United States History Commons^™

The Podcast Election: How Podcasts Helped Decide The United States Presidential Election Of 2024 In An Unprecedented Way, Logan T. Boyd

Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to showcase the interesting, yet inevitable effect that the medium of podcasting had on the 2024 United States Presidential Election Cycle. Throughout the history of the U.S. voters have looked towards the ever growing frontier of technology to shorten the gap between them, and their candidate of choice. From Franklin D. Roosevelt and the radio, to Barack Obama and the internet, the impact these leaps in communication have had on presidential elections are undeniable. Between the two candidacies of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, it was Trump who made full use of the medium …

Thompson’S Rifle Battalion: The Original Unit Of The Army Of The United Colonies (Now The United States Regular Army), John A. Bonin

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

©2025 John A. Bonin

Although 1775 is indisputably the birth year of the US Army, two events occurred on June 14 of that year to which the Army can credit its birthday. One is the adoption by the Continental Congress of the collective militia forces from several colonies outside Boston to form a Continental Army, of which Congress appointed George Washington the commander in chief on June 15, 1775. In addition, the US Regular Army officially dates its beginning to June 14, 1775, when the Second Continental Congress directed 10 companies of expert riflemen to be raised immediately in Pennsylvania, …

Activist Abolitionists And The Experiment Of Civil War New Orleans 1862-1865, Cress Ann Posten Ph.D.

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Activist Abolitionists and the Experiment of Civil War New Orleans 1862-1865

Abstract

This essay examines the efforts of both white and black activist abolitionists in New Orleans during Union occupation of the Civil War. Their altruistic efforts and experimental approaches, though imperfect and riddled with mistakes, offered practical help and long-needed hope for formerly enslaved people.

New Orleans was home to11,000 free black and Creole citizens, many of whom were wealthy and respected community members. Their leaders became advocates for themselves and for the influx of thousands of newly arrived contrabands. As numbers of contrabands grew in the city, freeborn …

The British Invasion Of Tea: How Advertising Wars Influenced America's Tea Drinking Habbits, Maddux L. Mullinax

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This paper examines the historical shift in American tea consumption from green to black tea during the early to mid-20th century. Initially, green tea from China and Japan was predominant in the U.S. until the 1920s. The transformation to black tea was spearheaded by British tea growers from India, notably through the strategic marketing efforts of Sir Charles Higham and the India Tea Growers Association (ITGA). Their campaigns focused on aligning black tea with American tastes, distancing it from its British colonial connotations, and leveraging global trade dynamics. The influence of World War II further entrenched black tea's dominance, with …

Charity Begins At Home: A Case Study Of Rural Western Pennsylvania During The Great Depression, Jacob A. Battle, Colin J. Wood, Christian E. Mumpower

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Rural Pennsylvania is often neglected when discussing the world-shaping events of the Great Depression. This study addresses a significant gap in historical research by exploring how a small-town in Pennsylvania, New Bethlehem, survived and even thrived during the Great Depression. New Bethlehem, situated in the fertile Redbank Valley, built its settlement on local resources and rural communalism. During the Depression, the townsfolk banded together through wealthy philanthropy, backyard gardens, and homegrown charity to withstand the crippling implications of the event. By examining church records, newspaper archives, and conducting oral interviews, this article reveals the resilience and resourcefulness of rural Pennsylvanian …

To The Shores Of Tripoli: America’S First Crusade To Cement Her Sovereignty, I. B. Landry

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

The First Barbary War, also known as the Tripolitan War, is the conflict that set the tone for American sovereignty. The results of this research show that the Tripolitan War was about more than simply America’s right to exercise trade freely in the Mediterranean and North Africa. This was, in a sense, the litmus test for the new nation that would prove to be challenging to its Christian values. It can be concluded that Thomas Jefferson sanctioned the Augustinian campaign to not only benefit America, but all parties wishing to operate in the Mediterranean freely.

