Writing Course Review Form (1/12)
I. General Education Review – Writing Course
Dept/Program
Course # (i.e. ENEX
HISTORY
HSTA 315
Subject
200)
Course Title
The Early American Republic, 1787-1848
II. Endorsement/Approvals
Complete the form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office.
Please type / print name Signature
Date
Instructor
Kyle G. Volk
Phone / Email
X2989 /
kyle.volk@umontana.edu
Program Chair
John Eglin
Dean
Chris Comer
III. Type of request
New
X
One-time Only
Reason for new course, change or deletion
Change
Remove
Existing Course Applying for Writing
Designation
IV Overview of the Course Purpose/ Description: Provide an introduction to the subject
matter and course content.
This discussion-based advanced elective asks students to engage with the major social, cultural,
economic, & political transformations in the United States from 1787-1848. Topics covered in
this course include: the creation of the U.S. Constitution & the rise of democracy; political
economy & the early-American state; western expansion, migration, war, & American
imperialism; religion, & reform; the maturation of southern slave society; the rise of the “Free”
North, market capitalism & urban culture; slavery, abolition, & sectional conflict. Students will
read, critically analyze, and discuss primary sources and historical scholarship in class
discussions and written assignments. Intensive reading and writing are fundamental
components of this course. This course is a designated “Writing Course.”
V Learning Outcomes: Explain how each of the following learning outcomes will be achieved.
This course is designed around the following
Student learning outcomes :
objectives, all of which attend to learning and
Use writing to learn and synthesize new
synthesizing new concepts:
concepts
- understand the key contours of US History
from 1787-1848
- examine how Americans living in the Early
Republic understood and debated such ideas
as democracy, equality, slavery, and freedom
Students craft 3 analytical essays that critically
Formulate and express written opinions and
analyze primary sources.
ideas that are developed, logical, and
organized
Compose written documents that are
appropriate for a given audience, purpose and
context
Revise written work based on constructive
comments from the instructor
Find, evaluate, and use information
effectively and ethically (see
http://www.lib.umt.edu/informationliteracy/)
Begin to use discipline-specific writing
conventions
Demonstrate appropriate English language
usage
VI. Writing Course Requirements
Enrollment is capped at 25 students.
If not, list maximum course enrollment. Explain
how outcomes will be adequately met for this
number of students. Justify the request for
variance.
What instructional methods will be used to teach
students to write for specific audiences, purposes,
and genres?
Students craft 3 analytical essays that critically
analyze primary sources. These essays are to be
written in the tone and style appropriate to the
historical profession.
Students are required to rewrite two of the three
essays based on instructor feedback.
Students draw on a variety of secondary sources
and primary sources as well as classroom
discussions to craft analytical essays.
Students receive instruction on appropriate use
of Chicago Manual of Style footnoting.
Students are assessed for appropriate use of
standard, edited, English language writing skills
and receive input on style, punctuation, and
grammar in class and as part of paper-specific
feedback.
Yes.
Early on in class we discuss secondary texts.
Part of our discussion includes an examination
of how historians develop their argument for
target audiences. I likewise provide input on
the differences between historical, literary,
and popular writing.
Which written assignments will include revision in Students will rewrite the first two of three
response to instructor’s feedback?
papers.
VII. Writing Assignments: Please describe course assignments. Students should be required to
individually compose at least 16 pages of writing for assessment. At least 50% of the course grade
should be based on students’ performance on writing assignments. Clear expression, quality, and
accuracy of content are considered an integral part of the grade on any writing assignment.
Formal Graded Assignments
Three papers (including rewrites) = 80% of
their course grade.
Informal Ungraded Assignments
Participation (including quizzes) = 20% of
the course grade.
VIII. Syllabus: Paste syllabus below or attach and send digital copy with form. 
For assistance on syllabus preparation see: http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/syllabus.html
The syllabus must include the following:
1. Writing outcomes
2. Information literacy expectations
3. Detailed requirements for all writing assignments or append writing assignment instructions
Paste syllabus here.
