History 17B: Contested Visions of American Liberty, 1840-1920
Instructor: Professor John Majewski
Office: Humanities and Social Sciences 4220
Email: majewski@history.ucsb.edu
Office Hours: M 1-3 and by appointment.
Course Website: http://www.history.ucsb.edu/courses/course.php?course_id=1250
Time and Room: T-TH 8:00-9:15, IV Theater
Introduction: Students who have not taken a college history course might think that history consists of
“one damned fact after another.” This class will be far different. You will not be asked to memorize
presidents or state capitals, but to analyze complex issues, many of which still confront us today. We will
focus on how the expansion of commerce, the growth of cities, the settlement of the West, and the rise of
big business created divisive social and political conflict. Our goal is to understand how Americans
debated the meaning of liberty, equality, and our other political creeds. As we shall see, a variety of
different groups-- including wealthy merchants, slaveholding planters, ordinary farmers, immigrants,
Native Americans, slaves, and middle-class women –debated the very idea of American identity. At
stake in these conflicts was a deceptively simple question: What did it mean to be an American?
To better understand these conflicts, we will read the works of historians as well as original documents
from our time period. Your job will be to think about the readings and discuss their significance in your
weekly discussion meetings. This will take some hard work, but the rewards will be great. By the end of
the course, you should have a much better understanding of how conflict in the past has influenced
today’s ideas and debates.
Readings: The following books are required reading. The readings can either be purchased at the UCSB
bookstore or read on reserve at the library. It is very important that you do the assigned reading every
week. The textbook (The American Promise) provides a concise overview of basic events. It will not be
enough to come to section having read only the textbook: you must do the other readings as well!
John Majewski (ed.), History of American Peoples, 1840-1920: A Primary Source Reader. (Please note
that you will need the SECOND EDITION or else you will not have crucial documents).
Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty (Seagull Second Edition).
Eric Foner, Forever Free: The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction
Nancy Cott, Bonds of Womanhood
Grading: Grades will be based on lecture attendance, two papers, the final, and performance during
discussion section. The exact breakdown is as follows:
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2.
3.
4.
5.
Attendance of Interactive Lectures: 5 percent
First Paper: 20 percent (due Tuesday, Feb. 2)
Second Paper: 25 percent (due Tuesday, March 2)
Discussion Section: 20 percent
Final: 30 percent (Friday, March 19, 8:00-11:00, IV Theater).
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The papers will cover topics that will give you the chance to apply the primary source readings in
constructing your own arguments. Your TA will give you more information—including format
instructions and writing advice—as the quarter progresses. The final will consist solely of essay
questions which will be given out in advance.
To reward students who consistently come to lecture, we will be using the “i-clicker” system. Your eclickers can be purchased at the bookstore, either with the textbook or separately. ALWAYS BRING
YOUR i-CLICKER TO CLASS. After week one, all lectures will be an interactive lecture in which you
can receive credit simply by showing up. Students are expected to attend 10 lectures. A student
attending 10 lectures will receive an A+ for their lecture attendance grade; a student attending none of
the interactive lectures will receive a zero. You can significantly improve your grade simply by
showing up!
All grading will be done by your TA. If you disagree with your TA over a grade, you may appeal to me
only after discussing the issue first with your TA. Every appeal to me must be in writing specifying
exactly why you believe your grade should be raised. I reserve the right to lower as well as raise grades
in appeal situations. All appeals must be initiated within one week after an assignment has been
returned to students.
Please be advised that plagiarism or any other form of cheating will not be tolerated in 17b. Any student
caught turning in work other than their own will receive an automatic “F” in the course and disciplinary
action from the University. .
Students must earn a passing grade in section to pass the course. You should keep in mind that
three unexcused absences will result in an automatic “F” in section.
SPECIAL NOTE: This is a large class, so please do not talk, read newspapers, or engage in other
distracting behaviors. If students repeatedly act in a rude and distracting manner—including leaving
early without prior authorization— I will ask the TAs to take their names so that their grades may be
penalized accordingly. Please turn off your cell phones as you enter class.
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Schedule of Weekly Lectures Topics and Readings
Part I: A Fractured Republic
I. American Society in 1840
Jan. 5: Introduction to History 17B
Jan. 7: America in 1840: Economy, Society, and Politics
Reading: Foner, Give Me Liberty, 302-371
Majewski, History of the American Peoples, 3-8
II. Domestic Ideology and Moral Reform
Jan. 12: Separate Spheres, Middle-Class Women, and Reform
Jan. 14: From Reform to the Early Women’s Rights Movement
Reading: Cott, Bonds of Womanhood, 1-125, 197-206
Foner, Give Me Liberty, 411-440
Majewski, History of the American Peoples, 9-25
III. Was the South Exceptional? Slavery and the Southern Society
Jan. 19: An Empire for Liberty? Slavery, Native Americans, and Western Expansion
Jan. 21: Slave Culture, Slave Resistance, and Pro-Slavery Ideology
Reading: Majewski, History of the American Peoples, 29-36
Foner, Give Me Liberty, 375-408
IV. Why did Northerners Oppose the Expansion of Slavery?
Jan. 26: “Mexico Will Poison Us:” The Slave Power and Free-Labor Ideology
Jan. 30: The Tumultuous Politics of the 1850s
Reading:
Majewski, History of the American Peoples, 37-60
Foner, Forever Free, 3-40
Foner, Give Me Liberty, 441-479
V. Why Did the South Lose the War?
Feb. 2: The Civil War as Total War (Paper #1 Due)
Feb. 4: Did the Slaves Free Themselves?
Reading: Majewski, History of the American Peoples, 61-85.
Foner, Forever Free, 41-75
Foner, Give Me Liberty, 480-519
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VI. Race and Government after the Civil War
Feb. 9: Reconstruction and the Fight for Civil Rights
Feb. 11: Non-Classroom Instruction (Native Americans and the Gilded Age West)
Reading: Majewski, History of the American Peoples, 85-90, 121-138.
Foner, Forever Free, 76-201
Foner, Give Me Liberty, 568-579
Part II: Political Responses to the Rise of Big Business
VII. The Rise of Big Business
Feb. 18: Debating Big Business
Feb. 20: Responding to Big Business: Unions and Populists
Reading: Majewski, History of the American Peoples, 93-120.
Foner, Give Me Liberty, 556-568, 584-608
VIII. The Middle Class Responds to Big Business: Making Sense of the Progressives
Feb. 23: Debating the Meaning of Progressivism
Feb. 25: A New Vision of America and the World: Progressivism and Imperialism
Reading: Majewski, History of the American Peoples, 141-170
Foner, Give Me Liberty, 624-677
IX. Race and Culture in the Progressive Period
March 2: Racism, Lynching, and the Progressives (Paper #2 Due)
March 4: Masculinity and the New Culture of Sports
Reading: Majewski, History of American Peoples, 171-92
Foner, Give Me Liberty, 608-616
Foner, Forever Free, 202-238
X. A Different Kind of Political Power: The Suffrage Movement in the Progressive Period
March 9: The Suffrage Movement and World War I
March 11: Non-classroom instructional day
Reading: Majewski, History of the American Peoples, 193-209
Foner, Give Me Liberty, 678-718
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