US expansion essays

US expansion essays America acquired a lot of land over a short period time starting from about 1783 to about 1848. America did so in a few different ways such as war, treaty, annexation and purchase. In this essay I will discuss some of the different states we gained and how we gain them. The original thirteen colonies were acquired by a battle or a war known as The American Revolution. The Americans fought Britain for freedom, rights and land. After a successful battle the British were forced to sign the Treaty of Paris in 1783. This treaty gave America the thirteen colonies and the other side of the Mississippi river. In 1803 the leader of France, Napoleon offered the U.S. to purchase Louisiana. Although the Constitution made no provision for the acquisition of new land, Jefferson decided to go with a more loose constitution and called this a treaty. The Louisiana Purchase was the greatest real estate deal in world history, because it doubled the U.S. in size and it only cost about 15 million dollars in gold. After that in 1818 and 1819 Spain sold Florida to the U.S. and we just took west Florida with it. In 1842 a treaty with Britain gives us northern Minnesota in which we later discover is full of extremely valuable that boosted America's economy. For about nine years Texas wasn't part of any country and very much wanted to become part of the U.S. be we kept on refusing because of slavery abolishment in the north. In 1845 the U.S. decided it would allow Texas to be part of U.S. territory so we had the Texas Annexation. In 1846 after a successful victory over Britain in a battle which was fought over a very large piece of land, the Americans came to a compromise with the British. America decided that it would take Oregon Country by treaty and allow the British to keep the northern half of the land that was fought over. In 1853 America acquires another very large piece of land from Mexico. After the war the Mexican signed a treaty giving us...

The League of Nations

The League of Nations The League of Nations was an international organization that existed between 1920 and 1946. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the League of Nations vowed to promote international cooperation and preserve global peace. The League achieved some success, but it ultimately was unable to prevent the even deadlier World War II. The League of Nations was the predecessor to todays more effective United Nations. Goals of the Organization World War I (1914-1918) had caused the deaths of at least 10 million soldiers and millions of civilians. The Allied victors of the war wanted to form an international organization that would prevent another horrific war. American President Woodrow Wilson was especially instrumental in formulating and advocating the idea of a League of Nations. The League arbitrated disputes between member countries in order to peacefully preserve sovereignty and territorial rights. The League encouraged countries to reduce their amount of military weapons. Any country that resorted to war would be subject to economic sanctions such as a halt to trade. Member Countries   The League of Nations was founded in 1920 by forty-two countries. At its height in 1934 and 1935, the League had 58 member countries. The member countries of the League of Nations spanned the globe and included most of Southeast Asia, Europe, and South America. At the time of the League of Nations, nearly all of Africa consisted of colonies of Western powers. The United States never joined the League of Nations because the largely isolationist Senate refused to ratify the Leagues charter. The official languages of the League were English, French, and Spanish. Administrational Structure The League of Nations was administrated by three main bodies. The Assembly, composed of representatives from all member countries, met annually and discussed the priorities and budget of the organization. The Council was composed of four permanent members (Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan) and several non-permanent members who were elected by the permanent members every three years. The Secretariat, led by a Secretary-General, monitored many of the humanitarian agencies described below. Political Success The League of Nations was successful in preventing several small wars. The League negotiated settlements to territorial disputes between Sweden and Finland, Poland and Lithuania, and Greece and Bulgaria. The League of Nations also successfully administered the former colonies of Germany and the Ottoman Empire, including Syria, Nauru, and Togoland, until they were ready for independence. Humanitarian Success   The League of Nations was one of the worlds first humanitarian organizations. The League created and directed several agencies that were meant to improve the living conditions of the worlds people. The League: aided refugeestried to end slavery and the drug tradeset standards on working conditionsconstructed better transportation and communications networksgave financial assistance and advice to some member countriesadministered the Permanent Court of International Justice (precursor to todays International Court of Justice)tried to prevent malnutrition and diseases such as leprosy and malaria (precursor to todays World Health Organization)promoted culture preservation and scientific advancement (precursor to todays UNESCO). Political Failures The League of Nations was unable to enforce many of its own regulations because it did not have a military. The League did not stop several of the most significant events that led to World War II. Examples of League of Nations failures include: the 1935 invasion of Ethiopia by Italythe annexation of the Sudetenland and Austria by Germanythe invasion of Manchuria (the northeastern Chinese province) by Japan in 1932 The Axis countries (Germany, Italy, and Japan) withdrew from the League because they refused to comply with the Leagues order to not militarize. The End of the Organization The members of the League of Nations knew that many changes within the organization had to occur after World War II. The League of Nations was disbanded in 1946. An improved international organization, the United Nations, was carefully discussed and formed, based on many of the political and social goals of the League of Nations. Lessons Learned The League of Nations had the diplomatic, compassionate goal of generating permanent international stability, but the organization was unable to avert conflicts which would ultimately change human history. Thankfully the worlds leaders realized the Leagues shortcomings and reinforced its objectives in the modern-day successful United Nations.

