HNRS 20025
HONORS INTERMEDIATE SEMINAR: POWER AND THE FATE OF REPUBLICS
Fall 2014
Vivian Bruce Conger
Office Hours: MWF 2:00-4:00 p.m.
BY APPOINTMENT
Office phone number: 4-3572
Office: Muller 408
e-mail: vconger@ithaca.edu
Course Methodology:
The pedagogy, which won the 2004 Theodore Hesburgh Award (TIAA-CREF) for educational
innovation, consists of elaborate historical games, in which students lead each others in explorations of
great texts in the history of social and political thought. It seeks to draw students into the past, promote
their engagement with important ideas in various civilizations and disciplines, and improve speaking,
writing, and leadership skills.
Trial of Anne Hutchinson, The: Liberty, Law, and Intolerance in Puritan New England
recreates one of the most tumultuous and significant episodes in early American history:
the struggle between the followers and allies of John Winthrop, Governor of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony, and those of Anne Hutchinson, a strong-willed and brilliant
religious dissenter. The controversy pushed Massachusetts to the brink of collapse and
spurred a significant exodus. The puritans who founded Massachusetts were poised between
the Middle Ages and the modern world, and in many ways, they helped to bring the modern
world into being. This game plunges you into the religious world of John Winthrop, Cotton
Mather, Anne Hutchinson, and others that will be unfamiliar to many of you. Yet the
puritans’ passionate struggles over how far they could tolerate a diversity of religious
opinions in a colony committed to religious unity were part of a larger historical process
that led to religious freedom and the modern concept of separation of church and state.
Their vehement commitment to their liberties and fears about the many threats these faced
were passed down to the American Revolution and beyond.
Patriots, Loyalists, and Revolution in New York City, 1775-1776 takes you into the political and
social chaos of a revolutionary New York City, where patriot and loyalist forces argued and
fought for advantage among a divided populace. Here you will find a limnal world of chaos,
disruption, loss of privacy, and fear of victimization that comes with any revolution accompanied
by violence. The overall outcome and the intermediate “surprises” that reflect the shift of events
in 1775-76 demonstrate the role of contingency in history. Could the Brits still win? What were
the complexities, strengths, and weaknesses of the arguments on both sides? How were these
affected by the social circumstances in which the Revolution occurred? You will engage with
the ideological foundations of revolution and government through close readings of Locke,
Paine, and other contemporary arguments. Winning requires the ability to master the high
political arguments for and against revolution as well as the low political skills of logrolling,
bribery, and threatened force.
Course Goals and Objectives:
This course will examine the experience of Americans from the time of first permanent settlement by
English colonists in 1607 to the American Revolution (1770s). My goal is to introduce students to
historical analysis and argument through the examination of the planting, growth, and development of
American societies. Students are expected to learn not only the basic data of early American history
but also to express that knowledge in oral and written argument that employs evidence to prove
historical theses. Students are expected to immerse themselves in the documents and to play
historically accurate roles in order to comprehend the complexities of Puritan life and thought in
Massachusetts (Trial of Anne Hutchinson) and of revolutionary America (New York City, 1775-76).
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
-Identify the changing meaning and significance of power and resistance to authority in American
society and politics, and relate that to current American ideological issues
-Understand at a visceral level the fundamental ideologies of Puritans and American revolutionaries
-Organize and consolidate material provided in lectures and readings in order to answer essay
questions which require comparative analyses, synthetic thinking, and cause/effect linkages.
Course Readings:
Winship, Michael and Mark Carnes, Trial of Anne Hutchinson, The: Liberty, Law, and
Intolerance in Puritan New England: Reacting to the Past
Offutt, William, Patriots, Loyalists, and Revolution in New York City, 1775-1776: Reacting to
the Past
Rutman, Darrett, Winthrop's Boston: Portrait of a Puritan Town, 1630-1649
Wood, Gordon, The American Revolution
Course Reserves—see below
Various handouts—chapters from books, journal articles, additional primary documents (posted
on Sakai under Resources)
You ABSOLUTELY MUST do supplemental reading/research in both primary and secondary
sources as needed to fulfill your role objectives! If you do not, it will be patently obvious and your
grade will suffer—AND YOUR GROUP COULD LOSE THE GAME. Remember THERE IS LOTS
OF MATERIAL to explore beside the books on course reserve!
