Over the past 30 years, the Chinese policy of village self-governance has promoted a system of democratically elected autonomous committees to wield authority at the village level. Particularly in the period since 1998, the village committee system has made impressive achievements in most areas of electoral rules and procedures. Relatively free and fair elections have become commonplace throughout much of the Chinese countryside, and the level of competition and openness has gradually increased. Nonetheless, village self-governance has had only a modest impact on the actual political configuration of most villages, as Communist Party influence and state-imposed constraints have limited the ability of elected officials to exercise authority independently. It is hoped that future Chinese leaders will continue to strengthen the institutional framework of democratic village governance, and take steps to restrain the influence of non-democratic actors.

Over the past 30 years, the Chinese policy of village self-governance has promoted a system of democratically elected autonomous committees to wield authority at the village level. Particularly in the period since 1998, the village committee system has made impressive achievements in most areas of electoral rules and procedures. Relatively free and fair elections have become commonplace throughout much of the Chinese countryside, and the level of competition and openness has gradually increased. Nonetheless, village self-governance has had only a modest impact on the actual political configuration of most villages, as Communist Party influence and state-imposed constraints have limited the ability of elected officials to exercise authority independently. It is hoped that future Chinese leaders will continue to strengthen the institutional framework of democratic village governance, and take steps to restrain the influence of non-democratic actors.

Master of Arts / Department of History / Marsha L. Frey / The diplomatic corps employed by Oliver Cromwell and Charles II from 1649 to 1660 differed greatly. This study will focus on the top three diplomatic ranks: ambassador, envoys and residents and will exclude agents and chargé d′affaires. The lesser ranks have been excluded for several reasons primarily because biographical information does not exist for many of them and as lesser diplomats their missions were not significant and often lasted only a matter of days. This prosopographical examination of the twenty-four diplomats employed by Charles II and Oliver Cromwell provides insight into their similarities as well as their differences. After examining the twenty-four, one from each side will be further researched. In matters of religion, Cromwell predictably sent Protestants. Charles also sent Protestants, but did send Roman Catholics, especially to Catholic courts. Despite the age difference between Cromwell and Charles II, age did not separate their diplomats. The average age of Cromwell’s and Charles’ II diplomats was both forty years. In matters of education, those who went to college had a tendency to choose the Puritan-influenced Cambridge for the Commonwealth and Protectorate and Oxford for the Royalists. The area a diplomat was from shows that the diplomats from north chose the side of the Commonwealth while those from London and south chose the Royalist side. Royalists had a higher percentage of military service and a higher percentage of Parliamentary service. Although more Commonwealth and Protectorate diplomats had a university education, the Royalists had a higher percentage of master’s degrees and the study of the law. When looking at a diplomat’s position in a family, the Commonwealth diplomats had a greater chance of being the oldest son, while the Royalists tended to be younger sons. This information is valuable because it expands the commonly held historiographical image of the typical Royalist and Commonwealth supporters and illustrates the differences between the general support and each sides diplomatic corps.

Master of Arts / Department of History / Sue Zschoche / As the world enters the centennial of World War I, interest in this war is reviving. Books, television shows, and movies are bringing the war into popular culture. Now that all the participants of the war have passed away a change is occurring in in American memory. The transition from living to non-living memory is clearly visible in museums, one of the main ways history is communicated to the public. Four museums are studied in this paper. Two exhibits built in the 1990s are in the 1st Infantry Division Museum at Fort Riley, Kansas, and the Chemical Corps Museum in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The other two exhibits are newer and are the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Missouri and the Cantigny 1st Infantry Division Museum in Wheaton, Illinois. Findings reveal that exhibits become more inclusive over time to civilian bodies, wounded bodies, and the specific image of “Americans killing Germans bodies.” However, even though there is change some things are turning into myths. The icon of the American soldier as a healthy and strong man willing to sacrifice his life for the country is still a major theme throughout all the exhibits. Finally, there are several myths that America has adopted from its allies. The icons of the bandages over the eyes from the chemical attacks and the horrors of the trenches are borrowed, to a certain extent, from America’s allies. The Americans were only in the war for a limited time and borrowed cultural memories to supplement their own. The examination of the four museums is important because this transition will happen again and soon. Museums must be conscious of the changes occurring during this transition in order to confront the challenges.

