Keeping In Touch In American History

Provides an overview of the ways in which people communicate with each other-- from the earliest means up to the most recent.

Traces the changes in the way Americans have dressed from colonial times to the present, and describes the technological and social developments behind these differences.

In the first of the three volumes of his projected comprehensive narrative history of the role of law in America from the colonial years through the twentieth century, G. Edward White takes up the central themes of American legal history from the earliest European settlements through the Civil War. Included in the coverage of this volume are the interactions between European and Amerindian legal systems in the years of colonial settlement; the crucial role of Anglo-American theories of sovereignty and imperial governance in facilitating the separation of the American colonies from the British Empire in the late eighteenth century; the American "experiment" with federated republican constitutionalism in the founding period; the major importance of agricultural householding, in the form of slave plantations as well as farms featuring wage labor, in helping to shape the development of American law in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; the emergence of the Supreme Court of the United States as an authoritative force in American law and politics in the early nineteenth century; the interactions between law, westward expansion, and transformative developments in transportation and communiciation in the antebellum years; the contributions of American legal institutions to the dissolution of the Union of American states in the three decades after 1830; and the often-overlooked legal history of the Confederacy and Union governments during the Civil War. White incorporates recent scholarship in anthropology, ethnography, and economic, political, intellectual and legal history to produce a narrative that is both revisionist and accessible, taking up the familiar topics of race, gender, slavery, and the treatment of native Americans from fresh perspectives. Along the way he provides a compelling case for why law can be seen as the key to understanding the development of American life as we know it. Law in American History, Volume 1 will be an essential text for both students of law and general readers.

When the Handbook for Research in American History was first published, reviewers called it "an excellent tool for historians of all interests and levels of experience . . . simple to use, and concisely worded" (Western Historical Quarterly) and "an excellent work that fulfills its title in being portable yet well-filled" (Reference Reviews). The Journal of American History added, "It is not easy to produce a reference work that is utilitarian and enriching and does not duplicate existing works. Professor Prucha has done the job very well." This second, revised edition takes account of the revolution that is occurring in bibliographic science as printed reference works extend to electronic databases, CD-ROMs, and online networks such as the Internet. Focusing on and expanding the major section of the original Handbook, it provides information on traditional printed works, describes new guides and updated versions of old ones, notes the availability of reference works and of some full-text sources in electronic form, and discusses the usefulness to researchers of different kinds of material and the forms in which they are available. Extensive cross-referencing and a detailed index that includes authors, subjects, and titles enhance the book's usefulness.

While Hollywood’s success – its persistence – has remained constant for almost one hundred years, the study of its success has undergone significant expansion and transformation. Since the 1960s, Thomas Elsaesser’s research has spearheaded the study of Hollywood, beginning with his classic essays on auteurism and cinephilia, focused around a director’s themes and style, up to his analysis of the "corporate authorship" of contemporary director James Cameron. In between, he has helped to transform film studies by incorporating questions of narrative, genre, desire, ideology and, more recently, Hollywood’s economic-technological infrastructure and its place within global capitalism. The Persistence of Hollywood brings together Elsaesser’s key writings about Hollywood filmmaking. It includes his detailed studies of individual directors (including Minnelli, Fuller, Ray, Hitchcock, Lang, Altman, Kubrick, Coppola, and Cameron), as well as essays charting the shifts from classic to corporate Hollywood by way of the New Hollywood and the resurgence of the blockbuster. The book also presents a history of the different critical-theoretical paradigms central to film studies in its analysis of Hollywood, from auteurism and cinephilia to textual analysis, Marxism, psychoanalysis, and post-industrial analysis.

Imam W. Deen Mohammed said in a public address; words make people. I believe that a word can be anything that leaves an impression on the minds of human society, be it spoken, acted out, or whatever form it may take, all creation is to be seen as a word. According to scripture, all creation is here as a result of a word spoken by G-d, so again we say, words make people. If we can go deeper and look at the mind of the human being, and look at what kinds of words that are going into the mental makeup of a person, we then can get a better picture of what forms the character of that person. We must understand that our physical construction only acts as a vehicle that transports the mind, which is the real person. So just to view the physical makeup of a person is not really seeing that person at all. It is the ideas, the activities, the words, etc: that comes from that persons mind that helps us to see the real person. So now we can see the importance of understanding a word like leader. Leader; a person that leads, or has commanding influence or authority over others. The director, conductor, or guide. Ship; the state, condition, or quality of something. Art skill of office. So now we see that not only do we still need leaders, but also we must have leaders that have the best interest of the people at heart. Leaders with the vision, the wisdom, knowledge, and the integrity to know when to stay, or change courses so that not only will they be able to get the people to the next level, but will also give the people the knowledge so that they may guide themselves through the rough waters of society. When we talk about leadership, we should understand that for the subject to even come up, there has to be something lacking in the minds of the people in term of where we as a people, or as a society want to go, and how we are going to reach the goals we have set for ourselves. In todays society we hear some foolish people make the statement, I dont need a leader. Or I follow my self, I make my own decisions. We must understand that theres not a thought, or an idea that we can think of that is our very own We are influenced by the environment that we live in. We should also realize that this society is not hap hazard, but rather, very orchestrated. Therefore many decisions that we make become life determining. In todays society we are lead to think that all accomplishments have to be material. With this kind of thinking, we can easily see how a person can become so limited in terms of growth, and development, and a non- - contributor to the positive development of human society as a whole. Many are influenced by the all pervasiveness of the media, which contrary to what those in media would have us believe, media is not art mimicking life, but rather it helps to set the trends of life. We see many people with lots of money, especially those in the field of entertainment, with little or no vision, reach their peak in the early stages of their development, and then suddenly crash as a result of the trials of life. Still others who desire to have these material accomplishments, although never rise to that level, still they see it as their lifes goal, and in their quest for it, they use illegal methods, which eventually leaves them dead in the streets, or locked up behind bars for a good deal of their young lives. Then there are those who continue to struggle to make ends meet, and those who do manage to make it up the higher end of the economic ladder. Too many of these tend to lose their identity because they have been lead to believe that the goal for the African American community is voting rights, or integration, and once these goals are achieved, then the struggle is over. As a consequence of this kind of thinking, as African Americans, we still see ourselves at the bottom of American society. Not only here in America, but around the world as well. It is unfortunate