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open access

Ethnogenesis and Captivity: Structuring Transatlantic Difference in the Early Republic, 1776-1823

Description: This study seeks to understand the development of early American ideas of race, religion, and gender as reflected in Indian and Barbary captivity narratives (tales of individuals taken captive by privateers in North Africa) and in plays that take American captives as their subject. Writers of both Indian and Barbary captivity narratives used racial and religious language – references to Indians and North Africans as demonic, physically monstrous, and animal – simultaneously to delineate Native… more
Date: August 2013
Creator: Siddiqi, M. Omar
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Lester Walton’s Champion: Black America’s Uneasy Relationship with Jack Johnson

Description: In 1908 Jack Johnson became the first black heavyweight boxing champion of the world. His reign would be rife with controversy, leading to widespread racial violence and draconian government intervention. Lester Walton, theater critic for the New York Age, became obsessed with Johnson; his extensive writing on the boxer powerfully reveals not just Walton’s own struggle with issues of race in America, but sheds light on the difficulties the black community at large faced in trying to make sens… more
Date: August 2013
Creator: McKee, Dave
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Military-diplomatic Adventurism: Communist China's Foreign Policy in the Early Stage of the Korean War (1950-1951)

Description: The thesis studies the relations of Communist China's foreign policy and its military offensives in the battlefield in Korean Peninsula in late 1950 and early 1951, an important topic that has yet received little academic attention. As original research, this thesis cites extensively from newly declassified Soviet and Chinese archives, as well as American and UN sources. This paper finds that an adventurism dominated the thinking and decision-making of Communist leaders in Beijing and Moscow, w… more
Date: August 2013
Creator: Zhong, Wenrui
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Phantom Menace: the F-4 in Air Combat in Vietnam

Description: The F-4 Phantom II was the United States' primary air superiority fighter aircraft during the Vietnam War. This airplane epitomized American airpower doctrine during the early Cold War, which diminished the role of air-to-air combat and the air superiority mission. As a result, the F-4 struggled against the Soviet MiG fighters used by the North Vietnamese Air Force. By the end of the Rolling Thunder bombing campaign in 1968, the Phantom traded kills with MiGs at a nearly one-to-one ratio, the w… more
Date: August 2013
Creator: Hankins, Michael W.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Showing the Flag: War Cruiser Karlsruhe and Germandom Abroad

Description: In the early 1920s the Weimar Republic commissioned a series of new light cruisers of the Königsberg class and in July 1926, the keel of the later christened Karlsruhe was laid down. The 570 feet long and almost 50 feet wide ship was used as a training cruiser for future German naval officers. Between 1930 and 1936 the ship conducted in all five good-will tours around the world, two under the Weimar Republic and three under the Third Reich. These good-will tours or gute Willen Fahrten were an i… more
Date: August 2013
Creator: De Santiago Ramos, Simone Carlota Cezanne
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Southern Roots, Western Foundations: the Peculiar Institution and the Livestock Industry on the Northwestern Frontier of Texas, 1846-1864

Description: This dissertation challenges Charles W. Ramsdell's needless war theory, which argued that profitable slavery would not have existed west of the 98th meridian and that slavery would have died a natural death. It uses statistical information that is mined from the county tax records to show how slave-owners on the northwestern frontier of Texas raised livestock rather than market crops, before and during the Civil War. This enterprise was so strong that it not only continued to expand throughout… more
Date: August 2013
Creator: Liles, Deborah Marie
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Ultimate Ethos: Challenges, Cooptation and Survival During Ultimate’s Adolescence

Description: Ultimate is the fastest growing field sport in America. Created in 1968, forty-five years later the sport was still on the periphery of the mainstream but reached new heights in 2013 – two professional leagues, over 800 college teams and a broadcasting deal with ESPN – and the discussions throughout the sports’ history have never been as relevant. Self-officiation and the Spirit of the Game are the main tenets that make up the ethos of the sport and its community. These unique aspects different… more
Date: August 2013
Creator: Brooks, David
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Dramatizing Lynching and Labor Protest: Case Studies Examining How Theatre Reflected Minority Unrest in the 1920S and 30S

Description: Theatre is widely unrecognized for the compelling influence it has held in society throughout history. In this thesis, I specifically examine the implications surrounding the social protest theatre of black and Jewish American minority communities in the first half of the twentieth century. I discuss how their historical circumstance, culture, and idiosyncratic natures caused them to choose agitated propaganda theatre as an avenue for protest. I delve into the similarities in circumstance, but … more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Goldmann, Kerry L.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Hermanos De Raza: Alonso S Perales and the Creation of the Lulac Spirit

