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21H.001 How to Stage a Revolution
Fall 2007
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Fall 2007
Lectures: MW, 3-4
Recitation: Thurs/Friday
Prof. W. Broadhead
Prof. M. Jacobs
Prof. P. Perdue
Prof. J. Ravel
21H.001, a HASS-D, CI course, explores fundamental questions about the causes and nature of
revolutions. How do people overthrow their rulers? How do they establish new governments? Do radical
upheavals require bloodshed, violence, or even terror? How have revolutionaries attempted to establish
their ideals and realize their goals? We will look at a set of major political transformations throughout the
world and across centuries to understand the meaning of revolution and evaluate its impact. By the end
of the course, students will be able to offer reasons why some revolutions succeed and others fail.
Materials for the course include the writings of revolutionaries, declarations and constitutions, music,
films, art, memoirs, and newspapers.
This class is a hybrid of lectures and seminars. Each week students will attend lectures as a whole
group and also attend sections, which will all be led by faculty members. All lectures and recitations are
mandatory as is regular participation. Final grades will be calculated on the basis of 3 papers (15 %
each), quizzes (15% total), a final exam (20%) and class participation (20%). In keeping with the
HASS-D, CI requirements, students will write at least twenty pages, revise at least one paper, and give
oral presentations.
The readings for the class are from a combination of books and shorter documents. The books are
available at the MIT Bookstore and the documents (indicated by ***) are available at the class website,
which is web.mit.edu/revolution. Please purchase the following books:
Aristotle, Athenian Constitution
S. Fitzpatrick, The Russian Revolution
J. Spence, Mao Zedong, A Life
H. Harrison, The Man Awakened From Dreams
T. Cheek, Mao Zedong and China’s Revolutions K
Skinner, ed., Reagan in His Own Hand
In addition to the required books above, you may also like to consult the following books:
G. Wood, The American Revolution, A History
J. Popkin, A Short History of the French Revolution
J. Ehrrman, The Eighties: America in the Age of Reagan
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
Week One:
What is a Revolution?
Sept. 5:
Introduction
Recitation: Definitions of Revolution
***Excerpts from Aristotle, Noah Webster, Karl Marx, Lenin, Mao, the OED,
the Beatles and Raymond Williams
PART TWO: INVENTING THE PEOPLE
Sept. 6/7:
Week Two:
Athenian Revolution
Sept. 10:
Sept. 12:
Introduction to Inventing the People
Oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny: 600-400 BC
S.B. Pomeroy et al., A Brief History of Ancient Greece, pp. 110-148
Athenian Constitution, chs. 1-41
Recitation: Metastasis and revolution in the Athenian Constitution
Sept. 13/14:
Week Three:
Athenian Revolution, continued
Sept. 20/21:
The emergence of the Athenian demos: 594 BC
Plutarch, Life of Solon, chs. 1-3, 13-25
R. Wallace, “Revolutions and a new order in Solonian Athens” (2007)
Popular action and constitutional reform: 508/7 BC
*** Herodotus, Histories 5.55-78
*** J. Ober, “The Athenian Revolution of 508/7 BCE: violence, authority,
and the origins of democracy” (1993)
Recitation: When is a democracy not a democracy?
Week Four:
Athenian Revolution, continued
Sept. 24:
Sept. 26:
Sept. 27/28:
NO CLASS
Democracy top to bottom: 462-450 BC
*** Plutarch, Life of Cimon and Life of Pericles excerpts
*** K. Raaflaub, “Power in the hands of the People: foundations of Athenian
democracy” (1998)
*** J. Ober, “Revolution matters: democracy as demotic action” (1998)
*** K. Raaflaub, “The thetes and democracy” (1998)
Recitation: How revolting? Wallace vs. Ober vs. Raaflaub
Week Five:
Atlantic Revolutions
Oct 1:
American Revolution
*** John Dickinson, “Letters of a Farmer in Pennsylvania” (1767-1768), II and
III
*** British Declaration of Rights, 1689
*** Resolution of the Continental Congress, 14-15 May, 1776
*** Statement on Independence by the Town of Boston, Massachusetts, May
23, 1776
*** Virginia Declaration of Rights, early draft by George Mason and slightly
modified by a committee of the Virginia Convention from the Pennsylvania
Gazette for June 12, 1776
Sept. 17:
Sept. 19:
Oct 4/5:
*** Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
*** Massachusetts Constitution of 1780: preamble, Declaration of Rights,
Opening of “Part the Second”
*** U.S. Constitution of 1787
Paper One Due on October 1
French Revolution
“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution,” chs. 1, 4, 6, 7
located at http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution
*** Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789)
*** Olympe de Gouges, “Declaration of the Rights of Women” (1791)
*** Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Citizens (1795)
Recitation: Declarations of Rights: America and France
Week Six:
Atlantic Revolutions, continued
Oct. 8:
NO CLASS
Oct. 3:
Oct.10:
Oct.11/12:
Haitian Revolution
"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution” ch 8
(http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution):
*** Laurent Dubois and John D. Garrigus, “Introduction: Revolution,
Emancipation, and Independence”
*** The Haitian Declaration of Independence (1804)
*** The Haitian Constitution (1805)
Recitation: Framing Constitutions in the U.S., France, and Haiti
PART THREE: INVENTING THE MODERN STATE
Week Seven:
The Russian Revolution
Oct. 15:
Oct.18 /19:
