Syllabus
  

 

 

 

 

 

 
HIS 376W: Early America to 1783
Class Time: TTH 2.00 to 3.20
Classroom: AB4 303   
Credit Hours: 3 hours
CID Number: 2500
Section Number: HIS 376W.01
Semester: Spring 2010
 
Teaching Faculty
Dr. Jeff Littlejohn
Office: AB4 – 455
Hours: TTH 12.30–2:00 & by appt.
Telephone: 936.294.4438
Email: littlejohn@shsu.edu
Web: http://www.studythepast.com
 
Course Description

Catalog Description: An examination of early American history from the beginnings of European colonization through the American Revolution and the War for American Independence. Credit 3.

Detailed Description: HIS 376W is a three-hour undergraduate readings course that examines the issues, peoples, and perspectives that shaped Early America. Class members will study the Pre-contact, Colonial, and Revolutionary periods of American history. Throughout the course, class members will be encouraged to hone their traditional historical skills, while exploring different modes of scholarship.

1. Class members will explore the deep roots of American history by: (a) studying recent interdisciplinary scholarship on global history and the spread of human culture; (b) analyzing current archeological debates on the peopling of the Americas; and (c) examining the pre-contact Amerindian societies of North and South America.

2. Class members will examine the Contact experience by: (a) studying recent scholarship on Christopher Columbus's intellectual and religious world view; (b) analyzing current research on the impact that European peoples, plants, animals, and diseases had on Amerindian populations; (c) examining recent findings on the resilience of Amerindian cultures that were facing a dramatic population implosion; and (d) exploring the Spanish colonial system and its principal unintended consequence -- the promotion of competing imperial systems.

3. Class members will analyze the seventeenth century English colonial world by: (a) studying the establishment of the four principal colonial societies -- Virginia , Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and the back country; (b) examining the religious, social, economic, political, and intellectual maturation of the colonies; and (c) exploring the evolutionary development of a racial system of slavery in the colonies.

4. Class members will examine the eighteenth century British colonial world by: (a) exploring the general patterns of everyday life in the era; (b) analyzing the colonial contribution to the Great War for the Empire; (c) studying the causes and course of the American Revolution; and (d) analyzing the ideas and identities that shaped the American Constitution.
 
Writing Course
This is a “W” course, which means that at least 50% of your course grade will derive from writing activities designed to help you master course objectives. Writing in this course is one of the tools your instructor will use to help you learn course  material. Some writing activities will require you to draft and revise your work, with or without instructor feedback. Others may not receive a grade but are designed to assist you in critical reflection of the course material. You should approach writing in this course as a tool to use a part of your learning as well as a tool your instructor will use to assess your level of learning.
 
Learning Outcomes
1) Students will gain factual knowledge. Students will gain a more in-depth understanding of the periods covered in this course, including the Age of Exploration, the Colonial Era, the American Revolution, the Early Republic, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.

2) Students will learn fundamental principles, generalizations, and theories. Students will be taught the fundamental principles of historical scholarship as they encounter traditional and recent interpretations of the American past.

3) Students will learn to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view. Students will learn to evaluate primary documents and secondary sources as they consider conflicting historical interpretations.
 
Required Books

Alan Taylor, American Colonies: The Settling of North America (Penguin, 2002).

Gordon Wood, The American Revolution: A History (Modern Library, 2003).

In addition to the books listed above, you will be assigned a variety of primary documents and scholarly articles over the course of the semester. These readings should be completed by the date they appear on the syllabus.
 
Coursework and Grading
Your final course grade will be based on the following assignments.

Midterm Exam March 11 100 points
Final Exam May 6 100 points
Course Portfolio I March 10 by midnight 50 points
First 2 E-Assignments March 10 by midnight 50 points
Course Portfolio II May 5 by midnight 50 points
Second 2 E-Assignments May 5 by midnight 50 points
Total Points Available   400 points

Scale: A=400-360 B=359-320 C=319-280 D=279-240 F=239-0
 
 
Coursework Description

Exams: Each exam in this course will cover the material in the unit immediately preceding it. Exams will be based on class lectures as well as assigned readings. Exams may include multiple choice, matching, and essay questions. Review sheets will be posted before each exam. Please note: Make-up exams will only be given for excused University absences. All make-up exams will be administered on Dead Day, Friday May 7.  

