H. Kempner (Unincorporated), of Galveston, Texas, is a dynastic business trust. During the early 1920s, the firm, through two subsidiaries, permitted a group of German and French textile mills to finance cotton purchases by combining an ordinary business practice--speculation in the futures market on borrowed money--with a standard business form--the conversion contract. The practice, while both common and legal in the United States, produced a voidable contract in Germany, dependent on the whether the parties principally intended legitimate business purposes or speculative ones. When the American futures market declined, the spinners absorbed ever-increasing losses until, confronted with bankruptcy, they repudiated their contractual obligations. After failing to settle the disputes by negotiation, H. Kempner sued the mills. From 1928 until the outbreak of World War II, the cases gradually worked their way through the German and French courts. Although both sides presented consistent positions throughout the litigations, decisions varied from case to case as judges evaluated the individual actions to discover intent. Statutory gambling prohibitions, procedural evidentiary requirements, Great Depression economic factors and Nazi racial policies complicated the legal course. The 1940 German invasion of France, which plunged Europe into total war, effectively terminated the pending suits. H. Kempner subsequently sought redress, through private Congressional legislation, from the Alien Property Custodian's Fund which contained assets seized from German nationals during World War I. After substantial efforts by Senator Tom Connally and Congressman Clark Thompson, both from Texas, Congress enacted a relief bill for H. Kempner in 1946. President Truman vetoed the bill. However, within a year, Truman signed similar legislation on behalf of the Association of American Awardholders. A powerful group of large corporations with claims similar to H. Kempner's, the Association succeeded where H. Kempner failed because of superior political position. H. Kempner subsequently renewed its efforts. Texas congressmen in both houses, including Lyndon B. Johnson in the Senate, introduced relief bills in every legislative session. Finally, in 1953, after several years of committee wrangling, Congress enacted a second bill. Relying on Truman's precedent, President Eisenhower vetoed the legislation. This set-back, after more than a generation of controversy, litigation, and legislation, caused H. Kempner to abandon its cause.

Jefferson Davis, though apparently well-qualified for the role of commander-in-chief, nevertheless proved to be a failure in that role because of his blind devotion to certain friends, some of whom turned out to be incompetent generals, and because he lacked the ability to grasp new ideas, to handle pressure, and to make crucial decisions. This was most clearly demonstrated in the western theater of the war. Davis showed favoritism in appointing a number of his pre-war friends as generals, notably Leonidas Polk. Polk proved to be incompetent and insubordinate to his commanders, but Davis could not see this and failed to remove him. Polk's presence was made especially damaging by his efforts to undermine his immediate superior, Braxton Bragg. Bragg was a fairly competent general who, though a pre-war enemy of Davis, came to possess a moderate degree of Davis's confidence and commanded the South's chief western army for over a year. Bragg's effectiveness was reduced by Polk, who regularly disregarded orders with which he disagreed, sometimes costing the army a chance for victory. Polk also organized a movement for Bragg's removal. The morale damage caused by Polk eventually brought about the army's collapse. Davis's personal friendship with Polk kept him from preventing this. Davis's inability to trust his own judgments and to act forcefully and decisively was demonstrated in his handling of Joseph E. Johnston. Though Johnston had already caused problems in Virginia, Davis appointed the popular general to overall command in the West. Besides lacking the nerve to engage in battle, Johnston disagreed with nearly all of Davis's strategic ideas. His subsequent foot-dragging hurt the Confederate cause, especially during the Vicksburg campaign. Davis, rather than forcing compliance or removing the stubborn general, engaged in a long and petty argument with his subordinate. Despite all this Davis, in early 1864, still gave Johnston direct command of the Confederacy's only remaining major army in the West. Johnston again failed, but Davis hesitated to remove him until it was all but too late to save the vital city of Atlanta.

This dissertation examines the archeology of inland southeast Texas during the Ceramic and Historic periods (ca. A.D. 400 - A.D. 1850). Previous investigations, prehistory and ethnohistoric data regarding the region are reviewed. Archeological theory on hunter-gatherer groups in general and pertaining to the Study Area is synthesized. The Mossy Grove Model of long-term hunter-gatherer adaptation is generated to provide a framework for the analysis of archeological remains from the region. This model outlines the general nature of the operating settlement and subsistence system and the process of ethnic boundary formation in the region. The model specifies that sites of the region may productively be compared on the basis of geographical analytical units based on major and minor stream drainages in the region. It also establishes a trimodal classification of archeological sites and discusses the implications of archeological data for categorization of prehistoric groups on the forager-collector continuum. The balance of the dissertation is given to establishing justifications for the analytical units employed, tests of the implications of the Mossy Grove Model through comparative studies and through the detailed examination of three exemplary sites within the Study Area.

Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton have made the promotion of democracy abroad the "third pillar" of their administrations' foreign policy. In his 1995 National Security Strategy, President Clinton states that "All of American Strategic interests....are served by enlarging the community of democratic and free nations." However, the theory underpinning this strategy is not well developed. In fact, the policy directly conflicts with the realist analytical framework that dominates current international diplomacy. Recent empirical studies in international relations have confirmed the statistical evidence of a separate peace among democratic nations. Few militarized disputes, and perhaps no wars have occurred between democracies. However, the causes of this phenomenon remain controversial. Up until now, efforts to explain the democratic peace phenomena have focused on the existence of domestic norms and institutions within democracies. Hegemonic stability theory provides insight for a new plausible explanation of the democratic peace proposition. Statistical analyses of interstate dispute data indicate that two centuries of liberal hegemony have, at least partially, been responsible for the separate democratic peace. This finding represents an important contribution to the international relations literature and has significant implications for United States national security policy.

<p> This project report analyzes the content of line construction and development in founding bebop instrumental solos, and then compares them to bebop vocal solos. Performers examined include Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, and Chet Baker. Attention will be paid to harmonic content, vocal technique, syllable selection, and consideration given to language synthesis principals. This paper is intended as an impetus for further study of method improvements for developing vocalists' line construction through the study and incorporation of bebop-era instrumental transcriptions.</p>

<p> South Barre was a model mill village designed by Francis C. Willey, a multinational entrepreneur from "Worstedopolis," the woolen capital of the world in Bradford, England. The site for South Barre had the resources of clear water for scouring wool fleece, and railroad connections to Boston for raw materials and the product, worsted tops, to customers in nearby Lawrence, Massachusetts and Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Willey recruited skilled workers from Bradford, and unskilled laborers came from southern and eastern Europe. The company-controlled housing in the village was divided into sections by language groups: English, Italian, Lithuanian, and Polish. Living under segregated housing and labor market segmentation, workers responded to the company's paternalism collectively by union activity and individually by home and business ownership and by advancing the education of their children. Using a variety of sources &ndash; public documents, biographies, interviews and World War II letters &ndash; this research covers the first half of the twentieth century through the upheavals of two world wars, the depths of the Great Depression and the rise of union influence in the New Deal, and culminates in the infectious patriotism of World War II and the post-war prosperity. This investigation follows immigrant families front their initial entry into the Barre Wool through to the third generation. The term Americanization is employed in both senses: in fact, by birth or naturalization, and by desire, as the immigrants perceived what it meant to be "American." This study moves beyond the reductive dichotomies of assimilation and cultural pluralism, and found that individual immigrants, their children and their grandchildren, demonstrated multiple identities, expressed within the context of the prevailing times.</p>

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

<p> My thesis analyzes how Abraham Lincoln memorializations impacted the collective memories of the man and his life.</p>

<p> Objects of Confidence and Choice considered the centrality of professional communities in Alabama, from1804 to 1861. The dissertation highlighted what it meant to be a professional, as well as what professionals meant to their communities, by examining themes of education, family, wealth patterns, slaveholding, and professional identities This project defined professionals as men with professional degrees or licenses to practice: doctors, lawyers, clergymen, teachers, and others. Several men who appeared in this study have been widely studied: William Lowndes Yancey, Josiah Nott, Dr. J. Marion Sims, James Birney, Leroy Pope Walker, Clement Comer Clay, and his son, Clement Claiborne Clay. Others are less familiar today, but were, in many cases, leaders of their towns and cities. Names were culled from various censuses and tax records and put into a database that included items such as age, marital status, children, real property, personal property, and slaveholding. In total, the database included 453 names. The study also mined a rich vein of primary source material from the very articulate professional community. Objects of Confidence and Choice indicated that professionals were not a social class but a community of institution builders. In order to refine this conclusion, a more targeted investigation of professionals in a single antebellum Alabama town will be needed.</p>

<p> Between 1870 and 1980, leaders in Winchester and Frederick County, Virginia, successfully encouraged industry, diversified agriculture, improved local institutions and infrastructure, and promoted the community and its products. In 1870, the community was recovering from the devastation caused by the Civil War. In succeeding years, Winchester and Frederick County did not decline as the United States transitioned from an agricultural to an industrial economy. Unlike many other small American communities, Winchester and Frederick County achieved economic stability as farmers diversified crop production and business leaders organized to attract industry and encourage commerce and tourism. Leaders became community boosters and extended their goals to improve community life. Progressive leaders strengthened and expanded government, improved education and medical care, supported better transportation, and upgraded the civic infrastructure. </p><p> This dissertation examines progressive business leaders for more than a century and focuses on efforts to achieve economic stability. Farmers developed apples as an important commercial crop. In the business sector, leaders attracted outside industry and developed local industries to provide jobs. Leaders coped with many challenges, including the legacy of the Civil War, the impact of external forces, national economic downturns, the Great Depression, and two World Wars. </p><p> Most Winchester and Frederick County leaders between 1870 and 1980 were independent businessmen and believed there was a congruence of their interests and those of the region. They understood the community and were actively involved in civic life. Leaders influenced and reacted to the attitudes of fellow citizens. Leaders of Winchester and Frederick County were ordinary citizens who cooperated to expand and diversify the economy and meet the challenges of change.</p>