Notes On Family History Assignment Essay Example For Students

Notes On Family History Assignment Essay Ayauna SumpterFamily History Assignment Customs, traditions, rules, and religion these are a few of the main things that make families so unique. Being that these 4 components is what makes up one big family there is way that these compartments intertwine, I am only 19 years old, and I m pretty sure my family history can go on forever, but I decided to expand my knowledge based on my immediate family members. This will only consist of my Grandmothers family history and how she created her family to follow all of the traditions and customs she was taught while growing up. For this assignment, I decided to conduct two short interviews with the family members I expected to know the most about our family history. My first interviewee would be my grandmother Luthelma W Johnson and my aunt Ve ga J Swepson. These two individuals are the oldest in my immediate family and they always showered my cousins and I with old stories about when they were growing up. Religion:Question – Who decided we would live our lives as Christians? Luthlema Johnson (Grandmother): My mother Lucinda Williams started taking me to church every Sunday when I was a little girl. We went to Ebenezer Baptist Church in Wilmington, NC. I enjoyed this church so much that once I started my family with your grandfather we started taking your Aunt and Uncle there every Sunday for Sunday school and Morning Worship along with attending Wednesday night bible study. Question Did you enjoy attending church every Sunday? Ve ga Swepson (Aunt) – As a child of course I would get tired of attending church EVERY SINGLE Wednesday and Sunday, but that has made me who I am today. Your uncle and I never had a choice to stay home from the church like you kids have now. Af. .ting over this project I honestly understand who I am as a person. I will admit I don t have the same beliefs as my family because I am getting older and beginning to learn things on my own. However, I am grateful to have a family to help build a strong foundation for me to become an independent young adult where I am able to figure out things on my own. With the family history assignment, I will say learned a lot about my families past and how it has led us to where we are today. I learned that my grandmother has a very big role in the changes that has been made to the family traditions. I also learned a little about how my great grandparents influenced the life I live now. I hope when I decide to start my own family I ll be able to pass down all of these traditions to my children and hopefully it ll help them become just as respectable and independent as I am.

