, which emphasizes the societal changes that can be made to make population healthiers.^[18] Results from health services research often form the basis of evidence-based policy in health care systems.

Health care financing

Health care system, Health policy, and Universal health care

For descriptions of health care financing by country, please see Health care system and Universal health care

There are generally five primary methods of funding health care systems:^[19]

general taxation to the state, county or municipality
social health insurance
voluntary or private health insurance
out-of-pocket payments
donations

In most countries, the financing of health care services features a mix of all five models, but the exact distribution varies across countries and over time within countries. In all countries and jurisdictions, there are many topics in the politics and evidence that can influence the decision of a government, private sector business or other group to adopt a specific health policy regarding the financing structure.

For example, social health insurance is where a nation's entire population is eligible for health care coverage, and this coverage and the services provided are regulated. In almost every jurisdiction with a government-funded health care system, a parallel private, and usually for-profit, system is allowed to operate. This is sometimes referred to as two-tier health care or universal health care.

Health care administration and regulation

Healthcare provider requisites

The management and administration of health care is another sector vital to the delivery of health care services. In particular, the practice of health professionals and operation of health care institutions is typically regulated by national or state/provincial authorities through appropriate regulatory bodies for purposes of quality assurance.^[20] Most countries have credentialing staff in regulatory boards or health departments who document the certification or licensing of health workers and their work history.^[21]

[edit] Systems by country

Main article: Health care system

United States

Health care reform in the United States

[show]More Information

The United States currently operates under a mixed market health care system. Government sources (federal, state, and local) account for 45% of U.S. health care expenditures.^[22] Private sources account for the remainder of costs, with 38% of people receiving health coverage through their employers and 17% arising from other private payment such as private insurance and out-of-pocket co-pays. Opponents of government intervention into the market generally believe that such intervention distorts pricing as government agents would be operating outside of the corporate model and the principles of market discipline; they have less short and medium-term incentives than private agents to make purchases that can generate revenues and avoid bankruptcy. Health system reform in the United States usually focuses around three suggested systems, with proposals currently underway to integrate these systems in various ways to provide a number of health care options. First is single-payer, a term meant to describe a single agency managing a single system, as found in most modernized countries as well as some states and municipalities within the United States. Second are employer or individual insurance mandates, with which the state of Massachusetts has experimented. Finally, there is consumer-driven health, in which systems, consumers, and patients have more control of how they access care. This is argued^{[by whom?]} to provide a greater incentive to find cost-saving health care approaches. Critics of consumer-driven health say that it would benefit the healthy but be insufficient for the chronically sick, much as the current system operates. Over the past thirty years, most of the nation's health care has moved from the second model operating with not-for-profit institutions to the third model operating with for-profit institutions; the greater problems with this approach have been the gradual deregulation of HMOs resulting in fewer of the promised choices for consumers, and the steady increase in consumer costs that have marginalized consumers and burdened states with excessive urgent health care costs that are avoided when consumers actually have adequate access to preventive health care.

A few states have taken serious steps toward universal health care coverage, most notably Minnesota, Massachusetts and Connecticut, with recent examples being the Massachusetts 2006 Health Reform Statute^[23] and Connecticut's SustiNet plan to provide quality, affordable health care to state residents.^[24]

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. Along with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (signed March 30), the Act is a product of the health care reform efforts of the Democratic 111th Congress and the Obama administration. The law includes health-related provisions to take effect over the next four years, including expanding Medicaid eligibility for people making up to 133% of the federal poverty level (FPL),^[25] subsidizing insurance premiums for people making up to 400% of the FPL ($88,000 for family of 4 in 2010) so their maximum "out-of-pocket" payment for annual premiums will be on sliding scale from 2% to 9.8% of income,^[26]^[27] providing incentives for businesses to provide health care benefits, prohibiting denial of coverage and denial of claims based on pre-existing conditions, establishing health insurance exchanges, prohibiting insurers from establishing annual coverage caps, and support for medical research.

Canada

Main article: Health care in Canada

In 1984, the Canada Health Act was passed, which prohibited extra billing by doctors on patients while at the same time billing the public insurance system. In 1999, the prime minister and most premiers reaffirmed in the Social Union Framework Agreement that they are committed to health care that has "comprehensiveness, universality, portability, public administration and accessibility."^[28] The system is for the most part publicly funded, yet most of the services are provided by private enterprises or private corporations, although most hospitals are public.

Each of the Countries of the United Kingdom has a National Health Service that provides public healthcare to all UK permanent residents that is free at the point of need and paid for from general taxation. However private healthcare companies are free to operate alongside the public one. Since Health is a devolved matter, considerable differences are developing between the systems in each of the countries.^[29]

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2011-06-29T12:53:00.000-07:00

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