Political History Commons^™

President Jimmy Carter As An Activist?: Understanding President Carter’S Human Rights Policy In El Salvador During 1980 Through A Social Justice Lens, Vanaaisha Das Pamnani

History

During 1980, Salvadoran citizens endured increased violence, torture, and overall suppression of their basic human rights. Many prominent figures were assassinated by either right-wing death squads or leftist insurgents. Then on December 2, 1980 came the murder of four American churchwomen from the Maryknoll Order. Their purpose was to aid the poor within Latin America; El Salvador gave them the opportunity to help the Salvadoran poor in the midst of this violence. However, they were met with suspicion by security forces and, as a result were raped and killed on a dirt road. Within a week, President Jimmy Carter cut …

Radical Social Ecology As Deep Pragmatism: A Call To The Abolition Of Systemic Dissonance And The Minimization Of Entropic Chaos, Arielle Brender

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper aims to shed light on the dissonance caused by the superimposition of Dominant Human Systems on Natural Systems. I highlight the synthetic nature of Dominant Human Systems as egoic and linguistic phenomenon manufactured by a mere portion of the human population, which renders them inherently oppressive unto peoples and landscapes whose wisdom were barred from the design process. In pursuing a radical pragmatic approach to mending the simultaneous oppression and destruction of the human being and the earth, I highlight the necessity of minimizing entropic chaos caused by excess energy expenditure, an essential feature of systems that aim …

The Real Atlanta: Representations Of Black Southern Culture, Masculinity, And Womanhood As Seen In Season One Of The Fx Series Atlanta, Tamisha Nicole Askew

Master of Arts in American Studies Capstones

This project explores how the new FX original series, Atlanta, challenges previous notions of Blackness on American television. The series Atlanta delves into conversations on hip-hop and Black culture through what has been considered an authentic representation of Black Atlanta. This paper examines tropes of Southerness and perceived homophobia in hip-hop and Black culture while analyzing the way in which the series creators and producers create a dialogue on economic and social matters facing the Black Southern community in the city of Atlanta. Finally, this paper examines controlling images of Black women on American television to uncover the ways …

A Divided Generation: How Anti-Vietnam War Student Activists Overcame Internal And External Divisions To End The War In Vietnam, Jeffrey L. Lauck

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Far too often, student protest movements and organizations of the 1960s and 1970s are treated as monolithic in their ideologies, goals, and membership. This paper dives into the many divides within groups like Students for a Democratic Society and Young Americans for Freedom during their heyday in the Vietnam War Era. Based on original primary source research on the “Radical Pamphlets Collection” in Musselman Library Special Collections, Gettysburg College, this study shows how these various student activist groups both overcame these differences and were torn apart by them. The paper concludes with a discussion about what made the Vietnam War …

Mary Todd Lincoln: Influence And Impact On The Civil War In The White House, Selena Marie St. Andre

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Long before President Lincoln’s death in 1865, his wife, Mary Lincoln, was regarded as an insane woman with a terrible spending problem and little regard for the Civil War. Mrs. Lincoln, in fact, was essential to Lincoln’s successful presidency and ability to keep the Union together. This thesis seeks to understand Mary in a different light than history has. As a young girl, Mary strongly believed that she was destined for greatness and would have a powerful husband beside her. By further understanding her unbound ambitions, her love of the finer things in life, and the good works that she …

The Presbyterian Enlightenment: The Confluence Of Evangelical And Enlightenment Thought In British America, Brandon S. Durbin

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Eighteenth-Century British American Presbyterian ministers incorporated covenantal theology, ideas from the Scottish Enlightenment, and resistance theory in their sermons. The sermons of Presbyterian ministers strongly indicate the intermixing of enlightenment and evangelical ideas. Congregants heard and read these sermons, spreading these ideas to the average colonist. This combination helps explain why American Presbyterians were so apt to resist British rule during the American Revolution. Protestant covenantal theology, derived from Protestant reformers like John Calvin and John Knox, emphasized virtue and duty. This covenant affected both the people and their rulers. When rulers failed to uphold their covenant with God, the …

A Martin Luther King Jr. Amendment To The U.S. Constitution: Toward The Abolition Of Poverty, Theodore Walker

Perkins Faculty Research and Special Events

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. prescribed that we add an economic bill of rights to the U.S. Constitution. A King-Inspired bill of rights should include a constitutional amendment that enumerates a natural human right to be free from economic poverty, and appropriate enforcement legislation.

