Plastic surgery has played an integral role in helping people achieve societal expectations of appropriate physical appearance since its inception. Through the story of Carlton Burgan, a Union soldier during the American Civil War, who suffered severe facial trauma by mercury poisoning, this thesis hopes to reconstruct the conversation around plastic surgery’s origins as it is influenced by societal standards of the day. Specifically, this thesis argues that the seminal moments leading to plastic surgery being seen as a worthwhile medical specialty was during the Civil War, not World War I as so many scholars have put forth. Violent acts to the body as a method to advance plastic surgery techniques is explored in relation to acceptable physical appearance. Societal beauty standards on the time are posited to be the force behind the development of plastic surgery techniques, not plastic surgeons themselves. Plastic surgery evolved as the United States grew and began to embrace the Second Industrial Revolution’s influence on attitudes about beauty, leading to changes in societal beliefs about what is suitable in terms of appearance. This thesis argues that the new science of psychology that emerged in parallel to the Second Industrial Revolution is the main strategy for plastic surgery to be reconstructed as a worthwhile medical specialty. The exploration of plastic surgery procedures of the nose, face and genitalia are discussed due to their importance in constructing societal appearance standards. The thesis concludes with a return to the story of Carlton Burgan and his role as a change agent in medicine.

The Texas Ranger tradition of over twenty-five years of frontier defense influenced the methods by which Texans provided for frontier defense, 1861-1865. The elements that guarded the Texas frontier during the war combined organizational policies that characterized previous Texas military experience and held the frontier together in marked contrast to its rapid collapse at the Confederacy's end. The first attempt to guard the Indian frontier during the Civil War was by the Texas Mounted Rifles, a regiment patterned after the Rangers, who replaced the United States troops forced out of the state by the Confederates. By the spring of 1862 the Frontier Regiment, a unit funded at state expense, replaced the Texas Mounted Rifles and assumed responsibility for frontier defense during 1862 and 1863. By mid-1863 the question of frontier defense for Texas was not so clearly defined as in the war's early days. Then, the Indian threat was the only responsibility, but the magnitude of Civil War widened the scope of frontier protection. From late 1863 until the war's end, frontier defense went hand in hand with protecting frontier Texans from a foe as deadly as Indians—themselves. The massed bands of deserters, Union sympathizers, and criminals that accumulated on the frontier came to dominate the activities of the ensuing organizations of frontier defense. Any treatment of frontier protection in Texas during the Civil War depends largely on the wealth of source material found in the Texas State Library. Of particular value is the extensive Adjutant General's Records, including the muster rolls for numerous companies organized for frontier defense. The Barker Texas History Center contains a number of valuable collections, particularly the Barry Papers and the Burleson Papers. The author found two collections to be most revealing on aspects of frontier defense, 1863-1865: the William Quayle Papers, University of Alabama, and the Bourland Papers, Library of Congress. As always, the Official Records is indispensible for any military analysis of the American Civil War.

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Historical photographs can generate significant cultural and economic value, but often their subjects go unidentified. However, if analyzed correctly, visual clues in these photographs can open up new directions in identifying unknown subjects. For example, many 19th century photographs contain painted backdrops that can be mapped to a specific photographer or location, but this research process is often manual, time-consuming, and unsuccessful. AI-based computer vision algorithms could be used to automatically identify painted backdrops or photographers or cluster photos with similar backdrops in order to aid researchers. However, it is unknown which computer vision algorithms are feasible for painted backdrop identification or which techniques work better than others. We present three studies evaluating four different types of image embeddings – Inception, CLIP, MAE, and pHash – across a variety of metrics and techniques. We find that a workflow using CLIP embeddings combined with a background classifier and simulated user feedback performs best. We also discuss implications for human-AI collaboration in visual analysis and new possibilities for digital humanities scholarship. / Master of Science / Historical photographs can generate significant cultural and economic value, but often their subjects go unidentified. However, if these photographs are analyzed correctly, clues in these photographs can open up new directions in identifying unknown subjects. For example, many 19th century photographs contain painted backdrops that can be mapped to a specific photographer or location, but this research process is often manual, time-consuming, and unsuccessful. Artificial Intelligence-based computer vision techniques could be used to automatically identify painted backdrops or photographers or group together photos with similar backdrops in order to aid researchers. However, it is unknown which computer vision techniques are feasible for painted backdrop identification or which techniques work better than others. We present three studies comparing four different types of computer vision techniques – Inception, CLIP, MAE, and pHash – across a variety of metrics. We find that a workflow that combines the CLIP computer vision technique, software that automatically classifies photo backgrounds, and simulated human feedback performs best. We also discuss implications for collaboration between humans and AI for analyzing images and new possibilities for academic research combining technology and history.

