History 109 American History to Reconstruction Fall 2014 Francis William Edmunds, “Taking the Census” (1854) Lecture Days: MW Class Times: 10‐10:50 Class Location: SHW-012 Professor: Edward J. Blum Contact Information: eblum@mail.sdsu.edu Office Hours Times (and by appointment): M and W, 11:00‐1 Office Hours Location: AL 525 TA: Mayra Lopez Contact Information: mlopez5196@gmail.com Office Hours Times (and by appointment): Wednesday 12-1:00 pm Office Hours Location: Arts and Letters 560 Section 09 Day: Wednesday Section Time: 11-11:50 Section Location: LSN-134 Course Overview: (catalogue description) United States history from pre-colonial societies to Reconstruction. Contact of cultures, patterns of settlement, contests over racial, ethnic, religious, class, gender, regional, and national identities and institutions. Satisfies the American Institutions requirement in American history and United States Constitution. Beginning with the encounters between Native Americans and European explorers, this course extends to the aftermath of the American Civil War. It will consider the landing of European settlers, the transformation of Native American societies, the enslavement, exploitation, and creativity of African captives and their descendants, the rise of the women’s rights movement, several wars, two or three revolutions, and maybe even the origins of baseball. We will look at the faltering progress of democracy, the frustrations of free government, the settling of the West, the building of an industrial nation, and of course the Great Rebellion (also known as the Civil War, the War Between the States, or the Confederate Revolution). Throughout the course, we will pay special attention to figures who have been often ignored as important historical characters. Learning Outcomes: Students will gain content knowledge of events, peoples, and ideas of American history to Reconstruction. Students will analyze primary sources within the contexts of debates among historians. Students will discuss historical problems on American colonization, the origins of the American Revolution, the rise of American industry, and the origins and outcomes of the Civil War. Students will examine historical relationships between the age of European exploration and colonizing of North America, economic and sectional change, and slavery and the Civil War. Students will demonstrate in writing and speaking how the diversity of cultures and groups in the American past have influenced American history. Students will argue in writing and speaking as professional historians do. Enrollment Information No prerequisites Course Materials Required Materials (including all acceptable text editions) Bundle: Schultz HIST, Volume 1 : US History Through 1877 (with CourseMate Access Card) (3rd edition, 2014); Frakes, Writing for College History : A Short Handbook (2004); CobbsHoffman/Blum/Gjerde, Major Problems in American History, Volume I (3rd edition, 2012). Bundle ISBN # 9781305248557 Edward J. Blum and Paul Harvey, The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America (University of North Carolina Press, 2012) Grade Breakdown: Your grade will be based upon three areas: quizzes, discussion participation, and essays. Failing to turn in one of the essays or missing more than half of the reading quizzes will result in an automatic failure of the class. Your discussion grade will be assessed by two factors: 1) attendance at section; 2) participation in discussion. The quizzes will be based upon the course reading and will be done via Coursemate and/or in section. Your essays will consist of learning how to put together a history paper – with appropriate footnotes, a thesis/argument, clear prose, and thoughtful analysis. Quizzes: Discussion: Essay 1 Outline: Essay 1: Essay 2: Extra Credit: Extra Credit: 20% (8 quizzes in total, must be completed before discussion) 20% (for each section you miss, you will be deducted 2 points from here… so if you miss two discussions, the highest discussion grade you can receive is 21%) 10% (late papers will be deducted 3 points for each day so if you are 2 days late, the highest grade you can receive is 6%) 15% 25% Attend lecture by Dr. Jana Riess (5% addition to your discussion grade) Locate a piece of American art from the time period and analyze it as Blum and Harvey analyze artwork in The Color of Christ Essay #1 Tentative Prompt: Due October 13, 2014 (I will send out an email with specific instructions on font, citations, etc.) The Market Revolution of the 19th century radically shifted commerce as well as the way of life