History Commons^™

The Ladle And The Knife: Power Projection And Force Deployment Under Reagan, Mathew Kawecki

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

This thesis examines the nature and impact of the Reagan administration’s self-described projection of “peace through strength.” It argues that Reagan’s defense spending surge, “Star Wars” (SDI) missile shield policy, and 1983 invasion of Grenada gave the president confidence and political cover that allowed him to withdraw U.S. Marines from Beirut in early 1984. Analysts and commentators focus on his muscular power projection like defense spending, SDI, and the invasion of Grenada, but in practice Reagan exercised a high level of restraint in troop deployment. These projections of power and the avoidance of protracted war in Lebanon gave Reagan further …

The Rise And Decline Of The Cooperative Commonwealth Federation In Ontario And Quebec During World War Ii, 1939 - 1945, Charles A. Deshaies

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) was one of the most influential political parties in Canadian History. Without doubt, from a social welfare perspective, the CCF helped Canada build and develop an extensive social welfare system across Canada. The CCF’s major contributions to Canadian social welfare policy during the critical years following the Great Depression has been justly credited to the party. This was especially true during the Second World War when the federal Liberal government of Mackenzie King adroitly borrowed CCF policy planks to remove the harsh edges of capitalism and put Canada on the path to a modern welfare …

A Bridge Between Earth & Sky: How The Natural World Shaped The Civilizations Of Ancient And Early-Modern Persia, Sophia Cabana

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This project seeks to investigate the ways in which nature shaped the culture of ancient Persia through technology, architecture, agriculture, and art. Furthermore, this project investigates how the symbols and mentalities of ancient Persia were carried forward into the early-modern period. Achaemenid Persia and Babylon are studied as societies which influenced one another and combined to create the foundation of Persian culture as it is currently understood, which then combined in later centuries with other Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultural movements to produce the Safavid and Mughal Empires. The Safavids and Mughals imitated and revived Persian culture in order …

"Between Two Fires": Gender And American Socialism In The Progressive Era, Elisia Harder

Senior Theses

The Progressive Era (1890-1920) in the United States was a time of immense change in both the political and private spheres. Movements which sought to fundamentally upend the political status quo gained in popularity, including that of socialism. Socialism promised equality for workers regardless of gender, something that appealed to many American women at the time. A myriad of upper/middle-class and working-class women were thus initially drawn to the socialist movement. These women, however, would not find the salvation they were promised. Instead, they would confront the very same misogyny they experienced in mainstream political parties, as their struggle was …

Stop Talking About Sorrow: Nixon’S Communications Strategy After Lam Son 719, Dominic K. So

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

March 1971 was tough for President Richard Nixon. The American people were tired of the Vietnam War, with many still recovering from the violent anti-war protests of 1970. Congress had just passed an amendment prohibiting U.S. ground troops from operating outside of the borders of South Vietnam. Both the public and secret negotiations with Hanoi were stalled. Confidential channels with Beijing and Moscow about diplomatic initiatives had gone cold. Moreover, Lam Son 719, the joint U.S. and South Vietnamese incursion into Laos that began in February, was turning out to be a failure. The operation, Nixon’s military gamble to prove …

Making Discrimination Legal: A Comparison Of The Penal Laws In Ireland And The Nuremberg Laws And Other Laws In Nazi Germany, Gage Overton

Honors College Theses

The Penal Laws and the Nuremberg Laws were sets of legal codes which stripped away basic rights and civil liberties from Irish Catholics in the seventeenth and eighteenth century and German Jews in the 1930s and 1940s respectively. My research into these laws has allowed me to discover that the methods used by the English Crown and the Nazi German state to separate the groups targeted by their laws, as well as the circumstances which led to their implementation, were eerily similar, nearly identical. Besides this, they ultimately used this strategy as a way to justify the elimination of the …

Thinking Beyond The Führer: The Ideological And Structural Evolution Of National Socialism, 1919-1934, Athahn Steinback

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Much of the discussion of German National Socialism has historically focused on of Adolf Hitler as the architect of the Nazi state. While recognizing Hitler’s central role in the development of National Socialism, this thesis contends that he was not a lone actor. Much of the ideological and structural development National Socialism was driven by senior individuals within the party who were able to leverage their influence to institutionalize personal variants of National Socialism within broader party ideology. To explore the role of other ideologues in the development of Nazi ideology, this thesis examines how Hitler’s leadership style perpetuated factionalism, …

Special Relationships: Anglo-American Latin America Policy And The Redefining Of National Security, 1969-1982, Benjamin Jared Pack