Course Portfolio: Because so much of this class focuses on assigned readings, you are expected to contribute thoughtfully and regularly to classroom discussions. To help you keep track of your readings and contributions, you will keep a “course portfolio” for each half of the course. You will submit your portfolios electronically through blackboard (and they will be evaluated using turnitin.com). At a minimum, each of your portfolios should include an answer to 5 of the red questions presented in the course schedule. Some of the questions will involve detection of facts, while others ask you to engage critically with a text or document. To obtain full credit, responses must each be at least 300 words (for a total of 1500 words on 5 entries).  Moreover, your entries must fully address the question(s) and demonstrate thorough knowledge of the reading. NO LATE COURSE PORTFOLIOS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Please note: as discussed below, you will include your E-Assignments with each of your course portfolios.

E-Assignments: On four occasions during the semester, you will complete an E-Assignment rather than coming to class. These assignments will require you to read or watch an assigned film and then respond to a blue E-Assignment prompt. Each of your responses may earn 25 points. Please note: you will turn in your first two E-Assignments with the first course portfolio, and your last two E-Assignments with your second course portfolio. NO LATE E-ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED.
 
Attendance and Religious Holidays

Regular attendance and punctuality are indicative of serious scholarship. You should be in class, awake and aware, and prepared for discussion. Students missing more than six classes may receive a failing grade at the end of the term. Students who are regularly tardy will be denied entrance to class.

Section 51.911(b) of the Texas Education Code requires that an institution of higher education excuse a student from attending classes or other required activities, including examinations, for the observance of a religious holy day, including travel for that purpose. A student whose absence is excused under this subsection may not be penalized for that absence and shall be allowed to take an examination or complete an assignment from which the student is excused within a reasonable time after the absence.

SHSU policy 861001 provides the procedure to be followed by the student and instructor.  A student desiring to absent himself/herself from a scheduled class in order to observe (a) religious holy day(s) shall present to the instructor involved a written statement concerning the religious holy day(s). This request must be made in the first fifteen days of the semester in which the absence(s) will occur. The instructor will complete a form notifying the student of a reasonable timeframe in which the missed assignments and/or examinations are to be completed.
 
Communication
As part of this class, you will be expected to check your university email and our blackboard page at least once a day. To email me, you can either go to blackboard or send directly to littlejohn@shsu.edu.
 
Classroom Rules of Conduct
HIS 376 is a lecture and discussion course. Students are encouraged to ask questions and initiate discussion. To facilitate an open classroom dialogue, students must adhere to the SHSU Code of Student Conduct, which can be found at http://www.shsu.edu/students/guide/StudentGuidelines2010-2012.pdf#page=29. And within this classroom, students must also demonstrate civility at all times. In other words, please do not come in late, leave early, text message, sleep, read the paper, or engage in any other activities that disrupt the class. Civility must also be maintained in all communications with me and with other classmates whether online or in person. Keep in mind that this class is a community, and the community cannot function if we don’t all show basic courtesy and respect and devote our full attention to each other during the time we’re together. Students who demonstrate incivility may be required to leave the classroom or drop the course.
 
Sam Center
You are very fortunate to be enrolled at SHSU, which has an outstanding academic resource to help you succeed as a student: the SAM Center. The SAM Center is now located in CHSS Suite 170. The SAM Center offers academic advising and counseling for numerous issues. They also offer an excellent study skills course. Visit their website for more information: http://www.shsu.edu/~sam_www/.
 
Writing Center and Reading Center
For those of you who need help with any writing assignments, please visit the Writing Center in Farrington 111. The center’s website is located at: http://www.shsu.edu/~wctr/. For those of you who need help with reading strategies, go to the Reading Center located in Farrington 109. See their website: http://www.shsu.edu/~rdg_www/.
 
Academic Dishonesty

The University expects all students to engage in all academic pursuits in a manner that is above reproach. Students are expected to maintain complete honesty and integrity in the academic experiences both in and out of the classroom.  Any student found guilty of dishonesty in any phase of academic work will be subject to disciplinary action.

5.31 The University and its official representatives, acting in accordance with Subsection 5.32, may initiate disciplinary proceedings against a student accused of any form of academic dishonesty including, but not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, collusion, and the abuse of resource materials.
"Cheating" includes the following and similar actions:
(1) Copying from another student's test paper, laboratory report, other report, or computer files, data listings, and/or programs.
(2) Using, during a test, materials not authorized by the person giving the test.
(3) Collaborating, without authorization, with another student during an examination or in preparing academic work.
(4) Knowingly, and without authorization, using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, soliciting, copying, or possessing, in whole or in part, the contents of an unadministered test.
(5) Substituting for another student, permitting any other person, or otherwise assisting any other person to substitute for oneself or for another student in the taking of an examination or test or the preparation of academic work to be submitted for academic credit.
(6) Bribing another person to obtain a test or information about an unadministered test.
(7) Purchasing, or otherwise acquiring and submitting as one's own work any research paper or other writing assignment prepared by an individual or firm. This section does not apply to the typing of the rough and/or final versions of an assignment by a professional typist.

5.32 "Plagiarism" means the appropriation and the unacknowledged incorporation of another's work or idea into one's own work offered for credit.
5.33 "Collusion" means unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing work for credit.
5.34 "Abuse of resource materials" means the mutilation, destruction, concealment, theft or alteration of materials provided to assist students in the mastery of course materials.
5.35 “Academic work” means the preparation of an essay, dissertation, thesis, report, problem, assignment, or other project that the student submits as a course requirement or for a grade.

2.00 PROCEDURES IN CASES OF ALLEGED ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

2.01 Procedures for discipline due to academic dishonesty shall be the same as in disciplinary actions specified in The Texas State University System Rules and Regulations and Sam Houston State University Student Guidelines except that all academic dishonesty actions shall be first considered and reviewed by the faculty member teaching the class. The faculty member may impose failure or reduction of a grade in a test or the course, and/or performing additional academic work not required of other students in the course. If the faculty member believes that additional disciplinary action is necessary, as in the case of flagrant or repeated violations, the case may be referred to the Dean of Student Life or a designated appointee for further action. If the student involved does not accept the decision of the faculty member, the student may appeal to the chair of the appropriate academic department/school, seeking reversal of the faculty member's decision.

2.02 If the student does not accept the decision of the chair of the academic department/school, he/she may appeal to the appropriate academic dean. The chair of the academic department/school may also refer the case directly to the academic dean if the case so warrants. 

 
Students with Disabilities
It is the policy of Sam Houston State University that individuals otherwise qualified shall not be excluded, solely by reason of their disability, from participation in any academic program of the university. Further, they shall not be denied the benefits of these programs nor shall they be subjected to discrimination. Students with disabilities that might affect their academic performance are expected to visit with the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities located in the Counseling Center. They should then make arrangements with the instructor in order that accommodations can be made to assure that participation and achievement opportunities are not impaired.  SHSU adheres to all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities. If you have a disability that may affect adversely your work in this class, then we encourage you to register with the Counseling Center and to talk with us about how we can best help you.  All disclosures of disabilities will be kept strictly confidential. Please note: No accommodation can be made until you register with the Counseling Center and provide us with proper documentation.
 
Visitors in the Classroom
Unannounced visitors to class must present a current, official SHSU identification card to be permitted to the classroom. They must not present a disruption to the class by their attendance. If the visitor is not a registered student, it is at the instructor’s discretion whether or not the visitor will be allowed to remain in the classroom.
 
Instructor Evaluations
At the end of the semester, students will be asked to complete an evaluation of the course, but I welcome feedback about readings, assignments, and my instruction throughout the semester. Let’s work together to make this a successful and rewarding learning experience for everyone.
 
Changes to the Syllabus
This syllabus is your contract for the course. I will not change the nature of the course, the number of assignments, or the grading system. However, I reserve the right to update the course schedule and reading assignments throughout the term.
 
 

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Schedule
  

 

 

 

 

 

 
Unit I – Exploration and Colonization, 1450-1700

Jan 14 | Class Introduction: What's the Story?
Students will use primary sources to piece together the principal elements of a story.


Jan 19 | Interpreting Primary Sources: The Duel
Students will interpreting primary sources to offer an argument of their own.
Website: The Duel [ html ]
Question: Did Alexander Hamilton try to kill Aaron Burr on the Plains of Weehawken, or did he purposefully throw away his shot, firing into the air, leaving his fate in Burr's hands?


Jan 21 | The Creation of Two Worlds
Reading: Alfred Crosby, "Pangaea Revisited,” from Ecological Imperialism [ html ]
PPT Links [ Earth ] [ Humans ] [ Journey ] [ Waco Mammoth ] [ Gault TX ]
Website: Mystery of the First Americans [ html ]
Website: Begley and Murr, "The First Americans" Newsweek, 4/26/99 [ html ]
Map: The Newsweek Map of the First Americans Debate [ html ]
Website: Kennewick Man Debate [ html ]
Website: Coming Into America [ html ] [ video ]
Website: Paleoindians and the Great Pleistocene Die-Off [ html ]
Question: See questions at the end of Pangaea Revisited.


January 26 | Native America on the Eve of Contact
Reading 1: John Kizka, “Native Societies of the Americas Before Contact” [ pdf ]
Reading 2: William Cronon, "Seasons of Want and Plenty" [ html ]
Reading 3: Alan Taylor, American Colonies, 4-22
Reading 4: Charles C. Mann, "1491," The Atlantic Monthly, March 2002 [ html ]
Question: How does John Kizka divided the variety of native cultures in the Americas? Give the characteristics and examples of each type of culture.

