Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Secular Damnation: Thomas Jefferson And The Imperative Of Race, Robert Forbes

Robert P Forbes

Race, we are told, is a “social construction.” If this is so, Thomas Jefferson was its principal architect. Jefferson consciously framed his only published book, Notes on the State of Virginia, to check the rising status of Africans and to combat growing critiques of slavery from America’s European friends. Jefferson did this by importing the slaveholder’s sense of slaves as chattel into an Enlightenment world view, providing a metaphysical foundation for prejudice by transmuting the traditional Christian concept of the saved vs. the damned into material and aesthetic terms. Recasting in quasi-scientific language the ancient doctrine of the mark …

“Truth Systematised" : The Changing Debate Over Slavery And Abolition, 1761-1916, Robert Forbes

Robert P Forbes

No abstract provided.

Gay Parenthood And The Revolution Of The Modern Family: An Examination Of The Unique Barriers Confronting Gay Adoptive Parents, Nicholas Arntsen

Nicholas Benedict Arntsen

Abstract: In recent decades, the structure of the American family has been revolutionized to incorporate families of diverse and unconventional compositions. Gay and lesbian couples have undoubtedly played a crucial role in this revolution by establishing families through the tool of adoption. Eleven adoptive parents from the state of Connecticut were interviewed to better conceptualize the unique barriers gay couples encounter in the process adoption. Both the scholarly research and the interview data illustrate that although gay couples face enormous legal barriers, the majority of their hardship comes through social interactions. As a result, the cultural myths and legal restrictions …

“Inherently Bad, And Bad Only”: A History Of State-Level Regulation Of Cigarettes And Smoking In The United States Since The 1880s. Volume 1: An In-Depth National Study Embedding Ultra-Thick Description Of A Representative State (Iowa), Marc Linder

Marc Linder

This book lays out empirical and methodological underpinnings for studying the early period of anti-cigarette legislation in the United States by overcoming the lack of primary source-based historical scholarship. Constantly repeating wildly erroneous claims at second, third, and more remote hand, anti-smoking academics and pro-tobacco apologists have fundamentally distorted history, on the one hand by dismissing the early anti-cigarette movement as merely religiously and morally motivated and the legislation it secured as unenforced exercises bereft of historical relevance, and, on the other by absurdly magnifying its achievements. Reconstruction of the national scope of the real course of the passage and …

'Fair Play Has Entirely Ceased And Law Has Taken Its Place': The Rise And Fall Of The Squatter Republic In The West Branch Valley Of The Susquehanna River, 1768-1800, Marcus Gallo

Marcus Gallo

The article presents a history of land tenure in Pennsylvania, focusing on the squatter settlements established by Scots-Irish immigrants near the West Branch Valley of the Susquehanna River, known as the Fair Play region, from 1768 to 1800. The article details how the settlers established farms to lay claim to their lands, chronicles conflicts between squatters and Indians over land rights, and discusses how a tribunal known as the Fair Play Men were able to resolved disputes amongst settlers. Other topics include the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, a land sale negotiation between Pennsylvanians and members of the Haudenosaunee Indians, documents …

Cornering The Black Market: A Role For The Corner Store In Community Development, Seneca Vaught

Seneca Vaught

This paper addresses these important themes by examining the impact of corner stores in two American cities: Buffalo, New York and Atlanta, Georgia. The paper illustrates how corner stores can effectively address unique demands in urban niche markets and the problems and possibilities these approaches present. The paper puts these developments into a historical, economic and spatial context that illustrates how neighborhood stores emerge and the dynamics of race, economics, and geography that they engage. Finally, the paper illustrates several models for effective small propriety grocers that specifically address issues of economic disparity and racial divisions, illustrating how these examples …

The Lost State Of Franklin: America's First Secession, Kevin Barksdale

Kevin T. Barksdale

In the years following the Revolutionary War, the young American nation was in a state of chaos. Citizens pleaded with government leaders to reorganize local infrastructures and heighten regulations, but economic turmoil, Native American warfare, and political unrest persisted. By 1784, one group of North Carolina frontiersmen could no longer stand the unresponsiveness of state leaders to their growing demands. This ambitious coalition of Tennessee Valley citizens declared their region independent from North Carolina, forming the state of Franklin. This book chronicles the history of this ill-fated movement from its origins in the early settlement of East Tennessee to its …

Violence, Statecraft, And Statehood In The Early Republic : The State Of Franklin, 1784–1788, Kevin Barksdale

Kevin T. Barksdale

In December 1784, a small contingent of upper Tennessee Valley political leaders met in Washington County, North Carolina's rustic courthouse to discuss the uncertain postrevolutionary political climate that they believed threatened their regional political hegemony, prosperity and families. The Jonesboro delegates fatefully decided that their backcountry communities could no longer remain part of their parent state and that North Carolina's westernmost counties (at the time Washington, Sullivan and Greene counties) must unite and form America's fourteenth state.

