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Smoke And Silver: Money, Credit, And The Failure Of Economic Diversification In The Seventeenth Century Virgina, Christopher Calton

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Historians have long been perplexed by Virginia's dependency on tobacco in the seventeenth century. Despite continual efforts by both the Virginia and British governments, the small planters in the colony continued to overproduce tobacco, seemingly to their own detriment. This thesis argues that the failures of economic diversification are best understood when the advantages of tobacco are broken down into natural, artificial, and monetary factors. Tobacco enjoyed many natural advantages of alternative crops, and these advantages were buttressed by artificial advantages created by legislation that either directly or indirectly incentivized tobacco production. The most prominent of these are the legal …

Forging A Bluegrass Commonwealth: The Kentucky Statehood Movement And The Politics Of The Trans-Appalachian West, 1783–1792, Christopher L. Leadingham

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In 1893 historian Frederick Jackson Turner first presented his frontier thesis to a group of historians at the World’s Columbian Exposition, a fair honoring the four-hundredth anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ expedition, in Chicago, Illinois. Since then, scholars have long debated the role that the frontier played in shaping the development of the United States. The Kentucky statehood movement emerged at a critical juncture in the early republic’s history, and, when viewed in a transatlantic context, becomes much more important to the development of the United States and larger Atlantic world than what has generally been recognized. Kentuckians found themselves at …

The Shanachie, Volume 29, Number 4, Connecticut Irish-American Historical Society

The Shanachie (CTIAHS)

On Saturday, July 29, several dozen Irish currach rowers, turned the clock back to the 6th century on the waterfront at New London, a major New England seaport since the 17th century --The first Irishman fascinated by the Connecticut shoreline seems to have been Sir William Johnson, one of colonial America’s most influential, productive and flamboyant characters, who came to New London 250 years ago to recuperate --In August 1892, New London was chosen to host a three-week summer educational program that drew an estimated 600 Catholics, most of them Irish --Billiards skills brought fame and fortune to Long Neck …

The "Noble Savage" In American Music And Literature, 1790-1855, Jacob Mathew Somers

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In the aftermath of the War of 1812, America entered a period of unprecedented territorial expansion, economic growth, and political unity. During this time American intellectuals, writers, and musicians began to contemplate the possibility of a national high culture to match the country’s glorious social and political achievements. Newly founded periodicals urged American authors and artists to adopt national themes and materials to replace those imported from abroad, and for the first time Americans began producing their own literary, artistic, and musical works on a previously inconceivable scale. Though American writers and composers explored a wide range of “national themes,” …

Helpers In A "Heathen" Land?: An Examination Of Missionary Perceptions Of The Cherokees, Andrew C. Nosti

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

This analysis examines writings left behind by missionaries living among the Cherokees in the early nineteenth century to tease out the missionary perceptions of their Indigenous neighbors. This approach includes a heavy emphasis on decoding the white lexicon employed to discuss Native Americans to elucidate the broader cultural/racial intellectualism of the time. The utilization of this approach deconstructs a conventional “friend or foe” binary viewpoint of the missionaries, conversely constructing a greater complexity within the interracial and intercultural dynamics of the Early Republic, thereby providing a more layered and broader understanding of early America and, by extension, America overall.

Making The Gilded Age: Myth, Money, And Misery In A Market Society, Austbrook D. Hudson

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

This project argues myths are central to society. For the Gilded Age, this was especially true. Myths helped to explain the world, individually and nationally. Stories structure life. Stories structure nations. They are consequential in times of change when the world is incomprehensible. At an individual level, the self-made ideal explained success and failure. It came with an implicit promise: every individual had an equal opportunity to succeed in the new economy, and the system was fair. Myths of the Western experience explained national identity. It revealed traits including rugged individualism, independence, and perseverance came from taming the frontier. These …

Libraries Are The Homes Of Books: Whiteness In The Construction Of School Libraries, Suzanne Marie Stauffer

Faculty Publications

The bibliographic instructional work, The Children’s Book on How to Use Books and Libraries, issued seven times between 1937 and 1973, utilized the metaphor of the library as the “home of books.” That “home” was constructed as a private, white, middle- class space in which children, who are invited guests, not residents, were expected to behave according to white, middle-class social norms and cultural values. The children depicted were uniformly white, able-bodied, and middle class as well. American cultural values such as individualism, competition, and pragmatism and utilitarianism were celebrated. This work critically analyzes the whiteness of the presentation, including …

Defining An Agency: Animals, Fire, And The U.S. Forest Service, Ellen A. Ipsen

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Today, the United States Forest Service has established itself as an enduring authority on federal lands management. However, in 1905 when the federal government established the agency, its fate was far from secure. Prior to 1905, people living in the West had unchecked access to public land resources and many disapproved of an expansion of federal power. It was the issue of forest fire fighting that gained public support for the agency, and animals, in large part, helped them succeed. Horses and mules were used for transportation, scouting missions and trail building before adequate technology existed. Every ranger was required …

Wake The Devil, Ricardo Ruiz

Theses and Dissertations

You could only bury a body so deep before the seasons decided you would join it . Topsoil so desperate for affection it shakes to remind me that I was once and am loved .

I linger in the southwestern sky , burgundy to violet , with Neil Young playing faintly in the distance as my father calls me home .

Historical Analysis: Tracking, Problematizing, And Reterritorializing Achievement And The Achievement Gap, Justin Olmanson, Zoe Falls, Guieswende Rouamba

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

For more than a century, state and federal governments and organizations have used different measures to determine if students and groups of students have achieved in a particular subject or grade level. While the construct of achievement is applied irrespective of student differences, this equal application turns out to be anything but equitable. In this chapter, we work to understand the way achievement plays out for Black students by deconstructing how the word achievement works. In doing so, we track the history of education, testing, and curriculum as it has been applied to Black youth and youth of color.

Undignified: The Supreme Court, Racial Justice, And Dignity Claims, Darren L. Hutchinson

Faculty Articles

The Supreme Court has interpreted the Equal Protection Clause as a formal equality mandate. In response, legal scholars have advocated alternative conceptions of equality, such as antisubordination theory, that interpret equal protection in more substantive terms. Antisubordination theory would consider the social context in which race-based policies emerge and recognize material distinctions between policies intended to oppress racial minorities and those designed to ameliorate past and current racism. Antisubordination theory would also closely scrutinize facially neutral state action that systemically disadvantages vulnerable social groups. The Court has largely ignored these reform proposals. Modern Supreme Court rulings, however, have invoked the …

The Russian Mission: Seventh-Day Adventism, Bolshevism, And The Imminent Apocalypse, 1881 - 1946, Garett B. Tree

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The first Adventist missionaries made their way into Russia in the late 1880’s, where they experienced imprisonment, exile, and sometimes both. The scope of my thesis concerns the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and how Adventist missionaries and leaders endeavored on the Russian Mission. Using the writings, letters, and correspondence of these missionaries, as well as the myriad Adventist periodicals, I explain and analyze the evolution of the Mission from its inception to the end of the Second World War. In what ways did Adventist missionaries or Adventist media outlets abroad understand, explain, or justify the Russian Mission and its hardships? What …

A Path Towards Abuse - The Decline Of Moral Treatment In The Utica Lunatic Asylum, Stefanie C. Bartlett

Global Tides

This paper explores the deterioration of institutionalized mental health care by conducting a case study on the reasons why moral treatment methods declined in the Utica Lunatic Asylum, later renamed Utica State Hospital. The Utica State Hospital serves as a concrete example of how the general causes of decline in the United States varied among individual asylums. In the late nineteenth century, mental health care in the United States evolved from the personal, therapeutic environment that moral treatment promoted, to one of systematic abuse and neglect. In general, the reasons for this change were overcrowding, insufficient funding, and a decline …

Bluegrass Capital: An Environmental History Of Central Kentucky To 1860, Andrew P. Patrick

Theses and Dissertations--History

This dissertation traces the long-term evolution of the Inner Bluegrass region of central Kentucky with a focus on the period between the first Euro-American incursions into the area and the Civil War era. Utilizing an agroecological perspective that analyzes cultivated landscapes for their ecological features, it explores the ever-shifting mix of cultural and natural influences that shaped the local environment. Most prominently, it reveals the extent to which intertwined strands of capitalism and slavery mingled with biology to produce the celebrated Bluegrass agricultural system.