Women should get a chance to use birth control Essay

Women should get a chance to use birth control - Essay Example ines that, â€Å"Some women are afforded greater privacy in matters of reproductive control, while others are subjected to limited opportunities† (p.61). At the same time, birth control helps women to lead healthy sex lives because it reduces the scope of pregnancy. Zorea (2012) states that, â€Å"The intentional prevention and control of human conception is identified by many names but is today most commonly referred to as birth control† (p.3). So, birth control must be considered as an individual freedom of womenfolk in general. One can easily identify the fact that birth control is to be considered as a social responsibility. For instance, access to birth control methods prevents the rapid spread of some diseases; especially STDs. Rees (1997) states that, â€Å"Untreated STDs can cause lasting damage to the female reproductive organs, leading to ectopic (tubal) pregnancies, miscarriages, and infertility† (p.11). Besides, population explosion is a burning issue and the same can be resolved by controlling high birth rate. Women must have access to birth control methods because it is a moral responsibility. Engelman (2011) states that, â€Å"Birth control, however, unabashedly affirms the moral necessity of family limitation† (p.95). To be specific, birth control leads to the prevention of abortion. In addition, unwanted pregnancy is a moral issue and the same can be reduced by birth control. Summing, one can see that birth control is related to the individual freedom, social responsibility, and moral responsibility of womenfolk. So, birth control helps women to enjoy their individual rights. Besides, birth control acts as a social responsibility towards the society. On the other side, birth control is a moral responsibility. In short, women must fight for their rights and must gain access to different methods of birth

Florida Merid Award Program evaluation Term Paper

Florida Merid Award Program evaluation - Term Paper Example Eligibility and requirements of renewal are also very clear. It enhances and promotes improved performance in colleges. The program pressurizes teachers to achieve highly so as they can continuously get their awards (Buddin et al, 2007). The program also motivates teachers. Research indicates that an increase of one percent of salary may increase the performance of a teacher by about two percent. However, providing bonuses for good performance is more effective as compared to automatic pay rise since it can elevate the performance of a teacher to as much as nineteen percent. Merit award program attracts qualified applicants or candidates to the profession of teaching, since incomes vary largely and have a basis on the strength of local teachers unions and local tax revenue. The results received are positive. The program enhances high productivity or increased work quality as result of teachers working harder than expected. If teachers work consistently in strives to acquire merit pay increases, then the cumulative impact for the schools would be healthier than before (PEPC Report, 1999). School boards and superintendents are engaged in debates about the program. Instructional personnel who are part of teaching fraternity but not really teachers, or a group of teachers who tirelessly provide necessary instructions for students are also co-operated in the program. The program provides pay for teams or groups of teachers. The state now awards teachers’ salary on the basis of district’s average instead of individual teacher salary. It puts consideration on a variety of teacher performance measures. A combination of benefits gained by the student and the evaluations of the principal are used to assess the performance of the teacher. It increased the size of the award for teachers with less experience and low income. This was to motivate them to work harder than before. The district experiences a lot of flexibility to identify the section of teachers wh o should be awarded. The program offers enough time for the districts’ analysis of achievement data. For instance, teacher performance awards in the academic 2007-2008 were given as from 1st of July, 2008. This gave the districts enough time to analyze the students the achievement data for students, make a list of teachers to be awarded and distribute the awards. Weaknesses of the program The prospects for the Florida merit award program are not promising regardless of the anticipation through theoretical and empirical reasons that the program would generate positive results students which are to be used to measure teacher performance. Since the implementation of education reforms is done in a political setting, the potential of teacher merit award is not a reality. Whatever gains that may be generated from this program; those gains might not be realized due to the same implementation challenge that results in many other reforms. That is, when a reform in education possesses the theoretical potential for achievement, for that very reason, it will be alleged to be threatening to the established interests. The outcome is the very interests will give their resources, time and energy to diluting or blocking the reform, instead of enhancing its implementation on an extensive and exact basis. If the educational reform fails to deal with the

