United States History Commons^™

The Harding Brothers And Underage Enlistment In The Age Of American Expansion, 1851–1857, Ryan Minton

Digital Legal Research Lab

The Petitioning for Freedom Project is an NSF funded database project that seeks to collect and encode carceral, institutional, and interpersonal habeas corpus petitions from county, state, and federal courts all throughout the American West.

This research project explores and analyzes the twenty-four habeas corpus petitions that were submitted between 1851 and 1857 to the Saint Louis County Law Commissioners Office to challenge the enlistment of underage recruits stationed at Jefferson Barracks.

Research poster titled The Harding Brothers and Underage Enlistment in the Age of American Expansion, 1851–1857; presented via the Digital Legal Research Lab NSF REU Site, University of …

Maternal Chains: Black Women's Legal Battles For Freedom In Pre-Emancipation America, Roshawnna Brinkley

Digital Legal Research Lab

This research examines the use of habeas corpus petitions by Black Women in antebellum America to secure freedom for themselves and their children. Given that slave status was inherited matrilineally, these legal actions had implications for generational freedom. In Dr. Jagodinsky’s Petitioning for Freedom project there are numerous cases of Black Women utilizing Habeas Corpus. This study focuses on these Women's agency in navigating a hostile legal system.

Research poster titled Maternal Chains: Black Women's Legal Battles for Freedom in Pre-Emancipation America; via the Digital Legal Research Lab NSF REU Site, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, August 2024.

Advisors: Katrina Jagodinsky and …

To Have And To Hold: Habeas Corpus And The Mobilization Of Female Petitioners, 1832–1924, Miranda Martinez

Digital Legal Research Lab

Dr. Jagodinsky’s Petitioning For Freedom (PFF) is an open-access database of habeas corpus petitions from the American West. It aims to further our understanding of the United States legal landscape in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Research poster titled To Have and To Hold: Habeas Corpus & the Mobilization of Female Petitioners, 1832–1924; presented via the Digital Legal Research Lab NSF REU Site, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, August 2024.

Advisors: Katrina Jagodinsky and William Thomas

Profiled Pickpockets: Seattle's Black Community & 1890s Habeas Mobilization, Zoë Williams

Digital Legal Research Lab

The Petitioning for Freedom project examines habeas corpus in the American West, 1812–1924 to highlight the legal mobilization of marginalized people. This study uses habeas petitions to identify Black people's response to racial profiling in Seattle.

Research poster titled Profiled Pickpockets: Seattle's Black Community & 1890s Habeas Mobilization; presented via the Digital Legal Research Lab NSF REU Site, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, August 2024.

Advisors: Katrina Jagodinsky and William Thomas

Legal Proxies And Advocates: Exploring Inter-Case Relationships In 19th- And 20th-Century Habeas Corpus, Ethan Reiter

Digital Legal Research Lab

• The Petitioning for Freedom Project (PFF) is an open access database that details the use of habeas corpus in legal proceedings in the American West from 1812 to 1924.

• A writ of habeas Corpus is a challenge by a petitioner that alleges that someone is detained unlawfully.

• In certain instances. a petitioner is petitioning on behalf of someone who is held illegally. This study examines the nature of the relationships between petitioner and bound party and how those relationships reflect historical and legal developments over time.

Research poster titled Legal Proxies and Advocates: Exploring Inter-Case Relationships in 19th- and 20th-Century …

Equal Protection Of Life, Liberty, And Labor: Habeas Corpus & The 14th Amendment, 1901–1904, Madison Mendiola

Digital Legal Research Lab

Presents and synthesizes three cases demonstrating the use of habeas corpus in the contect of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution between 1901 and 1904.

Research poster titled Equal Protection of Life, Liberty, and Labor Habeas Corpus & the 14th Amendment, 1901–1904, presented via the Digital Legal Research Lab NSF REU Site, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, August 2024.

