This dissertation examines how leaders in the Church of England sought to reorganize the colonial church at critical moments, in the late 1740s, the early 1760s and the mid 1770s, by installing one or two resident bishops when the British government moved to bring the colonies into closer economic and political alignment with England. Examining Anglican attempts to bring bishops to the American colonies within the context of the Anglo-American world moves beyond the current literature and provides insight into the difficulties British political and ecclesiastical authorities had managing the colonies more efficiently. Even though the Church of England sustained wide influence over the population, the failure of the Anglicans’ proposal to install bishops into the colonies was symptomatic of the declining influence of the Church on politics in the eighteenth century. Differing views over political and ecclesiastical authority between the colonists and the Anglicans, and the possibility religious conflict might have on elections, concerned British authorities enough to reject Anglicans’ proposals for resident bishops for the colonies. The failure also highlights how the British government in the eighteenth century increasingly focused on the political and economic administration of the expanded more diverse British Empire than it did on religious administration.

The sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries saw the development of a British identity that was contingent upon a shared dynasty through intermarriage and the composite monarchy of James VI and I, religious developments that led to both Scotland and England breaking with the Roman Catholic Church, and especially England’s overseas colonial empire. Using sources representative of the nascent print culture, the Calendar of State Papers, the Letters and Papers of Henry VIII, and Journals from the House of Commons, this project argues that contrary to prior historical analysis of Britain, empire, and English imperialism that British identity in the sixteenth century became a collaborative process which included both Scots and English. With this in mind, the project suggests that historians must incorporate Scottish angles to the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, and that future studies should include analysis of Scots in the early Atlantic and English imperial worlds.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / Man has always created legends and myths for himself, and historians have only recently concerned themselves with the history of these legends. They can be a potent force. This thesis examines the mythology of imperialism: what the average literate Englishman at home thought imperialism was all about, and how he was led to think so. Webster defines "myth" as a story to explain some practice, belief, institution, or natural phenomenon. Imperial mythology is here used to mean a set of firmly- believed ideals and stories which explained, justified, and to a certain extent, qualified, the practice of imperialism. The mythology of imperialism consisted of three major elements--racial, religious, and heroic--and a host of minor ones. The racial concepts of the nineteenth century were confused and "unscientific," as we should call them. The word "race" was used interchangeably with--and usually in preference to--"nationality." People attributed to race a whole set of social and moral traits which were not demonstrably genetic in origin. Thus, it was assumed that the English were predominantly "Anglo-Saxon" with some "Celtic" strains. To the Anglo-Saxon was attributed a love of order and punctuality, and a skill with ships, justice, freedom, and parliamentary government. The Celt was supposed to be fiery, temperamental, unreliable, and poetic, but incompetent. The Englishman also had firm ideas about the rest of mankind. He constructed a graded hierarchy of color, and a linked hierarchy of moral and mental characteristics. The Indian was on a higher plane than the Zulu, but lower than the Boer. And seated at the peak, of course, was the Anglo-Saxon who, because of his eminence, was entitled to assume responsibility for the rest of the world. The religious myth, with roots in the evangelical movement, culminated in an elaborate cult of moral responsibility for the unfortunate. England's religious mission was to educate her subject peoples, and to teach them the arts of civilized life and self-government. The task involved work and self-sacrifice, but it was her Duty, and she should expect no reward but a heavenly one. Just as Britain often likened herself politically to Rome, she thought of herself as Israel's spiritual successor. Finally, there was the ideal of the hero. In a curious way, the Victorian cult of the hero was like a microcosm of nationalism. The characteristic individualism of the nineteenth century tended to glorify the adventurer, whose prowess, courage, and self-reliance had an undeniable appeal, particularly as the circumstances of modern industrial life removed the ideal from the grasp of the ordinary man. The hero was made to personify those qualities most cherished in the national self-image. The empire became a kind of stage for heroic action, and the heroes the representatives of the best of English culture. The thesis examines the role of these myths and their attendant symbols and slogans in the self-image of British imperialism. The sources used have been chiefly literary and journalistic ones. Other writers have searched political speeches and memoirs for evidence of imperial policy and attitudes, but novels, poetry, sermons, and newspapers have been curiously neglected. These sources were important myth-makers. The advent of "modern Journalism," with its techniques of mass media, meant that a greater public was exposed to the imperial ideal. Greater literacy and more leisure for reading meant a wider audience for novels and poetry, and a consequent inculcation of the imperial myth. / 2031-01-01