for most Americans. Social changes associated with the Market Revolution include an increase in religious division and protest movements. In a 4-5-page essay, analyze the relationship between religious division and the growth of reform movements prompted by the Market Revolution. Be sure to discuss a few of these movements in depth. (Essay should incorporate lectures and readings…NO OUTSIDE RESEARCH) Essay #2 Tentative Prompt: Due, Monday, December 15, 2014 TBA Quizzes: TBA Other Course Policies Plagiarism: using someone else’s ideas without properly attributing it to them, that’s plagiarism. For SDSU’s policies on cheating, see http://infotutor.sdsu.edu/plagiarism/index.cfm For Students with Disabilities If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class, it is your responsibility to contact Student Disability Services at (619) 594-6473. To avoid any delay in the receipt of your accommodations, you should contact Student Disability Services as soon as possible. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive, and that accommodations based upon disability cannot be provided until you have presented your instructor with an accommodation letter from Student Disability Services. Your cooperation is appreciated. Schedule: Course Structure and Conduct Week 1: First Collisions August 25: Syllabus and Overview August 27: Old Worlds Collide Discussion: Introductions, Expectations, Questions? Followed by a brief discussion on Major Problems and Color of Christ. Reading: Hist3, Table of Contents Major Problems, preface and introduction Color of Christ, prologue Week 2: The Age of Encounters Reading Quiz for Chapter 1&2 September 1: NO CLASS – LABOR DAY September 3: Confusion, Conflict, and Contact Discussion: Hist3: Compare and contrast the tribes that were living in North America in 1492 and the interests of the French and the English in the New World. Similarities? Differences? Major Problems: Based on the documents in Chapter 1 and 2, describe the initial interaction among Indians, Africans, and Europeans. What do these narratives have in common? Differences? What role did violence play in creating the new world? Why did Africans become slaves and Europeans servants? Reading: Hist3, chapters 1-2 Major Problems, chapters 1-2 Week 3: Colonial Outposts to Colonial Settlements September 8: Colonial Outposts September 10: The English in America Discussion: Hist3: Explain how and why American slavery developed as it did. Why could colonists not use indentured servants as they had in the past? How did the American enlightenment and the Great Awakening of the 1740s affect the lives of the colonists? Major Problems: Explain the transformation of religious colonies into secular societies. Ramifications? Writing for College History: What makes and effective written response? Reading: Hist3, chapters 3-4 Major Problems, chapter 3 Writing for College History, introduction and chapter 1 Week 4: The Revolution Reading Quiz for Chapter 5&6 September 15: Growth and Conflict September 17: Big Enough to Kill Discussion: Hist3: Discuss the significance to the colonists of the Tea Act and the Coercive Acts. Why did these particular acts seem so galling to the American colonists? Describe the significance of the American Revolution to the development of the United States as well as other countries of the world. Major Problems: How did the Revolution alter the lives of men, women, Indians, slaves, loyalists, and patriots? Would you characterize the Revolution as a conflict that looked forward or backward? Why? Writing for College History: How to write an effective essay for an in-class examination. Reading: Hist3, chapters 5-6 Major Problems, chapter 4 Writing for College History, chapter 2 Week 5: Making a Nation, Making a People Reading Quiz for Chapter 7&8 September 22: An Empire of Troubles September 24: Colonial Unity Discussion: Hist3: Describe the process by which the Constitution was created in the summer of 1787, and explain how it became the law of the land. Analyze the formation of America’s first two political parties, the Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists. Differences? Major Problems: How would government and society have differed if the Articles of Confederation had not been replaced by the Constitution? Compare and contrast the focus upon religious freedom and physical enslavement. Whose vision of America’s future, Jefferson’s or Hamilton’s, is most appealing to you? Writing for College History: The infamous five-pager. EXTRA CREDIT LECTURE: Jana Riess, “New Religions, New Texts, New Technologies” (Wednesday, 