The War on Drugs is Failing Essay - 1228 Words

The War on Drugs is Failing â€Å"Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance†¦ for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation and make a crime out of things that are not a crime. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principle upon which our government was founded† Abraham Lincoln On January 16, 1920 the Eighteenth Amendment was ratified by thirty-six states and became part of the Constitution. The intention of this new amendment was to lower alcohol consumption by Americans. At the time each American consumed on average thirty gallons of alcohol a year.[1] This new amendment took away the license to do business from the brewers, distillers, and the†¦show more content†¦The War on Drugs intends to rid America of drugs, hard and soft, just as prohibition attempted to rid America of drink. The arguments against the War on Drugs are the same arguments that persuaded politicians sixty years ago to end Prohibition. Just as the movement to rid America of alcohol failed, so will the War on Drugs because social engineering works no better today than it did then. The War on Drugs has given birth to many of the modern day evils. The most widespread repercussion of the War on Drugs is the crime rate. â€Å" In 1990, the number of people sent to state and federal prisons for drug offenses exceeded the number of offenders sent to prison for violent crimes†¦. Drug offenders currently make up 62 percent of the federal inmate population, up from 22 percent in 1980.†[3] Add to this the fact that most of these prisoners are nonviolent offenders put there under mandatory minimum sentencing laws and the explanation for why this country is running out of prison space should be readily apparent. The second most prevalent, as well as disheartening, result of this movement is the death of innocent victims. The support for this result can be found in the obituary section of the daily newspaper or on the five o’clock news. Even the smallest of towns have been afflicted with death due to drugs. Back-alley heroin and basement-lab manufactured amphetamines present the same problem asShow MoreRelatedAmerica’s Failing War on Drugs and the Culture of Incarceration2483 Words   |  10 PagesAmerica’s failing War on Drugs and the Culture of Incarceration Richard B. Carpenter Adams State College America’s failing War on Drugs and the Culture of Incarceration Richard B. Carpenter Adams State College Abstract For over a century, America has waged a failing war on drugs even as it feeds a cultural apathetic and underground acceptance of drug and alcohol use. The views of the dominate group have placed blame on society’s ills on the evilsRead MoreThe United States Failing War on Drugs Essay792 Words   |  4 Pagesunderstand that marijuana is a drug that can actually help; not only people with mental and physical problems such as cancer, but the economy as well by getting rid of the hard drugs that cause real problems and benefiting from a drug(s) that that can actually help problems. When it comes to finding drugs such as cocaine, heroine, meth, etc†¦ Apart from being highly costly, drug law enforcement seems to be not doing their job as well as they could be. Illegal drugs are still finding their way intoRead MoreEssay about Counter Narcotics634 Words   |  3 PagesUnited States has a very stern policy regarding the use, distribution, and trafficking of drugs. However, it is clear that the current U.S. policy is failing, and the supply of illegal drugs as well as the demand is increasing. The U.S. government has focused for years on dealing with the demand aspect of this issue. Through government programs directed towards education and national awareness of the harm that drugs cause, the government has been attempting to severely reduce the demand for narcoticsRead MoreThe Political And Economic Factors Of The War On Drugs872 Words   |  4 PagesAccording to Michelle Alexander, why and how has the â€Å"war on drugs† developed over the last 40 y ears? What are the main political and economic factors that led to the war on drugs, and what are the main political and economic factors that shaped it as it developed over the last four decades? Draw on material from the Foner textbook chapters 25 through 28 to supplement Alexander’s discussion of the political and economic context. Many people in the United States believe that there is full equalityRead MoreEssay SHOULD WE FAVOR DRUG LEGALIZATION859 Words   |  4 Pages SHOULD WE FAVOR DRUG LEGALIZATION? nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; In the article â€Å"Drug Policy and the Intellectuals,† William J. Bennentt, chides intellectuals who believe drugs should be legalize. Bennett challenges his audience , by attacking intellectuals. However Bennett tries to win over his audience of intellectuals in two ways: by calling upon their talents and by attackingRead MoreDrugs And Its Effect On Society1645 Words   |  7 PagesThe official definition of drugs is a substance which has a physiological effect when introduced to the body. Drugs have been