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The Gettysburg Historical Journal

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In Defense Of The “Peculiar Institution”: The Influence Of European Scientific Racism On The Confederacy, Guillem Colom Jan 2024

In Defense Of The “Peculiar Institution”: The Influence Of European Scientific Racism On The Confederacy, Guillem Colom

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Through the antebellum period and American Civil War, American and European race theorists exchanged ideas through correspondence and scientific explorations asserting the truth of scientific racism. Scientific racist beliefs posited the natural superiority of white people and inferiority of Black people based on what these theorists claimed were innate biological characteristics, and these beliefs served as a critical linkage between Europe and the United States. Utilizing correspondence and journal entries, this paper shows that this exchange of scientific racist ideas significantly influenced the Confederacy’s political thought and policy positions, especially foreign relations, through the Civil War. Through the work of …


What They Sang: The Religious Roots Of Spirituals And Blues, Carly A. Jensen Jan 2024

What They Sang: The Religious Roots Of Spirituals And Blues, Carly A. Jensen

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

This paper investigates the religious themes in spirituals, the religious songs sung by enslaved people in America, and the blues, a predominantly Black genre from the early Twentieth century. This work aims to answer if spirituals influenced the lyrics and musical structure of the blues or if the two genres developed independently. The paper covers the origins of spirituals and the blues, their appearance in the WPA Slave Narratives, and concludes with a close analysis of the religious influence on the work of famous Blues artists. Primary sources referenced in this project include the WPA Slave Narratives, famous Blues songs, …


The Americans With Disabilities Act In The Borderlands, Theodore J. Szpakowski Jan 2024

The Americans With Disabilities Act In The Borderlands, Theodore J. Szpakowski

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

During the twentieth century, the United States federal government claimed to be working in partnership with Indigenous governments. However, it neither sufficiently ensured that Indigenous people were protected to the same extent as settlers nor fully released Indigenous governments to create their own protections. The results of this dynamic can be seen through examining civil rights legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Although settler disability historians have tended to view the ADA as a unifying success, it did not legally or culturally account for disabled Indigenous people living on Indigenous land within the United States.


Front Matter Jan 2024

Front Matter

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Front Matter of the Gettysburg Historical Journal 2024


Letter From The Editors, Carly A. Jensen, Emily B. Suter Jan 2024

Letter From The Editors, Carly A. Jensen, Emily B. Suter

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

We are proud to present the twenty-third edition of The Gettysburg Historical Journal. The journal embodies the History Department’s dedication to diverse learning and excellence in academics. Each year, the journal publishes the top student work in a range of topics across the spectrum of academic disciplines with different methodological approaches to the study of history. This year, The Gettysburg Historical Journal received a plethora of submissions from both Gettysburg College students and other students around the country. The works accepted this semester focus on the diverse experiences of Americans throughout history, spanning from the American Civil War to the …


Featured Piece: The Historians Of Tiktok, Hannah Greenwald Jan 2024

Featured Piece: The Historians Of Tiktok, Hannah Greenwald

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

This year’s featured piece was written by Hannah Greenwald, an assistant professor in the History department. Professor Greenwald teaches classes on Latin American history, Atlantic history, and borderlands history. Her research focuses on Indigenous resistance, settler colonialism and nation-state formation.


Gettysburg Historical Journal 2024 Jan 2024

Gettysburg Historical Journal 2024

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Complete Issue of the Gettysburg Historical Journal 2024


Featured Piece: 1619, 1776, 2023, Timothy J. Shannon Jan 2023

Featured Piece: 1619, 1776, 2023, Timothy J. Shannon

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

This year’s featured piece was written by Timothy Shannon, a professor in the History department. Professor Shannon teaches early American, Native American, and British history at Gettysburg College and serves as the faculty adviser for the Gettysburg Historical Journal. His research focuses on Native American-European relations in eighteenth-century North America.