1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

1 - Essay Example Each of these will be explored in turn with examples but greater emphasis on the last two. Cost has always been an obstacle to having many computers in schools (Micromart, N.d.). Low cost computing was then pioneered by the British Sir Clive Sinclair although the Acorn’s BBC eventually became more popular in UK schools (Lee, 2009). The greatest influx of computers into UK schools thus began in the late 1980s when the educational authorities supported the move (Smith, n.d.). Generally, the affordability of computers has been improving (Reddy, 2006) resulting in more of them being present in schools today. This includes laptops, as their prices and maintenance costs have been falling steadily making cost less of an obstacle nowadays (Warschauer, 2008). The form factor refers to the physical size and configuration of the computer hardware, or the physical arrangement of its case or internal components (Tech Target, 2005). As far as the outward size is concerned, computers have generally become smaller in size making them more convenient and space saving including peripherals such as the monitor. Early computers were too large for schools (Eteokleous, 2008). They also lacked sound and graphics capabilities (Smith, n.d.). The latest major trend in computer design is the tablet form. This follows on from the attempt at making smaller and cheaper laptops called notebooks. This form is likely to be more successful than notebooks because it is less bulky. Apple has led the way with its iPad, described by the company itself as "a whole new kind of device" (Apple, 2010). It offers more functionality than e-readers such as Amazons kindle and is easier to carry around than a netbook. This kind of convenience in a new computer form and at a lower cost than the traditional computers makes it ideal in education. The iPad like all e-readers can contain many textbooks which is easier than carrying several real textbooks

Organizational Behavior Essay Example for Free

Organizational Behavior Essay 1. Does this case prove economic downturns and company layoffs fail to lead to workplace malfeasance? Why or why not? This case proves economic downturns and company layoffs lead to workplace malfeasance. According to dictionary.com malfeasance is the performance by a public official of an act that is legally unjustified, harmful, or contrary to law. It is also defined as wrongdoing (used especially of an act in violation of a public trust. According to the case incident â€Å"These companies often produce press releases, which then work their way into the media and presumably generate potential clients for the organizations† (Robbins Judge, 2010, pg. 35). This statement has led me to believe that companies use press releases to make their situation seem worse than it actually is in order to gain clients for their organization. 2. Does the case prove we can learn nothing from the business press? The case proves that we can learn something from the business press however we should not believe everything we read. According to the case, â€Å"MSN Money, under the headline â€Å"Businesses See Rise in Employee Theft,† reported the poll results as follows: â€Å"When asked if they had noticed a recent rise in monetary theft among employees, such as fraudulent transactions or missing cash, 18% said yes, 41% were unsure and the rest said they hadn’t† (Robbins Judge, 2010, pg. 35). However, put a different way 18% agreed that theft was up and 82% either disagreed or weren’t sure. Based on MSN Money’s report it sounds like theft really has increased however if you look at it another way most companies said they haven’t seen an increase or they just haven’t noticed a rise in theft. 3. Does this chapter provide any clues for how you can be an informed consumer of business news on OB issues? In some way’s this chapter provides clues for how you can be an informed consumer of business news on OB issues because it explains how managers stay informed. According to the text, â€Å"All managers, to some degree, collect information from outside organizations and institutions, typically by scanning the news media (including the internet) and talking with other people to learn of changes in the public’s tastes, what competitors may be planning, and the like† (Robbins Judge, 2010, pg. 6). 4. Some companies install surveillance equipment (cameras, computer software) to monitor their employees. Valenti Management, which owns and runs 117 Wendy’s and 17 Chili’s restaurants, has installed fingerprint scanners on all its cash registers. Do you think these measures infringe too much on individual privacy? Can a company take prevention too far? How do you strike a balance between prevention and intrusion? When you become an employee of a company you have in essence agreed to the monitoring that is taking place. Although fingerprint scanners on all cash registers sounds like pretty extreme measure it is a way for the company to be sure that the employee that is supposed to be working the register is actually the one working the register. If the company uses a clock in number such as the four digits of an employee’s social security number another employee could use that number, take money from the register and then the blame would go on the wrong person. I do believe a company can take prevention to far however, I don’t believe Valenti Management has done so in this case. Striking a balance between prevention and intrusion can be very difficult however I do believe it is possible, before a company implements a new prevention measure it should determine whether the measure is absolutely necessary to prevent employee theft.

