The Homestead Act Essay Example for Free

The Homestead Act Essay To my understanding, and from what I have read in the book and throughout the course links, I believe that the intent of the Homestead Act was to defeat land monopoly. Many farmers, however, lacked the economic means to move west and manage a farm. . By this, fewer still understood the new type of agriculture, in which technology was used to farm the land that the Great Plains required. Instead, speculators and corporate interests were able to reap in profits, and fraud and corruption, and often marked the process farmland for transportation (the railroads). The Homestead Acts biggest weakness however, was not taking into account conditions on the frontier. I also think that the eastern framers did not consider that some of their land was too large for irrigated farming and too small for dry farming. The role of the private capital in the American West was towards the rich. The poor individuals did not have any control of most of the land even if they were the first occupants. The rich people were also in control of the railroad system, in which the well to do folks had the only say so. Farmers finally received a break, with the railroads. Under the Pacific Railroad Act, land grants made possible the speedy construction of the Union Pacific, Central Pacific, Northern Pacific, Santa Fe, and Southern Pacific railroads. They were Lead by railroad promoters to believe in a bountiful West harvest, in which mass amounts of European immigrants were caught up in the movement West. I think that the railroads provided exactly what the Homestead Acts did not: credit terms, good quality advertisement, larger land tracts, special passenger rates, and farming support for future Western settlers. There were a lot of motivated businessmen of the Great Northern Railway, who planned and directed the settlement of thousands of settlers along different lines. One thing that I believed that helped the settlers was the fact that lands sold by the railroads also hastened settlement because they provided the cheapest and most convenient way of getting farmers produce to the markets. By this, I believe that the United States government played a major role in developing the railroad system and then came in to assist the public when the private companies were mistreating the general public for a profit. According to the Links in unit 10, and according to what I have read in the  book, it seems as if the railroad system was a project that was difficult to accomplish. From the beginning, and as seen within the union pacific site, the workers that worked on the railroads were not well treated at all. Many of them were treated like animals with no self-worthiness. These workers were hardly paid money and the small amount of money they received was not enough for them to take care of their families. From time to time, some workers organized rallies and strikes to make sure that their voices were heard. The transformative power of the railroads in the American West, in my view, can relate to the tern talismanic wands. At that time, the settlers did not have any mode of transportation other than their animals, and the railroad system seemed to be the magical instrument. I think the railroad did work miracles for the people at that time because it gave them a chance to travel and market their goods elsewhere.

Personal Essay: Prejudice -- Personal Narrative

I. BACKGROUND   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The location was a moderate to large size city near the east coast of Massachusetts. The city has a mix of all races and is diverse in its racial distribution. It is a city where most of the people are middle class working folks. While it is a moderate size city, it has few city problems such as homelessness, poverty and violence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The year was 1992 and it was the summertime. It was very hot and humid at about 11:30 at night and I was in a car driving around looking for something to do. It was a boring Tuesday night so I decided to go to a big video arcade hangout called Funworld. There is a number of video games as well as young people. The establishment is a large building with a large parking lot.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I was with three other people in the parking lot when we were approached by a group of three other gentlemen. I myself am a caucasian male under 21 years of age. Two of the people I was with were upperclass caucasian males also under the age of 21. The last person was also under 21 and male, but he was African-American. One of the caucasians was a close friend and another was an acquaintance. The African-American was also a friend of mine. Of the three gentlemen that approached us, two were hispanic males that appeared to be over 21 and the other was a caucasian male that appeared over 21, although I couldn't be sure. Although I didn't want to make any judgements about them, they looked as if they were poorly dressed and over 21. So I deduced that they were in a gang or they were drug dealers, high school dropouts, etc.;. II.ACTION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At first it appeared as if both groups would just pass by each other unnoticed but the caucasian male in the other group made a racist remark about my African-American friend. He said "Look at those dumb dudes walking with that fucking spade". My African-American Dave turned around suddenly and said "What the fuck did you say?" The caucasian male retorted "None of your fucking business dick!" At this point both groups approached each other and then my friend Dave said "You wanna go", in response the other kid said "Let's go!" and shoved him in the chest. The other two of the caucasian male's friends jumped on top of Dave and then we all kind of got into a fight. We were mostly just pushing and shoving each other at first.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After about a minute of pushing... ...his fight alone was a melting pot of individuals. I think in my mind that the fat that Dan was white affected his decisions, not in a big way, but in some sort of way. I don't really know about the other three, but as for Chris and I, race affected us in terms of white and hispanic because that's who we were mad at the most. I don't know why this would be the case, but it just was.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I believe that African-American viewing this would have felt the most strongly. The event they would have sen unfolding in front of them would have hurt a lot. They would have jumped in to help not only my friend Dave but also all of us because we were all trying to fight for the same thing out there. African-American's also would have been puzzled as to why one white man would help out a black man but not two. The way events unfolded would have made them think twice.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In an odd way I feel another thing that would have made people jump in to help was the fact that a caucasian and an African-American were fighting for each other . As much as we hate to admit it that is not a scene we see nearly enough of in this day and age. Something has got to be done about it immediately.