The Early American Republic, 1787-1848
HSTA 315
University of Montana – Missoula
Spring 2014 – T/R 11:10-12:30 – LA308
Professor Kyle G. Volk
Office: LA 260
Phone: (406) 243-2989
Office Hours: T/R 5-6PM; immediately after class, and by appointment
Email: kyle.volk@umontana.edu
Course Description:
This discussion-based advanced elective asks students to engage with the major social, cultural,
economic, & political transformations in the United States from 1787-1848. Topics covered in
this course include: the creation of the U.S. Constitution & the rise of democracy; political
economy & the early-American state; western expansion, migration, war, & American
imperialism; religion, & reform; the maturation of southern slave society; the rise of the “Free”
North, market capitalism & urban culture; slavery, abolition, & sectional conflict. Students will
read, critically analyze, and discuss primary sources and historical scholarship in class
discussions and written assignments. Intensive reading and writing are fundamental components
of this course. This course is a designated “Writing Course.”
Course Requirements & Grading:
**Attendance & Participation: (20% of Final Grade)
Attendance is mandatory and will be taken at every class meeting. Unexcused absences will
lower your grade. Having more than three unexcused absences will result in a zero (0/20) in your
participation grade. Active, informed participation is imperative to your success in this course!
Students are expected to come to class punctually having completed the assigned readings and
having taken time to think critically about each primary text and/or secondary interpretation in its
specifics, in its entirety, and as it relates to other texts and our on-going discussions. Participation
means both talking with and listening to your classmates. Please come to class with the
readings in hard copy (Print out primary sources from MOODLE).
All electronic devices must be turned off and kept out of sight. Please do not use laptop
computers in this course.
**Reading Quizzes: Short & simple quizzes will be given at the beginning of each class to
ensure that students are doing the reading. The results will be factored in the participation grade.
Students may use (and are encouraged to use) notes they have taken during the quizzes. Students,
however, may not use the original text. Please take separate notes.
** Written Assignments: (80% of Final Grade)
1. One 4-5-page analytical essay on James Fenimore Cooper’s The Pioneers (Due 2/5)
[20%]
2. One 7-8-page analytical essay on Tocqueville, Walker, Beecher, Skidmore, and Black
Hawk (Due 4/8) [25%]
3. One Final Essay Exploring a Substantial Primary Source & Relating it to Course Themes
(Due 5/6) [35%]
Each of these assignments will be discussed in greater detail during the course of the semester.
They are to be written in the tone and style appropriate to the historical profession and must
make use of the citation system used by academic historians (Chicago Manual of Style). These
assignments will be turned in at the start of class on the day they are due unless otherwise
specified. Late papers will be downgraded. In order to pass this course, students must turn in
every assignment.
Readings (Available at the bookstore and on reserve at Mansfield Library):
 James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers [1822]
 Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America [1835]
 Sean Wilentz, ed., David Walker’s Appeal [1829]
 Donald Jackson, ed., Black Hawk: An Autobiography [1833]
 Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience & Other Essays [1849]
 Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself [1861]
 Woody Holton, Unruly Americans & the Origins of the Constitution (2007)
 Adam Rothman, Slave Country: American Expansion in the Deep South (2005)
 Patricia Cline Cohen, The Murder of Helen Jewett (1999)
 Timothy J. Henderson, A Glorious Defeat: Mexico and Its War with the United States
(2007)
Also on reserve for reference purposes: Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: An American History –
Volume 1
***Several of the reading assignments are available through MOODLE. Please print these out
and bring them to class.
Writing Outcomes: Students successfully completing this course should gain a clear
understanding of the parameters of professional historical and analytical writing. Students will
construct three essays, which are designed to grow students’ ability to interrogate varied primary
sources and to craft cogent thesis-driven essays that critically analyze those sources. Students
will gain experience in developing a thesis statement, constructing a persuasive argument
supported by textual evidence, and producing clear and readable prose. To emphasize the
importance of revision and refinement, students will rewrite two of the three essays after
receiving feedback from the instructor.
Information Literacy Expectations: Students successfully completing this course should gain
an understanding of key themes and developments in American History during the period under
study. Students should gain the ability to contrast different interpretations of the period’s history
and to offer original and varied interpretations of primary sources drawn from the period.
Students should also learn how to find primary sources from the period on their own and to cite
those sources properly in professional writing.
ACADEMIC HONESTY – All students must practice academic honesty. It should go without
saying that all the work you do in this course should be your own. Plagiarism, cheating, or any
other instances of academic misconduct will result in a failing grade in this course. The academic
dean will also be notified and offenses could result in expulsion. All students need to be familiar
with the Student Conduct Code. The code is available at
http://life.umt.edu/vpsa/student_conduct.php. If you have questions, please ask the instructor or
teaching assistants BEFORE turning in an assignment.
