The Railroad Era and Economic Growth - Research Paper Example The only means of transport was either by wagons, stagecoaches or by the ocean, this discouraged immigration of children and women (Norris, 2008). Fortunately, in 1862, The Central pacific Railroad emerged from California’s need for a remedy to its transportation crisis as well as socio economic challenges. Construction of the railroad began at Sacramento in 1863 after the congress authorized it the previous year. The businesspersons who combined efforts to finance the project named themselves the ‘octopus’ and the profits from the project rewarded them greatly years later. With the development and opening of the railroad, traveling time from the state to other states and within the cities greatly reduced. From travelling for months and several weeks, the people of California could now use just a week or days to reach their destinations. The Central Pacific Railroad was labelled the safest means of transport, most attractive site for tourists as well as the most direct means for transport for the immigrants across the American continent. Transport of goods and services developed as the machinery, mails, manufactured goods, as well as human resources begun moving to the west. In addition, natural resources, and food rolled eastward hence feeding almost half of the Eastern populace. Along the Central Pacific Railroad as well as its terminals, towns emerged and developed quickly because of the strategic location. Among the towns that developed along the lines of this railroad were North Plate, Lexington, Julesburg, Cheyenne, LA rime, Rock Springs, and Evanston. People begun purchasing land that the had been given to the railroads as grants and they established settlements in the new town, constructed houses, began business activities as well as ranches and farms (Norris, 2008). The Octopus used agents to market the area
0 Comments
Why is HIV-AIDs so prominent an issue in post-apartheid South Africa Does religion offer solutions or exacerbate the problems - Essay Example However, the transition from apartheid to democracy was largely obscured by a HIV/AIDS crisis.1 A large number of the South African population have adopted traditionalists policies aimed at managing sexuality and thus controlling the spread of AIDS. These practices and policies are embedded in religious and ritualistic practices and beliefs that involve circumcising boys and testing girls for virginity prior to marriage.2 This research study analyses the traditionalist religious approach to controlling the spread of AIDS in post-apartheid South Africa and argues that rather than offer solutions, traditionalist religion exacerbates the problems. This research study is therefore divided into three main parts. The first part of the paper provides details of the HIV/AIDS crisis in post-apartheid South Africa and analyses why HIV/AIDS has reached epidemic proportions in post-apartheid South Africa. The second part of this research study defines and analyses traditionalist religion in post-apartheid South Africa. The third part of this paper analyses the role of religion, particularly the traditionalist religion in countering the HIV/AIDS crisis in South Africa. HIV/AIDS in Post-Apartheid South Africa HIV/AIDS ... On average life expectancy in South African fell from 64 years of age in 1994 to 49 years of age in 2001.5 The United Nations reported that the number of children orphaned as a result of AIDS in South Africa by 2001 was 700,000. In 2002, the number of orphans as a result of AIDS was 120,000 and 150,000 in 2003.6 USAID reports that as of 2011, South Africa has the largest number of HIV/AIDS infections worldwide With the first reported case in 1982, the disease has reached epidemic proportions with 5.6 million South Africans living with either HIV or full blown AIDS. Moreover, South Africa’s infant and maternal mortality rate has increased steadily since the 1990s with AIDS largely attributed to the cause of infant and maternal mortality. AIDS is responsible for 42.5 per cent of maternal mortality and 35 per cent of infant mortality cases. While South Africa only represents 0.7 per cent of the global population, it is responsible for 28 per cent of the global HIV population.7 UNICEF’s report on HIV and AIDs in South Africa notes that “HIV infection rates†among adolescent girls are “on average five times higher†than “among boysâ€.8 According to UNICEF, “this is largely due to girls’ biological and social vulnerabilityâ€.9 For the most part women depend on men for economic support and usually do not have adequate education facilities and are therefore more prone to “poverty, sexual exploitation, coercion and rape†and are susceptible to work in the sex trade.10 Complicating matters for women, when they contract HIV or full blown AIDS they suffer heightened levels of gender discrimination. Women typically test
12/11/2019 0 Comments How Does Steinbeck Present the Relationship Between George and Lennie in the Novel?Steinbeck presents the relationship between George and Lennie by utilizing a number of literary techniques and devices, particularly in the first 3 section. The skilled and careful presentation of this relationship forms the foundation upon which almost all of the novella's prevailing themes are structured, from the preciousness of companionship to the futility of dreams (and, in particular, the so-called American Dream). The first paragraph focussing on the men (second paragraph, page 4) opens with the sentence: “They had walked single file down the path, and even in the open one stayed behind the otherâ€.Immediately, Steinbeck portrays the essence of George and Lennie's relationship through this first quote about the men: that this relationship had a hierarchy; it was a leader-and-follower relationship, with one member guiding the other. The entire book revolves around this concept (George being Lennie's carer as Lennie cannot lead himself), so it is appropriate that Steinbeck chooses this idea to be the cornerstone of the reader's understanding of their relationship.However, in order to avoid any assumption that one man was better than the other, Steinbeck dissolves the idea of a hierarchy immediately as he details the similarities between the two men, all of which refer to clothing and possessions, such as them both being “dressed in denim trousers and denim coats with brass buttonsâ€, and having “black, shapeless hats†and “tight blanket rolls slung over their shouldersâ€.Through their sole similarities being material possessions, Steinbeck shows that these two men are completely equal in circumstance and situation, intensifying attention on and the significance of their physical and mental differences. Steinbeck follows this with detailed and highly contrasting descriptions of the two men. He first describes the leader, using words such as “small and quickâ€, “slender†and “sharpâ€.This does not create the image of a traditional leader, a fact which is compounded with the description of a “huge man†with “wide, sloping shoulders†as his follower. Steinbeck uses these departures from convention to indicate that there is an alternative reason why the leader leads the follower other than the traditional case of the pack following the strongest member. It is obvious that, although Lennie is the stronger and bigger of the two, he is content following a man who is several degrees smaller than him. The reason behind this is hinted
|