Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Princess Anne County: A Study In Material Wealth, Todd Grant Duncan

History Theses & Dissertations

This is a study of material culture in Princess Anne County, Virginia, from 1691 to 1823, based on court records. These documents allow the historian to determine the economic worth of a group of individuals, analyze the types of people comprising this group, categorize the types and quantities of possessions owned, and differentiate between economic groups according to possessions and currency listed. Trends of ownership for the whole period, the determination of individual occupations, and the occupational content of the people of the county at large are also discussed. Other areas focused on included the level of literacy, the role …

Walter Heron Taylor And His Era, Emanuel Meyer

History Theses & Dissertations

This biography examines Colonel Walter Herron Taylor’s involvement in the development of Norfolk, Virginia, into a modern urban seaport. Although this thesis depicts Taylor’s role as Robert E. Lee’s adjutant and Civil War historian, it clearly demonstrates that his civic accomplishments in the post-war era considerably outweighed his efforts for the Confederacy.

Colonel Taylor's lifetime career in banking and commerce reflected the changing society of the South from a backward province into a modern industrial and sophisticated section. The author illustrates the Colonel’s participation in Norfolk's growth from the stormy Reconstruction period to the eve of World War I. Throughout …

The Adams Image In American History, Mary Helen Mccoy

Institute for the Humanities Theses

John Adams was an American Revolutionary leader, political theorist, diplomat, constitutionalist, vice-president, and president. His historical image, however, has not been consistent with his importance in American history. Controversial throughout his lifetime, the Adams image, since his death has been at times obscure, often negative, and seldom positive. Adams had a fear of posterity's perception of his life. Until recent years this fear was confirmed by his historical treatment.

This thesis considers the divergence in the historical treatment of John Adams by analyzing historians who represented five periods in American historiography. It is, therefore, a study of what history made …