History Commons^™

Arthur Before The Romances: Exploring Arthur's Evolution As A Literary Figure, Austin Long

History Undergraduate Theses

In 411 CE, the Roman legions left the island of Britain, never to return. This led to the slow decline of the Romano-Britons until their ultimate defeat at the hands of the Anglo-Saxons invaders. The Anglo-Saxons would remain on the island slowly supplanting the native Celtic language and culture until the Old English emerged. Out of this era emerged stories of a Celtic hero that would drive out the foreign invaders and reclaim Britain for the Celtic Britons. This story would later become very popular on the continent of Europe and the Celtic legend of Arthur would change. Using a …

Captain James Cook And His Fight Against The Invisible: A Closer Look At The Diseases That Plagued The Voyages Of Discovery, Gabby Quinnett

History Undergraduate Theses

A look into Captain James Cook's battle against the diseases he, his crew, and the Pacific Natives faced between 1768-1779.

The Aftermath Of The 1745 Jacobite Rebellion: How British Reformatory Measures And Chief Complicity Destroyed Clanship In The Scottish Highlands, Kyreston Jones

History Undergraduate Theses

This paper focuses on the aftermath in the Highlands of the Battle of Culloden in 1746, when Scottish Jacobite rebels were defeated by the army of the Duke of Cumberland. It mainly addresses how British reformatory measures deteriorated the relationship between clan chiefs and their clansmen, to that of landlord and tenant. I argue that the acts meant to modernize and reform the Highlands laid the groundwork for the damage, but the final blow was carried out by the clan chiefs themselves. Clan chiefs and other leaders in Highland society saw an opportunity to profit from the clan lands they …

The Englishwoman’S Domestic Magazine’S Influence On Nineteenth-Century Middle-Class Women, Amber Cook

History Undergraduate Theses

Depictions and study of women’s fashion from mid-nineteenth-century England have largely focused on upper-class women and suffragettes. The purpose of this research is to highlight another group, middle-class women, and their fashion choices through analysis of the Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine. This magazine not only gave fashion advice and instruction but guided middle-class women’s choices on what materials to purchase and where to purchase them. The fashion columns steered women into building a new middle-class identity that was unique and set them apart from the extravagant upper class.

By examining the articles printed in the magazine I was able to …

A Most Interesting Time: The Militarization Of Containment After The Czechoslovakian Coup D'Etat Of 1948, Abraham Buri

History Undergraduate Theses

This paper discusses the development of American foreign policy during the first few years of the Cold War through the containment doctrine. This doctrine, which in modern times has come to mean aggressive military action against any perceived communist threat, is not at all what the architect of containment George Kennan had in mind when he first pitched the idea to the Truman Administration in 1946. The reason that the definition shifted in the course of a few short years is because of the communist coup d’état that occurred in Czechoslovakia in February 1948. Scholars have traditionally assigned more importance …

“Kinder, Küche, Und Kirche”: Women’S Work In The Third Reich, Margarete Crelling

History Undergraduate Theses

Under dictator Adolph Hitler, Germany was transformed into a totalitarian state. When World War II was declared on September 1, 1939, it was clear that the world would never be the same. The Nazi Party controlled nearly every aspect of German society with an iron fist, including religion, education, culture, and the role of women and family. Today, conversations and research about the Nazi regime during World War II often focus on the horrors of the Holocaust and its male perpetrators—Adolf Hitler, his officers, and troops. The important role women played in Germany during World War II is often overlooked …

Death And Taxidermy: How The Process Of Taxidermy Ties In To Modern Society’S Discomfort With Death, Caitlin Monroe

History Undergraduate Theses

“Death and Taxidermy: How the Process of Taxidermy ties in to Modern Society’s Discomfort with Death” examines the relationship between current western discomfort with taxidermy and the strengthening relationship of companion animals with humans. This strengthening of the relationship is facilitating the rising level of grief that comes with losing a pet thus allowing that loss to equate to the loss of a family member. By dispelling the mystery surrounding the process by which a taxidermy specimen is made, where it comes from and why these specimens are vital to educational advancement in the museum, we can discuss why society …

