Dissertation
The Power of Political Chatter: Settler Colonialism and the Construction of Race, Gender, and Citizenship in Oregon
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2015
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/117910
Abstract
This project examines the process of settler colonialism in Oregon through the evaluation of Oregon's exclusionary laws between the years 1841 and 1859. When Oregon settlers established a provisional government in 1841, they in one sense officially founded a settler colony. Initially, its settlers recreated and enforced laws drawn from both the American and British empires. After the Oregon Treaty in 1846, however, the region south of the 49th parallel, west of the Rocky Mountains, and north of California became a colonial outpost solely of the United States. Although influenced by legislation from U.S., including from other emerging states of the West, Oregon's laws took on nuanced emphases and new articulations when legislators there excluded specific groups from natural and political rights. With each step in the process toward statehood, Oregon reinforced the validity of its laws, even when those laws contradicted the U.S. Constitution or precedents established by legislators in other states and territories.
The transformation of Oregon and its relationship with the United States demonstrate how the construction of these Oregon laws, and the arguments surrounding their construction, reified and institutionalized legal definitions and national perceptions of race, gender, and citizenship in the United States on the eve of the Civil War. Oregon's exclusionary laws either served as a supportive continuation of racial and gender restriction to specific rights, or established a legal precedent for such restrictions, evidenced in the development of legislation throughout the remainder of the century. Additionally, Oregon's experience provides an American example of settler colonialism and demonstrates how a settler colony can impact an empire.
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Details
- Title
- The Power of Political Chatter: Settler Colonialism and the Construction of Race, Gender, and Citizenship in Oregon
- Creators
- Jacki Hedlund Tyler
- Contributors
- Peter Boag (Advisor)Jennifer Thigpen (Committee Member)Matthew Sutton (Committee Member)Robert McCoy (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- History, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 339
- Identifiers
- 99900581841401842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation