HIST
201 American History,
30,000 BCE- 1877
SECTION 800: MWF:
10:10-11:05
Fall Semester, 2006
Dr.
Katherine M. B. Osburn
e-mail: kosburn@tntech.edu;
phone: 372-6297
office: Henderson Hall, 110
office hours: M:
11:15-3:15
; W.
& F.:
11:15-1:15
(and by
appointment)
COURSE
DESCRIPTION: To understand
who we are as a nation requires knowledge of our national origins. This course
traces American history from before
Columbus
to the end of Reconstruction. The
focus is on the creation of the Republic and its subsequent unraveling in the
Civil War. We will examine the important processes of historical change that
were present at the creation of
America
and seek to analyze why the nation
split apart in only 73 years. Our study of this period will not focus on dry
statistics, boring presidential administrations, and endless recitation of
dates, facts, and figures, but on ideas, cultural trends, social movements,
the development of institutions, and the effects of economic and political
changes on society. In short, we
will study how people lived in response to the forces of history that often
drastically altered their lives.
COURSE
OBJECTIVES:
1.
To develop critical and analytical thinking and writing skills.
2. To comprehend several basic principles of historical thinking such as:
change and/or continuity over time, multiple causation of historical events,
origins of present problems, and historiography.
3. To learn to interpret historical materials and, as each generation writes
its own history, to understand shifting historical interpretations of major
events in history. (Historiography.)
4. To understand the historical development of early America as characterized
by four themes: a. The creation of American
society; b. The New Republic and Jacksonian America; c. Early
industrialization and sectional conflict; d. The Civil War and Reconstruction
5. To discern the nature of social change over time.
READINGS
:
1.
Alan Taylor, American Colonies
2.
Paul Johnson, A Shopkeeper’s
Millennium
3.
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of
the Life of Frederick Douglass
4.
Robert Cook, Civil
War
America
,
Making a Nation, 1848-1877
5.
Web links and course packet, 23
readings, listed below.
WRITE-UPS:
This class is a seminar that strongly emphasizes student discussions.
Indeed, if you do not come to class prepared to discuss your ideas, then
we cannot have class, as I refuse to stand up in front of the room and lecture
at you. Much of your grade, therefore, will be attendance and class
participation. Every class period for which there is a reading
assignment--whether from a book or my online web lecture notes--you must turn
in a summary of the readings that addresses the following questions:
1.
What is the main point of the readings--that is, the authors' thesis?
2. What question or questions, it any, do the readings raise for you?
The length of these will vary depending on the readings and your talents
for summary. Some of you are very succinct while others of you are more detail
oriented. The absolute minimum is one and a half pages, but 2 to 3 pages
are recommended. Remember, the more detailed your write-up, the less you will
have to scramble around to find information when it's time to write your
take-home mid-term and final essays. Keeping up with things on a weekly basis
is, in the long run, a much better strategy for scholarship. These assignments
are worth up to 5 points each. To prevent intellectual colonialism,
write-ups are due at the beginning of each class period. You may turn in a
? during the following class if you miss
class, but you will only get 2 points for these unless you have a documented
excuse. If you consistently come to class without your write-ups you will be
docked one full letter grade. On several occasions, we will hold
"virtual class", meaning that you will post your work to the class
web board. These are due by the end of class time and are marked on the
syllabus. To prevent a backlog of late postings, no posting will be accepted
if it is done after the end of class.
GOOD
WRITING: To make sure that your written work is the best that it can
be, please see download this writing critique. Academic
Writing
EXAMS:
You
will have take-home essay exams. It
is imperative that you do not commit the mortal academic sin of plagiarism in
your papers. To make sure you are covered, see Policy
on Plagiarism. Also see Performance
Standards for an idea of my grading criteria. Note that your midterm falls
late in the semester. This is to allow you to work on it while I am at a
conference and also so that your other midterms
are, hopefully, over. Trust me, you will need lots
of time to work on this one.
GRADES:
Grades will be assigned
according to the write-ups and essay exams. Write ups are worth 5 points each.
Grades will be assigned on a 10 point scale.
Write
ups: 37 @ 5 = 185
Midterm
essay:
100
Final
essay:
100
TOTAL:
385
A=385-347; B=346-308
; C=307-269; D=269-230
PROCRASTINATION:
Honors students are notorious
for procrastinating. (Saint Procrastinata is not
the patron saint of the honors department because all the other saints were
"taken.") Unfortunately, late assignments make extra work for
me, as my schedule is set to maximize my ability to keep up with my grading.
