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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Control Through Criminalization: The U.S. Legal System And The Construction Of Criminal Aliens, Kyran Doyle Schnur Nov 2023

Control Through Criminalization: The U.S. Legal System And The Construction Of Criminal Aliens, Kyran Doyle Schnur

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

Immigration laws and policy in the United States underwent a metamorphosis during the second half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty first. Beginning with the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, immigration across the US-Mexico saw its first serious levels of restriction. Radical shifts in policy in the 1980s made documented immigration impossible for many, and these legal hurdles were compounded by border militarization in the 1990s. In the 21st century a new emphasis on criminalizing undocumented immigrants has developed. These dramatic shifts have all contributed to a modern policy that seeks to control undocumented immigrants …


A Comparison Of Liberal And Marxist Revolutionary Thought, Chad Stoughton Nov 2023

A Comparison Of Liberal And Marxist Revolutionary Thought, Chad Stoughton

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

Liberalism and Marxism are two of the most influential ideologies of the modern era. Generally analyzed in the context of their criticisms of one another, they are rarely examined through the lens of revolutionary thought and action. Both ideologies have a clear interpretation of revolution, and both are fundamentally revolutionary, both in origin and in outlook. This paper will examine how liberal and Marxist ideology shaped how revolution was understood by their respective adherents, and how that understanding contributed to the success or failure of their revolutionary movements to create lasting polities that adhered to their ideological principles.


Getting On The Map: American Women And Subversive Cartographical Practice, Kara Westhoven Nov 2023

Getting On The Map: American Women And Subversive Cartographical Practice, Kara Westhoven

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

Approaches to cartographic history have largely centered around a Cartesian perspective of space and a masculine tradition that celebrated the domination and exploration of new lands. This paper, instead, assesses the ways in which women have successful inserted themselves into this cartographic practice. By examining American women’s use of maps, from tools for education and early nation building, to nineteenth-century biographical resources, and as promotional visuals of the suffrage movement, it becomes clear that women have utilized maps, geography, and cartographic vocabulary in unconventional ways throughout history. Maintaining critical perspective of feminist cartography also allows for identification of the oversight …


Fool's Gold: Comparing Two Political And Economic Crises In Brazilian History, Carrie Katan Nov 2023

Fool's Gold: Comparing Two Political And Economic Crises In Brazilian History, Carrie Katan

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

This paper’s goal is to compare and contrast the political and economic crisis that affected the Brazilian military dictatorship from the late 1970’s to mid 1980’s to the political and economic crisis currently affecting Brazil in order to get a better idea of what may be the political effects of the current crisis. This paper argues that both the current crisis and the one under the dictatorship stem from similar causes. It also argues that Brazilian democracy, much like the military dictatorship before it, risks being fatally undermined politically by an economic crisis it is responsible for.


The Saga Of American Catholicism: Family As Microcosm, Kathrine Esten Jun 2019

The Saga Of American Catholicism: Family As Microcosm, Kathrine Esten

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

The story of American Catholicism since the 19th century is one of social isolation, family devotion, and strict religious doctrine. In contrast, this story is also one of progressive development, Americanization, and the creation of a unique American Catholic identity, even if unintended by the Church. Combining a historical analysis of Catholic movements in the 19th and 20th centuries for Catholic immigrants and their descendants in the Northeastern United States with personal interviews of late 20th century members of my own Catholic family, I argue that the decreasing reliance of later generations of Catholics on Church authority, coupled with friction …


Putin El Caudillo, Kyran Schnur Jun 2019

Putin El Caudillo, Kyran Schnur

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

This paper examines the historical development of the relationship between the Putin regime in Russia and the Chávez and Maduro regimes in Venezuela. Key differences and similarities in their foreign and domestic policies are explored, as well as how they interact with each other on the world stage. It makes the case that chavismo in Venezuela has lead to increasingly autocratic policies as oil prices have declined and leadership has changed hands, changing the character of Venezuela and Russia’s relationship into one that closely resembles the patron-client relationships of Latin American caudillismo.


Wreckless Endangerment: How Nuclear Weapons Affected Us And Soviet Foreign Policy 1945-1962, Conor Morrissey Jun 2019

Wreckless Endangerment: How Nuclear Weapons Affected Us And Soviet Foreign Policy 1945-1962, Conor Morrissey

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

This paper seeks to answer the question of how the development of nuclearweapons changed the nature of warfare, diplomacy, and international relations. It frames thehistorical context in which these weapons were invented, how they were used to achieve militarygoals, and asks ethical and moralistic questions about how they changed the way global affairswere conducted. The focus of this paper begins with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, and ends with the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962. This seventeen-year period marks the era of the Cold War upon which nuclear weapons had the most pronounced and profound …


The Absence Of Clarity And The Effects On Minorities, Zachary Lavoie Jun 2019

The Absence Of Clarity And The Effects On Minorities, Zachary Lavoie

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

This paper involves discovering how the lack of clarity in the American refugee policy post-World War II affected members of multiple minorities: namely Jews, suspected Communists, and homosexuals. The goal is to show that the lack of clarity in American policy and pre-established prejudice were factors that encouraged nativism and xenophobia within the American people. This has been done by examining secondary sources of analyses given by historians like Carl Bon Tempo and Torrie Hester, and by also drawing on primary news articleswritten from 1948 to 1980. Upon examination of these sources, it became clear that the uncertain refugee policy …


Bose’S Revolution: How Axis-Sponsored Propaganda Inflamed Nationalism In Wartime India, Michael Connors Jun 2019

