History Commons^™

The Resurgence Of The Wehrmacht On The Western Front In The Fall Of 1944, Aaron S. Hamilton

History Theses & Dissertations

The resurgence of the Wehrmacht on the western front in the fall of 1944 was the product of the German Army High Command's attempt to overcome the severe effects of attrition by institutionalizing fanaticism and generating extreme self-sacrifice among its soldiers. The nature, form, and purpose of the Wehrmacht's resurgence in the west has never been fully explained and only examined in the context of operational histories. The Ardennes offensive has traditionally been used in the operational histories of the Allied campaign in Europe to demonstrate the Wehrmacht's physical ability to reorganize weapons, equipment and personnel effectively. The counter offensive, …

The Role Of Plant Foods Among Native Americans In Seventeenth-Century Virginia An Historical And Botanical Study, Timothy W. Cameron

Institute for the Humanities Theses

Seventeenth-century Powhatan Indians practiced a subsistence economy utilizing plant resources from both the forest and wetland areas of Virginia to maintain adequate nutrition levels throughout the year. They chose not to depend heavily upon maize agriculture, but instead combined marine and animal resources with wild plants according to the seasonal round. Cultigens such as squash, beans, and maize provided dietary sources for only six months of the year; foraged plant foods made up the difference. Primary plant resources included nuts such as acorns, chestnuts, and hickory and the emergent tubers known as tuckahoe. Secondary plant foods, such as starchy seeds, …

The United State Government Versus John Harrison Surratt: A Study In Attitudes, Thomas Michael Martin

History Theses & Dissertations

The same day on which accused Abraham Lincoln murder conspirator Mary Eugenia Surratt was arrested at her Washington, D.C. boardinghouse, her son and alleged co-conspirator, John Harrison Surratt, was in a small town in northern New York. The arrest of the widow Surratt, however, marks the first of a series of points of departure between the destinies of the mother and the son. She was destined to follow a path from arrest to trial and execution by means of a military commission created by the War Department. John's circuitous route from trans-Atlantic flight to extradition, trial, and dismissal by a …

Maintaining The Neutrality: Soviet-Japanese Relations, 1941-1945, Michael Shawn Blevins

History Theses & Dissertations

In April 1941, the Soviet Union and Japan concluded a five-year neutrality pact. Before the end of the year both nations were embroiled in bitter wars against each other' allies, but not against one another. How did Soviet.— Japanese wartime relations preserve this neutrality that lasted nearly four years during World War II? The answers are provided through analysis of both Soviet and Japanese foreign policies while also considering each nation's prospects for winning the war. To this end, timely MAGIC and ULTRA signal intelligence intercepts provide key insights into each government's intentions. Thus, the Special Research History and the …

Lower Chesapeake Maritime Enterprise: 1781-1812, D. Dennis Duff

History Theses & Dissertations

The American Revolutionary War, officially concluded by the Treaty of Paris of 1783, forever changed American maritime enterprise. An examination of the response of Lower Chesapeake merchants to elimination of the British monopoly on American seagoing commerce reveals that Virginia shipping activity recovered quickly after the conflict, then expanded and prospered until the War of 1812. In addition to propelling the Commonwealth's post-war economic resurgence, Virginia's prosperous foreign trading interests influenced political decisions on Constitutional ratification, establishment of Confederation period and early national commercial policies, and diplomatic initiatives to strengthen American overseas exchange.

Principal sources include customs records of the …

"Never Draw Unless You Mean To Shoot": United States Department Of State's Responses To Property Seizures In Latin America, Nathan D. Younge

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines the U.S. Department of State's diplomatic handling of disputes over the seizure of U.S.-owned property in Latin America between 1937 and 1973. Seizures in Bolivia, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, Peru and Chile are used as case studies, and provide examples of successful and unsuccessful diplomatic outcomes.

Several key factors are analyzed in each dispute, including Several key factors are analyzed in each dispute, including whether the Department took a conciliatory or confrontational approach toward each country, the kind of economic pressure applied, the situations under which the Department opted for official diplomatic involvement, and the types of informal …

Economic Interdependence Along A Colonial Frontier: Capitalism And The New River Valley, 1745-1789, B. Scott Crawford

History Theses & Dissertations

Historians have generally placed the beginning of capitalism in the United States in the early- to mid-nineteenth century. This assumes that the industrialization of the New England states fostered in a modern economic environment for the country as a whole. However, evidence of modern economic principles existed on the Virginia frontier as early as the mid-eighteenth century. As frontier settlers aspired to emulate eastern society, they not only sought to recreate a lifestyle similar to the one they left behind, but also set up similar governing practices, which in turn created social stratification similar to that which existed in the …

Annie Wood: A Portrait, Jo Ann Mervis Hofheimer

Institute for the Humanities Theses

In 1871, Anna Cogswell Wood and Irene Kirke Leache founded a school for girls in Norfolk, Virginia which had a profound influence on the community. The Leache-Wood Seminary became Norfolk's center for cultural pursuits. After the death of Irene Leache in 1900, Annie Wood established a memorial to perpetuate her friend's interest in literature, music, art, drama, and spiritual studies. Wood began a number of cultural programs which grew to shape the cultural life of the town in remarkable ways, leading directly to the Virginia Symphony, the Norfolk Little Theater, the Irene Leache Memorial, the Norfolk Society of Arts, and …

Social And Economic Opportunity In Seventeenth-Century Charles County, Maryland, Garett William Hughes

History Theses & Dissertations

This study explores social and economic opportunity within Charles County in the context of the seventeenth-century and the founding of the Maryland colony. By illustrating the strong cross-Atlantic ties between England and the Chesapeake region, as well as the impact that a high population turnover rate and unsteady tobacco economy had upon the Maryland colony, this study first establishes the environment that those settlers who chose to immigrate to the Chesapeake inhabited. Further, by utilizing community connections, personal relations, and the legal system, the men and women of Charles County developed new methods in which to access opportunity. The source …