Description: There were two great ambitions in the life of Alonso S. Perales: the first was to help his people, the Mexican-Americans; the second was to help all of mankind. To pursue this first ambition, Perales became very active as a major political leader who supported civil rights and the abolishment of racial discrimination. Many viewed him as a defender of la raza (the Mexican-American race) and one of the most influential Mexican-Americans of his time. As such, Perales devoted most of his work to de… more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Mila, Brandon H.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Historical and Theological Backgrounds of the Whore of Babylon in Revelation 17 & 18 in a Jewish Context

Description: I argue that some ancient Jewish sects, specifically the community at Qumran and the early Christians, did in fact write against, speak out against, and interpret ancient tests as being against their fellow Jews, the Temple, Jerusalem or all three. Given the time in which these occurred, I argue that those sects believed that the Roman Empire would be means in which their god would punish/destroy Jews that did not believe as they did, the Temple that did not represent what they thought it shoul… more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Wheatley, Warren
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Josephus’ Jewish War and the Causes of the Jewish Revolt: Re-examining Inevitability

Description: The Jewish revolt against the Romans in 66 CE can be seen as the culmination of years of oppression at the hands of their Roman overlords. The first-century historian Josephus narrates the developments of the war and the events prior. A member of the priestly class and a general in the war, Josephus provides us a detailed account that has long troubled historians. This book was an attempt by Josephus to explain the nature of the war to his primary audience of predominantly angry and grieving Je… more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Lopez, Javier
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Paul and Slavery: a Conflict of Metaphor and Reality

Description: The debate on Paul’s views on slavery has ranged from calling him criminal in his enforcement of the status quo to rallying behind his idea of equal Christians in a community. In this thesis I blend these two major views into the idea that Paul supported both the institution of slavery and the slave by legitimizing the role of the slave in Christian theology. This is done by reviewing the mainstream views of slavery, comparing them to Paul’s writing, both the non-disputed and disputed, and de… more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Baker, James C.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Pocky Wenches Versus La Pauvre Femme: Medical Perceptions of Venereal Disease in Seventeenth-century England and France

Description: In early modern Europe, syphilis tormented individuals regardless of social standing. The various stages of infection rendered individuals with visible chancres or “pocky” marks throughout their body. The tertiary stage signaled the spreading of the disease from the infected parts into the brain and cardiovascular system, eventually leading to dementia and a painful death. Beginning with the initial medical responses to venereal disease in the sixteenth century and throughout the early modern p… more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Findlater, Michelle J.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Political, Economic, and Military Decline of Venice Leading Up to 1797

Description: This thesis discusses the decline of the Venetian nobility, the collapse of the Venetian economy, and the political results of the surrender of the Venetian Republic to Napoleon Bonaparte in 1797. Topics include the formation of Venice, Venetian domination of trade, the class system in Venice prior to 1797, the collapse of the aristocracy, feudalism in Venice, Venice’s presence in the Adriatic and Aegean seas, and the rise of the middle class within the provisional democratic government. Very f… more
Date: December 2013
Creator: FitzSimons, Anna Katelin
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Curious Collection of Visitors: Travels to Early Modern Cabinets of Curiosity and Museums in England, 1660-1800

Description: The idea of curiosity has evolved over time and is a major building-block in the foundation and expansion of museums and their precursors, cabinets of curiosity. These proto-museums began in Italy and spread throughout Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Cabinets of curiosity and museums transformed as visitors traveled to burgeoning collections across the Continent and England. Individuals visited curiosities for a variety of reasons. Some treated outings to collections as s… more
Date: May 2014
Creator: Puyear, Lauren K.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Forgotten Glory - Us Corps Cavalry in the ETO

Description: The American military experience in the European Theater of Operations during the Second World War is one of the most heavily documented topics in modern historiography. However, within this plethora of scholarship, very little has been written on the contributions of the American corps cavalry to the operational success of the Allied forces. The 13 mechanized cavalry groups deployed by the U.S. Army served in a variety of roles, conducting screens, counter-reconnaissance, as well as a number… more
Date: May 2014
Creator: Nance, William Stuart
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A History of the Phenomenon of the Maras of El Salvador, 1971- 1992

