Emerson and Transcendentalism Essay Example for Free

Emerson and Transcendentalism Essay Transcendentalism was a literary movement that began in the beginning of the 1800s and lasted up until the Civil War. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a man whose views on life and the universe were intriguing and influential. Emerson, along with other great men, helped to mold what Transcendentalism was and what it was to become. Without these men, Transcendentalism would not have been anything. Nor would these men have been anything without this concept. So what is Transcendentalism anyway and how have mens thoughts and outlooks been able make it what it is remembered as? Transcendentalism was prominent in the cultural life of the U. S. , especially in New England from 1836 to until just before the Civil War. The Revolutionary war had ended shortly before the time of Transcendentalism; therefore, Emerson had been influenced by its affects and had shared his thoughts about war in his writings. At the age of twelve, Emerson wrote Fair Peace and Triumph blooms on golden wings, and War no more pf all his victories sings (Way to Peace 2). He viewed war as being unnecessary and in his eyes, the soul has no enemies and rises above all conflicts. He thought soldiers to be ridiculous and war to Abhorrent to all reason (Way to Peace 2), and against human progress. Basically he was against all war and his views on war were apparent in his writings. Even though he thought that the Civil War was good because it was trying to stop the evils of slavery, he detested the lack of freedom during the war, and he vowed that if martial law came to Concord, that he would disobey it or move away. These events developed Transcendentalism though Emersons views and writings on war (Way to Peace 1-2). Transcendentalism in America centered in Concord and Boston. The philosophy came from many different beliefs and peoples thoughts and outlooks. Emerson was a huge person whose beliefs greatly influenced how transcendentalism evolved. Around the year 0f 1836, a discussion group was formed in New England called the Transcendental Club. It met at various members houses and it included Emerson, Bronson Alcott, Frederick Henry Hedge, W. E. Channing and W. H. Channing, Theodore Parker, Margaret Fuller, Elizabeth Peabody, George Ripley, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Thoreau, and Jones Very. From 1840 to 1844, a quarterly newspaper printed their early essays, poems, and reviews (Abrams, 215-216). Emersons transcendentalism is an idealist philosophy that was derived from Kants concept of the Tran scendental. According to his understanding of Kant, transcendentalism becomes a union of solipsism under which the only verifiable reality is thought to be self. It also comes from materialism in which the only verifiable reality is thought to be quantifiable outside world of objects, and sense data. Through this fusion, transcendentalism was transported to America as a philosophy. Through his source of most of its poetry and mysticism, Emerson fostered the growth of transcendentalism of the New England variant. His ideas, which came from Kant, were taken from the German philosopher Immanuel Kant whose ideas of the universe and soul were very intriguing. He believed in transcendental knowledge but confined it to things such as time, space, quantity and casualty, which in his views were imposed by the perception of human minds. He regarded these aspects as the universal sense experience. Emerson, however, extended this concept of transcendental knowledge to include moral and other truths that go beyond the limits of the human sense experience, which Kant had specifically denied. Besides Kant, other intellectual predecessors of American Transcendentalism are very diverse and few, but include post-Kantian German Idealists, the English thinkers Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Thomas Carlyle (who were also exponents of German Idealism), Plato, Neoplatonists, the occult Swedish theologian Emmanuel Swedenborg, and some varieties of Oriental philosophies (Abrams 216). Basically, Transcendentalism was about promoting peace and developing the mind and soul. Also, it was about sharing your views on what was wrong with the world and how it could be fixed. William Ellery Channing was a forerunner of the Transcendentalists and preached against war and was active in the peace movement that began in 1815 when Noah Worcester founded the Massachusetts Peace Society, the first influential peace society in the world. Channing wrote about the miseries and crimes of war, their causes and some possible remedies. In addition to the suffering and destruction he points out that war corrupts the morals of society and gives the government dangerous powers. Channing preached in Boston from 1803 until his death and was praised by Emerson above all other ministers. The sources of war which Channing wrote of are the human propensity for