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Hist. 237: Major Issues in American History
Professor L. Paris
Office: 1228 Buchanan Tower
Office Hours: Mondays, 2-4 p.m., or by appointment
voicemail: 822-8810
email: leslie.paris@ubc.ca
(I will reply as quickly as possible, but please note that I do not check email regularly on
weekends, and it may take me up to a day to return your message on weekdays.)
This introductory survey course examines American history from the colonial era to the
present day. We will explore the rise to economic, military, and political importance of
the United States; the experiences of ordinary people and diverse communities; and major
economic, political, and cultural shifts over time. Topics will include Native American
cultures; early European settlements; the American Revolution and the early Republic;
slavery and race relations; westward expansion; the Civil War and Reconstruction;
industrialization and urbanization; commercial culture and mass culture; political
movements including religious revivalism, labour activism, civil rights agitation, and
feminism; and the rise of the nation-state in the twentieth century, both domestically and
internationally.
HIST 237 is designed to introduce students to some of the fundamental methodological
issues of the discipline: the uses of evidence; the genre of scholarly writing; history in the
public sphere, and technical research skills. Over the course of the year, the range of
assignments will include papers, exams, and participation in class discussions. These
assignments will help you to learn how to work with primary and secondary sources, read
for argument, and write clearly and persuasively.
Teaching Assistants:
Caitlin Cunningham
caitlin.cunning@gmail.com
Office hours and location:
Thursdays 12:30-2, Brock Hall Annex, 2355A
Hank Trim
hdstrim@hotmail.com
Office hours and location:
Mondays 11 to 12.30, BuTo 1111
Lectures:
Fall, Mondays Chemistry 126, Wednesdays Buch D219; Winter, Geography 212
Discussion Sections:
A list is available at
https://courses.students.ubc.ca/cs/main?pname=subjarea&tname=subjareas&req=3&dept
=HIST&course=237
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Textbook:
Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty! An American History (New York: W. W. Norton, Third
Seagull Edition, 2011).
Reserve readings:
Most of the primary sources are available on the Norton website. Documents are
organized by chapter; on the left-hand side you will see the category “documents.” See
http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/give-me-liberty3/
Please use the password that comes with your textbook to register. If you have trouble
using the Norton website, support.wwnorton.com offers help.
Some reserve articles and links are on the UBC Connect website. The persistent URL for
the course reserves is: https://go.library.ubc.ca/4DDbpB
For instructions about how to use the Blackboard system, see the library’s website at
http://elearning.ubc.ca/connect/
Please bring copies of online material to discussion section as print-outs so that you can
refer to them as needed.
Course requirements:
Please arrive on time to class and turn any cellphones off. This is a computer-free lecture
zone, with the exception of students who require classroom accommodation; if you do,
please come speak with me.
Evaluations will be based on written work, papers, examinations, and class participation.
Papers: 45%
Term I: primary source analysis, 3 pp. 5%
historiography and revision, 4 pp., 10% (two drafts weighed equally)
Term II: library assignment/final paper prospectus, 2 pp. plus bibliography and library
skills sheet, 5%,
final paper and revision, 8-10 pp., 25% (two drafts weighed equally)
Both the second paper in term I and the longer paper in term II will be revised and
resubmitted. Please submit both the original version (with comments) and your revised
copy; your final mark for the paper will be divided equally between the initial mark and
the revised mark. Specific paper assignments will be distributed several weeks in
advance of every deadline. For general advice on writing history papers, see
http://www.history.ubc.ca/content/writing-centre
All papers should be double-spaced, using a standard 12 point font such as Times. They
should be stapled, have a title page (with your name, section, and an original title) and
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numbered pages, and use footnotes or endnotes as needed. The final paper proposal and
the final paper should also include a bibliography.
Please note: all assignments must be completed in order to pass the course. All paper
assignments turned in late will be penalized by 2% per date late, unless there is a family
or medical emergency that has been cleared with me or your TA (and which you may be
asked to document). Any paper that is over a week late will receive only minimal
comments. Work due in the first term cannot be accepted after the December exam.
Work due in the second term cannot be accepted after the April exam.
Final Exams: 20% per semester = 40%
Exams will cover course material (i.e. readings, lecture, images) from the semester in
which they are scheduled.