This thesis explores the complexities of Muskoka’s past between 1850 and 1914. Through the lenses of class-consciousness and popular notions of ethnicity and race, Muskoka’s geographical and social landscape were redefined during this period by the government, the area’s industries, visitors, and local inhabitants. It was not until the early twentieth century that the nature-tourism industry was able to standardize a regional identity for the district; this identity has remained prevalent through to the twenty-first century. As the title of Edward Roper’s 1883 booklet "Muskoka; the Picturesque Playground of Canada" suggests, the area became closely associated with leisure and recreation. However, this Muskoka identity misrepresented the district’s terrain and populace, and our contemporary understanding of the region has consequently been compromised. In order to better recognize Muskoka’s diverse social and geographical landscape, this thesis explores several historical viewpoints and questions the manner in which the district was promoted.

This thesis explores the complexities of Muskoka’s past between 1850 and 1914. Through the lenses of class-consciousness and popular notions of ethnicity and race, Muskoka’s geographical and social landscape were redefined during this period by the government, the area’s industries, visitors, and local inhabitants. It was not until the early twentieth century that the nature-tourism industry was able to standardize a regional identity for the district; this identity has remained prevalent through to the twenty-first century. As the title of Edward Roper’s 1883 booklet "Muskoka; the Picturesque Playground of Canada" suggests, the area became closely associated with leisure and recreation. However, this Muskoka identity misrepresented the district’s terrain and populace, and our contemporary understanding of the region has consequently been compromised. In order to better recognize Muskoka’s diverse social and geographical landscape, this thesis explores several historical viewpoints and questions the manner in which the district was promoted.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of History / James E. Sherow / This project examines ecological change in Lake Huron during the nineteenth and twentieth century and investigates the causative role of the commercial fisheries in that change. The repeated failures of various regional and international efforts designed to improve management of the lake’s fisheries are also examined. The fundamental argument is that economic considerations were the primary motivations for policy development related to the Great Lakes fisheries. Historically management programs and legislation were shaped by local and regional economic interests. The central focus of this project is Lake Huron. Anthropogenic changes in that lake’s environment dramatically affected the lives and relationships of its non-human inhabitants. The same changes also transformed relationships among human beings who relied on the lake’s resources. Commercial fishermen who operated in the waters of both the United States and Canada relied on the lake for their livelihood, but as the twentieth century commenced the supply of marketable fishes decreased. Competition accelerated and fishermen introduced new technologies and increased their quantity of fishing gear in an effort to maximize their catches in response to fluctuating returns. Economic considerations were of primary concern to both fishermen and government bureaucrats. Lake Huron’s status as an international borderland further complicated the situation. Analysts in both the United States and Canada recognized the dramatically changing conditions of the lakes as reflected through the woes of the commercial fishery. Nonetheless, the germane state, provincial and national governments repeatedly failed in their attempts to develop a cooperative management plan. By the second half of the twentieth century Lake Huron’s embattled biome stood in stark contrast to the once seemingly endless numbers of fishes and flora that sustained the lake’s web of life for hundreds of years.

