American History Research Articles

Recovered History: Chicanx Representation in the Dual Credit Classroom

Abstract Recent legislation in Texas effectively prohibits K-12 educators from addressing issues of racism and explicitly prevents teachers from discussing the place of racism in Chicanx relations across Texas history. University educators, and dual-credit instructors especially, must intercede if future generations of learners are going to encounter the true and complete history of border culture, colonialism, and the complex relationship that Chicanx people have with the Southern region of the United States. I argue that the use of digital archives and recovered history like the internet project Are We Good Neighbors? Mapping Discrimination Against Mexicans in 1940s Texas, which catalogs racial discrimination through individual testimony, the Library of Congress database of Mexican American documents, and Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement offer educators an opportunity to incorporate key research skills into the classroom while also establishing a linear context for liminality as a feature of identity formation in contemporary Chicanx literature. The combination of research and critical inquiry is vital to instructing students on the realities of Chicano relations and introducing them to the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement, a key element of American history that is not only conspicuously absent from most K-12 curricula but also an inescapable influence on identity formation and contemporary discussions around Mexican American relations. The use of digital archives to recover and center Chicanx history is actionable on a small scale and serves as an important opportunity to resist anti-ethnic legislation in real time, a vital act of subversion that sidesteps prolonged challenges to censorship at the legislative level.

The Revolution Will (Not?) Be Colourised: Photographs from the Indonesian National Revolution (1945–49) on Social Media

This article critically reflects on the practice of colourisation in present-day recirculations of photographs originally made during the armed Indonesian struggle for independence from Dutch colonial rule (1945–49). The article focuses on digital colour manipulations of photographs disseminated on social media platforms to address ethical and methodological debates dividing academic and amateur historians on the modification of historic photographs. I compare the notable lack of controversy around colourised photographs that show the violence of the Indonesian National Revolution to the heated debates kindled by manipulated images of victims of the Holocaust and the Khmer Rouge regime. ‘Genocide’ arguably remains a special category for determining whether conflict photographs can be modified. I show how Indonesian colourisers fail to interrogate the propaganda origins of the Dutch-made photographs they circulate on social media. For Indonesian social media users, however, deep context and detailed metadata for such photographs are less relevant for generating meaning than debates about how such photographs connect to the unfinished projects of decolonisation in the Netherlands and Indonesia.

“Unquestioned Citizenship”: History, Poetry, and Black and Native Military Service in Hampton Institute’s Southern Workman

Abstract This article explores how Black race histories, Native American traditionary histories, and tribute poems published in Hampton Institute’s Southern Workman (1872–1939) used military service as an imaginative foundation for thinking about citizenship beyond legal meanings. In race and traditionary histories, writers make visible the sacrifices of Black and Native soldiers that had been overlooked in official accounts of wars throughout US history. Writers also transform these histories’ commemorative aim into tribute poems, which accomplish similar work by recognizing publicly, through imaginative verse, Black and Native military service. These writers share a hope that military service might usher in the benefits of formal citizenship. But that hope is accompanied by a sense of skepticism, in that wartime did not always yield a completely united American front. With such contingencies in mind, writers use the act of military service as inspiration for the act of writing into the historical and literary record the legacy of Black and Native commissioned and noncommissioned men and women, bestowing upon each other a sense of “unquestioned citizenship” that the nation would not.