excitement, the lust for power, admiration for warlike deeds, false patriotism, and the upbringing and education which glamorizes military exploits. He also sees the remedies as well as the causes to be of a moral nature. He believes we must honor our rulers and nations fro their justice, goodwill, and educational institutions not for their foreign conquests. He thought that we must also admire heroes for their conscience, human rights, and the ones who bring peace and freedom. He believed that the peace teachings of Christians ought to be emphasized. He warned that the attitude of rulers and nations of foreign states, which is usually partial and unjust, should show us that war is rarely just or unnecessary. He advised Christians to refuse war and if necessary, submit to prison or execution in an attempt for peace (Way to Peace 1-2). James Freeman Clarke once dubbed the transcendentalists the club of the likeminded; I suppose because no two of us think alike (American Literary Movements 1). But despite the disagreement among transcendentalists themselves, the overall movement shared similar philosophies. These philosophies rested on the Slockean concept of Idealism and Kants belief in intuition. In other words, transcendentalism opposed empiricism, which is gaining knowledge from experience. Physical world observations were only appearances of reflections of the spirit. One should learn of the spiritual world through reason alone, thus guiding them towards the ultimate goal, Absolute Truth (American Transcendentalism1 1). All of the Transcendentalists had more in common with what they reacted against rather than what they proposed. They were opposed to rigid rationalism; to the eighteenth-century empirical philosophy of the school of John Locke which derived all of its knowledge by sense impressions; by highly formalized religions, and especially the Calvinist orthodoxy of New England; and to the social conformity, materialism, and commercialism that they found increasingly prominent in American life. The counter-views that were affirmed by Transcendentalists, especially Emerson include confidence in the validity of knowledge which is tied in with feeling and intuition, and an ethics of individualism that stressed self trust, self-reliance, and self sufficiency (Abrams 216). Transcendentalism cannot be properly understood outside the context of Unitarianism, the dominant religion in Boston during the early nineteenth century. Unitarianism had developed during the late eighteenth century as a branch of the liberal wing of Christianity during the First Great Awakening of the 1740s. That awakening revolved around the questions of divine election and original sin, and it saw a brief period of revivalism. The Liberals tended to reject both the Orthodox belief in natural evil and the emotionalism of the revivalists. In a sort of incorporation of Enlightenment principles with American Christianity, they began to stress the value of intellectual reason as the path to divine wisdom. This is how transcendentalism began to emerge; the Liberalists began to make their own unique theological contribution in rejecting the doctrine of the divine trinity. Transcendentalism is a belief in a higher reality than that found in sense experience, or belief in a higher kind of knowledge than achieved by human reason. Transcendentalism revolves around the existence of absolute goodness, something beyond description and knowable, ultimately only through intuition. In its most specific usage; Transcendentalism refers to a literary and philosophical movement that developed in the United States. Emerson separated the universe into two categories, nature and soul. He sought to explain the interrelation of them. He called analogies mans key to these relations (American Transcendentalism2 1-2). The term Transcendentalism became applied almost exclusively to doctrines of metaphysical idealism. Transcendentalism opposed the strict ritualism and rigid theology of established religious institutions. Transcendentalist writers expressed semi-religious feelings toward nature, as well as the creative process believing that divinity permeated all objects. Intuition rather than reason, were regarded as the highest human faculty. It was believed in order to comprehend the divine, God, and the universe one must transcend or go beyond the physical and emotional description of normal human thought. That you must go to the level of the soul and once there it is believed that all people have access to divine inspiration and sought and loved freedom and knowledge and truth (American Transcendentalism2 3-5) The Transcendentalist adopts the whole connection of spiritual doctrine. He believes in miracle, in the perpetual openness of the human mind to new influx of light and power; he believes in inspiration and in ecstasy. He wishes that the spiritual principle should be suffered to demonstrate itself to the end, in all possible applications to the state of man, without the admission of anything unspiritual; that is, anything positive, dogmatic, personal. Thus, the spiritual measure of inspiration is the depth of the thought, and never, who said it? And so he resists all attempts to palm other rules and measures on the spirit than its own (American Transcendentalism2 6-7). ? Transcendentalism was a literary movement on the mid 1800s in which Ralph Waldo Emerson took a great part. He contributed many fabulous ideas into the philosophy and influenced many people to put some remarkable ideas and writings in to Transcendentalism. He was the source of most of its poetry and mysticism, and fostered growth of the New England variant. Ralph Waldo Emerson, the son of a Unitarian Minister, was born on May 25, in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1821, he graduated from Harvard College. He got married in 1829, but his wife died less than a year and a half later. At this time in his life, Emerson doubted his beliefs and profession as a minister. He decided to resign, stating that it was because of the Eucharist (Biography of Emerson 1-2). In 1832, he went to Europe where he met some noteworthy people such as Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Carle. He began giving public lectures, and in 1836, he published Nature. He had become the sage of Concord and his literary colleagues became known as the Transcendental Club. Ralph Waldo Emerson believed in order to comprehend the divine, God, and the universe, one must transcend or go beyond the physical and emotional descriptions of normal human thought (American Literary Movements 1). With these strong thoughts, Emerson became the leader of many philosophers and writers termed transcendentalists. He ignited a literary movement influencing Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau (American Literary Movements 2). Emerson had many great writings, which influenced many and shared his thoughts with the world. His great thinking influenced many and made people realize that peace is important to a high society. Some of his thoughts include: A peaceful nation is protected by its spiritual power, because everyone is its friend. In individual cases it is extremely rare that a person of peace ever attracts violence. Courage must be transferred from war to the cause of peace; cowards can attain nothing great. The search for the sublime laws of morals and the sources of hope and trust, in man, and not in books, in the present, and not the past, and hopes that these will bring war to an end. (The Way to Peace 3-4) Emerson was also a great writer. His first publication Nature showed his idea of Transcendentalism. He applied this type of thinking to most of his works. In 1841, his first volume of essays, including the majority of his most popular work such as Self-Reliance, Prudence, Heroism, and Art. In 1847 to 1848, he went back to England and lectured. He made a collaborative volume called Representative Men (1850). This collection is one of his best works and contains fantastic essays on famous philosophers and writers such as Plato. He once described war as An epidemic of insanity, breaking out here and there like cholera or influenza, infecting mens brains instead of their bowels (Way to Peace 2). Besides being a great speaker revolutionist and writer, Emerson was also a very recognizable poet. His last collection of poetry was called May Day and Other Pieces, written in 1867. After this, he stopped writing for duration of time. His mental capabilities went downhill, and a few years later wrote Society and Solitude (1870) and Parnassus (1874), both poetic works. Sadly, Ralph Waldo Emerson died in 1882, remembered as a great philosopher, writer, and a leader of mankind (Biography of Emerson 1-2). Transcendentalism was a great literary movement. In fact it was more than just a literary movement, it was a liberator of mankind. Without the influences of Transcendentalism, many of the great writers in American History would not have been as great, and there would be less hope for the future. The important issues that the Transcendentalists addressed were important for the people of that time to pay attention to, and end the corruption of war. Unfortunately, the transcendental movement, with its optimism about the indwelling divinity, self-sufficiency, and high potentialities of human nature, did not survive the crisis of the Civil War and its aftermath. The end of a great literary movement had arrived, but was the beginning of more to come (Abrams 217)? ? Emersons Concord home and a picture of him. Works Cited Page Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brau Jovanovich College Publishers, 1985. American Literary Movements: Transcendentalism. Oct. 1999 (10/5/99). American Transcendentalism. (1). Oct. 1999 (10/6/99). American Transcendentalism. (2). May 2000 ~rlenat/amertran. html (5/29/00). Biography of Emerson. http:/members. xoom. com/_XMCM/RWEmerson/ whoisheohtm. The Way to Peace. Oct. 1999 (10/5/99).

