I'm not going to discuss what I'm going to bring up. Even if I don't discuss it I'm not going to discuss it.
George Bush

Karen J. Taylor
History 110

Survey of United States History to 1877

This course is designed to bring you into the construction of U.S. History. We will approach this task in the way that historians do: 1) Review the literature. 2) Analyze the evidence. 3) Place the story in the larger frame of historical interpretation and understanding. This course will therefore give you not one, but many narratives, some of which you will construct yourself. Can they all be true?

Research/Study Groups

Prelude to Revolution Power Point Presentation

Required Texts:

Tentative Daily Schedule

Weeks 1 & 2: Globalizations

Aug. 25: Introduction
Aug. 27: The Enlightened World Order
Texts: "Introduction," European Origins of American Thought"Creation Myth," Great Tree and the Longhouse
"Historical Perspectives," A Short History of African PhilosophyAug. 29: Pocahontas, Squanto and Captain John: Adventures in Globetrotting
Texts: Movie: Pocahontas
Documents: Excerpts from Autobiography of John Smith; Bry's engravings; Peckham, "A True Report"; Hakluyt, "Inducements to the Liking..."
Written Assignment

Sept. 1: Sex, Race, and Identity
Texts: Who Built America (Chapter 1)
Sept. 3: Merry Mount: The Other City on a Hill
Sept. 5: Fearful Abominations
Documents: Movie - Witch City
Written Assignment

Week 3: Common Grounds

Sept. 8: Colonialism and Conquest
Texts: Who Built America, (Chapter 2)
Sept. 10: Freedom!
Sept. 12: Race and Racial Identity
Written Assignment

Weeks 4 & 5: Things Fall Apart

Sept. 15: Warriors, Witchcraft, and World Trade
Texts: Who Built America (Chapter 3)
Nathaniel Hawthorne, Scarlet Letter (excerpt from the book, eReserve).
Sept. 17: Salem
Documents: Cotton Mather, "The Wonders of the Invisible World" and excerpt from "Durable Riches."
"Anne Hutchinson's Trial"
"Malefactors and Complainants" (Excerpts from the Suffolk County Court, 1675-1680)
(All on eReserve)
Texts: Movie:Scarlet Letter (1934)
Movie: Scarlet Letter (1979)
Movie: Scarlet Letter (1997)
Sept. 19: Women in Red
Texts: Movie:Scarlet Letter (1934)
Movie: TBA Scarlet Letter (1979)
Movie: Scarlet Letter (1997) (All available in Andrews AV library)
Written Assignment

Sept. 22: Patriarchy Enraged
Texts: Who Built America (Chapter 4)
Kenneth Lockridge, "Commonplaces I: William Byrd"
Gary Nash, "Adjustment to Slave Life"
D'Emilio and Freedman, "Family Life and the Regulation of Deviance" (All on eReserve)
Sept. 24: Gentleman Planters: William Byrd
Document: William Byrd, "The Secret Diary" (eReserve)
Sept. 26: Other Gentlemen:
Documents: Ukawsaw Gronniosaw (James Albert), "Africa and New York, 1720-1730:
Ketagustah, "Speech at a Cherokee-British Conference, 1730" (Both on eReserve)
Written Assignment

Week 6: Re-sorting to Tradition

Sept. 29: Sorting Out Status
Texts: Who Built America (Chapter 5)
Oct. 1: The Marriage of Race and Gender
Oct. 3: Of Church and State

Weeks 7 & 8: Revolutions

Oct. 6: Liberty, Equality, and the Pursuit of Property
Texts: Who Built America (Chapter 6 and "Declaration of Independence")
Jessie Lemisch, "Jack Tar in the Streets"
R.R. Palmer, "The American Revolution: The People as Constituent Power" (both on eReserve)
Oct. 8: Enterprising Women Phillis Wheatley, "An Address to George III"
Lemuel Haynes, "A Poem on the Inhuman Tragedy..."
Thomas Paine, "Common Sense"
(All on eReserve)
Oct. 10: The Idea of a Democracy.
Texts: Movie: 1776
Movie: Liberty! The American Revolution. Oh Fatal Ambition.
*In-class Study Group discussion/preparation time for group power point presentation.*
In-Class Written Assignment

********FALL BREAK*******

Oct. 15: The Idea of a Democracy (Continued)
Texts: Who Built America (Chapter 7)
Movie: Revolution!
Movie: American Revolution
Movie: Unearthing the Slave Trade
*Continued in-class Study Group discussion/preparation time for group power point presentation. *
Oct. 17: Caste, Class, and Compromise
Documents: Study Group Power Point Presentations

Week 9: The Revolution Will Propably be Televised

Oct. 20: Caste, Class, and Compromise (Continued)
Documents: Study Group Power Point Presentations
Oct. 22: Caste, Class, and Compromise (Continued)
Documents: Study Group Power Point Presentations
Oct. 24: Caste, Class, and Compromise (Continued)
Documents: Study Group Power Point Presentations

Proposals for Final Paper Due

Weeks 10 & 11: Toward a More Perfect Union

Oct. 27: The Gendering of U.S. Politics
Texts: Who Built America (Chapter 8)
Oct. 29: The Men, the Boys, and the Mothers
Texts: Who Built America (Chapter 9)
Mark Kann, The Gendering of American Politics(Part I) (1999)
Mark Kann, The Gendering of American Politics(Part II) (1999)
"The Constitution: Conflict or Consensus" (Beard, Brown, and Handlin)
Linda Kerber, "The Republican Mother and the Woman Citizen"
(All on eReserve)
Oct. 31: Boys to Men
Documents: Early American Women (Nancy Woloch) [Abigail Adams, "A Republican Mother"]
We are Your Sisters (Dorothy Sterling)
Early American Women "A Rationale for Female Education" (Nancy Woloch)
The Process of American History (Paul Glad) [Alexander Hamilton, "To George Washington"]
The Process of American History (Paul Glad) ["A Frontier Brawl" (1843)]
The Process of American History (Paul Glad) [Thomas Jefferson, from Notes on Virginia]
The Process of American History (Paul Glad) [Nathan Appleton, from Introduction of the Power Loom... (1858)]
(All on eReserve)
Weekly Written Assignment

