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Full Issue May 2024

Full Issue

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.


Beyond Bakke: Explaining The Anti-Affirmative Action Movement Of The 1990s, Austin Brayley May 2024

Beyond Bakke: Explaining The Anti-Affirmative Action Movement Of The 1990s, Austin Brayley

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

America's long history of racism testifies that despite major reform efforts, American society is not yet egalitarian. Minority racial and ethnic groups emain underrepresented in a number of professional fields such as law, medicine, white-collar business and instructors of higher education. Americans today cannot deny their heritage of discrimination based on race or nationality. In the past, the white majority has denied racial minorities' equal access to these prestigious fields, either through legislation, court rulings or overt resistance.


A War Of Words: Old Testament Slavery Debates In Antebellum Era, Sara Mcconkie May 2024

A War Of Words: Old Testament Slavery Debates In Antebellum Era, Sara Mcconkie

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Rligious leader Joseph Smith put it eloquently when he stated that early nineteenth-century religious leaders "understood the same passages of cripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling . .. question[s] by an appeal to the Bible." 1 The debates surrounding slavery during the antebellum era validate Smith's statement. With compelling arguments, religious leaders between 1830 and 1860 condoned and condemned slavery, using the Bible to support their claims.


Al-Ghazali' S Views On Education Reform, Joshua Wheatley May 2024

Al-Ghazali' S Views On Education Reform, Joshua Wheatley

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghaziili" (1058-1111 CE) is best known for his development of Islamic philosophy and his embrace of Sufism, but he was also an important contributor to the theory of Islamic education. There is no shortage of scholarship on al-Ghazali"'s promotion of Sufism, his contributions to Islamic philosophy and his involvement in court politics. His position on education, however, is less well-known. Avner Giladi, an authority on the history of education in the Islamic world, has observed that in medieval Islam, education was an inseparable part of religion and politics. Therefore, it is only natural that, rather than writing …


"By The Glory Of Our Fathers": Theodore Parker And The American Revolution, Benjamin E. Park May 2024

"By The Glory Of Our Fathers": Theodore Parker And The American Revolution, Benjamin E. Park

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Just like any significant historical event, the Memory and ideals of the American Revolution became an important point of reference for the many rhetoricians that followed. Politicians, reformers, and ministers used the "spirit" or "age" the Revolution as an authoritative text for their modern agendas. As a result, the meaning of the event became malleable, with many people claiming a different lesson to be used for their specific cause. Theodore Parker, a Bostonian Transcendentalist minister writing during the two decades prior to the Civil War, was one of these individuals. He hearkened back to the Revolution as a way to …


"We Will Not Be Silent": The White Rose And National Identity In Post-War Germany, Ardis Smith May 2024

"We Will Not Be Silent": The White Rose And National Identity In Post-War Germany, Ardis Smith

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In 1942, the White Rose resistance group, composed mainly of German university students, published its first leaflet. As part of a series written by Hans Scholl and Alexander Schmorell entitled the "Leaflets of the White Rose," the tract discussed the need for Germans to acknowledge the inhumane actions of Nazi Germany and encouraged Germans to adopt an attitude of "passive resistance" to the rule of National Socialism. The White Rose hoped to motivate Germans to join the resistance movement by asking "[w)ho among us has any conception of the enormous shame that we and our children will feel when eventually …


Engis Mon Got Two Hed: The Pretense Of Puritan Piety And Underground Racism In Early New Engand, Dallin Henrie May 2024

Engis Mon Got Two Hed: The Pretense Of Puritan Piety And Underground Racism In Early New Engand, Dallin Henrie

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Many Americans have long credited the Puritans with having laid much of the foundation for what would eventually be generalized as the American character and identity. The nation, they contend, is a product of these hard-working and God-fearing zealots. Others have marveled at this "favoritism" towards the Puritans. After all, other groups arrived earlier than the Puritans and arguably had a larger impact. This controversy has led to many studies of the Puritans. Some have focused on Puritan strengths: their work ethic, moral standards and altruistic character. Like all peoples, however, the Puritans also had their shortcomings. Witchcraft trials, half-way …


Fallen Women In Victorian England: Society, Prostitution And The Works Of Dante Gabriel Rossetti And William Holman-Hunt, Kristen Clark May 2024

Fallen Women In Victorian England: Society, Prostitution And The Works Of Dante Gabriel Rossetti And William Holman-Hunt, Kristen Clark

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Traditional views of the Victorian period are distinguished by the triumph of middle class respectability. However, a deeper look at Victorian England reveals it as an age of double standards. While notorious for strict prudish values and public repression of sexuality, nineteenth-century Britain was also Europe's leader in prostitution and sexual freedom. While publicly practicing staunch morals, society privately attempted to turn a blind eye from the streets where respectable husbands and militia forgot their prudent lifestyle and engaged with various ladies of the night.


