Matching Items (28)
Description
This study is a cultural history of danger, disaster, and steam-powered transportation in nineteenth-century America. The application of steam power to transportation, a globally transformative innovation, had particular influence in the early United States. A vast American continent with difficult terrain and poor infrastructure posed significant challenges, both to individual mobility and to a nation eager to build an integrated economy, a unified culture, and a functional republican government. Steamboats and locomotives offered an apparent solution, their speed and power seemingly shrinking distances between places and expanding mobility and access across space, a process contemporaries and scholars have described as a sort of space-time compression. However, these machines that overcame space also blew up, caught fire, wrecked, collided, derailed, and broke down, killing tens, and often hundreds, of Americans at a time. This dissertation analyzes the ways Americans encountered, interpreted, and adapted to these new dangers, all the while making the technology that created them an ever more essential aspect of their lives. I argue that Americans’ responses to disasters, filtered through the transportation and communication networks created by steam power, constituted a deep, shared reflection about the nature of expanded mobility in a fast-evolving modern America. Though few suffered disaster directly, Americans collectively framed the danger of steam as both a profound national problem and an evocative symbol of modernity. Through public conversations mediated by print, Americans identified susceptibility to danger as inherent to high-speed travel, and, alongside practical safety measures, developed distinctly modern cultural adaptations to understand and manage that danger. By century's end, Americans had cultivated a modern mentality on mobility, technology, and danger: though most Americans never experienced disaster they were intimately aware of it, and though familiar with catastrophe they understood it as unlikely and accepted it as a feature of their modern technological lives.
ContributorsKuenker, Paul (Author) / Gray, Susan (Thesis advisor) / Thompson, Victoria (Committee member) / O'Donnell, Catherine (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
This thesis looks at the 1842 Supreme Court ruling of Prigg v. Pennsylvania, the events leading up to this case, and the subsequent legislative fallout from the decision. The Supreme Court rendered this ruling in an effort to clear up confusion regarding the conflict between state and federal law with regard to fugitive slave recovery. Instead, the ambiguities contained within the ruling further complicated the issue of fugitive slave recovery. This complication commenced when certain state legislatures exploited an inadvertent loophole contained in the ruling. Thus, instead of mollifying sectional tension by generating a clear and concise process of fugitive slave recovery, the Supreme Court exacerbated sectional tension. Through an analysis of newspapers, journals, laws and other contemporary sources, this thesis demonstrates that Prigg v. Pennsylvania and the subsequent legislative reactions garnered much attention. Through a review of secondary literature covering this period, a lack of demonstrable coverage of this court case emerges, which shows that scant coverage has been paid to this important episode in antebellum America. Additionally, the lack of attention paid to this court case ignores a critical episode of rising sectional tension during the 1840s.
ContributorsCoughlin, John (Author) / Schermerhorn, Calvin (Thesis advisor) / O'Donnell, Catherine (Thesis advisor) / Whitaker, Matthew (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
The history of Arizona is filled with ambitious pioneers, courageous Natives, and loyal soldiers, but there is a seeming disconnect between those who came before us and many of those who currently inhabit this space. Many historic locations that are vital to discovering the past in Arizona are both hard to find and lacking in information pertaining to what happened there. However, despite the apparent lack of history and knowledge pertaining to these locations, they are vitally present in the public memory of the region, and we wish to shed some much-needed light on a few of these locations and the historical takeaways that can be gleaned from their study. This thesis argues the significance of three concepts: place-making, public memory, and stories. Place-making is the reinvention of history in the theater of mind which creates a plausible reality of the past through what is known in the present. Public memory is a way to explain how events in a location affect the public consciousness regarding that site and further events that stem from it. Lastly, stories about a place and event help to explain its overall impact and what can be learned from the occurrences there. Throughout this thesis we will be discussing seven sites across Arizona, the events that occurred there, and how these three aspects of study can be used to experience history in a personal way that gives us a special perspective on the land around us. The importance of personalizing history lies in finding our own identity as inhabitants of this land we call home and knowing the stories gives us greater attachment to the larger narrative of humanity as it has existed in this space.