Students with documented disabilities will receive reasonable modifications in this course. Your
responsibilities are to request them from me with sufficient advance notice, and to be prepared to
provide verification of disability and its impact from Disability Services for Students. Please
speak with me after class or during my office hours to discuss the details. For more information,
visit the Disability Services for Students website at http://www.umt.edu/disability.
Course Schedule
Week I
T (1/22) – Introductions
R (1/24) – Post-Colonial America & the Stakes of the Early Republic
Begin Reading Holton, Unruly Americans
Week II – The Constitution of 1787
T (1/29) – Read: Holton, Unruly Americans, ix-176
R (1/31) –Read: Holton, Unruly Americans, 177-278
Week III – Search for National Identity
T (2/5) – Read: Cooper, The Pioneers, vii-250
R (2/7) –Read: Cooper, The Pioneers, 251-456
Week IV – Everyday Life in the New Republic
T (2/12) – MOVIE: A Midwife’s Tale
DUE at the Beginning of Class: 4-5-Page Analytical Essay on Cooper’s The
Pioneers
**Extra Credit Opportunity: Attend “Four Presidents Look at Alexander Hamilton” –
Missoula Public Library, 7PM
R (2/14) – MOVIE (cont’d) & Discussion
Read: “Dialogue, Paradigm Shift Books: A Midwife’s Tale by Laurel Thatcher
Ulrich,” Journal of Women’s History, 14(3) 2002: 133-161
Week V – A House Expanding / A House Dividing
T (2/19) – Read: Rothman, Slave Country, ix-118
R (2/21) – Read: Rothman, Slave Country, 119-224
Week VI – Market Revolution, Reform, & the Urban North
T (2/26) – Read: Cohen, Murder of Helen Jewett, 3-151
DUE at the Beginning of Class: Rewrite of Analytical Essay on Cooper’s The
Pioneers
R (2/28) – Read: Cohen, Murder of Helen Jewett, 152-300
Week VII
T (3/4) – Read: Cohen, Murder of Helen Jewett, 301-409
R (3/6) – Read: Sean Wilentz, The Rise of American Democracy, excerpts [MOODLE]
Week VIII – Democracy in America
T (3/11) – Read: Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 3-104; 165-205
R (3/13) –Read: Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 220-396
Week IX – Conflict & Reform, Pt. 1
T (3/18) – Read: Black Hawk, 32-156
R (3/20) – Read: Thomas Skidmore, Rights of Man to Property! [MOODLE]
***SPRING BREAK (3/24 – 3/28)
Week X – Conflict & Reform, Pt. 2
T (4/1) – Meet w/Donna Mccrea @ Mansfield Library in the Student Learning Center (Level 2)
R (4/3) – Read: David Walker, Appeal, 1-88
Week XI – Slavery as a Political Problem / History & Film
T (4/8) – MOVIE: Amistad
DUE at the Beginning of Class: 7-8-Page Analytical Essay
R (4/10) – Amistad (cont’d) Read: “Amistad: Controversy About the Film and Its Use,” The
History Teacher 31(May 1998), 369-387. [E-RESERVE]
Week XII – Slavery, the Old South, & the Slave Narrative
T (4/15) – Read: Jacobs, Incidents in the Life, v-92
R (4/17) – Read: Jacobs, Incidents in the Life, 92-167
Week XIII – Manifest Destiny
T (4/22) – Read: Henderson, A Glorious Defeat, xvii-101
Due at the Beginning of Class: Rewrite of 7-8-Page Analytical Essay
R (4/24) – Read: Henderson, A Glorious Defeat, 102-191
Week XIV – Dissent & Democracy
T (4/29) – Read: Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
R (5/1) – Conclusions
Finals Week – Final Paper Due (5/6) by 11AM to my office (LA 260)
Writing Assignments
1st Paper on James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers (due 2/12 at the beginning of class)
Craft a short 4-5-page analytical & thesis (argument)-driven essay that interrogates a critical
theme in James Fenimore Cooper's The Pioneers.
Strong essays will:
1.) Use the novel as historical evidence for a picture of society in post-Revolutionary America
(ie. what does this tell us about early America?); and
2.) Unpack James Fenimore Cooper's perspective on American life (on the New York frontier
&/or early America)—and—discuss how that perspective shapes the story/evidence he presents
(ie. how does Cooper's particular telling of the story influence his presentation of life in upstate
New York and the early republic?).