American Civil War officer preparation activities were rooted in the broader practices of antebellum military education as applied at West Point, other military academies, and the state militia system. The arrival of black troops in the Union Army led to a radical, if temporary, transformation in the Army's process for the selection and preparation of officers—but only for the white officers who served with black regiments. Overtly political or casual processes of the early Civil War were replaced in many cases by formal examinations and the centralized review of results, operating in parallel with more traditional political patronage systems of appointment. This study uses the experiences of officers from several black infantry regiments, and particularly the 41st U.S. Colored Infantry from the East and the 100th U.S.C.I. from the West, to illustrate how leaders for black units were chosen, prepared, examined, commissioned, and continued their military education. It focuses on the experiences of the officers, along with the contextual environments of antebellum education, slavery, racism, tactics, and bureaucracy in which they served. / Ph. D.

This diploma thesis aims to show, whether main changes introduced to American economy due to Civil War in 1861 to 1865 had or had not positive effect on post-bellum economic development. were following antebellum development, or whether they go against it. To reach this objective, ante-bellum development of policies, which were changed the most during or after the war, is outlined; main political and social changes are introduced; application of the American system and its effects, mostly of protectionism and national banking system, are presented; and changes in size and role of federal government and effects of war on economy, mainly in the South, are analysed. I draw a conclusion from this evidence, that emancipation did not lead to immediate economic development in South, but rather due to other reasons. Also, I find that neither policy of protective tariffs, nor changes to the banking system had any positive effect on American economic growth in the last third of 19th century, and that their contribution was probably negative. Therefore, it can be stated, that American system, brought by the war, was not the cause of country's economic success.

Esta dissertação se debruça sobre as linguagens políticas que alimentaram os debates ao redor da Guerra Civil Americana (1861-1865), em especial quanto às concepções de cidadania em questão. Os debates analisados se concentram em disputas constitucionais sobre o local da soberania (estadual ou federal); nas noções de liberdade parcialmente distintas, formuladas nos estados escravistas do Sul dos Estados Unidos e nos estados livres do Norte; e na forma como a inclusão negra foi pensada e implementada durante o conflito. Ao confrontar os avanços de inclusão civil do negro no período da Reconstrução (1865-1877) com os retrocessos do último quarto do século XIX, somos levados a questionar a capacidade de legislação inclusiva alterar as concepções de povo racialmente limitadas. Concluímos que a formulação de um novo contrato social após a abolição (em 1865) não foi suficiente para reestruturar ideais de nacionalidade baseadas em uma ancestralidade anglosaxã e protestante. / The present masters thesis focuses on the political languages found on the debates around the American Civil War (1861-1865), notably those related to different conceptions of citizenship. The analyzed debates are divided between constitutional disputes over the locus of sovereignty (the states or the Union); two different notions of freedom, formulated on the slave states of the South and the free states of the Nort; and in how black inclusion was justified and implemented during the conflict. As we confront the advances of black inclusion during Reconstruction (1865-1877) with the rebound seen on the last quarter of the nineteenth century, we question the capacity of inclusive legislation to alter conceptions of we the people that are racially delimited. We conclude that the new social contract ratified after abolition (in 1865) was insufficient to restructure nationality ideals based on Anglo- Saxan and protestant ancestralities.

