Spanish Relations with the Apache Nations East of the Río Grande (open access)

Spanish Relations with the Apache Nations East of the Río Grande

This dissertation is a study of the Eastern Apache nations and their struggle to survive with their culture intact against numerous enemies intent on destroying them. It is a synthesis of published secondary and primary materials, supported with archival materials, primarily from the Béxar Archives. The Apaches living on the plains have suffered from a lack of a good comprehensive study, even though they played an important role in hindering Spanish expansion in the American Southwest. When the Spanish first encountered the Apaches they were living peacefully on the plains, although they occasionally raided nearby tribes. When the Spanish began settling in the Southwest they changed the dynamics of the region by introducing horses. The Apaches quickly adopted the animals into their culture and used them to dominate their neighbors. Apache power declined in the eighteenth century when their Caddoan enemies acquired guns from the French, and the powerful Comanches gained access to horses and began invading northern Apache territory. Surrounded by enemies, the Apaches increasingly turned to the Spanish for aid and protection rather than trade. The Spanish-Apache peace was fraught with problems. The Spaniards tended to lump all Apaches into one group even though, in reality, each band …
Date: May 2001
Creator: Carlisle, Jeffrey D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
By Air Power Alone: America's Strategic Air War in China, 1941-1945 (open access)

By Air Power Alone: America's Strategic Air War in China, 1941-1945

During World War II, the Army Air Force waged three strategic air offensives in and from China against Japan. At first, the Flying Tigers and 10th Air Force constituted the whole of American aid to China, but the effort soon expanded. Supported by Chiang Kai-shek, Claire Chennault and his 14th Air Force waged an anti-shipping campaign, to which the Japanese Imperial Army responded with Operation Ichigo and against which Joseph Stilwell accurately warned. 20th Bomber Command used B-29s to wage Operation Matterhorn, failed, and later conducted PACAID missions. 14th Air Force then waged a counterproductive transportation campaign as The Pacific War, also known as the Greater East Asian War, ended. Events in the China-Burma-India and China Theaters provide lessons in logistics, targeting, training, and air-ground cooperation that are applicable in the post-Cold War era.
Date: May 2001
Creator: Jahnke, Todd Eric
System: The UNT Digital Library

The Break-up of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Army, 1865

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Unlike other Confederate armies at the conclusion of the Civil War, General Edmund Kirby Smith's Trans-Mississippi Army disbanded, often without orders, rather than surrender formally. Despite entreaties from military and civilian leaders to fight on, for Confederate soldiers west of the Mississippi River, the surrender of armies led by Generals Robert E. Lee and Joseph E. Johnston ended the war. After a significant decline in morale and discipline throughout the spring of 1865, soldiers of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department chose to break-up and return home. As compensation for months of unpaid service, soldiers seized both public and private property. Civilians joined the soldiers to create disorder that swept many Texas communities until the arrival of Federal troops in late June.
Date: May 2001
Creator: Clampitt, Brad R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Rio Grande Expedition, 1863-1865 (open access)

The Rio Grande Expedition, 1863-1865

In October 1863 the United States Army's Rio Grande Expedition left New Orleans, bound for the Texas coast. Reacting to the recent French occupation of Mexico, President Abraham Lincoln believed that the presence of U.S. troops in Texas would dissuade the French from intervening in the American Civil War. The first major objective of this campaign was Brownsville, Texas, a port city on the lower Rio Grande. Its capture would not only serve as a warning to the French in Mexico; it would also disrupt a lucrative Confederate cotton trade across the border. The expedition had a mixed record of achievement. It succeeded in disrupting the cotton trade, but not stopping it. Federal forces installed a military governor, Andrew J. Hamilton, in Brownsville, but his authority extended only to the occupied part of Texas, a strip of land along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The campaign also created considerable fear among Confederate soldiers and civilians that the ravages of civil war had now come to the Lone Star State. Although short-lived, the panic generated by the Rio Grande Expedition left an indelible mark on the memories of Texans who lived through the campaign. The expedition achieved its greatest …
Date: May 2001
Creator: Townsend, Stephen A.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Southland, The Completion Of a Dream: The Story Behind Southern Newsprint's Improbable Beginnings