For the sake of abolishing slavery, the Thirteenth Amendment says:

(Section 1) Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

(Section 2) Congress shall have power to enforce this article by …

Cover Art: Christian Lenape (Delaware) Interpreter, Ada Liu

Of Life and History

No abstract provided.

Introduction: Finding Meaning In Life And History, Michael T. Desantis

Of Life and History

No abstract provided.

Of Life And History, Vol. 1 (May 2018)

Of Life and History

No abstract provided.

Between Piety And Polity: The American Catholic Response To The First Atomic Bombs, Emma Catherine Scally

Of Life and History

No abstract provided.

The Broadway Of War: How Theater Remembers The American Revolution, Campbell Loeber

Of Life and History

No abstract provided.

Manufacturing Progress, Prosperity, And Pride: The Social Construction Of Worcester’S Industrial Identity, 1850-1910, Michael T. Desantis

Of Life and History

No abstract provided.

“A Christian World Order:” Protestants, Democracy And Christian Aid To Germany, 1945-1961, Ky N. Woltering

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the relationship between the German and American Protestantism from 1945-1961. I argue that in response to the threat of Nazism and communism, mainline ecumenical American Protestants aimed to create a universalist “Christian World Order” based on liberal democracy and Christian ethics. Only this new order, they argued, could supersede nationalist and materialist agendas and restore world peace. By rhetorically depicting Nazi and Communist "totalitarianism" as anti-Christian, a construction I refer to as the Christian-Totalitarian Dichotomy, these Protestants drove German conservatives away from Nazism and toward Western liberal democracy through association with Christianity. They accomplished this through two …

Reconstruction: A Concise History, Allen C. Guelzo

Gettysburg College Faculty Books

The era known as Reconstruction is one of the unhappiest times in American history. It succeeded in reuniting the nation politically after the Civil War but in little else. Conflict shifted from the battlefield to the Capitol as Congress warred with President Andrew Johnson over just what to do with the South. Johnson's plan of Presidential Reconstruction, which was sympathetic to the former Confederacy and allowed repressive measures such as the "black codes," would ultimately lead to his impeachment and the institution of Radical Reconstruction. While Reconstruction saw the ratification of the 14th and 15th Amendments, expanding the rights and …

A Comparison Of The Development Of The Salt Industries In Michigan And Ontario, Hannah Margarethe Kieta

Honors College Theses

“A Comparison of the Development of the Salt Industries in Michigan and Ontario” examines the development of the salt production industry in these two sub-national regions. They derive salt from the same deposit and historically have used very similar methods of mineral extraction, but due to the political differences between the United States and Canada, the trajectories of their growth have been different. The salt industry, which coalesced in the middle of the 19^th century, was heavily impacted by the growing forces of capitalism and protectionism (particularly directed by the American interests toward the Canadian manufacturers), and by the …

Urban Geography, Gentrification, And Memory Of The Black Panther Party: An Essay In Photographs, Mikayla A. Kraus

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This creative project is a magazine which focuses on and highlights the politics and contributions of the Black Panther Party to the Black Liberation Movement in Oakland. The magazine is titled “Black Panther” as a homage to the Panthers’ newspaper that published 537 issues during the time they were active. Divided into five sections, the magazine includes the political profiles of Panther leaders in Oakland, a walking photo tour of significant and historical sites related to the Black Panther chapter in Oakland, a dissection of the anti-imperialist and Black Marxist theories practiced by the Panthers, a highlight of the Panthers’ …

The General And The Diplomat: Comparing Andrew Jackson And John Quincy Adams On The Issue Of Florida And The Transcontinental Treaty Of 1821, Samuel Aly

Tenor of Our Times

John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson both played critical, contradictory roles in the long, arduous saga of the accession of Florida which culminated in 1821 with the Adams-Onís treaty, a story which examines the development of republican sentiment on issues such as slavery, Indian relations, and foreign policy.