Supply and Demand and Budget Line

TASK 1 Consider the following equation: MRSXY < PX/PY where MRS = marginal rate of substitution x and y are two goods P = price < = is less than {draw:frame} The graph above shown us the indifference curve budget line diagram which explaining the equation MRSXY < P X / PY. There are two ways to measure the consumer preferences or what the consumer wants. The first one is by trying to put a ‘value’ on the satisfaction a consumer obtains from consuming a ‘unit’ of a good. Consumers are assumed to be able measure utility in terms of a ‘util’. However, we cannot find the total utility by using this method. So we can use another way which is by ranking the product. We can say that the consumer is preferred good Y compared to good X. the indifference curve is a curve that shows consumption bundles that give the consumer the same level of satisfaction. So this means that the consumer is satisfied at any point if the indifference curves above. The slope of the indifference curves are downward sloping. For example, the consumer will satisfy when he buys 3 good X and 4 good Y. The meaning of the term budget constraint is what the consumer can afford to buy. The income of the consumer will determine how much he can buy in the market. So, the budget line in the graph above is showing how much good X and Y that the consumer affords to buy. If the slope of the budget line is higher, this means that the consumer afford to buy good X compare to good Y. While if the slope of the budget line is lower, the consumer afford to buy good Y compare to good X. From the graph, we can see that the consumer is not maximizing the satisfaction. This is because the indifference curves are inside the budget line and it intersect at two points which are a and b. At point b, the slope of the indifference curve (MRSxy ) is less than the slope of the budget line (Px/Py). While, at point a, the slope of the indifference curve (MRSxy ) is greater than the slope of the budget line (Px/Py). So the consumer does not maximizing the satisfaction for both point a and b. In order to maximize the satisfaction, the slope of the indifference curve must equal to the slope of the budget line. So at point b, the consumer should reduce the consumption of good X and increase the consumption of good Y until both slope of indifference curve and budget line will become the same. By switching spending away from good X towards good Y, the consumer will be able to reach a higher indifference curve. {draw:frame} From the graph, we can see that the indifference curve has shift and meet the budget line at the point c. at this point, the slope of the indifference curve and the budget line are the same. So the equation will change to [MRSXY = PX / PY]. At point c, the consumer satisfaction is at the highest place. The consumer choice is the product which been sold in the market. While, the individual demand for a product is the demand of a consumer on that product. The demand on a product will be higher if there are only small choices in the market. People tend to demand more for the product as they cannot find other product. TASK 2 *Definition of Price Elasticity of Demand (PEoD*) The price elasticity of demand is the measure of how responsive is the quantity demanded to a change in price. There are many types of elasticity in demand which will stand for different types of product in the market. In order to differentiate between them we need to state the definition and the ratio of the elasticity. Relatively Elastic Demand The relatively elastic demand is a demand relationship in which the percentage change in quantity demanded is large in absolute value than the percentage change in price. In other words the percentage change in quantity demanded is larger than the percentage change in price. {draw:frame} The ratio for the relatively elastic demand is 1< PEoD < Infinity Relatively Inelastic Demand The relatively inelastic demand is a demand that responds, somewhat, but not a great deal to change in price. In other words, the change in percentage change in price is larger than the percentage change in quantity demanded. {draw:frame} The ratio for the relatively inelastic demand is 0 < PEoD < 1 Unit Elastic Demand The unit elastic demand is a demand relationship in which the percentage change in quantity demanded is the same as the percentage in change of the price. {draw:frame} The ratio for the unit elastic demand is PEoD = 1 Perfectly Elastic Demand The perfectly elastic demand is a demand in which the quantity demanded drops to zero