3:00 PM) Reading: Hist3, chapter 7-8 Major Problems, chapters 5-6 Writing for College History, chapter 3 Week 6: Of Markets and Men Essay #1 Outline Due, Friday, October 3, 2014 September 29: The Market Revolution October 1: The Rise of Herrenvolk Democracy Discussion: Hist3: What were the various aspects of Jeffersonian Democracy? Why was it named after the third president of the U.S.? Discuss American’s transportation revolution in the first half o the 1880s and how did industrialization change America’s urban areas? Major Problems: Which strategy used by Indians—resistance or acculturation—was more successful in grappling with the westward migration of white Americans? Were there winners and losers in the outcome of the market revolution? Do you think a “national market economy” would link the nation together or pull it apart? Describe the experiences of Native American tribes involved in the Indian removal movement of the 1830s. Reading: Hist3, chapters 9-11 Major Problems, chapters 7-8 Week 7: An Unsteady Republic Reading Quiz for Chapter 12 October 6: Regionalisms October 8: Reformers Discussion: Discussion: Hist3: Compare and contrast life in the North and South during the mid-1800s. Major Problems: How were the notions about ‘the people’ or ‘the common man’ used to celebrate the potential of the United States? And how were these celebrations linked to expansion and ‘manifest destiny’? What were the new, religious views in America and can they be linked to reform movements? Were reformers concerned more about improving society or about controlling it? Reading: Hist3, chapter 12 Major Problems, chapter 9-10 Week 8: The Brink of War Essay # 1 Due, Monday, October 13, 2014 October 13: Slavery in the West October 15: Words and Weapons Discussion: Hist3: How and when did Texas gain its independence and enter the Union? Why did the Mexican War of 1846 take place and was the war necessary? What made Kansas so important that it became the first battleground of the Civil War six years before Lincoln’s election? Major Problems: How were economic and geographical mobility central to the experience and ideologies of northerners? In what ways did immigration create a more volatile northern society? Describe the term ‘wage slave’ and its implications. Reading: Hist3, chapter 13-14 Major Problems, chapter 11-12 Week 9: War is Hell Reading Quiz for Chapter 15 October 20: Union Forever October 22: Emancipation Discussion: Hist3: In the beginning, each side in the Civil War believed the war would be brief and that their side would win. What advantages did each side hold that made them feel this way? Major Problems: Of the documents you have read in Ch. 13, which is most conciliatory toward the other side? Which is more antagonistic? Why did the Union ultimately win the war? How did war strain and change the societies in both the North and the South? Reading: Hist3, chapter 15 Major Problems, chapter 13-14 Week 10: Reconstructing the People October 27: Radicalism Triumphant October 29: Conservatism Victorious Discussion: Hist3: Lincoln had one plan for bringing the rebel states back into the Union; Andre Johnson another, and the Radical Republican Congress a third. We will discuss the aims of each president, and explain why and in what ways Congress took control of the Reconstruction. Major Problems: What were the failures and successes of Reconstruction? And why did it collapse to the extent that it did? How did African Americans feel about the possibilities and the terrors of Reconstruction? Reading: Hist3, chapter 16 Major Problems, chapter 15 Week 11: Back to the Beginning November 3: When Christ Crossed the Sea November 5: Guest Lecture Discussion: The Color of Christ + Lecture Writing for College History: The Research Paper Reading: The Color of Christ, introduction and chapter 1 Writing for College History, chapter 4 Week 12: Revolutions and New Nations November 10: Revolutionary Visions November 12: From Light to White Discussion: The Color of Christ + Lecture Reading: Color of Christ, chapters 2 and 3 Week 13: Body Battles November 17: Body Battles in Antebellum America November 19: Christ in the Camps Discussion: The Color of Christ + Lecture Reading: Color of Christ, chapters 4 and 5 Week 14: Battle November 24: Guest Lecture November 26: The History of Thanksgiving Discussion: NO DISCUSSION THIS WEEK Week 15: December 1: Nordic and Nativist in an Imperial Age December 3: Proud to be an American Discussion: The Color of Christ + Lecture Reading: The Color of Christ, 6 Final: Essay #2 Due, Monday, December 15, 2014