Windmills As Symbols Of Economic Development And Progress In West Texas From 1860 To 2011, Stacy Taylor

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

The outline of a windmill against the sky is a popular image of Texas found on many forms of media including illustrations, photographs, and other print media. How did the image of a windmill become symbolic to Texas? The purpose of this paper is to determine how and why windmills became an important symbol representing the Texas Plains. Methodology used included analysis of scientific information to explore the geography of Texas, which demonstrated why windmills were needed in West Texas. Critical analysis of journals and books were performed to determine the history of the introduction and evolving use of windmills …

The Formation Of The American League In Baseball; Changes In American Society And Culture That Contributed To The Demand For More Baseball In The Late 19th Century, Shawn M. Smith

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

The second professional major league (the American League) in baseball came about in response to the demand for more baseball entertainment due to the increased amount of leisure time Americans had in the late-19th century as society started the shift from an agricultural based lifestyle to a culture who worked predominantly in factory work.

The culture and society of the day changed drastically due to changing economic conditions of the time period. Due to monumental changes in industry, the vast majority of the population had shifted from working in an agrarian society to working in factories as a result of …

Histography: Gerald Ford And The Pardon Of Nixon, Joshua Longmire Phd

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

In the annals of American political discourse, President Gerald Ford's decision on September 8, 1974, to grant his predecessor, Richard Nixon, a presidential pardon emerges as a watershed moment. This act insulated Nixon—who was deeply entangled in the intricate web of the Watergate scandal—from prospective criminal prosecution. It represented a significant departure from the anticipated legal processes, especially in the immediate aftermath of Ford's unexpected elevation to the presidency following Nixon's precipitous resignation amidst impending impeachment. This essay seeks to navigate the evolving historiographical landscape of Ford's pardon. It delineates the trajectory from initial critiques to the multifaceted discourses of …

In Victory And In Infamy: An Examination Of America’S Revolutionary Struggle Through The Parallel Careers Of Colonel Peter Gansevoort And Major General Benedict Arnold, Wyatt Golden

Senior Honors Theses

The parallel careers of Peter Gansevoort and Benedict Arnold in Washington’s Continental Army during the American Revolution highlight the important role played by Washington’s junior officers in the success of the Revolutionary effort, while emphasizing the personal relationships forged in the crucible of that war. As their commands intersected in the crucial campaign seasons of 1776, 1777, and 1780, Gansevoort and Arnold developed a close personal relationship as each individually, with the aid of the other, played key roles in the retreats, victories, and betrayals that defined each of those respective campaigns. By examining Gansevoort’s largely forgotten career, an entirely …

Linda Morris, Linda G. Morris B.S.

We Are NIH Oral History Project

No abstract provided.

History’S Unsung Hero: Examining Oscar Dunn And African American History Through A Graphical Novel, Nefertari Yancie

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Social studies curriculum is at the center of heated debates in U. S. politics. Conservative politicians seek to limit what student are taught about the experiences of people of color who have been oppressed or subjected to racist policies and treatment throughout American history. Whitewashing history denies students the chance to examine history in its fullness as they are unable to analyze the voices and experiences of all people whose stories have contributed to the American story. In this article, the author explores how graphic novels may be used to teach African American history. Specifically, the author discusses how activities …

The Grizzly, April 17, 2025, Kate Horan, Grace Olivo, Claudia Tracy, Renee Washart, Ashley Adam, Nathaniel Nerone, Emily Veasey, Jesse Cherone, Erin Ewing

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Denim Day: UC Peer Advocates • Myrin Makeover • Out of the Darkness Campus Walk • Sisters Helping Sisters • Fun Home Comes to Lenfest Theatre Stage • Party Culture: A Dying Breed? • Bears' Softball Looks to End Season on a High Note • Women's Lacrosse Confident Amidst Playoff Push

For All Mankind? Reading Race In Early American Science Fiction, 1836-1888, Ryan C. Snopek

Madison Historical Review

Beginning in the early nineteenth century, a new type of literature envisioned what the United States would look like in the far future. Now known as science fiction, three of these works - Mary Griffith’s “Three Hundred Years Hence,” George Tucker’s A Century Hence, and Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward - are exemplary in how they reflect social concerns of their time, particularly in the construction of notions of race in America. Through the idea of science as a universal and rational ideal, these authors imagined a progressive, white future for the United States, in which science and progress are increasingly …

Haunted Savannah: Dark Tourism And The Afterlives Of Slavery, Amelie Pelletier

Madison Historical Review

This paper examines the transformation of places associated with slavery in Savannah, Georgia into central sites of tourism, particularly focusing on the rise of ghost tours. The Sorrel-Weed House, a mid-19th century mansion, epitomizes this phenomenon, where historical narratives intertwine with paranormal allure to attract visitors. Despite lacking historical basis, stories like that of Molly, allegedly a slave involved in a tragic affair, are crafted to captivate tourists. This paper explores how the Savannah tourism industry obscures the unsettling histories of these sites in favor of Southern opulence and spooky intrigue. It investigates the commodification of slave narratives as ghostly …