Because of this, I do not accept late
assignments except under the most dire of
circumstances--a serious illness (documented by a medical professional) or
death in the family are the only acceptable reasons for late work. Any
other excuse will not be accepted and no late work will be accepted.
Moreover, I have found that students often skip class the day an
assignment is due in order to finish it. Therefore all assignments are due at
the beginning of class. If you show up after class or more than 15 minutes
late, I will not accept your paper. Also,
I am no longer giving incompletes. The drop date is November 10th. You
should know before then if you will pass this class and can take the
appropriate actions.
ATTENDANCE
POLICY: Attending class is crucial to your grade. While I do not
set a specific number of classes that you must attend, I reserve the right
to fail or dock letter grades for students for poor attendance regardless of
performance on exams. This is a seminar and your input is valued and
needed. Moreover, note that the individual essay grades roughly equal the
points for the write-ups, so that your summaries and class participation are
approximately one third of your grade. If
you encounter a genuine problem that prevents your attendance, let me know as
soon as possible. Disappearing for a long period of time and then
emailing me the last week of classes with your explanation of what happened is
not
acceptable.
INSTRUCTIONS
FOR POSTING FOR VIRTUAL CLASS:
1.
Please post listing your last name so that I can find your grade page quickly
and work alphabetically. This cuts down on the
number of things I miss and helps me be organized.
2.
Please NO
ATTACHMENTS. Cut and paste your work into the message.
Again, this makes my job easier.
READING
ASSIGNMENTS
UNIT
ONE: THE CREATION OF AMERICAN SOCIETY, 30,000 BCE TO 1783
Week
1: August 28-September 1
M.
Introduction
W. Taylor
, Intro and ch.
1
F.
Taylor, ch. 2
Week
2: Sept. 4-8
NO CLASS ON MONDAY OF WEEK 2
W. Taylor
. chs. 3
& 4
F.
Virtual class:
Taylor
, ch. 5
Week
3: Sept. 11-15
M. Taylor,
chs. 6
& 7
W. Taylor
, ch. 8
&
Readings
on Witchcraft
F.
Virtual class:
Taylor
, ch. 9
Week
4: Sept. 18-22
M.
Taylor, ch. 10
W. Taylor
chs. 11
& 12.
F.
Virtual class:
Taylor
, chs. 13
& 15
Week
5: Sept. 25-29 Overview of the
Revolution; see also my Chart
summarizing causation. Please download these notes and familiarize yourself
with them. I will assume that you know something about this data.
M. Articles on the Revolution: E. Wayne Carp, The Wars of the American Revolution. Go to: http://revolution.h-net.msu.edu/. Click on Essays. Documents packet articles are: Jesse Lemisch, Jack Tar in the Streets, and Gary B. Nash, Social Change and the Growth of Prerevolutionary Urban Radicalism.
W. Articles on the Revolution: Timothy D. Hall, The American Revolution and the Religious Public Sphere Go to: http://revolution.h-net.msu.edu/. Click on Essays. Documents packet articles are: Gary B. Nash, The Forgotten Experience: Indians, Blacks, and the American Revolution and William H. Nelson, The Tory Rank and File
F. Virtual class: Articles on the Revolution: Joan Hoff The Negative Impact of the American Revolution on White Women v. Mary Beth Norton, The Positive Impact of the American Revolution on White Women. Please compare and contrast these articles and let me know which one you find more convincing.
UNIT
TWO: THE NEW REPUBLIC AND JACKSONIAN
AMERICA
, 1783-1850
Week
6: Oct. 2-6
M.
R. B. Bernstein, The
Articles Of Confederation And The Constitution and
The Argument over the Constitution Go
to: http://revolution.h-net.msu.edu/.
Click on Essays
W.
Johnson, Intro through 3. For
background on
the Industrial Revolution click here.
NOTE: Do not concern yourselves with state politics in this
book—Johnson goes into way more detail than you need and I don’t care one
whit about any of it. Rather, pay attention to his argument about changes in
the relations of production and the Second Great Awakening.
F.
Virtual class:
Johnson, ch.
4 & 5
Week
7: Oct. 9-13
M.
Johnson, ch. 6 & Afterward
W.
Article: Documents packet article: Gerda Lerner,
The
Lady and the Mill Girl.
F.
Virtual class:
Documents packet article: Thomas
Dublin, The
Solidarity of Women in the
Lowell
Mills
Week
8: Oct. 16-20
M.
Fall Break
W.
The Seneca Falls Declaration: http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/17.htm.
Document Project: “Why Did Some Men
Support the Women’s Rights Movement…” Intro
and Documents 1-4 and 7
F.
Virtual class: Document
Project: “Why Did Some Men Support the Women’s Rights Movement…”
Documents 12, 18-19.
