American History Research Articles

Unearthing, preserving, and promoting Sikh American history: The Sikh American history project

ABSTRACT The Sikh American History Project (SAHP) is a grassroots organization of scholars, students, and community members committed to unearthing, preserving, and promoting the stories and experiences of Sikh Americans. By sharing these stories from the early pioneer era to the present day, SAHP aims to build greater understanding and respect for Sikh American history. SAHP also offers a variety of educational resources and programs designed to engage and inform individuals both within and outside of the Sikh American community about Sikh American history and culture.

Book Review: A Monetary and Fiscal History of the United States, 1961-2021

Book Review: A Monetary and Fiscal History of the United States, 1961-2021

Before the Court and in the Press: Newspaper Coverage of Creationism and School Prayer Movements' Legal Framing

During the last century, social movement organizations have mobilized around what role religion should play in school. These struggles have focused on teaching creationism and evolution in the science classroom and the appropriateness of school prayer and Bible reading in public schools. Court cases like Scopes and Engel are infamous in American history, while others are much less well-known. This project explores media coverage of social movements that do not engage in typical protest activity and instead choose to operate in more institutional contexts. This paper will begin by presenting the coverage patterns of each movement across the twentieth century, illustrating how the media's focus is primarily influenced by movements either initiating legal action, being compelled to appear in court, or reacting to judicial proceedings. Next, it will present a typology of coverage that these legal-based movements received. A movement's legal framing is carried in and through the media, and sometimes, the framing is all that is reflected in media attention, making this type of reporting so attractive to movement organizations. The legal constraints over framing and legitimate actors account for some of the media exposure, which was likely to be equitable in tone and quantity to both the creationism and school prayer movements. To understand media coverage of social movements, scholars must begin to account for the cycles and patterns of coverage likely to occur when a movement ends up in court.

AMERICA IN THE EYES OF DIPLOMATS AND PRIESTS OF TSAR RUSSIA: THE COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

The article examines the perception of the United States by Russian diplomats and priests of the Russian Orthodox Church in the United States in 1867–1917. The authors analyse the views of Russian diplomats and clergymen on various aspects of the American reality in the political, social, economic, scientific, technical, cultural and spiritual spheres. The research is based on a wide source base of domestic archives. Conclusions are drawn about the dual nature of perception of the United States by Russian diplomats and clergymen. On the one hand, they admired the level of economic, scientific and technological development of the United States, as well as the religiosity of Americans, on the other hand, they were critical of democracy and secularity of the American civilisation.

Policy opinions regarding the teaching of Critical Race Theory in schools

Critical Race Theory (CRT) has recently been positioned as a serious problem requiring urgent policy response among partisan media outlets. Making a case for pressing policy demands, several policy makers have proposed federal, state, and local level legislation and other measures to restrict how race, racism, or American history in general can be taught in K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and state agencies. Anti-CRT rhetoric in media and policy proposals have also propagated the notion of CRT as being divisive as well as ubiquitous in public education. Given this, it is critical to examine whether policy opinions regarding reactionary legislation is based on a real understanding of CRT. We conduct a conceptual and theoretical inquiry into anti-CRT rhetoric relying on the sociological concepts of moral panics and folk devils. Then, we examine familiarity, knowledge, ideology, policy beliefs, and policy opinions regarding CRT in education using nationally representative survey data. The analysis showed that most parents are not familiar with CRT, and the average parent neither opposes nor supports teaching of CRT. The opposition to teaching of CRT is largely driven by political affiliation and related ideological beliefs and positions.

Home movies as technologies of belonging and resistance

This article examines the significance of home movies as tools of resistance and belonging, particularly for African American families during the Civil Rights era. Focusing on archival collections from the South Side Home Movie Project (SSHMP), African American Home Movie Archive (AAHMA), and the National Museum of African American History & Culture (NMAAHC), the study reveals how African American families, through their cinematic documentation of visits to national parks and other leisure activities, challenged prevailing narratives of national identity. Despite encountering rampant discrimination, these families captured moments of joy and relaxation, highlighting their resilience and assertion of their rightful place within the American narrative. These historical home movies are profound testimonials of Black identity, resilience, and belonging in the face of adversity. Examining these films enriches our understanding of cultural memory, national identity, and the role of African American home movies in presenting a more nuanced American history.