Re-arquitecturar los territorios, un desafío ineluctable para la sostenibilidad compartida

The dynamic - historical reading of the planning, andthe balances of what we consider as a structural “bad urbanrural development” of the territories (at least since the 60s), is essential. This position, although open to debate, has become evident taking into account the also dynamic reading of the great challenges of sustainable transitions and "resilience”, that have marked planning and management intentions in Central American planning history. This statement necessarily leads torethinking global architectures inherited (built form, forms of management and planning, governance) to define the intensities of the changes. Moving towards this, implies to define the method and the transition system to be implemented, and to define the instruments that allow rehabilitating, reconstructing,remodeling, “re-architecturing” territories and institutions inherited. However, the re-architecture proposed will depend on the collective clarity, first of the pasts carried over, and second the desired futures. Accounting for the "arts" or the "politicalsocialinstitutional techniques" that created (and continue to do) the "metropolitan areas", is today an essential stage to be able to move towards new development models. Indeed, many local and metropolitan challenges, such as the “right to sustainable housing for all” (which has a high component of physicalconstructive design), contain high probabilities of never being effective in the current and trending context. Given that the current political, institutional, economic and social capacities, to make considerable changes in the management of the territories, seem to be compromised. Forging new capabilities and new abilities (financial, environmental, social, and including technical-constructive) is a collective challenge. And collectively conceiving a new urban planning and territorial planning (corrective – preventive and collaborative) is an urgency. ILIA: Investigaciones Latinoamericanas en Ingeniería y Arquitectura, No. 01, 2024: 167-173.

IDENTITY CONFUSION IN DOROTHY WEST’S THE LIVING IS EASY

Literature is a media for conveying the authors’ ideas and feelings to the payers, or it is a mean of relief for them to bare their souls. In this context, literature involves an enormous place in human life. In this regard, African American literature has an important place in American literature and culture. It is also one of the strongest pillars of the literature produced by black writers in the United States of America. African American literature goes and continues in the course of history as oral literature from generation to generation. Since African Americans’ place changes gradually in the USA- due to racism in particular- their viewpoint of literature changes, too. African American history predates the foundation of the United States of America as an independent country, so their literature has deep roots, consisting of rich oral culture in poetry, including gospel music, blues, rap, and spirituals along with written poetry, and slave narrations. Although African Americans come from slave ancestors, they have been able to leave a deep effect on the literature of the United States when they are brought to the continent of America. African American literature is mainly based on autobiographical spiritual narratives, and before the American Civil War African Americans’ literature consists of memoirs of people who escape from slavery. So, African American literature has witnessed the problem of racial discrimination in its existential aspect. But in the progress of time, black writers go deep into verbal literature and perform their own experiences. Dorothy West, in her novel Living is Easy criticizes the blacks who mimes the whites. When we scrutinize, it is possible to penetrate that the writer wants to reflect her own experiences via narration and criticizes her own past. Writing is a kind of purgation for West since she writes about herself. In this study, we aim to point out the impulses that foster Dorothy West’s narration from a Freudian point of view.

Understanding admixture fractions: theory and estimation of gene-flow.

Estimation of admixture proportions has become one of the most commonly used computational tools in population genomics. However, there is remarkably little population genetic theory on statistical properties of these variables. We develop theoretical results that can accurately predict means and variances of admixture proportions within a population using models with recombination and genetic drift. Based on established theory on measures of multilocus disequilibrium, we show that there is a set of recurrence relations that can be used to derive expectations for higher moments of the admixture proportions distribution. We obtain closed form solutions for some special cases. Using these results, we develop a method for estimating admixture parameters from estimated admixture proportions obtained from programs such as Structure or Admixture. We apply this method to HapMap 3 data and find that the population history of African Americans, as expected, is not best explained by a single admixture event between people of European and African ancestry. The model of constant gene flow starting at 8 generations and ending at 2 generations before present gives the best fit.

