Arts and Humanities Commons^™

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 …

Annie Wood: A Portrait, Jo Ann Mervis Hofheimer

Institute for the Humanities Theses

In 1871, Anna Cogswell Wood and Irene Kirke Leache founded a school for girls in Norfolk, Virginia which had a profound influence on the community. The Leache-Wood Seminary became Norfolk's center for cultural pursuits. After the death of Irene Leache in 1900, Annie Wood established a memorial to perpetuate her friend's interest in literature, music, art, drama, and spiritual studies. Wood began a number of cultural programs which grew to shape the cultural life of the town in remarkable ways, leading directly to the Virginia Symphony, the Norfolk Little Theater, the Irene Leache Memorial, the Norfolk Society of Arts, and …

"Preservation...From The Dangers Of The Enemy As Well As Seas": The Establishment Of The Old Cape Henry Lighthouse, Kevin Charles Valliant

History Theses & Dissertations

As the federal government of the United States began its existence, the Chesapeake Bay had gone without a significant navigational aid for nearly two centuries. What factors then led the newly established government to build a lighthouse on Cape Henry, at the entrance of the Bay? Although the colonial governments of Virginia and Maryland failed to build a lighthouse, their efforts provided the groundwork for the Cape Henry light, which the federal government envisioned not only as a device to guide ships to safety, but as part of a system designed to ensure revenue for the new nation. This study …

Confederate Civil War Photographers Propagators And The Hero Myth, Ronald L. Crusan

Institute for the Humanities Theses

Myths are metaphors. They are stories, sometimes handed down through hundreds of years, which help put man or a culture in accord with nature, to reconcile mankind to the harsh realities of life. Society's heroes, acting through the archetypal hero monomyth, serve as the personification of a culture's mythology. Through the hero, a society may reconcile with nature and those external forces which influence our lives.

This paper examines the historical development of the hero myth, the archetypal hero role that Robert E. Lee filled for the Southern people during the American civil War and the role that photography played …

The Entry Of The People's Republic Of China Into The Korean War, Yueliang Shen

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

China's entry into the Korean War in October 1950 took both its friends and foes by surprise and quickly escalated that conflict into the first major hot war since the start of the Cold War. This thesis analyzes the Chinese decision making process and the factors that led China into the Korean conflict. Official documents, statements, and speeches of American and Chinese Communist leaders between 1945 and 1950 indicate that historical mistrust and animosity, geopolitical considerations, and a breakdown of communications all contributed to the tragic showdown that caused millions of casualties. Extensively used for this study were declassified foreign …

Judicial Intelligence: Allied Signal Intelligence And The War Crimes Trials Of Class "A" War Criminals At The International Military Tribunal For The Far East, 1946-1948, William Todd Baker

History Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines the use of Allied signal intelligence as evidence in the prosecution of Japanese military and political leaders accused of major war crimes before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in 1946-1948. Allied signal intelligence helped illuminate Japan's participation in the Second World War. MAGIC signal intelligence, as part of a larger body of evidence presented by the prosecution, served also to aid in the convictions of Japanese military and political leaders accused as Class “A” war criminals. This study is based on documentary evidence from the thirty-nine reel microform collection of official Court Papers, two …

Presidential Philosophies And American Foreign Policy: From The Long Telegram To The New Look, John R. Moore

History Theses & Dissertations

American foreign policy often undergoes alteration as presidential administrations change. After World War II president Harry S. Truman and President Dwight D. Eisenhower both implemented a foreign policy aimed at containing the Soviet Union, but the philosophical underpinnings of their foreign policies differed greatly. While the demands of partisan and international politics account for some of this difference, the impact on foreign policy of the two men's personalities deserves attention and investigation. In other words, how did the individual backgrounds, personal beliefs and world views of Truman and Eisenhower dictate their approach to foreign policy? The source used in this …

The Atlantic Conference At Argentia (9-12 August 1941) The Anglo-American Agreement On The Defeat Of Nazi Germany, John Michael Sweeney

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The meeting at Argentina, Newfoundland, between Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin D. Roosevelt in August 1941 was the first "summit" conference of the Second World War. It set the stage for the United States' entry into the war on the side of Great Britain and produced the Atlantic Charter, the noble statement of Western war aims. This study describes how the Nazi threat to England and the Atlantic brought the two democracies together into a de facto alliance before the United States formally entered the war. Its central theme is the "strategy of provocation" whereby President Roosevelt, certain …

