We Must Have the Right to Defend Our Home Essay -- Castle Doctrine, Se

The Castle Doctrine is a bill that was passed which lets you defend yourself with necessary force in your residence if someone is breaking into your home. Criminals like to go after easy targets such as, the elderly, disabled citizens, children, and people who are unarmed. Every citizen has the right to live free and happy, if they are attacked they should be able to defend themselves and their property without being charged as a murderer. The previous state law, if someone unlawfully enters your home or attempts a car-jacking, you are required to first retreat instead of immediately fighting to protect yourself. The trouble is on the home owner to define that an intruder intends to do them bodily harm before the home owner can use appropriate force against them (InfoKwik). Having a gun for personal protection is a constitutional right. When facing an armed criminal an armed citizen levels the playing field. When you are in your own home and someone is breaking in and you see them armed or unarmed, they have no right to be in your home anyway. The castle doctrine, in this ca...

Mountain Men and Merchants

Mountain Men and Merchants; How the West was Explored and Tamed Chad D. Ramsey Student #4101887 History 300 Professor Tracy Derks December 15th 2011 During the beginning and throughout the 19th century, mountain men, trappers and merchants of the fur trade made a vital impact on the development of the previously uncharted West. These men came primarily from the East coast of the United States with a desire for adventure and the calling of a better life.Men like James Bridger, Jedediah Smith, Osborne Russell, Warren Ferris and numerous others left with expedition teams with what they could carry on their backs and on pack animals to explore the Western frontier. While these men appeared to be brave, and experienced some of the harshest conditions that the West had to offer, they were not alone, nor without help in the frontier. The mountain man had to forge relationships over the years with a key ally he would need to survive, the American Indian.Many members of these tribes, most not ably, the Crow, Flathead, Cheyenne, and Shoshone helped these mountain men in their education and understanding of the complexities of the relatively unexplored area. These adventurers, frontiersmen, and trappers were also an industrious cross section of society, who played a vital part in the history of the United States. While American Indians helped Mountain Men to explore the rugged West and were a vital link to route exploration and survival techniques, it was the trappers’ writings, maps and fur trading that played a more important role in the development and exploration of the West.One of the most important roles that these Mountain Men played initially, was that of cartographers. The rough sketching, and understanding of the layout of the land and of cardinal direction, were key ingredients for the success of the Mountain Man. Utley described these talents in Mountain Man Warren Ferris when he observed, â€Å"By Ferris’s time, most trappers could visualize a m ap of the American West more accurate and comprehensive than existed anywhere on aper. Some of what they saw, and knew, leaked out through St. Louis newspapers or spread by word of mouth. Most, However, remained locked in their minds, awaiting the intermediary equipped by training and skill to lay it before the literate world. †1 During the summer of 1847, proclaimed Mountain Man Jim Bridger had already been assisting the early Mormon pioneers who had been crossing the vast stretches of the plains in search of their Zion.Bridger had conferred with Mormon leader Brigham Young about the accuracy of his on hand maps, and even spent time drawing a map of the region for him in the dirt. Stanley Vestal described this situation when he wrote, â€Å"All that Brigham had to go by were the maps prepared by Colonel John C. Fremont- and divine guidance. Old Jim had not heard of divine guidance, and said he was â€Å"ashamed of the maps of Fremont, who knew nothing about the country, onl y the plain travelled road, and that he (Bridger) could correct all the maps published of the western world. 2 These invaluable resources also included the ability to disseminate the information and details of the drawings and maps onto other pieces of parchment, or to communicate them verbally into written form within the pages of a journal or other medium. Within the pages of Osborne Russell’s book titled, Journal of a Trapper are some nine highly detailed maps and routes that take the reader along the many legs of his journeys from 1834-1843. His maps and drawings are an example of a man who was dedicated to the work he was undertaking, and for the detail and chronology that went into it.One such excerpt concerning these details was from Osborne’s journal from June 19, 1835 when he stated, â€Å"This country affords no timber except the quaking Asp which grows in small scrubby groves in the nooks and ravines among the hills 20th we left the waters of Gray’s Creek and crossed a low place in the mountain in an east direction fell on to a small stream running into Lewis’ fork-distance 10 mls. 21st travelled East following this stream to the mouth about 15 mls which [was] about 30 mls.Below the mouth of Salt River. †3 The techniques of hunting and survival were both crucial skills for the mountain men and the trapper. They each had unspoken rules and guidelines that they lived by on a daily basis, and were the ethos they lived by. They trusted their lives to those that they knew, and who with they had fought, and were highly skeptical of any outsiders. The mountain man rarely asked anyone for any kind of assistance, while he held his own standards and earned his daily keep.These men were richly versed in the art of setting up and breaking down a campsite, and could build survival shelters and out buildings that could easily withstand the harshest of winters. Mountain men were also skilled and versed in the field craft of hunti ng game, and known for not wasting any part of a kill. Weber described one of these situations when he noted, â€Å"His companions on that trip long remember how Huddart, crazed by thirst, stuck his head inside a freshly killed buffalo to drink its blood; the story continued to be told on the trail for at least another decade. 4 Some of the essentials that every frontiersman, hunter, and trapper would have on their body or near them at all times included the following: Moccasins and buckskins, a Russell Green River knife found at most trading posts or rendezvous, a trusty horse, a good, comfortable hat to keep the sun off of the face, a â€Å"possibles bag† that carried in it everything to care for and fire a rifle, and lastly, a reliable hunting rifle.Osborne describes his personal kit he carried with him, when he declared, â€Å"A trapper’s equipment in such cases is generally one animal upon which is placed one or two epishemores, (rectangles of buffalo robe which served as padding under the saddle, and as mattresses to sleep on), a riding saddle and bridle, a sack containing six beaver traps, a blanket with an extra pair of moccasins, his powder horn and bullet pouch, with a belt to which is attached a butcher knife, a wooden box containing bait for beaver, a tobacco sack with a pipe and implements for making fire, with sometimes a hatchet fastened to the pommel of the saddle.His personal dress is a flannel or cotton shirt (if he is fortunate enough to obtain one, if not antelope skin answers the purpose of over and undershirt), a pair of leather breeches with blanket or smoked buffalo skin leggings, a coat made of blanket or buffalo robe, a hat or cap of wool, buffalo or otter skin, his hose (socks) are pieces of blanket wrapped around his feet, which are covered with a pair of moccasins made of dressed deer, elk, or buffalo skins, with his long hair falling loosely over his shoulders, completes his uniform.He then mounts and places his ri fle before him on his saddle. †5 In addition to the American Indian helping the mountain men and trappers with survival and hunting knowledge, mountain men also did the same for the Indian in return. Trappers and hunters were the first to introduce to the Indians the use of forged metals for hunting and survival. Large and small game traps were a valuable asset that could be used in multiple areas, and hunting rifles and knives were routinely traded and purchased by the American Indian to enhance and improve their way of life. Notes . Robert Utley, A Life Wild and Perilous: Mountain Men and the Paths to the Pacific (New York: Henry Holt and Co. , 1998), 155. 2. Stanley Vestal, Jim Bridger Mountain Man a Biography (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1970), 160. 3. Osborne Russell, Journal of a Trapper: In the Rocky Mountains Between 1834 & 1843, ed. Aubrey L. Haines (Santa Barbara: The Narrative Press, 2001), 14. 4. Weber, David J. The Taos Trappers (Norman: University of O klahoma Press, 1971), 73. 5. Russell, Osborne. Voices from the Wilderness: the Frontiersman’s Own Story, ed.Thomas Froncek (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1974), 321. Bibliography Morgan, Dale. Jedediah Smith and the Opening of the West (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1953). Russell, Osborne. Journal of a Trapper: In the Rocky Mountains Between 1834 & 1843, ed. Aubrey L. Haines (Santa Barbara: The Narrative Press, 2001). Russell, Osborne. Journal of a Trapper: or, Nine years in the Rocky Mountains, 1834-1843: being a general description of the country, climate, rivers, lakes, mountains, etc. , and a view of the life by a hunter in those regions by Osborne Russell, ed. L. A.York (Boise: Syms-York, 1914). Russell, Osborne. Voices from the Wilderness: the Frontiersman’s Own Story, ed. Thomas Froncek (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1974). Utley, Robert. A Life Wild and Perilous: Mountain Men and the Paths to the Pacific (New York: Henry Holt and Co. , 1998). Vestal, Stanley. Jim B ridger Mountain Man a Biography (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1970). Weber, David J. The Taos Trappers (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1971). http://www. mountainsofstone. com/rendezvous. htm http://westernexplorers. us/FurTrade. html http://www. uintahbasintah. org/usmountainmen. htm

