American Imperialism in Liberia :: African History Essays

Until the late 19th century, America was not an imperialist nation in the sense that the western European nations were. The wars with Native Americans were not so much a colonization effort as it was sheer conquest. Imperialism is an oppression of a foreign land and people for the purpose of enhancing the economy and political prowess of the imperialist nation, as well as enforcing the imperialist nation’s culture and often religion on the native population. The Native American oppression was too domestic to be considered imperialism, and was done strictly for the land and the American belief in Manifest Destiny. In short, the Indian wars were no more imperialistic then the Ottoman conquest of the Byzantine Empire or the NAZI invasion of Europe. As a nation, America did not become imperialistic until the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, under whom the U.S. acquired its first foreign colony. America did have a significant influence in Liberia, despite a void of military presen ce. The American government’s allowance of slavery and the ensuing anti-slavery campaign led to the rise of the American Colonization Society (ACS) in 1817. The ACS, headed by Robert Finley, bought land on the West Coast of Africa in what is now called Liberia. This project was funded by members of the ACS and the American government, the latter of which donated one hundred thousand dollars in 1819. The ACS had a very strong influence in the American government due to some of its most prominent members, who included James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Francis Scott Key, Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay. Free blacks in America and newly freed blacks off of slave ships in the West Indies were transported to Liberia from 1819 until the end of the Civil War, when the organization’s funding diminished. During that time, over thirteen thousand blacks immigrated to Liberia including over two-thousand six-hundred African-Americans. This immigration did not make a significant dent in the population of free blacks in the United States, which at that time was approximately two hundred thousand. The motives for the black colonization of Liberia were polar opposites. Some slaveholders were at one end of the spectrum, arguing that free blacks were dangerous to American society and should be taken back to Africa. Supporters of free blacks, on the other hand, reasoned that blacks would never surmount the racial prejudice in America and thus would be better off in among the blacks of Africa.

Obesity and Biology

Obesity and Biology Obesity isn’t classified as an eating problem anymore. It is more than that a person’s biology plays a big roll. Cells and hormones play a big roll on how big you are and how your body regulates energy. Food equals energy and the body stores that energy in fat cells and uses the energy as needed. The metabolism breaks down that food and uses the energy generated from that food for everyday activities such as walking, talking, thinking. The faster ones metabolism is the more efficient they are at breaking down food and using the energy.The slower the metabolism the more energy gets stored and gets turned into fat cells and not used. The hormone leptin, which is produced in fat cells, sends signals to the brain telling it that its levels are dropping which means the cells are reducing. When this occurs the brain processes that information as starvation and sends signals back to slow down the metabolism and store as much energy as possible. There are pe ople who eat less than other but still gain weight. That’s a biological problem. There are areas in the brain research has found that if damaged can lead to obesity.One such area is the ventromedial hypothalamus and the surrounding axons. If this area in the brain is damaged at then this can lead to overeating and more storing of fat cells. Research conducted on rats at the University of Nebraska looked at this area in the brain and how it affects food intake and body weight. With damage to that area the rat nearly tripled in size in the cores of about sixty days. Food intake does not always correspond to body weight. It is possible to excessively eat and not gain weight. It just matters how active one is and how efficient the metabolism is.There are other areas in the brain located in the prefrontal cortex that also can affect body weight. Those areas are responsible for food-seeking behaviors. If one is always hooked on seeking high fat food such as burgers and high sugar d rinks such as coke then that can lead to an overweight problem. The problem with sugared drinks such as coke is that it is high in fructose sugar and that particular sugar does not raise insulin or leptin as other sugars do. So you drink more of the soda, which equates to more calories without satiety. The brain is not the only factor in weight another factor can be genetics.Your gene makeup can be responsible for how much energy you store, and that’s all been passed down to you from your ancestors. If your ancestors were only getting by in life by eating very little as about 1000 calories a day and storing a lot of energy in fat cells and using that energy efficiently then that means you should not eat foods that are high in fat. The reason is your genetic makeup structures your body to store more energy from food. Those whose body is structured like this that eat a normal diet of about 2500 calories a day will gain weight.That is due to the fact that the genes were from the ancestors thought a normal diet of about 1000 calories was good enough to get them by. In America most foods you find these days have a lot of fat in them. Good tasting unhealthy food is cheaper than healthy food. A burger is way cheaper than a salad these days. The American life style requires people to be able to get food quickly. No one likes waiting anymore and barely anyone cooks anymore. Home kitchens are beginning to shrink as Americans waist size is beginning to grow. Fast food restaurants blanket almost every business street.Americans eating lifestyle is one of the biggest factors in their weight. Obese people who lose weight end up gaining it right back because the brain thinks the body is starving because there are not enough fat cells that it was normally used to. A person that loses weight cannot eat the same amount as a person who is naturally at that weight. They have to eat about 500 calories less in order to maintain their new weight. Its not only a temporary diet they have to be on, but a lifetime diet if they want to keep the weight off and they have to exercise everyday.

Define the terms Conservative, Liberal and Marxist History...