Week
9: Oct. 23-27 Midterm
questions passed out. For the questions click here:
Midterm Essays
M. The
Old South; Douglass, pp. 1-40
W.
Douglass, pp. 41-79
F. Virtual Class: Douglass,
pp. 79-125
UNIT
THREE: THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION, 1850-1877
Week
10: Oct. 30-Nov. 3. I will be at a
Conference this week. Work on your midterms. NOTE: The Civil War grows out of
conflict over slavery in the territories gained in the Mexican War. For that
story, click here: Manifest
Destiny and War.
Week 11: Nov. 6-10 MIDTERM EXAMS
COLLECTED
ON
MONDAY, NOV. 6 AT THE BEGINNING OF
CLASS. LATE EXAMS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
M. Harriet
Jacobs web site; Selections: All of the intros: by
Adams
, by Child, and by Jacobs; Chapters,
1, 2, 3, 5, 7,
W. Jacobs, cont' 10, 17, 21, 29,
30, 40, 41. Note: This looks like a lot, but they are short chapters. The
total assignment is 59 pp. and it goes really fast b/c it is such absorbing
reading. (In case there is a problem w/ this link, see: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/JACOBS/hjhome.htm)
F. Virtual Class:
Cook, Civil War
America
, Chapter One
This
text on the Civil War argues that the war came about as a result of the
appearance of a sectional party. To trace this phenomenon view these maps. Sectional
Politics Map.
For information on the outpouring of nationalism after the
War of 1812 and the sectional controversy that intruded upon it see: The
War of 1812.
Week
12: Nov. 13-17 I will be at a Conference this week as well.
We are only meeting on Monday.
M. Cook, Civil
War America, Chapter Two; Please click here for the Fugitive Slave
controversy: https://rim.tntech.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.motopera.org/mg_ed/educational/FugitiveSlaveCase.html
W. Virtual Class: Cook, Civil
War America, Chapter Three; Testimony relating to John Brown: John
Brown Link
F. Virtual Class:
Cook, Civil War America,
Chapter Four and Documents on Secession: Alexander
Stephens's Cornerstone Speech @ http://hometown.aol.com/jfepperson/stephans.html.
You need not download the entire speech from the link on this page--just the
excerpts contained on this page, and the South
Carolina Ordinance of Secession: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/csa/scarsec.htm;
For this assignment,
summarize the reasons for secession.
Week
13: Nov. 20-24 Thanksgiving is this week. Therefore we will hold virtual
class on Wednesday for those of you who have to travel.
M. Cook, Civil
War
America
, Chapter Five
W. Virtual Class. Cook,
Civil War
America
, Chapter Six
F. No Class.
Week
14: Nov. 27-Dec. 1
M. Women and the Civil War--All
web sources
1.
“Angels of mercy” The
Biography of Clara Barton: "The True Heroine of the Age": Page
1, Page
2 and "The
Women Who Went to the Field" Both at: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/6732/cb.html
And 2.
Soldiers and Spies: a. Rose O'Neal Greenhow
Papers, 1861-1864: http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/greenhow/
Click on: About Rose
O'Neal Greenhow & Read
items from the collection There
are 11 letters and a newspaper account of her service to the Confederacy. Read:
Her letter to Seward; and all
5 of her Letters to Alexander Boteler-15 pp total.
And b. DeAnne
Blanton, Women
Soldiers of the Civil War, Part 3, Prologue,
Spring 1993, Vol. 25, No. 1: http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1993/spring/women-in-the-civil-war-3.html
Read the entire selection.
W.
Women and the Civil War, con't
3.
Suffering wives: NOTE:
Please do not give me a day-by-day account of these women's lives. Rather,
summarize their experiences with this war. Pay attention to gendered language
and concerns. Are their experiences very similar despite their different
locations or does it make a real difference if one is in the north or the
south?
Of
the South: A
Woman's Wartime Journal: an Account of the Passage over a Georgia Plantation
of Sherman's Army on the March to the Sea, as recorded in the Diary of Dolly
Sumner Lunt (Mrs. Thomas Burge) Please
read the entire selection, pp. v-54
Of
the North: The
Wartime Diary of Rachel Cormany: Please
read the entire selection.
F.
Virtual Class: Reconstruction. Click
here for the Lecture notes.
Week
15: Dec. 4-8
M. Readings on the Conquest of the West
W. Catch up day
F. Catch up day
Click
here for the final essay questions.
Finals
are due at
the end of the class period designated for finals.
That means I must have it in my hand by Wednesday, December 13 @
12:30
LATE EXAMS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED