Ike\u27s Last War: Making War Safe for Society

This thesis analyzes how Eisenhower defined war and its utility in his New Look defense policy and the ramifications for America’s interactions with the world through its foreign policy. It argues that Eisenhower redefined the relationship between war and society as he executed his grand strategy, further removing society from the decision for war. To avoid what he believed to be the inevitable global destruction of a general war turned nuclear, Eisenhower broadened the scope of ‘war” to balance domestic opinion for containing communism while also avoiding the devastating consequences of war in American society. By authorizing coups in Iran and Guatemala, Eisenhower blurred the line between coercive diplomacy and violent political warfare. President Eisenhower’s reliance on covert action to achieve political outcomes prevented general or nuclear war but it strengthened an emerging model for society’s relationship with war. Political warfare and covert action increased the gap between society and the commitment of American power during the Cold War. In his effort to prevent war, Eisenhower expanded presidential power and set a precedent that continues today

Fashion in Focus: Women and Textiles in Rural America, 1920-1959

This thesis examines the textile work and related fashion ephemera and attitudes of rural women in the United States in the first half of the 20th century. It considers rural women from the 1920s through the 1950s and examines their lives and their relationship with textiles and, by extension, fashion. Textiles and related ephemera, when properly utilized, provide sources for historical analysis within broader historical research. Through an examination of the developments in early to mid-twentieth century economic, material culture, and domestic spheres, the importance of clothing analysis and the value of textile work as a historical source material proves significant. In many ways, the development of domestic culture and changes in material consumption in consumerism can be tracked through the examination of textile works and related fashion trends. I examine the expectations for American women in the early 20th century as viewed through analysis of unconventional sources and then use textile work and fashion changes to reflect the differences between societal ideals and the reality of life for these women. Through an examination of quilting, paper ephemera such as fashion books, sewing patterns, and magazines, and societal attitudes toward appearance I discuss the nature of rural American womanhood. While a relatively new field of study, fashion and textile history provides a valuable source of information about the changes in society reflected within the structure and shape of the garments being worn

Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. 39, Issue 4

Table of Content

Theory of Provocation

The present volume discusses the subject of provocation and its various applications in the field of political science. Provocation itself combines the artificial induction of events, attitudes and human behavior, and the unilateral prejudging of issues, resulting in the interlocutor being surprised, trapped, manipulated or extorted. A political provocation manifests itself in various forms: productive or parasitic; pointed, collective or networked influence; initiative or reactive and reflexive; causal, deceptive or discrediting; constructive or destructive. The author brings forth real-world examples to illuminate the various intricacies of this concept, its applications, aims, and much more

Muskogee Internationalism in An Age of Revolution, 1763-1818

This dissertation reevaluates the consequences of the American Revolution by examining how indigenous peoples preserved their role as regional powers in the decades following the birth of the United States. Focusing on the Creek Indians of the present-day southeastern United States, I demonstrate that they maintained ties with Britons, Spaniards, and other Native peoples, employing these connections to their advantage. Creeks created borderlands that connected their societies with those of the British and Spanish Caribbean. The Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of Florida and their surrounding waters became zones of encounter and exchange between Native peoples, British wreckers from the Bahamas, and Spanish fishermen from Cuba. The networks created through these borderlands show that many elements of colonial-era diplomacy, where Native peoples held significant power in relationships with Europeans and Euroamericans, continued in force well after American independence. Creek diplomacy during this era engaged with European international law and concepts of nationhood in ways that compare to and were in dialogue with the efforts of the United States. Both Creeks and Americans sought to negotiate as unitary nations because the international order of their era demanded it. Each consisted of disparate peoples who had little sense of common interest or cohesion prior to the mid-eighteenth century. Creeks identified as members of towns and clans rather than as a singular nation. Any political unity between the Creek towns developed only in response to challenges presented by European colonization. Likewise, Americans identified more with their home states or local communities than the nation as a whole. Over the course of the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, both Creeks and Americans struggled to find ways to balance local interests with the diplomatic needs created by the Atlantic community to which they belonged. In this sense, Creek diplomacy was decidedly modern and conversant with legal and political developments throughout the Atlantic world

Holding the line : the changing policies of the British Army with respect to Native Americans, 1759-1774

This dissertation examines the policies pursued by the British Army with respect to Native Americans between 1759 and 1774, when the British Army was in occupation of the colonial American frontier and how and why those policies changed. During this time the army’s policy on Native Americans altered greatly; prior to Pontiac’s War Native American grievances were seen as a low priority by the army, but after that conflict the army started to pay a great deal of attention to Native American concerns. To explain these changes it is necessary to explore the changing conditions on the frontier, the changing relationship between the colonies and Britain, and the differing ideas about Native Americans possessed by General Jeffery Amherst, the commander of the British Army in the colonies at the end of the Seven Years’ War, and his replacement, General Thomas Gage. In particular it is only by examining the very different attitudes towards Native Americans possessed by Amherst and Gage that the changes in British Army policy can be fully explained.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Theory of Provocation

The present volume discusses the subject of provocation and its various applications in the field of political science. Provocation itself combines the artificial induction of events, attitudes and human behavior, and the unilateral prejudging of issues, resulting in the interlocutor being surprised, trapped, manipulated or extorted. A political provocation manifests itself in various forms: productive or parasitic; pointed, collective or networked influence; initiative or reactive and reflexive; causal, deceptive or discrediting; constructive or destructive. The author brings forth real-world examples to illuminate the various intricacies of this concept, its applications, aims, and much more

Dew Line Passage: Tracing The Legacies Of Arctic Militarization

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2010Grounded within the context of modern American militarization, this dissertation is a descriptive, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic study focusing on the impacts and legacies of the development, implementation, and decommissioning of the western sector of the Distant Early Warning radar line (DEW Line) in northern Alaska and Canada's western Arctic. Understanding the localized social and environmental impacts of global militarization is a critical task for anthropology and one that coincides in the North with the need to gather histories from Inuit perspectives. This study's purposes are to elucidate how the global phenomenon of modern militarization penetrates and brings about change in small communities and to determine whether local attitudes towards security, the environment, industrialization, and political participation can be traced to the policies of the Canadian and American governments during the construction, operation, and clean up of the line. Ethnohistorical research and pilot studies in communities adjacent to radar sites provided background for the project. Personal narratives of arctic residents and employees, combined with documentation of the radar stations and remnants, were collected during a multi-season voyage along the western sector of the DEW line in the Canada's western Arctic and Alaska