HIST 122: HISTORY OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION II
Instructor: Prof. Steven E. Harris
University of Mary Washington – Spring Semester, 2007
This class meets Tu/Th, 2:00pm-3:15pm, Monroe Hall 104
Office Hours: 1pm-3:30pm (MW); and by appointment
Office: Monroe Hall 208-E; tel. (540)-654-1390; e-mail: sharris@umw.edu
Course Description and Goals:
This course examines the history of Western Civilization from the 17th century to
the present through the lens of revolution and radical change. We will focus upon the
most important revolutions of the modern era, their origins and outcomes, and how they
fit together in larger narratives of Western Civilization. The course will trace the history
of these revolutions in a chronological fashion, beginning with the English Civil War and
Glorious Revolution of the 17th century, focusing in particular on the French Revolution
of the late 18th century, and examining the highpoint of revolutionary trends in the
Russian Revolution of 1917.
Our main tools for understanding this history are the statements and reflections
that contemporaries (and revolutionaries) made on the revolutions and radical changes of
their times. In reading and discussing them, we will make sense of the great ideas and
questions that informed and arose from revolutions, and that have in turn shaped the
politics, social organization, economics, and artistic culture of Western Civilization in
less turbulent times. Many of the main questions that our historical subjects began to ask
in their time are questions that remain with us today and that we will examine in this
course. What is a nation and how does it acquire sovereignty? What is the role of
religion in society? What is the role of science? What is a citizen and what is his or her
relationship to the state? What is progress? What is liberty and how is it best achieved?
What is the individual’s relationship to society, and how can both the individual and
society achieve their full potential? What are the origins of genocide and how can it be
stopped? What does it mean to be modern and what does it mean to be Western?
Format of the Class:
I will spend the first third to one half of the class lecturing on the historical topics
related to our primary source readings for that day. The information in these lectures will
constitute a significant portion of your midterm and final exams, so you are strongly
encouraged to take notes during these lectures. If you wish to supplement your lecture
notes with additional background information, you may also read the “suggested reading”
assignments, which are drawn from a general textbook on European history and are
indicated in the course schedule below. (You are not responsible for having read these
suggested readings, however, in preparing for the midterm and final exams.)
The remaining half or two-thirds of class time will be spent on class discussions
of the primary sources. You are strongly encouraged to take careful notes during class
discussion on how we interpret the primary sources. This will help you in preparing for
the midterm and final exams, as well as in writing your own papers.
Preparation for Each Class:
For each class, you are expected to have read all the readings assigned for that day
and to arrive to class prepared to discuss each of them. For some of the more difficult
readings, I will circulate study questions in advance to guide you through the readings.
In the course schedule, I have flagged those days with longer and/or more difficult than
usual reading assignments so that you can better manage your time.
We will be reading many primary sources in this class that appear to us to have
been written in a difficult and archaic style. When reading these texts, be sure to devote
your undivided attention to them (preferably in a quiet place with no distractions) and do
not hesitate to read them twice for better comprehension. If you read these texts slowly
and thoroughly – as if you were reading in a foreign language – you will understand
much better what they mean. As you read, try to understand as much as possible, but do
not feel frustrated or get stuck on parts that you do not understand. Ask questions during
class discussions about parts of the texts that were unclear to you. If you attempt to read
or skim them like contemporary media such as newspapers, magazines, and blogs, you
will absorb very little. So, again, read slowly and thoroughly. These texts were written
in a different time and place, not our world today! Our challenge, therefore, is not only to
figure out what these texts mean, but also to use them in order to understand the historical
contexts in which they were written.
If you are having difficulty keeping up with the reading assignments and/or
understanding them sufficiently to follow class discussions, please see me. I can give
you advice on how to read more efficiently and for greater comprehension. If you are
having difficulty with the reading assignments, I can work with you best if a) you make
an honest effort to read the materials thoroughly on your own and then b) you see me to
discuss reading assignments and general methods for reading texts. Recognizing that the
readings are difficult is the starting point in learning how to read primary texts and
understand them, not the ending point.
