Political History Commons^™

The 1991 Cyclone In Bangladesh: A Historical Analysis Of Operation Sea Angel, Md. Mamun Miah

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Abstract

On April 29, 1991, Bangladeshi people witnessed a destructive attack of a cyclone in the coastal region of the country. The cyclone, with a wind speed of 225 km/h, killed almost 139 thousand people and left millions of people unprotected in the cyclone-battered areas. After the cyclone, there was a humanitarian crisis of hunger, disease, homelessness, and potable water, as the two-month-old civilian government of Bangladesh was struggling to mitigate the suffering of survivors. After the fifteen days of survivors’ struggle with crisis, at the request of the government, on 12 May, the United States sent a military task …

Identity And Ideology: Dolores Ibarruri's Reconciliation Of Motherhood And Communism, Marvin Black

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The Spanish Civil War remains a significant cornerstone of the historical narrative of the early 20th century, as it served as the political and military precursor to World War II. The war was far more complex than a simple conflict between two ideologies, with many political and military leaders often overlooked. One of these individuals was Dolores Ibárruri, a leader of the Spanish Communist Party, who called on her experiences as both a mother and a communist to galvanize support for the Second Republic. How these two facets interacted and were shaped by Ibárruri’s personal experiences is often overlooked. Through …

Free In The Forest: Montagnards And U.S. Special Forces In Vietnam’S Central Highlands, Jake L. Brooks

Madison Historical Review

When America began to send U.S Army Special Forces to South Vietnam as advisors in the late 1950s, they needed allies that were familiar with the lush jungles of Indochina. In the Central Highlands of Vietnam, the Montagnard people partnered with the U.S. Army Special Forces in an attempt to keep their homelands safe from the Communists. As an ethnic minority, the Montagnards had been through years of abuse and cultural suppression by their ruling government; kept down by a Vietnamese dominated regime which viewed them as backwards and rebellious tribesmen. For the Green Berets that worked alongside them, the …

Log Cabins, Hard Ciders, And The Misunderstood Campaign Of 1840: Looking At How The Whigs Really Created The First Modern Presidential Campaign Through Effective Storytelling, Eric V. Schesventer

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The Whig party crafted the first ever modern campaign seen in American History during the campaign and subsequent presidential election of 1840. They did this not merely through the use of flashy campaign slogans and festive events as previous historians have discussed. The Whigs created the first ever modern campaign by telling both realistic and symbolic stories through the use of media narratives and physical objects crafted for the campaign. By doing this, this helped mold then candidate and future President William Henry Harrison into a candidate for all Americans, even if he was not in practice.

Diplomacy Derailed: Discrimination’S Detour On Route 40, Gage A. Kivlen

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The 1961 Route 40 campaign in Maryland became a critical battleground where three competing approaches to addressing racial segregation revealed deep contradictions in Cold War America. Route 40, a major highway between Washington D.C. and New York, became an international embarrassment when African diplomats from newly independent nations were repeatedly refused service at restaurants and hotels. This crisis prompted responses from three distinct actors: the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), which employed grassroots organizing and direct action; the State Department's Special Protocol Service Section (SPSS), which pursued top-down diplomatic solutions; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which conducted extensive …

From Essential To Expendable – Montagnards, Kurds, And U.S. Army Special Forces In Vietnam And Northern Iraq, Jake Brooks

Masters Theses, 2020-current

In the Vietnam and Iraqi conflicts, the U.S. Army Special Forces teamed up with indigenous ethnic monitories to bring the fight to all corners of the battle space, and to take advantage of their immense local knowledge and strategic locations. The Montagnards of Central Indochina and the Kurds in Northern Iraq allied with the Special Forces for a number of reasons: protection from their ruling governments, recognition for their movements for autonomy, increased access to better medicine and equipment, and the opportunity to strike back at their historical enemies. The Montagnards and Kurds taught the Green Berets how to better …

Making Their Voices Heard: Virginia Women's Organizations As Agents Of Community Change From 1945 To 1955, Preston C. Morgan

Masters Theses, 2020-current

After World War II, Virginian women’s organizations experienced increases in membership and in community influence. For the next decade, Virginian women in various non-partisan organizations would take intentional efforts to position women as activists of change, creating and training women for public and civic contributions. Organizational women began to see themselves as having growing responsibility for their community’s wellbeing. This study will analyze this growing grassroots organization movement by examining records from organizations like the Winchester Women’s Civic League, the women’s missionary societies of the First Baptist Church and Salem Lutheran Church, and Madison College. This study will analyze this …

Cuba's Reintegration Into The Inter-American System: The Treaty Of Tlatelolco, The Oas, And The End Of Latin America's Cold War, Isabella M. Stark

Madison Historical Review

This paper situates Cuba's reintegration into the inter-American system through its journey becoming a signatory to the Treaty of Tlatelolco -- the first nuclear weapons-free zone treaty designated to a populated region. The paper first analyzes and historicizes contested definitions of terms such as Latin Americanism vis à vis Pan-Americanism, the inter-American system, and different understandings of when the Cold War in Latin America closed. The paper then places the policies of revolutionary Cuba within the context of Castro's perception of the island as the vanguard of Latin Americanism. The paper concludes with how the collapse of the Soviet Union, …

Downfall Of Lockheed’S F-104 Starfighter: How The Rush Of Cold War Re-Armament And An Aviation Industry In Crisis Led To One Of The Bundeswehr’S First Scandals, Theresa Hilz

Madison Historical Review

The "Starfighter Crisis," one of the Bundeswehr's earliest and most notorious scandals, highlights the complexities of Cold War military rearmament and the pitfalls of rapid decision-making in the face of geopolitical pressures. This paper examines West Germany's acquisition of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter in 1958, a move driven by the need to bolster NATO's nuclear capabilities and strengthen political and economic ties with the United States. The F-104, while a marvel of aviation technology with its record-breaking speed and altitude, proved disastrous for the German Air Force due to its high accident rate, earning it nicknames like "widow maker" and …

A Reexamination Of The Colonization And Emigration Efforts Of Early Black Bostonians, Karen My Hien Luu

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The topic of colonization and emigration is complex, nuanced, and debated by historians. Colonization and emigration were options considered by Africans and African Americans since the pre-Revolutionary period, and that legacy has been shaped to fit the historical narrative. It is important to examine early support for this movement by African Americans as well as how the opposition to this polarizing topic developed. This can be done by understanding the environment of these individuals at the time to understand that it was perhaps not as polarizing as it may seem on the surface.

This thesis attempts to help fill the …

From Montpelier To Fort Hill: James Mason And The Defense Of Slavery In Virginia, 1848-1861, Zachary D. Thompson

Masters Theses, 2020-current

In the mid-nineteenth century, the topic of slavery dominated American politics. Virginia, the state that fostered the ideals of the Revolution, traditionally followed the defense of slavery posited by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, known as the necessary evil defense. James Mason, a grandson of revolutionary figure George Mason, arrived in Washington, D.C. in 1848 and assumed his seat in the Senate, filling the seat after the death of Isaac Pennybacker. A former state delegate and member of the House of Representatives, James Mason carried with him to the Senate influences and relationships that spurred the Virginian to drift away …

The World After: Central Virginia In The Wake Of The Civil War, Harry Caldwell

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This thesis examines the situation in Central Virginia following the surrender of Appomattox. Its primary focus is on the Federal Provost Guard who were sent back into the region in the month following the Surrender. It begins in March 1865, introducing the world that the Provost will be thrown into that summer, and it will go month to month until January 1866, when the Provost have fully departed from the region and power was fully turned over to civilian authorities. This research is primarily built of the General Orders that were printed in the Lynchburg newspaper, The Daily Virginian, …

Iron In The New World’S Veins: Government, Ironworks, And Community In The Massachusetts Bay Colony, Abigail Adam

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The Massachusetts Bay Company conceived of a colonial iron industry as early as 1628; two years before its leaders migrated to the New World. The colony’s founders continued their efforts to establish a functioning iron industry in subsequent decades. With the General Court’s support, John Winthrop Jr. engaged in business with the London-based Company of Undertakers to make the iron industry a reality. Nevertheless, previous scholarship has neglected the iron industry’s place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s establishment. Yet surviving court records and correspondence indicates that these two bodies are inseparable. Indeed, the General Court used the ironworks to materially …

Is Humanitarian Aid Neutral? The American Ambulance Field Service And The American Red Cross, Laura Neis

Madison Historical Review

The United States did not outwardly join WWI until April of 1917. However, in the nearly three years in which the U.S. was neutral, they provided medical support to the suffering. This act has been dismissed as humanitarian charity work, and therefore not breaking with neutrality agreements, but it was actually a hotly contested act of foreign policy, and different propaganda campaigns were used to change the minds of American citizens.

