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American History

In August 2017, I started an M.A. program in American History at Southern New Hampshire University.  Given all my other degrees, you might wonder... why???  Well, I love learning, and since I work for SNHU, I can do it for free. :)  Plus, with Trump in office, it seems like American History is an important thing to understand right now, for my sanity, and to put what is happening into context.

As my program is developing, it's become clear to me that my research has two primary goals: American intellectual history, and history of science.  Ideas about race play a central role.

One purpose for this page is to share links and papers I write for my graduate courses.  My first paper for my first class will be on the historiography of Manifest Destiny.

The main deliverable for my second course is a research proposal.  I've decided not to share that.  I might come back and do it someday.  If I use enough of it for my final Capstone project, I might at that time, but I will just say it's on a topic in the history of science, and has connections to a plan for my final research paper for the program.

The third course I'm taking is on the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (around the time of the Great Depression).  My paper is on Religious Responses to the Advance of Science in this period (I've been forced to narrow it down far more than I would have liked). It's a historiographic essay, so as with the first paper posted, it looks at how historians have handled the topic over time.

I took a course on the Atlantic Revolutions and Comparative History.  For that course I wrote about the idea of progress (Progress and Revolution) and its connection primarily to the American Revolution and the Haitian Revolution.  I don't think this paper turned out as well as it might have (consider it a rough draft).  It's not as polished as my usual work and I fell behind and was under a lot of time pressure to complete it, but there are points in there that would be worth exploring further in the future.

At the same time, I also took a course on the Early American Republic.  For that course I had originally thought about doing the Second Great Awakening, but I really wanted to look at religious arguments for/against racial inequality with respect to both slaves and Indians on the frontier: Religion and Race in the Early Republic.  There isn't a large body of literature on just that, so my prof wasn't happy with me as it's not a traditional historiography.  But, it turned out okay, otherwise.  It's not my best historiography, but I also ran into some of the same issues with my comparative topic: time crunch and a little burnout.

Next up was a course on historical lenses.  After some negotiating with my professor, I wrote about the History of Reapportionment and the Gerrymander.  I have an idea for a future project, but before I can determine if that's viable, I need more information.  Once this course is complete, I'll have my 18 graduate credits in history, I can go teach it to college students. :)  My prof described this paper as having "gravitas".  He was skeptical of the topic, but thought it turned out well.  Did it make me start thinking I need to learn more about geospatial statistics!

The next course is on the pre-revolutionary period in America.  My goal with this course is to write about the Doctrine of Discovery.  I was surprised to learn it's still used in legal rulings right up to the late 20th century.  This is a doctrine promoted by the Catholic Church after Columbus that gave nations control of the new world by right of "discovery" and conversion, regardless of what the native inhabitants might think.  I'm hoping to understand it better to understand the role in played in Manifest Destiny.

The last two courses I need to take before my capstone project are on the Civil War and the Cold War.  For the Civil War period, I am going to write about Mixed-Race Americans Before and After the Civil War.  It's not my best historiographic work (I was sick and really just needed it done), but there is some good info there.

For the Cold War, I wrote about The Second Red Scare (McCarthyism).  Specifically, I was interested in two aspects of this era of the Second Red Scare: the idea of loyalty, and the impact this period had on science and public education: The Second Red Scare: Science, Liberalism and Anti-Communism.  In addition to the paper, I also had to create a presentation on linking my topic to more current events.  I chose the War on Terror.

My capstone project will be on Manifest Destiny, specifically I want to connect the Doctrine of Discovery to Manifest Destiny through the twin threads of race and religion.  Finishing it in 2019 was a bust, but I did finish it in 2020.  My thesis title: From the Doctrine of Discovery to Manifest Destiny: How Religion and Race Formed the Backbone of American Expansion.

Honestly, so many notes for this. Seriously thinking about expanding it into something longer.  For now, though, other stuff to work on.