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History 450w
The Writing of History
Spring 2014
M W 2:00-3:15
PSFA-113
Responses to Emancipation
Your Instructor:
Edward J. Blum, PhD
eblum@mail.sdsu.edu
Office Location: Arts and Letters 525
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 12:30-2:00 p.m.
Required Texts and Reading:
 Frakes, Writing for College History + Perman/Taylor, Major Problems in Civil War
and Reconstruction (bundled together at Aztec Shops)
 Blum, Reforging the White Republic
 Holzer, Emancipation Proclamation
What is this course really about?
History 450W is the capstone course for the major in history at San Diego State University. The
primary goal of this course is to complete a 15-to-20-page primary source-based research paper.
There are a number of "byproducts" of writing this paper, which are also course goals: learning
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to situate arguments within scholarly debates, locating primary sources, and analyze documents
from the past. You will learn to delineate a realistic research topic; to construct a thesis and with
a consistent and believable argument; to improve writing skills and to write in a clear and
articulate manner; to edit your own and each other’s work; and to use and decipher information
from primary source material in such a way that you will be constructing an argument.
In particular, this course will focus responses to emancipation in the United States and beyond.
You will select a topic related to the issue of American emancipation, analyze primary sources
for that topic, situate your findings within scholarly discussions, and compose an essay
presenting your findings and arguments in a clear fashion.
Learning Outcomes:
 We will differentiate between primary and secondary sources
 We will debate the arguments of secondary sources as professional historians do
 We will locate and analyze primary sources
 We will craft outlines of scholarly articles
 We will write scholarly articles as professional historians do
Grade Breakdown:
Participation: 20%
Source Materials Shared: 15%
Annotated List of Secondary Sources: 20%
Rough Draft: 20%
Final Draft: 25%
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 I cannot
provide accommodations based upon disability until I have received an accommodation letter
from Student Disability Services. Your cooperation is appreciated.
Plagiarism:
ACHTUNG! WARNING!! Monstrous, Evil, Lethal Criminal Acts
If you're sick of this institution, one of the best ways OUT of it is to cheat or plagiarize in my
class. Any work you claim as your own that comes from another person or lacks what I consider
adequate acknowledgment of their contribution is cheating. Copying another person's paper -copying off their test -- is cheating, too. Crib sheets are cheating, when used during an
examination. Anyone caught will RUE THE DAY. He or she will get a zero on the work, an F in
the course, and I will do all I can to have them expelled or suspended from this university. I've
done it before. I'll do it again.
For SDSU’s policies on cheating, see < http://csrr.sdsu.edu/cheating-plagiarism.html>
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~Schedule~
Week 1: (January 22)
Introductions
Week 2: (January 27 and 29)
Writing a College Paper
 Frakes, 1.1-1.3, 4.1-4.8
Week 3: (February 3 and 5)
Emancipation
 Holzer, Emancipation Proclamation, chapter by Edna Greene Medford
 Major Problems, chapters 5-6
Group 1 shares primary sources
Week 4: (February 10 and 12)
Emancipation
 Holzer, Emancipation Proclamation, chapter by Frank J. Williams
 Major Problems, chapters 7-8
Group 2 shares primary sources
Week 5: (February 17 and 19)
Emancipation
 Holzer, Emancipation Proclamation, chapter by Harold Holzer
 Major Problems, chapters 9-10
Group 3 shares primary sources
Week 6: (February 24 and 26)
Catching Up
Week 7: (March 3 and 5)
After Emancipation
 Blum, Reforging the White Republic, introduction
Group 1 shares primary sources
Week 8: (March 10 and 12)
After Emancipation
 Blum, Reforging the White Republic, chapters 1-2
Group 2 shares primary sources
Week 9: (March 17 and 19)
After Emancipation
 Blum, Reforging the White Republic, chapter 3-5
Group 3 shares primary sources
Week 10: (March 24 and 26)
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After Emancipation
 Blum, Reforging the White Republic, 6-epilogue
Annotated List of Secondary Sources Due
SPRING BREAK
Week 11: April 7 and 9
Writing Workshops
 Frakes, Appendices
Rough Draft Due
Week 12: April 14 and 16
Writing Workshops
Week 13: April 21 and 23
Writing Workshops
Week 14: April 28 and 30
Writing Workshops
Week 15: May 5 and 7
Writing Workshops
Final Essay Due
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