This paper provides a thematic approach to three major United States government document series relating to topics of early United States diplomatic relations with Mexico; treaty negotiations, the Santa 'Fe trade, the Texas question, and claims. The document series examined are .the United States presidential papers, United States Congressional documents , and the National Archives Record Group 59, diplomatic dispatches from United State Ministers to Mexico. Historians must make an evaluation of all: documentary evidence available for an accurate assessment of historical events. Inadequate analysis of these major United States document series has limited this necessary assessment in the area of United States Mexican diplomatic relations, 1821-1846.

This thesis investigates the political career of Stephen Dorsey, an Ohio industrialist who moved to Arkansas in 1871. Dorsey was elected to the U.S. Senate from Arkansas in 1873, served as secretary of the Republican National Committee for. the election of 1880, and was tried twice, in 1882 and 1883, for the Star Route postal frauds. Although Dorsey was acquitted, the Star Route frauds ended his political career. Separate chapters treat each phase of Dorsey's career. Major sources included the D41 Arkansas Gazette, the Congressional Record, the Garfield Papers, and the official transcripts of the Star Route trials. The thesis concludes that Dorsey's career was, the product of Ulysses S. Grant's influence within the Republican party in. the Gilded Age.

This thesis includes two background chapters based largely on secondary works; Chapters I and II trace the historiography of black participation in American military engagements from the American Revolution through the Korean conflict. Chapter III, based largely on primary sources, places emphasis on black resistance and attitudes toward the Vietnam crisis. Evidence indicates that the Vietnam era of black protest was not unique but was an evolutionary process that had its roots in other periods in American history. Some blacks questioned their involvement in each American military conflict from the American Revolution to Vietnam.

This thesis attempts to discover the basis of Chesterton's theories and the link between his religion and politics. The main sources for this paper are the religious and political non-fiction works by Chesterton and his collaborators. The first chapter brings G. K. from his birth in 1874 to 1908 and the publication of Orthodoxy. The second chapter describes his conversion to Roman Catholicism, and the third discusses his distinctive Christian theology. The fourth outlines G. K.'s political solution for Englands economic and social ills and how his theory--distributism-- fit into British intellectual tradition. The conclusion identifies G. K.'s romance with the Middle Ages as the link between his religious beliefs and his political utopia.

In early Victorian England, the new philosophy of social democracy challenged the bourgeois creed of laissezfaire. An important aspect of this struggle, which historians have neglected, is the campaign (1831-1853) for a shorter and regulated factory workday. This study concludes that during the Parliamentary debates on factory legislation, Britain's leaders, regardless of party affiliation, decided that the Government, indeed, had an obligation to assist the victims of social and economic injustice, a decision which meant the end of laissez-faire.

This study analyzes the procedures and operations of the Quartermaster, Ordnance, Commissary, and Medical Departments during Scott's campaign to determine the efficiency of the prevailing logistical system. Unpublished and published government documents, official records, manuscript collections, memoirs, diaries, and newspapers provide the data. The first chapter describes the logistical departments interworkings; the remaining chapters detail the operations of the bureaus during the expedition's assembly and campaign against Mexico City. The evidence revealed organizational deficiencies which caused severe shortages, particularly in transportation, for Scott's army. The shortages severely hampered the expedition. Because of .the numerous victories over 'Mexican forces, however,. American leaders ignored the organizational deficiencies, These shortcomings reappeared to .impede operations during the Civil War.

During the years following Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. district courts assumed the burden of implementing that decision across the country. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of the district court judges in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in that effort. The primary sources used are the district, appellate and Supreme Court opinions. This study concludes that many background variables used to study judicial behaviour are ineffective in this geographical area because of the homogeneity of the judges' backgrounds. But, as indicated by the Johnson appointments, a president can select judges that have a particular attitude toward an issue such as integration, if he has the desire and the political acumen to do so.

It is the aim of this thesis to discuss Martin Luther as a political philosopher of authoritarianism as revealed in his writings. Although he advocated the separation of faith and reason, Luther's political sphere includes the omnipotence and authority of God. Given this factor, the religious elements of calling, faith, and love become political manifestations. This polity effects a state in which the citizen must find spiritual and civic fulfillment within a secular existence. The possible affinity of Luther with such political philosophers as Aquinas, Machiavelli, Locke, Rousseau and Marx is briefly examined. Luther's authoritarian attitude and its implications for public and political life are his legacy to the evolution of the modern nation-state.

This study seeks to ascertain European views concerning the nature of the indigenous population of Peru by employing contemporary works of Spanish chroniclers. Major focus is on the ideological background of the conquest with elaborations on Iberian philosophies held by conquistadors. Equally important are evaluations of Indian religion and social customs based on such sources as Aristotelian and Thomist doctrines as understood by Spanish writers. Political organization and the hierarchy of rulers play vital roles in determining why the Spaniards overwhelmed the Indians. Conquest destroyed the socio-economic structure of the Inca Empire, and the bonds holding communities together were lost as the Incas accepted Catholicism as their cult.

This thesis examines speeches made by Irish members of the British House of Commons concerning the Government of Ireland Bill (1912). The most significant source use was the Parliamentary Debates of the House of Commons, 1912 to 1914. The organization of the Irish political parties is outlined in Chapter One. The next two chapters deal with their view of Irish history during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The fourth chapter focuses upon the bill in committee, and the fifth chapter examines the more general debate on the bill. The conclusions of the final chapter suggest that advocates of the bill were motivated by Irish nationalism, while opponents were motivated by economic ties to Great Britain.

The advent of prohibition in America in the early 1920's brought on wide-spread smuggling activity along the Canadian and Mexican borders as well as along the Atlantic coastline. Since many of the smuggling vessels sought protection from American authorities by foreign registry, the State Department initiated efforts to enable American officials to enforce prohibition without interfering with legitimate commerce. Washington concluded compromise agreements with fifteen countries that provided for American enforcement measures and suitable liquor cargo arrangements for the other signatory nations. The liquor conventions were not a final solution to the smuggling problem but they did provide for better enforcement. The agreements reinforced existing principles and represented an attempt to eliminate possible sources of friction on the international level arising out of American prohibition enforcement.

This study focuses upon the Texas congressional delegation from 1933 to 1938 in an attempt to determine the extent of southern insurgency within that group. Following an examination of the Redeemer-insurgent dichotomy in southern politics since Reconstruction, the thesis analyzes roll-call votes on New Deal legislation concerning agricultural, financial, relief, and labor reform issues to demonstrate that a spirit of southern insurgency existed in Texas politics in the 1930's. The study concludes that Morris Sheppard, Sam Rayburn, Maury Maverick, W. D. McFarlane, R. Ewing Thomason, and Lyndon B. Johnson were politicians in the tradition of southern insurgents. The influence of these men, especially Sheppard, Rayburn, and Maverick, on the passage of legislation reflecting insurgent demands is demonstrated to be significant.