Thesis advisor: James Cronin / The Northern Ireland conflict has often been viewed as parochial, closed off from the currents of international opinion and foreign influence. Yet nationalists, unionists, and pacifists consistently recruited supporters and confronted their adversaries on an international stage. The relative success or failure of these groups within the Northern Ireland political system was based in large part on their ability to navigate the changing global context. This dissertation demonstrates that to understand the development of the conflict and that of the peace process, it is necessary to take a comprehensive look at the role of the international community. The conflict in Northern Ireland was fundamentally international from its inception in the late 1960s and grew increasingly so over the next thirty years. Many of the ideas that motivated the groups involved in the Northern Ireland conflict were global in nature and origin, as were the institutions and organizations that became important players in the conflict and its resolution. Given that international ideas, institutions, and organizations were so central in forming the contours of the conflict, the conflict must be analyzed within a framework of international history. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: History.

This study uses Winston Churchill's "We Shall Fight on the Beaches" speech, delivered to the House of Commons following the evacuation of Dunkirk, France in June 1940, as a source text by which to examine Churchill's use of British cultural narratives in political communication. Narrative and heuristic theories are proposed as means by which listeners process such messages. A number of rhetorical devices are defined, in order to inform a discussion of the narratives identified, particularly the means by which those narratives were rhetorically embedded in the text. After a careful examination of the source text, the narratives of knighthood and chivalric values, as well as King Arthur and the Arthurian legend, specifically as presented in Tennyson's Idylls of the King, were identified as primary cultural narratives from which Churchill draws much meaning. A thorough critical history of each of these narratives is undertaken, revealing sentiments of oath-bound civic duty tracing back to Britain's historical founding as a culture and a nation, following the fall of Rome in the fifth century, and persisting up until Churchill's use of those sentiments in his historic 1940 speech.

Considerable research has been done on the impact of English in India but despite the fact that, for a century and a half, almost all British civil and military officers had to learn Hindustani, almost nothing has been written on its importance to the colonial state. The small amount of literature has focused on a few particular aspects, either the very early Gilchrist years or specifically on the textbooks themselves. This study uses a wide range of archival materials relating to the British learning of the Hindustani, together with the textbooks and grammars they produced and memoirs of those who had to learn the language, both to tell the story of the British Hindustani ‘enterprise’ comprehensively, and to reveal its relationship to colonial state power. The initial premise was that Hindustani was the ‘cement’ which held the empire together. As to be expected, however, over such a long time frame the evidence revealed considerable changes in the perceived importance of Hindustani to the colonial state and links made by many scholars between language and colonial power are in this particular case, shown to be dubious. The study, in looking at an area hitherto unresearched, contributes to the knowledge and understanding of the role of an indigenous lingua franca in the colonial context and sheds new light on its ‘fate’ in the Indian context.

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The focus of this thesis is the complex relationship between women and the category 'leisure', a relationship which is only infrequently addressed within the historiography of leisure and only partially understood within the existing frameworks of that field. The research draws upon feminist scholarship to establish a fluid theoretical structure within which the leisure experiences of women may be better conceptualised, and re-thinks the methodologies necessary to access those experiences within a defined historical period: that of 1920-1960. Throughout, 'leisure' is approached less as self-defined, discrete activity, and more as a mutable category, open to changing meanings and inseparable from its contextual and historical background. To this end, the nature of 'leisure' is itself problematised: the study challenges definitions of the concept as directly oppositional to work/workplace and explores the problems inherent in the notion that leisure constitutes a reward for paid labour. Indeed, the sources suggest that 'leisure' and 'work' often interacted within women's lives and that notions of leisure as something 'earned' had a fundamental impact upon women's experiences over the life cycle. The thesis is built around interviews with Manchester women from working-class and lower middle-class backgrounds. However, it also uses local newspaper evidence, women's magazines and the contemporary work of a number of researchers with an interest in leisure during the period. The study examines changing experiences of leisure and shifting perceptions of the concept across social classes and over the historical period. It presents a picture of leisure at the local level, whilst suggesting a chronology of leisure which has implications for our understanding of the national experience. The fundamental originality of the project rests in its approach; it offers a holistic, life cycle based, approach to a field which largely consists of research of a topic-based nature. The central findings concern the role of life cycle stage in determining the relationship of women to leisure across both period and social classes. In particular, the thesis explores how the transition from youth to adulthood impacted upon women's ideas of appropriate leisure behaviour and entitlement, and asserts that a contrast may be drawn between the personal leisure of youth, and the 'family' leisure of adulthood.

