History Commons^™

The Creation And Implementation Of A Free Day Camp For Children, Kayla Ernst

Honors Theses

No abstract available.

Reflections On The Atomic Bomb’S Effect On America Since Its Dropping On Hiroshima And Nagasaki, Matt Grogan

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the issues and controversies that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused in the United States. Four chapters all deal with different periods in the history of these controversies. The first chapter deals with the actual decision to drop the bomb and the American public’s initial reactions, while the second chapter deals with subsequent reactions as the topic got more controversial. One of these topics include Henry Stimson’s article entitled “The Decision to Use the Bomb,” which attempted to justify the use of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The third looks at the beginnings of …

Apre La Guerre: Les Immigres Algeriens En France, Alexander Porter

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the treatment of Algerian immigrants in France after the Algerian war through various lenses. First, it examines how the bitter Algerian war against the French colonizing power influenced French citizens and politicians at home against Algerian immigrants. It then moves on to discuss the demographics of Algerian immigrants living in France, and the shift it underwent in the years following the war. It then discusses the poor treatment Algerian immigrants underwent politically, economically, and culturally while living in France. Finally, this thesis examines the current state of Algerian immigrants in France.

Un Silencio Roto: Los Derechos De La Mujer Desde La Transición Hasta El Nuevo Milenio, Sierra Fuller

Honors Theses

From 1936 until 1975, Spain was under the control of Francisco Franco. Throughout these 39 years, Spain transformed into a structured, conservative country dominated by church and societal expectations. Women lost the majority of the rights gained under the Second Republic. The role of women during the dictatorship was to be the prefect mother and wife. They were to be pure, caring and obedient, with no voice to defend their beliefs. After Franco’s death and the establishment of the democracy, the role of women began to change. They acquired jobs outside the house and filled seats in universities. They were …

La Autosuficiencia Y El Regionalismo Como Constantes En La Sociedad Espanola Contemporano, Colton Lewis

Honors Theses

Today, Spain is known as a democratic country with considerable influence in the European Union (EU), a country with a rich and diverse culture. But this is not the same Spain that existed thirty or forty years ago. It is a country with the same face, but with a completely different expression. The transformation that occurred in Spain is different from any other transformation of a nation. Government, culture, politics, the general attitude of the people and much more had to change when Francisco Franco died. But what was the central reason for this great change? There are obvious answers, …

A New Crisis Of The Republic: The Erosion Of The Democratic Ideal, Michael G. Lewis

Honors Theses

The United States has long been considered one of the most successful examples of democracy, with success measured in the quality of representation, the duration of our polity, and the ease for political regime change. However, it is necessary to question whether our democratic ideals are still prevalent in today’s society. The unfortunate response is that they are not. The revolutionary notions that marked the founding of the American republic have been misplaced. Our government seems to have experienced a devaluation of its founding principles, where now, our government participates in actions that do not represent the vital tenants of …

Lacrosse: A Rich History Hindered By Racist Attitudes In The United States, Matthew Livingston

Honors Theses

This thesis examines how Lacrosse’s history and popularity has demonstrated a direct correlation with the ethnicity of the people who compose the majority constituency of the game. While Lacrosse began as a sport played almost exclusively by Native Americans, it now is mostly associated with middle to upper class white Americans. Furthermore, Lacrosse was not played by many people until the past twenty years when participates have consisted of mostly white Americans. This study relies on a multitude of sources ranging from scholarly books, to an interview with a National Lacrosse Hall of Fame Inductee, to articles located on in …

The Factors That Contribute To The Rise Of Conservative Political Movements Throughout American History, Kelsey Macelroy

Honors Theses

There have been numerous political movements based on conservative ideology throughout the course of American history. However, the question still remains as to why these conservative movements occur and what plays a role their uprising. My thesis hypothesized that there are three factors that contribute to the surfacing of conservative political movement in American history‐ a deviation from republican principles such as constitutionalism and virtue, a perceived threat to individual liberties by infringement through policies involving taxation and economic regulation and the aggrandizement of power by the federal government beyond inherent constitutional limits. These three factors were examined through the …

Las Calles Me Inspiran: La Confluencia De La Movida Madrileña Y La Contracultura En El Graffiti Contemporáneo Español, Ajay Major