Advisors: Katrina Jagodinsky and William Thomas

Black, White, And Red All Over: Tougaloo College And The Southern Red Scare, Simeon Gates

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to explain the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission’s use of red baiting tactics against civil rights activists. Civil rights activists in Mississippi weathered countless physical, economic, and reputational attacks. The movement took off during the 1950s at the same time as the nation entered the Cold War. White supremacist southerners fought to preserve segregation through violent and nonviolent means. As the rest of the nation slowly came out of Cold War-fueled hysteria known as the second red scare, segregationists in the south were influenced by it. They cast the entire civil rights movement as a …

"Huddled Masses:" The Immigration Act Of 1917 In Habeas Corpus, Chikamso Chijioke

Digital Legal Research Lab

Research poster titled "Huddled Masses:" The Immigration Act of 1917 in Habeas Corpus; presented via the Digital Legal Research Lab NSF REU Site, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, August 2024.

Introduction

Dr. Jagodinsky's Petitioning for Freedom is a collection of habeas corpus petitions in the American West and examines marginalized peoples’ use of habeas to challenge detention. This project explores the role of the Immigration Act of 1917 in these cases. The Immigration Act of 1917, passed due to xenophobic tensions surrounding WWI, restricted immigration of people from Asia and the Pacific while implementing an English literacy test for those over 16 …

Constructive Instability And Operation Unified Protector: The Destruction Of The United States-Led World-System, Devin Bryant Gillen

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In 2011, NATO ended the 42-year-long rule of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, and plunged the country into over a decade of unending strife, while an arc of crisis emanating from Libya struck much of the region. This study examines the United States' geostrategic approach in the Libyan intervention to illustrate the dialectic intersectional relationships between processes of globalization, American hegemony over the world-system, and American foreign policy in the post-Cold War period (1992-2024) with consideration to world-systems analysis to characterize the United States post-Iraq warfighting strategy in Libya as an adaptation of the purposeful destabilization of Afghanistan and cultivation of an …

Patriots Or Rebels: Ethical Debate Behind The American Revolution, Nicolette Falvo

History Department Theses

This paper, "Patriots or Rebels: Ethical Debate Behind the American Revolution," critically examines the justification and historical significance of the American Revolution. It argues that the motivations behind the revolutionary war and the colonists' outrage against British policies were complex and multifaceted, prompting scrutiny of the legitimacy of their actions. Central to this analysis is the colonists' deliberate choice to establish a democratic republic, diverging from the English monarchy, and an evaluation of the contemporary state of American governance. Drawing on Gordon S. Wood's "The Radicalism of the American Revolution," which highlights its transformative impact on American society and political …

Using The Colonizers’ Own Weapons: The Politics Of Equality, Freedom, & Integration In Advocacy Against American Indian Termination, Eliza Kravitz

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

Beginning in the early 1950s, the United States Congress enacted a program of “termination” of American Indian tribes. By eliminating the special relationship between tribes and the federal government, termination aimed at the full assimilation of American Indians into U.S. society. Government proponents advocated for termination using the language of equal rights, freedom, and integration. Previous scholarship has shown that anti-termination advocates, by contrast, appealed to the internationalist Cold War language of development, self-governance, and global decolonization to resist termination. These same leaders also invoked the civil rights language of termination’s proponents, however. Their arguments illustrated how the federal government …

Frontier: Land, Architecture, And Abstraction, Jacob Boatman

Masters Theses

The abstraction of land is a colonial process by which physical land is transformed into a conceptual or symbolic entity. This transformation occurs through various economic, architectural, and cultural practices that imbue land with abstract values, meanings, and functions beyond its physicality. This includes the division of land into parcels for economic transactions, the design and construction of built environments that shape human interactions with the land, and the cultural narratives and representations that ascribe significance to particular landscapes. Through abstraction, colonial powers devalue indigenous perspectives and relationships to the land, reducing them to mere obstacles in the path of …

Book Review: Christopher F. Rufo. America's Cultural Revolution: How The Radical Left Conquered Everything. New York: Broadside Books, 2023., Alexander Robbin Marks-Katz

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Neo-Marxism. Critical Race Theory (CRT). Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). All of these ideas are conventional wisdom today, yet until the presidential election of 2016, they were well outside the public sphere. Christopher Rufo explains in America's Cultural Revolution the mechanisms through which American culture reached its present state. While there are many reviews of his book, this one is unique because it considers his scholarship from a religious history perspective.

Daniel G. Hummel's The Rise And Fall Of Dispensationalism: How The Evangelical Battle Over The End Times Shaped A Nation: A Review, Michael A. Smith

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This review examines Daniel G. Hummel's The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism, a comprehensive intellectual and cultural history tracing the origin and evolution of dispensationalist theology within Anglo-American Evangelicalism. Despite its dismissal as fringe eschatology, Hummel argues that Dispensationalism significantly shaped the Evangelical imagination and broader American culture. The review summarizes the book's key themes and highlights strengths such as scope and balance while suggesting areas for further consideration regarding transatlantic origins and minor factual errors. It concludes that Hummel provides an insightful, measured analysis of this resilient and controversial belief system but dismisses the theological movement as dead …

Cuba And The United States In The Platt Amendment Period: Perception And Intent, Lee Carter

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

The relationship between Cuba and the United States continues to perplex many Americans in the twenty-first century. How can a nation so nearby, that was once so closely tied to the United States, be so antagonistic towards the United States? This study will trace the perceptions, over time, of the United States-Cuba relationship during the early Cuban Republic (1902-1934), a time period in which the United States maintained a controlling relationship defined under the Platt Amendment. In this process, the Cuban perceptions of the relationship will be considered, specifically noting differences of views among different social statuses and perspectives. Then, …

Legal Slavery In America: A Precedent Set By A Black Plaintiff, Edwin Vazquez

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

The legal precedent for slavery in America was set by a free black in a case decided by a seventeenth-century court granting the ownership of a black defendant to a black plaintiff. Slavery was not introduced by the arrival of the first Africans at Point Comfort in 1619. Ironically, it was introduced by precisely one of these first African arrivals to the New World. From this point, it developed into the known institution of slavery that later had to be quelled by a Civil War.

The Rocky Road To Statehood: Colorado Statehood And The Contested Election Of 1876, Matt Bergh, Susan Schulten

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

This thesis will explore Colorado’s path to statehood. It begins with a summary of the election of 1876 to set up the research question: why did Colorado, a Republican-territory, become a state in a critical election year when the Democrats controlled the House of Representatives? Next, it covers the historiography to gain insight into how scholars view Colorado statehood and its relationship to the election of 1876 given that both happened in the same year and that coincidences in politics are rare. A follow up will occur with an explanation of the differences between a state and a territory to …

The Holocaust's Legacy: Influencing Jewish Political Identity, Jordan Eskew

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis addresses the intricate relationship between the historical persecution of the Holocaust and its enduring influence on contemporary Jewish political engagement, a subject of significant contemporary relevance in political and international relations. Despite broad recognition of the Holocaust’s impact, the specific ways in which its memory affects Jewish political attitudes and actions around the world in the modern day have not been sufficiently thoroughly examined. Utilizing qualitative methods, including interviews with 20 individuals—public figures, Holocaust survivors, their descendants, and broader members of the Jewish diaspora— this study focuses on understanding the interplay between historical trauma, community cohesion, and 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 …

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 …

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, …

Italians Inside American Government: New York Politicians & Black Equality In The United States, From The 1920s-1950s, Nathanael Geraci

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the Italian-American fight for Black civil rights from New Yorkers in government. As congressmen, mayors, and governors during the 1920s-1950s, politicians of Italian descent worked consistently for the cause of African-American equality. Despite extensive documentation of their pro-Black action, the work of these Italian-Americans has remained hidden.

The Breakdown Of Soviet-American Relations After World War Ii: Changes In The Historiography, Angelina K. Lambros

Publications and Research

This article analyzes Cold War historiography, addressing how interpretations have evolved regarding the historical question of whether the Soviet Union or the United States was more responsible for the breakdown in Soviet-American relations after World War II. In the years immediately after World War II, the dominant interpretation in the U.S. was that the Cold War was a result of Soviet aggression. But by the late 1950s, a revisionist school began to develop, and it blamed the Cold War on America's desire for capitalist expansion. Eventually, a post-revisionist school emerged. Post-revisionism sought a more complex picture, and refrained from blaming …

Bedeviled Beauty: My Journey Through White American Theater Institutions, J'Aila C. Price

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Game console: Oculus Quest

World: American Theater Institutions

Player: Minority

Place: United States

Level: “Ain’t no way.”

