Master of Arts in History

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https://hdl.handle.net/10474/3176

The Master of Arts in History degree extends students' expertise in the discipline by effectively preparing them to apply their skills in a variety of professions and contexts. Students deepen their knowledge of the process of "making" history, through analyzing primary and secondary sources, evaluating historiography, applying research methods, defining and researching a specific area of history, and effectively defending and articulating theses. Students have the option of exploring history through traditional coursework, focused on research and writing, or by investigating subjects pertinent to public history, such as understanding the latest technology for preserving and digitizing history. Emphasis is also placed on strategies to keep the student on the cutting-edge of the field, such as using quantitative reasoning in historical analysis and information systems to promote the dissemination of meaningful interpretation of the past.

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 104

Chicago shipwrecks: disasters and their impact on maritime law
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017) Lange, Shannon Marie; Denning, Robert; Chung, Yun Shun Susie
The shipwreck and maritime history of the Illinois region of Lake Michigan was one wrought with tragedy and shaped the laws of the shipping industry for the future. What has become known as the ‘Shipwreck Era’ of 1825-1925 hosts the most well-known tragedies of Lake Michigan. Ships such as the Lady Elgin, Eastland, and Rouse Simmons rest as the focal points of most research due to the tragic yet popular nature of their respective disasters. A qualitative analysis into the archival documents at Newberry Library, Manitowoc Maritime Museum and the Winnetka Historical Society along the western lakeshore, explorations of individual shipwrecks are able to be compiled into a digital exhibit and foundation of a boat tour to fully explore the wreckage that remains at the bottom of the lake. (Author abstract)
Woodrow Wilson’s diplomatic agenda and strategic military interventions: how they affected the Russian Civil War 1918-1920
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017-06) Rinehart, Richard Alan; Denning, Robert; Reed, Charles
This thesis aims to understand the factors that affected Woodrow Wilson’s foreign and military policy actions, which subsequently led to decisions that dictated United States’ intervention into the Russian Civil War, 1918-1920. The background information discussed demonstrates the importance of the Russian Civil War. This chaotic time in history surrounding World War I caused much of Woodrow Wilson’s dilemma and consequentially changed future of Soviet-American relations. It details how it would take numerous foreign policy shifts to convince Mr. Wilson to send U.S. troops to intervene into North Russia and Siberia. Lenin’s opposing perspective will encompass what is contained in much of the supporting information surrounding this thesis. In conjunction with military operations there, the allies attempted to broker peace with Lenin and the Bolsheviks in the form of the Prinkipo Proposal, the Bullitt Mission, and the Hoover-Nansen Proposal. The concluding question that frames the argument of this research will answer what happened because Wilson intervened on Russian soil and how it affected the Communist world revolution. What positive results, if any, can be discovered? (Author abstract)
"And be It so enacted": natural law and southern federalism in the fugitive slave controversy
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017-06) Jenkins, Natasha Townsel; Denning, Robert; Irvine, Robert
Despite the vast research on the events that led to the Civil War, little scholarship focuses solely on the extent to which the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 played a role. While historians highlight the law’s political, social, and cultural significance to the sectional conflict, the literature on the Fugitive Slave Law does not consider its importance to the ideological debate that exacerbated the rift between the Free and Slave states. This study focuses on the impact that the differing interpretations of Natural Law had on the sectional conflict, and how each section’s prioritization of personal liberty and property underscores the true nature of the states’ rights debate. An analysis of antebellum newspapers, pamphlets, and fugitive slave cases demonstrates that the Free states were more inclined to argue for states’ rights during the fugitive slave crisis, whereas Slave states argued in favor of federalism to protect their right to recover their slave property. This examination will add to Civil War scholarship by inverting the states’ rights defense in favor of the northern states and further highlight the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 as one of the leading causes of the disunion that led to civil war. (Author abstract)
Misperceptions of ignorance: reconsidering U.S. intelligence 'failures' in the Korean War
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017-06) Compton, Daniel Brown; Denning, Robert; Reed, Charles