Course Assignments and Requirements:
1) Class participation: the quality of this class depends largely upon what each
student will contribute to it, so your class participation is of paramount importance as we
analyze and interpret the texts in this course. You are asked to engage one another’s
interpretations and opinions in an effort to understand better any given text and also to
challenge one another’s readings of the texts.
Since this is a large class, not everyone will be able to participate everyday.
However, over the course of the semester, you must participate in at least 10 class
sessions. Each day that you participate, I will give you a 3x5 note card the moment you
begin to speak, on which you are to describe briefly your comment. Then, simply sign
the card and give it to me at the end of class. I will then assign a letter grade for your
participation for that day (see criteria below), and I will average your participation grades
at the end of the semester. A 0% will be recorded for each day under 10 that you did not
participate during the semester. Five of your minimum 10 participation days must
happen before March 1. If you fail to participate at least 5 times before March 1, you will
receive an automatic midterm deficiency report.
The following is the guideline for participation grades: A range (90-100%):
student shows that he/she has read all of the assigned readings, and he/she makes several
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comments and poses questions that are insightful, interesting, and help guide the
discussion for that particular class; B range (80-89%): student shows that he/she has read
most of the readings and makes some comments/questions; C range (70-79%): student
may have read some of the readings, but makes little or no comments; D (60-69%):
student is disruptive in class.
2) Paper#1: Your first writing assignment is a 4-5 page paper (max. 1,400 words,
double-spaced, 12-point font). Your task is to analyze and interpret at least three primary
texts in answering one question from a choice of three provided by me.
3) Midterm exam: your midterm exam will cover lectures, class discussions, and
all the readings to date. The format of the exam will be as follows: 1) 2 out of 5
identifications; 2) identification and analysis of 2 out of 5 passages from the readings; 3)
map quiz; and 4) extended essay in response to 1 out of 3 questions.
4) Paper#2: Same criteria as paper #1. You must turn in the graded version of
paper#1 along with paper#2 in order to receive credit for paper #2. Failure to do so will
result in an automatic F (0%) for paper #2.
5) Final exam: the final exam will be cumulative and will cover all lectures, class
discussions, and readings in the course with equal weight given to each part of the course.
The format will be as follows: 1) 3 out of 5 identifications; 2) 3 out of 5 passages from
the readings; 3) map quiz; 4) extended essay in response to 1 out of 3 questions.
Numerical grades in this course correspond to the following letter grades: A (95100); A- (90-94); B+ (87-89); B (83-86); B- (80-82); C+ (77-79); C (73-76); C- (70-72);
D+ (67-69); D (60-66); F (59 and below).
When computing final numerical grades, I do not round up to the highest decimal
point (i.e., if your final numerical grade is an 82.99, your final grade is a B-).
Midterm Deficiency Report: You will receive a midterm deficiency report if you
receive a C- or below on your first paper or the midterm, or if you fail to participate at
least five times before March 1.
Relative Weight of Grades for the Course:
Class participation:
15%
Paper #1:
15%
Midterm exam:
20%
Paper #2:
20%
Final exam:
30%
Legitimate Excuses for Missing Class and Turning Work in Late:
Legitimate excuses include family emergencies, medical appointments, illness,
and religious holidays. All excuses must be supported with documentary proof, such as a
note from a doctor, with the contact information of the person writing the excuse. Notes
from relatives will not be accepted. In the event of a family emergency, such as a death
in the family, please contact the Office of Academic Affairs and ask them to contact me
about the emergency.
If you miss class or fail to turn something in on time and you have a legitimate
excuse, please do the following: obtain the documentary proof explaining your absence
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or the reasons for which you turned something in late; bring it to me in class or during
office hours; stop by during office hours to discuss what you missed in class. Except in
the case of legitimate excuses, there are no extensions on papers and exams cannot be
rescheduled.
If you miss class or fail to turn something in on time without a legitimate excuse,
do not e-mail me to tell me this and do not ask me to explain to you over e-mail what you
missed in class; I will not respond to such e-mails. For every day after a deadline that
you turn work in late without a legitimate excuse, your grade on the assignment is
dropped by a full letter grade until you reach F, in which case you will receive a 0% on
the assignment. Failure to show up to take the midterm exam or the final exam without
an excused absence results in an automatic 0% for that exam.