a part of human culture since the beginning of recorded history. People have use drugs for all sorts of reasons whether it is for a religious mind altering ritual, to save someone’s life or just to make themselves feel better, and they are still widely prevalent in today’s culture. We all know someone who currently partakes in drugs whether they choose to share that informationRead MoreEssay on Why Drugs Should be Made Legal692 Word s   |  3 PagesWhy Drugs Should be Made Legal During the 1920s, laws prohibiting alcohol sales and consumption did very little to stop people form getting their hands on a bottle of rum. Instead, the streets became the battlegrounds for organized criminals. Innocent people were being killed and public officials corrupted. Prohibition was a mistake and hopefully we are wise enough as a society not to try to repeat the same mistake. However, we are making the same mistake by trying to fight the war on drugsRead MoreThe War On Drugs927 Words   |  4 PagesIn 1971 President Richard Nixon declared a War on Drugs stating that drug abuse was â€Å"public enemy number one†. Four decades later America is still waging this war that many say can never truly be won. The goal of this campaign has always been the prohibition of drugs, military aid, and military intervention with the stated aim being to define and reduce the illegal drug trade however the tactics used thus far have done little to solve the problem of drugs in the United State. The use of militaryRead MoreWomen are being incarcerated in today’s prisons at an alarming rate. Unfortunately, disparities in1600 Words   |  7 Pageshealth issues, and drug abuse problems. It is no secret that the number one reason women are being incarcerated is due to a large rate in drug charge policies. The war on drugs has had a major impact on the lives of women in the criminal justice system. This policy has punished women disproportionately to the harm many in our society. According to Women Offenders and the Gendered Public Policy (2004), â€Å"Nationwide, about 35% of the imprisoned women were serving a sentence for a drug related crime, withRead MoreHow Successful Is The War On Drugs? Essay1001 Words   |  5 PagesThe war on drugs has maintained an accumulation of prohibitions on illegal drugs and mandatory minimum sentencing strategies for drug offenders. Incarceration rates have also increased due to the increase of laws against illegal drugs. In Eugene Jarecki’s film, The House I Live In, Jarecki states that the penalties for crack users were harsher than penalties for regular cocaine users. This suggests that penalties are more of a double sta ndard theory. The â€Å"War on Drugs† is more of a failure that places

International Trade Theories Essay - 2547 Words

International Trade Theories Mercantilism Mercantilism was a sixteenth-century economic philosophy that maintained that a countrys wealth was measured by its holdings of gold and silver (Mahoney, Trigg, Griffin, Pustay, 1998). This recquired the countries to maximise the difference between its exports and imports by promoting exports and discouraging imports. The logic was transparent to sixteenth-century policy makers-if foreigners buy more goods from you than you buy from them, then the foreigners have to pay you the difference in gold and silver, enabling you to amass more treasure. With the treasure acquired the realm could build greater armies and navies and hence expand the nation’s global influence.†¦show more content†¦In An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776), Smith attacked the intellectual basis of mercantilism and demonstrated that mercantilism actually weakens a country. Smith maintained that a country’s true wealth is measured by the wealth of all its citizens, not just that of its monarch (Mahoney, Trigg, Griffin, Pustay, 1998). A country is said to be more productive than another country, if it can produce more output (goods) for a given quantity of input, such as labour or energy inputs. An example is that there are only two countries, Australia and Japan. They both produce computers and wine, and only one factor of production, labour. Japan produces 6 computers for every 1 bottle of wine, where as Australia produces only 4 computers for every 3 bottles of wine. This suggests that Australia should export some of its wine to Japan, and Japan should export some of its computers to Australia. Australia has an absolute advantage over Japan, when producing wine, and Japan has an absolute advantage over Australia, when producing computers (Gandolfo, 1998). Economists use the term absolute advantage when comparing the productivity of one person, firm or nation with that of another. The producer that requires a smaller quantity of inputs to produce a good is said to have an absolute advantage in producing that good (Gans, King, Mankiw, 1999). Comparative Advantage TheShow MoreRelatedInternational Trade Theory8325 Words   |  34 PagesInternational Trade Theory Chapter Outline OPENING CASE: The Ecuadorian Rose Industry INTRODUCTION AN OVERVIEW OF TRADE THEORY The Benefits of Trade The Pattern of