The ongoing American popular perception that the United States committed significant intelligence failures during Korean War is certainly understandable, especially given that this view continues to persist within the scholarly consensus on the topic. However, historian Richard C. Thornton asserts compelling arguments to the contrary, which, when combined with careful examination of the relevant primary source evidence, help to unravel how conscious American policy decisions can explain these supposed intelligence failures. Moreover, a comparative analysis of the U.S. use of intelligence during the Korean conflict relative to that of its three communist adversaries—North Korea, China, and Russia—reveals not only that the U.S. did not commit any significant intelligence failures, but leveraged intelligence much more effectively during the North Korean invasion, Chinese intervention, and in the pursuit of strategic goals. An application of John A. Gentry’s intelligence failure analysis methodology further reveals that the three communist nations’ failures can all be directly attributed to their respective leaders, while intelligence agencies bare the blame for supposed U.S. failures. These results suggest a fundamental difference between the U.S. and the other three nations’ approaches to the use of intelligence. The communist nations relied on the abilities of one man to leverage all of the available intelligence in his decisions, while the American approach was one of policy-driven interpretation and action on intelligence. This difference in approaches to intelligence seems to explain how the U.S. managed to avoid the mistakes so frequently made by its adversaries, and why the U.S. used intelligence so much more effectively relative to the three communist nations. (Author abstract)
Native American women and their defiance of imposed gender roles
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017-06) Srivastava, Chelsey; Averill, Stephanie
Growing interest in Native American Studies has garnered new interest in the creation of the United States and the impact the various tribes had on historical events. Research pertaining to Native American women’s history during colonization is slow, however, as time progresses momentum is growing. This thesis argues that Native women were not only victims of oppression but rather participants in their own history. The French and Indian War was the perfect opportunity to step out of gender roles and take back the power which colonization had stripped from them. While history has given Native American women an incorrect reputation, modern historians are sifting through old literature to seek the truth. By sifting through what little information there is on Native American during the French and Indian War, this thesis argues that despite the gender standards that were being imposed upon them, Native American women used War to their advantage. (Author abstract)
Chicago Shipwrecks: Disasters and their Impact on Maritime Law
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017-06-07) Lange, Shannon Marie; Denning, Robert; Chung, Yun Shun Susie
The shipwreck and maritime history of the Illinois region of Lake Michigan was one wrought with tragedy and shaped the laws of the shipping industry for the future. What has become known as the ‘Shipwreck Era’ of 1825-1925 hosts the most well-known tragedies of Lake Michigan. Ships such as the Lady Elgin, Eastland, and Rouse Simmons rest as the focal points of most research due to the tragic yet popular nature of their respective disasters. A qualitative analysis into the archival documents at Newberry Library, Manitowoc Maritime Museum and the Winnetka Historical Society along the western lakeshore, explorations of individual shipwrecks are able to be compiled into a digital exhibit and foundation of a boat tour to fully explore the wreckage that remains at the bottom of the lake.
"And Be It So Enacted": Natural Law and Southern Federalism in the Fugitive Slave Controversy
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017-06-19) Jenkins, Natasha Townsel; Denning, Robert; Irvine, Robert
Despite the vast research on the events that led to the Civil War, little scholarship focuses solely on the extent to which the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 played a role. While historians highlight the law’s political, social, and cultural significance to the sectional conflict, the literature on the Fugitive Slave Law does not consider its importance to the ideological debate that exacerbated the rift between the Free and Slave states. This study focuses on the impact that the differing interpretations of Natural Law had on the sectional conflict, and how each section’s prioritization of personal liberty and property underscores the true nature of the states’ rights debate. An analysis of antebellum newspapers, pamphlets, and fugitive slave cases demonstrates that the Free states were more inclined to argue for states’ rights during the fugitive slave crisis, whereas Slave states argued in favor of federalism to protect their right to recover their slave property. This examination will add to Civil War scholarship by inverting the states’ rights defense in favor of the northern states and further highlight the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 as one of the leading causes of the disunion that led to civil war.
