Introduction
There is much to learn about the Netherlands, as I have never visited the country or even known anyone who hailed from the Netherlands. The little I know about the Netherlands is from popular culture or movies, which is biased and limited, at best. Initially for my paper I reviewed photos or other images of the Netherlands to understand if there was a “pull” or “image” that was associated with the Netherlands. The one thing I can surmise from these images is that the Netherlands has a very vibrant and colorful disposition. The images appear to be full of positive energy; the people in them display a sense of fulfillment. This paper will review the Netherlands’ political structure, holidays and cultural celebrations, religion, as well as art and architecture.
Government
The Netherlands has the structure of a constitutional monarchy. This means that a queen or king leads the country. Over the years, the powers of the queen or king have turned to mostly be ceremonial, rather than absolute (“Netherlands – Politics”, n.d.). Under the queen or king is a prime minister who is appointed, which leads the government. Typically the prime minister is the one who leads the major party within the Netherlands’ parliament (“Netherlands – Politics”, n.d.). In addition, there is what is known as ”Council of State”. The queen or king decides upon this group once the prime minister has given guidance. The “Council of State” is responsible for constructing and arranging government policies (“Netherlands – Politics”, n.d.). The parliament is called the States General, which is a two chamber legislative body. The two chambers are known as the First Chamber and Second Chamber. These two chambers have 225 members total. The elections are ...
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...at of the United Kingdom or Canada. It is the second day of Christmas, and is also known as Saint Stephen’s Day. Many of the businesses are closed and people typically have the day off from work (“National Holidays”, n.d.).
Sinterklaas is an interesting holiday. Sinterklaas is Saint Nicholas. Somewhat different than the traditional Santa Claus of the North American variety, he arrives in the Netherlands via steamboat! He has gifts on the boat, and helpers too. Though the helpers are not of the elf variety, they are known as Black Pete, and are companions to Saint Nicholas. Sinterklaas dresses in red and wears a headdress. He travels through the land on a horse, delivering presents through chimneys with the help of Black Peters. When wrapping presents, people actually purposefully try to conceal the contents by being creative and crafty (“National Holidays”, n.d.).
This is a project about the U.S.A. we have to do this for the subject history. We have to answer a main Question. As main question I chose; what was the influence by the Dutch on the New Netherlands? I chose this question because I thought this would be an interesting thing about the history of the New Netherlands. I’m going to use sub questions to answer the main question. The three sub questions are about the drive for the Dutch to look for new colonies, what did the Dutch get from the New Netherlands and what did they bring to the New Netherlands and what was the influence of the colony on the hinterland. For my research on the sub questions I had to use the internet. This three question will be worked out beneath
In the early 16th century the Netherlands experienced what was called “tulip mania” this was the beginning of the nations love for flora and foliage (Taylor 13). The result of this impressive flower invasion was a society that took a historical turn from which the results still remain today. Flower merchants, botanists and floral still life artists, were occupations that were an accurate reflection of the Netherlands demands (Brown). An interesting example of a life that was effected by, and devoted to the archiving of the flower craze was Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750) the 17th century Dutch flower painter. Rachel Ruyschs’ career straddled the 17th and 18th century, and her stunningly accurate floral pieces reflect the maturing, yet evolving art of floral still life painting (“Rachel Ruysch: Bibliography”). Ruyschs’ Still Life with Flowers on a Marble Tabletop (1716) is an excellent example of a painting that appropriately represents the genre of art that was created solely through specific societal events.
Throughout World War II thе Nеthеrlands was a placе of opprеssion and starvation as morе than 200,000 Dutch wеrе killеd. Thе Gеrman rulе of Holland bеgan in 1940 and еndеd in 1945. A fеw of thе major еvеnts in this timе pеriod was thе royal Dutch family bеing еxilеd, thе Hungеr Wintеr, thе bombing of Rottеrdam, Opеration Markеt Gardеn, and thе Dutch rеsistancе.
Within 1650 to 1713 the Dutch Republic underwent a formidable transformation, which changed its status as a major influence in Europe. The Dutch Republic was a political union of seven provinces that was not only an impressive banking and commercial capital, but the Dutch also had a great navy as well. Additionally, the center of flourishment in the Dutch Republic was Amsterdam, which was the foremost trading and banking center in all of Europe. The changing environment of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries forced the Dutch Republic into a position of conflict and unbalance, which proved detrimental to their country as a whole. One of the first challenges to the Dutch Republic dealt with military and how countries, such as the English, wanted to snatch the Dutch’s profitable sea trade routes for themselves. As a result of military conflicts, the Dutch Republic’s economy decreased as a whole due to the fact that wars burdened the previously flourishing trade routes and wealthy cities. Another challenge to the Dutch Republic was unity and how Dutch cities began to doubt other provinces of loyalty to one another, which destroyed most efforts of unification for retaliation against the countries attacking the Dutch. Overall, the major decline of the Dutch Republic was a great example of when one part of a nation goes down, the rest of the nation followed suit.