ContributorsMartin, Austin Richard (Co-author) / Martin, Trevor (Co-author) / Fixico, Donald (Thesis director) / O'Donnell, Catherine (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
The history of Arizona is filled with ambitious pioneers, courageous Natives, and loyal<br/>soldiers, but there is a seeming disconnect between those who came before us and many of those<br/>who currently inhabit this space. Many historic locations that are vital to discovering the past in<br/>Arizona are both hard to find and lacking in information pertaining to what happened there.<br/>However, despite the apparent lack of history and knowledge pertaining to these locations, they<br/>are vitally present in the public memory of the region, and we wish to shed some much-needed<br/>light on a few of these locations and the historical takeaways that can be gleaned from their<br/>study. This thesis argues the significance of three concepts: place-making, public memory, and<br/>stories. Place-making is the reinvention of history in the theater of mind which creates a<br/>plausible reality of the past through what is known in the present. Public memory is a way to<br/>explain how events in a location affect the public consciousness regarding that site and further<br/>events that stem from it. Lastly, stories about a place and event help to explain its overall impact<br/>and what can be learned from the occurrences there. Throughout this thesis we will be discussing<br/>seven sites across Arizona, the events that occurred there, and how these three aspects of study<br/>can be used to experience history in a personal way that gives us a special perspective on the<br/>land around us. The importance of personalizing history lies in finding our own identity as<br/>inhabitants of this land we call home and knowing the stories gives us greater attachment to the<br/>larger narrative of humanity as it has existed in this space.
ContributorsMartin, Trevor James (Co-author) / Martin, Austin (Co-author) / Fixico, Donald (Thesis director) / O'Donnell, Catherine (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
In this thesis, I examine the inclusion of American Indians as museum subjects and participants in Charles Willson Peale's Philadelphia Museum. To determine the forces that informed Peale's curatorship, I analyze Peale's experiences, personal views on education and scientific influences, specifically Carl Linnaeus, George-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon and Thomas Jefferson. Peale created a polarized natural history narrative divided between Anglo-Americans and races that existed in a “natural state.” Within the museum's historical narrative, Peale presented Native individuals as either hostile enemies of the state or enlightened peacekeepers who accepted the supremacy of Americans. Peale's embrace of Native visitors demonstrated a mixture of racial tolerance and belief in racial hierarchy that also characterized democratic pedagogy. I derive the results by examining Peale's correspondence, diaries and public addresses, as well as administrative documents from the museum such as accession records, guidebooks, lectures and museum labels. I conclude that although Peale believed his museum succeeded in promoting tolerance and harmony among all cultures, his message nevertheless promoted prejudice through the exaltation of “civilized men.” By studying the social and intellectual constraints under which Peale operated, it is possible to see the extent to which observation of and commentary on ethnic and racial groups existed in America's earliest public culture and shaped early American museum history. Contemporary museums strive for cultural preservation and tolerance, therefore analysis of Peale's intentions and effects may increase the self-awareness of today's museum professionals.
ContributorsKeller, Laura (Author) / O'Donnell, Catherine (Thesis advisor) / Toon, Richard (Thesis advisor) / Osburn, Katherine (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
ABSTRACT
The Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza is located across the street from the state capitol building in Phoenix, Arizona. Here, pieces of Arizona’s history are commemorated through monuments and memorials. Monuments and memorials reflect how people have conceived their collective identity, especially when those choices are made in public spaces. The markers in the Wesley Bolin Plaza reflect the changing identity of Arizonans, both locally and in connection to national identity. Over time, they have become crucial to shaping the landscape and the historical memory of the city, state, or country. Of note, the memorials on the Arizona State Capitol grounds are unique in how they are placed all together in a park directly across the street. In 1976, the Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza emerged through a conversation with broader currents in the region’s and nation’s history. Over time, the plaza has become a sacred space because so many of its memorials include relics and artifacts, or list the names of those who have lost their lives in their service to Arizona. In these ways the plaza became a landscape of memory where visitors come to remember and honor those people and parts of Arizona history. The memorial plaza also influences Arizonans’ knowledge of history. It engenders a local as well as a national loyalty and identity in its citizens and visitors. By researching the history of several of the prominent monuments and memorials in the plaza, I discovered a rich history and an intriguing story behind each one that is built. Most monuments and memorials are commemorating complex events or people in history, yet have only short inscriptions on them. As a result, much of the historical narrative, complexities, and symbolism can be lost. My purpose is to tell the story of the plaza, these memorials, and their history; highlighting their significance to Arizonans and explaining how the monuments and memorials fit into the larger story of historical commemoration.
The Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza is located across the street from the state capitol building in Phoenix, Arizona. Here, pieces of Arizona’s history are commemorated through monuments and memorials. Monuments and memorials reflect how people have conceived their collective identity, especially when those choices are made in public spaces. The markers in the Wesley Bolin Plaza reflect the changing identity of Arizonans, both locally and in connection to national identity. Over time, they have become crucial to shaping the landscape and the historical memory of the city, state, or country. Of note, the memorials on the Arizona State Capitol grounds are unique in how they are placed all together in a park directly across the street. In 1976, the Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza emerged through a conversation with broader currents in the region’s and nation’s history. Over time, the plaza has become a sacred space because so many of its memorials include relics and artifacts, or list the names of those who have lost their lives in their service to Arizona. In these ways the plaza became a landscape of memory where visitors come to remember and honor those people and parts of Arizona history. The memorial plaza also influences Arizonans’ knowledge of history. It engenders a local as well as a national loyalty and identity in its citizens and visitors. By researching the history of several of the prominent monuments and memorials in the plaza, I discovered a rich history and an intriguing story behind each one that is built. Most monuments and memorials are commemorating complex events or people in history, yet have only short inscriptions on them. As a result, much of the historical narrative, complexities, and symbolism can be lost. My purpose is to tell the story of the plaza, these memorials, and their history; highlighting their significance to Arizonans and explaining how the monuments and memorials fit into the larger story of historical commemoration.
ContributorsBurnham, Kaitlyn Brimley (Author) / Tebeau, Mark (Thesis advisor) / O'Donnell, Catherine (Committee member) / Benkert, Volker (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
An anomaly among Britain’s North American colonies, Pennsylvania initially lacked an organized militia in its engagement with Native Americans or with other imperial powers, focusing its energies instead on diplomacy and trade with such groups in the early decades of its colonial existence. During the period known as The Long Peace, extending from the 1680s through the 1740s, Pennsylvania established friendly relations with local Indian tribes that enabled the colony to expand territorially and to prosper economically. The Quakers who founded the colony and dominated its politics deemed a militia not only immoral but also impractical to Pennsylvania’s fortunes. Virtually defenseless, frontier communities in Pennsylvania suffered an onslaught when the colony’s former long-time Indian allies and trade partners joined the French in their war against Britain, in what became the French and Indian War (1754-63). Desperate to protect the frontier, the Pennsylvania assembly passed a militia act in 1755. Though the act proved futile as a tool for military defense (it forbade militia service lasting longer than three days), the militia allowed frontier communities to organize for the first time, frontiersmen took an increasingly active role in maintaining and advancing their own social and political interests. The desire to defend themselves during the French and Indian War and subsequent Pontiac's Rebellion (1763-65) fashioned Pennsylvania's diverse frontier population into a coherent frontier culture. Frontiersmen deployed the organizational power of the colonial militia to defend their own interests against, first, the Pennsylvania assembly, and shortly after against the British on the eve of the American Revolution.