Honors Theses

The contemporary graffiti movement in Spain evolved spontaneously and independently from other graffiti movements under the influence of la movida counterculture during the post-Franco transition. La movida, which viewed the street as the agora of Spanish society, emphasized the importance of artistry and the need to exist in and connect with the people in the street. These cultural values were internalized by early graffiti artists and were reflected in their work in the flechero style popularized by El Muelle, the pioneer of graffiti art in Spain. These fundamental beliefs, supported by the post-Franco rejection of foreign thought by the Spanish …

Les Femmes Mythiques: Ce Que Ces Symboles Révèlent De La Société Française Et Les Valeurs De La France, Rachel Mayer

Honors Theses

In history, women have always played traditional roles and - in general - submitted. However, there are women who are developing symbolic and powerful images in French society. These women have a mythical and symbolic quality. But what do they symbolize? Every woman who resonates with French society plays another important role: to unveil the dimensions of French values ​​that they represent in French society. Moreover, the way they have established their roles and places in culture unveils the status of women across the story. We can examine mythical and symbolic women of different ages to understand the role of …

The Nixon Years: Examining The Evolution Of Federal Disaster Relief Policy 1969-1974, Daniel Nault

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the evolution of federal disaster relief policy under President Richard Nixon from 1969-1974. The findings show that even under a conservative president in Nixon, the federal disaster relief program expanded both in federal resources and funding consistently during this period. Both Hurricane Camille (1969), and Hurricane Agnes (1972), served as significant catalysts for this, but also, the liberal political context of this period coming just after the implementation of the Great Society program by Lyndon Johnson, and Nixon’s own ambitions to be seen as a proactive leader despite the ideological contentions it spawned throughout his presidency, played …

Slavery In The Constitution: The Ironic Shifts In Tension Over Three Pivotal Clauses, Joseph Privitera

Honors Theses

As scholarship has attempted to demonstrate in recent times, early United States history has unfortunately been stained with slavery. The founding document of the nation, the Constitution, is no exception. The three provisions which affected the institution most directly are the three-fifths, slave trade, and fugitive slave clauses. Of these sections, the latter proved to be by far the most controversial in the long-run. Although the other two received lengthy debates and caused great concern in 1787 during the General Convention and over the next few years as the states discussed ratification, they caused limited levels of strain on the …

The Ideal Woman: The Changing Female Labor Force And The Image Of Femininity In American Society In The 1940s And 1950s, Carlie Seigal

Honors Theses

In 1943 the image of Rosie the Riveter personified what the ideal American woman was supposed to be. Rosie supported the war effort and did her patriotic duty for her country, earned a high wage, enjoyed her newfound independence, and showed America that she could do a man’s job, and do it well. However, Rosie and the many American women that she represented never dreamt that when the American servicemen came home two short years later, they would be forced out of their jobs and back into their homes to devote themselves to household chores and their families. In 1957 …

Discovery Of Timbuktu: Geopolitical Rivalries And Myths, Katherine Van Meter

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the exploration and discovery of Timbuktu primarily focusing on the travels and narrative of René Caillié the first European to publish his successful journey to Timbucku in 1828. Timbuktu since the thirteenth century had become a romantic mystery for Europeans and stimulated massive interest in its discovery by major geographical Societies. Through a mixture of primary and secondary sources I am able to analyze the geopolitical rivalries and myths surrounding Timbuktu that would instigate the travels of twenty-five English, fourteen Frenchmen, two Americans and one German which the majority of resulted in death. Examining Caillié’s published narrative …

Anti-Nuclear Activism And The Past, Present And Future Of United States Nuclear Energy Policy, Isabel C. Zellweger

Honors Theses

Nuclear power has had a long and controversial history leading people to have many different views on the topic. Even though nuclear power does provide the nation with a significant portion of its electricity, many still fear its risks, especially after the events at Fukushima last spring. This thesis explores how public opinion, current events, and anti-nuclear activism have shaped nuclear power in America today. After reviewing the literature on nuclear energy in the United States, I discuss the past and current state of United States nuclear energy policy, and then describe changing American attitudes toward nuclear power over time. …

American Aid For German War Prisoners: Humanitarian Relief As Reconciliation Between Heritage And Patriotism, Erica Fugger