Nov. 3: Politics the Highest Calling
Texts: Who Built America (Chapter 10)
Michael Kimmel, "The Birth of the Self-Made Man" (1996)
Anthony Wallace, "Slums in the Wilderness" (1972)
Stephen Oates, Portrait of America [Robert Remini, "The Jacksonian Revolution" (1968)}
(All on eReserve)
Nov. 5: Andrew Jackson and The Common Man
Documents: Hofstadter, Great Issues in American History ["Debate in the New York Constitutional Convention, 1821."]
"A Jacksonian Editor Extols Equality" (1834)
American Ideas (Gerald Grob) [Andrew Jackson, from his veto of the second bank.]
(All on eReserve)
Nov. 7: Land of the Brave
Documents: The Indian in America's Past (Forbes, 18-20) ["The Positive Approach" (excerpts from Ben Franklin, T. Jefferson, Gov. Fages, Alex Ross, and J.D. Hunter) (1784-1811)]
The Indian in America's Past (Forbes, 54-61) [Speech of Logan, Red Jacket's Reply, Curly Chief's relation, Tecumseh's speeches to Harrison and Proctor (1774-1812)]
(All on eReserve)

Week 12: Pledging Allegiance

Nov. 10: Virtue, Citizenship, and Votes
Texts: Who Built America (Chapter 11)
Nov. 12: For Whom the Bell Tolls
Nov. 14: The Frontiersman and the Lady
Texts: Movie: The Last of the Mohicans
James F. Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans (excerpt from the book)

Weeks 13 & 14: Joined in Battle

Nov. 17: The Problem with America
Texts: Who Built America (Chapter 12)
Michael Kimmel, "Born to Run" (1996)
Lawrence Levine, "African Culture and U.S. Slavery" (1993)
Thomas Dublin, "Women, Work, and Protest" (1975)
Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, "Beauty, the Beast, and the Militant Woman" (1972)
Paul Goodman, "Ethics and Enterprise" (1966)
(All on eReserve)
Nov. 19: The Slavery Question
Documents: William Lloyd Garrison, "The Liberator" (1831) [in The American Spirit 4th ed, Bailey, Thomas]
"Wage Slavery in New England" (1832) [in "Forging the National Economy collection]
"Manifesto of the Anti-Slavery Society" (1833) [in The American Spirit 4th ed, Bailey, Thomas]
"Weld Pillories Slavery" (1839) [in The American Spirit 4th ed, Bailey, Thomas]
"Negro Slavery Versus Wage Slavery" (1840) (in "Mounting Labor Unrest" collection)
"Slaves Don't Strike" (1846) [in The American Spirit 4th ed, Bailey, Thomas]
"A Southern Defense of Slavery" (1857)
William Wells Brown, "The Cargo of Human Flesh"
(All on eReserve)
Nov. 21: Machines of the State
Documents: "A One-Sided Labor Contract" (1832) (in "Mounting Labor Unrest" collection)
"Agitation for a Ten Hour Day" (1835) (in "Mounting Labor Unrest" collection)
"The Tailors Strike in New York" (1836) (in "Mounting Labor Unrest" collection)
(All on eReserve)

Nov. 24: Uncivil War
Texts: Who Built America (Chapter 13)
Couvaris, Saxton, Grob, and Billias, "The Civil War: Repressible or Irrepressible?" (2000) (on eReserve)

****THANKSGIVING BREAK****

Dec. 1: William T. Sherman
Texts: Who Built America (Chapter 14)
Documents: "A Report from Antietam" (1862)
"The Hell of Andersonville Prison" (1864)
"General William T. Sherman Dooms Atlanta" (1864)
"Georgia Damns the Yankees" (1864)
(All on eReserve)
Dec. 3: Constructing Freedom
Texts: Ethnic Notions (Movie)
"Birth of a Nation" (Movie)
Glory (Movie)
Dec. 5. Wrap-up - TELLING HISTORY

**********Final Paper Due Thurs., Dec. 11, 5:00 pm*********

Requirements:

Weekly Written Assignments:
These will vary from writing short (one-page only) position papers, to analyzing documents, to constructing bibllographies, to finding documents. Generally, they will be due on Fridays and be returned to you on Mondays. Collectively, these papers will be worth 35% of your grade.
Participation:
Since this class is dependent on your participation in discussions, your class participation will constitute a larger than usual amount of your grade, 30%. I determine your participation in three ways: your attendance, your participation in your discussion group, and your involvement in class discussions. Whether you come to class or not is your choice, but if you miss more than 4 classes your grade will begin to go down. You can be "involved" in discussion without speaking, but I expect that when you have something to say you will feel free to do so. We're all learning together in this class, me from you, you from me and each other, so it's very important that you are part of our community of meaning, however briefly it may last. If you're having some problem with discussions, please come see me.
Final Research Paper: (6-10 pages). Due Dec. 11, 5:00 pm.
This paper should contain the three elements that shape this course: a review of the literature, an analysis of the evidence, and a summary of how your research fits into the larger historical picture. It can be on any topic from the period between pre-contact to 1877, but should be as narrowly focused as possible. Worth 35 percent of your grade for the class.

If you have questions, feel like a bit of conversation, or need someplace to vent, my door is always open.

Last updated: September 11, 2003
© Karen J. Taylor