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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

The South African War: Implications And Convictions Of Postwar Politics And Policy, Jaffar Shiek Apr 2017

The South African War: Implications And Convictions Of Postwar Politics And Policy, Jaffar Shiek

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

Apartheid in South Africa is a widely known tragedy in the realm of history and political science. In order to understand the racism and prejudice that served as the framework of apartheid, it is important to understand it’s inception and the ripe settings for its implementation. The aim of this paper is to trace and depict the events leading up to apartheid, including the Boer Wars and the consequences of Britain’s Scorched Earth policy. Using works such as Professor Higginson’s “Hell in Small Place: Agrarian Elites and Collective Violence in the Western Transvaal, 1900-1907,” and primary documents from Jan Smuts, …


From Hellenism To Hitlerism: The Use Of Sport As An Ethnic And Cultural Identifier, Ethan Schwartz Apr 2017

From Hellenism To Hitlerism: The Use Of Sport As An Ethnic And Cultural Identifier, Ethan Schwartz

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

From antiquity onwards, sports and competitive athletic events have been used as an area to implement othering strategies. Othering is the attempt to differentiate a societal group by some determining factor. Evidence of athletics being used as an othering medium, is prevalent throughout ancient Greece, ancient Rome, Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and early 20th century Britain.


An Unending War: The Legacy Of Agent Orange, Miranda Burrage-Goodwin Apr 2017

An Unending War: The Legacy Of Agent Orange, Miranda Burrage-Goodwin

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

During the Vietnam War (1955-1975), the United States military dropped nineteen-million gallons of a chemical defoliant commonly known as Agent Orange. In the direct aftermath of this conflict, many U.S. and Vietnamese soldiers, civilians, and related progeny experienced severe and often life threatening diseases and birth defects. This paper seeks to establish a more concrete link between the chemical defoliants and these diseases. Despite the overwhelming evidence, many scholars and scientists are reluctant to acknowledge this connection. In the years following the Vietnam War, the abortion rate in Vietnam saw a drastic increase. This study provides evidence for causation, not …


From The Meanest Man To King Charles I: The King’S Role In The Trial Of King Charles I, Benjamin Lerer Apr 2017

From The Meanest Man To King Charles I: The King’S Role In The Trial Of King Charles I, Benjamin Lerer

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

The House of Commons convened the High Court of Justice to try King Charles I for various high crimes and treason. The High Court of Justice found King Charles I guilty. But the High Court of Justice was illegitimate and could not try the meanest man in England. Ben Lerer analyzes civil lawyer Sir Edmund Pierce’s views on the King’s role, the views on the King’s role expressed by acts of the House of Commons, and the views on the King’s role expressed by the King himself, the crowd, and the High Court of Justice.


Popular Literature In The Abbasid Caliphate: How It Represented And Defined The Culture Of The Abbasids, Genevieve Weidner Apr 2017

Popular Literature In The Abbasid Caliphate: How It Represented And Defined The Culture Of The Abbasids, Genevieve Weidner

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

Often times, the study of history focuses on concrete events, such as wars or political measures. In a history classroom, this is usually not out of neglect, but for the sake of time. In order to cover the broadest timeline, history teachers often gloss over the culture of each region they study. However, the culture is an essential part of history. The culture explains what people valued, which contributes to the events that usually define the course of history. This paper examines two styles of popular literature during the Abbasid Caliphate. By examining poetry and the prose works of Kalila …


Ward Bosses And Reformers: An Analysis Of Boston’S Irish Political Machine, 1884-1914, Andrew Marton Apr 2017

Ward Bosses And Reformers: An Analysis Of Boston’S Irish Political Machine, 1884-1914, Andrew Marton

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

This essay examines the rise and fall of Boston’s ward-based Irish political machine, from the 1880s to its demise in the 1914 municipal elections. The bosses who ran the machine, though initially successful, undermined themselves by limiting their outreach to the city’s Irish population. Meanwhile, the machine fractured at the turn of the century, with bosses fighting for power, weakening the machine. With waning support and the rise of factional bickering, the machine was weakened by the reformist 1909 city charter, then destroyed by the unforeseen dark horse victory of Irish politician James Michael Curley in the 1914 mayoral election.