Misunderstandings in Gender: Women Sexual Predators Essay -- Sexism Cr

There are many heinous crimes that have saturated our society; news reports of a woman being attacked while walking to her car late at night, a child being abducted and his frantic mother pleading with the assailant to let her child go. There is a common theme threaded into the reports we frequently see plastered on our television screens and that theme is masculinity in crime. It seems almost unfathomable that a woman could commit murder, least of all a sex crime. Due to this distorted thinking of the masses, society has shaped judicial systems worldwide to panelize women less frequently and even less harshly than their male counterparts. When a jury of peers sits in judgment of little Susie Q, wife and mother of 4, on counts of child molestation the initial opinion is that of disbelief. If this was a man sitting in Susie’s place, that man is likely considered a pervert, well before any facts or evidence is even mentioned. There are numerous cases of women committing violent and nonviolent sex crimes but rarely do we see them on a late night news broadcast. Is it because it happens less frequently than crimes committed by men? Maybe. Or have we been conditioned to think that women are mothers; sweet, all loving souls that comfort and support the ones they love. How lovely. Women are biologically equipped to be mothers and all sorts of other wonderful things, but because of this generalized view, it seems women are more likely to get away with harming someone and that in no way is acceptable. In the article â€Å"Theories of Sexual Deviancy† by Rosenberg and Associates, the author states â€Å"for the molester, he may find comfort and acceptance in the children he so desires.† This statement openly distinguishes a sex offender as singu... ...oodgates of communication so that we may be able to better understand and accept that sexual crimes do not discriminate based on gender. Trauma has no hormonal preference. When it comes to innocent people being harmed, gender should be completely excluded and the crime should be punished without prejudice preferential treatment. It is important that all people be held to the same standard when it comes to crime and sexual abuse and violence are no exception. Works Cited Burke, Dr. S. Abnormal Psychology/ LifeSpan Psychology Instructor, Washtenaw Community College November 2010. Munro, Kali. Mother Daughter Sexual Abuse: A Painful Topic. 4 December 2010. . Rosenberg and Associates. "Theories of Sexual Deviancy." Angelfire.com. 04 December 2010 .

Greek and latin christianity Essay

Christianity is the state of being a Christian it plays a very big part in the everyday lives of people, and their faith in what they believe. For most Christians they believe that God’s spirits was uncreated and the creator of all things who works on the redemption of the world through his son Jesus Christ. With their beliefs in the divinity of Christ and as for the Holy Spirit to be spoken as the doctrine of the holy trinity, that describes one divine substance exist such as the Father, the Son â€Å"Jesus Christ† and the holy spirit. Christians regards the Holy bible a book containing the word of God, it is divided into two parts the Old Testament and New Testament. In the Old Testament it has all the Jewish tanakh. As for the New Testament it has all the gospels from Matthew, Luke, Mark, John, etc. for most Christians they believe that when a human body dies it under goes specific judgment either a reward to eternal heaven or to be condemn eternally to hell. II. Greek Christianity Separated from the western church in the 15th century on doctrinal and liturgical grounds, and was officially called the holy oriental Orthodox Church. Over 97% of the people born in Greece are being baptized as Christians and the church regards ancient religious practice as pagan. In the early days people from the church haven’t attended flame ceremonies at Olympia due to reference is made to the ancient god of music and light Apollo. After the conversion of the roman emperor Constantine Christianity took hold in Greece in 4th century. Emperor Theodosius wiped out the last vestige of Olympian gods after he abolish the Olympic Games in 394AD. In the early days polytheistic groups perform secretly ancient temple, but now a days they were granted permission to perform a ceremony at the temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens Greece. These native people are really serious about their belief that the twelve Olympian gods really exist. In 1992 an agreement was made amongst the American theologians stating the differences between eastern and oriental orthodox Christians even though up to this day it hasn’t formally recognized yet together with the so called â€Å"church of the east†. III. Latin Christianity As for many people they intend to see the Catholic Church as an old-fashioned, obstructive, and reactionary. But if you look somewhere else you might find that the Roman Catholicism has never been that conservative. Throughout the times it keeps on disturbing feudal society by means of expanding papal and clerical powers. You might find a hard time understanding what Europe is, unless you try to understand what Christianity is really like if the papal’s power never exist in the very first place. The most remarkable issue for this topic is about the monophyletic churches and the orthodox churches. Monophysite has a numerous number of members that are Christian minority