History Commons^™

International Student Orientations: Indian Students At American Universities Around The Turn Of The Twentieth Century, Param S. Ajmera

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the writings and experiences of five Indian international students in the United States during late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. By drawing attention to these students, I attend to the ways in which notions of freedom, progress, and inclusivity associated with American higher education, and liberalism more generally, are related to structures of racialized and colonial dispossession in India. I build these arguments by reading archival sources such as university administrative records, student publications, personal and official correspondence, as well as understudied aesthetic works, such as memoirs, travel narratives, essays, doctoral dissertations, and public lectures. These historical …

The Final Straw: The Battle For Puerto Rico, Samantha N. Marrero

Theses

The Common Wealth of Puerto Rico has undergone tremendous amounts of oppression. The capstone will evaluate the policies imposed on the commonwealth by the United States, and the actions revolutionaries or independentistas took to have a liberated Puerto Rico

Companions To Combatants:, Jude M. Horning

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

This thesis uses the narrative of Charles Sumner's Caning to examine the shift in national public perceptions of patriotism and the disconnect in the late Antebellum period between North and South. Using the metrics of presidential action, national and state newspaper stories, and social thought, this paper traces the 50 years between the War of 1812 and the Civil War, looking specifically at the development of localist politics in the end of the period.

Badger State Nationalism: World War I, The Ku Klux Klan, And The Politics Of 'Americanism' In 1915-1930 Wisconsin, William Levi

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The Ku Klux Klan is most synonymous with racism and religious bigotry, especially during the revival period of the 1920s. What is often less understood is the aggressively nationalist nature of the Klan, which in some locales proved to be its most potent symbol and recruiting tool, epitomized by the use of the American flag and the ‘100% Americanism’ slogan. In Wisconsin, where entry into World War I was least popular in 1917, the following months saw a series of ‘loyalty struggles’ develop; many Wisconsinites regretted their early lack of support and sought to prove their loyalty and patriotism to …

Los Chinos De La Chinesca: Destabilizing National Narratives And Uncovering The Forgotten History Of The Chinese In Mexico, Mya Hansel Gelber

Senior Projects Spring 2018

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Exorcising Power, John Jarzemsky

Theses and Dissertations

This paper theorizes that authors, in an act I have termed “literary exorcism,” project and expunge parts of their identities that are in conflict with the overriding political agenda of their texts, into the figure of the villain. Drawing upon theories of power put forth by Judith Butler, I argue that this sort of projection arises in reaction to dominant ideas and institutions, but that authors find ways to manipulate this process over time. By examining a broad cross-section of English-language literature over several centuries, this phenomenon and its evolution can be observed, as well as the means by which …

Identity To Be Determined: The Development Of The American Ideal In The Early Republic, Andrew S. Mills

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Late victories in the War of 1812, like General Andrew Jackson’s triumph in the Battle of New Orleans rekindled the growing sense of nationalistic fervor that had appeared after the American Revolution. Americans saw themselves as a people with a unique destiny granted by God. Between the 1780s and the 1820s, different political party visions of American identity competed. The Jeffersonians were agrarian-focused. They envisioned a nation based on the morality of citizens. Federalists saw a more hierarchical, European-like society as the best hope for the American cause. These competing visions of identity led to continued attacks by the leading …

"The Property Of The Nation": Democracy And The Memory Of George Washington, 1799-1865, Matthew Ryan Costello

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation explores how Americans personally experienced George Washington’s legacy in the nineteenth century through visits to his estate and tomb at Mount Vernon. By the 1820s many Americans had conflicting memories of the American Revolution and its most iconic figure, George Washington. As America grew more divided, so too did the memory of Washington. On multiple occasions, government factions and organizations attempted to claim his remains for political reasons. At the same time, Americans and foreign travelers journeyed to Mount Vernon to experience his tomb and forge a deeper personal connection with the man. These visitors collected objects such …

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 …

Nationalism In New England : Keene, New Hampshire And The American Civil War, Thomas Anthony Mcgrath

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Abstract: Nationalism in New England: Keene, New Hampshire and the American Civil War

July 4, 1865: A Nation In Search Of Itself, Sorn A. Jessen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The eighty-ninth anniversary of the declaration of American independence from Britain, on July 4, 1865, caught the nation at a critical time in its history. The great national crisis of civil war was over, but the nation had not yet re-united. The thesis argues that in the aftermath of the Civil War, American nationalism could not be reconstituted on neither an ethnic nor a civic model. Rather, on the eighty-ninth anniversary of Independence, the course of American Nationalism fell out along lines decreed by historical memory. The narrative construction of the past in the present constituted the only common thread …

“The Dictator Without A Uniform: Kārlis Ulmanis, Agrarian Nationalism, Transnational Fascism, And Interwar Latvia”, Jordan Tyler Kuck

Doctoral Dissertations

“The Dictator without a Uniform: Kārlis Ulmanis, Agrarian Nationalism, Transnational Fascism, and Interwar Latvia” tells for the first time the fascinating backstory of Latvia’s period of authoritarian rule (1934-1940) under Kārlis Ulmanis. The son of a former serf in the Russian Empire, Ulmanis rose to national prominence as an agronomist before becoming in 1918 the prime minister of the new Latvian republic. However, despite his earlier commitment to democracy, on May 15, 1934, Ulmanis led a coup d’état, proclaiming himself the Vadonis (Leader) of Latvia.

Based on previously unexamined archival materials in Nebraska and Latvia, this dissertation illustrates how many …

"Imagining The Haitian Nation-Family From Domestic Patriarchalism To State Authoritarianism", Emmanuel Lachaud

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Legislating The Danville Connection, 1847-1862: Railroads And Regionalism Versus Nationalism In The Confederate States Of America, Philip Stanley

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the effect regionalism had upon North Carolina and Virginia during the 1847-1862 legislative battles over the Danville, Virginia, to Greensboro, North Carolina, railroad connection. The first chapter examines the rivalry between eastern and western North Carolina for internal improvement legislation, namely westerners’ wish to connect with Virginia and easterners’ desire to remain economically relevant. The second chapter investigates the Tidewater region of Virginia and its battle against the Southside to create a rail connection with North Carolina. The third chapter examines the legislation for the Danville Connection during the American Civil War in the Virginia, North Carolina, …

"The Centre Of Our Union" : George Washington's Political Philosophy And The Creation Of American National Identity In The 1790s, Ryan Staude

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

For most of his presidency (1789-1797), George Washington worked to establish the federal government's legitimacy in the eyes of America's citizens while trying to gain international respect for the new nation. Although there was a broad elite consensus at the start of the decade it quickly dissipated in the face of basic questions about the federal government's power and scope of authority. Domestic political issues became entangled with foreign policy problems to create an intractable divide between opposing groups of Americans termed the Federalists and the Republicans. The two parties contended to see not only who would administer the government, …

Solace In St. Louis: A Case Study In Heroic Cultural Nostalgia, Amanda J. Pinney

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis examines the response of American popular culture to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. By utilizing the September 17, 2001 pre-game ceremony, held at Busch Stadium as a case study example, larger generalizations are made about the role popular culture played in the days following the tragedy. In order to analyze this example, I have developed heroic cultural nostalgia, a framework that combines elements of myth, nostalgia and national identity. Heroic cultural nostalgia provides an explanation of how popular culture plays a role in crisis response. The framework highlights the role of individuals with heroic characteristics in …