Positive Psychology Theory And Core Concepts Psychology Essay

Positive Psychology Theory And Core Concepts Psychology Essay School bullying is a growing public concern as it can have detrimental effect on subjective well-being of children and adolescents worldwide. Bullying can be defined and refered to as intentional , oppresive behavior against another person that causes pysical and/psychological harm and can be classified into four categories: Physical bullying such as; hitting, pushing, kicking, spiting and punching. Verbal bullying such as; name-calling, teasing, insultting and verbal threats. Social exclusion behaviors behaviors such as; ignoring victims, spreading rumours about victims, exclusing from social groups by indirect threats to friends of victims. Acts of extortion such as; asking for money or other material objects. (Olweus, 1994). Bullying can have a negative effect on victims, bullies and bystanders and impact psychosocial and physical health as well as academic aspiration(Hui, Tsang Law, 2011).Several research studies show that students with poor interpersonal relationships to family, peers and teachers are more prone to be involved in peer victimization(Wong et al., 2008). Many of the victims of bullying suffer negative affects such as; anger,anxiety,decreased self-esteem or depression(Ng Tsang,. 2008; Fung Wong,. 2007). Some victims of bullying may as a result turn into bullies themselves(Lam Liu,. 2007) and contribute to the comlex social interactions that involve schools, homes, parents, peers, adults, victims and bullies(Vreeman Carroll,. 2007). Many of the most common types of classroom and/or school antibullying interventions target three key areas; training social skills, changing group norms and increasing self-efficacy((Hui, Tsang Law, 2011). .Egan Todorov (2009) found that implementing inte rventions across entire schools lead to higher rates of succes and implementing it into the regular curriculum would be most effective(Misha, 2008). Smith collegues(2004) found that several factors that affected the school climate such as interpersonal relationships and the quality of communication were not usually implemented in the school-wide interventions. The social context play a key role in promoting bullying behavior (Espelage Swearer,. 2003) and in creating a negative school climate. Implementing a positive psychology intervention might prove usefull as a positive school climate promote positive development in children and adolescents and reduce aggression.(MIshna,. 2008;Smith et al,. 2004; Whitted Dupper,. 2005; Orpinas Horne,. 2006) Positive Psychology Theory and Core Concepts should be applied to facilitate long-term well-being in School bullying Positive psychology is the scientific study to understand , test, discover and promote factors (e.g strengths and virtues) (Sheldon et. al. ,2000) that enable individuals and environments such as institutions and communities to thrive and flourish(Seligman Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). To Flourish means to live with an optimal range of human functioning which is characterized by four key components; Goodness, Generativity, Growth and Resilience(Frederickson Losada,. 2005). Studies supports the adaptive effects of positive affects(for a review, see Lyubomirsky, King, Diener, in press) such as having a positive affect on attention(Frederickson Branigan,. 2005; Rowe , Hirsch Anderson,. 2005), increased intuition(Bolte, Goschkey, Kuhl ,.2003), creativity and broaden behavioral repertoires(Frederickson Branigan,. 2005). Fredericksons (Frederickson, 2004). Positive emotions is a key component in intervention. The Broaden-and-build theory describes how positive emotions can broaden an individuals thought action patterns, and that although feeling good is a temporary experience, it can lead to a build up of enduring personal resources (social, intellectual, psychological and physical over time and this can produce an upward spiral towards increased subjective well-being(Frederikson, 2004). Hefferson Boniwell(2011) found that positive emotions not only mark or signal health and well-being, but also produce health and well-being this notion implies that th e positive emotions transform individuals for the better and can make them more knowledgeable, effective, resilient and socially integrated()Frederickson, 2004). Isens (1990, p. 89) research also supports the broaden-and-build theory that positive emotions produces broad , flexible