at the slightest in price. In other words, the quantity demanded will become zero if the seller increases the price of the product. While they will never reduce the price as it will reduce their normal profit. {draw:frame} The ratio for the perfectly elastic demand is PEoD = Infinity Perfectly Inelastic Demand The perfectly inelastic demand is a demand in which quantity demanded does not respond at all to the change in price. {draw:frame} The ratio for the perfectly inelastic demand is PEoD = 0 Calculating the Price Elasticity of Demand The formula to determine the price elasticity of demand is: PEoD = (% Change in Quantity Demanded)*/(*% Change in Price) Price (OLD) =9 Price (NEW) =10 Q Demand (OLD) =150 Q Demand (NEW) =110 Calculating the Percentage Change in Quantity Demanded [QDemand(NEW) – QDemand(OLD)] / QDemand(OLD) [110 – 150] / 150 = (-40/150) = -0. 2667 Calculating the Percentage Change in Price [Price(NEW) – Price(OLD)] / Price(OLD)] [10 – 9] / 9 = (1/9) = 0. 1111 PEoD = (% Change in Quantity Demanded)/(% Change in Price) PEoD = (-0. 2667)/(0. 1111) = -2. 4005 TASK 3 The product that I choose is tobacco. Both of the elasticity of demand and supply of tobacco is relatively inelastic. This is because the product will has an inelastic demand if the item is habit forming. As tobacco is a habit forming, it is relatively inelastic in demand. So if there is increase in price, the quantity demanded will not respond too much. While, the supply of the tobacco is relatively inelastic is because of the time period. As the tobacco is the agriculture product, it will take some times to grow it and get the product. So the producer cannot increase the quantity of supply although there are many demands for the tobacco. TASK 4 {draw:frame} The graph above has shown a market of tobacco with the relatively inelastic demand and supply curves. As we can see, the total surplus has reduced since the implementation of the tax. The benefit received by buyers in a market is measured by consumer surplus. The consumer surplus is the amount buyers are willingly to pay for the good minus the amount they actually pay for it. So the consumer surplus before the tax are (a + b + c). However, after the implementation of tax on the tobacco, the consumer surplus is only a. This means that the consumer needs to pay more after the implementation of tax. P in the graph stands for the price of tobacco before the tax. While, P*B* is the price that buyers need to pay after the tax has been implemented. The benefit received by sellers in a market is measured by producer surplus. The producer surplus is the amount of sellers received for the good minus their cost. So the producer surplus before the implementation of tax is (d + e + f). But, the producer surplus change after the implementation of tax, which became only f*. * This means that the seller received less profit after the tax implemented. **P*S in the graph is the price that seller received after the implementation of the tax. So this means that, the consumers and producers have to bear the tax burden after the tax has been implemented. Tax burden is the amount of tax suffered by individuals or organization. The tax burden for the consumer and seller may vary depends on the elasticity of the demand an d supply curves. Although the consumer and sellers seems to be burden by the tax, there is one party that gains benefit from it. It is the government because it has gain revenue from the tax. The tax revenue is the (b + d) in the graph above. From the revenue, the government can use it for other investment. However, the tax has also brought another disadvantage which is the deadweight loss. The deadweight loss is the reduction in total surplus that results from a tax. The deadweight loss in the graph is (c + e). The size of deadweight loss also depends on the elasticity of the demand and supply curves. If both of the curves become more elastic, then the size of the deadweight loss will become smaller. So in the conclusion the tax has given benefit to the government but brought disadvantages to the consumer and producer. REFERENCE LIST Mankiw, N. G. (2008). Ten Principles of Economics. In J. W. Calhoun, A. V. Rosenberg, M. Worls, J. Tufts, J. E. Thomas & K. Yanos (Eds. ), Principles of Economics. Canada: SOUTH-WESTERN CENGAGE Learning. Moffatt, M. (2010). Price Elasticity of Demand. _ _Retrieved April 26, 2010, from http://economics. about. com/cs/micfrohelp/a/priceelasticity. htm Webster, N. (2007). Economics_ _(3rd ed. ). Adelaide: Greg Eather and Associates, Publication Division.

