United States History Commons^™

A Tangled Hope: America, China, And Human Rights At The End Of The Cold War, 1976-2000, Jared Michael Phillips

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A Tangled Hope: America, China, and Human Rights at the End of the Cold War, 1976-2000, discusses the evolution of both the international and American understanding of human rights. Beginning with a discussion of the philosophical and cultural frameworks concerning "rights" that developed in Europe and the Americas throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, this work moves into the post-World War II climate that shaped Jimmy Carter and his unique understanding of human rights and America's role in the Cold War world. In particular, I argue that the existing narrative concerning Carter's foreign policy is lacking in a nuanced understanding …

We Are Now In Indian Territory: Men And Women's Views Of Indians Along The Overland Trail, Kassandra L. Nelson

History Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

This thesis combined two areas of study within Overland trail history, Indian-Emigrant interactions and gender analysis. Until now these areas were not examined nor discussed at length in conjunction with one another with the exception of by historian Glenda Riley. The trail experience was a great deal different for men than it was women. These differences extended to their perceptions. This study reveals the complex manner in which each gender and emigrants overall felt and thought about Indians as they traveled westward along the Overland trail.

A Historical Comparative Analysis Of Executions In The United States From 1608 To 2009, Emily Jean Abili

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The death penalty has been a contested issue throughout American history. The United States has been executing offenders since Jamestown became a colony in 1608 (Allen & Clubb, 2008). Since that time, many issues have been raised about the death penalty including whether or not it is moral, discriminatory, or a deterrent.

This study examines the history of executions, including lynchings, in the United States from 1608 to 2009 using a variety of sociological theories on law and society. Some of the research questions that guide this project are:

* What is the nature of change in the relative prevalence …

The Ethics Glass Ceiling: A Historical Analysis Of Actions By The U.S. House Of Representatives Committee On Ethics, Michael James Gordon

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The breaking of moral and ethical codes has been with humankind since history was first recorded. As such, the public wants to know that their elected officials are held accountable and cannot disregard enshrined legal rights without incurring broader personal and societal consequences. Within the hallowed halls of government, the "unrequested" House Committee on Ethics (HCE) provides the forum of accountability.

In this qualitative, historical case study, HCE documents are analyzed and both the internal and external motivating factors behind the actions of the HCE members are examined. Computer assisted qualitative data analysis software, namely ATLAS.ti, was used to look …

Punishing Our Own Rascals: Great Britain, The United States, And The Right To Search During The Era Of Slave Trade Suppression, Mark T. Haggard

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the relationship between the United States and Great Britain during the era of slave trade suppression in the nineteenth century. Two ideals of international relations came into conflict when Great Britain’s humanitarian drive to rid the world of the international slave trade ran headlong into the United States’ claims to sovereignty under the Law of Nations. Under international maritime law a ship is the sovereign territory of the nation under whose flag it sails; the forcible boarding of a ship is tantamount to an invasion of the country itself. Britain sought to circumvent this rule in the …

Dam Mormons: Responding To The 1976 Teton Dam Disaster In The "Lord's Way", Lauriann Vaterlaus Deaver

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The June 5, 1976, Teton Dam collapse occurred in a unique region of Idaho where the population comprised as much as ninety-five percent of residents belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The homogenous nature of this population influenced the nature of the recovery effort following the disaster. The Teton Dam recovery effort provided an opportunity for the LDS church, using its welfare system and priesthood (lay male leadership) organizational structure to seamlessly work with government agencies. Church leaders used the reports of positive interactions between its members and the federal and local leaders to celebrate an …

Bowling Green Music Club - Bowling Green, Kentucky (Mss 457), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 457. Minutes, governing documents, yearbooks, programs for public concerts, membership information, various reports, and news clippings for the Woman’s Music Club, the Bowling Green Music Club and the Bowling Green Junior Music Club.

Another Real Gettysburg Address, 50 Years On, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

The following address, “100 Years After Lincoln's Gettysburg Address” by E. Washington Rhodes, editor-publisher of the Philadelphia Tribune and president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, was delivered at exercises in the Gettysburg National Cemetery Tuesday afternoon:

“I consider it a great privilege to have been invited as a representative of the American Negro people to participate in an occasion of such national, historic importance, at this time of racial tension and unrest. This, then, is an historic moment of high honor and high drama, which will be forever cherished by the American Negro people, as they march with heads …

Mike Weis, Willis Kern,

Interviews for WGLT

"JFK And Latin America"

Anyone grade school age or older at the time can tell you where they were and what they were doing 50 years ago today. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in downtown Dallas. JFK had a compelling relationship with Latin America. Something that's discussed in this interview with Michael Weis, a Kennedy and Central America scholar and Chair of the Department of History at Illinois Wesleyan University. WGLT's Willis Kern has more.