Final Call: Rank-And-File Rebellion In New York City, 1965-1975, Glenn D. Dyer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Between 1965 and 1975, New York City’s workers fomented a powerful yet inchoate movement that challenged the entrenched power of employers, union officials, and politicians. In the words of Central Labor Council head Harry Van Arsdale Jr., “strike fever” gripped the city; workers refused to follow their leaders, rejecting contracts, wildcatting, and organizing insurgent electoral campaigns. While historians have explored the rebellion as a national phenomenon, New York City’s wave of upheaval was a locally bound movement with its own unique dynamics, culture, and timeline, both powerfully shaping and shaped by the local political and social environment. Significantly, workers’ rebellious …

A Study In Sovereignty: Federalism, Political Culture, And The Future Of Conservatism, Clint Hamilton

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis confronts symptoms of an issue which is eroding at the principles of conservative advocacy, specifically those dealing with federalism. It contrasts modern definitions of federalism with those which existed in the late 1700s, and then attempts to determine the cause of the change. Concluding that the change was caused by a shift in American political identity, the author argues that the conservative movement must begin a conversation on how best to adapt to the change to prevent further drifting away from conservative principles.

The Influence Of The Stonewall Riots, Leah K. Rosenbaum

Young Historians Conference

For decades, the rights of the members of the LGBTQ community were oppressed without major objections from the American public, until June 28, 1969. The Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village, New York marked the beginning of a radicalized movement for equal rights within the LGBTQ community. Newspapers nationwide, printed articles about the riots, some condemning the participants, and others praising the men and women for standing up against the police. On the one year anniversary of the riots, the first gay pride march happened in various cities across the country.

Honor, Courage, Commitment: Navy Recruitment Posters In World War Ii, Shelby A. Georges

Honors College Theses

Navy recruitment posters from World War II are an important piece of American culture. The iconic signage can be seen in antique stores and textbooks alike. However, these posters provide more than just bold imagery and vintage decor. By analyzing recruitment posters as if they were advertisements and placing them in the context of the time period, many facets of American identity can be understood, especially regarding race, gender, and patriotism. These posters, while they almost never stated the specific outlined duties of Naval careers or requirements for enlisting, advertised to readers under the premise that they understood the guidelines …

A Blend Of Absurdism And Humanism: Defending Kurt Vonnegut’S Place In The Secondary Setting, Krisandra R. Johnson

Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research

This essay argues that Kurt Vonnegut blends a unique humanist stance into his absurdist plots and characters, ultimately urging readers to confront the absurd with a kindness and human decency his protagonists often find rare. As a result of this absurd and humanist synthesis, I defend and promote Vonnegut’s place in the secondary English curriculum, despite his rank on many banned books lists, since his characters’ journeys correlate thematically with the growth and process of postmodern adolescents and encourage moral responsibility without sentimental manipulation.

