Agrarian Discontent In The Late 1800s Essays - Free Essays

Agrarian Discontent In The Late 1800s Essays - Free Essays Agrarian Discontent in the Late 1800's "Why the Farmers Were Wrong" The period between 1880 and 1900 was a boom time for American politics. The country was for once free of the threat of war, and many of its citizens were living comfortably. However, as these two decades went by, the American farmer found it harder and harder to live comfortably. Crops such as cotton and wheat, once the bulwark of agriculture, were selling at prices so low that it was nearly impossible for farmers to make a profit off them. Furthermore, improvement in transportation allowed foreign competition to materialize, making it harder for American farmers to dispose of surplus crop. Finally, years of drought in the midwest and the downward spiral of business in the 1890's devastated many of the nation's farmers. As a result of the agricultural depression, many farm groups, most notably the Populist Party, arose to fight what farmers saw as the reasons for the decline in agriculture. During the last twenty years of the nineteenth century, many farmers in the United States saw monopolies and trusts, railroads, and money shortages and the demonetization of silver as threats to their way of life, though in many cases their complaints were not valid. The growth of the railroad was one of the most significant elements in American economic growth. However, in many ways, the railroads hurt small shippers and farmers. Extreme competition between rail companies necessitated some way to win business. To do this, many railroads offered rebates and drawbacks to larger shippers who used their rails. However, this practice hurt smaller shippers, including farmers, for often times railroad companies would charge more to ship products short distances than they would for long trips. The rail companies justified this practice by asserting that if they did not rebate, they would not make enough profit to stay in business. In his testimony to the Senate Cullom Committee, George W. Parker stated, "...the operating expense of this road...requires a certain volume of business to meet these fixed expenses....in some seasons of the year, the local business of the road...is not sufficient to make the earnings...when we make up a train of ten of fiftee n cars of local freight...we can attach fifteen or twenty cars...of strictly through business. We can take the latter at a very low rate than go without it." Later, when asked the consequences of charging local traffic the same rate as through freight, Mr. Parker responded, "Bankruptcy, inevitably and speedy...". While the railroads felt that they must use this practice to make a profit, the farmers were justified in complaining, for they were seriously injured by it. A perfect example of this fact can be found in The Octopus by Frank Norris. A farmer named Dyke discovers that the railroad has increased their freight charges from two to five cents a pound. This new rate, "...ate up every cent of his gains. He stood there ruined." (Doc. H). The railroads regularly used rebates and drawbacks to help win the business of large shippers, and made up this loss in profit by increasing the cost to smaller shippers such as farmers. As a result, many farmers, already hurt by the downslide in agriculture, were ruined. Thus, the farmers of the late nineteenth century had a valid complaint against railroad shippers, for these farmers were hurt by the unfair practices of the railroads. Near the end of the nineteenth century, business began to centralize, leading to the rise of monopolies and trusts. Falling prices, along with the need for better efficiency in industry, led to the rise of such companies as Carnegie Steel and Standard Oil, which controlled a majority of the nation's supply of raw steel and oil respectively. The rise of these monopolies and trusts concerned many farmers, for they felt that the disappearance of competition would lead to erratic and unreasonable price rises that would hurt consumers. James B. Weaver, the Populist party's presidential candidate in the 1892 election, summed up the feelings of many Americans of the period in his work, A Call to Action: An Interpretation of the Great Uprising. He wrote, "It is clear that trusts are...in conflict with the Common law. They are monopolies organized to