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

From 1969–82, the United States and Great Britain redefined national security in a distinctive way, separating the notion of national security from its traditional foundations in realist thought. The way the two powers come to define national security was the result of more than a century of historical interaction with Latin America and their own historical experience with ideology, imperialism, and colonialism. As such, the way the United States and Great Britain perceived their respective special relationships influenced the way they chose to intervene in matters of national security, particularly in Latin America’s Southern Cone countries of Chile and Argentina. …

Stalin’S Foreign Policy “Shift”: Cautious Expansionism, Ussr-Dprk Relations 1945 – 1950 And The Origins Of The Korean War, Jacob Shuster

Major Papers

Despite initially denying Kim IL Sung’s requests for a military reunification in 1949, Josef Stalin decided to support an invasion of South Korea in 1950. This paper explores the origins of the Korean War and the roles of both the Soviet Civil Administration and Kim IL Sung in convincing Stalin that the invasion was necessary, and that it would be neither prolonged, nor involve American interference. Throughout the initial occupation of North Korea, Stalin preferred to maintain the status quo on the peninsula, as he was open to, but deeply suspicious of plans for reunification and restrained Kim’s ambitions. However, …

Andrew T. Hatcher: Press, Public Information & Perception For A Nation In Transition Historical Content Analysis On The First African American To Serve As A White House Associate Press Secretary, Nayita Wilson

LSU Master's Theses

Andrew T. Hatcher rose to one of the highest positions in U.S. government when he became the first African American to serve as associate White House press secretary in 1960 under the administration of President John F. Kennedy and during the peak of the Civil Rights Movement. This is a historical content analysis that analyzes Hatcher’s role through primary sources, presidential archives, and select national, local, and minority newspapers.

The overarching purpose of this study was to ascertain Hatcher’s role as associate White House press secretary during civil rights. This study provides further insight into: 1) to what extent did …

“Nothing Material Occurred”: The Maritime Captures That Caused Then Outlasted The United States’ Quasi War With France, Emma Zeig

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the French maritime seizures during the eighteenth-century US Quasi War with France (also called the half war, or the United States’ undeclared war with France), encompassing events on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, in France, the United States, and the Caribbean, particularly Haiti. The analysis focuses on the captured ships, telling the stories of seamen who feared for their lives and merchants who lost their ships. This point of view allows the thesis to explore an area of the Quasi War that are less documented in other histories: how civilian participants experienced violence and the indifference …

Men Set On Fire. Algernon Sidney & John Adams: Remodeling Anglo-American Republicanism, Deborah B. Charnoff

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation systematically examines the republican political ideas of the relatively unknown seventeenth-century English aristocratic Algernon Sidney, a passionate author and political activist who was executed for his ideas, and the famous but generally misunderstood eighteenth-century American revolutionary, Founder, and second President of the United States, John Adams. Republicanism is an entangled field of intellectual history in which historians, political scientists, legal scholars, and others have grappled for years, often without regard to the work of those in disciplines other than their own; yet we have consistently failed to take into account critical elements that inform the tradition, indeed, one …

Cyborgs For Environmental Justice: East Asian American Stories From The 1991 People Of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, Lisa Ng

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The goal of this paper is threefold: to serve as an oral history archive of the East Asian American experience at the 1991 People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, to analyze the role of East Asian Americans in the Environmental Justice Movement (EJM), and to fill an ideological and political vacuum that exists in East Asian American communities. This work analyses the experiences of East Asian Americans who were present at the 1991 People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit--an event scholars have attributed to igniting the EJM. The paper argues that East Asian Americans act as “Cyborgs”—both as their ascribed …

Who Owned Waterloo? Wellington’S Veterans And The Battle For Relevance, Luke A. L. Reynolds

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the afterlife of the battle of Waterloo in the collective memory of Great Britain as well as the post-war lives of officers who fought there. Using a variety of techniques associated with cultural, social, and military history, it explores the concept of cultural ownership of a military event and contextualizes the relationship between Britain and her army in the nineteenth century, both at home and abroad. It argues that, almost immediately after the dust settled on the field of Waterloo, a variety of groups laid claim to different aspects of the ownership of the memory of the …

The Life And Political Career Of Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Dylan Mcnutt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hubert Horatio Humphrey never reached the Oval Office, but his accomplishments during his tenure as mayor, senator, and Vice President are just as noteworthy. During Humphrey’s political career he played a pivotal role in the most influential period of liberal American politics. During his youth and college years Humphrey became learned how to remain loyal to the people around him, and about the racial divisions of the South. Most research on Vice President Humphrey analyzes his time as a Senator, Vice President, and the 1968 Presidential election. The Life and Political Career of Hubert Humphrey, examines Humphrey’s life in its …

Their Culture Against Them: The Assimilation Of Native American Children Through Progressive Education, 1930-1960s, Jamie Henton

Master's Theses

The failure of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to successfully assimilate Native Americans, especially Native children through education tactics such as boarding schools, led to a shift in the mid-twentieth century for pro-Indian reform. From the 1930s through the 1950s, BIA education reformers pursued progressive education. They imagined progressive education would allow the BIA to use Native American traditions and culture to educate and mold Native students into modern contributing American citizens. To appeal to students, the BIA commissioned a series of educational materials, primarily children’s books, designed to use Native culture to teach children how to adapt to …

Protecting The Individual: The Origins And Development Of Saskatchewan Conservatism, 1905-1944, Nolan Brown

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

It is commonly accepted that a political divide exists between Saskatchewan and Alberta. Both provinces share similar settlement patterns, histories, and economies, but there exists a perceived division in their political cultures between a “conservative” Alberta and “socially democratic” Saskatchewan. Whereas Alberta emerged from the Great Depression as the champion of “free enterprise” and limited government control, Saskatchewan experimented with state ownership and sought to dramatically expand Canada’s social welfare system. There is a willingness to accept that modern Saskatchewan’s conservatism has moved it closer to its western neighbour, but historians remain wedded to the idea that this conservatism is …

Crisis In The European Union: The Politics Of Integration, Engagement, And Dissent, 2008-2016, Edward I.C. Reminiskey

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This thesis is a comprehensive interpretation of European political history in the periodization from 2008 to 2016. The history begins with an exploration of the intellectual and political origins of the post-World War II project of European integration and the development of, and opposition to, the early institutions that eventually formed the contemporary assemblage of the European Union. Following a traditionally structured history, this work is styled as a ‘history of the present’ that specifies the role of the European Union in precipitating and attempting to overcome the financial and monetary crises, foreign policy quandaries on its Eastern periphery, an …

Public Financing Of Elections In The States, Nicholas Meixsell

Honors Theses

In the US, there is a history of the courts striking down campaign finance reform measures as unconstitutional. As such, there are few avenues remaining for someone who is interested in 'clean government' reforms. One such avenue is publicly financed elections, where the state actually provides funding for campaigns. These systems can be quite varied in the restrictions and contingencies they attach to the money, and for examples one has to look no further than the states There are many states that have some form of public financing for elections, and by looking at the different states' systems we are …

“Realizing Democracy”: A Study Of The Regional And National Social, Political, And Economic Factors Driving Suffrage Development In The Age Of The Common Man, 1820-1850, Matthew Prosper

Honors Theses

The Age of the Common Man was a period of American political history lasting from 1820 to 1850 characterized by the implementation of universal white manhood suffrage by every state through removing property and tax qualifications from state constitutional suffrage laws, as well as the “common man” entering the center of much political discourse. These conventions were demanded by the political, social, economic, and in some cases physical climates and conditions of each state. To look at these factors, this thesis divides the nation into three regions, two of which are examined: the Northeast, the Northwest, and the South (the …

Charlie Wilson's First War: Challenging Carter's Human Rights Policy Through His Support For Anastasio Somoza Debayle, 1977-79., Sherman J. Sadler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the support of Congressman Charles Wilson, D-TX, for the Nicaraguan government of Anastasio Somoza Debayle from March 1977 to July 1979. A narrative of Wilson's actions and motivations it relies heavily on his congressional papers for primary sources. This work argues that Wilson was motivated by his personal anti-Communist beliefs to challenge the perceived biased application of the Carter Administration's human rights policy against the Somoza regime. He saw the administration's abandonment of Nicaragua, a traditional Cold War ally after four decades of loyal support, as directly contributing to the rise of …

Sadness In Brooklyn: The American Housing Act Of 1949 And The Brooklyn Dodgers Move To Los Angeles, Patrick Spranger

Student Theses

No abstract provided.

Development Finance Institutions As Tools For Foreign Aid Distribution: A Comparative Analysis Of The Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Findev Canada And Deutsche Investitions – Und Entwicklungsgesellschaft, Kamal Mann

Major Papers

An understanding of how foreign aid has changed requires a thorough examination of the efforts taken in aid to address the widening finance gap in development, alongside the often-contested issue of aid effectiveness. This is particularly the case when looking at how aid should be paid for. Yet the question of how to best program and deliver foreign aid remains unanswered.

Aid remains one of the largest aspects of international transfers of resources that occur in the world, as such it is important to study it. The rise of Development Finance Institutions, which are publicly owned, private lending institutions helps …

Dr. Tichenor’S ‘Lost Cause’: The Rise Of New Orleans’S Confederate Culture During The Gilded Age, Granville R. Morris

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Serving three times as president of the Cavalry Association, Camp Nine of the United Confederate Veterans (UCV), George Tichenor was instrumental in forging Lost Cause ideology into a potent social force in New Orleans. Though more widely remembered in New Orleans for his antiseptic invention, his support of Confederate monuments, Confederate activism, and his wife Margret’s role as vice-president of a chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) are lesser known aspects of Tichenor’s life in New Orleans. This paper examines the cultural changes taking place in New Orleans that allowed Tichenor to become a leader of the Lost …

‘Posed With The Greatest Care’: Photographic Representations Of Black Women Employed By The Work Progress Administration In New Orleans, 1936-1941, Kathryn A. O'Dwyer

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

For decades, scholars have debated the significance of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), emphasizing its political, economic, and artistic impact. This historiography is dominated by the accomplishments of white men. In an effort to highlight the long-neglected legions of black women who contributed to WPA projects and navigated the agency’s discriminatory practices, this paper will examine WPA operations in New Orleans where unemployment was the highest in the urban south, black women completed numerous large-scale projects, and white supremacist notions guided relief protocol. By analyzing the New Orleans WPA Photography collection, along with newspapers, government documents, and oral histories, a …

The Hydraulic Dimension Of Reconstruction In Louisiana, 1863-1879, Matthew P. Carlin

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Louisiana developed an extensive system of levees throughout the Atchafalaya Basin and along its territorial Mississippi River. This system reached its zenith on the eve of the American Civil War. It went into dramatic decline following the conflict due to the confluence of military activity, protracted irregular warfare, and neglect stemming from labor and capital revolution. These shifts intensified with the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation and finally consolidated after the ratification of Louisiana’s Constitution of 1879. The shift of responsibility for the construction and maintenance of levees during the Reconstruction Era led to many significant changes in the character and function …

‘Where Do We Go From Here?’: Discourse In Louisiana Surrounding The Foundation Of The State Of Israel, May 1948, Devan Gelle

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

A study of ten Louisiana newspapers during May 15-31,1948 revealed a period in which articles varied in their coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict and wider international relations. Discourse about Arabs and Israelis which became evident in newspapers in later years had emerged but was not fully developed. This coverage revealed a silence about the Holocaust and a subtext about the United Nations.

Every Data Point Counts: Political Elections In The Age Of Digital Analytics, Julian Kehle, Samir Naimi

Honors Thesis

Synthesizing the investigative research and cautionary messages from experts in the fields of technology, political science, and behavioral science, this project explores the ways in which digital analytics has begun to influence the American political arena. Historically, political parties have constructed systems to target voters and win elections. However, rapid changes in the field of technology (such as big data, artificial intelligence, and the prevalence of social media) threaten to undermine the integrity of elections themselves. Future political campaigns will utilize profiling to micro-target individuals in order to manipulate and persuade them with hyper-personalized political content. Most dangerously, the average …

The United States' Shifting Relationship With Taiwan Due To Cold War Influences, Hunter Pratt

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The struggle between the Kuomintang (KMT) and Communist Party of China (CPS) shaped the direction of future American-Chinese relations by seismically uprooting the dynamics between the two states amidst the backdrop of the Cold War. President Harry Truman and later President Dwight Eisenhower were responsible for shepherding the United States through this new period of crisis as the ideological debates of the 21^st century were beginning to simplify into the East vs the West, communism vs. capitalism, and democracy vs. authoritarianism. China serves as one of the proto-battlefields of this ideological battle. Truman’s personal qualities, temperament, and beliefs influenced …

Battle For The Minds: Use Of Propaganda Films In Stalinist Russia And Nazi Germany, David Rosenblum

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Since the end of the Second World War, scholars and experts have examined the use of cinema in spreading totalitarian propaganda. Nazi Germany, in particular, has caught the most attention. However, most of these studies focus exclusively on one nation, and relatively few studies have tried to directly compare the cinematic propaganda of different countries. This study aims to directly compare cinematic propaganda of Stalinist-era Russia and Nazi Germany and find out who utilized the medium of film more effectively. To accomplish this, this study will examine and directly compare several critical components, such as industry structure and artistic merits, …