Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Best Evidence : A Social History Of The County Court Of Lafayette County, 1865-1870, Debbielee Landi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study of American legal institutions and practices provides valuable information regarding American society. This analysis focuses on the County Court of Lafayette County, Mississippi from its creation in 1865 until its dissolution in 1870. In order to assess the role of this court during Reconstruction, the types of cases and participants for the five-year period were analyzed.

The County Court system was established by the Mississippi state legislature in 1865 to manage the anticipated surge of criminal activity caused by the Civil War and the emancipation of slaves. This research discovered that although there was a considerable amount of …

Democratic Ideology, The Frontier Ethos, Medical Practice And Hospital Culture: Pacific Northwest Health-Seekers, Community Health And The Sisters Of Providence, Vancouver, Wa 1856 - 1879, Susan T.L. Courtney

Dissertations and Theses

Most historians readily acknowledge the economic incentive that prompted many pioneers to migrate westward across the overland trail. Health motivations remain generally unexplored. Many Americans had settled the interior regions most suited to farming, especially the acreage around river valleys in the Mississippi drainage system. Unfortunately, health conditions were not favorable to human existence.

The dilemma of economic well-being versus health disaster motivated a number of Americans to seek better living conditions. Some chose overland migration to the Pacific Northwest. The situation in contemporary medical practice was a kaleidoscope of competing sects and contradictory convictions. The mainline profession of medicine, …

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 …

From Welfare To Liberation: A Socio-Historical Analysis Of The Animal Rights Movement, Linda J. Rynbrandt

Masters Theses

This thesis is a socio-historical analysis of the animal rights social movement in the United States of America at the end of the 19th and 20th centuries. The theoretical model is resource mobilization theory, especially McCarthy and Zald's (1973) entrepreneurial model. The method, which contrasts this social movement at two points in time, is informed by Skocpol's (1984) interpretative historical sociology. In particular, leadership, ideology, organizational structure, and strategy tactics in both eras are examined. Comparing the two manifestations of animal rights protest, the data show that: (a) Leadership and organizational structure, though similar in many respects, are more professionalized …

John Quincy Adams As Minister To Russia, 1809-1814: The Ideals And Realities Confronting His Mission, Mary Elizabeth Willwerth

Masters Theses

To John Quincy Adams, the early nineteenth century proved itself to be not only a struggle for American independence from Europe, but a struggle for the eighteenth century ideal of the recently formed American philosophy of government. This unique philosophy inspired by key figures of the American Enlightenment, such as Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, incorporated the vision of America leading the way of enlightened world governments.

Son of the proud American revolutionary, John Adams, John Quincy Adams continued to follow the basic axioms of his father's generation and implement their basic ideals within his own various careers …

Frederick Douglass's Intended Audiences For His Antebellum Autobiographies, Kimberly Elaine Lankford

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

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 …

"The World Was All Before Them": A Study Of The Black Community In Norfolk, Virginia, 1861-1884, Cassandra Newby-Alexander

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The purpose of this study is to investigate the lives, accomplishments, and struggles of the black community in Norfolk, Virginia, between the years of 1861 and 1884, from the black perspective.;The integration of documents with statistics to uncover the mentalite of blacks is the focus of this study's research. The black community of this period was not always reactive, but active in determining its own fate. Even during slavery, Norfolk's blacks took an active role in their destiny through participation in the Underground Railroad.;This study suggests that blacks strove diligently to work with, and in some cases, conciliate, the white …

"For Thus His Neglect": Grand Jury Presentments For Failure To Attend Church, York County, Virginia, 1750-1775, Leslie Michelle Kesler

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

A New Hope For The Republic, Richard Smith Chew

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

In Pursuit Of Possibility, Elizabeth Ellet And The Women Of The American Revolution, Gretchen Ferris Schoel

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Commies, Cancer, And Cavities: The Conflict Over Fluoridation, Gretchen A. Reilly

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Chloe Tyler Whittle: Religion, Gender, And Identity In Norfolk, Virginia, 1865-1876, Antoinette Gray Van Zelm

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Those Who Are Compelled To Be Employed: Women, Work, And Education In The Powell Family Of Virginia, Katharine Virginia Graydon

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Loyalists And Baconians: The Participants In Bacon's Rebellion In Virginia, 1676-1677, John Harold Sprinkle Jr.