Tools and Techniques Essay Example

Tools and Techniques Essay Example Tools and Techniques Essay Tools and Techniques Essay Critical thinking can be argued to have enormous impacts on the typical decision-making process. Throughout the decision-making cycle we, as individuals or groups, analyze, interpret, assume, hypothesis and eventually take action, in reference to a given event, in order to make changes for the better. Similar to a master woodworker, there are specialized tools and techniques which can be used to influence our products or final decisions. Picture this, a wooden salad bowl created by a 12th grade student in shop class versus a wooden salad bowl made by Bob Villa or Norm Abram of The New Yankee Workshop. Experience has an impact on the outcome but the tools and techniques are the greatest influence. The purpose of this document is to discuss and describe the Pareto Principle and Pareto Charts, a specific decision-making tool and technique. In addition to a brief history, an attempt will be made to illustrate how the Pareto Principle and Pareto Charts apply to common business practices. Originations The Pareto Principle. According to the life summary by the Encyclopedia Britannica Online, Vilfredo Pareto was an Italian economist and sociologist, known for his application of mathematics to economic analysis and for his theory of the circulation of elites'(2005, p. 2). Pareto recognized that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. This realization is widely known today as the Pareto Principle or the 80-20 Rule. The realization is important to note this because Vilfredo Pareto also discovered that the principle was recognizable in other components of his life. In order to make the transition from Paretos original view to common business practices we can thank Dr. J. M. Juran. Joe De Feo, CEO and President of the Juran Institute, stated, Dr. Juran has been called the father of quality (2003, p. 1). Dr. Juran has been credited with establishing quality control standards which aid current-day managers in using the 80-20 rule. In reference to business operations, the 80-20 rule is best understood in this manner, 80% of an organizations problems arise from 20% of the organizations processes. Knowing the basis of the Pareto Principle is critical to managers. With this knowledge leaders can visually track problem areas with a valuable tool, the Pareto Chart. Pareto Charts What, Why and When A Pareto Chart is a tool which portrays the frequency of occurrence of a variable of interest in various categories, arranged in order of descending frequency. (Stevenson, 2000, p. 51) Simply stated, a Pareto Chart is a specialized tool bar graph. The chart is used to display the importance of problems or conditions. The construction of a Pareto Chart is quite simple. Relating back to the 80-20 rule, 80% of problems usally stem from 20% of the processes or actions, the first step would be to determine the breakdown of problems or causes to be compared. In my organization, the main problem could be customer dissatisfaction regarding service calls. Specific examples for customer unhappiness could be service calls not answered at all, service calls not completed due to product knowledge and service calls delayed due to unavailable parts. The second steps would be to select a unit of measurement or time to be studied. To continue the example within my organization, the frequency could be weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. The third step toward completing a Pareto Chart would be to collect and summarize the data. Using the selected examples, our managers would start to track when a problem would satisfy the selected criteria. If we missed a service call due to unavailable parts during a given time then the issue would be logged. The final step would be to create the chart. Using horizontal and vertical axes a visual picture would emerge. The categories or problems would populate on the horizontal axis and the frequency for each category would reflect on the left vertical axis. If done correctly the resulting picture will clearly highlight the critical areas for improvement. There are many reasons why a Pareto Chart should be used. The big picture question is what to do with the results. The clearest example would be to focus on a problem or improve a process that will yield the biggest benefits. (Manktelow, 2003, p.1) If we, Bennetts Business Systems, were trying to improve customer satisfaction and our target problem was service calls we would look to rectify the category with the highest frequency of mishaps. In most cases, this category will reflect about 80% of the problems. By using the Pareto Chart we would be able to achieve the highest return on efficiency for our efforts. There are other benefits to using the Pareto Principle and Pareto Charts. From a managerial perspective, the tool and technique will aid in breaking down complex problems into smaller components. In addition, the breakdown will assist leaders in allocating resources. This decision-making by-product is an enormous benefit. The best case scenario of any critical decision result is to end up at a better outcome. Not realizing or recognizing the importance of resources can drastically alter the decision-making process and implementation plan. Failure at this stage can be devastating. The Pareto Principle and Pareto Chart can and should be used in organizational environments when problems or issues are apparent. The obvious situation for use occurs when data or information can be separated into categories. The ideal example would be when a department can count the number of times an event happens. Outside of the typical problem analysis, Bennetts Business Systems uses Pareto Charts to illustrate sale activity. Through this example the 80-20 rule is supported. 75% of the highest sales activity is produced by 25% of the sales staff. We use this summary analysis to find out what activities the successful 25% are accomplishing and in turn coach the remaining 75% on how to improve. Conclusion Michael Williamsen might have said it best, The Pareto Chart is one of the most helpful tools in the Six Sigma tool box. These charts help pinpoint unacceptable occurrences that warrant high priority. The charts show the frequency and severity of problems and where they occur. ( 2005, p. 9). From an enlightened mathematician and economist to a master of quality control we have been given an extremely useful decision-making tool and technique. The Pareto Principle and Pareto Chart provide managers the needed edge to succeed in a complex problem-filled business environment. References Pareto, V. (2005). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved September 27, 2005 from Encyclopedia Britannica Premium Service https://www. britannica. com/eb/article-9058449 Feo, J. (2003). Juran Institute: Quality Improvement Tools. Retrieved September 27, 2005 from Juran Institute, Inc. https://www. britannica. com/eb/article-9058449 Stevenson, W. (2000). Quality Progress. Milwaukee. Oct 2000. Vol. 33, Iss. 10; pg. 51, 5pgs Retrieved September 26, 2005, from the ProQuest Database. Manktelow, J. (2005) Mind Tools: Pareto Analysis.