Two different groups of medical volunteers show how humanitarian aid shapes perspectives on war. The American Ambulance Field Service drove ambulances for the French army on the front line, …

From Riches To Rags: The Price Of Haitian Independence, Michael Kuliasha Iii

Masters Theses, 2020-current

In 1699, the French established the colony of Saint Domingue following their acquisition of the western third of the island of Hispaniola from the Spanish Empire. The colony relied on a significant number of enslaved Africans to work on sugar cane plantations as the primary workforce. This led to a plantation-based economy, a large number of enslaved Africans, and the production of sugar cane, which quickly made Saint Domingue the wealthiest colony in the New World. However, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which was a pivotal document of the French Revolution, had a significant …

The Ubiquitous Path To War: A British Perspective On Their Relationship With The Spanish Empire From 1734-1739, Giuseppe Gerardo Vitale

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The British Empire was still relatively in its infancy throughout the 1730s and far from the global superpower it would later become, mostly due to it being the most recent of the major European imperial powers to begin colonizing the America’s. However, their long-standing feud with the Spanish carried over across the Atlantic, and the two heavyweights were embattled in a series of diplomatic struggles in the mid to late 1730s, resulting in an outbreak of war at the tail end of the decade, known as the War of Jenkin’s Ear. While most of the historiography surrounding this period in …

Republican Party Doctrine And The West Virginia Coal Mine Wars, Thomas Kidd

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The West Virginia Coal Mine Wars of 1912-1913 and 1920-1921 are most strongly associated with the use of government and military force against organized labor. A deeper examination of the contemporary newspapers in the state, associated with the Republican Party reveals the attitudes of the party toward labor. Looking at how these editors reacted to the key events of the mine wars reveals that the Republican Party of the time supported two principles: free enterprise and rule of law. This study shows how the importance of these key principles caused the editors loyal to the party to shift the blame …

In Search For A Better South: President Johnson’S Elementary And Secondary Education Act Of 1965 In The Lone Star State, Kade L. Kahanek

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Education before the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 was inconsistent with the need for quality education in the United States. Extreme poverty and racial issues existed in the South. Texas was no different. Part of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society was to reform education across the United States while targeting poverty in the South. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is regarded as the largest education reform program in U.S. history. Its irreversible impact on school systems across the nation led to societal and educational changes—which set new standards for education.

This thesis analyzes the impact …

Working For The Benefit And Advancement Of Women: Three Women's Organizations That Commemorated The American Civil War, 1880-1920, Annette F. Guild

Masters Theses, 2020-current

In the past forty years, scholars and members of the public alike have obsessed over the complex legacy of the American Civil War (1861-1865). As debates over Confederate monuments and the United States’ racial past have frequently emerged in politics, many Americans have disagreed as to how the Civil War should be remembered. In examining the evolution of Civil War memory in American society, numerous scholars have noted the important role that women’s organizations played in influencing the Civil War’s collective memory in the fifty years following the conflict. However, while scholars have noted the significance of these organizations for …

Demons In The City Of Angeles: Gay Neo-Nazis In Southern California, Emma Bianco

Madison Historical Review

This article explores the perplexing history of self-proclaimed “Aryan homophiles:” the National Socialist League of Los Angeles. A neo-Nazi group made up of exclusively gay men, this organization’s reign from the 1970s to mid-1980s offers an atypical perspective into Southern California’s racial and political settings. Garnered from the ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, this story showcases how far from utilizing a “paranoid style,” the NSL’s brand of hate did not stray too far from that already clearly established in the mainstream environment. The NSL forces us to challenge our preconceptions about what makes up the “typical” racial extremist.

Polished Memories: Zhang Xiaogang’S Bloodline: Big Family No. 3 And The Ideal Family Of The Cultural Revolution, Abby Wiggins

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

Zhang Xiaogang’s series of paintings, Bloodline, is a strange, surreal, and haunting collection of family portraits. As a Chinese artist who was young during the Cultural Revolution of the 60s and 70s, Zhang has a complicated relationship with his own national history. The paintings of Bloodline are not photorealistic portraits; rather, they are constructions coming from within his mind, returning to these memories and feelings decades later. This essay examines Big Family No. 3, a painting for this series done in 1995, exploring the influences and processes that contributed to its creation. It argues that this work in …

Predictors Of College Student Support Toward Colin Kaepernick’S National Anthem Protests, Brooke Coursen, Nicole Peiffer, Sakira Coleman, Philip Lucius

VA Engage Journal

Racial discrimination and inequality have perpetuated within the U.S. since its inception. In 2016, Colin Kaepernick initiated the national anthem protests to oppose the oppression of people of color in America. This study was developed in 2018 to identify social determinants of health underlying discriminatory beliefs and behaviors. The objective was to investigate the impacts of college students’ race, gender, political ideology, socio-economic status [SES], NFL interest, patriotism, and general protest support on support for the national anthem protests. We administered paper-and-pencil surveys across locations on the James Madison University campus using a convenience sample. There were 408 participants included, …

U.S. Extremism And Media: How The New Age Of Politics Speaks To Media Usage, Josephine R. Haneklau

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

On January 6th, 2021, the nation watched from their television screens as a group of extremists stormed the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. An interesting emotion fell over the U.S. public – it was both shocking and not shocking at all. The attack on the Capitol was a by-product of years of internal division, catapulted by Trump’s presidency. Between racial divisions and the progression of Black Lives Matter, the advancement of COVID and its governmental policies, and Trump’s divisive nature of president at a peak, it seemed almost inevitable that an offense like this would occur.