International Trade Trade Theory and Government Policy MERCANTILISM Country Focus: Is China a Neo-Mercantilist Nation? ABSOLUTE ADVANTAGE COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE The Gains from Trade Qualifications and Assumptions Extensions of the Ricardian Model Country Focus: Moving U.S. WhiteRead MoreGlobalization And International Trade Theory1203 Words   |  5 PagesInternational trade plays a big role in every person’s life. The credit should go to every economist who has contributed to the development of international trade theory. Trade is the consequence of the human â€Å"propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another† (Smith, 1776). Different people have different propensities for trading, so do different economic periods have different economic conditions, which require different international trade theories. This could be the material causeRead MoreQuestions On International Trade Theory1332 Words   |  6 Pages201109990 Module name: International business Module code: MKIB 225 Essay question: Why do businesses internationalize? Compare and contrast the various â€Å"standard† theories . Word count: 1051 Why does business internationalize? With the development of international business, countries with the purpose of increasing the variety of local products had been trying best for decades to trade with other nations. Furthermore, international trade theories were developed to explainRead MoreInternational Trade Theories, Trade, Cultural Diffusion, And Economic Trade Theory1374 Words   |  6 Pagesbase concept of international trade theories. The author will examine and critically assess the concept of international trade. This paper agrees with the economist that international trade is the interdependence of nations in terms of trade, cultural diffusion, and economic interdependency. International business trade theories are basically different theories with their concept of trade how they explain international trade. The concept of majority of economist believe that, trade is about exchangingRead MoreNew Trade Theory : International Patterns Of Trade2016 Words   |  9 Pages The term â€Å"NEW TRADE THEORY† describes relations among natural country returns, government actions and industry features that enable such exchanges to occur. As a result output increases with knowledge, an industry’s capacity to understand the economies of scale rises and unit cost decreases. Because of such economies of scale world demand chains only a few firms in some industries. New Trade Theory recommends that a serious issue in defining international patterns of trade. The economies ofRead MoreDifferent Theories Concepts Of International Trade Theories1697 Words   |  7 Pagesdifferences between different theory concepts of international trade theories. The author will analysis and seriously assess their believe concepts and believe. The author of this assignment agrees with the economist that international trade is the interdependence of nations in terms of trade. International trade theories are basically different theories, with their concept of tra de how they explain international trade. The concept of majority of economist believes that, trade is about exchanging goodsRead MoreInternational Trade Theories That Can Be Analyzed944 Words   |  4 PagesInternational Trade Theories There are a number of different trade theories that can be analyzed in regards to the above referenced research project, and I will attempt to address the theories I feel that are most relatable to the question in hand. The first international trade theory I will address is that of Mercantilism. Historically, mercantilism is defined as â€Å"the economic theory that trade generates wealth and is stimulated by the accumulation of profitable balances, which a government shouldRead MoreHistory Of International Trade, And The Theory Behind It Essay928 Words   |  4 PagesTrade it’s everywhere! A large quantity of our nation’s goods and services are acquired through trade. America plays a key role in international trade, exporting a large quantity of goods, as well as importing a large quantity of our goods from other countries. In this paper it will be discussed how well America is doing, challenges international trade is facing in what countries, and who America does the most trading with as well as a brief history. The first point I will be covering is the historyRead MoreNotes On Economics And International Trade Theory1222 Words   |  5 Pagesadvantage in international trade theory. 8. Import: A good or service brought into one country from another. Along with exports, imports form the backbone of international trade. The higher the value of imports entering a country, compared to the value of exports, the more negative that country s balance of trade becomes. 9. Export: A function of international trade whereby goods produced in one country are shipped to another country for future sale or trade. 10. Free trade: Also calledRead MoreEconomic Theories Of International Free Trade Essay2137 Words   |  9 PagesThroughout the centuries of economic theories, there have always been major disagreements amongst economists. Each believing their theory provides a better explanation or solution to the economic situations the globe finds itself in. The anomaly to these disagreements is the theory, first introduced by Adam Smith, which states that international free trade is in the best interest of the trading countries and the ever globalizing world as a whole. This essay shall compare the views of the great economists;

Of Riding and Writing free essay sample

When I was younger, I wanted to be a ballerina horseback rider. Never mind the fact that I hated horses, or that I wasn’t exactly sure what being a ballerina horseback rider would entail. That was my first dream. Once I hit four or five, though, I moved on, attracted by the possibility of another job. I put aside thoughts of frilly outfits and pink sparkly horses to focus on my other passion: writing. Some people might say that writing is hardly a more practical means of making a living. When I told my roommate at a summer program that I wanted to be a novelist, she did a double take and asked, â€Å"No, like, what do you want to do realistically?† It was my turn to do a double take. I replied, â€Å"Realistically? I want to be a novelist†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I’ve gotten similar responses from other people, who ask me if I’m afraid to journey into the dangerous and unpredictable world of publishing and self-employment. We will write a custom essay sample on Of Riding and Writing or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page And my answer is always no. There are some people who would be more comfortable at a steadily paying desk job, but not me. The thrill of creating my own stories, of drawing characters and filling their mouths with rich dialogue, beats the monotony of a regular job any day. I completed my first novel, The Playdate, when I was six. It was met with laudatory reviews from my immediate family members, who were thrilled when I penned its long-awaited sequel, The Playdate 2: Lisa’s Farm. After that, I wrote constantly, voraciously. Nothing existed for me except the world that spouted from the tip of my pen. I wrote short stories, poetry, essays, anything that came to mind. I tried my hand at fantasy, emulating JK Rowling, my first hero. Then I adopted a conversational tone suspiciously similar to that of JD Salinger, my second. And when I found my third, Toni Morrison, I couldn’t write for days because I was so intimidated by her. But once I found my voice again, I came back stronger than ever. I try to put writing into every area of my life. At my summer camp, I taught creative writing to a group of twenty girls, ranging in age from six to thirteen. I endured exasperated stares from the oldest girls as I tried to comfort the youngest, who complained it was â€Å"too hot† to write. But I stayed with it. I tried my hardest to keep them interested and excited, because I wanted them to love writing the way I loved it. I wanted them to pull themselves away from the superficial worlds of Disney and Nickelodeon, to realize that they could create their own universes better than any of the ones that had been created for them. At school, I’m an editor our literary magazine. We’re a relatively small group of students, the editorial staff. We meet once weekly at members’ houses like some sort of secret society. We try to spread culture, literature, and inspiration to a high school that sometimes seems to reject such things on principle. It’s a challenge, choosing the very best pieces and assembling them into something pretty and appealing. But I wouldn’t give it up for anything. All of this, I do because I love to write. My writing used to be a solitary thing, one that cut me off from the rest of the world. But eventually, I realized I couldn’t keep it to myself. I had opinions about writing, ideas about literature. However, writing had always come more easily to me than speaking. I liked drafting and revising, and the idea of sharing an unpolished thought terrified me. In the end, though, the desire to communicate overcame any fears I once had. My experiences as a teacher and an editor drove me, and continue to drive me, to articulate my ideas. The balance I’ve found between writing and speaking has become one of the defining factors of my identity. Now, thinking back on my beginnings as an aspiring ballerina horseback rider, my entire journey makes perfect sense. In declaring such an unorthodox profession, I wasn’t doing anything different than what I do now. I still love making up stories, and I still value my imagination above any of my other qualities. In some form, my tutu-clad, five-year-old self still exists inside me. She gallops around my head on a tinsel-laden pony, feeding my passion, my enthusiasm, and my sense of adventure. She reminds me that I’ve never been afraid to do what I want, despite what others think. And whenever I start a new project, I subconsciously acknowledge the curly-headed toddler in ratty ballet shoes who could never pass up a good story. She inspires me. I write for her.