Class Participation: 15% (including in-class assignments)
This portion of the mark will reflect your thoughtful participation in weekly discussion.
Each students will be responsible for generating a list of useful questions for discussion,
once per term, and will do in-class writing in section as assigned.
Your discussion section presents the opportunity to work collaboratively through issues
raised by the readings. A successful conversation depends on the participation of all
members, so everyone should come to the discussion having read the week’s materials
and given them some thought. Your preparation for class is vital to an interesting
discussion. Please bring all of the week’s readings to class in printed form so that we can
look at them together.
Please take some notes as you read each week. Consider both the big picture (the
author’s argument, or where you think it fits into larger historiographical debates) and the
details that build an argument (such as evidence, style, and organization). Writing down
some notes at this point forces you to think about these issues in advance of class, and
will help you to remember far better than using a highlighter. How persuasive is the
reading, and why? What kind of evidence does it employ, and how successfully? Come
prepared to discuss these concerns; each week, be prepared to share at least one historical
“why” question in discussion that addresses the week’s readings. You may also
periodically share writing in class. As you read scholarly essays, be attentive not only to
argument and evidence but also to style and the ways in which these essays are put
together.
Some students are more comfortable than others in participating in discussion, but it is
vital that everyone contribute. Toward that end, the classroom needs to be a comfortable
space for exploration. You don’t have to “know the answers,” and it is always
appropriate to ask questions of your peers or discussion leader if there are issues or
claims you find intriguing or perplexing.
Attendance will be taken in discussion sections. Excused absences (religious holidays,
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documented family or medical emergencies) will not affect your participation mark, but
with three or more unexcused absences you will fail the participation portion of the class
during the semester in question. Similarly, if you come late to class, you distract other
students and the instructor; if you chronically come late to class, your mark will reflect
this.
On plagiarism
Plagiarism means claiming someone else’s work as your own, without crediting him or
her. For instance, pasting a few sentences from the internet or another essay without
proper attribution is considered cheating. If you have used the original author’s extended
phrasing (or changed only a few words) outside of quotation marks, even if you cite the
source in footnotes, it is still considered plagiarism. In a university context, this amounts
to theft. It is also unfair to other students. Always keep the notes and rough drafts of
your papers. If you have questions about when and how to ascribe information or ideas to
others, please come see me or your TA to discuss appropriate writing techniques.
This course uses TurnItIn. Papers should be submitted electronically to TurnItIn by the
paper deadlines, as well as in person. I don’t expect to find plagiarism, but I use the
TurnItIn system to protect students and to keep the marking fair.
The class ID at turnitin.com is 6725801
The enrollment password is survey
UBC advises students to create anonymous Turn It In aliases, as otherwise your personal
data is kept in the United States. You will find instructions for doing so at
http://elearning.ubc.ca/toolkit/turnitin/for-students/
In order to allow the TAs and I to know who is who, please provide your alias, along with
your real name, on the title page of the copy you hand in to your TA in person (but do not
provide this version of the title page to Turn It In; remove your personal data from your
paper first). If you do not already have an alias, please create one according to the
following principle: your section number + last name backward. So, for example, I could
be 02Sirap.
You can face severe penalties from the university if you are found to have plagiarized.
For more on UBC’s plagiarism policies, see
http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/vancouver/index.cfm?tree=3,54,111,959
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On Interpreting Marks:
A range (80 to 100): A+ = 90 +, A = 85-89, A- = 80-84
The A essay or exam:
Has an incisive thesis, is richly developed, and is very well organized. It is polished, and
it stands out.
Draws on and compares many sources to develop the key argument.
Uses evidence from the course toward some degree of original synthesis.
Has smooth transitions between paragraphs and arguments.
B Range (68 to 79): B+ = 76-79, B = 72-75, B- = 68-71
The B essay or exam:
Is clearly presented and the argument well-defended.
Is less historiographical than A work (it does not compare approaches or consider
counter-arguments in much detail).
Reflects an accurate understanding of the material but does not add new, critical insights.
Is well organized and the writing is easy to follow; no major grammatical problems.
C range (55 to 67): C+ = 64-67, C = 60-63, C- = 55-59
The C essay or exam:
Has a clear and reasonable thesis, and its argument is sufficiently developed to support
the claims being made.
This paper shows effort at integrating different sources, but there are important gaps in
flow, information or analysis.
C papers often reflect only a single approach to the issue, or fail to adequately analyze the
data they are mentioning.
D range (50-54)
The D essay or exam is passable. The issues are insufficiently or inadequately analyzed,
and the structure is difficult to follow.
F range (below 50)
The F essay or exam either has no thesis or a thesis which cannot be defended as it is too
vague, broad or inaccurate. Its approach to the material is cursory, and the argument is
not well-developed. A plagiarized paper will automatically receive an F.
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TERM I
September
week 1: Introduction
4 Introduction
week 2: Cultures in Contact
9 The First North Americans
11 Origins of Conquest
read:
Foner: ch. 1
Norton Study Space (Docs.): 1.1 The Magna Carta (April 1215); 1.3 The Written Record
of the Voyage of 1524 of Giovanni da Verrazano
week 3: The Colonies
16 Jamestown and Plymouth: Regional Diversity
18 Observance of Opening of West Coast National Event of the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission - no class.
read:
Foner: ch. 2
Docs: 2.3 John Rolfe Recounts the Arrival of Slaves in Virginia (1619); 2.4 Mayflower
Compact (1620); 2.9 Indenture Contracts for Three Boys (1699); 2.10 Lament of
Elizabeth Sprigs (1756), 2.11 Advertisement for Two Run-Away Servants (1769)
week 4: Colonial Cultures
23 Slavery and Empire
25 Witchcraft
read:
Foner: ch. 3 and 4
Docs: 3.8 Trial of Bridget Bishop (1692); 4.4 Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
(1741); 4.8 Proclamation of 1763
October
week 5: War and Independence
30 Colonial Resistance
2 Independence
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read:
Foner: ch. 5 and 6
Docs: 5.4 Boston Tea Party Account (1773); 5.7 Patrick Henry's "Give Me Liberty or
Give Me Death" (March 23, 1775); 6.1 Felix's Petition for Freedom (January 6, 1773);
Declaration of Independence (Appendix 37-40)
Paper 1 due at beginning of discussion section (primary source assignment)
week 6: The New Nation
7 Politics and Citizenship
9 The Critical Period
read:
Foner: ch. 7 and ch. 8
Docs: 7.4 Thomas Jefferson on Native Americans (1780); 7.7 Thomas Jefferson on
Shay's Rebellion (January 30, 1787); 8.7 Jefferson's Secret Message to Congress
Regarding the Lewis & Clark Expedition (January 18, 1803); 8.8 President Thomas
Jefferson to Lewis and Clark (1803)
week 7: Market Revolution
14 Thanksgiving Holiday, no class
16 Industrial and Commercial Networks
read:
Foner: ch. 9
Docs: 9.6 The American Frugal Housewife (1829); 9.7 Young Lady's Book (1830); 9.8
Letter from a Lowell Operative (1834)
week 8 The Expanding Nation
21 Immigration and Citizenship
23 Westward Expansion
read:
Foner: ch. 10
Docs: 10.3 Jackson Forever! (1828); 10.6 Andrew Jackson on Native Americans, Second
Annual Message (December 6, 1830); 10.10 Samuel Cloud on the Trail of Tears (1838)
week 9: Freedom and Slavery
28 Social Class and Family Life
30 Nineteenth-Century Slavery
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read:
Foner: ch. 11
Docs: 11.3 John C. Calhoun on the Error of "All men are created equal" (1848); 11.7
Twelve Years a Slave (1853); 11.10 Father Henson's Story of His Own Life (1858);
11.12 History of Slave Insurrections (1860)
November
week 10: Cultural Politics
4 Reform Movements
6 Popular Culture
read:
Foner: ch. 12
Docs: 12.6 Theodore Weld's "Slavery As It Is" (1839); 12.8 Elizabeth Cady Stanton at
Seneca Falls (1848); 12.9 Oneida Report (1849); 12.11 Charles Harding on Temperance
(1869)
week 11: The West
11 Remembrance Day: no class
13 Manifest Destiny
UBC reserves:
Frederick Jackson Turner, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” (first
published in Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1893); reprinted in
F. J. Turner, The Frontier in American History (New York: Henry Holt and Company,
1921).
