Date of Award
12-2025
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Program
History
Department
History
Major Professor
James Mokhiber
Second Advisor
Marc Landry
Third Advisor
Lise Namikas
Abstract
This thesis examines U.S. perceptions of the Congo after its turbulent independence in 1960 through the lens of Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) document series. Through the famed Congo Crisis, U.S. policymakers portrayed Patrice Lumumba as destabilizing and aligned with Soviet influence. As scholarship has shown, the FRUS documentary record omits details of covert operations that culminated in his assassination. Acknowledging the gaps in this official record, the thesis examines three themes that show how the United States sought to use FRUS to narrate the Congo's independence: the need for U.S. access to Congolese uranium and other natural resources; Washington’s rationale and support for the authoritarian rule of Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; and a racialized framing of African governance that echoed colonial narratives. This thesis argues that FRUS should be considered not in terms of what it reveals about Lumumba but also more broadly for how it illuminates American perceptions of geopolitics, minerals, and race in postcolonial Central Africa.
Recommended Citation
Patterson, Deana D., "Official U.S. Documentation of American Perceptions of Post-Colonial Congo, 1960-1968" (2025). LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 3423.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/3423
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 in 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.