Introduction to Inventing the Modern State: Empires, states, and peoples in
Russia and China
Revisions on Paper One Due on October 15
Russia’s ancien régime; 19th century revolutionary traditions; the Revolution
of 1905
*** Chernyshevsky, Nikolay Gavrilovich, Nathan Haskell Dole, and S. S.
Skidelsky. What Is to Be Done? (1986) pp. 143-149, 188-196, 272-293
*** Excerpts from Marx, Communist Manifesto
*** Herzen, Aleksandr. From the Other Shore, and the Russian People and
Socialism, an Open Letter to Jules Michelet. 1st American ed, Library of
Ideas (1956) pp. 165-208
Sergei Eisenstein, Battleship Potemkin [online at
www.archive.org/details/BattleshipPotemkin]
Leon Trotsky, 1905 [available online :
http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1907/1905/index.htm]
Visualizingcultures.mit.edu: unit on Russo Japanese war
Recitation: How European was the Russian Revolution?
Week Eight:
The Russian Revolution, continued
Oct. 22:
1917: The Bolshevik Seizure of Power
Fitzpatrick, Sheila. The Russian Revolution (1994) pp. 15-119
Oct. 17:
*** Brooks, Jeffrey, and Georgiy Chernyavskiy. Lenin and the Making of the
Soviet State (2007) pp. 44-60
*** Maxim Gorky, Untimely Thoughts, pp. 83-95
*** John Reed, Ten Days that Shook the World, pp. 654-684
Oct. 24:
The Bolsheviks consolidate their rule; the end of revolution? 1917-1926
Oct. 25 /26:
Recitation: Who led the revolution, the Party or the masses?
Week Nine:
The Chinese Revolution
Oct. 31:
The Qing dynasty and Western imperialism
*** Cheng, Pei-kai, Michael Lestz, and Jonathan D. Spence. The Search for
Modern China: A Documentary Collection (1999) pp. 139-149, 184-189,
197-206, 238-241, 257-262
Spence, Jonathan D. Mao Zedong, A Life (1999) pp. 1-101
The collapse of the Qing and creation of the Republic, 1911-1927
Nov. 1/2:
Recitation: Reform vs. Revolution: A Debate
Week Ten:
Chinese Revolution, continued
Oct.29:
Nov 8/9:
The Nationalist Party and the War of Resistance against Japan
*** Mao Zedong, “Report on the Peasant Movement in Hunan,” February
1927, in Timothy Cheek, Mao Zedong and China's Revolutions : A Brief
History with Documents, Bedford Series in History and Culture (2002) pp.
41-75
Harrison, Henrietta. The Man Awakened from Dreams: One Man's Life in a
North China Village, 1857-1942 (2005) pp. 51-158
The Communist Party, the Yenan Way, and the Civil War, 1927-1949
Paper Two Due on November 7
Recitation: Countryside and Revolution: Nationalists and Communists
Week Eleven:
Chinese Revolution, continued
Nov 12:
NO CLASS
Nov 14:
The Maoist era, 1949-1976; Reform and the end of revolution?
Cheek, Timothy. Mao Zedong and China's Revolutions : A Brief History with
Documents, Bedford Series in History and Culture (2002) pp. 123-179,
216-219
Spence, Jonathan D. Mao Zedong, A Life (1999) pp. 102-178
Long Bow Group, Morning Sun [film on Cultural Revolution]
Nov 15/16:
Recitation: Assessing Mao’s legacy
Nov. 5:
Nov 7:
PART FOUR: REINVENTING REVOLUTION
Week Twelve:
Reagan Revolution
Nov 22/ 23:
Introduction to Reinventing Revolution
*** 14th Amendment
*** FDR Inaugural Speech (1933)
*** Port Huron Statement (1963)
*** Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have A Dream Speech (1963)
*** Lyndon Johnson Howard University Speech (1965)
*** NOW Statement of Purpose (1966)
Revisions on Paper Two Due on November 19
Revolt against Liberalism
*** Selections from The Reagan Diaries
NO CLASS
Week Thirteen:
Reagan Revolution
Nov 19:
Nov 21:
Nov 26:
Nov 28:
Reaganomics
*** Jimmy Carter Crisis of Confidence Speech (1979)
*** Ronald Reagan Speech on the Economy (1980)
*** Jerry Falwell, Listen America (1980)
*** William Greider, “The Education of David Stockman,” Atlantic (Dec,
1981)
*** Selections from Reagan in His Own Hand
Morning in America
*** Selections from The Reagan Diaries
*** Ronald Reagan Farewell Address (1989)
*** Republican Contract With America (1994)
*** Bill Clinton State of the Union New Covenant Speech (1995)
Nov 29/30:
Recitation: Reagan Revolution: Myth or Reality
Week
Fourteen:
Other Revolutions?
Dec 3:
US and the World
*** Selections from The Reagan Diaries
*** Ronald Reagan Speech to House of Commons (1982)
*** Ronald Reagan Evil Empire Speech (1983)
*** Congressional Committee Report on Iran-Contra (1987)
Paper Three Due on December 3
Dec 5:
1989
*** Mikhail Gorbachev Speech on Perestroika (1988)
*** New York Times, “The Cold War Is Over (1989)
*** George Bush New World Order Speech (1991)
*** Selections from Timothy Garton Ash, The Magic Lantern, The
Revolution of 1989
Dec 6/7:
Recitation: Revolution in Global Age
Week Fifteen:
Concluding Thoughts
Dec 10:
Revolution in the Middle East
Dec 12:
Panel Discussion: The Future of Revolution?
Final Exam
TBA