History has been understood differently by different people. While some have understood it as the study of the past events, others have defined it as a record of human actions which have occurred in the past.1 However the variety of definitions, it should be pointed out that history does not constitute everything that happened in the past. Only those past activities which have had a bearing on the present are what may qualify to be worth history.2 Just as there are many definitions of history, so are there many branches of history. This essay is meant to define and illustrate the importance of three of the braches of history. These include Conservative, Liberal and Marxist History. The essay is organized in two parts. The first part will†¦show more content†¦According to him, these struggles are perpetuated by the state and economic conditions such as capitalism which produces oppressed classes. He contended that capitalists will destroy engage in brutal competitive struggle s with each other, thereby giving an opportunity to the exploited laboring classes to rise up against capitalism and overthrow it so that they replace it with communism. In communism, there would be no classes and economic benefits would be shared equitably.8 Marxist History is therefore, that interpretation of history on the basis of not only social and political factors but also economic factors. Marxist historians asserted that poverty and diseases of the poor people are as a result of social classes and conditions under which peasants lived and worked.9 The base of man’s problems was to be found in the division of society into classes. Therefore, in order building a society with no exploitation is only dependant on the forceful removal of the capitalist system. At the centre of radical history is the argument that the historical analysis of man’s progress and development is meaningless unless that analysis puts into consideration the economic and social relations aspect.10 This is unlike liberal history which only emphasizes the social and political factors in the analysis of man’s development. So far, it is clear that Marxist History differs considerably from the otherShow MoreRelatedSociology Essay20437 Words   |  82 Pages20.05.00. Copyright  © Guardian News Media Ltd 2000; ‘Adoption boost for gay couples’, guardian.co.uk, 07.05.02. Copyright  © Guardian News Media Ltd 2002; and Anushka Asthana, ‘Religious schools â€Å"show bias for rich†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢: Middle class favoured, study shows: Faith schools deny selection claim’, The Observer, 02.03.08. Copyright  © Guardian News Media Ltd 2008; Philip Allan Updates for material from, ‘Gender differences in education: The underachievement of boys, Sociology Review, Vol. 8, IssueRead Moreethical decision making16006 Words   |  65 Pagesallotted its state health department $750,000 to match Ryan White federal funding for medication sufï ¬ cient to treat 20 patients with acquired immune deï ¬ ciency syndrome (AIDS). However, there were 100 patients who needed the help. Public health nurses in each district were asked to select patients for the medication program. A terminally ill cancer patient who is in great pain begs the nurse for more medication than the physician has ordered. What should the nurse do? A man was diagnosed and treatedRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesBrier, and Roy Rosenzweig Also in this series: Paula Hamilton and Linda Shopes, eds., Oral History and Public Memories Tiffany Ruby Patterson, Zora Neale Hurston and a History of Southern Life Lisa M. Fine, The Story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown, U.S.A. Van Gosse and Richard Moser, eds., The World the Sixties Made: Politics and Culture in Recent America Joanne Meyerowitz, ed., History and September 11th John McMillian and Paul Buhle, eds., The New Left Revisited David MRead MoreInstitution as the Fundamental Cause of Long Tern Growth39832 Words   |  160 PagesP17 ABSTRACT This paper develops the empirical and theoretical case that differences in economic institutions are the fundamental cause of differences in economic development. We first document the empirical importance of institutions by focusing on two quasi-natural experiments in history, the division of Korea into two parts with very different economic institutions and the colonization of much of the world by European powers starting in the fifteenth century. We then develop the basic outlineRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pagesa wide readership. Professor Stephen Ackroyd, Lancaster University, UK This new textbook usefully situates organization theory within the scholarly debates on modernism and postmodernism, and provides an advanced introduction to the heterogeneous study of organizations, including chapters on phenomenology, critical theory and psychoa nalysis. Like all good textbooks, the book is accessible, well researched and readers are encouraged to view chapters as a starting point for getting to grips with theRead MoreRastafarian79520 Words   |  319 Pagesrights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this bookRead MoreMarketing Management130471 Words   |  522 PagesResponsibility (CSR) and Ethics in Marketing 4. Have you understood type questions 5. Summary 6. Exercises 7. References 1. INTRODUCTION: The apex body in United States of America for the Marketing functions, American Marketing Association (AMA) defines marketing as â€Å"Marketing consists of those activities involved in the flow of goods and services from the point of production to the point of consumption. The AMA has since amended its definition to read as: â€Å"Marketing is an organizational functionRead MoreInternational Management67196 Words   |  269 PagesHodgetts, Fred Luthans, Jonathan Doh. 6th ed. 2006. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-07-811257-7 ISBN-10: 0-07-811257-5 1. International business enterprises—Management. 2. International business enterprises—Management—Case studies. I. Doh, Jonathan P. II. Hodgetts, Richard M. In ternational management. III. Title. HD62.4.H63 2012 658 .049—dc22 2011002070 www.mhhe.com Dedicated in Memory of Richard M. Hodgetts A Pioneer in International Management Education iii