Letter From The Editors, Jordan C. Cerone, Carly A. Jensen Jan 2023

Letter From The Editors, Jordan C. Cerone, Carly A. Jensen

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

We are proud to present this year’s twenty-second edition of The Gettysburg Historical Journal. Having finally overcome the Covid-19 pandemic, the editors of the journal have had the opportunity to work together and with professors in person that we did not experience in the past two years. Coming out of the pandemic invigorated and ready to work, The Gettysburg Historical Journal received a plethora of submissions from both Gettysburg College students and other students around the country. The works accepted this semester offer a wide range of research spanning topics from Revolutionary America to postcolonial efforts in Vietnam.


A Historical And Philosophical Comparison: Joseph De Maistre & Edmund Burke, Carl J. Demarco Jr. Jan 2023

A Historical And Philosophical Comparison: Joseph De Maistre & Edmund Burke, Carl J. Demarco Jr.

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Most historians have focused on the British thinker and statesman Edmund Burke, when discussing the development of Conservatism. He is often considered the “Father of Conservatism” as his principal work Reflections on the Revolution in France inspired generations of conservative thinkers. However, another conservative thinker was writing during the same period as Burke and has been relatively lost to history. Joseph de Maistre, was developing conservative thought at the same time as Burke, but has received little to no credit for the influence he held. The aim of this paper is to show that Maistre was just as influential in …


Front Matter Jan 2023

Front Matter

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Front Matter of the Gettysburg Historical Journal 2023


Huelgas En El Campo: Mexican Workers, Strikes And Political Radicalism In The Us Southwest, 1920-1934, Patrick J. Artur Jan 2023

Huelgas En El Campo: Mexican Workers, Strikes And Political Radicalism In The Us Southwest, 1920-1934, Patrick J. Artur

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

The political and economic conditions of Mexican workers in the American Southwest during the Interwar Period, their alignment with American and Mexican radical political traditions, and their labor struggles in the region’s agriculture.


To Bigotry No Sanction, To Persecution No Assistance: Jews In The American Revolutionary Period, Ziv R. Carmi Jan 2023

To Bigotry No Sanction, To Persecution No Assistance: Jews In The American Revolutionary Period, Ziv R. Carmi

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

While Jews were a small minority in the American colonies, they nonetheless participated in the American Revolution on both sides. This paper aims to evaluate the role of Jewish people in the conflict, contextualizing the experiences of this small minority within the larger narrative of the American Revolution and establishing their importance in the development of religious freedom in the United States. Through the examination of these topics, this paper aims to explore the Revolutionary period from the perspective of the Jewish-American, discussing their often-overlooked experiences in this watershed period within U.S. history.


Postcolonial Museums And National Identity In Vietnam, Reese W. Hollister Jan 2023

Postcolonial Museums And National Identity In Vietnam, Reese W. Hollister

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Following the Vietnam Wars, the nation of Vietnam used museums to construct its identity for both national and international audiences. This paper first investigates the colonial origins of Vietnam's museum landscape, stemming from French ethnographic museums in colonial Indochina. Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism then serves as the theoretical framework to understand Vietnamese nation's collective, historical memory of the French and American Wars. This paper concludes that the Vietnamese national identity is based on the shared trauma and socialist solidarity that arise from anti-colonial resistance. Museums both construct and preserve this national identity, …


Gettysburg Historical Journal 2023 Jan 2023

Gettysburg Historical Journal 2023

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Complete Issue of the Gettysburg Historical Journal 2023


The Reintegration Of The Loyalists In Post-Revolutionary America, Marco J. Lloyd Jan 2023

The Reintegration Of The Loyalists In Post-Revolutionary America, Marco J. Lloyd

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Most White Loyalists were able to successfully reintegrate into society after the American Revolution. They made their case through decisions to stay and petition for amnesty, which was helped by demonstrating that they embodied republican civic virtues and by making amends with their community. Americans were willing to accept them back into society because of republican ideals, exhaustion from the war, the desire to repair community cohesion, and the social ties that prevailed between both sides throughout the war.