As political conversations …

To The Shores Of Tripoli: A Barbary Retrospective, Kathleen J. Brett

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

The First and Second Barbary Wars were incredibly influential in shaping the diplomatic and military tactics of the early United States. These wars were fought against the Barbary states of Tripoli, Tunis, Morocco, and Algiers, located on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa. The First Barbary War lasted between the years of 1801 to 1805. The First Barbary War began due to the United States’ desire to no longer pay tribute sums to the Barbary states, along with an increase in the number American merchantmen captured and enslaved by the Barbary states. Tripoli served as the primary aggressor in the …

The Child Development Act Of 1971: The Closest America Has Ever Gotten To Universal Child Care, Rory Cochran

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The significance of this thesis is on how a bill, the Child Development Act (CDA), and other complementary policies created a phenomenon of biracial and bigendered cooperation among socioeconomic boundaries to push for a reprioritization of children’s rights in the welfare system of the United States. Although the CDA never passed the White House desk its influence was significant on how national social activism influenced the interpretation of universal child care. The thesis sheds a light on the influence of women in politics, welfare, civil rights, Chicano, and children rights and their cooperation and appeasement in pushing for a national …

Grayscale Thoughts: Reactions To Brown V. Board Of Education, Haylee Orlowski

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

The 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education established that the segregation of public schools based on race violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Across the United States, there was a spectrum of reactions to Brown. Responses ranged from optimism and celebration to anger and violence. This paper surveys the varied reception of Brown from politicians, parents, teachers, journalists, and other parties. It acknowledges the grayscale of opinions within and across demographic lines. The purpose of this paper is to recognize the complexity of a critical moment in the civil rights movement to prevent …

The Committee On Public Information And The Four Minute Men: How The United States Sold A European War To American People, Madison Mcternan

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

Shortly after America’s entry into World War I, President Woodrow Wilson created the Committee on Public Information to garner public support for the War. This committee was created not only to drum up support for the war, but to ease a public frustrated by an isolationist president’s entry into such a conflict. Notable reporter and writer George Creel served as its chairman, and together with countless others created a massive propaganda campaign. The Committee was incredibly successful in its mission of “selling the war.” This was largely due to the fact that Creel and his men revolutionized the way propaganda …

Little Steel’S Labor War In Youngstown, Ben J. St. Angelo

Madison Historical Review

During the 1930s, in response to growing labor discontent, the United States Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Championed by President Franklin Roosevelt’s as an equalizing measure in the American workplace, the NLRA received vigorous opposition from powerful leaders in multiple industries. This article examines an outbreak of violence between workers and agents of management at Republic Steel in Youngstown, Ohio during the spring and summer of 1937 when workers attempted to organize—emboldened by new rights granted to them in the NLRA. It demonstrates the life and death consequences that marred labor relations in the United States. Disputes …

A Distinction Without A Difference: Vietnam, Sir Robert Thompson, And The Policing Failures Of Vietnam, Mark J. Rothermel

Madison Historical Review

The scholarship analyzing the failure of the American involvement in Vietnam began even before the war finished. Whether the Orthodox School which considered the war unwinnable or the revisionist which argued there was a path to victory for the Americans, there have been libraries of tomes arguing who or what was to blame for the American defeat. An increased amount of scholarship recently has been written regarding the influence of British officer Sir Robert Thompson and his attempt to advise both the South Vietnamese and American war efforts.

Thompson, who gained fame as one of the key leaders for the …

The Political Theory Of The Latin American Independence Movement, Sarah H. Welsch

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

This project explores the historical context from which four Latin American political theorists emerged in the 19th century and analyzes the extent to which they promoted the liberal ideal of equality in the governments they worked to establish. Mariano Moreno, José de San Martín, Simón Bolívar, and Agustín de Iturbide played central roles in the Latin American independence movement and the establishment of government institutions in the years that followed. I demonstrate that each theorist neglected to include large swaths of society in their discussions of equality while advocating for systems of governance from which they would personally benefit.