Subjugated to Free Independent States of America, Boston Tea Party by Sons of Liberty and Declaration of Independence

This article explores how Native Americans and Africans have historically been treated by Europeans, with a particular emphasis on how both groups have been portrayed as barbaric and primitive in a variety of media, including literature, minstrel shows, newspapers, and advertisements. We'll talk about Native Americans' difficulties and how they gained their independence in this section. European colonization of North America resulted in the displacement of these tribes, who were then forced into reservations and subjected to assimilation strategies that were often violent and betrayed treaties. European assimilation efforts aimed to erase Native American culture, history, and identity through the establishment of boarding schools that forced Native American children to adopt European habits, attire, and language. The method was intended to "kill the Indian, save the man," as institutions such as the Carlisle Indian School illustrated. Despite the hardships and cultural loss inflicted on Native Americans, their experience in boarding schools was critical in developing future Native American leaders and building a sense of pan-Indian identity, thereby refuting the notion of them as a dying race. The article also delves into the influence of British colonial rule on Native Americans, as well as the imposition of taxes without representation, which sparked riots such as the Boston Tea Party. The Continental Congress and the following Declaration of Independence were watershed points in the American Revolution. Furthermore, the Coercive Acts meant to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, stoked colonial discontent and aided in the commencement of the American Revolutionary War. The article finishes by underlining the significance of these historical events in establishing the identity of the United States and the ongoing struggle for Native Americans' rights and acknowledgment. This in-depth examination of historical events and their interconnectivity sheds light on the complicated and often brutal interactions between Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans, which ultimately influenced the establishment of the United States and its values (Volo, 2003).

The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of the American Civil War and Reconstruction ed. by Kathleen Diffley and Coleman Hutchison (review)

The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of the American Civil War and Reconstruction ed. by Kathleen Diffley and Coleman Hutchison (review)

Recasting Uncle Billy

Social media have become platforms for attaching new meanings to the past. On Reddit, the community known as r/ShermanPosting has critically reexamined General William Tecumseh Sherman and the political meanings of the American Civil War, a conflict in which he played a major role. Content on r/ShermanPosting positions the general as a unionist and an accidental champion of civil rights. Redditors have employed this image to combat far-right rhetoric from other corners of social media. This article analyzes the content of r/ShermanPosting, particularly the user comments and popular memes that circulate on this site, to argue that netizens are reinterpreting the past and using digital history to make sense of the highly partisan political environment of the 2020s. Deeper collaboration with modern scholarship on the Civil War could enhance the meanings of content produced on this platform to offer an even more robust form of digital history. Above all, r/ShermanPosting demonstrates that memes, images paired with humorous captions, can make the past accessible online in humorous but meaningful ways.

Du Bois, Marx, and the Jewish Question Reconsidered

ABSTRACT W. E. B. Du Bois’s groundbreaking scholarship on race and racial prejudice was inseparable from his lifelong struggle for racial justice, Black liberation, and against social and political oppression. Both in his theoretical and in his historical-political work, Du Bois substantially and critically engaged with the “Jewish question”: with Jewish life, history, and politics, with the experiential perspective of an oppressed minority, and with the fight against prejudice and racial hatred. Throughout in life, and in particular in later years, Du Bois was influenced by Karl Marx’s critical analysis of social and economic life; Marx’s own discussion of the “Jewish question,” concerning the difference between political equality and human emancipation, proved substantial to his argument on civil rights and racial justice. In this article, I argue that Du Bois did not only draw from the Jewish experience and from Marx’s work on the “Jewish question” in his work on African American history and politics, but also that he, in fact, reconsidered the “Jewish question” from an African American perspective, offering his own reading and understanding of the “Jewish question,” thus applying his concept of double consciousness for rethinking it as a question of racial identity and racial consciousness, and as relevant and applicable to Black liberation and the fight against racism.

NATIONAL AND PERSONAL TRAUMAS IN PAUL AUSTER’S MAN IN THE DARK

Paul Auster, one of the most distinguished contemporary American writers, creates a multi-layered narrative within his novel Man in the Dark. Published in 2008, this literary work addresses essential themes and concerns relating to American history as well as social and political agendas of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. Precisely the events of September 11, which dramatically added a new dimension to the trauma studies, lie in the core of the Auster’s narrative. The author besides focusing on the effects of a traumatic experience on a human being, creates an alternative vision of history that pushes the reader to question the essence of existence. By merging countless narratives, both personal and national, the author initiates a journey of healing for his characters, ultimately guiding them toward recovery. Thus, one of the major focuses of this article will be to follow the evolution of traumatized personalities within the frames of current trauma studies. On the other hand, investigating the subtle bond between national and personal traumas will illuminate the reciprocal relationship between collective memory and individual experience, shedding light on the profound ways in which historical events can shape personal narratives. Hence the article seeks to disentangle the intricate connections between history, memory, and healing, offering a comprehensive exploration of Auster's contribution to the understanding of the human predicament.