All students must complete 2 short essays 4-5 pages each in each of the two games (information about
the short essays is given in both game packages) and one take-home final exam. The exam will give
you a choice of two essay questions; you must answer one in no more than ten typewritten,
double-spaced pages (I stop reading after ten pages). You are encouraged to discuss the question
among yourselves, but all outlines and all writing must be done individually.
Grades will be apportioned on the following point basis:
Anne Hutchinson Game
Participation
Paper 1
Paper 2
Exam
45%
50%
25%
25%
10%
Revolutionary NYC Game
45%
Participation
50%
Paper 1
25%
Paper 2
25%
READING, PARTICIPATION, AND DISCUSSION ASSIGNMENTS:
YOU SHOULD ALWAYS BRING THE GAME BOOKLETS WITH YOU.
Anne Hutchinson
August 27
August 29
Introduction to the course
Prep Session A: Read and discuss Winship, The Trial of Anne
Hutchinson: Liberty, Law, and Intolerance in Puritan New England, 1-64
Election of Governor John Winthrop
September 1
September 3
September 5
September 8
LABOR DAY—NO CLASS!
Distribute remaining roles and various meetings
Prep Session B: Read Winship, The Trial of Anne Hutchinson, 65-103
(primary documents) and re-read selections relating to theology!
Rutman, Winthrop’s Boston, Chapters 1-6 (yes, I know it is a lot! It can’t
be helped)
September 10
September 12
Prep Session C: Faction meetings and individual meetings, preparation
for Paper 1
Game Session 1: Church
Game Session 1: Court
September 15
September 17
September 19
Faction meetings OUTSIDE OF CLASS
Game Session 2: Church
Game Session 2: Court
September 22
September 24
September 26
Discussion, meetings
Game Session 3: Church
Game Session 3: Court
September 29
October 1
October 3
Discussion, meetings
Game Session 4: Church
Game Session 4: Court
October 6
October 8
October 10
Discussion, meetings
Game Session 5: Court
Final on-line discussions outside of class—all must do this!
October 13
Game Session 6—John Cotton’s sermon and the vote on guilt or
innocence of Anne Hutchinson
Post Mortem
Fall Break—No class!!
October 15
October 17
New York City in the American Revolution
October 20
October 22
October 24
Offutt, Patriots, Loyalists, and Revolution in New York City, 1775-1776
(the game packet through page 77)
Gordon Wood, The American Revolution: A History, Parts I, II, III
Gordon Wood, The American Revolution: A History, Parts IV and V
October 27
October 29
October 31
November 3
November 5
November 7
November 10
Gordon Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution, 10-42; Gary B.
Nash, The Urban Crucible (posted on Sakai), 200-241; and Barnet
Schecter, The Battle for New York, 11-45 (all three chapters posted on
Sakai)
Offutt, Patriots, Loyalists, and Revolution in New York City, 1775-1776
(primary documents, 78-159)
Distribution of Roles
FACTION MEETINGS OUTSIDE OF CLASS
Public Session 1—Week 2 in the game book—25 MINUTE FACTION
MEETINGS
Public Session 1—Week 2 in the game book
Public Session 2—Week 2 in the game book
November 12
November 14
Public Session 2—Week 2 in the game book —25 MINUTE FACTION
MEETINGS
Public Session 3—Week 3 in the game book
Public Session 3—Week 3 in the game book
November 17
November 19
November 21
FACTION MEETINGS OUTSIDE OF CLASS
Public Session4—Week 3 in the game book
Public Session 4—Week 3 in the game book
November 24
November 26
November 28
THANKSGIVING—NO CLASSES!!
THANKSGIVING—NO CLASSES!!
THANKSGIVING—NO CLASSES!!
December 1
Public Session 5—Week 4 in the game book—25 MINUTE FACTION
MEEETINGS
Public Session 5—Week 4 in the game book
Public Session 6—Week 4 in the game book—25 MINUTE FACTION
MEETINGS
December 3
December 5
December 8
December 10
December 12
Public Session 6—Week 4 in the game book
Wrap Up—Gordon Wood, The American Revolution: A History, Part VI
Post mortems and day of celebration
Friday, December 19
Final Essay due no later than 10:30 a.m. Of course, I am
always willing to have early papers!