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The purpose of this thesis is to explore the creative process behind Southland Paper Mills, the South's first newsprint factory. The thesis describes the conditions leading to the need for southern newsprint. It then chronicles, through the use of company records, the difficult challenges southern newsprint pioneers faced. The thesis follows the company history from the gem of an idea during the mid 1930's through the first decade of the Southland's existence. The paper concludes with the formative years of the company in the 1940's.
Date: May 2001
Creator: McGrath, Charles
System: The UNT Digital Library
David Lefkowitz of Dallas: A Rabbi for all Seasons (open access)

David Lefkowitz of Dallas: A Rabbi for all Seasons

This dissertation discusses the impact David Lefkowitz and his ministry had on Dallas during the years of his ministry (1920-1949) at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas Texas, and the years following his death in 1955. The focus is on his involvement in civic activities, although his pastoral activities are also discussed. Sources include interviews with family members, friends and acquaintances, newspaper articles, journals, internet sources, unpublished theses and dissertations about Dallas and related subjects, minutes of the Temple's Board of Directors' meetings, minutes of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, minutes of the Board of Directors' Meetings of the Dallas Jewish Welfare Federation, the Temple Emanu-El Bulletins, and selected sermons, speeches and letters of David Lefkowitz. David Lefkowitz was an important figure in the history of Dallas. He taught, by precept and example, that Jews could participate fully in the civic life of Dallas. Because of his teachings, Jews made a positive difference in the development of Dallas. He has left a lasting impression on Dallas, and through his ministry and hard work, he made Dallas a better place for all its citizens.
Date: August 2000
Creator: Guzman, Jane Bock
System: The UNT Digital Library
Slaves and Slaveholders in the Choctaw Nation: 1830-1866 (open access)

Slaves and Slaveholders in the Choctaw Nation: 1830-1866

Racial slavery was a critical element in the cultural development of the Choctaws and was a derivative of the peculiar institution in southern states. The idea of genial and hospitable slave owners can no more be conclusively demonstrated for the Choctaws than for the antebellum South. The participation of Choctaws in the Civil War and formal alliance with the Confederacy was dominantly influenced by the slaveholding and a connection with southern identity, but was also influenced by financial concerns and an inability to remain neutral than a protection of the peculiar institution. Had the Civil War not taken place, the rate of Choctaw slave ownership possibly would have reached the level of southern states and the Choctaws would be considered part of the South.
Date: May 2009
Creator: Fortney, Jeffrey L., Jr.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Singing for Blaine and for Logan! Republican Songs as Campaign Literature in the 1884 Presidential Race (open access)

Singing for Blaine and for Logan! Republican Songs as Campaign Literature in the 1884 Presidential Race

During the presidential contest of 1884, Republicans used singing as a campaign tactic at rallies, meetings, and parades. Their songs may be divided into several categories, such as rally songs, songs of praise for the party and its candidate, "bloody shirt" songs, mudslinging songs, and issue-based songs. Songs provide a perspective on the overall tenor of the campaign, while a lack of songs on certain topics, such as temperance, reflects the party's reluctance to alienate voters by taking a strong stand on controversial issues. Although the campaign has often been called one of the dirtiest in American history, this negativity is not reflected in the majority of the songs.
Date: December 2000
Creator: Madding, Carol Ann
System: The UNT Digital Library

Sarah T. Hughes: Her Influence in Texas Politics

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Conservative males traditionally dominated Texas politics. In 1930, however, Sarah T. Hughes, a liberal woman from Maryland, began a spectacular career in state politics despite obstacles because of her gender and progressive ideas. First elected to the Texas Legislature in 1930, she remained active in politics for the next fifty years. Hard work, intelligence, and ability allowed her to form solid friendships with Texas's most powerful politicians. She became the first woman in Texas to hold a district judgeship, the first woman from Texas appointed to the federal bench, and the only woman to swear in a U.S. president. Hughes profoundly influenced state politics, challenging the long-standing conservative male domination. She helped to create a more diverse political field that today encompasses different ideologies and both genders.
Date: December 2000
Creator: Justiss, Charnita Spring
System: The UNT Digital Library

Texas Annexation and the Presidential Election of 1844 in the Richmond, Virginia, and New Orleans, Louisiana, Newspaper

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This thesis examines the issue of Texas annexation from the viewpoints of two southern cities: Richmond, Virginia, and New Orleans, Louisiana. It looks primarily at four major newspapers, two in each city: the Richmond Enquirer and the Richmond Whig; and the New Orleans Times-Picayune and the New Orleans Whig. These four newspapers were examined thoroughly from January 1844 to July 1845. In addition to the above newspapers, the Congressional Globe and national voting patterns on Texas annexation were examined. Analysis of the editorial articles in the above newspapers offers the best possibility of understanding public sentiment toward Texas annexation and the presidential election of 1844. The evidence examined in this study indicates that Texas annexation became a decisive issue in the presidential election of 1844. It also shows that, although the press and elements within both Democratic and Whig parties were aware that the slavery question was intricately linked to the Texas annexation issue, slavery and sectional politics were not the primary factors influencing annexation. Ultimately, fundamental concerns regarding western expansion in general, especially for the Whigs, and political party loyalty proved the decisive factors in the presidential election of 1844 and Texas annexation. The evidence gathered in this study …
Date: December 2001
Creator: Short, Steven W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Dr. Richard Price, the Marquis de Condorcet, and the Political Culture of Friendship in the Late Enlightenment (open access)

Dr. Richard Price, the Marquis de Condorcet, and the Political Culture of Friendship in the Late Enlightenment

The eighteenth century saw many innovations in political culture including the rise of the public sphere where political ideas were freely and openly discussed and criticized. The new public sphere arose within the institutions of private life such as the Republic of Letters and salons, so the modes of behavior in private life were important influences on the new political culture of the public sphere. By studying the lives and careers of Richard Price and the Marquis de Condorcet, I examine the role that the private institution of friendship played in the new political culture of the late Enlightenment. During the 1780s, friendship became an important political symbol that represented the enlightened ideals of equality, reciprocity, liberty, and humanitarianism.
Date: August 2001
Creator: Kruckeberg, Robert Dale
System: The UNT Digital Library
Lucca in the Signoria of Paolo Guinigi, 1400-1430 (open access)

Lucca in the Signoria of Paolo Guinigi, 1400-1430

This study analyzes the once great medieval Tuscan capital of Lucca's struggle for survival at the beginning of the fifteenth century. This was the age of the rise of regional states in Italy, and the expansionistic aims of Milan, Florence and others were a constant challenge to city-states such as Lucca which desired a political and cultural status quo. Yet, it was a challenge that was successfully met; unlike Pisa, Siena, Perugia, and various other major Tuscan cities, Lucca did not succumb to Milanese or Florentine aggression in the early Quattrocento. Why it did not is a major topic of discussion here. One of the means in which the Lucchese faced the new political and military realities of the time was the establishment of a monarchial system of government in the signoria of Paolo Guinigi (r. 1400-1430). The Guinigi Signoria was not characterized by the use of intimidation and violence, but rather by clientage, kinship and neighborhood bonds, marriage alliances, and the general consent of the people. Paolo garnered the consent of the people at first because his wealth allowed him to protect Lucca and its contado to a greater extent than would have been possible otherwise, and because of …
Date: May 2002
Creator: Johnson, Ken
System: The UNT Digital Library
May 1856: Southern Reaction to Conflict in Kansas and Congress (open access)