cognitive organization and ability to integrate diverse material. Negative emotions such as anxiety and depression can lead to a more narrow attention(Frederickson, 2004). An important question that arises when implementing the broaden-and-build theory is, how much positivity is needed to flourish(Frederickson, 2004). Negative emotions have always been the focus of traditional psychology and Baumeister, et al(2001) concluded that Bad is stronger than good and to be able to overcome the overwhelming effect of negative emotions, Fredericks needed to found out how much positivity was enough to make a difference. With the help of Losada (1999) and other researchers (Losada Heaphy, 2004) Frederickson found t he positivity ratio, stating that three positive emotions or more would negate one negative. This positivity ratio also has an upper limit where the effect decreases.It can be difficult to cultivate positivity as an individual, but there are several methods that Fredrickson Kurtz suggest might help, such as changing ones outlook from being positive to being open, appreciative.., curious and kind(2011. p. 44) but also that creating high quality relationships can prove valuable to increasing positive emotions. An evidence based intervention plan tailored to case. The first part of my intervention(Gratitude Intervention) will focus on positive emotions in the PERMA model of well-being and the intervention method used will be to make the students keep a journal to count blessings for 2 weeks time. Froh, Sefick Emmons(2008) found that making students count blessings were associated with higher levels of optimism, life-satisfaction and lowered negative emotions. The second part of my intervention will focus on building positive relationships by using the VIA-test from www.Viacharacter.org. VIA stands for values in action and is a self-report test that consist of 240 questions that will help individuals to identify their top character strengths out of the 24 strenghts in the VIA Classification. They will then form groups of in class based on the indentified strengths.Character strengths can then be implemented in a positive psychology intervention where the students are asked to apply one of their top character strengths in a new way, every day for one week. This is also congruent with the three pillars of positive psychology wich consist of positive experiences, strength based character and positive institutions. The PERMA model is a model of well-being and consist of five important elements: positive emotions, engagement, meaning, accomplishment and positive relationships. The 24 character strengths underpin all 5 elements in the PERMA mode l of well-being and using your highest strengths can lead to more postive emotions, more engagement, more accomplishment and to better relationships(Seligman, 2011 ; Hefferson Boniwell, 2011). The character strengths are divided up into 6 virtues. Wisdom and Knowledge: creativity,curiosity,open-mindedness,love of learning,perspective, innovation Courage: bravery,persistence, integrity,vitality Humanity:love,kindness, social intelligence Justice: citizenship, fairness, leadership Temperance:forgivenessandmercy,humility,prudence,self control Transcendence:appreciation of beauty and excellence,gratitude,hope,humor,spirituality Critical reflections about your intervention plan: What might the pitfalls be? One of the main pitfalls of my intervention plan is positive psychology relies heavily on the notion that there are only negative or positive emotions, but Larsen et al.(2001,2004) concluded that this view is too simplistic as feelings are often mixed. Hefferon Boniwell (2011, p22-223) also argues that hope on one hand can be positive, but also lead to negative emotions like anxiety. Other researchers critize that positive psychology focuses to much on positivity and thus negating the potential of benifits of negative moods, such as bonding over negative complaints and events(Kowalski, 2002). Positive psychology interventions does not come with a one-size fits all as individuals, institutions and countries might have similar values or strengths but different ways of expressing them. Defensive pessimism might be another way of expressing this for certain individuals. The body of research being conducted on children and adolescents is growing. The interventions might also come of as b eing some kind of overt mind control when we try to make individuals focus on only the positive aspects of life.