Air Pollution †Essay Essay Example Essay Example

Air Pollution – Essay Essay Example Paper Air Pollution – Essay Introduction Since air pollution room automobiles is rapidly increasing people need to learn what we have done in the past to try and change it, what is coming out of our automobiles, have we done all we can to prevent it, or can we do more to help preserve our planet. Now people have been talking about cars and air pollution for years and years, and it may seem as if we are still in the same place we were decades ago, but what most do not know is that we have actually tried and accomplished to decrease it. In 1988 The Clean Air Act was passed. It was to decrease emission levels of Carbon Monoxide and other gases, imposes exultation onto businesses to meet certain limits of pollution output for the products they develop. Within the next several years, the Act’s primary goals were to: 1. Decrease automobile pollution by 60% 2. Decrease industrial plant toxic air emissions by 90%; 3. Supply cleaner gasoline In already -polluted cities; 4. Decrease sulfur dioxide (acid rain) emissions from co al;-burning electrical plants by 50%. In order to meet these limits, automobile manufactures had to try to make significant developments to decrease emissions and increase fuel-efficiency. They are still striving to produce vehicles with emission levels ranging from half the current average car level to zero emissions (Andrew Waterman). Cars do not just sit there on the road and cause =://syracusecoe.org/air-pollution-essay-4/ data-wpel-link=external rel=nofollow>air pollution; the emissions from the car while it is running cause it. The problem is, is that we resort to using gasoline for our source of power. Air Pollution – Essay Body Paragraphs When we ordinary gasoline ,which is what we all use when we will up our gas tanks, we are burning cheap, ordinary gasoline that gives off three primary pollutants : Hydrocarbons (HCI), Carbon Monoxide(CO), and Nitrogen oxides NO). These products contribute mostly to smog and the ozone in cities such as Los Angels, California (Andrew Waterman). Now ozone is not in fuels and/ or is it a by-product of combustion, it is formed in the atmosphere through a complex set of chemical reactions involving hydrocarbons (HCI), oxides of nitrogen, and sunlight. In typical urban areas (like Los Angels) at least half of those pollutants come from cars, buses, and trucks. This is because it is so populated so the use of automobiles much higher than most other cities, and he cause Of that is the city being covered in smog more than 70% Of the time (Michael Bright). Now when most people hear the word hydrocarbon, or carbon monoxide, many would say that they do not know what they are or consist of. This is a problem because this is the stuff that is coming out of our Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and trucks since we all drive those these days. Now hydrocarbon is any of numerous organic compounds, such as benzene and methane that contains only carbon and hydrogen. Now it doesn’t seem like it would be bad, but carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, highly poisonous as, CO, formed by the incomplete combustion of carbon or a carbonaceous material, such as gasoline. And Nitrogen Oxides are Knox Chemical compounds of nitrogen and oxygen; produced primarily from the combustion of fossil fuels, they contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone. Now these three chemicals are the main chemicals that are causing =://syracusecoe.org/causes-and-effects-of-air-pollution-essaycomposition/ data-wpel-link=external rel=nofollow>air pollution and the word â€Å"poisonous gas† doesn’t sound like its helping our problem (Answers. Com Those three harsh chemicals are not all that effec t air pollution, smog is also another huge one. Smog unpleasant properties result from the radiation by sunlight of hydrocarbons caused primarily by unburned gasoline emitted by automobiles and other combustion sources. Smog is created by burning coal and heavy oil that contain sulfur impurities in automobiles, and forms Of transportation. The smog consists mostly Of a mixture of sulfur dioxide and fog. Suspended droplets of sulfuric acid are formed from some of the sulfur dioxide, and a variety of suspended solid particles. This smog is common during the winter in cities that are highly populated because the use of automobiles is a lot higher than other cities (answers. Mom) when major cites burned large amounts of heavy oil without control of the output, large-Scale problems were witnessed such as in 1952, even thought it was over 50 years ago, we still have problems due to it, in London, England 4,000 people died. They died as a result of that form of fog A. K. A Smog. Now the pr oblem is better today, heavy oil is burned only in large boilers and with reasonably good control and/or tall smokestacks so that industrial smog is less of a problem, but some major countries still burn large quantities of oil without using adequate controls (Tom Cocoa). Since we know what is coming out of our automobiles, we should also know that it is affecting our schools, elementary, middle and even high schools, especially those near highways even more. One in three U. S. Public schools is in the â€Å"air pollution danger zone†. 30% of American public schools are within 400 meters, or a quarter mile, of major highways that consistently serve as main truck and traffic routes. The worst part about this study is that it is believed to be the first study of highly populated highways next to schools ever. This classically means that our children have been going to school where air pollution is at its highest, and no one has noticed or done anything about this problem. Major roads play an important role in the economy, but we need to strike a balance between economic and health considerations as we break ground on new areas. † It is almost as if no matter how we try to improve emissions coming out of automobiles, it doesn’t matter because populations keep growing, and major highways keep getting built (Amanda Harper). With the population increase daily and the growth of major highways taking place lily it is hard to imagine that air pollution from automobiles could be decreased. What most do not realize is that it has and is still decreasing. Today’s vehicles are 80 to 99 percent cleaner per mile that vehicles produced in the late sass’s, even though since 1970, the number of vehicle miles traveled nationwide has increased by 159 percent, from 1. 1 trillion in 1 970 to 2. 87 trillion in 2002 ( clean air program reports). Industries have been making significant improvements compared to the 1 ass’s, when no attempt was m ade to limit automotive air pollution before that. Even though the number of automobiles on the road is increasing by the year, still the emissions from cars have decreased the production of air pollution. Hydrocarbon emissions are down almost 98% from the sass’s levels, while Carbon monoxide levels are down 96%, and nitrogen oxides are down 90%. Smog and air qualities levels are changing for the better in most major cities, but not 100%. The pollution from automobiles is actually coming from only a small group of â€Å"grossly polluting’, newer cars, however, as about 10% of cars on the roes are counting for 50% of all harmful emissions put out by automobiles. Studies now show that, in fact, automobiles are becoming less of the major contributor to air pollution, but yet are still causing a lot of it (Andrew waterman). Though air pollution from cars has decreased by a lot over the last couple of decades, there are still things we can do to decrease it even more. Furt her exhaust emission controls for vehicles are approaching the limit of technology, and the only way to ensure healthy air is to markedly reduce our use of cars or to switch to cleaner fuels. Some fuels inherently cleaner than gasoline because they emit less nitrogen oxides or hydrocarbons that are less likely to react in the atmosphere to a form of ozone. These fuels include alcohols, electricity, natural gas, and liquid petroleum (propane). Basic changes in the composition of gasoline itself also can reduce emissions of most air toxic. Unless we dramatically reduce the amount of pollution that newer vehicles emit in actual use or drastically cut back on the amount we drive them, smog free is will continue to be non-existent in major cities (Michael bright). At the same time, with government legislation, increasing knowledge of the bigger picture, and the ability to profit from shifts toward less pollution, the harmful effects of emissions could/ will eventually be abandoned due to people wanting cleaner, safer, and more efficient means of gaining energy from nature (Andrew waterman). By every day that passes, automobiles pollute the air, may be not as much as they did decades ago, but they still do. The three major pollutants are hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, which are major reasons as to why air pollution is accruing. Now unless we completely change our form of gasoline or just stop using automobiles than we will keep having air pollution affects us. We now know what we have done in the past to try and change it, what is coming out of our automobiles, have we done all we can to prevent it, and the answer is that we have not done all we can to prevent it, because it we did than there would be no reason to talk about air pollution from automobiles because it would be known existent. Works Cited Page Bright, Michael. We will write a custom essay sample on Air Pollution – Essay Essay Example specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Air Pollution – Essay Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Air Pollution – Essay Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

