Manifest Destiny Essay Example for Free

Manifest Destiny Essay The belief in Manifest Destiny, America’s right to expand westward, was popular among the Democratic Party, which paved the path for conflict in U.S. politics. In the 1840’s, Manifest Destiny was used as justification for the annexation of Texas, the war with Mexico, and to acquire portions of Oregon from the British. The debate over whether America really had a manifest destiny to expand all the way west or if it was used as an excuse to acquire more land led to debates in U. S. politics. Advocates of manifest destiny, mostly democratic, argued that the U.S., as a more advanced culture, had a God-given right to expand its borders. They believed the expansion would civilize the West and America’s democratic, cultural, and religious values would benefit the Native Americans. In addition, supporters would argue that the belief would strengthen the union, making it invulnerable. On the opposing side, consisting mostly of the Whig party, the God-given right to expand all the way westward at the price and rights of thousands of innocent natives was blasphemy. The Whig party was not manifest destinies only critic, abolitionist, fearful of slavery spreading, argued that the constitution did not give the country the right to gain new land and the country’s vital institutions would suffer as America was spread too thin. Look more:  essays on manifest destiny Texas’ sought to join America as a new state, after it gained independence from Mexico and had a revolution. The process of expansion in which newly democratic and free states would seek entry into the United States, rather than the U.S. extending its government over unwanting people was ideal. The Democratic Party was threatened to fall apart if Texas entered the Union, as it would become another slave state and this forced both Presidents Jackson and Van Buren to decline Texas’ plea. During the election of 1844, both Henry Clay of the Whig Party and Van Buren of the Democratic Party were against the annexation of Texas, this displeased the Democrats as they wanted to gain Texas so they dropped Van Buren in favor of James Polk, who was for adding Texas as another slave state. Polk cleverly tied Texas’ annexation into the Oregon dispute, the controversy over Oregon’s border. In 1846 the dispute was settled over the Oregon Treaty where the British relinquished its holding to the lower Colombia basin. This appeased expansionist in the north, who fought for Oregon and expansionist in the south, who focused primarily on Texas. After Polk’s election, he moved to occupy a free portion of Texas that was still claimed by Mexico. This sparked the Mexican-American War in 1846, were there were calls for â€Å"All Mexico†, mostly from Eastern Democrats, however Mexico’s annexation brought up much debate. If Mexico were to become a part of the United States it would mean millions of non-white Mexicans would become U.S. citizens, something Americans were not too keen on. The racist aspect of Manifest Destiny considers inferior Mexicans unqualified to become Americans whereas the mission aspect of Manifest Destiny dictates that Mexicans would become improved under American democracy. The â€Å"All Mexico† movement quickly abated with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 which granted Alta California and Nuevo Mà ©xico to the United States, both of which were sparsely populated with Mexicans. After the Mexican-American War ended in 1848, disagreements over the expansion of slavery made further annexation by conquest too divisive to be official government policy. The belief in Manifest Destiny in the 1840’s greatly influenced both U.S. politics and policy and is to blame or thank for Americas expansion from â€Å"sea to shining sea.†