This thesis explores the contrast between the Westernized philosophies ingrained in my education and my identity as a Black female artist. It sheds light on the difficulties of pursuing higher education in the arts and the gaps that arise from limited exposure to culturally diverse Black resources, revealing the systemic issues in Western performance education. The paper also discusses the insights gained from my journey as a Black female artist, focusing on my thesis performance of Blood at the Root, which is …

That Way: An Examination Of Male Relationships In Film During The Hays Code, Jane Knudsen

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The Hays Code (1934-1968) influenced the construct of United States masculinity and the discourse surrounding masculine presentation between the 1920s to the 1960s. The Hays Code and World War II affected the culture surrounding male/male relationships in the United States. Previous research done by David Lugowski (1999) and Jeffrey Suzik (1999) shows that both World Wars led to crises of masculinity in which the hegemonic ideal of masculinity was restructured to establish men as providers and warriors, and Code-era films reflected the discourse. To understand the gender roles in the 20^th century, I analyzed the Hays code, male bonds, …

The Black Press And Late Imperial Russia, Benjamin Pierce

History Undergraduate Honors Theses

For centuries, western observers had looked to Russia and seen a place fundamentally different from their home countries. In their accounts, Russia was distinctly oppressive, a state characterized by tyranny, barbarism, and Mongolian influence. But these accounts were faulty. They were written by merchants, diplomats, and explorers, wealthy white men who had never experienced the kind of repression they witnessed in Russia. When Black Americans looked to Russia, however, they saw a place fundamentally similar to the United States. Both countries were large, multiethnic empires driven by territorial acquisition and fueled by forced labor. By tracing the coverage of Russia …

Make America(N Cinema) Great Again: The Rhetoric Of Nostalgia In Trump Era Cinematic Multiplicities, Courtney J. Dreyer

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation investigates the rhetoric of nostalgia in politics and popular Hollywood cinema during the Trump era. I argue that MAGA Cinema, the contemporary trend of reboots, remakes, and sequels related to properties from the late 1970s to early 1990s, both respond to and strengthen attachments to an imagined version of the 1980s. However, this illusory golden age more closely reflects the world as depicted in the cinema of the 1980s rather than the reality of American in the years of Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Through a close analysis of David Gordon Green’s Halloween Reboot series, Top Gun: Maverick, and …

The Rise Of Christian Nationalism: Government And Religion In The Reagan Era And Beyond, Daniela L. Bedolla

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This thesis examines why the relationship between government and religion should remain separated. By focusing on The Cold War and Ronald Reagan’s presidency (1981-1989), this thesis demonstrates Reagan’s administration marked a modern pointing that led to the rise of Christian Nationalism in American politics. The Cold War initially started modeling the puzzle pieces of what Christian Nationalism became, however it was during Regan’s presidency that the American public began to see white Evangelical religious leaders take prominent federal positions, the frequent use of different religious opportunistic tactics in presidential and governmental campaigns and witness religious rhetoric influence domestic as well …

U.S Presidents In Africa After The Cold War: In Search Of A Reason, Socrates Mbamalu

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

Africa has often ranked low in priority when it comes to U.S. foreign relations. Often, the presence of a threat to U.S. interests in Africa sparks a redirection of U.S. leaders to Africa. The Cold War was one of such periods. This work looks at U.S. leaders after the Cold War, focusing on George W. Bush, whose policies in Africa are considered the most impactful and resource consuming. Scholars have, however, failed to put Bush’s approach to Africa in a broader historical perspective. Existing literature has analyzed Bush’s policies in Africa using programs such as the Millenium Challenge Account (MCA), …

Short-Term Success: The 1988 Reagan-Gorbachev Summit, Samantha Foster

Senior Honors Theses

The 1988 summit in Moscow was the fourth, and final, summit meeting between U.S. President, Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary, Mikhail Gorbachev. The principal issues addressed during the summit included human rights and arms control. This event was the first time that President Reagan visited the Soviet Union and thus took time to explore Moscow by visiting a monastery, Red Square, Arbat Street, and students at Moscow State University. The summit would be considered a success after its close, as the INF Treaty was ratified and further progress in the area of human rights in Soviet Union had been …