The History of Fathers Day

The History of Fathers Day Fathers Day is held on the third Sunday in June to celebrate and honor fathers.  And while the first Mothers Day was celebrated in 1914 after President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation making Mothers Day the second Sunday in May,  Fathers Day did not become official until 1966.   The Story of Fathers Day Who invented Fathers Day? While there are at least two or three different people credited with that honor, most historians consider Sonora Smart Dodd  of Washington State to be the first person to have proposed the holiday in 1910. Dodds father was a Civil War veteran named William Smart. Her mother died giving birth to her sixth child, which left William Smart a widower with five children to raise on his own. When Sonora Dodd married and had her own children, she realized what a tremendous job her father had done in raising her and her siblings as a single parent. After hearing her pastor give a sermon about the newly established Mothers Day, Sonora Dodd suggested to him that there should also be a Fathers Day and proposed that the date be June 5, her fathers birthday. However, her pastor needed more time to prepare a sermon, so he moved the date to June 19, the third Sunday of the month. Fathers Day Traditions One of the early ways established to celebrate Fathers Day was to wear a flower. Sonora Dodd suggested wearing a red rose if your father was still living  and wearing a white flower if your father was deceased. Later, presenting him with a special activity, gift, or a card became commonplace. Dodd spent years campaigning for Fathers Day to be celebrated nationally. She commissioned the help of mens goods manufacturers and others who might benefit from a Fathers Day, such as the makers of ties, tobacco pipes, and other products that would make for a suitable gift for fathers. In 1938, a Fathers Day Council was founded by the New York Associated Mens Wear Retailers to help with the widespread promotion of Fathers Day. Still, the public continued to resist the idea. Many Americans believed an official Fathers Day would be just another way for retailers to make money since the popularity of Mothers Day boosted the sale of gifts for mothers. Making Fathers Day Official As early as 1913, bills had been submitted to congress to recognize Fathers Day nationally. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson pushed to make Fathers Day official, but couldnt muster enough support from Congress. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge  would also recommend that Fathers Day be observed, but did not go so far as to issue a national proclamation. In 1957, Margaret Chase Smith, a senator from Maine, wrote a proposal that accused Congress of ignoring fathers for 40 years while only honoring mothers. It wasnt until 1966 that  President Lyndon Johnson  finally signed a presidential proclamation that made the third Sunday of June, Fathers Day. In 1972, President Richard Nixon made Fathers Day a permanent national holiday. What  Gifts Fathers Want Forget about snazzy ties, cologne, or car parts. What fathers really want is family time. According to a Fox News report, About 87 percent of dads would rather have dinner with the family. Most fathers dont want another tie, as 65 percent said they would rather get nothing than another tie. And before you go running out to buy mens cologne, only 18 percent of dads said they want some kind of personal care product. And only 14 percent said they want automotive accessories.