The Latvian Lost Cause: Veterans of the Waffen-SS Latvian Legion and Post-war Mythogenesis

During World War II, tens of thousands of Latvians served in German-led military formations, primarily in the Waffen-SS Latvian Legion. After the war, around 25,000 former Legionnaires transitioned from prisoner of war camps run by the Western Allies to civilian life in a variety of Western countries. They created veterans’ organisations — such as Daugavas Vanagi (‘Hawks of the Daugava’) — which also functioned as political advocacy groups and heritage organisations for the Latvian diaspora. These post-war organisations and platforms then allowed former Latvian Legionnaires to shape public memory of the war. In writings after 1945, a cohort of veterans crafted a narrative of the war that (1) presents their military service as representing a righteous cause defeated either by forms of betrayal or by the overwhelming might of the Soviet Union, (2) develops a cult of the fallen soldier, and (3) mystifies German war aims and the relationship of Latvian Legionnaires to them. Through analysis of memoirs and periodical publications by veterans along with forms of public commemoration, I argue that these materials and practices collectively constitute a ‘Lost Cause’ narrative, which, similar to the Lost Cause of the Confederacy — developed in the U.S. South after the American Civil War — became predominant among the Latvian diaspora before spreading to Latvia itself. This framework allows for productive comparisons with other European countries that experienced traumatic military defeats, representing a new approach to this controversial subject with potential application to similar cases in Ukraine and Estonia.

Asian American History, written by Ling, Huping

Asian American History, written by Ling, Huping

Coming Out for Community, Coming Out for the Cause

Abstract This article focuses on the life experience and political activism of Palestinian American lesbian activist Huda Jadallah as a representative example of how lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT/queer) Arab Americans came out to both queer communities and Arab American communities in the 1980s and 1990s. The author argues that this dual outness was utilized as a strategy through which to accomplish three interrelated aims: to build a queer Arab American community, utilize that community as a starting point from which to challenge anti-Arab racism within queer communities, and challenge homophobia in Arab American communities. Based on an oral history interview with Jadallah, in conjunction with analysis of Jadallah’s personal ephemera collection, this article takes a queer archiving methodological approach to consider how outness as strategy may also be utilized with regard to queer Arab American archiving and history.

Yeni ‘Film’ veya ‘Sinema’ Tarihi: Sinema Tarihi Yazımında Yeni Gelişen İlkeler, Kuramlar ve Metodolojiler Üzerine Düşünceler

Film as an artefact has long been the subject of study by “film historians,” whether in terms of stylistic authenticity, genre specificity, or “high theory” analysis. Conversely, film history has been written as if films had no audiences (Biltereyst et al, 2012, p. 693). This kind of filmic-textual research tendency lies at the heart of the legacy of film studies discipline. In 1973, Jean Mitry proposed an ideal of film history as simultaneously, a history of its industry, its technologies, its systems of expression (or, more precisely, its systems of signification), and aesthetic structures, all bound together by the forces of the economic, psychosocial and cultural order (Maltby, 2006, p. 80). Humanities-based film studies were first re-conceptualized by the initiatives of International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), during its 1974 and 1978 conferences. Drawing on the methodological stance of the French Annales school’s histoire totale, participants at the 1974 FIAF conference agreed on new historiographical methodologies for all rather than linear national cinema histories. In 1990, American historian Robert Sklar brought forward three types of “cinema historians” in which only second sub-type might be labeled as ‘film historian’ which has been emerged from one of the following disciplines: art history, philosophy, literary studies.

Alienation and Capitalist Society in Arthur Miller's “Death of a Salesman”: A Marxist Reading

The present paper deals with one of the top three most notable tragedies in American history is considered to be “Death of a Salesman”. It premiered in 1949, vividly demonstrating an instinctive insight into society. Arthur Miller, the playwright, emphasized that the play should reflect not just the psychological and subjective world of the characters but also the actual, complex social reality. It has effectively captured the pathos of a typical American salesman. The study aim to shed light on Loman's private drama by examining it through the lens of societal issues, thereby illuminating the play's economic context and inner history. This method is timely because it addresses the central contradictions and inequalities that sustain and deepen under capitalism. The study seeks to enrich our understanding of the dangerous impact of the capitalist system on the working class and how it affects them and makes them alienated. This study depends on the original play script rather than others' ideas and recognizes the fusion of Marxism's effect on the play through closely reading the text. The findings that reached after studying Miller’s play is that the materialistic world can be seen as the dominating one and its negative impact mentally and physically on the Lomans.