Ambivalent About Tragedy: David Blight On Bruce Catton, Brianna E. Kirk

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

November 19, 2013, marked a momentous day in the small Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg – the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. The 272 worded speech given four months after the Battle of Gettysburg assigned meaning to the intense fighting and death that had besieged the nation for two years. With the war’s end nowhere in sight, Lincoln directed the American people on how to fathom the tragedy that surrounded them, both figuratively and literally, at the dedication of the National Cemetery in 1863. 150 years after this speech, thousands gathered to celebrate and commemorate those few appropriate remarks Lincoln …

The Grizzly, November 21, 2013, Sabrina Mcgettigan, Adebayo Adeyemo, Dom Roher, Briana Keane, David Rogers, Vivek Reddy, Evan Hill, Mary Deliberti, Deana Harley, Briana Mullan, Bethany Mitchell, Jordan Breslow, Dana Feigenbaum, Shawn Hartigan, Austin Fox

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

UCARE Service Opportunities • Wismer's Upcoming Holiday Meals • "Wonderful Town" Musical to Integrate Three Departments • Jingle Jog 5K Race • Gospel Choir Wants to Extend Reach • "Integrating Students": New Professor Looks to Meld Research and Hands-On Learning • Improv Group Ready to "Wing It" • Opinion: Break Out of Your Stifling Clique; Increase Support for the Learning Disabled • Field Hockey Finishes Impressive Season • UC Swimming Making Mark in Centennial • Mixture of Wins and Losses for UC Teams

Bowling Green, Kentucky Musical Fund Society (Mss 460), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 460. Minutes, financial records, governing documents and miscellaneous items of the Bowling Green Musical Fund Society, which was established in 1872 for “the cultivation of music and the social enjoyment of its members.”

Scalia: A Real Gettysburg Address, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas, as he introduced the most potent speaker in Tuesday morning's ceremonies at Gettysburg, called it a, "special day," both in the lives of the handful of men and women raising their hands to take the oath of allegiance and become American citizens, but also, "in the life of our country." [excerpt]

Religious Ideas In The Declaration Of Independence: Thomas Jefferson, John Locke, And The American Mind, Kristina Benham

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis is an analysis of the religious statements of the Declaration of Independence. It examines contemporary uses of Locke’s ideas on natural rights and created equality in newspapers, town meetings, colonial governments, speeches, and sermons. It also identifies uses of Locke’s works in religious sources in the decades before the Revolution. Locke’s ideas became especially important to arguments in favor of religious liberty for dissenters during and after the First Great Awakening. These analyses connect to both his Two Treatises of Government and his A Letter Concerning Toleration. These works parallel to the writings and protests of colonial …

Interpretation Is Evolution: Whose History?, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

When I try to explain to non-history people what my degree means, I used to hit wall after all. It was so hard explaining exactly what, "Applied History," really means. People understand, "History," but the idea of public history has a certain brand of special sauce added on top.

I used to say something akin to, "doing Park Ranger things," though that never really worked. When I had a group on an historical landscape, I'd often just say, "Public History is this."

It doesn't work. Those definitions aren't clear. [excerpt]

Fennell, Charles, 1884-1959 - Collector (Sc 2783), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2783. Narrative, author unknown, and detailed data on measurements of the coffer located in the King's Chamber of Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza.

Benedict, Harrison, 1813-1900 (Sc 2789), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and full text of letter (click on "Additional Files") for Manuscripts Small Collection 2789. Letter, 30 March 1862 of Harrison Benedict, Scottsville, Kentucky, to his cousin David Selby in Jamestown, Kentucky. He reports on military activity in the area, including Confederate searches of his and his mother’s homes, the theft of guns, horses and wagons, and the destruction of bridges. He includes his wife Emily T. Benedict as a signatory to the letter.

Winfrey, Charlie Ray, 1896-1980 (Sc 2790), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2790. Materials relating to the World War I service of Charlie R. Winfrey, Esto, Russell County, Kentucky. Includes postcards to his family, service and discharge record, operations history of the 30^th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, and newspaper articles and a photo of Russell County veterans of World War I.

It's Ok To Giggle: Colbert's Gettysburg Address, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

There hasn't been all that much righteous indignation from the lands of historians and the historically inclined public. I'd wager they just haven't noticed. I was a little surprised, to be honest. As soon as I hit play on Stephen Colbert's rendition of the Gettysburg Address, part of Ken Burns' Learn the Address marketing initiative for his upcoming documentary, I figured the flame war was inevitable. [excerpt]

The Grizzly, November 14, 2013, Sabrina Mcgettigan, Briana Keane, Jenna Yaich, Briana Mullan, Olivia Z. Schultz, Vivek Reddy, Evan Hill, Bethany Mitchell, Derrick Falletta, Shawn Hartigan, Max Denardo, Melissa Arrisueno, Brandon Patterson, Austin Fox, James Wilson, Adebayo Adeyemo

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Bearitones and B'Naturals Perform This Weekend • UCEA Waste Watching at the Philadelphia Marathon • Climate and Sustainability Action Plan Announced • Process of Making New Classes at UC • UCDC Hosts Local Choreographers • Ursinus Athletics Honors Graduates • Wind Ensemble Performance • Opinion: Assign Credit for Varsity Athletics; Academic Probation Policy Exempts Athletics • Women's Basketball Will Rely on Young Talent • UC Wrestlers Ready to Meet Expectations • Exciting Weekend for UC Athletics