Explain how westward expansion impacted American history Essay

Explain how westward expansion impacted American history - Essay Example However, the process turned to be violent due to the outbreak of the Mexican war. The Western expansion of America has some social, political and economic impact in the history of the country. Politically, the expansion to the west helped in spreading the American ideologies with major support of the Democratic Party. People moved to the western states of Kentucky and Tennessee where they survived under the ideologies of the Democratic Party that subjected great support to expansion (Billington and Martin 9). The early penetration of the Democratic Party in the areas towards the west of America confirms dominance of the party in the regions. The expansion also opened access of USA to the Atlantic and Pacific seas that linked America to other western countries like Mexico and Russia. Socially, the western expansion caused both positive and negative experiences. Positively, the passage of the Homestead Act of 1862 that encouraged people apply free 160-acre plots in the western regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Hawaii among others, would see many Blacks from the South migrate to own lands alongside the white slave masters. Social justice and fairness began to appear as a reality to the Black community (Billington and Martin 18). Negatively, the western expansion broke and ruined social life of Native American tribes who constituted the great population in the western sides. The communities struggled to resist the expansion and triggering war that saw displacement and killing of many Indians. Economically, western ward expansion supported expeditious completion of the Transcontinental Railway system that would facilitate trade across America, running from east to west. According to Carlisle, the access to ports along Atlantic and Pacific oceans surrounding some of the regions bought and annexed as part of expansion boosted trade power of America (20). It was easy to access

Review of Cleland Prosthetic Bodies and Virtual Cyborgs Essay

Review of Cleland Prosthetic Bodies and Virtual Cyborgs - Essay Example According to Cleland, the cyborg-like emerging of bodies and technology has become commonplace for a majority of the human activities, such as industrial manufacturing and exploration and that we have, at this point in history, largely embraced human-machine coupling thus enhancing their presence among the populations. Cleland goes further to suggest that a percentage of the world’s population is now composed of cyborgs. These â€Å"cyborgs† come in various types: for instance, people who have GPS chips implanted in their bodies, people with artificial arms and skins as well as those with implanted eye lenses. All of these are examples of practical cyborgs in ordinary human life. Cleland then further expands upon the notion of virtual cyborgs. Virtual cyborgs, or rather, avatars, have become commonplace in the online environment as they provide a critical connection between the virtual world and reality. She states that â€Å"avatars are perceived digital representatio n that behaves or are executed in real time by a human being†.The article succeeds in expounding upon the virtual re-embodiment that becomes possible through avatars in the sense that people can expand their sensory perceptions into virtual environments through the help of avatars. Video games are a perfect example of how this virtual re-embodiment takes place since the player is connected to the virtual environment through the joystick or mouse that can simulate the movement of the avatar in the manner in which the player wants the avatar to behave.