The University of Vermont, Fall 2010 Kevin Thornton (802) 247-4427
HST 11: The U.S. to 1877
Office: Wheeler House, T 2:30-4:00
Th 10:00 – 11:00
Graduate Assistant:
Brittany Neiles (605) 359-2063
Invited♫
BOOKS: TEXT: Foner, Give Me Liberty!, Vol 1
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
For paper: Nathan Hatch The Democratization of American Christianity
OR: Gordon Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution
SCHEDULE:
Section 1: Becoming Americans
Week 1 Text: Chapter 1 (optional)
Aug 31 Introduction to the Course (Modern vs Premodern Exercise)
Sept 2 Conquest & Columbian Exchange
Week 2 Text: Chapter 2
Sept 7 Tobacco Culture and the Development of the English Plantation
Sept 9 Slavery Becomes an Institution
Week 3 Text: Chapter 2
Sept 14 The Will of God in Massachusetts
Sept 16 Toward Yankeedom: The Decline of Puritan Intensity
Week 4 Text: Chapters 3 & 4
Sept 21 The Struggle for Empire & the Transformation of N. America
Sept 23 Ben Franklin and the New 18th Century Mind
Reading Due: Franklin’s Autobiography
Week 5 Text: Chapter 5
Sept 28 The Revolutionary Implications of the Great Awakening
Sept 30 Hearts and Minds: Bill Scott and the American Revolution
Week 6 No Reading
Oct 5 Republicanism and the Meaning of George Washington
Oct 7 A New New England Town: The Founding of Charlotte, Vermont
Section 2: Growth of a Democratic Society
Week 7 Text: Chapters 6 & 7
Oct 12 Arguing about America: Shaping the Constitution
Oct 14 1st Exam
Week 8 Text: Chapter 8
Oct 19 The Rise of Jeffersonian Democracy
Oct 21 A Wolf by the Ears: Slavery and the Tragedy of Thomas Jefferson
Week 9 Text: Chapter 9
Oct 26 1812: Tecumseh and the Struggle for the Old Northwest
Oct 28 The Art of Democracy
Week 10 Text: Chapter 10
Nov 2 Venerate the Plow: Technology and the Market Revolution
Nov 4 The Transportation Revolution
Week 11 Text: Chapter 12
Nov 9 Politics and the Market
Nov 11 The Second Great Awakening and the Idea of Moral Reform
Section 3: Slavery, Sectionalism and Civil War
Week 12 Text: Chapter 11
Nov 16 The Cotton South and the Peculiar Institution
Nov 18 Frederick Douglass, American
Reading Due: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
** Book Paper Due – No Exceptions**
Week 13
Nov 23-25 Thanksgiving Break
Week 14 Text: Chapter 13
Nov 30 Slavery Becomes an Issue
Dec 2 Slavery and the Territorial Question
Week 15 Text: Chapter 14 (Chapter 15 optional)
Dec 7 The Meaning of the Gettysburg Address
Dec 9 2nd Exam
Course Objectives: This course surveys American history from the first European contacts with North America until 1877. We will, at various points in the semester, touch upon political, religious, intellectual, economic, social and cultural history. But in a survey course it is impossible to cover material in depth, so I will consistently emphasize two overarching themes: 1) The development of a democratic society in America, and 2) the problem of slavery in a society devoted to "liberty." In addition, the course will expose you to different kinds of historical evidence and argument, and help you develop the ability to examine and think critically about them.
Grading: 1st Exam 33%, 2nd Exam 33%, Paper 33%. The second (final) exam will not be cumulative. Each exam will consist of identifications and essays. Study sheets will be provided a week before each exam. In a class this size we must hold to strict deadlines. It is your responsibility to submit work on time. No make up exams will be arranged without a serious and documented excuse.
Paper: Each student will be required to hand in a five-page analytical paper on either Nathan Hatch’s The Democratization of American Christianity or Gordon Wood’s The Radicalism of the American Revolution. I will hand out questions you may consider, but you free to come up with your own topics. Papers will be collected at the beginning of class on November 23. Late papers - including papers handed in later that day - will be penalized 1/2 grade per day. I will not accept papers as email attachments, and make no exceptions to this rule, but please make sure to save an electronic copy of your paper in case the hard copy is misplaced. Papers will be graded on both writing mechanics and quality of argument.
Ground Rules: Attendance is essential. Lectures and reading materials are designed to complement, not duplicate, each other. You will be responsible for lecture content on the exams. I do not post lecture outlines on the web, nor will I email outlines to anyone. If you miss a class and want to know what happened on that day you must come and see me or Mr. Lindsey. As a courtesy to me and your fellow students, I ask that all electronic equipment – e.g., cell phones, PDAs, ipods, PCs, etc., be turned off and put away during class. If a disability makes it necessary for you to take notes on a computer, please see me. This course follows university policy on cheating and plagiarism.
Finally: Please feel free to see me, especially if you have a problem. I want you to do well in this class, and find it a pleasurable and intellectually exciting experience. If a personal problem is interfering with your ability to do the work, if you are having trouble understanding the lectures, or are nervous about writing, you should talk to me - and the sooner the better.