Description: This thesis grounds its examination of the maras of El Salvador in the historical past (1971-1992) rather than the present, which constitutes a departure from current scholarship on the subject. This thesis revises our current understanding of the emergence and development of maras in El Salvador through the recovery, insertion and examination of key local events, conditions, and historical actors of the 1970s and 1980s. From signifying friendship and camaraderie prior to the late 1980s, the ma… more
Date: May 2014
Creator: Castillo, Vogel Vladimir
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Remembering the Forgotten D-day: the Amphibious Landing at Collado Beach During the Mexican War

Description: The current historiography of the Mexican War does not give due credit to the significance of the landing at Collado Beach. No one source addresses all aspects of the landing, nor have any included an analysis of the logistical side of the operation. This thesis presents a comprehensive analysis of the operation from conception to execution in an attempt to fill the gap in the historiography. Additionally, the lessons learned and lessons forgotten from this landing are addressed as to how this … more
Date: May 2014
Creator: Menking, Christopher N.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Capital Ships, Commerce, and Coalition: British Strategy in the Mediterranean Theater, 1793

Description: In 1793, Great Britain embarked on a war against Revolutionary France to reestablish a balance of power in Europe. Traditional assessments among historians consider British war planning at the ministerial level during the First Coalition to be incompetent and haphazard. This work reassesses decision making of the leading strategists in the British Cabinet in the development of a theater in the Mediterranean by examining political, diplomatic, and military influences. William Pitt the Younger… more
Date: August 2014
Creator: Baker, William Casey
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Century of Overproduction in American Agriculture

Description: American agriculture in the twentieth century underwent immense transformations. The triumphs in agriculture are emblematic of post-war American progress and expansion but do not accurately depict the evolution of American agriculture throughout an entire century of agricultural depression and economic failure. Some characteristics of this evolution are unprecedented efficiency in terms of output per capita, rapid industrialization and mechanization, the gradual slip of agriculture's portion of… more
Date: August 2014
Creator: Ruffing, Jason L.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Companion to the Gods, Friend to the Empire: the Experiences and Education of the Emperor Julian and How It Influenced His Reign 361-363 AD

Description: This thesis explores the life and reign of Julian the Apostate the man who ruled over the Roman Empire from A.D. 361-363. The study of Julian the Apostate’s reign has historically been eclipsed due to his clash with Christianity. After the murder of his family in 337 by his Christian cousin Constantius, Julian was sent into exile. These emotional experiences would impact his view of the Christian religion for the remainder of his life. Julian did have conflict with the Christians but his main g… more
Date: August 2014
Creator: Lilly, Marshall
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Company A, Nineteenth Texas Infantry: a History of a Small Town Fighting Unit

Description: I focus on Company A of the Nineteenth Texas Infantry, C.S.A., and its unique status among other Confederate military units. The raising of the company within the narrative of the regiment, its battles and campaigns, and the post-war experience of its men are the primary focal points of the thesis. In the first chapter, a systematic analysis of various aspects of the recruit’s background is given, highlighting the wealth of Company A’s officers and men. The following two chapters focus on th… more
Date: August 2014
Creator: Williams, David J. (History teacher)
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Cowboys, “Queers,” and Community: the AIDS Crisis in Houston and Dallas, 1981-1996

Description: This thesis examines the response to the AIDS crisis in Houston and Dallas, two cities in Texas with the most established gay communities highest number of AIDS incidences. Devoting particular attention to the struggles of the Texas’ gay men, this work analyzes the roadblocks to equal and compassionate care for AIDS, including access to affordable treatment, medical insurance, and the closure of the nation’s first AIDS hospital. In addition, this thesis describes the ways in which the peculiar … more
Date: August 2014
Creator: Bundschuh, Molly Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Cultural Exchange: the Role of Stanislavsky and the Moscow Art Theatre’s 1923 and 1924 American Tours

Description: The following is a historical analysis on the Moscow Art Theatre’s (MAT) tours to the United States in 1923 and 1924, and the developments and changes that occurred in Russian and American theatre cultures as a result of those visits. Konstantin Stanislavsky, the MAT’s co-founder and director, developed the System as a new tool used to help train actors—it provided techniques employed to develop their craft and get into character. This would drastically change modern acting in Russia, the Unite… more
Date: August 2014
Creator: Brooks, Cassandra M.
Partner: UNT Libraries
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