Free Essays on Stanford Prison Experiment

Stanford Prison Experiment 1. The nine men who were assigned to be prisoners were treated as if they were truly criminals. They were taken from their homes, shoved against police cars, searched, cuffed and processed. Since they were being treated like they were true criminals, they began to believe it. Upon arrival at Stanford County Jail, the men were issued a number they were called by instead of their name. The prison guards used this number and a whistle to get the attention of a prisoner. The prisoners were made to strip while the guards disinfected them from germs or lice. They were also forced to shave their heads. By doing this, it took away the prisoners individualism and made all the prisoners look alike. Each prisoner wore a long smock, which resembles a dress, to humiliate them and a steel chain around their ankle so they would be constantly aware they were someone’s property. 2. The guards gained submission from the prisoners by harassing them and forcing them to wake up in the middle of the night and do push ups. While the prisoners were doing push ups, the guards would place their foot on a prisoners back to make it harder on them, or make a fellow prisoner sit on their back. On the second day of observation, the prisoners took their stocking caps off, ripped their numbers, and pushed their beds against the cell doors. The guards regained control of the prison by spraying the men down with fire extinguishers. The men were then stripped naked and their beds were taken from them. 3. The hostility between the guards and prisoners developed at the beginning of the study because the prisoners were ordered around and harassed by men who didn’t even have enough respect to call them by their name. They were only referred to as a number. I suppose the prisoners became resentful that they were stuck in the position they were, while the guards were not being told what to do and they could do whatever... Free Essays on Stanford Prison Experiment Free Essays on Stanford Prison Experiment Stanford Prison Experiment 1. The nine men who were assigned to be prisoners were treated as if they were truly criminals. They were taken from their homes, shoved against police cars, searched, cuffed and processed. Since they were being treated like they were true criminals, they began to believe it. Upon arrival at Stanford County Jail, the men were issued a number they were called by instead of their name. The prison guards used this number and a whistle to get the attention of a prisoner. The prisoners were made to strip while the guards disinfected them from germs or lice. They were also forced to shave their heads. By doing this, it took away the prisoners individualism and made all the prisoners look alike. Each prisoner wore a long smock, which resembles a dress, to humiliate them and a steel chain around their ankle so they would be constantly aware they were someone’s property. 2. The guards gained submission from the prisoners by harassing them and forcing them to wake up in the middle of the night and do push ups. While the prisoners were doing push ups, the guards would place their foot on a prisoners back to make it harder on them, or make a fellow prisoner sit on their back. On the second day of observation, the prisoners took their stocking caps off, ripped their numbers, and pushed their beds against the cell doors. The guards regained control of the prison by spraying the men down with fire extinguishers. The men were then stripped naked and their beds were taken from them. 3. The hostility between the guards and prisoners developed at the beginning of the study because the prisoners were ordered around and harassed by men who didn’t even have enough respect to call them by their name. They were only referred to as a number. I suppose the prisoners became resentful that they were stuck in the position they were, while the guards were not being told what to do and they could do whatever...

United States Population Through History

United States Population Through History The first decennial census in the United States in 1790 showed a population of just under four million people. Today, the U.S. population is estimated at more than 320 million. The 2010 census showed that the United States had a .77 percent increase in population. In 2009, there was an almost one percent increase in the birth rate, which was seen as a post-recession baby boom.  According to the Census, The combination of births, deaths and net international migration increases the U.S. population by one person every 17 seconds.  While that figure may sound high, the U.S. population  is actually growing at a slower rate than many other nations. U.S. Fertility Rate The United States runs below replacement level (2.1 births per woman)  in fertility  rate, at a historic low with an estimated 1.76 in 2017. Some of the drop  in fertility rate is due to a drop in teen births over the previous decade and a drop in unintended pregnancies.   The lower birthrate actually signifies that there are increased opportunities for women in the United States compared to high-fertility rate countries. Women who put off motherhood have fewer children but, generally, have them on better economic footing.   A low birthrate is also a sign of an established economy. The U.S. rate is actually high among the richest nations in the world, which are all grappling with an aging population overall. Aging Population A lower birthrate and an increasing life expectancy contributes to the fact that the U.S. population is aging overall. One problem  associated with an increasingly aging population includes fewer people in the workforce. Countries who are aging and not having a net migration in will see population declines. That has the potential to put a strain on social services and health care, as there are fewer people to pay taxes to support government programs for the elderly. There are also fewer caregivers for them. Immigration = Population Rise Fortunately, the United States attracts a large number of immigrants who come here to work. Also, people who come here searching for a better life do so in the ages when they typically have young children, thus keeping the countrys population growing. Immigrants fill in the gaps in the workforce created by the aging population and the drop in fertility rate. But its not a new trend. Since 1965 the population increase of the United States has been because of immigrants and their descendants, with that trend expected to continue for the next 50 years, Pew Research reported. Immigrants accounted for about 14 percent of the total U.S. population in 2015.  Ã‚   U.S. Census Figures Here you will find a list of the U.S. population every 10 years from the first official census in 1790 to the most recent in 2010, including a recent population estimate. The population is expected to hit 355 million by 2030, 373 million by 2040, and 388 million by 2050.  Ã‚   1790: 3,929,2141800: 5,308,4831810: 7,239,8811820: 9,638,4531830: 12,866,0201840: 17,069,4531850: 23,191,8761860: 31,443,3211870: 38,558,3711880: 50,189,2091890: 62,979,7661900: 76,212,1681910: 92,228,4961920: 106,021,5371930: 123,202,6241940: 132,164,5691950: 151,325,7981960: 179,323,1751970: 203,302,0311980: 226,542,1991990: 248,709,8732000: 281,421,9062010: 307,745,5382017: 323,148,586