Trial of Anne Hutchinson, The: Liberty, Law, and Intolerance in Puritan New England
Bible Concordances
If you have a Bible or can get a hold of one, you should bring it to class.
You should always use the King James’s Version of the Bible.
A Google search of bible concordance or bible concordance king james will turn up a
number of sites.
The best concordance is Strong’s (The exhaustive concordance of the Bible : showing every
word of the text of the common English version of the canonical books, and every occurrence
of each word in regular order, together with a key-word comparison of selected words and
phrases in the King James version).
There is a printed version in the Reference section of the college library. See BS425 .S8
1980. Find the on line version at http://www.eliyah.com/strongs.htm
“The Strong's concordance is a very useful tool for studying the scriptures. It takes every
single word of the King James Version and lists where each word can be found in the
scriptures. It is useful for locating scripture verses that you know the words to, but don't
know the book, chapter and verse.
For example, let's say that you know of a verse that says our hairs are numbered. You could
look up the word "numbered" in a Strong's Concordance and it would give you a listing of all
the verses that contain the word "numbered". You would then find Matthew 10:30, where
Yahushua said that "the very hairs of your head are all numbered". You can find the Strong's
Concordance in most any bible bookstore (See the graphic to your right).
Also beside each verse reference there is a number. That number represents a Hebrew word
(if in the Old Testament) or Greek word (if in the New Testament). In the back of the book it
lists Hebrew and Greek words used to translate the bible into English. Each has a a number
beside them so that we may only need to know the number to locate a Greek or Hebrew word.
Then we can do a word study by reading the meaning of the original word. Whenever I refer
to a number in the Strong's concordance, you can look up the number for yourself in the
Strong's Lexicon or other lexicons that use Strong's numbers to verify everything.
One thing to keep in mind is that while the Strong's Concordance is fairly reliable in its
lexicon definitions, it is relying on 19th century scholarship. One of the best ways to
determine the true meaning of a word is look up that word in a Hebrew or Greek Lexicon to
see how it was translated in various places (See below). Also, Hebrew especially has various
verb forms, tenses and stems that can have different meanings. The Strong's Lexicon doesn't
do much to address this, but others (such as the Brown Driver Briggs that the online
concordance uses) have more detailed definitions for each verb stem.”
See also: http://www.BibleGateway.com AND http://Bibletab.com
ON COURSE RESERVE:
Bailyn, Bernard. The New England Merchants in the Seventeenth Century HF3151 .B3
Battis, Emery. Saints and Sectaries: Anne Hutchinson and the Antinomian Controversy in
the Massachusetts Bay Colony F67 .H907
Cave, Alfred A. The Pequot War E83.63 .C37 1996
Hall, David D., ed. The Antinomian Controversy, 1636-1638: A Documentary History
F67.H92 A58 1990—THIS IS KEY BOOK FOR YOUR PRIMARY SOURCE RESEARCH
Hall, David D., ed. Puritanism in Seventeenth-Century Massachusetts F67 .H15 1968
Koehler, Lyle. A Search for Power: The "Weaker Sex" in Seventeenth-Century New England
HQ1438.A11 K63
Lang, Amy Schrager. Prophetic Woman: Anne Hutchinson and the Problem of Dissent in the
Literature of New England PS243 .L28 1987
Morgan, Edmund S. The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop F67 .W798
Norton Mary Beth. Founding Mothers and Fathers: Gendered Power and the Forming of
American Society HQ1075.5.U6 N67 1997—this book will be crucial in helping you
understand the context for The Trial of Anne Hutchinson and she has a chapter on AH
Rutman, Darrett B. Winthrop's Boston: Portrait of a Puritan Town, 1630-1649 F73.4 .R8
Rutman, Darrett B. American Puritanism: Faith and Practice F7 .R8
Winship, Michael. Times and Trials of Anne Hutchinson: Puritans Divided BX7148.M4 W55
2005—this is an essential secondary source for understanding the Antinomian Controversy
and Anne Hutchinson
IC E-BOOKS:
Breen, Louise. Transgressing the Bounds: Subversive Enterprises Among the Puritan Elite
in Massachusetts, 16360-1692
Bremer, Francis J. John Winthrop: America’s Forgotten Founding Father
Field, Jonathan Beecher. Errands into the Metropolis: New England Dissidents in
Revolutionary London
Goodman, Nan. Banished: Common Law and the Rhetoric of Social Exclusion in Early New
England
Kamensky, Jane. Governing the Tongue: The Politics of Speech in Early New England
Porterfield, Amanda. Female Piety in Puritan New England: The Emergence of Religious
Humanism
IN MY OFFICE:
Bremer, Francis. Anne Hutchinson: The Puritan Troubler of Zion
Bremer, Francis. Shaping New England: Puritan Clergymen in Seventeenth-Century England
and New England
Huber, Elaine. Women and the Authority of Inspiration: A Reexamination of Two Prophetic
Movements from a Contemporary Feminist Perspective
LaPlante, Eve. American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, The woman who
Defied the Puritans
Staloff, Darren. Making of an American Thinking Class: Intellectuals and Intelligentsia
Williams, Selma. Divine Rebel: The Life of Anne Marbury Hutchinson
Winship, Michael. Making Heretics: Militant Protestantism and Free Grace in Massachusetts,
1636-1641 (this is the original and complete version of the title above by the same author—
and it contains footnotes!)
