Plastic is a word that originally meant “pliable and easily shaped.” It only recently became a name for a category of materials called polymers. The word polymer means “of many parts,” and polymers are made of long chains of molecules. Polymers abound in nature. Cellulose, the material that makes up the cell walls of plants, is a very common natural polymer.
Over the last century and a half humans have learned how to make synthetic polymers, sometimes using natural substances like cellulose, but more often using the plentiful carbon atoms provided by petroleum and other fossil fuels. Synthetic polymers are made up of long chains of atoms, arranged in repeating units, often much longer than those found in nature. It is the length of these chains, and the patterns in which they are arrayed, that make polymers strong, lightweight, and flexible. In other words, it’s what makes them so plastic.
These properties make synthetic polymers exceptionally useful, and since we learned how to create and manipulate them, polymers have become an essential part of our lives. Especially over the last 50 years plastics have saturated our world and changed the way that we live.
The First Synthetic Plastic
The first synthetic polymer was invented in 1869 by John Wesley Hyatt, who was inspired by a New York firm’s offer of $10,000 for anyone who could provide a substitute for ivory. The growing popularity of billiards had put a strain on the supply of natural ivory, obtained through the slaughter of wild elephants. By treating cellulose, derived from cotton fiber, with camphor, Hyatt discovered a plastic that could be crafted into a variety of shapes and made to imitate natural substances like tortoiseshell, horn, linen, and ivory.
This discovery was revolutionary. For the first time human manufacturing was not constrained by the limits of nature. Nature only supplied so much wood, metal, stone, bone, tusk, and horn. But now humans could create new materials. This development helped not only people but also the environment. Advertisements praised celluloid as the savior of the elephant and the tortoise. Plastics could protect the natural world from the destructive forces of human need.
The creation of new materials also helped free people from the social and economic constraints imposed by the scarcity of natural resources. Inexpensive celluloid made material wealth more widespread and obtainable.
In exchange, the United States pledged to avoid involvement in the political affairs of Europe, such as the ongoing Greek struggle for independence from the Ottoman Empire, and not to interfere in the existing European colonies already in the Americas.
The answer is European colonies that are already existing in the Americans.
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The system of checks and balances is an important part of the Constitution. With checks and balances, each of the three branches of government can limit the powers of the others. This way, no one branch becomes too powerful.
Explanation:
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The march<span> was successful in pressuring the administration of John F. Kennedy to initiate a strong federal civil rights bill in Congress. During this event, Martin Luther King delivered his memorable ''I Have a Dream'' speech. The 1963 </span>March on Washington<span> had several precedents.</span>
A His capture of Vicksburg prevented shipments of Confederate supplies from reaching the West.
William T. Sherman's siege and eventual capture of Vicksburg led to the severing of the western half of the confederate states from the east, leading to the South having problems moving supplies and man across, and effectively cut off all trade, weakening the CSA.
B His march destroyed Georgia and demonstrated the military superiority of the Union troops.
Sherman's famous "March to the Sea" was directed through the state Georgia, in which the soldiers destroyed many infrastructures, and burned crops. They also freed slaves in the surrounding area, which swelled their ranks.
D His capture of Atlanta facilitated the reelection of Lincoln as president.
Many Northerners were complaining that Lincoln was not doing much to help the war (as the North progressed slowly), and looked to a general that Lincoln had laid off, George McClellan, who headed the Democratic Party and promised a speedy treaty with the South with favorable terms for both sides. However, victory by Lincoln's generals meant that the people had faith in him again, and so they reelected him.
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It is NOT C, because Sherman's march to the sea was through Georgia, and in no way did it progress near the Gulf of Mexico (meaning that he cut through Texas).
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