for "A-Z Answers only"

Saud Alotaibi

Prof. M. Leath

WRC 1013.01s

4 August 2014

essay #2

Compare and Contrast Between Alabama and Texas

Alabama and Texas are the states of the United States of America. Both are located in the south region of the United States. As Alabama is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Mississippi to the west, the Gulf of Mexico to the south and Georgia to the east, Texas shares an international border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south and borders the U.S. states of New Mexico to the west, Oklahoma to the north, Arkansas to the northeast, and Louisiana to the east. Alabama and Texas has cultural similarities as their culture remains more socially conservative than that of the rest of the country, but still both these states are vastly different in other aspects, as explicate in detail in this essay.

There exist a number of differences and similarities between the states of Texas and Alabama in terms of geography, climate, history, government and politics, economy, demographics, culture, education, healthcare, transport services, and so forth. Texas has the second largest population after California and it is also the second largest U.S state after Alaska in size. Texas is not predominantly a desert since only 10 percent of the land area is a desert. It has beautiful and diverse landscape on which most of the state’s population lives particularly areas that were initially coastline, forests, grasslands, and prairies. Alabama, on the other hand, ranks 23 among the most populous states of the United States of America. Alabama is at 30 among the most extensive states of the United States with 3.2 percent of the state under water. Most of the land area of the Alabama, unlike Texas, is a gentle plain with several exceptions, such as North Alabama region whose landscapes are predominantly mountainous (Murray 4-6). Just like Texas, Alabama has capricious weather, having an average annual temperature of 18 degrees Celsius. Temperatures tend to be slightly warmer to the south than the northern regions of the state. Alabama has generally hot summers and mild winters with an average rainfall of 1400 mm per year across the state. Summers in Alabama are one of the hottest in the United States with some areas experiencing up to 32 degrees Celsius temperatures throughout the summer (Heos 9-11).

Texas is home to some of country’s most impressive natural attractions. Caves, Canyons, Mountains, recherché beaches are some of the natural attractions which attracts tourists from all over the world to this Lone Star State. There is an estimated 213 classes of amphibians and reptiles, 64 kinds of mammals and the highest number of types of birds in the US which is about 590 native kinds in total. The vegetation within the Texas state includes wildflowers of bluebonnet, state flower, which exist along most of the main roads across the state, by and large in order to fence the highways, Texas was the first state to plant flowers along the main roads. Texas has a greatly capricious weather that ranges from cold winters in some regions, mild winters and varied rainfall pattern with areas such as southeast Texas receiving as much as 1600 mm rainfall annually and consistent summers of up to 32 degrees Celsius in most of the areas. Texas leads in the emission of greenhouse gases in the entire US and ranks 7 in the whole world, and this is attributed to the high number of plants that are dealing in coal to generate power as well as numerous manufacturing and refining industries (Kennedy 29-31). Alabama is home to varied array of flora and fauna. It ranks among the top ten states in nation that have a differentiated biodiversity. Alabama has a much more forest cover of pine than Texas, so much that it is the largest proportion in the state. It is approximated that Alabama has 93 reptile species, 62 mammal species, 73 amphibian species, 307 species of freshwater fish, and 420 species of birds (Heos 21-26).

The Texas government has a Governor with limited powers as Texas has the plural executive branch system where most executive offices are independently elected by voters, with exception of Secretary of State. This, therefore, means that the officers are directly answerable to these voters. The Texas States legislature is bicameral in nature as it consists of 150 members of the House of Representative and a 31 member Senate. The Texas judiciary is one the most complex in US, and it has numerous overlapping jurisdictions with two levels of courts last resort namely Texas court of criminal appeals Texas Supreme. The notable aspect of the Texas court system is its use of capital punishment, and this earned a reputation of having a harsh form of punishment for criminals (Kennedy 12-16).

The Texas political policies are predominantly Republican as Texas voters have been supporting the Republican presidential candidates since 1980. Texas is one of the largest economies in the US that is attributed to enormous population size estimated to be over 26 million as of July 1st, 2013, diverse natural resources, flourishing cities and prominent higher education institutions. The discovery of oil in the state has, as well, led to a major economic boom. Texas is known across the US to have one of the lowest tax rates. Other areas that Texas has invested in include agriculture, mining, energy, technology, commerce, and so forth.

The Alabama state constitution is much larger than the Texas and inevitably the longest constitution in the world. Unlike the Texas constitution, critics have cited that in Alabama’s, powers are limitedly vested on the public. The Alabama’s legislature has fewer House of Representative members totaling 105 but more Senate members who total to 35. Just like Texas, the Republican Party has the majority members of legislature which is as well bicameral in nature. Alabama’s Judiciary is not as complex as Texas as the main function is application of law based on civil and criminal justice. Alabama has as relatively low tax burden in the US as it currently ranked 2 among the least tax-burdened state in US (Heos 39-41).

Alabama is, as well, rich in educational institutions right from elementary levels to institution of higher learning with the largest campus in the entire state being the University of Alabama. The economy heavily depends on investments in healthcare; banking; education; industries, such as automobiles, steel making, mining, aerospace, and so forth. But the state does not have oil reserves and has the minimal investments in agriculture sector, unlike Texas. (Heos 44).

Works Cited

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Heos, Bridget. Alabama: Past and Present. New York: Rosen Central, 2010. Web. 8 Aug. 2014

Kennedy, William. Texas: The Rise, Progress, and Prospects of the Republic of Texas. California: R. Hastings. 8 August 2014.

Murray, Julie. Texas. Edina, Minn: ABDO Pub, 2006. 8 August 2014

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