The West Essay Example For Students

The West Essay The West was a form of society rather than an area. It is the term applied to the region whose social conditions result from the application of older institutions and ideas to the transforming influences of free land. By this application, a new environment is suddenly entered, freedom of opportunity is opened, the cake of custom is broken, and new activities, new lines of growth, new institutions and new ideals, are brought into existence. The wilderness disappears, the West proper passes on to a new frontier and, in the former area, and a new society has emerged from this contact with the backwoods. Gradually this society loses its primitive conditions, and assimilates itself to the type of the older social conditions of the East; but it bears within it enduring and distinguishing survivals of its frontier experience. Decade after decade, West after West, this rebirth of American society had gone on, and left its traces behind it, which reacted on the East. The history of our politi cal institutions, our democracy, is not a history of imitation, of simple borrowing; it is a history of the evolution and adaptation of organs in response to changed environment, a history of the origin of new political species. In this sense, therefore, the West has been a constructive force of the highest significance in our life. The West, as a phase of social organization, began with the Atlantic coast, and passed across the continent. But the colonial tidewater area was in close touch with the Old World, and soon lost its Western aspects. In the middle of the eighteenth century, the newer social conditions appeared along the upper waters of the tributaries of the Atlantic. Here it was that the West took on its distinguishing features, and transmitted frontier traits and ideals to this area in later days. On the coast were the fishermen and skippers, the merchants and planters, with eyes turned toward Europe. Beyond the falls of the rivers were the pioneer farmers, largely of no n-English stock, Scotch-Irish and German. They constituted a distinct people, and may be regarded as an expansion of the social and economic life of the middle region into the backcountry of the South. These frontiersmen were the ancestors of Boone, Andrew Jackson, Calhoun, Clay, and Lincoln. Washington and Jefferson were profoundly affected by these frontier conditions. The forest clearings have been the seed plots of American character. Here then, is the problem of the West, as it looked to New England leaders of thought in the beginning and at the end of this century. From the first, it was recognized that a new type was growing up beyond the mountains, and that the time would come when the destiny of the nation would be in Western hands. The divergence of these societies became clear in the struggle over the ratification of the federal constitution. The interior agricultural region, the communities that were in debt and desired paper money, opposed the instrument; but the areas of intercourse and property carried the day. The most obvious fact regarding the man of the Western waters is that he had placed himself under influences destructive to many of the gains of civilization. Remote from the opportunity for systematic education, substituting a log hut in the forest clearing for the social comforts of the town, he suffered hard-ships and privations, and reverted in many ways to primitive conditions of life. Engaged in a struggle to subdue the forest, working as an individual, and with little specie or capital, his interests were with the debtor class. At each stage of its advance, the West has favored an expansion of the currency. The pioneer had boundless confidence in the future of his own community, and when seasons of financial contraction and depression occurred, he, who had staked his all on confidence in Western development, and had fought the savage for his home, was inclined to reproach the conservative sections and classes. To explain this antag onism requires more than denunciation of dishonesty, ignorance, and boorishness as fundamental Western traits. Legislation in the United States has had to deal with two distinct social conditions. In some portions of the country there was, and is, an aggregation of property, and vested rights are in the foreground. That in the conflict between these two ideals the government has always held an even hand would be difficult to show. But free lands and the consciousness of working out their social destiny did more than turn the Westerner to material interests and devote him to a restless existence. They promoted equality among the Western settlers, and reacted as a check on the aristocratic influences of the East. Where everybody could have a farm, almost for taking it, economic equality easily resulted, and this involved political equality. Western democracy included individual liberty, as well as equality. The frontiersman was impatient of restraints. He knew how to preserve order, e ven in the absence of legal authority. If there were cattle thieves, lynch law was sudden and effective: the regulators of the Carolinas were the predecessors of the claims associations of Iowa and the vigilance committees of California. But the individual was not ready to submit to complex regulations. Population was sparse; there was no multitude of jostling interests, as in older settlements, demanding an elaborate system of personal restraints. Society became atomic. There was a reproduction of the primitive idea of the personality of the law; a crime was more an offense against the victim than a violation of the law of the land. Substantial justice, secured in the most direct way, was the ideal of the backwoodsman. He had little patience with finely drawn distinctions or scruples of method. If the thing was one proper to