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History 112 (90304, 90305)
Stroud 410
East Stroudsburg University
Fall 2013
Chris Dudley
cdudley@esu.edu
Stroud 409N x3284
Office Hours: MW 1:00-3:45
Modern World Civilization, 1300-1914
This course covers an immense amount of chronological and geographical space: more than six
hundred years of the history of the entire world. To put that in perspective, if we divided our
class time equally between all the countries of the world and all the time this course covers, we
would have a little over one second per country per year. As entertaining as that might be, this
course is organized differently. We will be focusing on big questions that influenced the whole
world, while ignoring or giving short shrift to many no less important events that happened on a
slightly smaller scale. The two big topics that we will be tackling are industrialization and
empire.
The most important event that occurred during the timespan of this course was the Industrial
Revolution: the transformation from agrarian to modern industrial society for the first time in
human history. The main question that we will be asking in this course is why did this happen.
Although the Industrial Revolution began in Europe, this course does not presuppose that it was
a purely European phenomenon. This is our second major theme: empire and globalization. The
world was a much smaller place in 1914 than 1300, and we will be exploring ways in which
unexpected global connections contributed to industrialization.
Objectives and Methods
The course has three main goals. The first is to introduce you to world history and cultures,
particularly the key themes mentioned in the course description. The second goal is to introduce
you to the discipline of history and what historians do. You’ll find that historians are not
primarily interested in what happened in the past, although that is important, but with explaining
why things happened. The third goal is to strengthen your analytical abilities by making you a
more discerning reader and more effective writer.
The course is designed to meet all three of these goals through lecture, class discussion, and
especially the study of original documents that historians call primary sources. Primary sources,
so called because they come directly from the time period studied, are what historians use to
learn about the past. Therefore, they will be what we use in this class. Reading primary sources
is different than reading a textbook. The readings for this class are short but unfamiliar. They
were not written for you, and will require you to read carefully, look up unfamiliar words, and
think about the assumptions the author has made that you may not share. These primary sources
will serve as the basis for class discussion and the paper assignments.
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Course Requirements
The course requirements measure how well you are meeting the goals described above. Your
grade for this class will be determined by your performance on the following assignments. All
grades are based on a standard ten-point scale: A 94-100, A- 90-93, B+ 87-89, B 84-86, etc.
Syllabus Quiz (no credit) The syllabus is your guide to the class and is a contract between you
and me regarding what happens in class. To ensure that you have read and understood it, I have
created a short quiz about the syllabus on D2L (go to “Assessments” and then “Quizzes”). This
quiz does not count towards your final grade, but you must pass it in order to pass the class.
You may take the quiz as many times as you need to, but it will only be available until the end of
Week 2 (6 September). If you have not posted a passing grade by then, you will not pass the
course.
Class Participation (15%) I expect everyone to participate in class discussions. This does not
mean that everyone has to talk every day and it certainly does not mean you have to know all the
answers. But you do need to make comments or ask questions that demonstrate engagement
with the readings. Note that this is note extra credit: if you do not participate adequately, your
final grade will be lowered.
Quizzes (20%) Five times during the semester class will begin with a short quiz on the assigned
reading for the day. This will only happen for primary source readings, never for readings from
Pomeranz and Topik. But, there could be a quiz on any primary source. You will be allowed to
refer to your copy of the reading during the quiz if you have it with you in paper form. Each
quiz will consist of four or five questions of a factual nature about the text. They are designed to
be easy if you have done the reading and brought it with you to class. I will drop the lowest quiz
score when computing your quiz average.
Introductory Paper (15%) “Global Comparison,” approx. 3 pages, due 23 September.
Midterm Paper (25%) “Early Modern Globalization,” approx. 5 pages, due 4 November.
Final Paper (25%) “Industry and Empire,” approx. 5 pages, due 9 December.
There are three papers, all of which are argumentative essays. They will require you to develop
a central argument, organize the paper to explain that argument, and use primary source evidence
to support the argument. All three papers will restrict you to using sources from this class only
and will not require additional research. I will distribute detailed assignments well before each
due date.
Grades for the papers will be based on the quality of your argument, the clarity with which the
argument is presented in the paper, and the use of specific evidence and quotations to support the
argument. An A paper will be one in which all three elements are well done. A B paper has all
three elements, but one or two of them are weaker than in the A paper. In a C paper, one of the
three elements is missing. A D paper has several significant problems, such as failing to address
the right question or containing multiple historical inaccuracies. When considering your final
grade for the course, I will give weight to improvement from paper to paper.
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Citations and Academic Honesty
Academic honesty is the principle that the assignments you submit represent your own work. It
is the most important principle in education, because it assures that you are learning something
and not just receiving a grade. I will be enforcing ESU’s policies on academic misconduct (pp.
48-49 of the Student Handbook). Academic dishonesty will be severely punished, ranging from
failure on the assignment to automatic failure for the course. I will also file a report with the
Office of Student Conduct for possible administrative sanctions, which can include expulsion.
Pay particular attention to the policy on plagiarism, which is the use of someone else’s words or
ideas without proper citation. It is possible to plagiarize without intending to cheat; in fact most
cases of plagiarism are unintentional. The papers in this class will not allow the use of outside
sources, which makes it easy to avoid plagiarism. Make life easier on yourself and avoid using
wikipedia and google to research your paper.
In this class you will use footnotes to cite your sources. Since everything you will be citing is on
the syllabus, you may use the “short form” for footnotes, which includes these elements:
[author’s last name], [short title], [page numbers]. Here are two examples.1,2
Miscellaneous Policies
Attendance
You are paying a great deal of money to take this class and I will not waste your time by taking
attendance after I learn everyone’s name. Attendance is not required and I do not need or want
to see your excuses for missing class. But while attendance is not required, if you do not attend
class regularly you will do poorly in class participation, on the quizzes, and probably on the
papers. You must decide for yourself whether to come to class or not.
Missed Quizzes
There are no make-up quizzes. If you miss a quiz for a legitimate reason, such as illness or
University activity, please let me know. I will drop that quiz entirely and calculate your quiz
average as the best three out of the four remaining quizzes.
Late Papers
I do not accept late papers without significant mitigating circumstances. If there is a legitimate
reason why you must turn a paper in late, please see me before the assignment is due if possible.
Incompletes
Under exceptional circumstances, such as extended illness, I will issue a grade of incomplete for
the course. Please contact me if you feel you may need an incomplete.
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Pomeranz and Topik, The World that Trade Created, 156.
Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, 2.
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Classroom Environment
While in class, demonstrate respect for your fellow students. Avoid disrupting class by arriving
late or leaving early, but if you must do either do it quietly. Turn off or silence phones. If you
are too tired to make it through class without falling asleep, it is better for everyone if you stay
away. If you are disruptive or obviously oblivious to what is happening around you, I will ask
you to leave.
Special Needs
If you require any special accommodation, the University has resources available. See me or
contact Disability Services at x3954.
Meeting with the Instructor
I want everyone to do well in this class! Nothing would make me happier than for everyone to
earn an A, because that will mean I did my job well. I’m here to help you, but I can’t help you if
I don’t know you have a problem. If you have a problem, a question, or just want to talk more
about something that was said in class please talk to me. I especially encourage you to talk to me
about your papers and write drafts of them.
My office hours, listed at the top of the syllabus, are drop-in times. No appointment is
necessary. If those times aren’t convenient, send me an email or talk to me after class and we’ll
work out another time to meet. You can also email me with questions, although it’s often easier
if we can meet face to face.
Required Texts and Class Schedule
There is one required book for this class, which I have ordered at the University Store:
Kenneth Pomeranz and Steven Topik, The World That Trade Created: Society, Culture, and the
World Economy 1400 to the Present (M. E. Sharpe, 2006) ISBN 978-0765617095
The primary source readings are on the course D2L page under “Content.” Please bring the
assigned reading to class with you each day so that you can refer to it during discussion.
