American Expansion essays

American Expansion essays American expansion to the Pacific was introduced to the people of the country by several different means. The reasons for expansion did not exclude Politics, economy, nor society. Primarily the contributions that that the rise of expansion can be attributed to include Manifest Destiny, land hunger, suspicion of British intentions as well as trade opportunities. Each was valuable, some more than others, to impel the wheels of expansionism to begin. The most important contributor to American expansion is Manifest Destiny. This term, developed by an American journalist basically state that America had a divine ( god-given) right to extend its power and civilization across the width of the North American continent. Perhaps it was the scattered missionaries in the Northwest, along with the introduction of Manifest Destiny made the idea of traveling thousands of miles, was, in fact worthwhile. Manifest Destiny was so important of an issue that the election and campaign of 1844. The Democrats were swayed by the idea and part of their campaign was that they should uplift their ennobling democratic institutions over the expanse of North America. The idea of God giving the population the right to expand their society could be accepted by God-fearing Christians, of which, most of the population was. They all could understand the idea of Manifest Destiny because it dealt with God, not property, wealth or social standing. It was an is sue that could allow people of all backgrounds to prosper. Land hunger was the second most important contributor to expansion. The land out in this wide open, western unknown was free! People wanted land because at this time land equaled wealth, and people who were not wealthy, could not buy land. This first come, first serve style allowed the people who were hungry for land to obtain it, even if they did not have the means by which to buy any land back east. This way they could even make a profi...

Camp David essays

Camp David essays Camp David used to be known as Shangri-La. That is what FDR had named the camp. Beginning in 1938, a summer recreational camp in the Catoctin Recreation Demonstration Area (RDA) was developed for the use of Federal government workers and their families. Called Hi-Catoctin, it offered small cabins, a dining hall and a swimming pool. In summer even the White House, which had air conditioning, was so uncomfortable that the doctors were concerned for FDR's health. The President needed a retreat. Thus the search began for a location near D.C. where the President could relax away from the White House pressures and the D.C. summer heat. The RDA camp Hi-Catoctin was selected. The President's gain was the Federal employees' loss. Therein begins the story of Shangri-La/Camp David. President Eisenhower changed the name of Shangri la to Camp David. The first time President Nixon visited he walked out to look at the Camp David sign which then said Camp Three. He wanted the old sign put back up and was promised it would be done by the next morning. Except that it could not be found. It was supposed to be, and had been, stored in the loft of the carpenter shop but someone had moved or taken it. Since it ws gone they had to make a new old looking sign. The Chief Builder in charge of the carpenter shop was rumored that as a part time job he was an expert at "making" antique furniture. And so the Chief builder worked all night to make the new sign. In the morning it was hanging in place when Nixon strolled out to look at it. No one new the difference and the original sign never was found. The entrance gate at one time was a log across the road and manned by a single sailor. But during WWII a 130 man detachment of Marines provided security for the Camp. Housed at a nearby camp, they manned security post 24 hours a day. At the close of WWII the Marine detachment departed the area. They were replaced by two sailors, one at the gate and ...

Energy Harvesting Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Energy Harvesting - Dissertation Example Energy harvesting, therefore, can be defined as â€Å"The process in which energy is captured from a system’s environment and converted into usable electric power† (Maxim, 2011). The law of conservation of energy is the basis for energy harvesting. Energy can be converted from one form to another and the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains the same (Clark, 2004). Therefore, energy whether in form of wind, kinetic, chemical and others can be converted to electrical energy. 2. METHODS OF HARVESTING ENERGY Energy harvesting produces electric energy from ambient energy sources, present in large and small systems. Recovering a fraction of this energy can have a significant economic and environmental impact. These systems widely vary in sizes. On the macro scale, hydro electricity, tidal power, solar panels and wind turbines can produce MegaWatts. On a smaller scale, immediately available energy such as vibration, heat and light energy can be used to produce milliWatts. A typical energy harvesting system converts energy from the source and stores that energy. Capacitors are used in large scale systems, whereas, batteries are used in small scale systems for storage of energy. ... Photovoltaic cells, which are made up of silicon are used to convert solar energy into electricity. Most of these photovoltaic cells operate at an efficiency of less than 15 % (Asimov, 1969). The maximum theoretical efficiency attainable, however, is only 32.3 % (Clark, 1974). Solar energy is also indirectly used to produce electricity by concentrated solar power plants. The solar collectors are used to concentrate or focus sunlight onto a receiver that heats a liquid to produce steam, which in turn is used to produce electricity in the same way coal or fossil fuel plants do. 2.2 Wind Energy Wind turbines are used to harvest electrical energy from the wind. The wind passes over the blades of wind turbines, which in turn produces a turning force. The rotating blades turn the shaft which passes through the gearbox. The gearbox increases the rotational speed for the generator. The generator uses magnetic fields to convert the rotational energy harvested from the wind into electrical ene rgy. Wind farms, which are clusters of wind turbines, are used to harvest electrical energy from wind. The minimum wind speed for generating electricity is 4-5 m/s and the theoretical maximum power that can be extracted from the wind is 59.3 %. In reality this figure is usually around 45 % maximum for a large turbine. Wind energy has great potential for energy harvesting in the future and even smaller turbines (50-150 watts) are available for household connection (Golding, 1976). Energy harvested from the wind largely depends on siting of the wind farm. 2.3 Hydroelectric Hydroelectric systems create energy by harvesting energy by force of water. Water is collected in a dam or a reservoir. The water near the bottom of the reservoir is forced by the pressure of the water above it to be