The purpose of this research is to examine the significance of, to use their own term, ladies' football in the context of shifting social values with regard to gender roles and the socialisation of working - class women c. 1916 - 1960. The thesis will focus on ladies' football in Lancashire and surrounding districts from the end of the First World War, to the beginnings of the second wave of feminism, which marked the end of an era for the sport. Firstly, it is important to explain the use of the term ladies' rather than women's football. The term ladies' football was imposed by the patriarchal structures from which it developed in order to feminise the game and distinguish it from male football. This was consented to by the players who did not wish to be considered 'mannish'. The term lasted until the 1960's, when women began to take control of their own game. The term 'girls' is my own term and is used to describe the age group of the majority of the players. This must not be confused with the terms girlish' or girly', which are often used in a derogatory manner to undermine women's sports. Ladies' football developed out of the circumstances of the First World War. As a result of the war women were thrown into male spheres in the home, work place and sports field. Munitions girls were encouraged play football and take part in athletic competitions as a morale boosting exercise to raise money for war related charities. This behaviour, although contrary to traditional gender roles, was approved by the establishment as part of the 'plucky heroine' ideology of munitions work. However, this was only a temporary sanctioning and in the drive to return to pre - war social forms, football was amongst the many male spheres women were expected to relinquish. However, despite ideological and legislative pressure, the sport continued as a subculture throughout the 1920's, 1930's and the period after the Second World War until the early 1960's, when it was eftectively reorganised into its present format. Despite its early success, ladies' football has received limited attention from academics. The objective of this thesis is to evaluate the significance of ladies' football in terms of gender roles and the socialisation of working - class women in Lancashire. The thesis will address five salient themes starting with the development of the sport in munitions factories during the First World War. It will go on to explore the sporting 'entente cordiale' that developed as a result of international ladies' football matches arranged between Britain and France immediately after the war. Furthermore, the study will address how the popularity of such teams as Dick, Kerr's Ladies inspired women and girls from mining communities in the north - west and north - east to form their own teams for the duration of the 1921 Miners' lock - Out, in order to raise money to fund the pea - soup' kitchens that fed the miners' children. In 1921, the Football Association banned ladies' football from being played on its grounds, with devastating consequences for the game. The thesis looks closely at the social and political context of this decision and the pro - natalist ideology that governed attitudes towards women's sport until the 1960's. Ladies' football became a very important part of popular culture during and immediately after the the First World War and in the opinion of certain writers, the struggle with the Football Association represented women's struggles to maintain the social and economic advantages they had gained in other spheres. From 1921 - 1925, the 'football heroine' became a significant feature in popular sporting fiction for working - class girls. The thesis looks at the intent of this fiction, and evaluates its didactic role in informing young women about the importance of keeping hold of the rights and freedoms they had gained during the war. Finally, the study will conclude by asking the question: to what extent was ladies' football a victim of its own early success? By examining these salient themes, this thesis challenges notion that ladies' football was insignificant and explores a whole new area of hitherto unanswered questions with regard to working - class women's physical culture.

Britain’s Royal Navy of the nineteenth century was the unquestioned master of the world’s oceans, having won such standing after over a century of near-uninterrupted warfare. However, while the strategies, tactics and technology of the navy evolved dramatically during this period, the laws that governed its many thousands of sailors and officers remained virtually unchanged from the original 1661 Articles of War. Despite minor amendments throughout the eighteenth century and a major reworking in 1749, both capital and corporal punishments were frequently employed as punishment for minor offences in a system that made England’s “Bloody Code” look positively humane. The 1860 Naval Discipline Act provided the first substantive overhaul of the original Articles of War, but historians have generally lamented this act as providing little comprehensive change to the governance of the navy. Using statistical data collected from thousands of courts martial records, this thesis takes a broad look at trends in naval courts martial, studying how these courts interacted with the legislative changes of the 1860s. Viewing how charges and sentences changed on the global scale, it becomes clear that the “arbitrary and cruel punishments” of the previous century had at last given way to a centralized, formal expression of discipline. / Graduate / 2021-07-21