Part I: World Tour, 1300-1500
Week 1 (26-30 Aug) Course Introduction
M: Course Introduction
W: Lecture – 14th Century Catastrophes
F: Agrarian Society
Primary Reading: The Manor of Alwalton (1279)
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Week 2 (2-6 Sept) Asia – The Most Advanced Societies
Monday (Labor Day) No Class
W: China
Pomeranz/Topik 1.2 The Chinese Tribute System
Primary Reading: Zheng He, Stele Inscription (1431)
F: India
Primary: Nuruddin Salim Jahangir, Memoirs (1580)
Week 3 (9-13 Sept) The Rest of Eastern Hemisphere
M: The Ottoman Empire
Primary Reading: Selim I, Letter to Shah Ismail of Persia (1514)
W: Africa
Primary Reading: Leo Africanus, A Description of Timbuktu (1526)
F: Europe
Primary Reading: Jean de Joinville, Life of Saint Louis (1309)
Part II: Global Connections, 1492-1750
Week 4 (16-20 Sept) Early Modern Globalization
M: Discovering America
Pomeranz/Topik 1.6 Aztec Traders
Pomeranz/Topik 2.2 Better to Be Lucky Than Smart
W: Slavery, Silver, and Spain’s New World Empire
Pomeranz/Topik 5.1 The Logic of an Immoral Trade
Pomeranz/Topik 5.2 As Rich as Potosí
F: Europeans in the East Indies
Pomeranz/Topik 1.4 When Asia was the World Economy
Primary Reading: Vasco da Gama, Round Africa to India (1498)
Week 5 (23-27 Sept) Imperial Systems in Asia
M: Lecture – The Portuguese Plan
Introductory Paper Due in Class
W: East India Companies
Pomeranz/Topik 5.7 The Violent Birth of Corporations
F: Integrating into Asian Societies
Pomeranz/Topik 1.9 How the Other Half Traded
Pomeranz/Topik 1.11 Traveling Salesmen, Traveling Taxmen
Pomeranz/Topik 1.12 Going Nonnative
Week 6 (30 Sept – 4 Oct) The Struggle for Mastery in Europe
M: Lecture – Religious Strife
W: Economic and Imperial Conflict
Primary Reading: Thomas Mun, England’s Treasure by Foreign Trade (1620)
F: Absolute Monarchy
Primary Reading: Jacques Bossuet, Political Treatise (1709)
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Week 7 (7-11 Oct) Globalization and Modernization
M: China’s Expansion under the Manchu
Pomeranz/Topik 2.5 People Patterns
W: Commodity Trade and Influence
Pomeranz/Topik 3.2 Brewing Up a Storm
Pomeranz/Topik 3.4 The Brew of Business
Pomeranz/Topik 5.3 The Freebooting Founders of England’s Free Seas
F: Trade, Manufacturing, and Civilization
Primary Reading: David Hume, Of Commerce (1752)
Part III: Revolution, 1750-1830
Week 8 (14-18 Oct) Enlightenment
Monday (Columbus Day) No Class
Tuesday (Switch Day): Lecture – Modernity
W: The English Revolution
Primary Reading: Voltaire, Letters on the English (1733)
F: The Practical Enlightenment
Primary Reading: “Architecture” from Denis Diderot, ed. Encyclopédie (1762)
Week 9 (21-25 Oct) Political Revolution
M: Lecture – Liberalism and Revolution
W: The American and French Revolutions
Primary Reading: Declarations from Britain, France, and the US (1688, 1776, 1789)
F: Nationalism and the Legacy of the French Revolution
Primary Reading: Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Address to the German Nation (1806)
Week 10 (28 Oct – 1 Nov): Manufacturing
M: Industrialization in a Global Perspective
Pomeranz/Topik pp. 215-226
Pomeranz/Topik 7.1 Sweet Industry
W: The Division of Labor
Primary Reading: Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776)
F: Technology and Factories
Primary Reading: William Radcliffe, On Power Looms (1828)
Week 11 (4-8 Nov) Fueling the Industrial Revolution
M: Lecture – Coal and the Mineral Economy
Midterm Paper Due in Class
W: Cotton
Pomeranz/Topik 7.2 Fiber of Fortune
Pomeranz/Topik 7.4 Killing the Golden Goose
F: Calories
Pomeranz/Topik 4.6 How to Turn Nothing into Something
Pomeranz/Topik 4.14 One Potato, Two Potato
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Part IV: Europe’s Power, 1830-1914
Week 12 (11-15 Nov) Exporting the Industrial Revolution
M: Progress and Free Trade
Pomeranz/Topik 2.6 Winning Raffles
Primary Reading: The Economist, “The First Half of the Nineteenth Century” (1851)
W: The Opium War
Pomeranz/Topik 3.7 How Opium Made the World Go “Round”
Primary Reading: Lin Tse-Hsu, Letter to Queen Victoria (1839)
F: Global Commodity Markets
Pomeranz/Topik 2.4 Pioneers of Dusty Rooms
Pomeranz/Topik 4.12 The Tie that Bound
Pomeranz/Topik 6.4 Growing Global
Week 13 (18-22 Nov) Reactions and Resistance to European Imperialism
M: Lecture – The Catch-22 of Westernization
W Japan: The Meiji Restoration
Primary Reading: Sakutaro Fujioka, Fifty Years of New Japan (1909)
F: India and Spiritual Rebirth
Primary Reading: Mohandas Gandhi, Hind Swaraj (1909)
Thanksgiving Week (25 Nov)
M: Lecture – Modern Art and the Modern World
Week 14 (2-6 Dec) On the Verge of Crisis
M: Lecture – The Demographic Transition and Cultural Anxiety
W: New Imperialism
Primary Reading: Jules Ferry, On French Colonial Expansion (1884)
F: Futurism
Primary Reading: F. T. Marinetti, The Futurist Manifesto (1909)
December 9: Final Paper Due on D2L by 11:59 pm