Plymouth State University
Social Science Department
EARLY AMERICAN SOCIETY to 1763
HI 3115
Fall 2010
mblaine@mail.plymouth.edu
Rounds 107, TR 12:30-1:45
Dr. Marcia Schmidt Blaine
Memorial 204 X52347
Office hours: TR 11-12
M 1:30-2:30
During the colonial period, colonists developed an amazingly diverse American culture
and society. Though thought to be a ‘virgin’ land when Spanish, English, and French
settlers arrived, they found Native American inhabitants well established. Dutch, Irish,
Germans, Scotch-Irish and, forcibly, Africans followed. Influenced by both the cultural
baggage this mixed society brought with it and the new circumstances in which settlers
found themselves, the colonists in America became a new type of society. Using primary
documents and historical monographs and articles, students will study and critique the
methodologies used by various types of historians (cultural, social, political,
environmental, and intellectual).
This course meets the DIVERSITY Connections requirement for the General Education
Curriculum.
Becoming educated involves developing awareness of, sensitivity to, and appreciation for
viewpoints other than those to which we have been acculturated. Through such
development comes increased respect for those different from oneself. Students take a
Diversity course to broaden and deepen awareness and appreciation of differences and
commonalties of sub-cultural groups in American society defined by differences in race,
ethnicity, ability, social class, religion, politics, gender, or sexual orientation. Diversity
courses do this by exposing students to the life stories and the voices of members of
different groups and by exploring issues of equity, opportunity, and justice.
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This course meets the Writing in the Disciplines general education requirement.
In order to communicate effectively, students need to learn the conventions of their own
discipline or profession. For example, they need to learn how to write like an educator, a
social worker, a biologist, an historian, or a literary critic. Students take a three-credit
Writing (W) course within their major that contains significant writing experiences
appropriate to the discipline. These experiences should be based on Writing Across the
Curriculum activities, for example, free-writing, outlining, writing multiple drafts,
responding to feedback, and creating a finished product. In addition to extending the
process of developing writing skills, W courses also emphasize writing to learn in the
discipline.
Required Readings:
Clemens, Paul G.E., editor. The Colonial Era: A Documentary Reader. Malden, MA:
Blackwell Publishing, 2008.
Articles found through the databases or on Blackboard/Moodle.
Objectives:
1. Develop an understanding of the diversity in U.S. society in early America
(Native American cultures, English, Irish, various African cultures, Dutch,
Scottish, Spanish, French, Swedish, and German).
2. To explore the life stories of early Americans and their understanding of the
diverse society around them.
3. Allow students to develop an understanding of the foundations of "American"
thought and culture based on diversity.
4. Further develop students’ analytical abilities through close readings of primary
texts.
5. Give each student the opportunity to use research to support arguments.
Evaluation of student performance will be based upon class participation and written
work. Because the course will often run in a seminar style, attendance is essential:
informed contributions follow diligent attention to the readings. Class participation is
heavily weighted, but quality, not quantity, is the key factor in evaluating student
participation. This does not mean that you should be quiet in class. Instead, it means that
you should read and think about the readings and have things to contribute in class. I
should see this in the detailed notes from the reading that you should have ready each
week to discuss readings. Have all the primary documents (in Clemens) finished for
Tuesday and the secondary articles/chapters for Thursday. If there is a holiday that week,
please have everything read for the Tuesday we will be in class (Veteran’s Day and
Thanksgiving weeks). Each week you must come to class with 2-3 questions from each
of the reading.
Every Thursday, students will arrive with a short (1/2 page) typed analysis of the week’s
secondary reading(s): it is not a summary but an analysis of the readings that is required.
Keep the following questions in mind as you write: What are the author’s thesis,
evidence, and historical method? How convincing is the author’s interpretation? How
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did diversity affect the circumstances? At midterm, you will turn in a 5-7 page paper
exploring 17th-century settlement. Your final paper will look at 18th-century colonists
and the creation of an American identity. Both will be based on a thorough analysis of
the readings assigned for class. We will discuss both in more detail in class. At least
once during the semester, each student will lead the Thursday class discussion. On the
day of discussion leadership, each student will also turn in a list of prepared questions for
the readings and primary documents that s/he will use to lead the class and a longer (2-4
pages) analysis of all the readings.
Grading:
30% participation
30% midterm and final papers
10% group leadership
30% shorter papers
Discussion grading rubric:
Performance
Superior (Analysis, Synthesis,
Evaluation)
Rubric: Assessment of Contribution
Shows critical and/or creative thinking and knowledge of all required
readings: For example, poses a provocative interpretation that extends
discussion; makes a critical (evaluative) analysis; contributes new
information and/or insights; links ideas presented directly to primary
sources or other evidence.
Good (Comprehension,
Application)
Exhibits good insights and/or understanding, argues using relevant
evidence: Perhaps relates the issue to prior material or relates it to
material learned in another class.
Average (Shows Knowledge
of readings)
Largely informational, not analytical or interpretive: Repeats basic,
correct information but does not link ideas to the primary sources nor
provide critical analysis of evidence.
Below average
Failing
0 Points
Minimal: No apparent understanding of or engagement with the issues.
Little or no evidence of having done the reading. Major lapses in many
rubric areas.
Not engaged.
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Course Calendar by week:
th
17 century:
For the week of
Sept. 2
Introduction
European expansion
Sept. 6
American Natives’ Response to the European Presence primary docs
don’t match reading or topic. Rephrase the assignment so that students bring in
notes on the primary docs for Tuesday and paper and notes for secondary on R.
Have the reading, papers, and notes ready at the beginning of class on
Tuesday. Bring in a ½ page summary focusing on the thesis of the
article. Discussions on the readings will be held on Thursdays.
Reading for this week: Clemens, chapter 1 (1-3); James H. Merrell,
“The Indians’ New World: The Catawba Experience,” The William and
Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., 41, No. 4 (Oct. 1984): 537-565. (Unless
otherwise noted, find articles on databases. Try JSTOR and Project
Muse).
Discuss midterm paper.
Sept. 13
European views of New World inhabitants
Clemens, chapter 2; Alden T. Vaughan, “New World Exotics,” in
Transatlantic Encounters: American Indians in Britain, 1500-1776
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2006), 1-20. (See Moodle ).
Sept. 20
Initial Contact
Clemens, chapter 3 (1-3); Alfred W. Crosby, “Virgin Soil Epidemics as a
Factor in the Aboriginal Depopulation in America,” The William and
Mary Quarterly, 3rd Series, 33, No. 2 (April 1976): 289-299.
Sept. 27
Early settlement
Clemens, chapter 5 (all); Martin H. Quitt, “Trade and Acculturation at
Jamestown, 1607-1609: The Limits of Understanding,” The William and
Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., 52, No.2 (April, 1995): 227-258.
Oct. 4
Northern Settlement
Clemens, chapter 6; Jane Kamensky, “Talk Like a Man: Speech, Power,
and Masculinity in Early New England,” Gender and History 8, No.1
(April 1996): 22-44 (On Moodle); Jenny Hale Pulsipher, “’Our Sages are
Sageles:’ A Letter on Massachusetts Indian Policy after King Philip’s
War,” The William and Mary Quarterly 3rd Ser., 58, No.2 (April 2001):
431-448.
Oct. 11
Southern settlement
Clemens, chapter 7; Jack P. Greene, “Colonial South Carolina and the
Caribbean Connection,” South Carolina Historical Magazine 88, No. 4
(Oct. 1987): 192-210 (on Moodle).
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Prof. David Switzer will join the class on 10/12 to discuss Native
American sailors.
18th century:
Oct. 18
Politics
Clemens, chapter 8; Robert Olwell and Alan Tully, Cultures and Identities
in Colonial British America (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 2006),
chapter 6 (on Moodle).
Oct. 19: Paper on 17th-century settlement is due.
Oct. 25
Economy
Clemens, chapter 9; Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, “Wheels, Looms, and the
Gender Division of Labor in Eighteenth-Century New England,” The
William and Mary Quarterly 3rd Ser., 55, No. 1 (Jan. 1998): 3-38.
Nov. 1
Empire
Clemens, chapter 10; T.H. Breen, “The Meaning of Things: Interpreting
the Consumer Economy in the Eighteenth Century,” in Consumption and
the World of Goods, John Brewer and Roy Porter, eds. (London, 1993):
249-260. (on Moodle).
Nov. 8
Slavery
Clemens, chapter 11; Ira Berlin, “From Creole to African: Atlantic Creoles
and the Origin of African-American Society in Mainland North America,”
The William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., 53, No.2 (April 1996): 251288. (Veteran’s Day is Nov. 11).
Nov. 15
Everyday Life
Clemens, chapter 12; Jon Butler, Becoming America: The Revolution
Before 1776 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002), chapter 1.
Nov. 22
Family –
Clemens, chapter 13; Gloria L. Main, "Gender, Work, and Wages in
Colonial New England,” The William and Mary Quarterly, 3d Ser., 51
(1994): 39-66.
Nov. 24 (Thanksgiving)
Nov. 29
Religion and Culture
Clemens, chapter 14; 15 and Patricia U. Bonomi and Peter R. Eisenstadt,
“Church Adherence in the Eighteenth-Century British Colonies,” The
William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., 39, No. 2 (April 1982): 245-286.
Dec. 6
War for Empire
Clemens, ch. 16; Marcia Schmidt Blaine, “The Johnsons’ Plight: The Role
of Captivity on Anglo-American Identity,” History: A Journal of the
History Association 94:1, No. 313 (January, 2009): 53-73 (on Moodle).
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Dec. 14
11am; Presentation and discussion of final papers