It begins with an appraisal of the landscape before white men like Daniel Boone arrived, emphasizing …

How The Willowbrook Consent Decree Has Influenced Contemporary Advocacy Of Individuals With Disabilities, Kristen S. Addessi

Student Theses

The existence of the Willowbrook State School was a culmination, of over a one-hundred-year history of Western society’s attempts to provide adequate care, and treatment for individuals with disabilities. The residents housed there, suffered violations of their human and civil rights in various forms of severe abuse, neglect, and violence. Following a three-year legal battle in 1975, as a result of the travesties that occurred, the legal doctrine known as the Willowbrook Consent Decree was written. The Consent Decree was implemented to ensure that the residents’ human and civil rights are met and protected. The Willowbrook State School and the …

The Socioeconomic Impact Of Indian Gaming On Kumeyaay Nations: A Case Study Of Barona, Viejas, And Sycuan, 1982 - 2016, Ethan L. Banegas

Theses

This study will use the reservations of Barona, Viejas, and Sycuan to measure the socioeconomic impacts of gaming within the Kumeyaay nation. It will also draw on information available from other gaming tribes. To organize my research, I will use the following categories: health, education, economics and infrastructure. Within these four topics I will cover: investment capital, poverty, higher education, internet access, alcohol addiction, suicide rates, obesity, diabetes, and other socioeconomic indicators. Once this is accomplished I will assess the social and economic impact of gaming on Barona, Viejas, and Sycuan and include the possible implications to heal historical trauma …

The Hidden History Of Western Washington Logging Camps: St. Paul And Tacoma Lumber Company’S Camp #5 Ca. 1934-1947, Kayley Bass

All Master's Theses

Despite the importance of logging to Washington State’s heritage, there is little information on the life in the logging industry and the lumbermen who helped shape western Washington. The St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Company (SPTLC) harvested the Kapowsin Timberlands from the early 1900s to the late 1950s. The logging camps located within these timberlands can provide information on the organization of these industry camps as well as on the daily lives of the men that would help build one of the most important industries in Washington. This thesis employed archaeological and historical approaches to understand this period of history. …

Supplementary Studies In Rio Grande Valley History, Milo Kearney, Anthony K. Knopp, Antonio Zavaleta, Thomas Daniel Knight

Studies in Rio Grande Valley Regional History Series

Corrupted, a poem / Tom Emrick -- Primal Matamoros : ancient refuge among the Estuaries of the Rio Bravo / Craig H. Roell -- U.S.-Mexico relations during the establishment of the American Consulate in Matamoros : 1826-1842 / Melisa C. Galvan -- Captain King’s Cotton : the Civil War blockade-running adventures of Richard King and Mifflin Kenedy / Walter E. Wilson -- The sad saga of John V. Singer / Norman Rozeff -- Ulster and the Texas-Mexico Border : John McAllen and his family / Thomas Daniel Knight -- Joseph Kleiber and his letter press book / Anthony K. Knopp …

The Melting Pot: America, Food, And Ethnicity: 1880-1960, Jacob Kaus

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper attempts to provide an overview of the effect immigrants had on the food culture of America from 1880-1960. French, German, Italian, Jewish, as well as Chinese immigrants, to name only a few, had a direct impact on formulating the unique and diverse American cuisine we enjoy today.

The Long Journey Of Joshua Louis Hicks: A Voice From The Texas Working Class, Kyle Wilkison

East Texas Historical Journal

No abstract provided.

Ethj Vol-55 No-2

East Texas Historical Journal

No abstract provided.

Ethj Vol-55 No-1

East Texas Historical Journal

No abstract provided.

