Date of Award
Spring 5-2012
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Program
History
Department
History
Major Professor
Dr. Mary Niall Mitchell
Second Advisor
Dr. Connie Atkinson
Third Advisor
Dr. Gunter Bischof
Abstract
The period of Reconstruction following the American Civil War, and its legacy, have been the subjects of long debate among historians. Scholars, though, have yet to fully explore important connections between American Reconstruction, the New South that followed, and the period of U.S. imperialism in Central America in the late nineteenth century. The storied career of Major Edward Austin Burke—a Kentucky-born Louisiana Democrat who went on to become a proponent of expansionism and imperialism in Honduras—illuminates the transnational implications of Reconstruction and its aftermath. Through careful examination of personal papers, news accounts, promotional materials, Congressional testimonies and other government records, this thesis finds the roots of Burke’s involvement in Central America in postbellum New Orleans. It demonstrates the importance of participation in Reconstruction and New South politics to the long political career of one of the most prominent U.S. imperialists in Central America in the late nineteenth century.
Recommended Citation
Conley, Kathryn K., "The Making of an American Imperialist: Major Edward Austin Burke, Reconstruction New Orleans and the Road to Central America" (2012). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1428.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1428
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.