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 …

“If, In That Strife, ‘T Were Given To See / The Glory Of Thermopylae”: Connections To The Classics In The Alamo And The Texas Revolution, Austin M. Pritchett

SPARK Symposium Presentations

This historical research paper argues that connections to classical tradition were made in the rhetoric and symbolism of the Texas Revolution as a means of creating a national identity as Texans and as a way of garnering support from the Unites States for their cause.

Having established the background of the Texas Revolution of 1835-1836, the famous Battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836, and the Battle of Thermopylae in ancient Greece, I bring forth examples from primary sources of important figures using comparisons to classical history. The classical connections made in those writings were used to justify their …

The Harsh Realities Of Opera Houses And The Continual Popularity Of Minstrelsy In Terrell, Texas, Rebecca Jestis

Undergraduate Research Conference

In Terrell, Texas, five different opera houses operated from 1878 to 1910. Sources paint the earlier opera houses with rowdy audiences and scandalous performances, a reflection of early pioneer mentality. Later opera houses, all owned by the elite and well-known businessmen of Terrell, may have offered more popular and professional productions, but the most prominent of these were minstrel shows. With evidence of minstrelsy's fierce continuation in Terrell's society up until the 1950s, the study of the opera houses not only illuminates the growing racial tensions and complexities but also the normalization of minstrel shows and blackface for decades after …

Winter's End: Stopping The Rite And Reclaiming Spring, Jessica Wilson

Theatre & Dance ETDs

This dissertation examines intersections of patriarchy, feminist movements, and the recurring theme of women’s sacrifice, through an artistic lens. Using The Rite of Spring as a central subject, I explore the societal expectation of women’s sacrifice and its persistent representation in art. By analyzing two pivotal interpretations, Vaslav Nijinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps (1913) and Pina Bausch’s Das Fruhlingsopfer (1975), within the chronological context of feminist waves in the United States, I investigate how these works reflect and critique cycles of violence against women. Four core patterns emerge as focal points: tradition, autonomy, witnessing, and betrayal. Additionally, my choreographic reinterpretation …

Awards For Outstanding Papers Written In 2024

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Failure For Avon, Failure For Labour A Waterworks Project And The Shortcomings Of Left-Wing Groups In Pre-Wwi Aberdeen, Garrett Mast

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

On September 16th, 1909, the Aberdeen Daily Journal ran a single article that encompassed one and a half pages of the ten- page printing. This article did not discuss any national or international news, but rather a town council meeting for the city of Aberdeen in northern Scotland. This meeting was anything but standard procedure, lasting six and a half hours, a record for the council with at least 27 of the 34 councillors participating in the debate. The debate discussed the rather mundane question of from which river the council should seek approval for pumping new drinking water.1 “The …

A Historical And Legal Analysis Of The Life Of Ellett Robinson, Abigail Hilbig

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

To look deeply into the lives of individuals is to begin to understand the intricacies of American life. Ellett Robinson was an African American woman, born at the inception of the twentieth century. Like the century she lived through, Ellett’s life was defined by sociocultural concepts that began long before she came to be. Perceptions of race and the family were being transformed throughout the 1800s and 1900s. Born into this tumultuous time, Ellett was destined to experience the prejudice that existed against African Americans in the South. With slaves having been freed just thirty- six years before Ellett’s birth, …

La Junta Development Of U.S. Opinion And Interaction With Chile, 1970–1981, Carson Cambell

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

It was hot outside in the late afternoon of the seventeenth of September when Charles Horman stepped out of his car. Horman was exhausted from a long day of many futile attempts to contact the United States ambassador in Santiago, Chile. Many hours were spent in the endeavor to secure emergency travels back to the U.S., but thus far there was no success to be found. Carrying such important information regarding the successful coup of the Chilean General, Augusto Pinochet, Horman knew he needed to reach the safety of his home country.11 The American journalist entered his house, and mere …

“No Finger In The Dike Could Have Stopped It” The Effects Of The Governmental Failures Surrounding The Teton Dam Flood, Brooke Wilks