An 1821 Trip Down Trammel's Trace, Gary L. Pinkerton

East Texas Historical Journal

No abstract provided.

The Preservation Moment: Gentrification Saved New York, Jeffrey A. Kroessler

Publications and Research

In the 1960s and 1970s, New York City was in decline. Crime was rising, jobs were leaving, and the population was falling. At the same time, much of the historic city was being lost and replaced by less distinctive architecture. But the declining city offered an opening for recovery and re-imagining. New residents moved into old, declining neighborhoods. Gentrification stabilized sections of the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn. Between 1965 and 1989 the city designated more than fifty historic districts, and those areas prevented further decay and anchored the recovery. Unlike other older cities, New York continues to grow. The previous …

Theories Of The Self, Race, And Essentialization In Buddhism In The United States During The “Yellow Peril,” 1899-1957, Ryan Anningson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation is an intellectual history tracing developing notions of the Self in Buddhism through Buddhist publications during the years from 1899-1957. I define this time period as the Era of the Yellow Peril, due to common views in the United States of an Asian “other” which formed a larger clash of civilizations globally. 1899-1957 was marked by pessimism and dread due to two World Wars and the Great Depression, while popular and academic cultures argued for the validity of race sciences, and the application of these “sciences” through eugenics. Buddhism in the United States was created through a global …

Theatrical Texts And Contexts: Poe And Hawthorne’S Fictional Women, Savannah M. Singletary

Theses and Dissertations

Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne are arguably two of the most highly read and heavily debated nineteenth-century antebellum authors in America. Their writings fascinate readers, while their character depictions, particularly their characterizations of fictional women, prompt intense academic debate. This thesis examines the previously less-studied historical developments surrounding Poe and Hawthorne in the antebellum era that shaped their approach to writing fiction. In particular, this study scrutinizes the effects of the development of a newly popular art form, ballet, the ascendency of female authorship, and the impact of American theatrical reform upon antebellum authors’ authorial faculties, especially Hawthorne and …

American Civil War Reenactments: Race And Masculinity In Modern Images And Memory, Austin C. English

Theses

The celebration of past wars and warriors is not a uniquely American notion. For centuries nations and individuals have celebrated and revered those who went to war. Similarly, modern Civil War reenactments represent one ritual where Americans honor the War and its participants. But is there something distinctive about the way Americans commemorate and remember the Civil War? Do reenactments hide, forget, or obscure certain elements of the War as much as they commemorate?

[Introduction To] The Thin Light Of Freedom: The Civil War And Emancipation In The Heart Of America, Edward L. Ayers

Bookshelf

A landmark Civil War history told from a fresh, deeply researched ground-level perspective.

At the crux of America’s history stand two astounding events: the immediate and complete destruction of the most powerful system of slavery in the modern world, followed by a political reconstruction in which new constitutions established the fundamental rights of citizens for formerly enslaved people. Few people living in 1860 would have dared imagine either event, and yet, in retrospect, both seem to have been inevitable.

In a beautifully crafted narrative, Edward L. Ayers restores the drama of the unexpected to the history of the Civil War. …

A Forgotten Confederate: John H. Ash's Story Rediscovered, Heidi Moye

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

A historical study of a southern family living in Savannah, GA from shortly before the election of 1860 through the Civil War years based on the journals of John Hergen Ash II (1843-1918).

From The Fangs Of Monsters: Gender, Empire, And Civilization In The Pacific, 1800-1850, Michael David Chavez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

As the nineteenth century commenced, contact between Pacific Islanders and Anglo-Americans increased as did the concern for what resulted from those interactions. In the United States, antebellum restrained men––those who upheld their Protestant faith, self-reliance, and familial values––used ideals of gender to combat the perceived “savagery” of Pacific Islanders and the corruption of American sailors among them. In the mission field, restrained men consciously sought after Anglo-American women’s influence often believing them to be the moral authority of a softer form of empire. This particular form of empire was not government led; nor did it entail the immediate conquest of …