Patriots, Loyalists, and Revolution in New York City, 1775-1776
ON COURSE RESERVE:
Bailyn, Bernard. The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution (MacDougall) JA84.U5
B3
Bailyn, Bernard. Faces of Revolution: Personalities and Themes in the Struggle for American
Independence E208 .B2 1990
Berlin, Ira. Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America
(northern slaves) E446 .B49 1998—he has written numerous books on slavery so feel free to
consult those as well
Calloway, Colin G. The American Revolution in Indian Country: Crisis and Diversity in Native
American Communities E83.775 .C35 1999
Countryman, Edward. A People in Revolution: The American Revolution and Political Society
in New York, 1760-1790 (moderates) H31 .J6 SER. 99, NO.2
Cox, Caroline. A Proper Sense of Honor: Service and Sacrifice in George Washington's Army
E259 .C695 2004
Fischer, David Hackett. Washington's Crossing E263.P4 F575 2004
Foner, Eric. Tom Paine and Revolutionary America JC177.A4 F66 2005
Gilje, Paul A. Liberty on the Waterfront: American Maritime Culture in the Age of Revolution
E182 .G55 2004
Hoerder, Dirk. Crowd Action in Revolutionary Massachusetts, 1765-1780 E263.M4 H65
Maier, Pauline. The Old Revolutionaries: Political Lives in the Age of Samuel Adams (Sears)
E302.5 .M23 1980
Maier, Pauline. From Resistance to Revolution; Colonial Radicals and the Development of
American Opposition to Britain, 1765-1776 E210 .M27
Martin, James Kirby and Mark E. Lender. A Respectable Army: The Military Origins of the
Republic, 1763-1789 E230 .M34 1982—book will be crucial in helping your understand the
ideological issues involved
Nash, Gary. The Urban Crucible (artisans, mechanics, workingmen) E188 .N38
Nash, Gary. Race and Revolution E446 .N37 1990
Norton, Mary Beth. Liberty’s Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women,
1750-1800 (women) HQ1418 .N67
Tiedemann, Joseph S. Reluctant Revolutionaries: New York City and the Road to Independence,
1763-1776 F128.4 .T54 1997
Young, Alfred F. The Shoemaker and the Tea Party: Memory and the American Revolution
(George Hewes) E215.7 .Y68 1999
IC E-BOOKS
Conger, Vivian Bruce. The Widows' Might: Widowhood and Gender in Early British America
Linebaugh, Peter and Marcus Rediker. Many-Headed Hydra: The Hidden History of the
Revolutionary Atlantic
Young, Alfred F. Masquerade: The Life and Times of Deborah Sampson, Continental Soldier
GOOGLE BOOK:
New York City During the American Revolution: Being a Collection of Original Papers
IN MY OFFICE
Carp, Benjamin L. Rebels Rising: Cities and the American Revolution
Gilje, Paul. The Road to Mobocracy: Popular Disorder in New York City, 1763-1834
Kwasny, Mark V. Washington’s Partisan War, 1775-1783
Nash, Gary B. The Unknown American Revolution: The Unruly Birth of Democracy and the
Struggle to Create America
Papas, Phillip. That Ever Loyal Island: Staten Island and the American Revolution
Schecter, Barnet. The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution