AMH 2010: The United States to 1877
Instructor: Allison Fredette
Fall 2012, Section: 8066
Meeting Times: Tuesday 10:40-11:30/Thursday 10:40-12:35
Room: Keene-Flint 113
Office Hours: Tuesday 11:30-12:30 (or by appointment)
Room: Keene-Flint 9
Email: afredette@ufl.edu
Course Description
This course explores American history from the period of European exploration and native
contact through the final days of the post-Civil War Reconstruction. In doing so, the course
addresses a few major themes: regional differences in both the colonies and the early
United States; the development of slavery from its African origins to the American South;
the formation and experimentation of the early American government; the impact of
cultural, ethnic, racial, and religious diversity during both the colonial period and the
antebellum era; the vast rate of change (politically, economically, and culturally) in the first
half of the nineteenth century; and the legacy of the Civil War era.
Course Objectives
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To expand students’ understanding of early American history
To help students understand the various scholarly perspectives on early American
history
To improve students’ use of historians’ scholarly techniques, such as writing, critical
thinking, reading, and primary document analysis
To analyze the collective development of our accepted historical narratives
To engage in an ongoing debate about the importance of history for today’s society
Important Dates
Slave Ship paper – due Thursday, September 20th
Midterm – Thursday, October 11th
Final Exam – Tuesday, December 11th
Required Books
All books are available for purchase at the UF bookstore and, of course, online.
Eric Foner. Give Me Liberty!: An American History (Brief Third Edition), Vol. 1 (W.W. Norton,
Jan. 2012). ISBN: 0393935523
Elizabeth Cobbs-Hoffman, Edward J. Blum, Jon Gjerde, Major Problems in American History,
Vol. 1 (Wadsworth Publishing, Jan. 2011). ISBN: 0495915130
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Marcus Rediker, The Slave Ship: A Human History (Penguin: New York, 2008). ISBN:
0143114255
*** Have your readings done FOR class on the day listed (i.e. on Tuesday, August 28, I
expect you to have read and be ready to discuss chapter 1 in Give Me Liberty!).
Course Requirements and Grades
Students are required to attend all classes, keep up with assigned readings and
assignments, be prepared to participate in class, take a midterm and final examination,
write seven short responses and one five to six-page paper. More information on the Slave
Ship paper and the two exams will be given as the class progresses.
I will calculate your final grade as follows:
Attendance
10%
Class Participation
10%
Primary Document Analyses 10%
Midterm Exam
25%
Final Exam
25%
Slave Ship Paper
20%
Only course grades of C or better will satisfy Gordon Rule, general education, and college
basic distribution credit.
Primary Document Analysis:
Throughout the semester, students will write a total of seven primary document analyses
on documents found in Major Problems in American History. I have chosen ten possible
weeks on which you can choose a document to write up, and you must do SEVEN of these.
Each assignment must be turned in at the beginning of class on the Thursday of that week.
NO late papers will be accepted. Variety in the types of documents you analyze is also
important (i.e. do not do all seven on photographs but also analyze speeches, diary entries,
etc.). I will give more information about this in class.
Students should write a short response (250-300 words) discussing the value of the
document for understanding history. Why is the document historically significant? What
can historians learn from the document? What does the document reveal about a particular
time, place, or event that a textbook or secondary source cannot?
Grading Scale
Please note UF’s new grading scale with the addition of minuses:
A+
A
AB+
B
B-
4.0
4.0
3.67
3.33
3.0
2.67
100
93-99
90-92
87-89
83-86
80-82
2
C+
C
CD+
D
DE
E1*
I
2.33
2.0
1.67
1.33
1.0
0.67
0.0
0.0
0.0
77-79
73-76
70-72
67-69
63-66
60-62
0-59
*Stopped attending or participating prior to end of class
Additional information on grades can be found at:
http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/catalog/policies/regulationgrades.html
http://www.isis.ufl.edu/minusgrades.html
Class Schedule
Week 1: Introduction to the Study of American History
Thurs., Aug. 22: The Evolution or Devolution of American History
Reading (in class): Our First Gay President?
Video: Newsroom: Why is America the Greatest Country in the World?
Week 2: When Worlds Collide
Key Words: Hernán Cortés, Tenochtitlán, reconquista, encomienda system, Incans, Mayans,
Anasazi, mestizos, “the Columbian Exchange,” mound builders, Christopher Columbus, the
Pueblo Revolt, the middle ground, “Indians’ New World”
Tues., Aug. 28: European Exploration and Native Life
Reading: Give Me Liberty!, Ch. 1
Thurs., Aug. 30: Responses to Contact
Reading: Major Problems, Ch. 1 (primary doc analysis #1)
Week 3: The Southern Colonies
Key Words: St. Augustine, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Castillo de San Marcos, Roanoke,
Jamestown, the Virginia Company, indentured servitude, proprietary colonies, Bacon’s
Rebellion, women in the colonial South, slave codes, dower rights, coverture
Tues., Sept. 4: The Founding of the South
Reading; Give Me Liberty!, pp. 38-52, 81-85
Thurs., Sept. 6: Early Slavery
Reading: Major Problems, Ch. 2 (primary doc analysis #2)
Week 4: The Northern and Middle Colonies
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Key Words: Protestant Reformation, Puritans, the Mayflower Compact, John Winthrop,
predestination, the elect, Anne Hutchinson, the Quakers, William Penn, mourning wars,
King Philip’s War, praying Indians, Salem Witch Trials, women in colonial New England,
mercantilism, the Navigation Acts
Tues., Sept. 11: Life in Early New England and the Mid-Atlantic
Reading: Give Me Liberty!, pp. 53-67, 73-80, 86-102
Thurs., Sept. 13: What caused the Salem witch trials?
Reading: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htm (for
primacy docs)
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/salem/ (an interactive “witchcraft”
experience – just for fun)
John Demos, The Enemy Within: A Short History of Witch-Hunting (Penguin:
New York, 2008), 189-212. (please check e-learning for a copy of this)
Week 5: The Roots of the “Peculiar Institution”
Key Words: the Middle Passage, Olaudah Equiano, the task system, gang labor, the Stono
Rebellion, Ft. Mose, the middle ground
Tues., Sept. 18: Slavery’s Beginnings
Reading: Give Me Liberty!, Ch. 4
Thurs., Sept. 20: The Atlantic Slave Trade
Reading: The Slave Ship, PAPER DUE IN CLASS
Week 6: Fighting for Independence
Key Words: the Seven Years’ War, Pontiac’s Rebellion, the Proclamation of 1763, the
Enlightenment, the Great Awakening, John Peter Zenger, the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act,
virtual representation, nonimportation agreements, the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea
Party, Daughters of Liberty, Common Sense, the First & Second Continental Congresses,
loyalists, freedom petitions, republican motherhood, Treaty of Paris
Tues., Sept. 25: Taxation, the Trouble with Boston, and Declaring Independence
Reading: Give Me Liberty!, Ch. 5
Thurs., Sept. 27: The Framers and their Citizens
Reading: Major Problems, Ch. 4 (primary doc analysis #3)
Week 7: Confederation to Constitution
Key Words: the Articles of Confederation, the Federalists, the Anti-Federalists, Shays’s
Rebellion, the Northwest Ordinance, James Madison, the Federalist Papers, the Virginia
Plan, separation of powers, checks and balances, three-fifths clause, the Bill of Rights,
Treaty of Greenville
Tues., Oct. 2: The Formation of American Government
Reading: Give Me Liberty!, Ch. 7
Thurs., Oct. 4: Whose Constitution was it?
Reading: Major Problems, Ch. 5 (primary doc analysis #4)
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Week 8: The Early Stages of Nationhood
Key Words: Whiskey Rebellion, Alexander Hamilton, the XYZ affair, the Alien & Sedition
Acts, Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions, judicial review, Lewis & Clark, Embargo Act,
Tecumseh, the War of 1812, the Hartford Convention
Tues., Oct. 9: The Virginia Presidents – and Adams, too!
Reading: Give Me Liberty!, Ch. 8
Thurs., Oct. 11: MIDTERM EXAM
Reading: none
Week 9: The Market Revolution
Key Words: the National Road, the Erie Canal, internal improvements, Eli Whitney, selfmade man, yeoman farmers, cult of domesticity, manifest destiny, transcendentalists,
Lowell
Tues., Oct. 16: Railroads, Canals, and King Cotton
Reading: Give Me Liberty!, Ch. 9
Thurs., Oct. 18: The Impact for Women and the Home
Reading: Major Problems, Ch. 8 (primary doc analysis #5)
Week 10: “Jacksonian” Democracy
Key Words: National Republicans, Andrew Jackson, the “Corrupt Bargain,” the Election of
1828, the “spoils system,” the Eaton affair, the Indian Removal Act, the Nullification Crisis,
the Bank War, Martin Van Buren, the Election of 1840
Tues., Oct. 23: King Jackson’s Reign
Reading: Give Me Liberty!, Ch. 10
Thurs., Oct. 25: Voter Turnout – the Endless Debate
Reading: Major Problems, Ch. 9 (primary doc analysis #6)
Week 11: The Reforming Impulse
Key Words: Dorothea Dix, temperance, utopian communities, the American Anti-Slavery
Society, the American Colonization Society, Sojourner Truth, Sarah & Angelina Grimke, the
Seneca Falls Convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Tues., Oct. 30: Temperance, Feminism, and Abolition – oh my!
Reading: Give Me Liberty!, Ch. 12
Thurs., Nov. 1: NO CLASS
Reading: Major Problems, Ch. 10 (primary doc analysis #7)
Week 12: Slavery in the Antebellum South
Key Words: Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Gabriel’s Rebellion, Denmark Vesey, Nat
Turner’s Rebellion, patriarchy, paternalism, types of slave resistance
Tues., Nov. 6: The Defense of and Resistance to Slavery
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Reading: Give Me Liberty!, Ch. 11
Thurs., Nov. 8: Life in the Slave Markets and Neighborhoods
Reading: Major Problems, Ch. 12 (be prepared to discuss Ch. 10, as well)
(primary doc analysis #8)
Week 13: A House Divided Against Itself
Key Words: the Missouri Compromise, 54°40’ or Bust!, the Mexican War, the Wilmot
Proviso, “popular sovereignty,” the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850,
Stephen Douglas, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, gag rule, “Bleeding Kansas,” the Know-Nothings, the
Dred Scott decision, John Brown, the Election of 1860
Tues., Nov. 13: Western Expansion, Abolition Debates, & the Rise of the Republicans
Reading: Give Me Liberty!, Ch. 13
Thurs., Nov. 15: What Caused the Civil War?
Reading: Major Problems, Ch. 13 (primary doc analysis #9)
Week 14: The Civil War
Key Words: Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Fort Sumter, “bushwhackers,”
the border states, the Anaconda Plan, George B. McClellan, “contrabands,” Copperheads,
Antietam, the Emancipation Proclamation, the NYC Draft Riot, U.S. Grant, Appomattox
Tues., Nov. 20: Four Years of War in One Hour
Reading: Give Me Liberty!, Ch. 14
Thurs., Nov. 22: NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)
Week 15: America’s Unfinished Revolution
Key Words: Radical Republicans, the “Black Codes,” Presidential v. Congressional
Reconstruction, the Freedmen’s Bureau, sharecropping, the 13th, 14th, and 15th
Amendments, Andrew Johnson, the Ku Klux Klan, “scalawags” & “carpetbaggers,”
Slaughterhouse cases, the Election of 1876
Tues., Nov. 27: Emancipation
Reading: Major Problems, Ch. 14 (primary doc analysis #10)
Thurs., Nov. 29: Rebuilding the Nation
Reading: Give Me Liberty!, Ch. 15
Week 16: Course Wrap-Up and Review
Tues., Dec. 4: Review Session
Final Exam Time: Tuesday, December 11th, 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Class Policies
Assignments and Exams
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All written assignments should be done in 12-point double-spaced print (Times New
Roman or comparable font) with one-inch margins. Your Slave Ship paper must be turned
in during class hours and will NOT be accepted via email. The midterm will be given during
class time, and the final exam will be given during the schedule final time.
I will NOT accept ANY late papers and assignments. NO makeup exams will be given.
Attendance and In-Class Behavior
You are required to attend class, and your attendance forms a critical part (10%) of your
final grade. If you attend every class, you earn an easy 10%; if you fail to do so, you
jeopardize your grade in this class. Another 10% of your final grade will be assessed based
upon your participation in class. A large part of this class will be discussion-based, which
makes it imperative that you read, contribute, and engage with both your fellow students
and me. You may take notes with a computer, but no facebooking, emailing, tweeting,
skyping, tumblr-ing, blogging, etc., etc., etc. If you are found doing so, it will negatively
impact your participation grade for that class.
Academic Honesty
I take my honor code obligations seriously and expect you to do the same. Obviously
cheating, whether digitally or the old-fashioned way, will not be tolerated. In this course, it
is especially important that you do not commit PLAGIARISM, which consists of failing to
use proper citations or give credit to your sources in all written assignments. When in
doubt, use quotations and cite your sources. This is important whether you are using
material from your textbook, an article, a primary source, or an internet source. Plagiarism
constitutes intellectual theft and academic dishonesty. Please ask me if you have any
concerns about your citations or assignments. The University of Florida’s honesty policies
regarding cheating and plagiarism and the consequences for violating those policies may be
viewed at
http://www.dso.ufl.edu/sccr/honorcodes/honorcode.php -- consequences range from
getting a zero on the said assignment, failing the course entirely, or even expulsion from
school.
Students with Disabilities
I am committed to accommodating students with disabilities. Please notify me early in the
semester if you have a disability and require special accommodations. If you have
questions about disability services, please consult the Disability Resource Center website at
http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drp/.
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