This thesis examines the methods and actions of selected Virginians who chose to adopt irregular tactics in wartime, and focuses on the reasons why they fought that way. The presence of the Cavalier image in Virginia had a direct impact on the military exploits of several cavalry officers in both the Revolutionary War and the American Civil War. The Royalist cavalry during the English Civil War gave rise to the original Cavalier image, but as migrants came to Virginia during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the image became a general term for the Southern planter. This thesis contends that selected Virginia cavalry officers attempted to adhere to an Americanized version of the Cavalier image. They either purposefully embodied aspects of the Cavalier image during their military service, or members of the Southern populace attached the Cavalier image to them in the post-war period. The Cavalier thus served as a military ideal, and some cavalry officers represented a romanticized version of the Southern martial hero. This thesis traces the development of the Cavalier image in Virginia chronologically. It focuses on the origins of the Cavalier image and the role of the Royalist cavalry during the English Civil War. After the Royalist migration, and especially during the American Revolution, Virginians like Henry Lee embodied aspects of the Cavalier image during their military careers. Between the end of the American Revolution and the beginning of the Civil War, some Southern authors perpetuated the image by including Cavalier figures in many of their literary works. In the Civil War, select Virginians who fought for the Confederacy personified the Cavalier hero in the minds of many white Southerners. Despite a Confederate defeat, the Cavalier image persisted in Southern culture in the post-Civil War period and into the twentieth century.

This phenomenological study describes the lived experiences of grade five students of a social studies unit on the American Civil War taught in an international school setting. Specific aims were: (1) to examine and explore the content learned and student experiences of the various activities during the unit and (2) to comment on the current state of the unit in order to make specific recommendations to improve student learning. This study reveals that student experience of the American Civil War Unit is varied, complex and often surprising. Additionally, the role of the teacher remains highly influential in terms of how a student perceives the experience, even during the most exciting events and activities. This study also suggests that information about students' experiences should be sought in determining those aspects of learning not typically measured by traditional means in order to make informed decisions about how to improve student learning experiences.

Esta dissertação se debruça sobre as linguagens políticas que alimentaram os debates ao redor da Guerra Civil Americana (1861-1865), em especial quanto às concepções de cidadania em questão. Os debates analisados se concentram em disputas constitucionais sobre o local da soberania (estadual ou federal); nas noções de liberdade parcialmente distintas, formuladas nos estados escravistas do Sul dos Estados Unidos e nos estados livres do Norte; e na forma como a inclusão negra foi pensada e implementada durante o conflito. Ao confrontar os avanços de inclusão civil do negro no período da Reconstrução (1865-1877) com os retrocessos do último quarto do século XIX, somos levados a questionar a capacidade de legislação inclusiva alterar as concepções de povo racialmente limitadas. Concluímos que a formulação de um novo contrato social após a abolição (em 1865) não foi suficiente para reestruturar ideais de nacionalidade baseadas em uma ancestralidade anglosaxã e protestante. / The present masters thesis focuses on the political languages found on the debates around the American Civil War (1861-1865), notably those related to different conceptions of citizenship. The analyzed debates are divided between constitutional disputes over the locus of sovereignty (the states or the Union); two different notions of freedom, formulated on the slave states of the South and the free states of the Nort; and in how black inclusion was justified and implemented during the conflict. As we confront the advances of black inclusion during Reconstruction (1865-1877) with the rebound seen on the last quarter of the nineteenth century, we question the capacity of inclusive legislation to alter conceptions of we the people that are racially delimited. We conclude that the new social contract ratified after abolition (in 1865) was insufficient to restructure nationality ideals based on Anglo- Saxan and protestant ancestralities.