Harvest of Empire by Juan Gonzalez Essay examples

The book Harvest of Empire offers many examples of the factors leading to migration, which include economic and political persecution. The book has a direct connection between the hardships Latinos faced economically and military in their perspective countries. By reading this book it is clearly stated that Latinos are on the verge of becoming the largest minority group in America. Juan Gonzalez presents a devastating perspective on U.S. history rarely found in mainstream publishing aimed at a popular audience. Few of those countries were immigrants from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Central Americans. Gonzales develops his thesis by asserting that Latin American immigration and Latino presence in the United States are†¦show more content†¦Nearly all his men were killed or wounded that day, and while Molina survived unscathed, he was severely wounded by machine gun fire later in Germany†.( 103) Even after all this tragedy of people being killed Mexican A mericans returned home and still faced racial discrimination. Tejano, Texans of Spanish and Mexican descent, formed several organizations in the early 20th century to protect themselves from official and private discrimination, but made only partial progress in addressing the worst forms of official ethnic discrimination. The movement to overturn the many forms of state-sponsored discrimination directed at Hispanic Americans was strongest in Texas during the first fifty years of the 20th century. It was just right after World War II that returning veterans joined the League of United Latin American citizens (LULAC) to end segregation. Their main goal was to have equal rights for Mexicans. â€Å"According to the U.S Census, tejanos comprised 32.4 percent of the workers in the state and owned 33 percent of its wealth†. (102) â€Å"Between 1961 and 1986 more than 400,000 people legally immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic. More than 300,000 Dominicans lived in New York City by 1990, and the total was expected to reach 700,000 early in the millennium, making Dominican migration one of the largest to this country of the past forty years†.(117) The causes of the Dominican immigrationShow MoreRelatedThe Harvest Of Empire By Juan Gonzalez1376 Words   |  6 Pagesparents were treated completely different than American citizens. 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In harvest of empire by Juan Gonzalez it says â€Å"between 1961 and 1986 more than 400,00 people legally immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic and another 44,000 moved to My parents are from the Dominican Republic and they came to the United States in theRead MoreThe Book Of The Harvest Of Empire By Juan Gonzalez1379 Words   |  6 Pagestreated completely different than American citizens were treated. There are a lot of definitions for the word injustice, but for me this word means the lack of rights and respect between an individual and society. In the book of The Harvest of Empire by Juan Gonzalez, illustrate two major Latin American groups that face social injustice. The Mexicans and Puerto Ricans fought and worked very hard to earn a name in America. Instead, there were a lot of discrimination of the Latino/ Latina cultu re andRead MoreThe Book Harvest Of Empire By Juan Gonzalez1153 Words   |  5 PagesReading Response #1 Megan Wroolie Reading the book Harvest of Empire by Juan Gonzalez, has been very informative to me and has changed my perspective on U.S. foreign policy. Each account of the families from the different Latino countries has similar underlying trends that can be found because of the U.S. involvement in their countries. Every single instance of U.S. involvement in Latin American countries seems to evolve around the idea of greed and profit. The U.S. is like a business that onlyRead MoreCulture Shock : What White America Feels After Reading This Book867 Words   |  4 Pages Culture shock: what white America feels after reading this book. Juan Gonzalez’s Harvest of Empire encases what most Latinos want to say, but always gets muted for. The empowerment behind the title is such an intricacy yet soft to the touch. This book will make any reader reconsider about everything they’ve learned from any culture. This book covers most atrocities committed to Latin America by Spain and the US. Th e factor of white hegemony, hunger for power and possessions, discrimination, conquestRead MoreHow Bilingualism Has Impacted The United States Modern Education System1114 Words   |  5 Pagesarticle, Speak Spanish, You’re in America!: El Huracan over language and Culture, Juan Gonzalez, a journalist and broadcaster of the daily show, Democracy Now, describes how bilingualism has impacted the United States’ modern education system. He describes an amendment that would constitute English as the official in the United States, which he believes can be a potential threat to the educational system. Gonzalez suggests that instead of having an amendment that constitutes English as the nationalRead MoreLatino Communities : Structural And Social Issues And How They Thrive2094 Words   |  9 Pagesbe poor? Why is that individual immigrating into the US? The real question we should be asking is what factors made them immigrate to a different country in the first place. After a ll, â€Å"nobody likes to leave their home† says Juan Gonzalez from the documentary Harvest of Empire. Researching Latinos in America requires using structural/social determinants to gain an accurate representation. In Latinos in American Society by Ruth Enid Zambrana looks into each Latino community in American and researchesRead MoreIm Proud To Be Puerto Rican Essay1303 Words   |  6 Pagesexperience growing up Puerto Rican. Although I am Puerto Rican, I dont know as much about my culture as I should. Reading Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America by Juan Gonzalez has brought new insights to my knowledge of Puerto Ricans and Latinos in general. Gonzalez focuses on language and writes that speaking Spanish is treated as a handicap instead of as an asset. Gonzalez gives us a brief history of Puerto Rico. He writes about the changes of the official language, which was English inRead MoreRoman Catholic And Mexican Immigrants Essay1520 Words   |  7 PagesRoman Catholic neighbors. This further illustrates the discourse of Roman Catholic immigrants as â€Å"dangerous† people. Another immigrant group who has also been labeled as a dangerous group to American society are Mexican immigrants. In the film Harvest of Empire, news spokespersons were shown saying Latin American immigrants were dangerous or bad people and would only cause negative things to occur in the United States. Mexican immigrants have often been depicted as criminals for illegally entering theRead MoreEssay on Migration to the U.S.: An Interview2092 Words   |  9 Pagesthe U.S.A base on political and social struggling, people who try to escape their country that was been dominated by a government that violet their right. In Harvest of Empire by Juan Gonzalez clearly presents these problems. In chapter 3 Cubans was passing thought a rebelling against conservative leader Mario Garcia Menocal .(Gonzalez, pg 63 -65) ,that force many Cuban to migrate an economic problem that began base on a political problem force people to choose move out or live in place were there