Focusing on Cat’s Cradle, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, and Slaughterhouse-Five as primary sources, specifically …

A Culture On A Loop: Baltimore, Josh Schmader

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Police brutality has been at the fore front of American consciousness for almost a decade now. Numerous African Americans all over the country, both male and female, have lost their lives in situations where that end result was not justified. In response to each of these individual tragic events, peaceful protests rose up to demand for justice. After the death of Freddie Gray in April of 2015, however, Baltimore had a more aggressive response to the loss of one of their native sons. An initial peaceful protest turned into riot that raged through the streets of Baltimore for a series …

Don't Call King A 'Civil Rights' Leader: Toward Abolishing Poverty And War By Correcting Our Fatally Inadequate Remembering Of Mlk Jr., Theodore Walker

Perkins Faculty Research and Special Events

Remembering Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—primarily as a domestic “civil rights” leader—is inadequate, and sometimes harmful. The term “civil rights” fails to embrace King’s abolitionist movements toward the global abolition of poverty and war. Moreover, King was a Baptist preacher called by God. He advanced an optimistic realism (including a “realistic pacifism”) that improves upon pessimistic-cynical versions of political realism. And King went beyond advancing “civil rights” to advancing economic justice, economic rights, and human rights. He prescribed adding a social and economic bill of rights to the US Constitution, plus full-employment supplemented by “guaranteed income,” …

The Politics Of Religion: The Irish And Protestant Dispute Over Housing In Derry, Northern Ireland And South Boston, Massachusetts, 1920–1960, Aleja N. Allen, Aleja N. Allen

History ETDs

In the latter half of the twentieth century, subsidized housing created a system of religious and racial segregation in the cities of Derry, Northern Ireland and South Boston, Massachusetts. In the following thesis, the housing projects of the Creggan Estates in Derry and the housing projects Old Colony and Old Harbor in South Boston will be the case studies for identifying the historical similarities between these two cities. By examining how the respective governments in each country used housing to achieve said segregation, it will help to identify why in the latter half of the twentieth century, Irish American Catholics …

Not All Art Belongs In The Living Room: The Tale Of Robert Mapplethorpe, Shelby K. Miller

Student Scholar Showcase

Following the death of Robert Mapplethorpe in 1989, a group of scholars put together a retrospective exhibition of his life’s work with the help of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The subject matter, namely those in Mapplethorpe’s X and Z portfolios that included male nudes and depictions of sadomasochism, caused major controversy across the country. The presentation will cover Helms Amendment of 1990 and the obscenity trial that took place in Cincinnati in 1990 with a specific focus on the lasting impacts that these events have had on the NEA and the art world.

From Swing King To Swing Kids: The Jazz Era Of ‘Big Band Orchestras’ In World War Ii, Katie Victoria Burnopp

Student Scholar Showcase

Known as the ‘King of Swing’, clarinetist and band leader Benny Goodman (1909-1986) threatened the Nazi cause during WWII. With intent of improving music pedagogy, the purpose of this research was to investigate swing music during World War II. The particular problems of this study were to: (1) identify how the swing music of Benny Goodman (1909-1986) influenced adolescents in the United States of America, United Kingdom, and Germany; (2) explore the Nazi party view on ‘swing’ music of the era; (3) examine how the music of Charlie and his Orchestra became used as a tool for Nazi propaganda; and …

Republicans, Rivers, And Racism: The French Revolution And The Early American South, Andrew Landreth

Scholars Week

This paper examines the political impact of the French Revolution and related events on the development of the American South in the early republic, roughly from 1789-1815. This paper argues that the French Revolution and its offshoots helped to sharpen early Southern sectionalism by reinforcing three characteristics that would soon define the region: republicanism, expansionism, and white racism.

Jews And The Sources Of Religious Freedom In Early Pennsylvania, Jonathon Derek Awtrey

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Historians’ traditional narrative regarding religious freedom in the colonial period and early republic focuses on Protestants and sometimes Catholics to the exclusion of other religious groups; the literature also emphasizes the legal dimensions of freedom at the expense of its cultural manifestations. This study, conversely, demonstrates that Jews, the only white non-Christian minority group in early Pennsylvania, experienced freedom far differently than its legality can adequately explain. Jews, moreover, reshaped religious freedom to include religious groups beyond Protestant Christians alone. But such grassroots transformations were neither quick nor easy. Like most of the Anglo-American world, William Penn’s “Holy Experiment” excluded …