The issue of immigration is complicated in the United States, Essay

The issue of immigration is complicated in the United States, basically because many more people want to come to this country th - Essay Example Others believe that we should extend amnesty and broaden our immigration policy so that many more immigrants can come here, especially as guest workers for a limited time. Opinion polls continually show aen overwhelming opposition to illegal immigration as well as for the idea of amnesty. Amnesty for illegal aliens is simply a reward for law-breakers and encourages even more illegal immigration. Those who want amnesty for illegal aliens do not seem to realize that a crime. Illegal immigrants receive more from public monies than they contribute which lowers the standard of living for legal citizens. Illegal immigrants contribute greatly to the overall population growth and health care, education and employment are the most impacted. Salaries are driven down by illegal immigrants willing to work for much less while their children, illegal and legal, overcrowd the schools. It’s the U.S. taxpayer who is sent the bill for their health care services as well. In addition, the large i nflux of illegal aliens burdens the already inadequate number of units classified as affordable housing and other welfare resources such as energy, water and land usage (â€Å"Illegal Immigration†). Laws should be enacted that bring criminal charges against all those who aid illegal aliens to gain entry into the country and against those employers who hire them.

Strategic Management of Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Management of Technology - Essay Example Companies such as IBM, Microsoft, Oracle to name a few, have been beset with the task of identifying suitable locations around the globe to set up infrastructures to profit on specialized workforce and competitive pricing. Look no further, for India is the destination for you. Algeiser Software Pvt. Ltd., a medium-sized software company employing 300 software engineers, is looking to improve its stakes in the international market through rigorous marketing and presentations. The strength of the Algeiser lies in its highly qualified loyal engineers, who believe that with the globalization of Indian markets to foreign investment and tie-ups, there are strong possibilities of the company going places. Many foreign companies would be participating in taking advantage of the liberalized policy by the Indian government to promote its well qualified workforce and cheap labour. The company's General Manager, Projects, Mr. Mukund Malhotra is well aware of his company's assets and is quite confident of coming up with a contingency plan to compete in this highly competitive market. The company directors are sure that with further inputs from Mr. Malhotra, and using his experience and tactical business development portfolio, Algeiser Software Pvt. Ltd. ... India is one of the fastest growing IT and telecom markets in the world today. The Indian IT market grew at over 26% in 2005, which included domestic BPO-ITeS, providing tremendous opportunities for IT and telecom vendors and service providers. Ranked as the 18th highest spender in IT in 2005, India is poised for greater growth and is expected to move up the table to 13th position in 2010. Its IT and Telecommunications markets provides trends and market dynamics for the IT and telecom industry, highlighting various products/segments driving the market like PCs, enterprise systems, storage, MFDs, IT Services, packaged software, BPO, enterprise applications, telecom services, datacom and so on. Leading hardware, software and services providers in India include, Cisco Systems, HCL, HP, IBM, Infosys, Microsoft, NIIT, Oracle, Satyam, Sun Microsystems, TCS, and Wipro (IDC, 2007). 1. Strategy Strategy plays an important part in the success of any organization. Imagine what would happen if one were to start an organisation without even considering its overall objectives and contingencies. Strategic management is the organisation of products, services, processes and systems; the elements present within the operating and wider environment of the enterprise, leading to effective growth and success. These elements require proper direction to generate an everlasting, successful, profitable, effective and innovative business system. This is the prerogative of a successful strategic business management. Algeiser Software Pvt. Ltd. faces major hurdles in the form of financial limitations, and international exposure to compete with these mega giants. With its limited financial backing, the company will have to remain content with its present market share, which is