Honors Theses

When Europe was thrown into conflict in 1939, German Americans feared treatment reminiscent of the discriminatory practices of World War I. Recent immigrants were in an especially difficult position, as they sought to remain loyal to their adopted country, while also desiring to assist those affected by the war abroad. In answer to this dilemma, Emil Auer, a native of Munich and naturalized resident of Buffalo, New York, formed a war relief organization in 1940. Initially focusing its efforts on the British Commonwealth camps established in Canada, the American Aid for German War Prisoners grew to assist Axis soldiers and …

Invisibly Wounded Warriors: The Psychological Repercussions Of War On American Soldiers, Maisy Bragg

Honors Theses

The demands that come with war can be both physically and mentally traumatizing and damaging to the soldier in many ways. These psychological injuries manifest themselves in what physicians call Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. The purpose of this paper is to examine Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in American Soldiers by analyzing the training methods, human’s natural aversion to killing, pre-deployment medical exams, type of warfare, and treatment options provided in war; specifically the Civil War, World War I and World War II, Vietnam, and the Iraq War. By taking into account the history of PTSD as a disease, as well as these …

The World War Ii Home Front In New York State: Evaluating The Success Of The Office Of Civilian Mobilization In Stimulating Volunteer Efforts, Elizabeth Carney

Honors Theses

The image of a unified home front of individuals and communities who rallied their efforts for a patriotic cause during World War Two is a widely held popular belief, supported by some scholars. This thesis examines the validity of the claim and whether or not mobilization efforts were a natural disposition for many Americans. Did citizens join together and engage in grass roots mobilization to strengthen the home front or merely act in their own self interest and only take substantial action when put under pressure by the government? The study relies on the records of the New York State …

Work All My Life: Italian Immigrant Women's Experiences In Post-World War Ii Schenectady, Lia Dambrosio

Honors Theses

Immigration has been a topic of extreme interest within American history since its very beginning. From its earliest years, the United States has attracted large numbers of immigrants. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, mass immigration commenced often as a result of deteriorating economic conditions in the countries that people left and the promising economic situation in America, where industry developed rapidly and laborers were needed. Italians were one of the largest and most notable of the many groups who emigrated from their homelands in search of opportunity and better lives, and they continued this practice well after …

The History Of Mining In Cerro De Pasco And Heavy Metal Deposition In Lake Junin Peru, Erin M. Delman

Honors Theses

Lake Junín covers 530-km2 and is located at 4,430-m in an intermontane basin between the eastern and western cordillera of the central Peruvian Andes. The lake sits between the large sulfide mining districts of La Oroya and Cerro de Pasco. Designated a National Reserve in 1974, Lake Junín drains northward to the Río San Juan, which joins the Río Mantaro within several kilometers of the lake. Dam construction by the Cerro de Pasco Copper Corporation on the Río Mantaro in 1932 caused the Río San Juan, the principal river draining Cerro de Pasco, to back up into the lake. Using …

The Evolution Of The Status Of Women In Korea: Colonial Times To The Present, Rebekah Thomas

Honors Theses

Korean women are treated as second rate citizens that have to depend on a man for their social status. With the passage of time, things are getting better for Korean women and the way society feels about women having significant authority in society is changing. The Japanese colonization of Korea (1910-1945) is at the foundation of postwar tensions between Japan and Korea. The Japanese mistreatment of Korean women is an important element in many of these disputes. Specifically, the Japanese government took advantage of the Korean women's low status within Korean society to erect a sexual military system. Since the …

Virtue For Commercial Purpose: A Look At Production Code Censorship In The 1930s, Jacob Key

Honors Theses

This paper is a study of the conservative political bias inherent to the Motion Picture Production Code as it applies to Great Depression cinema. Many films in this period attempted to explore progressive themes but were edited or prohibited outright under the Code’s authority. Father Daniel Lord, the Code’s author, greatly feared cinema’s cultural and moral influences, but may have been unaware of the political ramifications of his work. On the other hand, his boss, Will H. Hays, was an ambitious man fully in support of the Code’s ability to censor politics that differed from his own. The unlikely partnership …

1st Mississippi Mounted Rifles: Mississippi’S Union Battalion In The Civil War, Beau Johnson

Honors Theses

In the Civil War era, Mississippi was a house divided. Secessionists were in a never ending conflict with pro-Unionists in the 1850’s and into 1860 over secession. These clashes even spilled over into the war as Confederates skirmished with pro-Unionists, as well as groups of people that became known as anti-Confederates (these being people that did not support the Union, but did not agree with the policies of the Confederacy). The division in Mississippi had become so bad that many men refused to join the army, some deserted after conscription, while others supported the Union in any way possible. In …