ContributorsLanders, Andrew Dale (Author) / Barth, Jonathan (Thesis advisor) / O'Donnell, Catherine (Committee member) / Van Cleave, Peter (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Anti-popery, political prejudice against Catholicism on the basis that it is not conducive to liberty, contributed to the American religious and political discourses of the Seven Years' War and the American Revolution. While some have argued that anti-popery diminished in New England during the Revolution, this paper shows that it persisted as a political assumption among New England Protestants and continued to be expressed in sermons and political debates of America's early republican period. The Franco-American alliance was a pragmatic alliance which did not ultimately do away with anti-papal sentiment. Following history to the nativist movement of the mid-nineteenth century, this paper then shows that the arguments deployed against Catholic Irish immigrants were of the same vein as those deployed by Protestant New Englanders before the American Revolution and that the assumption of religio-political anti-popery never truly faded in the early republic, allowing for it to be enlivened by the dramatic increase in New England's Catholic population in the 1820s and 1830s.
ContributorsRobbins, Michael (Author) / Hrdlicka, James (Thesis director) / O'Donnell, Catherine (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch (Contributor) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
The Enlightenment era in the West is traditionally referred to as the “Age of Reason” and the cradle of liberalism, which has been perhaps the dominant political ideology in the West since the eighteenth century. Philosophers such as John Locke and John Stuart Mill are credited with developing liberalism and their theories continue to be studied in terms of liberty, the social contract theory, and empiricism. While liberalism is heralded as a societal advancement in the field of philosophy, some thinkers’ actions were not consistent with their written principles. This essay investigates how John Locke was involved in the creation and perpetuation of slavery in North America, but later crafted and endorsed more liberal ideologies in his writings. This dual nature of Locke has a prominent place in academia and scholarly research. Many try to address the contradictory nature of Locke by looking to the location he had in mind when crafting his philosophies, specifically those concerning the state of nature, slavery, property rights, and empiricism. While some concepts, like slavery, seem to find him contemplating only English citizens, Locke’s reference to Indigenous Americans in his philosophical works supports the argument that the philosopher’s ideology was not necessarily written exclusively for English application. By analyzing Locke’s philosophy and his economic involvement in the Carolina colony through a postcolonial theoretical framework, this essay aims to understand the Eurocentrism of Locke and how his philosophy was applied differently across borders. Using postcolonial theory, this thesis concludes Locke was a colonialist and Western author who portrayed non-European cultures, practices, and experiences for European consumption and application.
ContributorsCundiff, Caroline Rose (Author) / O'Donnell, Catherine (Thesis advisor) / Wright, Johnson (Committee member) / Barth, Jonathan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
In 1972, when relationships between the Mexican and USA Presbyterian denominations fractured, within a few years they found agreement in a newly crafted covenant, “A New Relation in Joint Mission.” At the denominational level, the leadership envisioned a new paradigm for international missional practice in which both entities mutually shared in the developmental and oversight processes. This was an exercise in diplomacy as the denominations were distinctly different in theological perspectives and expectations for program implementation. It was on the local and regional level, motivated by their deep convictions of faith, that a cadre of binational mission workers, pastors, and volunteers built meaningful, intercultural relationships under the Presbyterian Border Ministry (PBM), established in 1984. To implement the denominations’ new concepts of mutuality in mission, the PBM established binational ministry sites in twin-cities along the México/USA border. The PBM promoted spiritual growth, articulated border realities through the lens of faith, and served with and for those in need of support. Geographically, and for the purposes of this dissertation, the border region represents two spaces, the sites of engagement in the settled communities at the edges of two nations and the programmatic extensions into the interior of the two countries. In their roles of advocacy, the ministries engaged at the highest levels of both the denominations and the seats of political power, far from the border. Contextually, the México/USA border region, rich in its complexity, is a space of simultaneous conjunction and separation, influenced by its history, international politics, cultural diversity, economic disparity, and religious presence.
The intent of this historical analysis is to share an important history that provides insights into the efficacy of binational ministry, to identify the contributions of bicultural engagement, and to consider the value and insights of faith-based perspectives when addressing complex border realities and social issues such as migration. It asks how the binational mission, in collaboration with faith-based and secular partners, has affected the lives of individuals, and made an impact on local, regional, national, and international political, economic, social, and cultural concerns.
ContributorsMay, Catherine Louise (Author) / Sarat, Leah (Thesis advisor) / O'Donnell, Catherine (Thesis advisor) / Avina, Alexander (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021