be done, then the most immediate, rough and ready, effective way was the best way. It followed from the lack of organized political life, from the atomic condi tions of the backwoods society, that the individual was exalted and given free play. The West was another name for opportunity. Here were mines to be seized, fertile valleys to be preempted; all the natural resources open to the shrewdest and the boldest. The United States is unique in the extent to which the individual has been given an open field, unchecked by restraints of an old social order, or of scientific administration of government. The self-made man was the Western mans ideal, was the kind of man that all men might become. Out of his wilderness experience, out of the freedom of his opportunities, he fashioned a formula for social regeneration, the freedom of the individual to seek his own. He did not consider that his conditions were exceptional and temporary. Under such conditions, leadership easily develops, a leadership based on the possession of the qualities most serviceable to the young society. In the history of Western settlement, we see each forted village follow ing its local hero. Clay, Jackson, Harrison, Lincoln, were illustrations of this tendency in periods when the Western hero rose to the dignity of national hero. The Western man believed in the manifest destiny of his country. On his border, and checking his advance, were the Indian, the Spaniard, and the Englishman. He was indignant at eastern indifference and lack of sympathy with his view of his relations to these peoples, at the shortsightedness of eastern policy. The closure of the Mississippi by Spain, and the proposal to exchange our claim of freedom of navigating the river, in return for commercial advantages to New England, nearly led to the withdrawal of the West from the Union. It was the Western demands that brought about the purchase of Louisiana, and turned the scale in favor of declaring the War of 1812. Militant qualities were favored by the annual expansion of the settled area in the face of hostile Indians and the stubborn wilderness. The West caught the vision of t he nations continental destiny. It is important to bear this idealism of the West in mind. The very materialism that has been urged against the West was accompanied by ideals of equality, of the exaltation of the common man, of national expansion, that make it a profound mistake to write of the West as though it were engrossed in mere material ends. It has been, and is, preeminently a region of ideals, mistaken or not. It is obvious that these economic and social conditions were so fundamental in Western life that they might well dominate whatever accessions came to the West by immigration from the coast sections or from Europe. Nevertheless, the West cannot be understood without bearing in mind the fact that it has received the great streams from the North and from the South, and that the Mississippi compelled these currents to intermingle. Here it was that sectionalism first gave way under the pressure of unification. Ultimately the conflicting ideas and institutions of the old se ctions struggled for dominance in this area under the influence of the forces that made for uniformity, but this is merely another phase of the truth that the West must become unified, that it could not rest in sectional groupings. For precisely this reason the struggle occurred. In the period from the Revolution to the close of the War of 1812, the democracy of the Southern and Middle States contributed the main streams of settlement and social influence to the West. Even in Ohio the New England leaders soon lost political power. The democratic spirit of the Middle region left an indelible impress on the West in this its formative period. After the War of 1812, New England, its supremacy in the carrying trade of the world having vanished, became a beehive from which swarms of settlers went out to western New York and the remoter regions. These settlers spread New England ideals of education and character and political institutions, and acted as a leaven of great significance in the Northwest. But it would be a mistake to believe than an unmixed New England influence took possession of the Northwest. These pioneers did not come from the class that conserved the type of New England civilization pure and undefiled. They represented a less contented, less conservative influence. Moreover, by their sojourn in the Middle region, on their westward march, they underwent modification, and when the farther West received them, they suffered a forest-change, indeed. The Westernized New England man was no longer the representative of the section that he left. He was less conservative, less provincial, more adaptable, and approachable, less rigorous in his Puritan ideals, less a man of culture, more a man of action. As might have been expected, therefore, the Western men, in the era of good feeling, had much homogeneity throughout the Mississippi valley, and began to stand as a new national type. Under the lead of Henry Clay they invoked the national government to break do wn the mountain barrier by internal improvements, and thus to give their crops an outlet to the coast. Under him they appealed to the national government for a protective tariff to create a home market. A group of frontier States entered the Union with democratic provisions respecting the suffrage, and with devotion to the nation that had given them their lands, built their roads and canals, regulated their territorial life, and made them equals in the sisterhood of States. At last these Western forces of aggressive nationalism and democracy took possession of the government in the person of the man who best embodied them, Andrew Jackson. This new democracy that captured the country and destroyed the older ideals of