A New Day In The Old Dominion, James R. Sweeney

History Faculty Publications

The presidential campaign of 1964 became a significant turning point in Virginia politics as the 24th Amendment eliminated poll taxes, black political organizations organized voter registration drives, and suburbanites, newcomers, and recent college graduates were attracted to the Republican Party. Republican candidates had made strong showings in elections in 1962 and 1963, due in part to the policies of the Kennedy administration. Democratic Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr., publicly opposed many of the fiscal and social policies of the Kennedy-Johnson administration, creating difficulty among Republicans in choosing someone to oppose him. His position also created a rift among pro- and …

Naval Airborne Early Warning 1945-1985, Edwin Leigh Armistead

History Theses & Dissertations

Airborne Early Warning (AEW) is the act of carrying a search radar aloft that can actively detect and even control aircraft and ships where a radar mounted on a ship or on land cannot. The United States Navy began research during World War II to counter the low-flying aircraft threat. Development of the AEW aircraft, however, was not complete in time to be of use during this conflict. Initially the Navy used two different aircraft, one carrier-based and the other land-based, to detect such air threats. As technology improved, these different capabilities were combined into a single airframe that contained …

The Impractical Ideal Costa Rica, The United States And Central America Reunification, 1902-1932, Donald R. Lam

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines the motivations of Central American Unionists and the failure of their movement in the early years of the twentieth century. The existing literature attributes the failure of Central American unification during this era to U.S. policies meant to maintain a divided isthmus in order to economically and politically exploit the region. A closer analysis of the primary sources, however, reveals that union failed because of internal factors, and that Washington's actions generally favored efforts to rejoin the nations to reduce isthmian tensions. Attempts to reunite the republics failed because of regional and domestic political rivalries, weaknesses in …

Tobacco And Its Role In The Life Of The Confederacy, D. T. Smith

History Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the role that tobacco played in influencing Confederate policy during the American Civil War. Surprisingly, very little research has been done on this subject; historians have virtually ignored the influence of tobacco upon Southern economic interests between 1850 and 1870.

The southern tobacco-producing states grew 439,183,561 pounds of raw tobacco in 1860. Southern manufactured tobacco was worth $21,820,535 in 1860, and along with other agricultural products, especially cotton, played an important economic, political, and diplomatic role in the life of the Confederacy. The tobacco industry represented a very strong interest group in the Upper South during the …

Yellow Ribbons, D. Scott Drake

English Theses & Dissertations

Yellow Ribbons is a feature-film screenplay that dramatizes various aspects of the Persian Gulf War. The hero of the story, Lieutenant Jason Hart, a talented but quixotic naval fighter pilot, participates in one of the last allied offensive military actions: the bombing of the retreating Iraqi army. Jake suffers a crisis of conscience in the climactic moment of the bombing and decides that he cannot continue to serve the navy as a fighter pilot. The story then shifts from the Persian Gulf to the United States. There Jake encounters a new set of obstacles as he struggles with his experience …

The Riga Mission: The Reports Of The First American Outpost On The Soviet Border, 1924-1933, Jeffrey Acosta

History Theses & Dissertations

From 1917 to 1933, the United States did not recognize the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In 1920 the United States established conditions for recognition. First, the Soviet Union had to pay all debts owed to the United States government and its citizens by previous Russian and Soviet governments. In addition, all propaganda and subversive activities sponsored by the Soviet Union in the United States had to cease. During this period, the Division of Eastern European Affairs (DEEA) studied and collected data about the Soviet Union from its main "outpost" at the United States Mission in Riga, Latvia. The Russian …

Many Voices, Similar Concerns: Traditional Methods Of African-American Political Activity In Norfolk, Virginia, 1865-1875, Michael Hucles

History Faculty Publications

African-Americans in postbellum Norfolk, Virginia, as elsewhere, knew that merely gaining freedom through government action--the Confiscation Acts, Emancipation Proclamation, and Thirteenth Amendment--did not guarantee that they would be fairly treated. They therefore attempted to gain control of their lives through a vigorous affirmation of their rights. They began to record their antebellum marriages and normalize family relations, obtain an education, establish a base for economic prosperity, and participate in the political process. Through these actions they hoped to give true meaning to their freedom. Unfortunately, they were not always successful in their attempts.