Patricia Nelson Limerick, “Turnerians All: The Dream of a Helpful History in an
Intelligible World” American Historical Review 100, no. 3 (Jun., 1995): 697-716.
paper #2 due at beginning of discussion section (historiography assignment)
week 12: Regional Expansion and Contention
18 The Gold Rush
20 Slavery Debates
read:
Foner: ch. 13
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Docs: 13.3 Fugitive Slave Act (1850); 13.6 William Redmond Ryan, Personal
Adventures in Upper and Lower California (1850); 13.7 Miner's Ten Commandments
(1853)
week 13: The Civil War
25 Civil War
27 Summing up: The United States after the War
read:
Foner: ch. 14
Docs: 14.5 Final Draft of the Emancipation Proclamation (September 22, 1862)
paper #2 revision due at beginning of discussion section
The Term I exam will be scheduled during the December exam period (Dec. 4-18).
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Term 2 Schedule
January
week 1: Reconstruction
6 Surrender: Tyranny or Reform?
8 Challenges to Reconstruction
read:
Foner: ch. 15
Docs: 15.3 Johnson's Veto Message (1866); 15.4 The Civil Rights Bill (1866); Barrow
Plantation (March 1881).
week 2 New Economies
13 The West
15 Labour and Industrialization
read:
Foner: ch. 16
Docs: 16. 1 Sunshine and Shadow in New York (1868); 16.4 Story of a Monopoly
(1881); 16. 5 Sitting Bull (1882); 16.7 City Slave Girls (1888)
week 3 Civil Unrest and Empire
20 Black and Feminist Activism
22 Spanish-American War
read:
Foner: ch. 17
Docs: 17. 1 "Lynching the Chinese" (October 28, 1871); 17.2 Victoria C. Woodhull,
"And the Truth Shall Make You Free" (November 20, 1871); 17. 4 The Chinese
Exclusion Act (1882); 17.7 Booker T. Washington on Citizenship (February 12, 1898)
week 4 Domestic Reform
27 Progressivism in Public Life
29 Immigration
read:
Foner: ch. 18
Docs: 18.3 Upton Sinclair, The Jungle (1905); 18.3 Upton Sinclair, The Jungle (1905);
18.9 P. M. Newman's Letter on Conditions in the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory
(1911)
February
week 5 The War and the Home Front
3 World War I
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5 Health Reform
read:
Foner: ch. 19
Docs: 19. 1 "The World Must Be Made Safe for Democracy" (1917); 19.2 Espionage Act
of 1917; 19. 4 The Fourteen Points (1918)
week 6 Mass Culture
10 No class - Family Day
12 Mass Culture
read:
Foner: ch. 20
Segment of John Francis Dillon, “Flaming Youth” (1923)
Ppaer #3 (2-page prospectus and library assignment) due in discussion
SPRING BREAK – NO CLASSES February 17-21
week 7 The 1920s
25 Anti-Modernism
27 Business Culture
read:
UBC reserves:
Mae M. Ngai, “Nationalism, Immigration Control, and the Ethnoracial Remapping of
America in the 1920S” OAH Magazine of History 21, no. 3 (Jul., 2007): 11-15.
Robert S. Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd, Middletown: A Study in Modern American
Culture (New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1929), pp. 225-271.
March
week 8 The Great Depression
3 Introducing the New Deal
5 Challenges to the New Deal
read:
Foner: ch. 21
UBC reserves: Steve Craig, “The More They Listen, the More They Buy”: Radio and the
Modernizing of Rural America, 1930-1939” Agricultural History 80, no. 1 (Winter,
2006): 1-16.
