Discusses the eighteenth-century view of virtue as an end in itself. Observes that property, prosperity, and individualistic attitudes were essential aspects of economic virtue, whereas majority rule became a central tenet of civic virtue. Explains that public education and governmental checks and balances were seen as means of promoting economic…

E.W. Scripps's penny newspapers brought a new style of public service journalism to the Pacific Northwest's four largest cities--Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, and Portland--in the turbulent years of the Progressive movement from 1899 to 1912. Minimal investment, tight cost controls, and the idea that a small, condensed newspaper could be more popular…

Explores, in a reprint of the 1989 Junior Division National History Day winning paper, the history of some technological developments in Pennsylvania's coal mining industry. Examines the "breaker boys," youths who sorted coal in severe working conditions. Introduces Ellen Webster Palmer, who addressed the problem by organizing the Boys'…