Le gouvernement est encore le seul Européen de la Russie… О концепции «Русского момента» Маршалла Т. По

The history of studying the processes of modernization of the state and society and the transition from tradition to modernity in Russia has come a long way. Researchers from different schools and directions have offered a wide variety of explanations for the phenomenon of Russian modernization, trying to answer the question of whether Russia was really able to go this route to the end and what is unique about the Russian version of modernization. Naturally, when discussing this problem, most humanities scholars viewed it from a Eurocentric position, placing Russia, depending on the traditions of the school to which they belonged, either in a European context or in an Asian one. The American historian Marshall Poe, in his book about the “Russian moment” in history, which became a bestseller, tried to give his original answer to the question – why Russia, unlike other early modern nonEuropean empires, succeeded on the path of modernization, given that the starting conditions were unfavorable to her. The secret of the success of Russia, which, according to M. Poe, is not Europe, and especially not Asia, was that the Russian military elite was able to create a political regime (autocracy as an ideal form of monarchy, brought to the absolute), which ensured the mobilization of the meager Russian resources to resist Western expansion. Along the way, the autocracy, as M. Poe believed, restructured Russian society accordingly, resorting to methods of sophisticated social engineering. M. Poe’s concept cannot be denied of harmony, logic and persuasiveness, but, as the author of the review shows, in pursuit of an effective presentation, the author of “The Russian Moment” deliberately omitted a number of essential details of the Russian historical process. As a result, closer examination of his concept reveals that it suffers from a number of inherent flaws that cast doubt on its entirety and, according to the author of the review, make it nothing more than a curious historiographical artefact.

Intersectionality and Feminist Theory: A Framework for Understanding and Teaching Social Construct and Healthcare Policy

The continuing nursing shortage throughout the United States has affected all aspects of the healthcare sector, particularly nursing leadership. As the Baby Boomer generation of nurses retires, the profession is primed to need more experience, advocacy, and leadership. This leaves a critical gap for leaders who identify with and are wise to the factors that influence the dynamic power relationships inherent to American history. As the country continues to become increasingly diverse, women and minorities in leadership continue to be underrepresented. In one of the most significant threats to women’s health, the recent overturning of the Supreme Court landmark case, Roe v. Wade, has highlighted the marginalization of women and people of color that is deeply embedded in the nation’s history. The lack of women and minorities in leadership positions in healthcare that has resulted from vast power imbalances, gender stereotyping, discrimination, and patriarchal structures must be addressed. Intersectionality theory offers a lens through which to understand these factors of power for all nurses. Nurse leaders can understand complex social constructs and be prepared to address power relationships that inform healthcare policy.

South Africa’s Haymarket: the Knights of Labor and political violence in the United States and South Africa, 1886–1892

Abstract This article compares and connects two episodes of political violence in the late nineteenth century: the Haymarket Affair in Chicago in 1886 and the bombing of the offices of the De Beers Company, chaired by Cecil Rhodes, at Kimberley on the South African diamond fields in 1891. These episodes were connected by the existence in both countries of an American and then global movement, the Knights of Labor/Labour. The Knights’ American history was shaped by Haymarket. Their South African history was radically altered by the De Beers explosion, which both the Knights and their enemies interpreted through the prism of Haymarket. They drew lessons from it that determined their own conduct and may have contributed to the demise of the South African Knights less than two years later. This article charts those connections and the context to the De Beers explosion, the trial that followed, and the lessons that South African Knights drew from the experiences of their American brothers and sisters.

Could Diffusion Indexes Have Forecasted the Great Depression?