U.S.S. New Ironsides: The Seagoing Ironclad In The Union Navy, William Howard Roberts

History Theses & Dissertations

Of the ironclads completed by the Union during the Civil War, only the U.S.S. New Ironsides was a seagoing, high-freeboard design. Her seagoing qualities and heavy battery made her uniquely valuable to the Union in combat. Although New Ironsides was highly successful and her high-freeboard design squarely in the European mainstream, she represented the last of her direct line in the U.S. Navy. The lessons learned from her construction and wartime service, which should have provided invaluable instruction for U.S. designers, were not followed up. By failing to develop the seagoing ironclad the United States forfeited the advantages it might …

John Bankhead Magruder And The Defense Of The Virginia Peninsula, 1861-1862, Leonard W. Riedel Jr.

History Theses & Dissertations

The viability of the Confederacy depended on its ability to organize a government and military defense force. Two early concerns were the operation of Gosport Naval Shipyard and protection of the Confederate capital at Richmond. Poised between them was Fortress Monroe.

With undisputed Union mastery of the Chesapeake Bay, Fortress Monroe was a constant reminder of the tentative security of these critical points. The man chosen to protect the Peninsula was Virginian, John Bankhead Magruder. Less than one year later, his efforts were denigrated by Commanding General Joseph E. Johnston who wanted to pursue his own strategic plan.

Under constant …

The Road To Reorganization: The First Convention Of The Protestant Episcopal Church In Virginia, May 18-25, 1785, William C. Barnhart

History Theses & Dissertations

Following the War of Independence the Anglican church in the United States was all but defunct. In the eyes of many American communicants, political independence from England necessitated a comparable ecclesiastical divorce. The postwar years produced various plans aimed at the reorganization of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The Episcopalians of Maryland and Pennsylvania took the lead in awakening their brethren to the advantages of national unification.

How did Virginia, perhaps the most Anglicanized state of all, respond to this call for religious solidarity? This matter, and others, were addressed at the first convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Virginia, …

The Origins Of The Department Of Defense Recommendation To Cross The 38th Parallel During The Korean War, Wayne A. Kirkbride

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This thesis considers the reasons the Department of Defense (DOD) developed its recommendation concerning the U.S. involvement in the Korean War. The United states initially committed its forces to restore the status quo antebellum. However, by 31 July 1950, the DOD recommended that a free, unified, and representative Korea should be the policy object of the war and that the occupation of all of Korea and the defeat of the North Korean armed forces north and south of the 38th Parallel should be the military objectives.

Several factors contributed to the recommendation of a change in policy and strategy. A …

School Desegregation And Urban Renewal In Norfolk, 1950-1959, Forrest R. (Hap) White

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Although a number of scholars have examined the impact that the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision had upon local school policies, there is a paucity of research on what repercussions that decision may have had upon a broad range of other related municipal issues. This historical case study explores the effect that opposition to court ordered school integration had upon the placement of school buildings and urban renewal projects in one Southern city, Norfolk, Virginia, where there was strong reason to believe that the municipal powers of school plant planning, redevelopment, and city planning were deliberately …

Whispers In The Golden Silence: Harry F. Byrd, Sr., John F. Kennedy, And Virginia Democrats In The 1960 Presidential Election, James R. Sweeney

History Faculty Publications

In the election of 1960, Richard M. Nixon carried Virginia, the third consecutive victory for a Republican ticket in the strongly Democratic state. Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr., the conservative Democratic power broker of Virginia, maintained what became known as a "golden silence," failing to endorse John F. Kennedy and privately working to ensure Nixon's victory. Byrd's stance angered many state Democrats, and by 1964 they broke the senator's power over the party, passing a resolution endorsing President Lyndon B. Johnson over Byrd's objections.

United States Tactical Doctrine, 1855 To 1861: The Mismeasure Of Technology, Marion Vincent Armstrong Jr.

History Theses & Dissertations

This thesis illuminates the state of United States Army tactical doctrine at the beginning of the Civil War. In 1855, the weapons available to the United States Army left much to be desired in terms of firepower. Their limited range and lack of accuracy meant that they could not be relied upon to render the final decision in battle. The tactical system of 1855, however, blended this firepower with the shock action effect of bayonets and sabres, permitting the capabilities of the weaponry to be maximized on the battlefield while at the same time minimizing the deficiencies.

This harmony between …

George F. Kennan And The Rebuilding Of Japan: The Second Phase Of Occupation Policy, Rhonda S. Beckham

History Theses & Dissertations

As head of the Policy Planning Staff of the Department of State, George F. Kennan had the opportunity to implement aspects of the containment policy which he had helped to create. In 1947, Japan became vital to United States national security interests in Asia but was threatened by Communist infiltration because of an unstable political and economic situation promulgated by the initial post-surrender policy immediately after the war. An investigation by Kennan led to the implementation of significant changes which were enumerated in a National Security Council Report. This thesis will examine Kennan's foreign policy philosophy, the containment theory, the …

The Truman Administration, Israel, And Containment In The Middle East 1945-1952, Leslie Tarbutton

History Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines United States policy towards Israel from 1948 to 1952 to determine the extent to which the support given to Israel during the Truman administration reflected the major United States policy goal in the Middle East, the containment of the Soviet Union.

Sources used in this thesis include: archival material; printed collections of documents; memoirs; and secondary sources.

The Truman administration pursued containment in the Middle East by cooperating with Great Britain to improve the economic and military well-being of the Arab states so they could resist any Soviet attempts to dominate the region. However, domestic political pressure …

Franco-American Relations And The Emergence Of French Nuclear Armament, 1939-1962, Regis Hugues Philippon

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

France and the United States stand out as two major pioneer countries in the development of nuclear science. It was logical for France to join the nuclear club. But due to the extended responsibilities such an option implies, a lengthy difference of opinion developed between France and the United States. The former asserted its rights and its worldwide influence heedless of the decolonization process. The latter, heavily committed to the Western defense and its global interests, opposed the development of a strike force that it could not control. This disagreement led France to make specific reservations toward decision-making of the …

The American Influence On The Mindanao Resistance During The Second World War, Michael Anthony Balis

History Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines the American participation in the development of resistance against the Japanese on Mindanao Island in the Philippines, 1942-1945. Americans directed the overall resistance movement and commanded most of the provinces. As leaders Americans played a key role in the evolution of the resistance from an independent guerrilla force to a partisan force that gave U.S. forces combat and intelligence assistance. The most important information for the thesis came from the MacArthur Archives, the Hayden Papers at the University of Michigan, the U.S. Army Military History Institute at Carlisle Barracks, and correspondence with 14 men who served with …

Spire And Tower: The History, Architecture And Art Of Two Norfolk, Virginia Churches, Judith L. Smith

Institute for the Humanities Theses

While St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church and Epworth Methodist Episcopal Church are dissimilar in origin, religious practices, and architectural style, when taken together, their periods of construction in their respective revival styles span and define an important era in Norfolk, Virginia's urban history.

Original research in the sparse records of several Catholic parishes identifies the previously known name of the architect of St. Mary's church. The study also offers additional information on that church's stained glass window.

The author presents the heretofore scattered history of Epworth Church in chronological order. The study develops new information concerning …

The U.S. Army And The Development Of The Rok Army: 1945-1950, Charles M. Ayers

History Theses & Dissertations

When the Korean War began in June 1950, the South Korean Army was unprepared and was unable to cope with the forces from the North. This study seeks to determine whether the decisions made by the US Army as to the building of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Army during the period from 1945 to 1950 were appropriate in regard to the political and strategic situation in the Korean peninsula. The study approaches the problem by examining us documents and other archival material concerning the Army's policies toward Korea, how these policies were developed and executed, and what effect they …

Reconstruction In Kemper County, Mississippi, Michael Brian Connolly

History Theses & Dissertations

Blacks were the passive victims in Kemper County, Mississippi, the scene of violence and murder in Reconstruction. The Ku Klux Klan, the Order of '76, and a continuing animosity between scalawag Radical Republicans and white-line Democrats were instrumental in perpetuating a frontier atmosphere wherein the pistol and Bowie knife were commonplace. Shooting or killing was an acceptable method of settling one's differences with another. Freedom and new rights for the majority black population of the county and seven years of Radical rule in the county provoked night-riding violence, murder and finally, the Mississippi Plan, successful revolution at the ballot box …

Containment, Cliency And The Revolution In Vietnam, Deborah Tompsett-Makin

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This thesis addresses the question, why does U.S. foreign policy contribute to political instability in developing nations? To ascertain the answer, it analyzes the post-World War II administrations from Truman through Johnson. One mode of containment, cliency, a foreign policy relationship between a major power and a weaker state, is developed within the framework analyzing containment. The cliency model provides a theoretical basis for explaining how the domestic structure of the client state is systematically distorted by the patron's actions in pursuit of its global interests. The cliency model is also linked to the pattern of development and stability of …