The Spartacus Rebellion, More Than A Slave Revolt, Gavin J. Maziarz Aug 2022

The Spartacus Rebellion, More Than A Slave Revolt, Gavin J. Maziarz

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

The Spartacus Revolt is commonly known for its titular leader, whose deeds have been romanticized in movies and other media. While Hollywood has led many to believe Spartacus was a revolutionary leader working to end slavery in the Roman Empire, this is not an accurate characterization. However, that does not mean that the Spartacus Revolt was nothing more than a historical footnote, although not for its leader. In fact, the revolt should be seen as a revolt of a middle class of veterans in the Roman Empire who wanted greater social standing than the end of the Social War had …


Lenses, Focus, And Fluidity: Lessons From Medieval Queer History, Reese Hollister Aug 2022

Lenses, Focus, And Fluidity: Lessons From Medieval Queer History, Reese Hollister

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

The Medieval era is sometimes overlooked within the field of Queer and Transgender History, but a recent shift in focus has revealed new discoveries and interpretations. This historiographical analysis posits that in the Middle Ages, gender and sexuality were much more fluid than previously believed.


Monuments Of Legitimacy: 17th Century Tokugawa-Sponsored Architecture As Political Objects, Ziv R. Y. Carmi Aug 2022

Monuments Of Legitimacy: 17th Century Tokugawa-Sponsored Architecture As Political Objects, Ziv R. Y. Carmi

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

This work aims to synthesize art history, historical memory, and Tokugawa-era Japanese politics with an art history approach and cultural analysis. It takes a more complete look at the politics of Tokugawa Ieyasu’s death and the significance of memorial and religious architecture as political works. It examines the utilization of architecture as a way to elevate and legitimize the Tokugawa, demonstrating that policy was not the only way for the Tokugawa to solidify their legacy and suggesting that key figures like Ieyasu were more important to the religious and political structures of Tokugawa Japan in death than they were in …


Front Matter Jan 2022

Front Matter

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Front Matter of the Gettysburg Historical Journal 2022


Letter From The Editors, Erica Uszak, Jordan C. Cerone Jan 2022

Letter From The Editors, Erica Uszak, Jordan C. Cerone

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

We are proud to present this year’s twenty-first edition of The Gettysburg Historical Journal. Having spent the last two years working with each other and our authors over Zoom, the chance to meet in person with student editors and faculty advisors has given us an experience that the current editorial board has not had in the past. Despite the difficulties we continue to face since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic—mental exhaustion, uncertainty towards the future—we have been lucky enough to receive submissions from many Gettysburg College students, as well as a substantial number from undergraduate students outside of our …


Gettysburg Historical Journal 2022 Jan 2022

Gettysburg Historical Journal 2022

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Complete Issue of the Gettysburg Historical Journal 2022


Featured Piece: Ukraine Is Suffering, Bill Bowman Jan 2022

Featured Piece: Ukraine Is Suffering, Bill Bowman

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

This year’s featured piece was written by William D. Bowman, a professor in the History and International & Global Studies Departments. Prof. Bowman’s research focuses on modern European history, with an interest in German/Austrian history and cultural in particular.


Hans Staden's Warhaftige Historia: How A Tale Of Brazilian Captivity Affirmed Staden's Protestant Identity, Joy Zanghi May 2021

Hans Staden's Warhaftige Historia: How A Tale Of Brazilian Captivity Affirmed Staden's Protestant Identity, Joy Zanghi

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Hans Staden’s Warhaftige Historia detailed his experience as a captive to the Tupinambá in Brazil in the 1550s. The text serves as a gateway into the minds of Europeans in Brazil during this time period. After spending years working for the Catholic Portuguese in Brazil and nine months as a captive, native Hessians viewed Staden as a “foreigner” upon his return to his homeland. Staden used his text as a way to confirm his identity as a staunch Protestant and a devoted Hessian through a dedication to Prince Philipp and numerous allusions to his faith. In addition to solidifying his …


The Complex Relationship Between Jews And African Americans In The Context Of The Civil Rights Movement, Hannah Labovitz May 2021

The Complex Relationship Between Jews And African Americans In The Context Of The Civil Rights Movement, Hannah Labovitz

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

The Civil Rights Movement occurred throughout a substantial portion of the twentieth century, dedicated to fighting for equal rights for African Americans through various forms of activism. The movement had a profound impact on a number of different communities in the United States and around the world as demonstrated by the continued international attention marked by recent iterations of the Black Lives Matter and ‘Never Again’ movements. One community that had a complex reaction to the movement, played a major role within it, and was impacted by it was the American Jewish community. The African American community and the Jewish …


From Georgian England To The Arctic: Gender And Cultural Transformation In The Samuel Hearne Expeditions (1769-1772), Bridget B. Kennedy May 2021

From Georgian England To The Arctic: Gender And Cultural Transformation In The Samuel Hearne Expeditions (1769-1772), Bridget B. Kennedy

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

From 1769 to 1772, Samuel Hearne embarked on the first European overland expedition to the Arctic under orders from the Hudson’s Bay Company. In search of copper reserves and sites for future company forts, the Hudson’s Bay Company outfitted Hearne with a group of Chipewyan and Cree guides that would take him to the lands past the Arctic Circle where no other European had been. As the only European in his expedition party, Hearne had to quickly adapt to the Athabascan way of life and found his English and imperialist cultural ideas challenged by his native travel companions. Hearne also …


The Extraordinary Chambers In The Courts Of Cambodia: An Extraordinary Success Or An Ordinary Failure?, Vamika Jain May 2021

The Extraordinary Chambers In The Courts Of Cambodia: An Extraordinary Success Or An Ordinary Failure?, Vamika Jain

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

This paper will examine the effectiveness of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia at providing some measure of transitional justice to the victims of the Khmer Rouge regime. It delves into an expanded role of tribunals that extends beyond the courtroom and seeks to highlight faults and success of the ECCC as lessons for future iterations of international courts and tribunals.


From Uneven Bars To Uneven Barriers: The Marginalization Of Black Women In Gymnastics, Chinaza K. Asiegbu May 2021

From Uneven Bars To Uneven Barriers: The Marginalization Of Black Women In Gymnastics, Chinaza K. Asiegbu

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Especially in sports that are societally regarded as feminine, such as gymnastics and figure skating, Eurocentric beauty standards are an unspoken feature of the game. Undergirded in ethnic disparities within gymnastics are financial and aesthetic barriers for black women, specifically. This essay will explore the sport of gymnastics as a case study to demonstrate the ways in which black women have historically been excluded from ‘feminine sports.’ I argue that black female gymnasts have been historically marginalized from mainstream gymnastics on the basis of finances and white conceptions of femininity, both two components crucial to success in the gymnastics realm.


Featured Pieces, Michael Birkner, Ian A. Isherwood May 2021

Featured Pieces, Michael Birkner, Ian A. Isherwood

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

This year’s feature pieces were written by Michael J. Birkner and Ian A. Isherwood, both professors in the History Department. Prof. Birkner’s research focuses on nineteenth- and twentieth-century America, especially the life and career of Dwight Eisenhower, as well as on the history of Gettysburg College. Prof. Isherwood specializes in memory studies and the history of World War I, and directs a digital history project on First World War letters.


Letter From The Editors, Lillian Shea, Christopher T. Lough May 2021

Letter From The Editors, Lillian Shea, Christopher T. Lough

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Even amid the Covid-19 pandemic, The Gettysburg Historical Journal has not forgotten its commitment to publishing the best of undergraduate research. We are heartened to witness students’ continued dedication to excellent work in an array of historical topics. Despite the difficulties we still face—mental and emotional exhaustion, shuttered archives, limited in-person research opportunities—we received a particularly high volume of submissions this year. We are proud to present work from our peers at Gettysburg and around the world in this twentieth edition of our journal. Through the stories we encounter in the past, we gain insight into the human experience in …