“Double-Crossed, So To Speak": Black Female Resistance To Gendered Oppression In The South, Amolie Egloff

Honors Theses

Despite the vast amount of research focused on slavery and the American South, studies focusing solely on the black female’s experience during this time period are a fairly recent development. In the existing literature, these women have been painted a helpless victim caught in the wrath of white men, black men, and even white women. This study presents the stories of black women courageously resisting oppression both while enslaved and just after emancipation from 1830 to 1890. The analysis of a handful of slave narratives taken by the Worker’s Progress Administration in the 1930s and 1940s established that because black …

"So God-Damned Far Away": Soldiers' Experiences In The Vietnam War, Tara M. Bell

Honors Theses

This paper is based off of a collection of Vietnam War letters that I processed at the Western Michigan University Archives and Regional History Collections. They are all written to a local woman, Carol, by five soldiers, named Mitch, Dennis, Ron, Willis, and Kenneth. Carol’s responses are not included in the collection.

Carol, Mitch, and Willis all graduated in the same class from Vicksburg High School. From using databases and yearbooks, I learned that Carol knew each of the soldiers from organizations they both belonged in. Although I could not exactly determine how Carol knew Ron and Kenneth, it seems …

Revolutionary Events: Jean-Paul Marat And His Role, Kiri D. Johnson

Honors Theses

This thesis evaluates the influence radical journalist Jean-Paul Marat had on events during the French Revolution. Historians have viewed Marat in many different lights over time, and his influence during the revolution has been greatly debated. It would be impossible to prove Marat’s exact influence on the revolution; however, careful examination of particular revolutionary events suggests that Marat was significant in helping to incite the revolutionary crowds to action. This thesis focuses on several major revolutionary events to determine Marat’s influence, including the Women’s March on Versailles, the Champs de Mars Massacre, the Storming of the Tuileries Palace, the September …

The Modernity Of La Mode: A History Of The French Revolution Through The Lens Of Fashion, Culture, And Identity, Bithy R. Goodman

Honors Theses

In my thesis, I explore the cultural history of the French Revolution and its relation to the modern era which ensued. Many historians have studied the French Revolution as it relates to culture, the rise of modernity, and fashion. I combine the unique histories of all three of these aspects to reach an understanding of the history of the French Revolution and fashion’s role in bringing about change. In the majority of literature of costume history, discussion of fashion surrounds its reflective properties. Many historians conclude fashion as a reflection of the broader cultural shifts that occurred during the Revolution. …

Black Bahamas : Political Constructions Of Bahamian National Identity, Maria A. Lee

Honors Theses

On Tuesday, 27 April 1965, in the House of Assembly an event known as “Black Tuesday” struck the capital city of Nassau, New Providence in The Bahamas. A political furor arose in response to the failure of the ruling government to accurately determine voter distribution and boundaries. In frustration, the leader of the opposition motioned towards the mace, shouting, “This is the symbol of authority, and authority in this island belongs to the people.” With a burgeoning crowd below, he then lifted the mace in front of the Speaker, and threw it down from the window of the House. “Yes, …

Regulating Death And Building Empire : American Doctors And The Construction Of The Panama Canal, 1904-1914, Sarah Rhoads

Honors Theses

In May 1904, American engineers, doctors, nurses, and laborers arrived in Panama to begin work on one of the most expensive, challenging, and rewarding technological achievements of the twentieth century- the Panama Canal. At the time, the majority of Americans saw Panama as a wild tropical jungle, with dangerous diseases and a hostile climate. One of the most prevalent diseases in tropical regions, yellow fever, also known as yellow jack, was known to pose an enormous challenge to the success of the canal construction- the first mountain blocking Panama from successful U.S. intervention (see image above). In the popular U.S. …

Forecasting The Future: The Early United States Weather Bureau, Robert T. Canning

Honors Theses

The national weather service of the United States came into being in 1870 for the practical utility of the American people. The interaction between weather, agriculture, and commerce provided the impetus for the inception of the service. Many historians put forward the notion of an obdurate weather bureau, a scientific backwater with no interest in modernization until after World War II. I disagree with this popular historiography and instead offer a history of the weather bureau’s attempts to institute the latest meteorological practices that takes into consideration the burdens and obligations of the bureau, as well as the historical context. …