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Lyle H. Moon, mayor of Sugar City, Idaho, was a petroleum man. He drove trucks for the greater area of Southeastern Idaho, supplying all their petroleum needs. On June 5, 1976, his route took him within a mile and a half of the Teton Dam. Unbeknownst to him, the dam had sprung several leaks that morning. Two bulldozer crews labored through the morning, trying desperately to plug the holes. While on his route, radio operators called him and told him to drive away from the dam as quickly as possible. Thinking it was a joke, Moon quipped, “Tell me another …

The Possession Of John Toldervy Early Quakerism And The Polarization Of Print Polemic In Cromwellian England, Hyrum Veach

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In the winter of 1655, ex- demoniac, dismissed apprentice, and sometime Quaker John Toldervy published a short memoir entitled The Foot out of the Snare.1 The pamphlet presented itself as a part conversion narrative and part anti- Quaker exposé, and told a startling story of demonic possession. After Toldervy became a Quaker, he told his readers, his mind was corrupted by a “seducing spirit” that convinced him that he was both Christ and the Archangel Michael and drove him to perform many bizarre acts.2 Two months later, after a brief pamphlet war with soon- to- be- disgraced Quaker James Nayler,3 …

Superheroes To Regular Joes The Vietnam War Through The Lens Of American Comic Books And Cartoons, Ella Henricksen

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Historians generally agree that American comic books got their start in 1842 with Rodolphe Töpffer’s The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck,1 but pairing images with text is far from a novel idea—it is practically as old as the invention of writing. By the late 1800s, cartoons and caricatures were staples in papers. Satirical editorial cartoons poked at serious issues, and single- panel gag cartoons showed a humorous picture with a caption. Short comic strips like The Yellow Kid featured regularly appearing characters,2 and in 1933, Famous Funnies (a reprinting of popular humorous news comic strips) finally made the jump to …

Sounds Of Solidarity Pan Africanism, Internationalism, And The Black Experience At Blue Note Records, Nathan Neher

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Blue Note Records is considered one of the most prolific and influential independent American jazz record labels of the mid- twentieth century. The label was founded in 1939 by German- Jewish immigrant Alfred Lion who had fled Nazi Germany. Lion’s longtime friend, Francis Wolff, would later also leave Germany to join Lion and help with photography and other business affairs.1 Originally recording traditional jazz and swing groups, Blue Note transitioned to modern jazz in 1947, eventually helping facilitate the development of hard bop, post- bop, and avant- garde jazz in the mid- twentieth century.2 Lion played a prominent role in …

Pain For Profit The Motivations Of Slave Surgeons In The Eighteenth To Nineteenth Century Caribbean, Gabe Smock

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

When late eighteenth- century British surgeon Dr. Alexander Falconbridge ventured belowdecks to check on the hundreds of slaves chained there, he had no illusions about the horrors of the Middle Passage. After all, this was not his first voyage providing medical care for slaves until they disembarked at the infamous markets of colonial Kingston, Jamaica. He took a moment to brace himself, then ventured down into the damp air below only to encounter a sight so awful that it was difficult to put into words when he recounted the experience years later to Parliament. As a consequence of being packed …

“Radio . . . What [Is It] Doing To Our Children?” The Impact Of Radio On Families During The Golden Age Of Broadcasting, Samuel Pulsipher

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Eerie string music, a dark cackle of laughter, and then a sinister voice says, “Who knows what evils lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows.”3 Suddenly, an interruption by the Goodrich Man. He has something to say about Goodrich tires with their lifesaving tread and blow- out protection: “So, play safe, equip your car with Goodrich, safety Silvertown!” The Goodrich- Man is ushered out by organ music as our hero Lamont Cranston, the Shadow, is introduced. He is heralded as a man of wealth and science who devotes his life to righting wrongs, protecting the innocent, and punishing …

Rap And Rhyme An Insider Look On African American Life In Urban America, Rachel Van Katwyk

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Thousands of hands clapped and cheered for the rap artists heralded as the rock stars of the age. Fans packed into Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena, chanting to hear the song they all wanted to scream. F*** the Police. T he rap group, N.W.A., toured America in the summer of 1989 and was contractually obligated to forgo performing that particular song. Scattered among the crowd were police officers ready to take action if the song started playing. N.W.A. called an audible, and DJ Yella projected the song from the speakers for thirty seconds before three sharp shots were heard. At the …