Misperceptions of Ignorance: Reconsidering U.S. Intelligence 'Failures' in the Korean War
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017-07-26) Compton, Daniel Brown; Denning, Robert; Reed, Charles
The ongoing American popular perception that the United States committed significant intelligence failures during Korean War is certainly understandable, especially given that this view continues to persist within the scholarly consensus on the topic. However, historian Richard C. Thornton asserts compelling arguments to the contrary, which, when combined with careful examination of the relevant primary source evidence, help to unravel how conscious American policy decisions can explain these supposed intelligence failures. Moreover, a comparative analysis of the U.S. use of intelligence during the Korean conflict relative to that of its three communist adversaries—North Korea, China, and Russia—reveals not only that the U.S. did not commit any significant intelligence failures, but leveraged intelligence much more effectively during the North Korean invasion, Chinese intervention, and in the pursuit of strategic goals. An application of John A. Gentry’s intelligence failure analysis methodology further reveals that the three communist nations’ failures can all be directly attributed to their respective leaders, while intelligence agencies bare the blame for supposed U.S. failures. These results suggest a fundamental difference between the U.S. and the other three nations’ approaches to the use of intelligence. The communist nations relied on the abilities of one man to leverage all of the available intelligence in his decisions, while the American approach was one of policy-driven interpretation and action on intelligence. This difference in approaches to intelligence seems to explain how the U.S. managed to avoid the mistakes so frequently made by its adversaries, and why the U.S. used intelligence so much more effectively relative to the three communist nations.
Dr. Arthur Caswell Parker and his impact on the Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences and Native Americans
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017-08) Seward, Chelsea Lee; Denning, Robert; Chung, Yun Shun Susie
This thesis examines Dr. Arthur Caswell Parker, an archaeologist, anthropologist, and ethnologist who was Director of the Rochester Municipal Museum (RMM)/Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences (RMAS) from 1926 to 1945. Archives about Parker already exist in the Rochester Museum and Science Center (RMSC), however, more information came from cataloging and packing the new archival Engstrom gift that was loaned to the RMSC by Betty Ann Engstrom in August of 2016. Cataloging and archiving the Engstrom gift has been the top priority at the RMSC over the past three months. While working on the project, the RMSC provided access to personal letters belonging to Parker, his family, and work friends, photographs, unpublished manuscripts, books, and speeches written by Parker, friends, family, and other museum officials. The focus of this research is on the artifacts that were brought in by Parker, but the vault is currently under construction; therefore, there will be no access to the artifacts until after November of 2017. The idea of creating a public program lecture that encompasses the knowledge and research gained from primary and secondary sources will bring about Parker’s legacy of creating Native American exhibits using his own background as Native American, the knowledge he gained from working at the New York State Museum, and with help from mentors to the eyes of the public. (Author abstract)
Women’s roles in America: wartime expansion post-war backlash and contraction
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017-08) Johnson, Richard Douglas; Denning, Robert; McConnell, Stephanie
The position and status of women in American society is a product of how women’s roles have changed since the colonial beginnings of America. The problem is that American women have consistently found themselves in a second class status despite providing half the effort and work of American society. Women’s roles have changed, evolved and grown throughout American history. So, the question becomes: what has spurred those changes? The answer is war. Women’s roles have expanded as their participation, effort and work have been needed during major war periods. As those war period have concluded a backlash has arisen that has resulted in a contraction of women’s roles but never to pre-war status. This pattern was realized through the research of gender roles during distinct periods. The historiographies of distinct periods revealed the pattern and that pattern held. Data mining those sources and other research resulted in supportive primary sources that solidified the pattern. Diaries, letters of correspondence, journal and newspaper articles revealed the expansion, backlash and contraction of every war period. The correspondence of Abigail Adams, Civil War journals and nursing orders, Wilson’s speech to congress and the words of Suffragettes, the efforts of Rosie the Riveter, her words and the encouragement of government through propaganda, Cold War imposed gender norms and the debate over the ERA are all primary sources that illuminate and support the pattern. (Author abstract)
Solomon and Sarah Comstock: prairie pioneers and the building of a community
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017-08) Johnson, Jennifer A.; Denning, Robert; Chung, Yun Shun Susie