Defining SMEs and Identifying their features

Defining SMEs and Identifying their features Governmental committee findings and research schemes have different approaches about the definition and the characteristics of small and medium businesses. Regarding performance of SMEs Westhead Storey have mentioned the small firm is not a scaled down version of a large firm. In short, theories relating to SMEs must consider the motivations, constraints and uncertainties facing smaller firms and recognize that these differ from those facing large firms. There are so many criteria either qualitative or quantitative to decide what form an enterprise is. In case of quantitative measures; staffing level, turnover and asset can be mentioned while others carry qualitative approach. Not only there is a large number of prospects regarding the features of SMEs but also governmental viewpoints conduct a numerous of SMEs definitions depending on the county being considered. For example the report which has been issued by Wiltshire Committee in Australia has shown this flexible definition of any SMEs (Meredith, 1994) Small business is one in which one or two persons are required to make all of the critical decisions (such as finance, accounting, personnel, inventory, production, servicing, marketing and selling decisions) without the aid of internal (employed) specialists and with owners only having specific knowledge in one or two functional areas of management. United states pay more attention to the position of organization within the overall marketplace. According to United States Small Business Administration (SBA) SMEs have the following definition An SME shall be deemed to be one which is independently owned and operated and which is not dominant in its field of operation. On the other hand the quantitative attitude has been emerged in United Kingdom, defining an SME as: Having fewer than 50 employees and is not a subsidiary of any other company. Small and medium enterprises have their own characteristics and applying large-scaled companies features to SMEs is not suitable. The studies which have done by Reynolds et al., (1994), Murphy (1996), Bunker MacGregor (2000) show differences in management style between large business and SMEs. These studies have illustrated SMEs tend to have a small management team rather than a group of people (often prefer to have one or two individuals), they are strictly monitored by owner of the firm and they have little control over their environment and responsibilities and the wish they could be independent. Differences between SMEs and larger firms are magnified even more when they move toward IT (Bunker and MacGregor 2000). Khan and khan (1992) mentioned that SMEs prefer not to run complicated applications on their computers. According to a general point of view of literature, a summary of features of SMEs has been reported by MacGregor and Vrazalic (2004) which is illustrated in Table. SMEs characteristics can be categorized either internal or external. Internal features embrace management, decision making and planning processes, and acquisition of resources on the other hand external characteristics are associated to the market (products/services and customers) and external environment. ID Characteristics of SMEs Reported by INT1 SMEs have small and centralized management with a short range perspective. Reynolds et al.. (1994) Bunker MacGregor(2002) Welsh white (1981) INT2 SMEs have poor management skills. Blili Raymond (1993) INT3 SMEs have informal and inadequate planning and record keeping processes. Reynolds et al., (1994) Tetteh Burn (2001) Miller Besser (2000) Rotch (1981) INT4 SMEs exhibit a strong desire for independence and avoid business ventures which impinge on their independence. Dennis (2000) Reynolds et al., (1994) INT5 The SMEs owner(s) has/have a strong influence in the decision making process Reynolds et al., (1994) Murphy (1996) Munker MacGregor (2000) INT6 SMEs owners often withhold information from colleagues. Dennis (2000) INT7 The decision making process in SMEs is intuitive, rather than bases on detailed planning and exhaustive study. Reynolds et al.. (1994) Bunker MacGregor (2000) INT8 Intrusion of family values and concerns in decision making processes. Dennis (2000) Bunker MacGregor (2000) ID Characteristics of SMEs Reported by INT9 SMEs are more intent on improving day-to-day procedures SMEs face difficulties obtaining finance and other resources, and as a result have fewer resources. MacGregor et al., (1998) Cragg King (1993) Welsh White (1981) Gaskill Gibbs (1994) Reynolds et al. (1994) Blili Raymond (1993) INT 10 SMEs are more reluctant to spend on information technology and therefore have limited use of technology. Walczuch et al. (2000) Dennis (2000) MacGregor Bunker (1996) Poon Swatman (1997) Abell Limm (1996) INT11 SMEs have a lack of technical knowledge and specialist staff and provide little IT training for staff. Martin Matlay (2001) Cragg King (1993) Bunker MacGregor (2000) Reynolds et al., (1994) Blili Raymond (1993) Table 1: Internal characteristics of SMEs categorized by MacGregor and Vrazalic (2004) ID Characteristics of SMEs Reported by EXT 1 SMEs have a narrow product/service range. Bunker MacGregor (2000) Reynolds et al. (1994) EXT2 SMEs have a limited share of the market (often confined toward a niche market) and therefore heavily rely on few customer. Hadjimonolis (1999) Lawrence (1997) Quayle (2002) Reynolds et al. (1994) EXT3 SMEs are product oriented, while large businesses are more customer oriented. Reynolds et al. (1994) Bunker MacGregor (2000) MacGregor et al(1998) EXT4 SMEs are not interested in large shares of the market. Reynolds et al. (1994) MacGregor et al. (1998) EXT5 SMEs are unable to compete with their larger counterparts. Lawrence (1997) EXT6 SMEs have lower control over their external environment than larger businesses and therefore face more uncertainty. Westhead Storey (1996) Hill Stewart(2000) EXT7 SMEs face more risks than large businesses because the failure rates of SMEs are higher. Brigham Smith (1967) Delone (1988) Cochran (1981) Table 2: External characteristics of SMEs categorized by MacGregor and Vrazalic (2004) Obviously, the most significant SMEs feature which clarifies border between small businesses and their larger counterpart is uncertainty the characteristic which has been come up by Westhead Storey (1996) and Hill Stewart (2000). It takes root in lacking control over external environment and this feature shows differences between large enterprises and their small counterparts. Electronic Commerce As the term electronic commerce is still an emerging concept, the definition varies between different contexts. Generally electronic commerce refers to the replacement of physical economic processes with electronic ones and the creation of new models for collaboration among trading partners. According to Tuunainen (1999) E-commerce consists of transaction oriented internet base functions (e.g. on-line catalogs, purchasing and payment).For online retail selling, the term e-tailing is sometimes used. There are a numerous studies regarding E-commerce so there are so many definitions for E-commerce.Turban et al. (2002) have expressed this definition as an emerging concept that describes the process of buying, selling or exchanging services and information via computer networks. Cummings and LeMaire (2005) described the meaning of E-commerce as an online system that allows customers to perform transactions over Internet. This process consists of whole business steps from ordering to delivery. Raymond (2001) specified E-commerce as functions of information exchange and commercial transaction support that operate on telecommunications networks linking business partners (typically customers and suppliers). Another definition which has been mentioned by MacGregor and Vrazalic (2004) is one of which presented by Damanpour (2001) as any net business activity that transforms internal and external relationships to create value and exploit market opportunities driven by new rules of the connected economy. Zwass (1996) identified another definition for E-commerce as sharing of business information, maintaining business relationships and conducting business transactions by means of telecommunications networks. An e-commerce and development report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) anticipated total value of world e-commerce in 2002 at about US$2.3 trillion, and it came to US$12.8 trillion by 2006 (E-commerce and Development Report, 2002) so in the words of Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations: E-commerce is one of the most visible examples of the way in which information and communication technologies (ICT) can contribute to economic growth. It helps countries improve trade efficiency and facilitates the integration of developing countries into the global economy. It allows businesses become more competitive. And it provides jobs, thereby creating wealth (E-commerce and Development Report, 2002).