Master of Arts / Department of History / Mark P. Parillo / Throughout the 1990s and into the twenty-first century, American society sought to record the stories of World War II veterans before they passed on. The United States Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2000 in order to collect stories not only from World War II veterans, but also from veterans of all wars. Although many similar programs existed before this one, this initiative stimulated the interest of communities all over the country to conduct oral history projects of their own. As a result, the availability of veterans’ accounts improved for scholars as well as for the general public. Along with veterans’ interviews, many collections include donated letters, diaries, and memoirs. Many of these institutions have posted their materials on the internet, thus giving easier public access to the sources. The increased availability of veterans’ accounts has shifted the question from, “What was the World War II veterans’ experience?” to “How do the veterans reflect on their experience?” This study analyzes the memories of World War II veterans who have documented their experiences at two separate times in their lives. It examines wartime letters and diaries written by soldiers as well as, oral histories conducted after the war. This study compares three veterans’ memories over time and the influence of collective memory on their remembrances. This case study finds that although these three veterans had very different experiences, they all reflected on their experience in similar ways. The veterans’ immediate accounts were straightforward and without introspection, while their later accounts included interpretation and analysis of their experiences. Although the details in each narrative are unique to the veteran, the overall tone and meaning of the memory constructed in their oral histories followed the meaning presented in the American collective memory of the war.

Master of Arts / Department of History / Charles Sanders / The power of historical memory is readily apparent in the United States of America. Ask any descendent of veterans that served in war, and a plethora of reasons behind their willingness to fight will follow. As with any conflict, the enduring legacies of the war‘s aftermath are not always clear until years after the fact. Memory of the American Civil War took several different routes before finally settling on the "spirit of reconciliation" that came to dominate American society in the post-war era. In the South, the "Lost Cause" began to take hold with former Confederates attempting to justify their defeat and change the historical record to excuse their actions. As the winner in the war, the North did not need to come up with justification as to why they fought—they had secured the Union and destroyed the divisive institution, slavery. Gradually over time, Northerners and Southerners celebrated their veterans while simultaneously promoting reconciliation between the two sections. As a result, any emancipationist legacy from the end of the Civil War was relegated to irrelevancy in American society as Jim Crow settled in within the South for the next hundred years. Memory of the American Civil War continues to have lasting impact upon modern American society, especially with the sesquicentennial celebrations of the war‘s major battles. Lesser known, and yet equally as important, is the memory of the American Revolution. As with the "Lost Cause", the American Revolution experienced its own reconstruction with equal parts forgetting and remembering. Emerging from this "reconstruction" was what became known as the American identity. Thirteen disparate colonies became a solid monolith of Americanism in the reconstructed views of the Revolution, instead of the divided thirteen colonies they truly were. This thesis argues that the "Lost Cause" and spirit of reconciliation that permeated the post-war United States after the Civil War followed a tradition of desiring unity above all else at the expense of minority groups such as African Americans and Native Americans, that began with the American Revolution.

This dissertation, “‘Hire the Handicapped!’: Disability Rights, Economic Integration and Working Lives in Toronto, Ontario, 1962-2005,” argues that work significantly shaped the experience of disability during this period. Barriers to mainstream employment opportunities gave rise to multiple disability movements that challenged the social and economic framework which marginalized generations of people with disabilities. Using a critical analysis of disability in archival records, personal collections, government publications and a series of interviews, I demonstrate how demands for greater access among disabled people to paid employment stimulated the development of a new discourse of disability in Canada. Including disability as a variable in historical research reveals how family advocates helped people living in institutions move out into the community and rehabilitation professionals played an increasingly critical role in the lives of working-age adults with disabilities, civil rights activists crafted a new consumer-led vision of social and economic integration. Separated by different philosophies and bases of support, disability activists and allies found a common purpose in their pursuit of economic integration. The focus on employment issues among increasingly influential disability activists during this period prompted responses from three key players in the Canadian labour market. Employers embraced the rhetoric and values of disability rights but operated according to a different set of business principles and social attitudes that inhibited the realization of equity and a ‘level playing field.’ Governments facilitated the development of a progressive discourse of disability and work, but ultimately recoiled from disability activism to suit emergent political priorities. Labour organizations similarly engaged disability activists, but did so cautiously, with union support largely contingent upon the satisfaction of traditional union business first and foremost. As disability activists and their allies railed against systematic discrimination, people with disabilities lived and worked in the community, confronting barriers and creating their own circles of awareness in the workplace. Just as multiple sites of disability activism found resolution in the sphere of labour, the redefinition of disability during this period reflected a shared project involving collective and individual action.