History Commons^™

Josiah Gorgas And The Richmond Ordnance Industry: The Arsenal Of The Confederacy, J. Michael Moore

History Theses & Dissertations

This study determines that Richmond, Virginia was the center of the Confederate domestic ordnance industry, and Josiah Gorgas, the Confederate Chief of Ordnance mobilized the city's industrial potential. Richmond's government ordnance facilities and private companies manufactured artillery, shoulder arms, ammunition, tools, and other ordnance materials that prolonged the war. In addition, Richmond became the center for Confederate ordnance research. Despite serious logistical problems, Gorgas supplied the Confederate Army's demand for arms and ammunition until 1865. Finally, Gorgas's mobilization of Confederate industry remains instructive for any nation going to war. These conclusions are based on extensive research of the National Archives …

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 …

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, …

Representations Of Gender In Juvenile Literature During The Era Of The American Revolution, Sandra Strohhofer Pryor

History Theses & Dissertations

This study investigates representations of gender in fiction during the era of the American Revolution. Literature has an important role in creating and responding to cultural values, as well as in conveying ideologies. Through analysis of fictional stories for children, the simultaneous presence of themes of gender, religion, liberalism, and republicanism will be documented. Children's stories from England were reprinted in America after the Revolution. The continuity between late nineteenth century American success narratives and their early eighteenth century British precursors, as well as their gendered nature, will be demonstrated.

American fiction of the late eighteenth century foreshadowed both the …

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 …

The Martinsville Seven: Virginia's Most Controversial Court Case, 1949 - 1951, Michael Dean Plemmons

History Theses & Dissertations

In January, 1949 seven black youths were arrested and charged with brutally beating and raping a white woman in Martinsville, Virginia. The judicial process lasted over two years and gained national and international attention. The defendants were ultimately found guilty and sentenced to death for their ruthless crime. The conviction came as no surprise. The evidence was overwhelming, but the verdict created controversy. Some claimed the youths were victims of Jim Crowism while others believed the punishment was just.

This study explores the events of the case and determines why Martinsville was unique given patterns of racial unrest throughout 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 …

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 …

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 …