Is the purpose of prisons to punish criminals, or to help them Essay

Is the purpose of prisons to punish criminals, or to help them - Essay Example However, there are some cases when punishment is applied as the most effective strategy in addressing criminals. This paper will explore factors that should prompt prisons to exhibit efforts towards rehabilitating prisoners. The paper will also analyze why the punitive approach proves more efficient in some situations. There are many theories developed to explain why prisons should focus on rehabilitating criminals rather than punishing them. Most of these theories surround a close analysis of the factors that prompted an individual to indulge in crime (Binder 2013, p. 296). A psychological analysis of the factors that prompt an individual to indulge in crime reveals that he or she may undergo effective therapy through rehabilitative programs, hence increasing the chances of transforming the individual. Without doubt, there is an existing complexity of the factors that motivate people towards crime. These complexities only seem to trigger controversy when considering the effectiveness of rehabilitation of criminals (Bierschbach & Bibas 2013, p. 407). If prisons are to help criminals, they must adopt a certain attitude and have the faith that it is possible to get the criminals back to the right track. One reason why criminals are locked in prisons is to protect the public from further criminal activities. Therefore, helping criminals in prison targets to help them transform and stay away from crime. Efforts of rehabilitation seek to convert criminals to better citizens who have the potential to contribute positively to the success of the society. After the effective transformation, then prisons can release the transformed criminals back to the society (Bierschbach & Bibas 2013, p. 411). After release into the society, there is the need for positive reintegration by the other members of the society. Governments that focus on

Good Faith Evidence Rule in reversal of a high profile rape cases in Research Paper

Good Faith Evidence Rule in reversal of a high profile rape cases in 2010 in state of virginia - Research Paper Example There was a young woman, who was dressed in black attire and had long blond hair; she stood on the railroad bridge extending her thumb gesturing for a ride. The unfortunate fact was that this was the last moment the father and daughter saw Morgan Dana Harrington alive. (Siegel, 2011) It is now one year since the remains of the Virginia education tech student (who was 20 years of age upon her death) was discovered. With no suspects identified, the police have made enquiries to the public hoping that there might individuals who may assist with the investigation. The questions still remain unanswered as to how Morgan’s body was discovered in a cow pasture 10 miles from where she was last seen, and whether there is a stalker still roaming the streets of Charlottesville and Albemarle county. While retracing the steps of Morgan, the Virginia State Police Special Agent Dino Cappuzzo disclosed the story of the daughter and father, who allowed the police to determine the time that Morgan was possibly abducted. The father stated that, on his way back from dropping his daughter at the dormitory, he stopped at the convenience store on Ivy Road, which was at 9.30 pm based on time on his receipt. On his return to the bridge after 7-11 minutes, Morgan was gone. Two other witnesses confirmed that they had seen a blond woman hitchhiking in the same area. Cappuzzo stated that the witnesses’ stories had been completely vetted by the police. However, none was considered suspects. The descriptions provided by the witnesses were new information released to public on the 25th of January 2011, which was a day prior to the anniversary of the discovery of the body. It was the first piece of information that was obtained by the police department since last summer, when police confirmed the DNA obtained from the Harrington case is related or linked to a rape case that took place in 2005, in Fairfax. The victim in that case survived

Commom Errors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Commom Errors - Essay Example I would have the student review 8x9 and 9x8 just to ensure that they realize that each problem has the same answer. Next, student 2 has issues bringing down the proper numbers upon the first round of subtraction. This clearly is a result of misplacement. Placement is crucial in long division because if the student places the quotient in the wrong place, the entire problem is ruined! The third student has misplaced the quotient from the start and thus ruined his chances for a correct answer. This student too needs assistance in placement. He does, however have the mechanics in hand thus is in better shape than the second student. The best way to verify the mistakes made by the students is to work out the problem with them. As the student is reviewing their work with you, you can gage whether the mistake was a chance happening or whether the student truly is not comprehending the task. Have the student multiply their incorrect quotient by the divisor and they will see it for themselves. Better yet, after the student has seen his/her error after the attempted multiplication of the quotient and divisor, have the student do the division problem with you and explain their steps to you as they do it. The best way to correct the mistake presented in the three referenced problems is practice, practice and more practice.