statesmanship came from no theorists dreams of the German forest. It came, stark and strong and full of life, from the American forest. But the triumph of this Western democracy revealed also the fact that it could rally to its aid the laboring classes of the coast, then just beginning to acquire self-consciousness and organization. The next phase of Western development revealed forces of division between the northern and southern portions of the West. With the spread of the cotton culture went the slave system and the great plantation. The small farmer in his log cabin, raising varied crops, was displaced by the planter raising cotton. In all except the mountainous areas, the industrial organization of the tidewater took possession of the Southwest, the unity of the backcountry was broken, and the solid South was formed. In the Northwest this was the era of railroads and canals, opening the region to the increasing stream of Middle State and New England settlement, and strengthening the opposition to slavery. A map showing the location of the men of New England ancestry in the Northwest would represent also the counties in which the Free Soil party cast its heaviest votes. The commercial connections of the Northwest likewise were reversed by the r ailroad. The West broke asunder, and the great struggle over the social system to be given to the lands beyond the Mississippi followed. In the Civil War the Northwest furnished the national hero, Lincoln was the very flower of frontier training and ideals, and it also took into its hands the whole power of the government. Before the war closed, the West could claim the President, Vice-President, Chief Justice, Speaker of the House, Secretary of the Treasury, Postmaster General, Attorney General, General of the Army, and Admiral of the Navy. The West had furnished the leading general of the war. It was the region of action, and in the crisis it took the reins. The triumph of the nation was followed by a new era of Western development. The national forces projected themselves across the prairies and plains. Railroads, fostered by government loans and land grants, opened the way for settlement and poured a flood of European immigrants and restless pioneers from all sections of the Uni on into the government lands. The army of the United States pushed back the Indian, rectangular Territories was carved into checker-board States, creations of the federal government, without a history, without physiographical unity, without particularistic ideas. The later frontiersman leaned on the strong arm of national power. We are now in a position to see clearly some of the factors involved in the Western problem. For nearly three centuries the dominant fact in American life has been expansion. With the settlement of the pacific coast and the occupation of the free lands, this movement has come to a check. That these energies of expansion will no longer operate would be a rash prediction; and the demands for a vigorous foreign policy, for an interoceanic canal. For a revival of our power upon the seas, and for the extension of American influence to outlying islands and adjoining countries, are indications that the movement will continue. The stronghold of these demands lies we st of the Alleghenies. In the remoter West, the restless, rushing wave of settlement has broken with a shock against the arid plains. The free lands are gone, the continent is crossed, and all this push and energy is turning into channels of agitation. Failures in one area can no longer be made good by taking up land on a new frontier; the conditions of a settled society are being reached with suddenness and with confusion. The West has been built up with borrowed capital, and the question of the stability of gold, as a standard of deferred payments, is eagerly agitated by the debtor West, profoundly dissatisfied with the industrial conditions that confront it, and actuated by frontier directness and rigor in its remedies. For the most part, the men who built up the West beyond the Mississippi, and who are now leading the agitation, came as pioneers from the old Northwest, in the days when it was just passing from the stage of a frontier section. And now the frontier opportunities a re gone. Discontent is demanding an extension of governmental activity in its behalf. In these demands, it finds itself in touch with the depressed agricultural classes and the workingmen of the South and East. The Western problem is no longer a sectional problem; it is a social problem on a national scale. The greater West, extending from the Alleghenies to the Pacific, cannot be regarded as a unit; it requires analysis into regions and classes. But its area, its population, and its material resources would give force to its assertion that if there is a sectionalism in the country, the sectionalism is Eastern. The old West, united to the new South, would produce not a new sectionalism, but a new Americanism. It would not mean sectional disunion, as some have speculated, but it might mean a drastic assertion of national government and imperial expansion under a popular hero. .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e , .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e .postImageUrl , .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e , .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e:hover , .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e:visited , .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e:active { border:0!important; } .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e:active , .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uea207aaad634a88cce0bda166b46ee1e:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: I Have a Dream Essay We will write a custom essay on The West specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now