Date of Award

5-15-2015

Author's School

University College

Author's Department

American Cultural Studies

Additional Affiliations

Graduate Arts & Sciences

Degree Name

Doctor of Liberal Arts (DLA)

Degree Type

Thesis DLA

Abstract

This doctoral thesis shall examine how public policy changed with Westward Expansion during the late 19th century. Illustrations played a significant role in both educating readers to what was taking place out west, as well as bringing current events to the public eye in a timely fashion. Once newspapers received word of “Custer’s Massacre,” daily accounts were printed and pictures followed in Harper’s Weekly. Thus, public opinion rose to a peak following the battle, encouraging the federal government to move quickly to bring the Plains tribes under control and protect settlers moving west. Illustrations by Frederic Remington and others tended to show Indians in warfare mode. The impressions made by news accounts, fiction, and presentations such as the Buffalo Bill traveling troupe added to the public’s growing awareness of the West. The thesis contrasts the “hostiles” with George Catlin’s more researched books and pictures of tribes as a mature civilization in existence well before white Europeans arrived. Obstacles other than Indians, such as weather, barren landscapes, long distances, broken down wagons, and disease all made the movement hazardous. The sociological and civil rights impacts are the focal point of this study. The contrast between opposing points of view are brought out in visual form.

Language

English (en)

Advisor/Committee Chair

Randall Calvert

Advisor/Committee Chair's Department

Political Science

Second Committee Member

Iver Bernstein

Second Committee Member's Department

History

Third Committee Member

Douglas Dowd

Third Committee Member's Department

Art

Fourth Committee Member

Steven Fazzari

Fourth Committee Member's Department

Economics

Fifth Committee Member

David Konig

Fifth Committee Member's Department

History

Sixth Committee Member

Richard Mahoney

Seventh Committee Member

Gary Miller

Seventh Committee Member's Department

Political Science

Schiele_ThesisAppendix_A_C.pdf (2945 kB)
Appendices A, B, and C

Schiele_ThesisAppendix_D_E.pdf (3626 kB)
Appendices D and E

Schiele_ThesisAppendix_F_I.pdf (111 kB)
Appendices F, G, H, and I