RSS 1.0Phi Alpha Theta Upper New York Regional Conference
The SUNY Plattsburgh chapter of the history honors society Phi Alpha Theta is proud to present the proceedings of the 2016 Phi Alpha Theta Upper New York Regional Conference. Hosted by the SUNY Plattsburgh Phi Alpha Theta chapter and held on the Plattsburgh campus on April 30, 2016, undergraduates from Castleton University, Hartwick College, Keene State College, Marist College, SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Plattsburgh, Saint Anslem College, and United States Military Academy West Point presented their original research. Based on primary source analysis and engagement with the relevant historiography, their papers covered a range of fascinating historical topics. All demonstrated the intellectual curiosity and academic professionalism that distinguishes members of Phi Alpha Theta. We offer our sincere thanks to all the presenters, panel moderators and commentators, chapter advisors, participants, and supporters.
Jessamyn Neuhaus, SUNY Plattsburgh Phi Alpha Theta Co-Faculty Advisor
Connie Shemo, SUNY Plattsburgh Phi Alpha Theta Co-Faculty Advisor
Mikayla Ploof, SUNY Plattsburgh Phi Alpha Theta President
Recent Submissions
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Death is the Beginning of Infamy: Robespierre and a Legacy of Misconceptions
(2016-04-30)This paper seeks to explain and dismantle the negative reputation French Revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre has accrued over the last three hundred years. Though considerable efforts have been made to improve his legacy ... -
Economic, Strategic, and Rhetorical: Justifications for U. S. Hegemony in Cuba
(2016-04-30)"Economic, Strategic, and Rhetorical: Justifications for U.S. Hegemony in Cuba" is about the depictions of Cubans in American popular culture before the Spanish-American War to after the First World War. Cuba has been seen ... -
Gloriana's First Scandal: The Thomas Seymour Incident
(2016-04-30)As a young princess, Elizabeth Tudor had a precarious position at court. Elizabeth was on her own in defending her honor when her position was put in jeopardy by rumors surrounding her and Thomas Seymour. Their relationship ... -
The white inhabitants wished relief from the horrors of continual alarms...: The British Empire, Planter Politics, and the Agency of Jamaican Slaves and Maroons
(2016-04-30)Although agency is generally depicted as local actions triggering local results, fears caused by the agency of slaves and Maroons in Jamaica influenced the policies of the British empire by affecting the agendas of worried ... -
Ideologically Driven Loyalists: The Values that Defined Loyal Colonists in the American Revolution
(2016-04-30)The American Revolution is typically viewed as a war for independence between two groups, the revolutionaries and their oppressors, the British. Little is known about another party: the Loyalists. This group of people ... -
Out of the Lager and Into the Gulag: Romanian Foreign Relations Before and After King Michael's Coup
(2016-04-30)I explore the external and internal factors that led to Romania joining the Axis during World War Two, the circumstances and negotiations that surrounded King Michael's coup, and the effects the coup had on the armistice ... -
The Role of Propaganda in Destabilizing the Directory and Securing Napoleon's Power
(2016-04-30)Since the end of the French Revolution historians have constantly debated the reasons why the Coup de Brumaire and Napoleon's rise to power was so successful. Napoleon's control and manipulation of propaganda allowed him ... -
Seen, But Now Heard: How Increased LGBT Visibility Contributed to Cultural Acceptance of Gay Marriage
(2016-04-30)With the Supreme Court's ruling in Oberfegell v. Hodges on June 26 of this past year, the long-standing fight for gay rights finally reached its peak with the national legalization of gay marriage. In comparison to the ... -
Eugenics and Xenophobic Sentiments during the Prohibition Era
(2016-04-30)Throughout the 1920s, the war on alcohol between the "drys" and "wets" was the prominent subject of concern in the United States. By prohibiting "the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" the 18th ... -
Women in Combat: A Historical Perspective
(2014-04-30)This paper seeks to provide a general template for determining the nature of, and reasons behind, the employment of women in warfare. I focus on groups of women who fought as formal combat components of historical military ... -
Religious Resistance: Imperialism and the Militarization of the Cao Dai, 1924-1954
(2016-04-30)Founded in 1924 by Ngo Van Chieu, Caodaism is a syncretic mix of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, ancestor worship, Christianity and other western religions. This paper focuses on its connection to nationalist resistance ... -
A Strange Liberation: Women and Male Continence in the Oneida Community
(2016-04-30)During the religious revival of the nineteenth-century, known as the Second Great Awakening, several Perfectionist communitarian societies were established in the United States. One such society was the Oneida Community, ... -
The House Always Wins (Except When It Doesn't): Billy Wilkerson, Bugsy Siegel, and the Elusive Dream of Las Vegas
(2016-04-30)This paper focuses upon the Flamingo, a 1940's casino and hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada that was imagined by Hollywood restaurant owner Billy Wilkerson and realized by mobster Bugsy Siegel. Using newspaper articles, FBI files, ... -
The Unknown History of New York City's Chinatown: A Story of Crime During the Years of American Prohibition
(2016-04-30)During Prohibition immigrants were often made into scapegoats for the rise in illegal activity. The increase in crime was blamed on the rising immigrant population creating an intense fear of immigrants coming into the ... -
Survival of the Lucky: Foundling Children in the Ospedale degli Innocenti
(2016-04-30)The Ospedale degli Innocenti, a foundling hospital, was built during the Florentine Renaissance to fill a vital need to house the large amount of foundlings. However, once within institutional walls, these children were ... -
"A new Champion in the Ranks of Freedom": Vermont's Whigs React to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
(2016-04-30)Vermont abolitionist and anti-slavery Whig newspapers in 1851 contain many articles denouncing the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Through an analysis of Vermont abolitionist newspapers, this paper will trace the several main ...
