Coming to America: Portrait of Colonial Life: Introduction of Slavery in Colonial America
For most of the 17th century, the number of slaves in the American colonies is quite small. Indentured servants and the settlers themselves handle most of the colonies' labor needs. The transition to slave labor in the Chesapeake is the result of ec...
Coming to America: Portrait of Colonial Life: Upsurge in Immigration
In addition to the large influx of African slaves in the early 18th century, there is an upsurge in the number of German and Scotch Irish Protestants who immigrate. Their economic potential is restricted in their home countries, in part because of t...
Crisis of Authority: Defeat in Indochina
The North Vietnamese launch a full-scale offensive against the South in March of 1975. Thieu appeals to Washington for assistance. As the North Vietnamese offensive gathers momentum in March and April of 1975, Ford breaks with Kissinger and announce...
Cotton Revolution, The
Historian and author Ira Berlin explains that with the advent of cotton as the most important crop during the nineteenth century, many slaves were uprooted from the seaboard states and transported to the deep south. This forced migration broke apart...
The Code: Newborn Screening
Newborn babies are routinely tested for phenylketonuria (PKU), a metabolic disorder that can cause retardation if not corrected with diet, and congenital hypothyroidism. Some states require additional tests for cystic fibrosis and hearing screening....
State of Mind: Bulimia and Anorexia Nervosa: Successful Treatment Programs
Eating disorders are complex illnesses. Successful treatment programs blend a combination of therapies--medical care and monitoring, psychotherapy and nutritional counseling. Erin, a patient involved in the Eating Disorders Program at UCLA and Micha...
State of Mind: How Are You Feeling?
People with a positive mental attitude accept themselves, have an optimistic yet realistic outlook on life, and cope effectively with change. Many citizens of the world are impaired by some form of mental illness, the causes of which are as varied a...
History of Virtue Ethics
Philosopher Martha Nussbaum briefly traces the history of virtue ethics, from Aristotle through Kant. She notes that the major theories of virtue have all included strong criticism of traditional social norms, and rejects the notion that virtue ethi...
How Does Science Add to Knowledge?: Popper's Criterion of Falsifiability
Karl Popper maintains that the role of scientific tests is to refute or falsify theories not confirm them. So science, he says, makes fallible conjectures, the bolder the better. For Popper, science is built level by level, setting new knowledge on ...
Human Nature: From Kierkegaard to Sartre
Philosopher Hubert Dreyfus talks about Kierkegaard's views of the self and human nature, including such concepts as "present age," "spiritlessness," passionate commitment," and the "aesthetic sphere." He then discusses Heidegger and Sartre, both of ...