Plains Indians

The destruction of the Plains Indians' cultures connected with the technological developments and government actions in the United States. During the period of struggle between Indians and Whites in the late 19th century, Indian leaders often traveled east to plead their case before the federal government, with few results. The building of the transcontinental railroads and all their branches was an inevitable part of the Industrial Revolution that drove America following the Civil War. The Indians were repressed due to the railroad, which cut through their territory in the West, the declining population of the buffalo, wars, and the loss of their land to White settlement. The federal government tried to quiet the Indians' protests by signing treaties with the chiefs of the tribes. However, the treaties failed because those who signed didn’t necessarily represent groups of people in Indian culture, and in most cases, the Indians didn’t recognize the authority chiefs outside of their own tribes. In the 1860s, the U. S. government made new efforts to relocate Indians into even smaller reservations than before. Indians were often promised that they wouldn’t be bothered further if they would just move out of their ancestral lands, and often, Indian agents were corrupt and sold off cheap food and products to their own fellow Indians. White men often ignored the treaties, though, and frequently scammed the Indians. In frustration, many Native American tribes attempted to fight back. After the Civil War, the U. S. Army’s new mission became to move the Indians out of the West so the White settlers could move in. A couple of Indians and Whites battled between 1860s to 1890s in a series known as the Indian Wars. Many times though, the Indians were better equipped than the federal troops sent to stop their revolts because arrows could be fired more rapidly than their rifles. However, the invention of the Colt . 45 revolver and Winchester repeating rifle put the Indians at a disadvantage. During this period, there was much violence among the Indians and Whites. Generals Sherman, Sheridan, and Custer all battled Indians in battles such as Little Big Horn. The building of the railroads is connected with the settlement of the West and the steady destruction of Indian cultures. The main food source for Plains Indians were the bison. In the early days, millions of bison populated the American prairie, and by the end of the Civil War, there were still 15 million buffalo. Many people killed buffalo for their meat and their skin but many people killed the bison for sport and just left the rest of the carcass to rot. However, it was the expansion of the railroad that really started the bison massacre. Railroads enhanced the value of the land enormously, but made farmers dependent on railroads. The need for open land led them to kill off the bison for railroad land. Railroad construction led to further settlement of the West, which in turn complicated conditions for the Indian tribes. The Plains Indians were driven out of their territory and into too small reservations. With the expansion of the railroad, down came their number one food source, the bison. Inventions such as the Winchester, led to the disadvantage of Indians during battles when protecting their land. The wars, overall, also affected the Indians. The government actions, building of the railroad and other inventions, contributed to the steady decline in the Plains Indians' population.