Early American History from 1790 to 1877 Term Paper

Early American History from 1790 to 1877 - Term Paper Example Just 14 years after the founding of our nation in 1790, many changes were already in the works, and America had already been one year under its first President, George Washington, who served as a general against the British in the Revolutionary War. During the second of his eight years in office, the Bill of Rights was drafted (in 1791), adding 10 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution ? which outlined the freedoms enjoyed by citizens, including the freedom of speech, the freedom of religion, and the right to bear arms (Nussbaum 2006). Also during this term, the rivaling Federalist and Republican political parties were formed – the former pressing for a strong central government and banking system with good ties to England, with the latter wanting an economy based in agriculture with weakening ties to Great Britain (Ibid.). After the turn of the century, America continued to want to expand its borders, and made the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, paying France $15 million for 800,000 square miles of land from Louisiana to Montana, doubling the nation’s size (Klose and Jones 1994, 130). ... This was followed by the Missouri Compromise of 1820, where the existing southern slave states agreed with the northern free states that Missouri would become a slave state if Maine became a free state (Nussbaum 2006). Just three years later, a treaty devised by President James Monroe, known as the Monroe Doctrine, was reached between the U.S. and European nations, where both sides agreed not to interfere with each other’s (including Spain’s) colonizing interests, guaranteeing safety to all (Klose and Jones 1994, 154). However, all conflict was not avoided, as Mexico’s General Santa Anna Stormed the Alamo in Texas and defeated American Colonel William Travis in a two-week battle in 1836, but the long battle gave the U.S. time to eventually defeat Santa Anna’s army in another showdown to make Texas independent and later become the 28th state (Nussbaum 2006). As populations swelled in the eastern U.S., European Americans sought to displace the occupying Indi ans in Georgia, and 7,000 troops forced 15,000 Cherokees to Oklahoma under grueling conditions in 1838 – an exodus known as the Trail of Tears, where 4,000 Native Americans perished (Ibid.). America was growing, and there was not much that could get in the way. This expansionist frenzy would stop no time soon. A concept known as Manifest Destiny soon became the term used to spread the belief that it was America’s fate to occupy and claim land across the continent, from coast to coast, and many routes ? including the Oregon, California, Mormon, and Santa Fe Trails ? were traveled during this time to inhabit the far west (Baker 2006, 7). This expansion was not uncontested, however, as the Mexican-American War ending in 1848 resulted in a costly victory – in money and casualties – for the U.S., which

Behavioural-Based Safety in the Construction Companies Essay

Behavioural-Based Safety in the Construction Companies - Essay Example While there are many other explanations, the research paper will seek to determine the explanations that are applicable to the current case study, which is employee perception of BBS at the workplace, BBS training, safety awareness, safety participation, and group safety culture. A quantitative method study will be used for this research study with a survey-based research design. The research study will utilize probability sampling, which will seek to get at least fifteen labor workers at Tarmac Zawawi LLC. It is expected that high scores in BBS training, perception, awareness, participation, and group safety culture will result in high levels of safety and, therefore, fewer incidents and accidents. Because of the equipment, machinery, working height, and external activities involved in the construction sector, it is one of the most dangerous occupations in the industry. There are a number of factors, which lead to accidents in this setting. One of them is unsafe conditions and behavior, in which the individual’s behavior accounts for approximately 75% of all events (Roughton & Mercurio, 2012: p82). In addition, most studies suggest that unsafe behavior among workers is more to blame than the safety of conditions in the occurrence of accidents. If unsafe conditions do exist and individuals accept the risk associated with the construction and continue normally with their activities, accidents cannot be blamed on the conditions alone. Therefore, failure to identify conditions that are unsafe prior to and during construction, to continue with construction even after the unsafe conditions are identified, and unsafe performance without regard to the conditions at the site are three major reasons for construction site accidents (Roughton & Mercurio, 2012: p86). In  addition, unsafe conditions are brought about by unsafe actions from individual workers and their colleagues, management practices, and inhuman events.