Bose’S Revolution: How Axis-Sponsored Propaganda Inflamed Nationalism In Wartime India, Michael Connors

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

After decades of subjugation under the British crown, India’s leaders at the onset ofthe Second World War were split on how to handle nationalist sentiment in their country. Part ofthe Indian National Congress, an independence-focused political party, these leaders werehighly aware of the reality where many common Indian citizens would shed blood for a king thatwould not validate India as an independent state. Since negotiation seemed to prove fruitless, Subhas Chandra Bose, a savvy Indian political leader, decided action must be taken to remove the British Raj. In order to weaken British authority, Bose split from the INC — forming …


Enemies Or Saviors: The Complications Of Resisting Revolution, Michael Chrzanowski Jun 2019

Enemies Or Saviors: The Complications Of Resisting Revolution, Michael Chrzanowski

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

Domestic opposition to the government in Paris was a constant throughout theFrench Revolution. Although the revolutionary government repressed each instance of unrest,the various opposition movements’ motivations and goals provide a lens through which wecan re-evaluate the values of liberty, equality, and justice that revolutionaries articulated.One domestic opposition movement, the Federalist Revolt of 1793, had major significance for the course of the Revolution. The Federalist Revolt raised questions about fundamental aspects of the Revolution itself: who were the sovereign people? Who claimed to represent the people?Was violence integral to claiming sovereignty? I explore a number of aspects of the FederalistRevolt. Why …


The South African War: Implications And Convictions Of Postwar Politics And Policy, Jaffar Shiek Apr 2017

The South African War: Implications And Convictions Of Postwar Politics And Policy, Jaffar Shiek

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

Apartheid in South Africa is a widely known tragedy in the realm of history and political science. In order to understand the racism and prejudice that served as the framework of apartheid, it is important to understand it’s inception and the ripe settings for its implementation. The aim of this paper is to trace and depict the events leading up to apartheid, including the Boer Wars and the consequences of Britain’s Scorched Earth policy. Using works such as Professor Higginson’s “Hell in Small Place: Agrarian Elites and Collective Violence in the Western Transvaal, 1900-1907,” and primary documents from Jan Smuts, …


From Hellenism To Hitlerism: The Use Of Sport As An Ethnic And Cultural Identifier, Ethan Schwartz Apr 2017

From Hellenism To Hitlerism: The Use Of Sport As An Ethnic And Cultural Identifier, Ethan Schwartz

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

From antiquity onwards, sports and competitive athletic events have been used as an area to implement othering strategies. Othering is the attempt to differentiate a societal group by some determining factor. Evidence of athletics being used as an othering medium, is prevalent throughout ancient Greece, ancient Rome, Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and early 20th century Britain.


An Unending War: The Legacy Of Agent Orange, Miranda Burrage-Goodwin Apr 2017

An Unending War: The Legacy Of Agent Orange, Miranda Burrage-Goodwin

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

During the Vietnam War (1955-1975), the United States military dropped nineteen-million gallons of a chemical defoliant commonly known as Agent Orange. In the direct aftermath of this conflict, many U.S. and Vietnamese soldiers, civilians, and related progeny experienced severe and often life threatening diseases and birth defects. This paper seeks to establish a more concrete link between the chemical defoliants and these diseases. Despite the overwhelming evidence, many scholars and scientists are reluctant to acknowledge this connection. In the years following the Vietnam War, the abortion rate in Vietnam saw a drastic increase. This study provides evidence for causation, not …


From The Meanest Man To King Charles I: The King’S Role In The Trial Of King Charles I, Benjamin Lerer Apr 2017

From The Meanest Man To King Charles I: The King’S Role In The Trial Of King Charles I, Benjamin Lerer

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

The House of Commons convened the High Court of Justice to try King Charles I for various high crimes and treason. The High Court of Justice found King Charles I guilty. But the High Court of Justice was illegitimate and could not try the meanest man in England. Ben Lerer analyzes civil lawyer Sir Edmund Pierce’s views on the King’s role, the views on the King’s role expressed by acts of the House of Commons, and the views on the King’s role expressed by the King himself, the crowd, and the High Court of Justice.


Popular Literature In The Abbasid Caliphate: How It Represented And Defined The Culture Of The Abbasids, Genevieve Weidner Apr 2017

Popular Literature In The Abbasid Caliphate: How It Represented And Defined The Culture Of The Abbasids, Genevieve Weidner

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

Often times, the study of history focuses on concrete events, such as wars or political measures. In a history classroom, this is usually not out of neglect, but for the sake of time. In order to cover the broadest timeline, history teachers often gloss over the culture of each region they study. However, the culture is an essential part of history. The culture explains what people valued, which contributes to the events that usually define the course of history. This paper examines two styles of popular literature during the Abbasid Caliphate. By examining poetry and the prose works of Kalila …


Ward Bosses And Reformers: An Analysis Of Boston’S Irish Political Machine, 1884-1914, Andrew Marton Apr 2017

Ward Bosses And Reformers: An Analysis Of Boston’S Irish Political Machine, 1884-1914, Andrew Marton

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

This essay examines the rise and fall of Boston’s ward-based Irish political machine, from the 1880s to its demise in the 1914 municipal elections. The bosses who ran the machine, though initially successful, undermined themselves by limiting their outreach to the city’s Irish population. Meanwhile, the machine fractured at the turn of the century, with bosses fighting for power, weakening the machine. With waning support and the rise of factional bickering, the machine was weakened by the reformist 1909 city charter, then destroyed by the unforeseen dark horse victory of Irish politician James Michael Curley in the 1914 mayoral election.