May 1856: Southern Reaction to Conflict in Kansas and Congress

This thesis examines southern reactions to events that occurred in May 1856: the outbreak of civil war in Kansas and the caning of Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts. I researched two newspapers from the upper South state of Virginia, the Richmond Enquirer and the Richmond Daily Whig, and two newspapers from the lower South state of Louisiana, the New Orleans Times-Picayune and the New Orleans Bee to determine the extent to which political party sentiment and/or geographic location affected southern opinion towards the two events. Political party ties influenced the material each newspaper printed. Each newspaper worried that these events endangered the Union. Some, however, believed the Union could be saved while others argued that it was only a matter of time before the South seceded.
Date: May 2007
Creator: Fossett, Victoria Lea
System: The UNT Digital Library
Gladstone and the Bank of England: A Study in Mid-Victorian Finance, 1833-1866 (open access)

Gladstone and the Bank of England: A Study in Mid-Victorian Finance, 1833-1866

The topic of this thesis is the confrontations between William Gladstone and the Bank of England. These confrontations have remained a mystery to authors who noted them, but have generally been ignored by others. This thesis demonstrates that Gladstone's measures taken against the Bank were reasonable, intelligent, and important for the development of nineteenth-century British government finance. To accomplish this task, this thesis refutes the opinions of three twentieth-century authors who have claimed that many of Gladstone's measures, as well as his reading, were irrational, ridiculous, and impolitic. My primary sources include the Gladstone Diaries, with special attention to a little-used source, Volume 14, the indexes to the Diaries. The day-to-day Diaries and the indexes show how much Gladstone read about financial matters, and suggest that his actions were based to a large extent upon his reading. In addition, I have used Hansard's Parliamentary Debates and nineteenth-century periodicals and books on banking and finance to understand the political and economic debates of the time.
Date: May 2007
Creator: Caernarven-Smith, Patricia
System: The UNT Digital Library
Skylab: The Human Side of a Scientific Mission (open access)

Skylab: The Human Side of a Scientific Mission

This work attempts to focus on the human side of Skylab, America's first space station, from 1973 to 1974. The thesis begins by showing some context for Skylab, especially in light of the Cold War and the “space race” between the United States and the Soviet Union. The development of the station, as well as the astronaut selection process, are traced from the beginnings of NASA. The focus then shifts to changes in NASA from the Apollo missions to Skylab, as well as training, before highlighting the three missions to the station. The work then attempts to show the significance of Skylab by focusing on the myriad of lessons that can be learned from it and applied to future programs.
Date: May 2007
Creator: Johnson, Michael P.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Dem Schwerte Muss Der Pflug Folgen: Űber-Peasants and National Socialist Settlements in the Occupied Eastern Territories during World War Two (open access)

Dem Schwerte Muss Der Pflug Folgen: Űber-Peasants and National Socialist Settlements in the Occupied Eastern Territories during World War Two

German industrialization in the nineteenth century had brought forward a variety of conflicting ideas when it came to the agrarian community. One of them was the agrarian romantic movement led by Adam Műller, who feared the loss of the traditional German peasant. Műller influenced Reichdeutsche Richard Walther Darré, who argued that large cities were the downfall of the German people and that only a healthy peasant stock would be able to ‘save' Germany. Under Darré's definition, “Geopolitik” was the defense of the land, the defense with Pflug und Schwert (plow and sword) by Wehrbauern, an ‘Űberbauer-fusion' of soldier and peasant. In order to accomplish these goals, new settlements had to be established while moving from west to east. The specific focus of this study is on the original Hegewald resettlement ideas of Richard Walther Darré and how his philosophy was taken over by Himmler and fit into his personal needs and creed after 1941. It will shed some light on the interaction of Darré and Himmler and the notorious internal fights and power struggles between the various governmental agencies involved. The Ministry for Food and Agriculture under the leadership of Darré was systematically pushed into the background and all previous, …
Date: May 2007
Creator: De Santiago Ramos, Simone C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Greek texts and English translations of the Bible: a comparison and contrast of the Textus Receptus Greek New Testament of the sixteenth century and the Alexandrian text of Westcott and Hort (nineteenth century) and Aland and Metzger (twentieth century) concerning variant texts that pertain to the orthodox Christology of the Council of Nicea, A.D. 325. (open access)