Possible Themes: legacies of the Am. Revolution; socio-political order on the frontier;
competing visions of law, order, right, government; environment/landscape/resources; religion;
cultural clashes; race, class, & gender relations; etc.
Again, these are only "possible" - feel free to discuss possible topics with me ahead of time.
*****
2nd Paper on Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, et. al
Reading Tocqueville:
I encourage you all to read Democracy in America in its entirety. This is a critically influential
work that has guided political theorists and historians –and– is often referred to in present-day
political discourse. That said, what I have done below is streamlined the reading. 1st, page
numbers in italics and emboldened are fundamental passages. Not only read these passages, but
take time to think critically about them. 2nd, page numbers in parentheses are important for your
comprehension of this text, but spend less time with them then the other sections.
***Reading Assignment #1 [For Tuesday’s Class (3/11)]:
p. 3-15; (19-44); 44-65; (65-75); 75-104; 165-205
***Reading Assignment #2 [For Thursday’s Class (3/13)]:
p. 220-258; (258-264); 264-288; (288-302); 302-384; (384-391); 391-396
Some Key Things to Think About (w/Tocqueville):
What is Tocqueville’s conception of democracy? How might his conception differ from your
own?
What does he see as the strengths, weaknesses, and dangers of democracy?
How does his perspective as a European (and a French aristocrat) shape his analysis?
Paper Assignment:
On 4/8/08 you will turn in a carefully planned and clearly organized 7-8-page analytical and
thesis-driven essay.
The essay will be based on an original question that you ask involving Tocqueville and at least
two of the following three texts: Black Hawk, Skidmore’s Rights of Man to Property!, and David
Walker’s Appeal. We will talk in class about how to formulate a good original question. I’ll ask
you to meet with me during the week of 3/31 to discuss your question and paper.
*****
Final Paper Assignment
“One Final Essay Exploring a Substantial Primary Source & Relating it to Course Themes (Due
5/6) [20%]”
My expectations for this paper:
1. Read & think about a substantial primary source that we’ve agreed upon ahead of time.
2. Craft a 10-page essay that analyzes that source w/ respect to course themes & readings.
When choosing the focus of your essay, keep in mind that the best essays typically take a
“narrow & deep” approach. They concentrate on a specific theme and provide specific evidence
to support a specific area of analysis, yet they also use that “narrow and deep” approach to say
something of larger significance.
3. The essay should be well-written and clearly organized. It should display your best historical
thinking and analytical prose.
4. The essay should have a compelling introduction that makes the reader want to continue
reading.
5. The essay must have an argument. This argument must be clear & must be provable
w/evidence drawn from the primary source itself and relevant primary & secondary sources that
we’ve read this semester. [Do not feel compelled to mention every book we’ve read. Again, I’d
prefer a deeper analysis that relates to one or two of our texts. Less is more.]
ITALICIZE or Boldface your thesis in the final draft.
6. Assume that your reader (audience) has no knowledge of the primary source you are using or
the period in general.
7. Use properly formatted footnotes.
8. Avoid musing on the virtues of primary sources, engaging in ahistorical speculations, and
arguing with your primary source (especially w/ the benefit of hindsight).
9. Keep the tone professional.
******
Standard Paper Writing Guidelines (For use in all of your papers at UM unless you are told
otherwise):
1.
2.
3.
Your essay should be double-spaced (Not single, 1.5, triple-spaced, or otherwise)
Write in a standard font (Times New Roman; Calibri) at either 11 or 12 point.
Margins (Top, Bottom, Left, & Right) must be 1-inch.
NOTE: DO NOT try to lengthen your paper by enlarging the font, shrinking the margins, or
expanding the spacing between lines. ALSO, DO NOT try to shorten your paper by doing the
opposite. [Doing these things will result in a lower grade]
4.
DO NOT attach a separate cover page. Instead list your name and the course at the Top
Right of the first page (and single-space it). Skip one line and center your title.
ALWAYS HAVE A TITLE!
5. DO NOT skip extra lines between paragraphs. Adjust your word processor if necessary.
6.
Insert page numbers (do not number the first page).
7. Write history papers in past tense (unless you are talking about 2ndary scholarship).
8.
Cite your sources using footnotes. Use proper footnote form.
9. Proofread & edit your work!
10. Read your paper aloud and correct any sentences that were difficult to speak.
11. Address any questions with your instructor well before the due date.