[Review Of The Book Icons Of Democracy: American Leaders As Heroes, Aristocrats, Dissenters And Democrats], Nick Salvatore

Nick Salvatore

[Excerpt] Icons of Democracy is a welcome change from the rather arid, often quantified analyses of political leadership so prevalent in academic writing. Well read in both primary and secondary sources, Miroff has deeply grounded his ideas in the rich historical context. In addition, he carefully chose his subjects and drew from their experiences central themes which, in divergent fashion, they also held in common. The resulting collective biography engages and challenges the reader. While partial to leaders in the dissenting tradition (they are "our true subversives and at times our truest democrats"), Miroff consistently points to the complexity of …

Review Of Next To Godliness: Confronting Dirt And Despair In Progressive Era New York City, Mark Tebeau

Mark Tebeau

Review of Next to Godliness: Confronting Dirt and Despair in Progressive Era New York City by Burnstein, Daniel Eli.

Introduction To Seventy Years Of Life And Labor: An Autobiography, Nick Salvatore

Nick Salvatore

[Excerpt] Samuel Gompers remains a central figure in American history during the society's most intense capital development. The choices he made from the possibilities he perceived were of great importance at the time and still influence the organization he founded. Despite his many achievements, however, the larger aspects of the qualities of his leadership remained weak. In his search for acceptance, he jettisoned the vision of working class unity that had motivated him in the 1870s and 1880s. The K of L slogan, that "an injury to one is the concern of all," Gompers dismissed, a casualty of the polemics …

Samuel Ward And The Making Of An Imperial Subject, Jeffrey Kerr-Ritchie

Jeffrey Kerr-Ritchie

America And Political Islam, Richard Lobban

Richard A Lobban

I received this book before 11 September 2001 and am reviewing it in the aftermath of that day. One could not imagine a more intense crucible in which to view a work on political Islam. Under the glare of the fiery collapse at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and with bombs falling on Taliban and al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, the work of an author and a reviewer requires even greater scrutiny.

Links On The Chain, Leslie Schuster, Robert Cvornyek

Leslie Schuster

"Links on the Chain: Labor at Century's End" encompassed a variety of events with broad appeal in the academic and labor communities. The series coordinated several diverse programs including an exhibition of labor photography; films on the life of the worker; and panel discussions on the future of enterprise compacts, European and Latin American labor movements, community organizing, and occupational safety and health. Moreover, the program featured two regional conferences. The University and College Labor Education Association (UCLEA) held its Eastern Regional conference during the month as did the New England Historical Association (NEHA). This well attended series brought labor …

American West Chronicle, Walter Nugent, William Deverell, Barton Barbour

Barton H. Barbour

No abstract provided.

Fort Union And The Upper Missouri Fur Trade, Barton Barbour

Barton H. Barbour

In this book, Barton Barbour presents the first comprehensive history of Fort Union, the nineteenth century’s most important and longest-lived Upper Missouri River fur trading post. Barbour explores the economic, social, legal, cultural, and political significance of the fort which was the brainchild of Kenneth McKenzie and Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and a part of John Jacob Astor’s fur trade empire. From 1830 to 1867, Fort Union symbolized the power of New York and St. Louis, and later, St. Paul merchants’ capital in the West. The most lucrative post on the northern plains, Fort Union affected national relations with a number …

Redeeming The Time: Protestant Missionaries And The Social And Cultural Development Of Territorial Nebraska, Robert Voss

Robert J. Voss

The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in May of 1854 formally opened a new region of the United States to settlers. Hundreds came with news of the creation of Nebraska Territory, but not in comparable numbers to the major western migrations that would follow after the Civil War. Instead, the initial small waves of Nebraska settlers would cling to the Missouri River and its settlements establishing communities on the eastern edges in the newly opened territory. These first settlers set the foundations for culture and society in Nebraska. From 1854 until 1860, pioneers claimed lands near the Missouri, with few …

Memo To Pundits: Stop Calling Rick Santorum A Fascist, Michelle Nickerson

Michelle M Nickerson

Although presidential candidate Rick Santorum advocates a theocratic agenda that should concern American voters, critics should avoid adopting the framework of "fascism" as a means of characterizing his policy initiatives.

A Question Of Progress And Welfare: The Jitney Bus Phenomenon In Atlanta, 1915-1925, Julian Chambliss

Julian C Chambliss

The article focuses on the popularity of private buses modified for passenger service known as jitneys in Atlanta, Georgia as alternatives to streetcars from 1915 to 1925. Jitneys were originated from Los Angeles, California in 1914 and became a success in Atlanta because of their low fares and convenience. Complaints are also listed in response to the venture, citing streetcar companies and city officials urging regulation of jitneys due to their competitive pressure. Commentary is also given noting the social class conflict which was manifested in the transportation policy debate.

Revolt Of The Polkos, Christy Allen

Christy Allen

No abstract provided.

G. Stanley Hall And An American Social Darwinist Pedagogy: His Progressive Educational Ideas On Gender And Race, Lester Goodchild

Lester F. Goodchild

President G. Stanley Hall hung only a portrait of Ralph Waldo Emerson in his office at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. The philosopher embodied Hall's most cherished mid-nineteenth century ideas that comprised part of his intellectual worldview. In the 1840s, Emerson reflected on his transcendental concepts of the common mind and instinct, which held all innate human knowledge and behavioral patterns, in his Essays. Later, Hall would believe that the human metaphysical psyche, driven by primordial instinct, offered an evolutionary font from which educational activities enabled individuals to discern their destinies and to discover their abilities. His intellectual journey began …

Review Of "Core Samples From The World" By Forrest Gander, Justin Wadland

Justin Wadland

The Oxford Encyclopedia Of American Social History, Lynn Dumenil

Lynn Dumenil

No abstract provided.