Canada runs on a democratic model of governing based on the British parliamentary system. Its parliament is thus divided into two chambers: the House of Commons and the Senate. Elected politicians are seated within The House of Commons while the Senate occupies qualified citizens which are appointed by the Prime Minister. Parliament’s purpose is to hold responsibility for passing legislations and the choosing of government, referring to the political party with the largest amount of seats. Depending on the results of the election, Canada has the potential of having either a majority, minority or in the rare case a coalition government. Customarily, an election in Canada usually ends up forming a majority government. The party with more than
Another food is stuffed turkey and roasted stuffed pig. During Miranda(a event where a pig gets fried) a Christmas party in thrown with family, friends and neighbors. Also, families decorate Christmas trees. On Candle day, which is December 7th, candles are lit in window sills and and in streets to celebrate December. Most of these candles are red and blue. On the 16th of December families, neighbors and friends pray for 9 days. Santa does not exist in Colombia, instead Jesus gives them presents. A way that children hope to get presents is on the day before Christmas Eve, children write notes to baby Jesus and put these notes in the pesebre (nativity). These notes also can be called Carta Niño Dios. On Christmas, which is the 25th, they eat leftovers from Christmas Eve. On Christmas people in the U.S. eat ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, ham, stuffing and bread. In the U.S. people decorate Christmas trees with ornaments and lights. Families also hang stockings above fireplaces, bed posts, stair cases, window sills, door knobs and other places. Also, some children leave out cookies for Santa, they also write letters to him. It is believed that Santa Claus eats cookies that are left out for him, and he leaves presents under the Christmas trees for all the good boys and girls, and if you don’t be nice you get coal in your stocking instead of candy. Also, a tradition that started in 2005 is Elves
... Religious Customs, History, Legends, and Symbols from around the World; Supplemented by a Bibliography and Lists of Christmas Web Sites and Associations. Detroit, Mich: Omnigraphics, 2003. Print.
Theo van Gogh, for instance, was highly influenced by the political and cultural context he lived in. He was born and raised in the Netherlands, a country that jumped from a peaceful, racially homogenous society to an excessively open, multicultural home for immigrants, including Muslims. To understand this historical transformation, though, it is necessary to look sixty years back, when 71 percent of a...
Norway is a constitutional monarchy, with the king having limited authority, except as head of the military and as a symbol of continuity and stability. Executive power is vested in the prime minister, who presides over the dominant party in the country's parliament (Storting). The 165 members of parliament are elected every four years. The Storting has an Upper Chamber (Lagting) and a Lower Chamber (Odelsting). The Labor, Center, and Conservative parties are the largest in parliament, but no party has a majority.
Dutch people are generally tall with light hair and eyes. They are also very house proud, meaning they keep their houses well-kept and tidy. Most people live in the cities, which are very well urbanized. Christianity is the main religion, split between Protestants and Catholic Faiths. Although, many people in Netherlands have no religion. Many Dutch spend their free time alone with family or tending their gardens. Cafes are also an important part of the Dutch lifestyle, with either a brown or white café. Brown cafes are older and cozier, while white cafes are modern. Dutch are also the main producers of cheese! They are very fond of cheese, with their main kinds being either Gouda or Edam. Six major types of cheese are produced by the Dutch and exported around the world. So without Netherlands, there would be no cheese. The arts have a large role in Dutch culture. Painting is a huge part of Dutch history and culture. The paintings produced in the Golden Age of Netherlands are cherished around the world. Music is also a part of culture the Dutch are fond of. Musicians are regularly playing on the streets, and many families have one or more members who play an instrument. “The Netherlands has produced many talented musicians. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam and the Residentie Orchestra in The Hague are two of the finest ensembles in the world.” This just goes to show how arts has been a main part of Dutch life and
For years, countries have had different legislatures bicameral and unicameral. The features of each legislatures are distinct from one another. It even accounts to various vices and virtues. Both legislatures exist in various countries in the world. The reason to which varies in each place. Legislatures are essential for a society to perform politically well. However, the political structure of every nations varies thus, there exist no simple generalization. The structural arrangements of different legislatures are distinct in relation to their number of chambers available. (Danziger, J. N. (1996))
Despite the fact that the idea of giving presents developed from St. Nicholas in the fourth century, the first characters that resemble our modern day Santa developed in the seventeenth century A.D. We acquire these figures from the English and the Dutch. Although this man is not the same as the modern Santa Claus, it is evident that these are his origins. “When the Dutch lost control of New Amsterdam to the English in the seventeenth century, Sinterklaas gradually became anglicized into Santa Claus and acquired some of the features of the English Father Christmas” (Myers 321).
Vincent Van Gogh is considered the greatest Dutch painter, and highly influenced the 20th century art. In the era of the impressionism, Van Gogh was a post-impressionist painter whose work, notable for its beauty, emotion and color. One of his most famous paintings that caught my attention was the starring night over the Rhone and the café Terrace on the place du forum, Arles, at night. The reasons why the two paintings from Van Gogh caught my attention was that it has a lot of meaning and representation. For example, The starring night over the Rhone has a big river and on top you can see a lot of beautiful stars, for me that represents the beauty of nature and all the bright colors he uses on his paintings represents his passion towards painting. Furthermore, the painting the café Terrace on the place du forum, when I first saw the painting I didn’t really understand the representation and meaning, but observing it several of times I realize that it has a lot
Dutch children would put shoes by the fireplace for St. Nicholas or "Sinter Klaas" and leave food out for his horse. He'd gallop on his horse between the rooftops and drop candy down the chimneys into the children's shoes. Meanwhile, his assistant, Black Peter, was the one who popped down the chimneys to leave gifts behind. Dutch settlers brought the legend of Sinter Klaas to North America -- where we came to know him as Santa Claus. Clement Clarke Moore first described the “jolly old elf” with his sleigh drawn by reindeer, in the poem "The Night Before Christmas.
Every afternoon, floats parade through the city, some carrying a life size Jesus and Virgin Mary for hours. Semana Santa is primarily to celebrate the death of Christ. They took this week to commemorate his death and confess their sins. They value the thought of suffering and sacrifice. The holiday started in 1521 when Marqués de Tarifa came back from the Holy Land to Spain.