Frederick McKinley Jones

Frederick McKinley Jones was one of the most prolific black inventors and held over 60 patents at the time of his death. Some of his most important work changed the way we store and transport our food, and altered the transportation and grocery industries forever. Fast Facts: Frederick McKinley Jones Born: May 17, 1893 in Cincinnati, OhioDied: February 21, 1961 in Minneapolis, MinnesotaKnown For: Inventor who revolutionized the refrigeration industry and held over 60 patentsEducation: Orphaned at a young age, Jones had little formal education, but he taught himself automobile mechanics and became an engineerAwards and Honors: First African American elected to the  American  Society  of Refrigeration Engineers, and first African American to be awarded a National  Medal  of Technology (posthumously)   Early Years A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Frederick McKinley Jones was born on May 17, 1893, to an Irish father, John Jones, and an African American mother. By the time he was 7 years old, his mother had deserted the family, and his father sent him to live with a Catholic priest in a rectory in Covington, Kentucky, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. While in Kentucky, young Fredericks father passed away, essentially leaving him an orphan. When he was 11, Jones decided hed had enough of living with the priest, so he ran away and returned to Cincinnati. During his teen years, he found work doing odd jobs around the city, and soon found he had a natural aptitude for automobile mechanics. He also began to read a lot, although he had little formal education. At 19, he traveled north to a farm in Hallock, Minnesota, where he took a job doing mechanical labor on the farm machinery, and soon was able to obtain an engineering license. When war broke out, Jones enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he was in high demand for his mechanical abilities. He spent much of the war making repairs to machines and other equipment, as well as maintaining communications systems at the front. After his military service ended, he returned to the farm in Minnesota. Inventions While living at the Hallock farm, Jones began to take an interest in electronics, and read as much as he could on the subject. According to Biography.com, When the town decided to fund a new radio station, Jones built the transmitter needed to broadcast its programming. He also developed a device to combine  moving  pictures with sound. Local businessman Joseph A. Numero subsequently hired Jones to improve the sound equipment he produced for the film industry. Numeros company, Cinema Supplies, was excited about Jones inventions, and within a few years, the two of them would form a partnership. Frederick McKinley Jones, inventor, refrigeration expert and cofounder of Thermo King Corp., holding a model of his refrigerated railroad car. Bettmann Archive / Getty Images Mobile Refrigeration In the 1930s, it was risky to transport perishable products. Grocery shipments were typically limited to short distances; ice melted quickly, and any sort of  electronic refrigeration unit required a layover at a power source, which delayed delivery time. However, by 1938, Jones believed he had found a solution, and in 1940 he obtained a patent for the first practical transport refrigeration unit for the trucking industry. Jones designed a portable air-cooling device, which included an undercarriage gasoline motor sturdy enough to handle the jolts of long-distance travel. Early modifications made the units even smaller and lighter, and moved them to the over-the-cab mount that is still in use on refrigeration trucks today. Suddenly, people in rural or isolated areas could have access to fresh produce, meat, and dairy items all year long. Further advancements soon led to standardized refrigerated containers which could be utilized on a truck, ship, or train, all without the need of unloading and repacking. The transport refrigeration industry boomed with the creation of these refrigerated boxcars, all of which used Jones technology. Together with Numero, who sold Cinema Supplies, Jones formed the U.S. Thermo Control Company, which grew rapidly in the 1940s. During World War II, the company provided refrigeration units that were used to help preserve not only food, but also blood and medicine for the military. In addition, U.S. Thermo Control cooling products were built into the cockpits of bombers and ambulance planes, and also provided air conditioning to personnel in field hospitals. Near the end of the war, Jones became the first African American inducted into the  American  Society  of Refrigeration Engineers, and by 1949, U.S. Thermo Control—which later became Thermo King—was worth several million dollars. Throughout the 1950s, Jones did consultant work for the Department of Defense, the Bureau of Standards, and other branches of the government. Although he is best known for his work with refrigeration units, during his lifetime, Frederick Jones patented over 60 inventions. He created X-ray machines, small and large engines, and sound equipment for radio and film production, generators, and even a machine that dispensed paper tickets. Jones passed away in Minneapolis, after a battle with lung cancer, on February 21, 1961. In 1977, he was inducted into the Minnesota Inventors Hall of Fame. Thirty years after his death, President George H.W. Bush awarded the National  Medal  of Technology posthumously to Jones and Numero, presenting the awards to their widows in the White House Rose Garden. Jones was the first African American to receive the National  Medal  of Technology. Sources â€Å"Frederick Jones.†Ã‚  Biography.com, AE Networks Television, 19 Jan. 2018, www.biography.com/people/frederick-jones-21329957.â€Å"Frederick McKinley Jones.†Ã‚  The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Ed, Encyclopedia.com, 2019, www.encyclopedia.com/people/science-and-technology/technology-biographies/frederick-mckinley-jones.â€Å"Frederick McKinley Jones.†Ã‚  Invent.org, National Inventors Hall of Fame, 2007, www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/343.html.â€Å"Frederick McKinley Jones: How Has He Transformed the Scene?†Ã‚  Richard G. (Gurley) Drew, www.msthalloffame.org/frederick_mckinley_jones.htm.