Black America and Hollywood’s Korean War: The Steel Helmet (1951) and Pork Chop Hill (1959)

Representing neither the glory of World War II, nor the anguish of the Vietnam War, the Korean War continues to occupy an obscure place in American history and culture. Similarly, those who fought in this conflict – including African Americans – have been overshadowed by the combatants who served before and after. Yet the Korean War was enormously significant, not least because it was the first conflict fought by a racially integrated American fighting force. For the first time, black and white soldiers ate, slept, and fought side by side. Films about the Korean War made during the 1950s explored this new racial dynamic. Focusing on the representation of African Americans in The Steel Helmet (1951) and Pork Chop Hill (1959), this article examines the ways in which screen representations both reflected and challenged popular attitudes regarding African American military service during the Korean War.

“APPROXIMATE” WIGGLE-MATCH DATING APPLIED TO EARLY AMERICAN MUSEUM OBJECTS

ABSTRACT Wiggle-match dating of tree-ring sequences is particularly promising for achieving high-resolution dating across periods with reversals and plateaus in the calibration curve, such as the entire post-Columbian period of North American history. Here we describe a modified procedure for wiggle-match dating that facilitates precise dating of wooden museum objects while minimizing damage due to destructive sampling. We present two case studies, a dugout canoe and wooden trough, both expected to date to the 18th–19th century. (1) Tree rings were counted and sampled for dating from exposed, rough cross-sections in the wood, with no or minimal surface preparation, to preserve these fragile objects; (2) dating focused on the innermost and outermost portions of the sequences; and (3) due to the crude counting and sampling procedures, the wiggle-match was approximated using a simple ordered Sequence, with gaps defined as Intervals. In both cases, the outermost rings were dated with precision of 30 years or better, demonstrating the potential of wiggle-match dating for post-European Contact canoes and other similar objects.

Redressing Archival Harm: Ownership, Access, and Indigenous Knowledge

ABSTRACT Institutions that house Indigenous oral histories are often ignorant to the harm they perpetuate by treating these materials without rooting curatorial considerations in Indigenous approaches to knowledge. Issues of categorization, attribution, and access, among many others, often go unaddressed, causing serious harm to Indigenous peoples and their cultural resources. It is imperative that Western archives, libraries, and museums seek out alternatives to systems that perpetuate settler-colonialism, and work to place control of oral histories back in Indigenous hands. In this paper we present several considerations for working with Indigenous oral histories in Western archives, provide case studies that promote the ethical curation and sharing of Indigenous materials, and close with an overview of our current work to revitalize and redress a large collection of Native American oral histories presently housed at the University of Florida.

Origin, Transformation and Application: Hong Xiuquan’s Mysticism in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

Abstract As a continental country full of mysterious traditions, extremely inclusive and with periodic regime changes, China has experienced various phenomena of coexistence of “theism” and “atheism” after long-standing debates. Under the belief that “God exists” with his mystical experiences, Hong Xiuquan studied Eastern and Western religions and finally set off “the practice of Islam and Manichaeism in the external form of Christianity”. Combining “the oriental native culture of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, witchcraft and medicine with the confrontation between the Manchu and Han regimes”, the Taiping Rebellion was carried out, which was more cruel and vast than the American Civil War. Through comparative research on the similarities and differences between “his own and Western perceptions of his religious experience”, we grasp the causes and principles of his miraculous phenomena, such as his life, dreaming and preaching, from a new perspective on theology and life practice. It analyzes and re-examines the significance of religion in promoting the historical process of China, America and Eurasia and answers the questions of “whether Hong Xiuquan’s beliefs and miracles truly exist, and how to establish the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom through different religions” that have been neglected in the past. This research can also be used to judge the form of warfare in different cultural and religious contexts.

Lessons Learned from a Tea Party

One of the more common quotes reflecting on the value of lessons that history may offer us is attributed to Spanish‐American philosopher George Santayana (1863–1952), who forewarned us that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” There is much to be said for that quote. Certain themes do recur, albeit in different contexts. Understanding—or at least being cognizant of—historical moments can be a useful tool in navigating modern‐day challenges. I found the recent 250th anniversary of a pivotal event in American history to be a particularly exciting event to read about and share with you, as we continue to explore strategies to maintain union‐free status.