Should Rich Nations Help Poor Nations? Essay -- Poverty Help countries

Should Rich Nations Help Poor Nations?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Imagine living in a community where every minute of everyday you were hungry, underclothed, and at risk for death because you are poor. Now imagine waking up and your biggest problem was which sweater to wear with which jeans. Both are scenarios that occur on a daily basis in our countries, some more extreme than others are. With that in mind a question of whether or not rich nations have an obligation to help those nations if need arises. Professor of philosophy Peter Singer and biologist Garrett Hardin both have very different opinions on this matter and the following paper will focus on their arguments.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Peter Singer’s argument focuses greatly on the nation that citizens of rich nations can with ease help poor nations, without causing any financial burden, therefore, helping those in need should be done.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Singer introduces his objective about the obligation to support the less fortunate nations by stating that, as humans if we can prevent something horrible from occurring, without sacrificing our moral integrity, then helping should not be considered a problem, and we should do it (Singer 331). According to Singer’s idea, the intention is not to push individuals into helping out the poor. His intention is simply trying to make people realize that going out to a fancy restaurant, or taking that cruise around the world, is of less importance than helping out a starving young child who will die due to hunger (Singer 336.) It hardly seems fair, when you look at situations as such and think, â€Å"while I’m in luxury, another is starving.† Singer explains that the argument may be uncommon, but often times people still roll their eyes at the idea of sacrificing something small, in order to help out those in need. Singer asks, why is downsizing such a problem for the â€Å"affluent,† many believe it is not helping that is a problem, it is helping those in distant lands that poses the problem. But if one where to examine the situation and realize that no mother and father would want to deprive their own children from; a good education, clothing, food, and shelter then why let someone else’s children endure the same hardship. By no means is Singer’s intention to promote that we as a wealthy nation are equally responsible for the life and death of people on other nations (Singer 337.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With regards to on... ...s not the position of one to decide the fate of a nation. Both Hardin and Singer do not disagree that there is a problem, however both are passionate about other forms of justice. There are many of us that take everyday necessities for granted, and some of these things those less fortunate may never have a chance to experience. The gap between the rich and the poor expands on a daily basis and will continue throughout the world. It is a question of how we want to change that. Is Singer right, because he says to help everyone, and give up our a little life’s luxuries, because it will be fulfilling in the end, to know we helped out? Or is Hardin right by saying that we should go about our daily routines as we would, because the world is going to have downfalls? It is our responsibility as human beings to decide what is right and what is wrong, this argument should not be decided by an article. Opinions and sides are going to vary†¦. That’s life ! â€Å"No arbitrary regulation, no act of the legislature, can add anything to the capital (Wealth) of the country; it can only force it into artificial channels† John Ramsey McCulloch Scottish Economist Principals of Political Economy   

Define Individualism And Explain Its Importance Within Liberal Ideology

The liberal ideology is formed on several ideologies. Individualism is considered one of the most crucial. It's involved in most liberal characteristics like freedom, the economy and the role of the state. But there is notable division between modern and classic liberalists as to what it focuses on with modern liberalists focusing on individuality and classics believe in utilitarianism and and social darwinism. However it is widely agreed that individualism is a key concept within liberal ideology.Firstly, to discuss the importance of individualism, it must be defined. Individualism is the social theory favouring freedom of action for individuals over collective or state control. Essentially the belief that the individual is more important than the social group. This is then split further into methodological individualism where the individual is placed at the centre of political theory and ethical individualism where moral priority is given to the interests of the individual.One plac e where individualism plays a key role within liberalism is in the role of the state. This appears in the form of a constitutional government that liberal thinkers view as essential with two other aspects to guarantee individualism. The first is the separation of powers where capability would be disbanded between various parts of government in order to prevent a focused centre of power which would be able to destroy individual freedom. The second is a limited government, where the state is only given enough powers necessary to allow individuals to follow their own eccentric pursuits. Therefore it can be see individualism plays an important role in liberals ideology as liberal government is designed to protect this. John Locke sums this up as ‘the state that governs least is the state that governs best'.Another place where individualism is important within liberal ideology is with regard to the financial market. This became prominent through the thinkings of Ricardo and Smith ( writer of the wealth of nations). They believed that the individual should be enabled to act in their own interests  and this will therefore benefit society overall. This will in theory therefore promote freedom, well-being and prosperity. More recently, John Maynard Keynes put forward the requirement of demand management – that the government should inject money into the economy to ensure the individual can still act in their own interests.Individualism also plays a crucial part in the opinion of freedom within liberal ideology. It is not total freedom but freedom under the state and the rule of law. It warrants for people to develop their own abilities and ambitions. John Locke, a 17th century philosopher considered freedom of the individual to be a natural right.Modern liberals have moved away towards individuality, by suggesting life is about more than a selfish pursuit of ones own joys. John Stuart Mills expressed the desire of individuals to achieve self-realisation a nd autonomy, through ‘high' pleasures, which consist of intellectual and moral pursuits in comparison with ‘low' pleasures which are crude pleasures including activities such as promiscuity, drinking and gambling. This may suggest individualism has less of a role in modern liberalism because there's less focus on the simple pleasures that a classical liberalist would conform to.Classical liberals have an atomistic view of the individual, due to ideas such as Social Darwinism, that the hard-working and talented would survive and the lazy would fail. Spencer stressed this, and the importance of the individual responsibility. Utilitarianism is also a key concept within classical thinking on individualism, the idea that the proper course of action is the one that maximises utility. Bentham suggested this was key as individuals ought to be allowed to follow their own happiness. The focus and analysis of political theorists on what individualism should be shows its importance. To summarise, it is clear that individualism is greatly important in liberal ideology, particularly in the opinion of classical liberalists. In classical liberalism individualism takes a more pivotal role within most aspects of their ideals. However in modern liberalism individualism is slightly more subdued due to the state's larger role. Overall individualism can be seen to play an important role within liberalism as a whole.