in Muslim lands Like Egyptian Copts. As well as the Ethiopian Christianity which is also, monophysites. The Orthodox Church is a group of several self-governing churches that are mostly Greeks or Slavonic. These people are well renounced during the 15th century schism. Deriving from the Roman Catholic in terms of a more compound and gradual union that was developed in 858AD to 1204AD. Monophysite theories were taken as a form of resistance to the dominant Greek culture from eastern Roman Empire. IV. A. The difference between the Greek and Latin Christianity Latin Christianity differs from the Greek Christianity through its definition and beliefs of the nature of Jesus Christ. Most early Christian’s theory disputes around several ideas that are found in the gospels. In short the orthodox believes that Jesus Christ was one person with two natures, as what do Roman and protestant. There are such differences occur academic interest wise, there are nothing left at stake. This had a big effect on the average Christians because they don’t even know what to believe. B. The split between Greek and Latin Christianity It was year 450 when there are only few Western European people who could read and understand the Greek language. And after a couple of years. Byzantium still called it self the Roman Empire but there were only few of the Byzantium who were able to speak Latin, knowing that it is the language of the Romans, even Photius a well renounced scholar during the 19th century could not even read Latin,until in 864 Michael III a Roman Emperor at Byzantium called the language were Virgil wrote â€Å"a barbarian and scythic tongue†. If Latin’s were able to read Greek or vice versa, so they could do it as well with their translations. It is so remarkable to note how this religious division happened. While Christianity were on its mission it tended to be associated with the three cultures namely; the Semitic, the Greek, and the Latin. As an out come to this separation the Semitic Christians of Syria were cut off from the rest of Christendom then followed by the second split religious split that initiated a wedge between the Greek and Latin traditions of Christianity V. Martyrdom Taken from the Greek language used to describes the apostles who witnessed Christ life and resurrection, meaning â€Å"witness’. As for Judaism it is referred to a Hebrew phrase meaning sanctification of God’s name. Martyrs are those people who undergo a lot of suffering for the sake of faith, and then only to die for that faith. Martyrdom occurs as the endurance and heroism of an individual who submits to death rather than forswear his religion, especially those who suffered to death for their religious principles. Work cited: Oxford university press The new international Webster comprehensive dictionary (encyclopedic edition) The bloody theater or martyrs by: Thieleman Van Bright Books of Martyrs by: John fox http://www. catholoic –forums. com/saint/martyrs. htm http://www. pravmir. com/article_153. htm

Basic Facts about U.S. Territories

The United States is the worlds third largest country based on population and land area. It is divided into 50 states but also claims 14 territories around the world. The definition of a territory as it applies to those claimed by the United States are lands that are administered by the United States but are not officially claimed by any of the 50 states or any other world nation. Typically, most of these territories depend on the United States for defense, economic and social support. The following is an alphabetical list of the territories of the United States. For reference, their land area and population (where applicable) have also been included. American Samoa †¢ Total Area: 77 square miles (199 sq km)†¢ Population: 55,519 (2010 estimate) American Samoa is made up of five islands and two  coral atolls, and is  part of the Samoan Islands chain in the south Pacific Ocean. The  1899 Tripartite Convention divided the Samoan Islands into two parts, between the US. and Germany, after more than a century of battles among the French, English, German and Americans to claim the islands, during with the Samoans fought fiercely. The U.S. occupied its part of Samoa in 1900 and on  July 17, 1911, the US Naval Station Tutuila  was officially renamed American Samoa. Baker Island †¢ Total Area: 0.63 square miles (1.64 sq km)†¢ Population: Uninhabited Baker Island an atoll just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean about 1,920 miles southwest of Honolulu. It became an American territory in 1857. Americans tried to inhabit the island in the 1930s, but when Japan became active in the Pacific during World War II, they were evacuated. The island is named for Michael Baker, who visited the island several times before claiming it in 1855. It was classified as part of Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge in 1974. Guam †¢ Total Area: 212 square miles (549 sq km)†¢ Population: 175,877 (2008 estimate) Located in the western Pacific Ocean  in the Mariana Islands, Guam became a U.S. possession in 1898, following the Spanish-American War. Its believed that the indigenous people of Guam, the Chamorros, settled on the island roughly 4,000 years ago. The first European to discover Guam was Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. The Japanese occupied Guam in 1941, three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.  