Minnesota and higher education began to see a boom in the mid-1800s. When Solomon Comstock arrived in Moorhead in 1871, he saw nothing but muddy streets, dugouts, and tents. Throughout the late 1800s, Solomon and his wife, Sarah, focused on helping to develop Moorhead from a deplorable tent town with gambling house and saloons into a vibrant community through education. The creation of Minnesota’s fourth normal school in Moorhead was one of the biggest educational opportunities for Moorhead then and now. Today, on the six-acre site donated by Solomon and Sarah Comstock, stands one of Minnesota’s universities, Minnesota State University, Moorhead. Research at the Minnesota State University, Moorhead Archives shows several contributions the Comstock’s made to Moorhead through education and literacy. This thesis not only focuses on the educational contributions of Solomon and Sarah Comstock but further expands into a PowerPoint presentation and lecture. This lecture, which will be presented at the Comstock House museum in Moorhead, Minnesota will summarize this thesis through the main educational contributions outlined in this thesis. The PowerPoint presentation will be outlined by providing Solomon Comstock’s contributions, such as his support and donation of land for the Bishop Whipple School and Moorhead Teacher’s College. The PowerPoint will then focus on Sarah Comstock’s contributions to Moorhead, such as the creation of the Moorhead Women’s Club and the dedication to developing the Moorhead Public Library. Without these educational and community developments, Moorhead, Minnesota would not hold the current educational opportunities such as Minnesota State University, Moorhead, Concordia College, or the Lake Agassiz Regional Library System. (Author abstract)
The Spanish Catholic missions of San Diego de Alcalá and Santa Bárbara and the encounters with the Chumash and Kumeyaay Native American tribes: a positive effect
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017-08) Mick, Jennifer Lee Rising; Denning, Robert; Holton, Jim; Bartee, Seth
The research will examine the area of Alta California among the Spanish and Native Americans at the Mission San Diego de Alcalá and Mission Santa Bárbara. The initial conclusions about this topic have been that the Spanish did come to dominate, convert people to Christianity, and gain resources to further the Spanish Kingdom. The Native Americans were influenced and changed due to the encounters with the Spanish and there was much devastation of their lands and peoples. However, not all the encounters were negative and damaging. Some positive aspects to the encounters for example were mixed marriages, living together peacefully on the mission, and education. This historical event was more than just stories of destruction of nations and the conversion of Native Americans to Catholicism. From Spain, Latin America, Mexico, and to California, Spanish history has been debated by historians on the impact of Spanish colonization of Native Americans over the years and the majority concluded that it was a negative and horrible experience. This study will open up a discussion and analyze the Spanish colonization in a different way and that is to demonstrate some positive aspects of Spanish colonial times. The ways of religion and how the interactions of individuals and groups influenced one another will be discussed as well. The methodology will be established through looking at this period of time through religious, political, economic, and cultural lenses by historians. (Author abstract)
Tippecanoe and slavery too: Jonathan Jennings, William Henry Harrison, and the battle for free labor in Indiana
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017-08) Northcutt, John R.; Denning, Robert
In the first few decades of the nineteenth century, the expansion of the young United States beyond those original thirteen began to take shape. In the development of the Old Northwest and the states that would eventually emerge from the region, some of the nation’s first real debates on expanding slavery beyond the states where it already existed commenced. In what would become the Indiana Territory, and later the State of Indiana, political divisions regarding slavery were largely embodied by two men. William Henry Harrison was the first Governor of the Indiana Territory. A Virginian, Harrison grew up as a member of the planter class in his home state. The politics and economics of the plantation system would have seemed to work well in the new territory north of the Ohio River, and Harrison, in an effort to more quickly populate the region with proper men of means, especially those wanting to import slavery, would advocate for its legalization. Leading the free-soilers in Indiana was Jonathan Jennings. An arch enemy of aristocratic themes in politics, and therefore a consistent opponent to William Henry Harrison, Jennings would spend two decades in public life in Indiana, working to eradicate slavery from within the territory’s borders and ensuring that Indiana’s first constitution would prohibit the practice. Though Indiana entered the Union as a free state, the story of Jennings and the battle for free labor is not widely known, even in the Hoosier state. This essay examines the story and its main characters, as well as how the story has been told over the years and has almost been forgotten. (Author abstract)
Florida public schools’ integration and busing
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017-08) Jensen, Alicia; Denning, Robert
Drawing on primary sources from the Florida Archives in Tallahassee Florida and other secondary sources, this thesis examines the integration of schools as well as the busing crisis in Florida. Specifically, this thesis provides explanation of court rulings like Brown v Board of Education as well as governmental leaders like Claude Kirk who influenced the actions in Florida in terms of desegregation. Brown v Board of Education did not issue an end date for desegregating schools but rather left the decision to lower courts. Schools in Florida took their time desegregating because there was no rush in the process. In the early 1970s lower courts implemented plans to desegregate Florida school districts by using busing as a technique. Busing would be a way to ensure that schools would have mixed races by sending students to schools outside of their communities. Governor Claude Kirk fought the implementation of busing in response to what his constituents wanted as well as his own personal beliefs. Unfortunately, Kirk took his steps against the courts too far by going head to head with the federal court system which eventually led to him losing the governor race for the 1971-1974 term. (Author abstract)
