Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

History

Committee Chair

Selina Makana

Committee Member

Aram Goudsouzian

Committee Member

Beverly Bond

Abstract

Meritocracy has often been a foundational aspect of Western society and legal development. However, this foundation is a façade to uplift those in power while leaving others oppressed. This project critically examines the myth of meritocracy in the context of the Reconstruction and Great Migration eras, with dates spanning from 1865 to 1930. Using an interdisciplinary approach, this study is an intellectual history of the use of meritocracy in correlation to the maintenance of social hierarchies. Through exploring the role of Enlightenment era philosophers, racial violence, and legal developments, this project explores the failures of policies such as the Fourteenth Amendment and the foundational aspects of Western policy formation through the outright exclusion of African Americans. Instead of genuinely promoting social mobility, the policies created new methods to enforce the hierarchical ideologies of Enlightenment philosophers to create a landscape of terror that mechanizes oppression. Juxtaposing American dream ideals with the lived realities of African Americans, this project exposes the landscapes of terror crafted by economic and social policies meant to maintain the hierarchies that benefitted those in power.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest.

Notes

Open access

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