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Previous interpretations of Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia (1676-1677) have focused on either the competition between the two major participants, Governor William Berkeley or Councilor Nathaniel Bacon, or the social and economic causes of the uprising. This study presents a collective description of the participants from both sides of the rebellion: Loyalists and Baconians. Participant characteristics such as wealth, social status, officeholding, family life, and standard of living were compared in an attempt to distinguish individual reasons for rebellion or loyal service.;This research demonstrates that although all segments of colonial society were represented in the rebellion, both the Baconians and the …

La Guerre Sauvage: The Seven Years' War On The Virginia And Pennsylvania Frontier, Matthew Charles Ward

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The Seven Years' War on the Virginia and Pennsylvania frontier was a devastating struggle. About two thousand colonists died, almost as many were captured, and tens of thousands fled for safety in the east. The British and their colonists proved unable to mount an effective military defence: colonial forces proved unfit for warfare in the frontier environment and military efforts resulted only in intense discord between civil and military authorities. as a result of the destruction of the raids both Virginia and Pennsylvania were unable to contribute to the war effort in the northern theater, on the St. Lawrence, Lake …

"This Famous Island In The Virginia Sea": The Influence Of The Irish Tudor And Stuart Plantation Experiences In The Evolution Of American Colonial Theory And Practice, Meaghan Noelle Duff

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Lawlessness On The Maritime Frontier Of The Greater Chesapeake, 1650-1750, Samuel G. Margolin

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

When historians have addressed the issue of maritime lawlessness in the English colonies of North America their attention almost invariably has been drawn to New England where, according to the commonly held belief, opposition to the navigation system of the home government was most fervent, concerted, and pervasive. Rarely have researchers examined local involvement in piracy, illicit trade, and the unauthorized salvage of stranded or sunken vessels, or "wrecking," in the Chesapeake region where, scholars customarily have maintained, the colonists willingly participated in the imperial navigation scheme. Traditional historical investigations of freebooters and smugglers have also tended to focus on …

The Relationship Between The Board Of Trade And Plantations And The Colonial Government Of Virginia, 1696-1775, Mary Carroll Johansen

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Elisha Jackson's Tavern: A Rural Node Of Power, Joseph T. Rainer

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Artisans Of The South: A Comparative Study Of Norfolk, Charleston And Alexandria, 1763-1800, Mary Catherine Ferrari

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This study analyzes the political activities of workmen in Norfolk, Alexandria, and Charleston in the years 1763-1800. British historians, in particular, E. P. Thompson, have discovered radical agitation on the part of artisans and laborers in Great Britain between 1790 and 1832. A similar rise in class consciousness has been documented on northern urban centers at the time of the Revolution.;Socially and politically Norfolk, Alexandria, and Charleston were quite different; yet in each the mechanics did develop some class consciousness and realization of their political worth. The artisans of Charleston united in opposition to British measures in the years before …

A Community And Its Neighborhoods: Charles Parish, York County, Virginia, 1630-1740, Julie (Caroline Julia) Richter

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The majority of studies of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century communities have examined either towns, the focus of social organization in New England, or counties, the equivalent for the Chesapeake. However, the parish, not the county, was the unit of government that dealt with the problems which affected seventeenth- and eighteenth- century Virginians. Because the parish served as a focus for the day to day activities of the majority of colonial Virginians, it seems logical to examine a parish community in order to learn about their lives. However, most of the Chesapeake historians have focused their studies on a county or several …

Reviving The American Left: Erap And The Lid-Sds Conflict, Michael Patrick Bartos

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Rivals Of The Word: Rumors Between Seventeenth-Century Hurons And Jesuits, Jill E. Frank

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

A Sketch Of Sufferings: Power And Patronage In Daniel Fisher's Virginia 1750-1755, Wendy Joyce Baker

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Selling America In The Seventeenth Century: The Contribution Of Ralph Hamor's True Discourse To The Establishment Of The English Colony In America, Sibley Judson Smith

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

The Scourge Of "Discovery": A Case Study Of The Genocide Of Native Americans In English North America, Jayma Ann Abdoo

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

"Mischiefs So Close To Each Other": External Relations Of The Ohio Valley Shawnees, 1730-1775, Courtney B. Caudill

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

A Late Nineteenth - Century Rural Community: Three Homesteads In Sebago, Maine, Edward S. Allen Ma

All Student Scholarship

This thesis examines three homesteads in the small inland farming community of Sebago, Maine. The homesteads are analyzed in terms of architecture and landscape, along with documentary sources such as census returns. Set against the backdrop of the history of the town, and northern rural New England in general, the story of these three houses offers insights into the soacial history of Sebago during this period.

Richard Nixon's Position On Communist China, 1949-1960: The Evolution Of A Pacific Strategy, Glenn Michael Speer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation focuses on Richard Nixon's view of Communist China from the 1949 Revolution through the 1960 presidential election. There is also an extended epilogue examining his position on the issue in the 1960s prior to his election as president, and a discussion of the opening to China in 1972.

It is, in essence, an attempt to trace Nixon's "education," so to speak, in the foreign policy arena during his early career–a "gestation" period, if you will, for his presidential China policy. This is discussed within the context of the Cold War and the never ending melodrama of domestic politics, …