Women rising: embracing, negotiating, and reinterpreting gender roles in revolutionary Ireland, 1913-1923
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017-08) Schaefer, Meredith Kate; Denning, Robert
This thesis examines the Irish revolutions (1913–1923) through the eyes of the revolutionary women who fought in them. The historiography on the period largely ignores and or downplays the contributions of women, often relying on a few exceptional examples of their participation to censure the work of all. The majority were nameless, faceless foot soldiers who took on traditionally male roles as spies, snipers, and dispatch carriers, but also traditionally female roles as mothers, wives, mourners, and caretakers. Revolutionary women did not reject their femininity so much as realize its possibilities. Recognizing revolutionary women’s experiences were unique and deeply personal, the thesis focuses on using the women’s own words to tell their stories. The research uses Defense Forces Ireland Bureau of Military History witness statements, memoirs, diaries, correspondence, and speeches to draw much-needed attention to the ordinary women who did the extraordinary. It traces women’s participation through four phases: their rise (1913-1916); reaction to their participation (1916-1919); their reinterpretation of the ways in which they would participate (1919-1921); and the ultimate reversal of their agency as Irish Free State political leaders decided women more important as symbols of the nation than active participants in it (1922-1923). Chapter five orients the Irish revolutionary woman’s experience within the larger international context. Women have always been involved in war and revolution; female participation in combat is neither new nor novel. Women were present and did participate in both socially-accepted and circumstantially-allowed roles during the Irish revolutionary period. Historians can no longer confuse women’s exclusion from the Irish revolutionary narrative as non-participation. (Author abstract)
Finding our way: Friedan, Steinem, and the fight for the women's movement, 1960-1980
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017-08) Olsen, Marie Rebecca; Denning, Robert
The recent re-emergence of the women’s movement after the 2016 presidential election has generated new interest in understanding the hardships that the second-wave of feminism faced in an effort to avoid those conflicts as the movement continues. Studying Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan from the time period of 1960-1980 provides a catalyst to understanding the challenges the women’s movement faced within itself and from outside the movement. By considering each activist’s writings, speeches, biographies, the historiography of their lives, and influence on the movement, as well as the media and the publics reaction to them, this project looks at how the movement began as one, fragmented into many parts, and in the end came back together to fight for women’s rights instead of against women’s progression. The central argument that drove the research was that Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem’s relationship was as complicated as the movement, and their disagreements were not detrimental to the movement, as often portrayed by the media at the time, but rather forced the leaders to consider their representation of all women within the movement. The early stage of the second-wave of feminism is often criticized for lacking diversity, and Friedan and Steinem are often pointed at as the cause. Through her iconic book, The Feminine Mystique, Friedan wrote of the plight of the housewife by interviewing her classmates from college, all middle-class and educated, white women. Her book was criticized for lacking any mention of black women, poor women, or uneducated women. Later, Steinem enters the women’s movement with the purpose of including more women and not just the housewife. However, her publication Ms. magazine was criticized in its early stages for employing mostly white women and encouraging women to see themselves as the “same”, essentially ignoring the fact that the movement was made up of many different kinds of women. The contradictions within the movement are a reflection of the women that led it. By delving deeper into Friedan and Steinem’s relationship with each other, as well as their relationship with the movement, one can grasp a better understanding of how these two feminist icons fought not only for women but for the movement they represented. (Author abstract)
Dr. Arthur Caswell Parker and His Impact on the Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences and Native Americans
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017-08-28) Seward, Chelsea Lee; Denning, Robert; Chung, Yun Shun Susie
This thesis examines Dr. Arthur Caswell Parker, an archaeologist, anthropologist, and ethnologist who was Director of the Rochester Municipal Museum (RMM)/Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences (RMAS) from 1926 to 1945. Archives about Parker already exist in the Rochester Museum and Science Center (RMSC), however, more information came from cataloging and packing the new archival Engstrom gift that was loaned to the RMSC by Betty Ann Engstrom in August of 2016. Cataloging and archiving the Engstrom gift has been the top priority at the RMSC over the past three months. While working on the project, the RMSC provided access to personal letters belonging to Parker, his family, and work friends, photographs, unpublished manuscripts, books, and speeches written by Parker, friends, family, and other museum officials. The focus of this research is on the artifacts that were brought in by Parker, but the vault is currently under construction; therefore, there will be no access to the artifacts until after November of 2017. The idea of creating a public program lecture that encompasses the knowledge and research gained from primary and secondary sources will bring about Parker’s legacy of creating Native American exhibits using his own background as Native American, the knowledge he gained from working at the New York State Museum, and with help from mentors to the eyes of the public.
