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Full-Text Articles in History

North Of The Grid: The Black Experience Of 17th -19th Century Rural New York City, Stephanie E. Barnes Jun 2022

North Of The Grid: The Black Experience Of 17th -19th Century Rural New York City, Stephanie E. Barnes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the United States, transatlantic slavery was a racial project and template for race-making which created a country that relied on institutions that were organized and performed through social stratification. Today, the nation still operates on systemically racist institutions that have benefited whites while disadvantaging ‘others.’ The narratives presented in American history are rooted in whiteness and benefit the white community while marginalizing nonwhites. Over two hundred years of slavery history in this country has been purposely manipulated and left out. My research focuses on using an historical archaeological framework to research and share the lives of free and enslaved …


Babel Fish: Court Interpreters In America (1790-1921), John Alcalde Jan 2022

Babel Fish: Court Interpreters In America (1790-1921), John Alcalde

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines court interpretation and English language fluency in US law from the Revolution to the Progressive Era. From its inception, the United States has operated with an Anglophone legal system that presumes English fluency embedded in a society that has contained an ever-evolving population of non-English speakers. Using legal records from cases with non-English speakers, I study how court interpretation evolved over the course of the long nineteenth century. The major themes that emerge from my research tell the story of how the American legal system discovered interpreters as the tool for communication with non-English speakers in the …