Greek texts and English translations of the Bible: a comparison and contrast of the Textus Receptus Greek New Testament of the sixteenth century and the Alexandrian text of Westcott and Hort (nineteenth century) and Aland and Metzger (twentieth century) concerning variant texts that pertain to the orthodox Christology of the Council of Nicea, A.D. 325.

The argument of this paper is that certain salient passages in the New Testament concerning Christology, as it was defined in the Nicene creed in A.D. 325, reflect such orthodoxy better in the Textus Receptus Greek texts and the English translations made from them than do the Alexandrian texts. Arian theology, which was condemned as heretical at Nicea, is examined. Patristic quotations, historical texts, and arguments of the scholars are cited and traced, along with a comparison of Christological verses.
Date: December 2002
Creator: Samples, Gil L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Gritos de la Frontera:  Giving Voice to Tejano Contributions in the Formation of the Republic of Texas, 1700-1850 (open access)

Gritos de la Frontera: Giving Voice to Tejano Contributions in the Formation of the Republic of Texas, 1700-1850

The intent of this thesis is to convey the distinctiveness and the contributions of Tejano culture in Texas. It focuses on the traditions of governance employed by Tejanos as well as their contributions to industry, economy and defense that Texas benefited from and still enjoys today. .given by Spain and México to Tejanos in establishing their settlements affected the development of a distinct Tejano culture. Furthermore, this study will also examine Anglo-Tejano interaction and Anglo American intentions toward Texas. It will also outline how Anglo Americans made determine efforts to wrest Texas away from Spain and México. Finally, the thesis examines Tejano cultural perseverance whose indelible imprint still resonates today.
Date: December 2002
Creator: Guzmán, Roberto
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Evolution of Gentility in Eighteenth-Century England and Colonial Virginia (open access)

The Evolution of Gentility in Eighteenth-Century England and Colonial Virginia

This study analyzes the impact of eighteenth-century commercialization on the evolution of the English and southern American landed classes with regard to three genteel leadership qualities--education, vocation, and personal characteristics. A simultaneous comparison provides a clearer view of how each adapted, or failed to adapt, to the social and economic change of the period. The analysis demonstrates that the English gentry did not lose a class struggle with the commercial ranks as much as they were overwhelmed by economic changes they could not understand. The southern landed class established an economy based on production of cash crops and thus adapted better to a commercial economy. The work addresses the development of class-consciousness in England and the origins of Virginia's landed class.
Date: August 2000
Creator: Nitcholas, Mark C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Robert Boyle and the Significance of Skill and Experience in Seventeenth-Century Natural Philosophy (open access)

Robert Boyle and the Significance of Skill and Experience in Seventeenth-Century Natural Philosophy

The purpose of this study is to examine how English natural philosophers of the seventeenth century—in particular, Robert Boyle (1627-1691) considered and assessed the personal traits of skill and experience and the significance of these characteristics to the practice of seventeenth-century science. Boyle's writings reveal that skill and experience impacted various aspects of his seventeenth-century experimental natural philosophy, including the credibility assessment of tradesmen and eyewitnesses to natural phenomena, the contingencies involved in the making of experiments, and Boyle's statements about the requisite skills of experimental philosophy in contrast to other traditions. Subtopics explored include the popularization of science and Boyle's expectations concerning the future improvement of natural philosophy.
Date: August 2000
Creator: Chipman, Gary V.
System: The UNT Digital Library
His, Hers, and Theirs: Domestic Relations and Marital Property Law in Texas to 1850 (open access)

His, Hers, and Theirs: Domestic Relations and Marital Property Law in Texas to 1850

Texas law regarding the legal status of women and their property rights developed from the mingling of Spanish and English laws. Spanish laws regarding the protection of women's rights developed during the centuries-long Reconquest, when the Spanish Christians slowly took back the Iberian Peninsula from the Moorish conquerors. Women were of special importance to the expansion of Spanish civilization. Later, when Spain conquered and colonized the New World, these rights for women came, too. In the New World, women's rights under Spanish law remained the same as in Spain. Again, the Spanish were spreading their civilization across frontiers and women needed protection. When the Spanish moved into Texas, they brought their laws with them yet again. Archival evidence demonstrates that Spanish laws in early Texas remained essentially unchanged with regard to the status of women. Events in the history of England caused its legal system to develop in a different manner from Spain's. In England, the protection of property was the law's most important goal. With the growth of English common law, husbands gained the right to control their wives's lives in that married women lost all legal identity. When the English legal system crossed the Atlantic and took root …
Date: May 2000
Creator: Stuntz, Jean A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A.P. Giannini, Marriner Stoddard Eccles, and the Changing Landscape of American Banking (open access)

A.P. Giannini, Marriner Stoddard Eccles, and the Changing Landscape of American Banking

The Great Depression elucidated the shortcomings of the banking system and its control by Wall Street. The creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913 was insufficient to correct flaws in the banking system until the Banking Acts of 1933 and 1935. A.P. Giannini, the American-Italian founder of the Bank of America and Mormon Marriner S. Eccles, chairman of Federal Reserve Board (1935-1949), from California and Utah respectively, successfully worked to restrain the power of the eastern banking establishment. The Banking Act of 1935 was the capstone of their cooperation, a bill that placed open market operations in the hands of the Federal Reserve, thus diminishing the power of the New York Reserve. The creation of the Federal Housing Act, as orchestrated by Eccles, became a source of enormous revenue for Giannini. Giannini's wide use of branch banking and mass advertising was his contribution to American banking. Eccles's promotion of compensatory spending and eventual placement of monetary control in the hands of the Federal Reserve Board with Banking Act of 1935 and the Accord of 1951 and Giannini's branch banking diminished the likelihood of another sustained depression. As the Bank of America grew, and as Eccles became more aggressive in …
Date: May 2000
Creator: Weldin, Sandra J.
System: The UNT Digital Library

The Reformation-Era Church Courts of England: A Study of the Acta of the Archidiaconal and Consistory Court at Chester, 1540-1542

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Much work has been done over the last fifty years in the study of the English ecclesiastical courts. One court that thus far has escaped much significant scholarly attention, however, is the one located in Chester, England. The author analyzes the acta of that court in order to determine what types of cases were being heard during the years 1540-42. His analysis shows that the Chester court did not deviate significantly from the general legal and theological structure and function of Tudor church courts of the period.
Date: May 2000
Creator: Mitchener, Donald Keith
System: The UNT Digital Library
Interests Eternal and Perpetual:  British Foreign Policy and the Royal Navy in the Spanish Civil War, 1936 - 1937 (open access)

Interests Eternal and Perpetual: British Foreign Policy and the Royal Navy in the Spanish Civil War, 1936 - 1937

This thesis will demonstrate that the British leaders saw the policy of non-intervention during the Spanish Civil War as the best option available under the circumstances, and will also focus on the role of the Royal Navy in carrying out that policy. Unpublished sources include Cabinet and Admiralty papers. Printed sources include the Documents on British Foreign Policy, newspaper and periodical articles, and memoirs. This thesis, covering the years 1936-37, is broken down into six chapters, each covering a time frame that reflected a change of policy or naval mission. The non-intervention policy was seen as the best available at the time, but it was shortsighted and ignored potentially serious long-term consequences.
Date: August 2000
Creator: Sanchez, James
System: The UNT Digital Library