The Underground Railroad: main aspects of operation

The relevance of the research topic. Wherever slavery existed, people attempted to escape, and American history is no exception. Sometimes such efforts took on organized and institutionalized forms, a notable example of which is the so-called Underground Railroad, a secret and organized system of resistance to enslavement by facilitating the escape of African Americans to northern states and other territories. In the chosen context of the research, the Underground Railroad can rightfully be considered one of the first mass movements for human rights not only in the United States, but also in the world.The purpose of the research is to reveal the main aspects of the functioning of the Underground Railroad, since this problem is extremely poorly covered by domestic science.The research is based on a scientific analysis of biographical data, literary sources, legal documents, materials from periodicals and has been carried out by applying the principle of historicism, comparative historical, problem-chronological, biographical and descriptive methods.The research results demonstrate that, in order to prevent human trafficking, individuals, families, and communities with anti-slavery attitude created preconditions for the formation of a large-scale institutionalized system that stretched from the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario east to the Atlantic coast, south to Florida and the Caribbean, and west to the border enclaves of Kansas, Texas, and Mexico.On the basis of the research results, it has been concluded that the term «Underground Railroad», although it does not reflect the specifics of its activities, denotes a very real historical phenomenon. The organization and activities of the Underground Railroad became an important component in the difficult task of eradicating slavery in the United States.

Bringing Back the Old Religiosity: Interfaith Cosmopolitan Civil Religion (ICCR)

Abstract Highlighting the transformed landscape of political communities in the twenty-first century, I reexamine the discourse of civil religion (DCR). Widely recognized in religious studies and notably in American history, this concept reveals a subtle yet intricately functional framework of community consciousness within political entities. This article posits that the prevalent interpretation of civil religion, and its application across diverse contexts, falls short of effectively reflecting and utilizing the essence identified by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Robert Bellah—classical and modern architects of civil religion, respectively. Many discussions of DCR often disregard the role of the traditional sense of religion and religiousness. Instead, they fixate on superficial symbols and rituals associated with secular institutional bodies and communities. In this article, I contend that reintegrating the ordinary sense of religion into the discourse is crucial for envisioning and constructing a new community consciousness capable of adeptly responding to the burgeoning demands of our highly multicultural world. Following the conceptual roadmap of civil religion, which seeks transcendent, sacred, and unifying narratives, symbols, and rituals, I introduce a new model termed Interfaith, Cosmopolitan Civil Religion (ICCR). Within this model, ordinary religious agents, through interfaith engagement, assume positive roles in nurturing a broader sense of community and unity.

An alternative planetary future? Digital sovereignty frameworks and the decolonial option

The frameworks of cyber, technology and data sovereignty have become some of the most influential alternative technological imaginaries. Developed by states and civil society groups, such frameworks are seducing a broad range of actors seeking to reassert their autonomy and self-determination in relation to digital technology and infrastructure. Against this backdrop, this article interrogates the alleged transformative character of digital sovereignty. Do these frameworks support alternative planetary futures, or do they involve a mere change in the actors who are privileging from the technological status quo? To answer this question, I examine the rhetoric and realisation of digital sovereignty frameworks by the Chinese state, the European Union (EU) and Latin American civil society in light of Walter Mignolo's decolonial option. The decolonial option gets inspiration from decolonial praxis and aims at enabling polycentric, noncapitalist and nonanthropocentric planetary futures. As I show, there is some degree of alignment between digital sovereignty frameworks and the decolonial option in the sphere of international politics, but less so in the world economy and the environment. While in some areas the formulations by the Chinese state and the EU can exacerbate coloniality, the Latin American civil society one constitutes a promising attempt at appropriating digital sovereignty from below and promoting peaceful forms of coexistence with the environment although needs further development.

Why We Can’t Wait: A Guide for Black Student Achievement Programs

Black student achievement is vital. There must be a focused national effort to establish and sustain Black Student Achievement Programs (BSAPs). The development of BSAPs centers on African American history, culture, language, knowledge, and values. This article describes Black Student Achievement Program standards and the components of service design, curriculum and instruction, scholar identity development, and social and emotional needs, connecting the home and community for Black students in K-12th grade settings. Educators can play a vital role in the efforts to build and sustain BSAPs at their school sites and school districts.