Independence and Nation-Building in Latin America: Race and Identity in the Crucible of War reconceptualizes the history of the break-up of colonial empires in Spanish and Portuguese America. In doing so, the authors critically examine competing interpretations and bring to light the most recent scholarship on social, cultural, and political aspects of the period. Did American rebels clearly push for independence, or did others truly advocate autonomy within weakened monarchical systems? Rather than glorify rebellions and "patriots," the authors begin by emphasizing patterns of popular loyalism in the midst of a fracturing Spanish state. In contrast, a slave-based economy and a relocated imperial court provided for relative stability in Portuguese Brazil. Chapters pay attention to the competing claims of a variety of social and political figures at the time across the variegated regions of Central and South America and the Caribbean. Furthermore, while elections and the rise of a new political culture are explored in some depth, questions are raised over whether or not a new liberal consensus had taken hold. Through translated primary sources and cogent analysis, the text provides an update to conventional accounts that focus on politics, the military, and an older paradigm of Creole-peninsular friction and division. Previously marginalized actors, from Indigenous peoples to free people of color, often take center-stage. This concise and accessible text will appeal to scholars, students, and all those interested in Latin American History and Revolutionary History.

In Auditor Independence, Ismail Adelopo argues that the importance of auditors' independence cannot be over-emphasised. Not only do auditors provide certification of the truth and fairness of the information prepared by managers, they also have a duty to express opinions on the degree of compliance with laws and regulations guiding a firm's operations. Theirs is a socially important responsibility. In all that has been proposed to mitigate the governance crisis and restore confidence in the market system, relatively little attention has been paid to auditor independence. Examining the historical role of auditing in corporate governance and the regulatory context, this book sets the function within a theoretical framework and then provides empirical analysis of the problem issues such as the relationship between audit committees and external auditors and the probity of providing non-auditing services to audit clients. The focus on matters that are damaging to market confidence and threatening to the reputation of the auditing profession, means the conclusions and recommendations in this book are important for key stakeholders, including policy makers, regulators, those running companies, and their investors and customers. This is also a book for those responsible for training in the auditing profession and for others with a research or academic interest in the matters addressed.

Did you know that The Declaration of Independence was first read in Philadelphia? America’s National Independence Day Parade is held in Washington, D.C. every year. Explore these and other fascinating facts in Independence Day, a Let’s Celebrate American Holidays book.

This book is intended to provide independent directors and their advisors with an understanding of the primary legal and governance issues that have evolved in the corporate governance environment since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002. The text on the accompanying CD-ROM sourcebook offers hypertext linked footnotes to direct lawyers (or interested non-lawyers) to legal source material.

A mammoth volume on the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), assembling major accords and protocols that form the institutional framework of the Commonwealth, key political statements by leaders of CIS member states, coverage of CIS responses to internal crises, and a detailed chronology of developments in the early years of the CIS's existence, plus color maps and statistics. Introductory notes to each group of documents supply historical background and highlight the inner dynamics of the CIS. An introduction places the dissolution of the USSR and the development of the CIS in a larger historical and geopolitical context. Includes contacts of CIS embassies and consulates in the US. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Together in one book, the two most important documents in United States history form the enduring legacy of America’s Founding Fathers including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. The Declaration of Independence was the promise of a representative government; the Constitution was the fulfillment of that promise. On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress issued a unanimous declaration: the thirteen North American colonies would be the thirteen United States of America, free and independent of Great Britain. Drafted by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration set forth the terms of a new form of government with the following words: "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." Framed in 1787 and in effect since March 1789, the Constitution of the United States of America fulfilled the promise of the Declaration by establishing a republican form of government with separate executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, became part of the Constitution on December 15, 1791. Among the rights guaranteed by these amendments are freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and the right to trial by jury. Written so that it could be adapted to endure for years to come, the Constitution has been amended only seventeen times since 1791 and has lasted longer than any other written form of government.