The Mau Mau Insurrection: The Failed Rebellion That Freed Kenya, Joshua Scullin

History Undergraduate Theses

During the British Empire’s colonial occupation of Kenya, which began in 1895, a new sense of Kenyan nationalism emerged. Between 1952 and 1956, the combined Kenyan tribes—united for the first time and calling themselves the Mau Mau—launched a violent guerilla war against the occupying British forces. Militarily, the Kenyans were no match for the seasoned soldiers, yet the rebellion became a significant cause of the ultimate British decision to withdraw from the Kenyan colony. Policy makers in the British metropole­—the political and cultural center of the British Empire—grew concerned that any reprisal against further Mau Mau insurgent action would lead …

The War Of 1812: The Rise Of American Nationalism, Paul Hanseling

History Undergraduate Theses

On June 18, 1812, United States President, James Madison, signed a Declaration of War against Great Britain. What brought these two nations to such a dramatic impasse? Madison’s War Message to Congress gives some hint as to the American grievances: impressment of American sailors; unnecessary, “mock” blockades and disruption of American shipping; violations of American neutral rights; and incursions into American coastal waters.[1] By far, the most vocal point of contention was impressment, or the forcible enlistment of men in the navy. For their part, Great Britain viewed every measure disputed by Americans as a necessity as they waged …

The Irish Ordnance Survey's Six Inches To One Mile Map Of Ireland: Anglicization And Otherness, Reese C. Hentges

History Undergraduate Theses

By examining the power maps and language have over a nation this research reveals a correlation between the creation of the 1846 Six Inches to One Mile Maps of Ireland and the decline of the Gaelic language at the expense of the English language. By examining Irish Ordnance Survey maps, Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland, and other documents from the Irish Ordnance Survey while the Six Inches to One Mile Maps of Ireland this thesis demonstrates that the Six Inches to One Mile Maps of Ireland was a tool of imperialism used by Great Britain to culturally assimilate Ireland by …

The Truth Is In The Lye: Soap, Beauty, And Ethnicity In British Soap Advertisements., Michelle I. Parker

History Undergraduate Theses

This paper explores the connection between historical soap advertisements and perceptions of race. It begins by exploring the history of advertising, beauty, and the Industrial Revolution. It analyzes four advertisements, three from the late nineteenth century and one from the early twenty-first century. It discusses the link between racial perceptions and acceptance of “The White Man’s Burden.” The focus of this paper is on soap brands owned by the contemporary company Unilever.

From Bread And Jam To Woolton Pie: Food Rationing And Improved Nutrition In Wwii Great Britain, Jennifer G. Joyner

History Undergraduate Theses

The practice of controlling food supplies has existed since ancient times—driven by urbanization, the controls were of a protective nature, as the commercialization of food production and retailing led to opportunities for graft and corruption. Authorities, motivated by the belief in a “moral economy” that held the public good in higher esteem than market forces, attempted to curb these abuses with various controls. However, in Great Britain in the eighteenth century, rapid industrialization led to a new economic and political approach to governance: that the public was best served by free trade.

This premise meant that market demands now superseded …

Arrival From Abroad: Plague, Quarantine, And Concepts Of Contagion In Eighteenth-Century England, Talei Ml Hickey

History Undergraduate Theses

The isolation and separation of infected individuals in response to epidemics has persevered throughout history as an effective public health measure. Since the devastation of the Black Death during the fourteenth century, major European cities continued to institute various forms of quarantine in order to address the threat of plague. Following the Great Plague of London in 1665-66 – the last major outbreak of bubonic plague to occur in England – the country had no way of knowing it would never again be visited by the disease in its epidemic form. In the eighteenth century, Parliament took measures aimed at …