American forces liberated the island on July 21, 1944, which is still commemorated as Liberation Day. Howland Island †¢ Total Area: 0.69 square miles (1.8 sq km)†¢ Population: Uninhabited Located near Baker Island in the central Pacific, Howland Island comprises the  Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge and is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Its part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. The U.S. took possession in 1856. Howland Island was the destination aviator Amelia Earhart was headed for when her plane disappeared in 1937.   Jarvis Island †¢ Total Area: 1.74 square miles (4.5 sq km)†¢ Population: Uninhabited This uninhabited atoll is in the south Pacific Ocean halfway between Hawaii and the Cook Islands. It was annexed by the U.S. in 1858, and is administered by  the Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the National Wildlife Refuge system.   Kingman Reef †¢ Total Area: 0.01 square miles (0.03 sq km)†¢ Population: Uninhabited Although it was discovered a few hundred years earlier, Kingman Reef was incorporated by the U.S. in 1922. Its incapable of sustaining plant life, and is considered a maritime hazard, but its location in the Pacific Ocean had strategic value during World War II. Its administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the  Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. Midway Islands †¢ Total Area: 2.4 square miles (6.2 sq km)†¢ Population: There are no permanent inhabitants on the islands but caretakers periodically live on the islands. Midway is nearly at the halfway point between North America and Asia, hence its name. Its the only island in the Hawaiian archipelago which is not part of Hawaii. Its administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The U.S. formally took possession of Midway in 1856.   The Battle of Midway was one of the most important between the Japanese and the U.S. in World War II. In May 1942, the Japanese planned an invasion of Midway Island which would provide a base for attacking Hawaii. But the Americans intercepted and decrypted the Japanese radio transmissions.  On June 4, 1942, U.S. aircraft flying from USS Enterprise, USS Hornet, and USS Yorktown attacked and sunk four Japanese carriers, forcing the Japanese to withdraw. The Battle of Midway marked the turning point of World War II in the Pacific. Navassa Island †¢ Total Area: 2 square miles (5.2 sq km)†¢ Population: Uninhabited   Located in the Caribbean 35 miles west of Haiti, Navassa Island is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The U.S. claimed possession of Navassa in 1850, although Haiti has disputed this claim. A group of Christopher Columbus crewmen happened on the island in 1504 on their way from Jamaica to Hispanola, but discovered Navassa had no fresh water sources. Northern Mariana Islands †¢ Total Area: 184 square miles (477 sq km)†¢ Population: 52,344  (2015 estimate) Officially known as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, this string of 14 islands is in the Micronesia collection of islands in the Pacific Ocean, between Palau, the Philippines and Japan.   The Northern Mariana Islands have a tropical climate, with December through May as the dry season, and July to October the monsoon season. The largest island in the territory, Saipan, is in the Guinness Book of Records for having the worlds most equable temperature, at 80 degrees year round. The Japanese had possession of the Northern Marianas until the U.S. invasion in 1944.   Palmyra Atoll †¢ Total Area: 1.56 square miles (4 sq km)†¢ Population: Uninhabited Palmyra is an incorporated territory of the U.S., subject to all provisions of the Constitution, but its also an unorganized territory, so theres no Act of Congress on how Palmyra should be governed. Located halfway between Guam and Hawaii, Palmyra has no permanent residents, and is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Puerto Rico †¢ Total Area: 3,151 square miles (8,959 sq km)†¢ Population: 3, 474,000  (2015 estimate) Puerto Rico is the easternmost island of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, about 1,000  miles southeast of Florida and just east of the Dominican Republic and west of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico is a commonwealth, a territory of the U.S. but not a state. Puerto Rico seceded from Spain in  1898, and Puerto Ricans have been citizens of the United States since a law was passed in 1917. Even though they are citizens, Puerto Ricans pay no federal income tax and they can not vote for president. U.S. Virgin Islands †¢ Total Area: 136 square miles (349 sq km)†¢ Population: 106,405  (2010 estimate) The islands that make up the U.S. Virgin Islands archipelago in the Caribbean  are St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas, as well as other minor islands. The USVI became a U.S. territory in 1917, after the U.S. signed a treaty with Denmark. The territorys capital is Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas. The USVI elect a delegate to Congress, and while the delegate can vote in committee, he or she cant participate in floor votes. It has its own state legislator and elects a territorial governor every four years. Wake Islands †¢ Total Area: 2.51 square miles (6.5 sq km)†¢ Population: 94  (2015 estimate) Wake Island is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean 1,500 miles east of Guam, and 2,300 miles west of Hawaii. Its an unorganized, unincorporated territory is also claimed by the Marshall Islands. It was claimed by the U.S. in 1899, and is administered by the U.S. Air Force.