Didymium Facts and Uses - Element or Not

Sometimes you hear words that sound like element names, like didymium, coronium, or dilithium. Yet, when you search the periodic table, you dont find these elements. Key Takeaways: Didymium Didymium was an element on Dmitri Mendeleevs original periodic table.Today, didymium is not an element, but is instead a mixture of rare earth elements. These elements had not been separated from each other in Mendeleevs time.Didymium mainly consists of praseodymium and neodymium.Didymium is used to color glass, make safety glasses that filter yellow light, prepare photographic filters that subtract orange light, and to manufacture catalysts.When added to glass, the right mixture of neodymium and praseodymium produces a glass that changes colors depending on the viewers angle. Didymium Definition Didymium is a mixture of the rare earth elements praseodymium and neodymium and sometimes other rare earths. The term comes from the Greek word didumus, meaning twin, with the -ium ending. The word sounds like an element name because at one time didymium was considered to be an element. In fact, it appears on Mendeleevs original periodic table. Didymium History and Properties Swedish chemistry Carl Mosander (1797-1858) discovered didymium in 1843 from a sample of ceria (cerite) supplied by Jons Jakob Berzelius. Mosander believed didymium was an element, which is understandable because the rare earths were notoriously difficult to separate at that time. The element didymium had atomic number 95, the symbol Di, and an atomic weight based on the belief that the element was divalent. In fact, these rare earth elements are trivalent, so Mendeleevs values were only about 67% of the true atomic weight. Didymium was known to be responsible for a pink color in ceria salts. Per Teodor Cleve determined didymium must be made of at least two elements in 1874. In 1879, Lecoq de Boisbaudran isolated samarium from a sample containing didymium, leaving Carl Auer von Welsbach to separate the two remaining elements in 1885. Welsbach named these two elements praseodidymium (green didymium) and neodidymium (new didymium). The di part of the names was dropped and these elements came to be known as praseodymium and neodymium. As the mineral was already in use for glassblowers goggles, the name didymium remains. The chemical composition of didymium is not fixed, plus the mixture may contain other rare earths besides just praseodymium and neodymium. In the United States, didymium is the material remaining after cerium is removed from the mineral monazite. This composition contains about 46% lanthanum, 34% neodymium, and 11% gadolinium, with a smaller amount of samarium and gadolinium. While the ratio of neodymium and praseodymium varies, didymium usually contains about three times more neodymium than praseodymium. This is why element 60 is the one named neodymium. Didymium Uses Although you may have never heard of didymium, you may have encountered it: Didymium and its rare earth oxides are used to color glass. The glass is important for blacksmithing and glassblowing safety glasses. Unlike dark welder glasses, didymium glass selectively filters out yellow light, around 589 nm, reducing the risk of Glassblowers cataract and other damage while preserving visibility.Didymium is also used in photographic filters as an optical band-stop filter. It removes the orange portion of the spectrum, which makes it useful for enhancing photos of autumn scenery.A 1:1 ratio of neodymium and praseodymium may be used to make Heliolite glass, a color of glass devised by Leo Moser in the 1920s that changes color from amber to red to green depending on the light. An Alexandrit color is also based on rare earth elements, exhibiting color changes similar to the alexandrite gemstone.Didymium is also used as a spectroscopy calibration material and for use manufacturing petroleum cracking catalysts. Didymium Fun Fact There are reports that didymium glass was used to transmit Morse Code messages across battlefields in World War I. The glass made it so the brightness of lamp light would not appear to be noticeably changing to most viewers, but would enable a receiver using filtered binoculars to see the on/off code in the light absorption bands. References Welsbach, Carl Auer (1885), Die Zerlegung des Didyms in seine Elemente, Monatshefte fà ¼r Chemie, 6 (1): 477–491.Venable, W. H.; Eckerle, K. L. Didymium Glass Filters for Calibrating the Wavelength Scale of Spectrophotometers SRMs 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2014, NBS Special Publication 260-66.