ABSTRACTWas the Depression forecastable? In this paper, we test how effective diffusion indexes are in forecasting the deepest recession in US history: the Great Depression. In a seminal paper, Moore considered the effectiveness of diffusion indexes, though retrospectively and not out‐of‐sample. We reconstruct Moore's diffusion indexes for this historical period and make our own comparable indexes for out‐of‐sample predictions. We find that diffusion indexes, including the horizon‐specific ones we produce, can nowcast turning points fairly well. Forecasting remains difficult, but our results suggest that the initial downturn in 1929 may be forecastable months before the Great Crash. This is a novel result, as previous authors had generally found the Depression was not forecastable.

The Animal-Human Relationship in War

Issues germane to animal history and military history intersect in the study of cavalry horses and their riders during the American Civil War. Animal historians should understand that warfare created a very different experience for horses than was true of their peacetime experience. Military historians should understand that horses were not just tools of war but sentient creatures with needs and emotions of their own. Weaponized equines exercised a degree of agency by exerting some control over their situations. The military system and battle severely stressed horses and men. Repetitive riding affected cavalrymen and horses in ways that resulted in serious health problems. Nevertheless, the war experience fostered bonds of affection between animals and humans in many cases while leading to callous abuse in many others. It also led to an enhanced appreciation for animals among cavalrymen who had bonded with their mounts, possibly promoting awareness of animal rights after the conflict.

The Sandinista revolution: a global Latin American history; Nicaragua must survive: Sandinista revolutionary diplomacy in the global cold war

The Sandinista revolution: a global Latin American history; Nicaragua must survive: Sandinista revolutionary diplomacy in the global cold war

A Response to My Readers

First, I want to thank Modern American History co-editors Sarah Snyder and Darren Dochuk for selecting my book for this roundtable and assembling such an incredible group of scholars to read and comment on it. I drew heavily on these readers’ previous works when writing The Black Tax and held up their books as models of the kind of engaging and impactful historical scholarship that I aspired to achieve. Which makes their positive reactions to my book all the more gratifying, even as it makes my job here a bit harder. I have no complaints to respond to, no arguments to defend, no decisions or only a few omissions to justify or explain.

American imperial exceptionalism? Texas secondary World History depictions of American empire, 1925–2016

ABSTRACT This article explores the connection between American exceptionalism and empire denialism by examining high-school World History textbooks approved for use in the state of Texas from the 1920s to 2016. Scholarship suggests that the powerful ideology of American exceptionalism is deeply uneasy about the role of the United States as an imperial power in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. But despite this widespread assumption, World History textbooks for the past century have routinely labelled the United States an empire, and directly compared US actions with those of European colonising powers. Some textbooks portrayed this as a unique and aberrant time in US history. But other textbook accounts over the past century have made the case that US imperialism brought about material and political benefits to colonised peoples. In other words, a common thread in World History textbooks suggests that America created an exceptional empire. American imperialism was linked to an underlying narrative of the spread of European or Western civilisation, viewed as a cornerstone of modern world history.

"City upon a Hill" in the Face of Significant Challenges

The editor-in-chief proposes a context for examining the crisis processes in American society explored in the articles. The author suggests that this crisis should be viewed in the context of the American history cycles. Many of the current conflicts in the USA have a similar internal source, which is a sharp intra-elite conflict involving a significant part of society. This conflict is unusual in its depth, given that for many decades the «trademark» of the American political class has been its consensus character. One important element of this consensus can be seen as an unquestioned focus on global American leadership and a shared commitment among members of the community to the force imperatives in foreign policy – either the classic “hard” or “flexible” power. Among the sources of American foreign policy continuity are a number of factors. First, it is the stability of institutional mechanisms of decision-making, which, in turn, is based on a stable system of representation of dominant interests. Second, the stability of formal and informal institutions that ensure a high degree of elite cohesion; and the specificity of American political culture, which is based on a set of political and philosophical views of messianic nature. The consensual nature of the political elite was the system-forming basis of liberal democracy, so the breakdown of this consensus may entail – and partially has already entailed – a crisis of the US political system.