Lincoln's World And The Gettysburg Address, Keith Evans May 2024

Lincoln's World And The Gettysburg Address, Keith Evans

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Ever since its delivery on 19 November 1863, Lincoln's now-iconic Gettysburg Address has become legend almost as much as Lincoln himself. Historians, political analysts, rhetoricians and fifth-graders have pored over the 272 words to glean insight into this granddaddy of all American speeches. It is possible to view the Address from many angles: some argue he was trying to gain the upper hand over the Confederacy on a moral basis; others argue that he suggested that the Declaration of Independence superseded the Constitution in authority. Other interpretations state that he insinuated the Civil War was being fought to protect the …


From Slavery To Freedom: Why Free Blacks Stayed In Warwick, New York, Elizabeth Morris May 2024

From Slavery To Freedom: Why Free Blacks Stayed In Warwick, New York, Elizabeth Morris

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In 1991, construction crews uncovered New York's "Negro Burying Ground" in lower Manhattan, prompting a resurgence of interest in the history of blacks and slavery in New York City. Recent historical literature includes works about black and slave culture in New York City and about the politics of slavery in New York. Although these historians make inferences about slavery in rural areas of New York in these works, very little research and literature is devoted specifically to this subject.


The Battle Of King's Mountain: Making History In An Hour, Katelyn Thacker May 2024

The Battle Of King's Mountain: Making History In An Hour, Katelyn Thacker

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Heavy rain in the early morning hours of October 7, 1780, dampened the leaves and allowed the rebel militia to steal through the forest surrounding King's Mountain undetected. The loyalist corps on the top of King's Mountain became aware of the approaching enemy by the rebel's own gunfire scarcely half a mile away. Multiple units of patriot riflemen swarmed the footshaped hill, pushing the loyalist troops to one end of it. In vain, the loyalists attempted to counter showering gunfire with bayonet charges. After only one hour, the loyalist commander British Major Patrick Ferguson lay dead. His subordinate, loyalist Captain …


Preface, Drew Mecham May 2024

Preface, Drew Mecham

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

The thirty-eighth volume of The Thetean, like its predecessors, showcases the work of history students at Brigham Young University. The idea of an undergraduate journal is admirable but beg us to inquire after its return-on-investment. Why spend the time and money when relatively few will read these articles? The answer, I believe, is akin to the answer of why we practice history at all.


Front Matter May 2024

Front Matter

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.


Full Issue May 2024

Full Issue

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.


Oh My Heart Has Been Pained Within Me: Benjamin Lay And The Quaker Acceptance Of Antislavery Ideology, Zachariah Young May 2024

Oh My Heart Has Been Pained Within Me: Benjamin Lay And The Quaker Acceptance Of Antislavery Ideology, Zachariah Young

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

in 1758, a sickly hunchback lay ill in his cave-like dwelling. He had devoted his life to the cause of eradicating slavery. He was alone, a widower and an outcast among those called Friends. Now, in the winter of his life, 77-yearold Benjamin Lay heard the news that the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting had embraced antislavery thought to the extent that those who "could not be persuaded to desist from the practice of holding slaves, or were concerned in the importation of them" could face disciplinary action, just as he had for decrying the evils of racial slavery decades before. At …


Judas Was A Chaplain To Congress: Jacob Duche And The Revolutionary Limits Of Civic Faith, Spencer Wells May 2024

Judas Was A Chaplain To Congress: Jacob Duche And The Revolutionary Limits Of Civic Faith, Spencer Wells

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

The Morning of September 6,1774, found a weary John Adams attending to political duties. Arriving in Philadelphia to take part in the First Continental Congress, Adams found himself greeted with rumors concerning the British "bombardment" of Boston at every turn. While aware that the colonial press remained unreliable during even the best of times, Adams remained concerned. Prospects of familial "distress and terror" haunted his mind, and fellow delegates did little to help. As Congress opened, Patrick Henry warned colonists of approaching danger. "Government [was] dissolved," he began, for aggressive British troops had succeeded in throwing once-loyal colonies into a …


Liberalizing Salvation In Medieval Vision Literature, Drew Sorber May 2024

Liberalizing Salvation In Medieval Vision Literature, Drew Sorber

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

in 1960, the Chicago Congress of World Mission declared, "in the years since World War II more than one billion souls have passed into eternity and more than half of those went to the torment of Hell fire without even hearing of Jesus Christ, who He was or why He died on the Cross of Calvary." The issue of a restricted salvation-one granted only to those who fulfil a specific set of requirements-has remained central to Christian eschatology since the pre-Nicene period and before. While this issue is addressed throughout Christian history, a dramatic reaction to it came in the …


Interracial Marriage In Utah During The 1960s And 1970s: With Individual Perspectives, Mark Lowe May 2024

Interracial Marriage In Utah During The 1960s And 1970s: With Individual Perspectives, Mark Lowe

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Racial conflict is no stranger to America's past. With the demise of slavery, many whites harbored fears of a new racial order. Through their efforts, they established an inequitable society once more, the intent of which was to promote white superiority and degrade the black community. Segregation and racial discrimination characterized the next cenrury of America's story. Blacks faced prejudice in many contexts, including education, employment, housing, and even social relationships, such as dating and marriage. Anti-miscegenation laws were a significant component of this discriminatory society. In her book What Comes Naturally, Peggy Pasco states that "opposition to interracial marriage …


Never Forget Czechoslovakia: The Prague Spring And The Crushed Opportunity For A New Czechoslovak Identity, Brittany Hardy May 2024

Never Forget Czechoslovakia: The Prague Spring And The Crushed Opportunity For A New Czechoslovak Identity, Brittany Hardy

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

With Soviet guns locked on the government buildings in Prague, Czechoslovakia was transformed from a nation of autonomous communism to one under full control of the Soviet Union. On 22 August 1968, amidst the chaos of the Warsaw Pact invasion, an unnamed university student left behind a plea via audio recording, asking the world for help saying, "The only way that you can help us is this: not to forget Czechoslovakia. Don't forget Czechoslovakia." His plea calls into question what defined the national identity of Czechoslovakia and what built the foundation for establishing such an identity. Historians such as Carol …


"Slaves, Monsters, Or Souls": Theology And Feminism In The Spanish Enlightenment, Rachael Givens May 2024

"Slaves, Monsters, Or Souls": Theology And Feminism In The Spanish Enlightenment, Rachael Givens

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Ines Joyes y Blake penned this plea in 1798 in a losing battle of Enlightened theology against Enlightenment hypocrisy: "Let the men say what they will, souls are equal!" This author of one of the most notable and radical essays on feminism of the Spanish eighteenth century, entitled simply Apologia, or "Defense," had joined the growing chorus of voices that were appealing to Enlightenment thinkers to apply to the historically neglected half of the population those principles of natural rights and human equality that had reshaped the era's theology and politics. It was only natural that some would seek to …


"A Few Spare Ribs": Female Immigration To Gold Rush California, Rachel Belk Moyar May 2024

"A Few Spare Ribs": Female Immigration To Gold Rush California, Rachel Belk Moyar

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In September on 1848, subscribers of the New York Herald read a fanciful description of a place that had "rivers whose banks and bottoms [were] filled with pure gold," and made the legendary El Dorado seem nothing "but a Sand bank." The work sounded easy, and the potential returns appeared limitless. A bucket of dirt "with a half hour's washing in running water" would produce "a spoonful of black sand, containing from seven to ten dollars' worth of gold." This golden country was California. Beginning in 1848, similar accounts of the gold discoveries in California began to appear in numerous …


"Come And Die": Total Sacrifice In The Theology And Resistance Of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Greer Bates May 2024

"Come And Die": Total Sacrifice In The Theology And Resistance Of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Greer Bates

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

The sun had only just begun to rise when he was taken from his cell, naked and shivering, into the biting cold of an early April morning. Perhaps he watched as the hangman adjusted the noose that swung lifelessly from the scaffolds. Perhaps he spoke to the guards as they led him to the platform on which he would die. Likely, he thought of his young fiancee, his mother, his father. And, almost certainly, he prayed. We have no record of these final moments in the life of the young Lutheran pastor and theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, executed on the 9th …


The Hut Tax War Of 1898: Political Spin And Chamberlain's Colonial Office, Chase Arnold May 2024

The Hut Tax War Of 1898: Political Spin And Chamberlain's Colonial Office, Chase Arnold

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In 1895, the British Empire underwent a dramatic change. This change was not precipitated by war, expansion, or discovery. Instead, the empire was changed by a renewed longing for the glory of the old empire. Where the empire had been shrinking, it would now be expanded. Where claims had been ceded, they would now be defended. All of this was undergone with the greatest hopes but resulted in the gravest consequences. Yet there was a brief moment in 1898 when this new imperialist vigor was almost cut short and this terrible history nearly averted.


Preface, Lee J. F. Deppermann May 2024

Preface, Lee J. F. Deppermann

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

It was Karl Marx who observed that individuals do indeed make history, but seldom in the circumstances of their own choosing. Indeed, the primary challenge for every aspiring historian is to understand both impersonal forces that frame historical events and the individual actions that define them. Inherent in this quest for understanding is the duty of historians to detach themselves from contemporary influences and understand the past as the past would have understood itself. The historian Richard J. Evans expressed this mandate well: "One of the greatest problems in writing history is to imagine oneself back in the world of …


Front Matter May 2024

Front Matter

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.


Full Issue May 2024

Full Issue

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.


Opposition To The Poor Law Amendment Act Of 1834, Janae Lakey May 2024

Opposition To The Poor Law Amendment Act Of 1834, Janae Lakey

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

According to John Bull, "I repeat, I consider this New Poor Act a most cruel, a most unjust, and injurious enactment." John Bull expressed the frustration and injustice many Englishmen felt toward the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, or the new Poor Law. Before this statute, the Poor Law Act of 1601, otherwise known as the 43d Elizabeth or the Old Poor Law, governed poor relief. According to this law, parish guardians supported their own poor with funds extracted from parish residents. Their responsibilities included assigning pauper children to apprenticeships to learn skillful trades and giving relief to the …


Making Sport Of A Nation The Politicization Of Bullfighting In Napoleonic Spain, Blake C. Clayton May 2024

Making Sport Of A Nation The Politicization Of Bullfighting In Napoleonic Spain, Blake C. Clayton

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Bullfighting entrenched itself in the cultural life of the Spanish nation early in the seventeenth century and has since become a highly publicized, distinctly Spanish pastime. Calling it "el espectaculo mas nacional," the count of Navas wrote that "if Rome lived happily on bread and war, then Madrid lives happily on bread and bulls." While the majority of the scholars who have written on Spanish bullfighting have done so in hopes of elucidating its pseudoscientific, often nebulous connection to the Spanish soul, the festival has had considerable impact on the nation as an institution and a symbol. Often …


The Mormon Reformation A Historiographical Essay, Julie Harris Adams May 2024

The Mormon Reformation A Historiographical Essay, Julie Harris Adams

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

On December 12, 1889, the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement that proclaimed, "We denounce as entirely untrue the allegation which has been made, that our church favors or believes in the killing of persons who leave the church or apostatize from its doctrines." It went on to explain that the Church abhorred the shedding of human blood except as a capital crime penalty resulting from a legal, public trial. This manifesto came in response to the "gross misrepresentations of the doctrines, aims and practices …


"Born For Liberty" The Emergence Of Female Patriotism During The American Revolution, Anne Bennett May 2024

"Born For Liberty" The Emergence Of Female Patriotism During The American Revolution, Anne Bennett

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Esther Reed, a colonial woman who lived during the American Revolution, praised the women of her time: "Born for liberty, disdaining to bear the irons of a tyrannic [sic] Government, we associate ourselves to the grandeur of those ... who have broken the chains of slavery, forged by tyrants in the times of ignorance and barbarity."