Social and Economic status of peasant-Burciu Nicoleta

Burciu Nicoleta-LarisaER1, AnIIThe social and economic status of peasant in Rumania and the War by Nicholas Lupu and The Justice of Rumania’s Cause by A.W.A Leeper In this essay I want to argue the fact that even the peasant had received the right to vote like an improvement of their social status, on other way was imposed other conditions to benefit of this right. The author of Rumania and the War described financial circumstance of the majority of Romanians peasant whose vote was affected. The concept of social status can be defined as “the relative rank that an individual holds, with attendant rights, duties, and lifestyle, in a social hierarchy based upon honour or prestige”. The Romanian peasants are defined by the author Nicholas Lupu being “vivid, intelligent, active and diligent”. The right to vote is presented to be “ universal and equal, meaning that it is the right of every citizen that has reached 18 years of age to freely express his/her choice in an election regardless of class, ethnic, racial, economic or other affiliation.” First of all, in the ample attempt to be a part of a democratic society, the Romanian nation tried to enhance the social status of Romanian peasant and to give them political rights, one of them to be the right to vote. In The Justice of Rumania cause, the author is presenting the initial situation and the conflict between the peasants and the rich people. Most of the Romanian peasants were suffering from lack of credits. To support the family financially and to paid taxes and other bills they needs to work for the landowners. They were working many days of the years and at final they only get a small percentage of what was produces in this year, As a result of this situation the author of the same book said that “this peasant had no political rights” and they are important in society only when they work the land. The peasants were forced to respect these laws. When they tried to escape of this situation by sought money from the cereal merchant and the buyer of their crop, the author said “he fell from the frying pan intro the fire.” Some of the Romanian peasant women were doing the housekeeping, she has to bring and nurse her children. Besides, she helps her husband in her free time with his works, After the revolution of 1848 a new opportunity appeared for the peasant. Leeper said it was “introduced a new atmosphere of democracy” but how the peasants were too uneducated, they can’t get the benefits. First important step for the improvement of peasant’s life was made by the first prince of the United Principalities. The climax of the plot starts when Alexander Cuza gave a large part of land to peasants and introduced schools. Also it has made this step for a big change, they felt that was not enough. Second of all, despite the proposals of the Romanian state to give the free and unconditional possibility to vote, they imposed some economic conditions. Leeper said “the suffrage was universal it was not equal”. The suffrage was conditioned by two main conditions: education and wealth. Because of these conditions, the voters were divided into three colleges. Peasant who had no opportunity to an elementary education, have been given the right to vote through representatives of each village commune. Most of the peasant lost their chance to make their voice heard because they don’t have benefited from any way of manifesting their own reviews. Also the peasants have theoretically the right to vote, but practically in reality only a small part were able to implement that. In the book Rumania and the War, the author Nicholas Lupu presented the Romanian peasantry who have received those rights but didn’t notice any changes in their life. In exposition of the chapter Peasant Co-Operation in Rumania it can be observed that Romanian nation remained unknown to the American nation. He also said that American people don’t know much information about Romanian peasant and they don’t give importance. This fact has made other nation to think the same and to have a rejection attitude, The narrative voice can be characterized as sympathetic, He describes the native qualities of peasant as skill, intelligence, industry and show his compassion for Romanian peasant by the fact that “the Rumanian peasant from the Danube and from the Carphatians merits the full sympathy and attention of the American nation. “ He uses striking metaphors when he refers to their daily life, Some of metaphors is “he fell from the frying pan into the fire” and “the peasant was always between the devil and the deep sea”. With these metaphors he wants to emphasize how hard it was for the peasant to live with these unfair rules, The peasant still served the landowners when they helped each other to put the base of Popular Banks and Agrarian Co-Operative Societies in Romania, A few year after foundation the peasant’s work was paid and the crop has been sold and bought, Another big change can be observed “the house are better built, the people better dressed, the line stock more abundant and better selected”, Other kinds of co-operative were founded like as the societies for forest exploitation, societies of consumers and the milk societies, That’s how the growth of wealth was produced, These Banks and Co-Operative societies made meetings in order to educate the peasant in the interest of the community, In conclusion, the only ones who fought for a better social and economic status was the peasant themselves. Even the state wanted to give some political rights it was unfair with the majority of Romanian peasant because it considered them illiterate and took them the right to expression. They have introduced new economic conditions which only applied to some peasants. The rest of peasant needs to support each other for improving their status. The only thing that peasants want is freedom, to be their reward. Bibliography Lupu, N. (1919). Rumania and the War, 61-100Leeper, A.W.A (1917) The Justice of Rumania’s Cause, 15-19https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-status Social Status written by The Editors by Encyclopaedia Britannica, Sep 13, 2019, last accessed on Dec 5, 2019 15:26