Women Rising: Embracing, Negotiating, and Reinterpreting Gender Roles in Revolutionary Ireland, 1913-1923
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017-08-29) Schaefer, Meredith Kate; Denning, Robert
This thesis examines the Irish revolutions (1913–1923) through the eyes of the revolutionary women who fought in them. The historiography on the period largely ignores and or downplays the contributions of women, often relying on a few exceptional examples of their participation to censure the work of all. The majority were nameless, faceless foot soldiers who took on traditionally male roles as spies, snipers, and dispatch carriers, but also traditionally female roles as mothers, wives, mourners, and caretakers. Revolutionary women did not reject their femininity so much as realize its possibilities. Recognizing revolutionary women’s experiences were unique and deeply personal, the thesis focuses on using the women’s own words to tell their stories. The research uses Defense Forces Ireland Bureau of Military History witness statements, memoirs, diaries, correspondence, and speeches to draw much-needed attention to the ordinary women who did the extraordinary. It traces women’s participation through four phases: their rise (1913-1916); reaction to their participation (1916-1919); their reinterpretation of the ways in which they would participate (1919-1921); and the ultimate reversal of their agency as Irish Free State political leaders decided women more important as symbols of the nation than active participants in it (1922-1923). Chapter five orients the Irish revolutionary woman’s experience within the larger international context. Women have always been involved in war and revolution; female participation in combat is neither new nor novel. Women were present and did participate in both socially-accepted and circumstantially-allowed roles during the Irish revolutionary period. Historians can no longer confuse women’s exclusion from the Irish revolutionary narrative as non-participation.
Florida Public Schools’ Integration and Busing
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017-08-31) Jensen, Alicia; Denning, Robert
Drawing on primary sources from the Florida Archives in Tallahassee Florida and other secondary sources, this thesis examines the integration of schools as well as the busing crisis in Florida. Specifically, this thesis provides explanation of court rulings like Brown v Board of Education as well as governmental leaders like Claude Kirk who influenced the actions in Florida in terms of desegregation. Brown v Board of Education did not issue an end date for desegregating schools but rather left the decision to lower courts. Schools in Florida took their time desegregating because there was no rush in the process. In the early 1970s lower courts implemented plans to desegregate Florida school districts by using busing as a technique. Busing would be a way to ensure that schools would have mixed races by sending students to schools outside of their communities. Governor Claude Kirk fought the implementation of busing in response to what his constituents wanted as well as his own personal beliefs. Unfortunately, Kirk took his steps against the courts too far by going head to head with the federal court system which eventually led to him losing the governor race for the 1971-1974 term.
Women’s Roles in America: Wartime Expansion Post-War Backlash and Contraction
(Southern New Hampshire University, 2017-08-31) Johnson, Richard Douglas; Denning, Robert; McConnell, Stephanie
The position and status of women in American society is a product of how women’s roles have changed since the colonial beginnings of America. The problem is that American women have consistently found themselves in a second class status despite providing half the effort and work of American society. Women’s roles have changed, evolved and grown throughout American history. So, the question becomes: what has spurred those changes? The answer is war. Women’s roles have expanded as their participation, effort and work have been needed during major war periods. As those war period have concluded a backlash has arisen that has resulted in a contraction of women’s roles but never to pre-war status. This pattern was realized through the research of gender roles during distinct periods. The historiographies of distinct periods revealed the pattern and that pattern held. Data mining those sources and other research resulted in supportive primary sources that solidified the pattern. Diaries, letters of correspondence, journal and newspaper articles revealed the expansion, backlash and contraction of every war period. The correspondence of Abigail Adams, Civil War journals and nursing orders, Wilson’s speech to congress and the words of Suffragettes, the efforts of Rosie the Riveter, her words and the encouragement of government through propaganda, Cold War imposed gender norms and the debate over the ERA are all primary sources that illuminate and support the pattern.

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