The Making of an American Imperialist: Major Edward Austin Burke, Reconstruction New Orleans and the Road to Central America

<p>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.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History

Year

2012

Author dc:creator

• Conley, Kathryn K

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Mary Niall Mitchell
• Dr. Connie Atkinson
• Dr. Gunter Bischof

• Reconstruction
• New South
• Imperialism
• E. A. Burke
• Honduras
• New Orleans
• United States History

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1428

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.uno.edu:td-2495