Communication:
Please use e-mail to communicate with me about minor questions and
administrative questions. Please use formal forms of address, salutations, and good-byes,
as well as proper spelling, grammar and punctuation, when writing e-mails to me. If you
wish to discuss readings and course topics, specific questions about your writing
assignments, your grades, etc., please avoid e-mail for these questions; instead, stop by
during office hours or make an appointment to see me.
Honor Code:
The Honor Code of the University of Mary Washington will be strictly enforced,
as explained in the Honor Constitution. If you have any questions about the code and its
enforcement, please do not hesitate to ask me. All violations of the Honor Code will be
immediately reported to the Honor Council.
In writing your papers, be sure to avoid plagiarism. If you take someone else’s
ideas or words and present them in an essay as your own (i.e., without proper
acknowledgement of the author), you will have committed plagiarism. If you are unsure
about what this means, please do not hesitate to ask me for further clarification.
Americans with Disabilities Act:
If you have a disability and require academic accommodation, please contact the
Office of Disability Services (x1266). Upon obtaining an accommodation letter from this
office, please see me so that we can establish the proper academic accommodation for
you in this course. All information pertaining to your academic accommodation will be
kept in the strictest confidence.
Drop/Add:
Last day to add this class: January 19.
Last day to drop this class: February 2.
Additional Class Policies:
* All cell phones must be turned completely off during class.
* Use of laptop computers, recording machines, and other electronic equipment is not
allowed in this class.
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* Out of respect for your peers and your instructor, arrive to class on time; your final
participation grade will be lowered by a third of a letter grade for each time you fail to
arrive to class on time. You must attend the entire class time in order to receive credit for
participation for that day.
Course readings:
The main texts are available for purchase at the bookstore. When purchasing the
texts, please obtain the edition indicated below – this will facilitate class discussion when
the instructor and students refer to the texts. Additional texts will be distributed via
Blackboard; they are indicated in the course schedule below.
Historical background: The readings from Palmer and Colton, A History of the
Modern World, constitute the secondary source in this course. In the course schedule,
some of these readings are listed as “suggested readings” – you may read these for
additional background information on the lectures and discussions; you are not
responsible for these suggested readings on the midterm and final exams. To obtain these
readings, you will have to borrow or purchase your own copy of this textbook.
Some Palmer and Colton readings are listed as “required.” You are responsible
for having read these readings for the midterm and final exams. They will be available
on Blackboard.
Contemporary Issues in Historical Perspective: On three occasions, you will read
recent accounts of contemporary issues that were shaped and/or originated in the time
periods and through the revolutionary changes we are studying in this course. The three
topics are the following: a) the separation of church and state; b) religion and science;
and c) class.
Course Readings:
The following required texts are available at the UMW bookstore:
John Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration (Hackett Publishing Company edition)
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (London: Penguin Books, 1982). ISBN 0140432078
University of Chicago Readings in Western Civilization, Volume 7: The Old Regime and
the French Revolution (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987). ISBN: 0226-06950-8
University of Chicago Readings in Western Civilization, Volume 8: Liberalism and Its
Critics (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989). ISBN: 0-226-06952-4
University of Chicago Readings in Western Civilization, Volume 9: Twentieth-Century
Europe (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987). ISBN: 0-226-06954-0
** The last three texts appear in the schedule below as “RWC” followed by their volume
number, and page numbers for that reading assignment. For example, RWC 9, 234-256.
Suggested Readings and Other Indispensable Texts:
* R. R. Palmer and Joel Colton, A History of the Modern World (various editions exist)
* A good dictionary of American English. I recommend Webster’s Collegiate
Dictionary, especially those editions that contain the etymologies of words.
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* A good grammar book. I recommend Patricia T. O’Conner, Woe is I: The
Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English (New York: Riverhead
Books, 2003).
Course schedule:
January 16: * Introduction to the course: What is Western Civilization?
The States and Societies of Europe in the 17th Century
January 18:
* Loyseau, A Treatise on Orders (RWC 7, 13-31)
* Boussuet, Politics Derived from the Words of Holy Scripture (RWC 7,
31-47)
Suggested reading:
* Palmer and Colton, 4.21.
English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution
January 23:
LONG/DIFFICULT READING
* Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration
* Hobbes, Behemoth (Blackboard)
* Palmer and Colton, 4.19 (Britain: The Puritan Revolution) and 4.20
(Britain: The Triumph of Parliament) (Required; Blackboard)
January 25:
* Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration
* Contemporary Issues in Historical Perspective: Separation of Church
and State
* Jane Kramer, “Taking the Veil: How France’s Public Schools
Became the Battleground in a Culture War,” The New Yorker,
November 22, 2004. (Blackboard)
* “Beneath the Veil: Jane Kramer Talks about the Push for Secularism
in France,” The New Yorker, posted November 11, 2004. (Blackboard)
The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment
January 30:
* Isaac Newton, Principia Mathematica (Blackboard)
* Diderot, The Definition of an Encyclopedia (RWC 7, 71-89)
Suggested reading:
* Palmer and Colton, 7.32 (Prophets of a Scientific Revolution) – 7.35
(Political Theory)
February 1:
* Rousseau, The Social Contract (Blackboard)
* Turgot, On Foundations (RWC 7, 89-97)
Suggested reading:
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* Palmer and Colton, 8.36 (The Philosophes) – 8.38 (Enlightened
Despotism)
The French Revolution
February 6:
* Protests of the Parlement of Paris (RWC 7, 118-123)
* Sallier, Recollections of a Parlementary Magistrate (RWC 7, 145-151)
* Regulations for the Convocation (RWC 7, 180-184)
* Palmer and Colton, 9.41 (Backgrounds) and 9.42 (The Revolution)
(Required; Blackboard)
February 8:
LONG/DIFFICULT READING
* Sieyès, What is the Third Estate? (RWC 7, 154-179)
* Deliberations of the Estates General (RWC 7, 199-208)
February 12: Paper #1 deadline, 5pm.
February 13: * Decrees of the National Assembly (RWC 7, 226-231)
* The October Days (RWC 7, 231-237)
* Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (RWC 7, 237-239)
* The Civil Constitution of the Clergy (RWC 7, 239-242)
* Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France (RWC 7, 428-445)
February 15: LONG/DIFFICULT READING
* The Le Chapelier Law (RWC 7, 247-249)
* The Constitution of 1791 (RWC 7, 249-261)
* Gouges, Declaration of the Rights of Women (RWC 7, 261-268)
* The King’s Declaration on leaving Paris (RWC 7, 269-271)
* The Revolution of 10 August 1792 (RWC 7, 290-296)
* Documents of the Sans-Culottes (RWC 7, 330-340)
* Palmer and Colton, 9.43 (The Revolution and Europe) – 9.44 (The
Emergency Republic) (Required; Blackboard)
February 20: LONG/DIFFICULT READING
* Decree Establishing the Levée en Masse (RWC 7, 340-342)
* “Make Terror the Order of the Day” (RWC 7, 342-353)
* The Law of Suspects (RWC 7, 353-354)
* Saint-Just, Report to the Convention (RWC 7, 354-362)
* Robespierre, Report on the Principles (RWC 7, 368-384)
* The Festival of the Supreme Being (RWC 7, 384-391)
* The Conspiracy of Equals (RWC 7, 393-403)
* de Maistre, Considerations on France (RWC 7, 445-452)
* Palmer and Colton, 9.45 (The Constitutional Republic) – 9.46 (The
Despotic Republic) (Required; Blackboard)
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Film screening: Danton (Place/Time TBA)
February 22: Midterm Exam
Liberalism
February 27: LONG/DIFFICULT READING
* Constant, Ancient and Modern Liberty Compared (RWC 7, 452-461)
* Bentham, Principles of Legislation (RWC 8, 6-31)
* John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (59-140)
Suggested reading:
* Palmer and Colton, 11.52-11.57.
March 1:
* Jeremy Bentham, Panopticon Papers (RWC 8, 32-40)
* John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (141-187)
Spring Break: March 2 – March 11
Utopianism, Religion, and the Social Question
March 13:
* Charles Fourier, on the Phalanstery (RWC 8, 159-174)
* The Trial of the St. Simonians (RWC 8, 174-188)
* Flora Tristan, The Workers’ Union (RWC 8, 188-201)
* Palmer and Colton, 12.58-60 (chapters on the 1848 Revolutions)
(Required; Blackboard)
March 15:
* Feuerbach, The Essence of Christianity (RWC 8, 322-336)
* Renan, The Intellectual and Moral Reform of France (RWC 8, 351-356)
* Gosse, Father and Son (RWC 8, 366-374)
* Contemporary Issues in Historical Perspective: Religion and Science
* Margaret Talbot, “Darwin in the Dock,” The New Yorker, Dec. 5,
2005. (Blackboard)
Marxism
March 20:
LONG AND VERY DIFFICULT READING
* 1848 in France (RWC 8, 215-220)
* Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire (RWC 8, 242-266)
* * Engels, “Socialism: Utopian and Scientific” (683-700) (Blackboard)
March 22:
VERY DIFFICULT READING
* Engels, “Socialism: Utopian and Scientific” (700-717) (Blackboard)
* Zetkin, On a Bourgeois Feminist Petition (RWC 8, 538-544)
* Contemporary Issues in Historical Perspective: Class
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* “Class Matters” series in The New York Times, May-June 2005
(Blackboard)
Nationalism and Imperialism
March 27:
LONG/DIFFICULT READING
* Renan, “What is a Nation?” (Blackboard)
* von Treitschke, In Memory of the Great War (RWC 8, 461-469)
* Theodor Herzl, The Jewish State (RWC 8, 483-492)
Suggested reading:
* Palmer and Colton, 13.63-67.
March 29:
* Rudyard Kipling, The White Man’s Burden (RWC 8, 544-546)
* The Earl of Cromer, Modern Egypt (RWC 8, 546-554)
* Chamberlain, Preference, the True Imperial Policy, (RWC 8, 554-569)
Suggested reading:
* Palmer and Colton, 15.78-84.
April 2:
Paper #2 deadline, 5pm.
Mass Culture, Mass Politics, and Mass Death
April 3:
* Luxemburg, Mass Strike, Party, and Trade Union (RWC 8, 519-538)
* The Futurist Manifesto (RWC 9, 6-15)
* Massis and de Tarde, The Young People of Today (RWC 9, 16-35)
Suggested reading:
* Palmer and Colton, 14.74-77.
April 5:
LONG/DIFFICULT READING
*Walter Gropius, On the Bauhaus (RWC 9, 398-413)
* Benjamin, The Work of Art (RWC 9, 413-433)
April 10:
LONG/DIFFICULT READING
* Freud, Thoughts for the Times on War and Death (RWC 9, 155-175)
Suggested reading:
* Palmer and Colton, 16.85-90.
Fascism and Communism
April 12:
* The ABC of Communism, (Blackboard)
* Stalin, The Foundations of Leninism (RWC 9, 233-251)
* Palmer and Colton, 17.91-96 (chapters on the Russian Revolutions)
(Required; Blackboard)
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April 17:
* Benito Mussolini, The Doctrine of Fascism (RWC 9, 219-233)
* Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (RWC 9, 191-218)
* Palmer and Colton, 19.103-104 (chapters on Italian Fascism and
Nazism) (Required; Blackboard)
World War II, the Holocaust, and Postwar Europe
April 19:
LONG/DIFFICULT READING
* Arthur Koestler, The God That Failed (RWC 9, 352-367)
* Friedrich von Hayek, The Road to Serfdom (RWC 9, 433-445)
April 24:
* Bettelheim, Experience of the Concentration Camps (RWC 9, 466-482)
Suggested reading:
* Palmer and Colton, 20.105-108.
April 26:
* Hannah Arendt, On Humanity in Dark Times (RWC 9, 560-583)
* Raymond Williams, The Long Revolution (RWC 9, 592-623)
Suggested reading:
* Palmer and Colton, 21.109-112.
Final Exam: Tuesday, May 1, 3:30pm-6:00pm
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