week 9 World War II
10 War Abroad
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12 The Home Front
read:
Foner: ch. 22
Docs: 22.1 Hayami Diary; 22. 2 Executive Order 8802; 22.4 Evacuation to Manazar
Paper #4 (research paper) due March 12 at the beginning of lecture
week 10 The Cold War
17 East and West
19 the Culture of Containment
read:
Foner: chs. 23 and 24
Docs: 23.1 George Kennan's "Long Telegram" (1947); 23. 8 McCarthy-Truman Dialogue
on the Red Scare (1950); 24.2 Jennifer Colton, "Why I Quit Working," Good
Housekeeping (September 1951); 24.3 Brown v. Board of Education (May 17, 1954)
Film: “Duck and Cover” (1951)
week 11 Protest Movements
24 Civil Rights
26 The Great Society, Vietnam, and Radical Activism
read:
Foner: ch. 25
Docs: 25.1 SNCC Statement of Purpose (October 1960); 25.3 Carl Ogelsby, "Let Us
Shape the Future" (November 27, 1965); 25. 8 Roe v. Wade (January 22, 1973); 26. 1
Ron Ridenhour to the United States Congress (March 29, 1969)
week 12 Conservative Resurgence
31 From Nixon to the Reagan Revolution
2 The Political is Personal?: The Culture Wars
read:
Foner: ch. 26
Docs: 26.2 Kent State Responses (May 1970); 26.5 Articles of Impeachment for Richard
M. Nixon (July 27, 1974); 27.3 Patrick Buchanan Launches the "Culture War" (August
17, 1992); 27. 5 Republican "Contract with America" (September 27, 1994)
April
week 13 The United States Today
7 The Global Economy, 9/11 and Domestic Terror
read:
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Foner: chs. 27 and 28
Docs: 27.1 President George H. W. Bush Speaks to Congress about a "New World
Order," (March 6, 1991); 27.6 President Clinton's State of the Union Address (January
23, 1996); 28.7 President George W. Bush on the "Axis of Evil," State of the Union
Address (January 29, 2002)
The revised research paper is due April 7 at the beginning of class.
The term II exam will be scheduled during the April exam period (Apr. 12-30).
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Paper topics:
Paper 1 – Using Primary Sources
This week we are considering four primary documents. Using these sources, consider
what kind of ideological revolution took place as the United States became an
independent nation. What did the ideals of liberty and freedom mean to those who used
these terms? Was there a broad consensus among Americans about the meaning of
liberty? Why or why not?
In order to answer these questions, consider each document: What is its thesis? Who was
its original intended audience? What evidence, style, and word choice does it use to
make its case? Would it have been broadly persuasive to other colonists: why or why
not? Then put these documents into conversation with one another. To what degree do
these documents overlap ideologically, or contradict one another? What other kinds of
perspectives might be missing here, that would help to fill in this story?
Using evidence from these texts as your sources, make an argument about what the idea
of liberty meant in political life at the time of the American Revolution. You may cite
Foner, as appropriate.
Paper 2 - Historiography
The field of historical scholarship is subject to continual debate and reinterpretation. Not
only do some groups of scholars emphasize some historical factors as forces of change
(or continuity) more than others, over the decades scholarly consensus about the meaning
of various historical events and actors has shifted as the broader cultures from which
historians emerge have themselves been transformed.
This paper assignment asks you to compare two articles about western expansion by
distinguished historians of their respective eras, one writing in the 1890s, one in the
1990s. How does Limerick address, elaborate upon, or challenge Turner’s central
arguments, and why does she do so?
To answer this question, you will need to be able to describe each of the authors’
arguments, and the evidence they bring to bear to make them. What assumptions or ideas
do each of these authors bring to their research, and how do these ideas serve to shape
their conclusions? What ideas might Turner himself have been challenging? How
persuasive do you find each of these essays, and why?
Paper 3 – Prospectus and Initial Research
The prospectus for the final paper can focus on any aspect of American history from
1865-1945. You do not need to state your final paper’s argument here. Rather, you need
to lay out a research question, and make a historiographical argument about why your
topic is worth pursuing.
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Toward this end, your two-page proposal should discuss at least 5 primary sources (such
as newspaper articles, advertising, political speeches, population surveys, films, etc.) and
5 secondary (scholarly) sources that you have read well enough to describe how you
believe these materials will be useful to you. What have other scholars said about this
period/theme/concern? What kinds of debates or differences of emphasis appear among
scholars of this issue? How and why are you limiting your paper’s focus in particular
ways (e.g. by time period, region, or group)? What does your range of primary sources
suggest? What kinds of primary or secondary sources have you not yet located that you
believe will also be important to this project?
Along with the proposal, you will be asked to submit a library assignment that is
designed to help you locate useful resources for your final paper.
paper 4 – final paper
Your final paper is a research paper that draws on and extends your paper proposal and
addresses the initial feedback you have received. Your paper must have a clearly
articulated argument; engage at least briefly with historiography; and use a range of
sources (at least double the five primary and secondary sources you located for the
prospectus).