Documentary Videos
Group I: Maya: Palenque [ video ] [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ]
Group II: Teotihuacan [ short video ]
Group III: The Aztecs [ video ] [ html ]
Group IV: The Inca [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ]
Group V: Cahokia and the Moundbuilders [ video ]


Jan 28 | Columbus, Contact, and Consequences
Reading: Alan Taylor, American Colonies, 24-49
Reading: Kevin A. Miller, “Why Did Columbus Sail?” [ pdf ]
Reading: Excerpts from Columbus's Journal [ html ]
Reading: Mappae mundi and Ptolemy's Geographia (1482 Ulm Edition) [ pdf ]
Film: Columbus and the Taino [ video ]
Website: The Columbian Exchange [ html ]
Question: What were the religious origins of Columbus's epic voyage in 1492 and how did they affect the way he saw his accomplishment?


Feb 2 | Cortés and the Fall of the Aztecs
Online Assignment: “Burying the White Gods” [ html ]
Reading: Jared Diamond, “Human History . . . for the Last 13,000 Years? ” [ html ]
Resource: Charts to Accompany Jared Diamonds article [ html ]
Question: See the questions posted with the online assignment.


Feb 4 | The Spanish Empire
Reading: Alan Taylor, American Colonies, 51-90
Reading: Sepulveda and Las Casas Debate, 1550 [ pdf ]
Website: New Spain and the Literature of Justification [ html ]
Website: Colonial Identities in Spanish America [ html ]
Question: Explore the Spanish literature of justification. What were the main themes of that literature and how did they compare with the reality of Spanish colonization?


Feb 9 | The English at Home and Colonial Stirrings
Reading: Alan Taylor, American Colonies, 118-125
Website: The Protestant Reformation in England [ html ]
Website: The Six Wives of Henry VIII [ html ]
Website: Richard Hakluyt [ html ] Walter Raleigh [ html ]
Website: John White and Theodore De Bry Images [ html ]
Website: Elizabeth's Pirates [ html ]
Website: Roanoke Island [ html ]
Website: Roanoke and the Literature of Justification [ html ]
Question: It seems that Protestantism, piracy, and profit all played a role in the English desire for colonies. Briefly explain how and why.


Feb 11 | Settlement: Virginia and the Chesapeake, 1607-1625
Reading: Alan Taylor, American Colonies, 125-137
Reading: Helen Rountree, "The Powhatan Indian Way of Life in 1607" [ pdf ]
Reading: Edmund Morgan, “Jamestown Fiasco” [ pdf ]
Website: Jamestown and the Literature of Justification [ html ]
Website: The Pocahontas Archive [ html ]
Question: What is a fiasco? Why does Edmund Morgan call early Jamestown a fiasco?


Feb 16 | No Class - Assignment: French Colonialism in the Seventeenth Century
Reading: Alan Taylor, American Colonies, 92-113
Film: Black Robe
Resource: Black Robe [ html ]
E-Assignment Question: Watch Black Robe, and write a 500-word review of the film using the resources provided. Be sure to address the objectives of the Jesuit missionaries, the responses they received from various Native groups, and the way the film portrays the outcome of the early colonial meeting.


Feb 18 | No Class - Assignment: English Caribbean in the Seventeenth Century
Reading: Alan Taylor, American Colonies, 204-221.
Reading: Wayne Curtis, "Kill-devil" from And A Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World In Ten Cocktails | buy the book online | [ pdf ]
E-Assignment Question: How did sugar, slaves, and rum shape the English Caribbean?


Feb 23 | Development: Virginia and the Chesapeake, 1625-1700
Reading: Alan Taylor, American Colonies, 138-157
Reading: Edmund Morgan, “Slavery and Freedom” pg 14-29 [ pdf ]
Online Handout: Slave Codes in Virginia   [ pdf ]
Website: Africans in America: The Terrible Transformation [ html ]
Website: James River Plantations  [ html ]
Reading: The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas [ html ]
Reading: Slave Resistance in the Colonies [ html ]
Question: Discuss the causes and consequences of Bacon's Rebellion.


Feb 25 | Settlement: Massachusetts and New England
Reading: Alan Taylor, American Colonies,158-186
Reading : William Cronon, "Seasons of Want and Plenty," [ html ]
Reading: Religious Dissenters and American Colonization [ html ]
Reading: Sandra VanBurkleo, "Instruments of Seduction" [ html ]
Question: Why did John Winthrop clash with Anne Hutchinson? What was the outcome of the conflict? And, what does it tell us about the nature of early Massachusetts?


March 2 | Development: Massachusetts and New England
Reading: Alan Taylor, American Colonies,187-203
Reading: Mary Rowlandson, The Narrative of the Captivity [ html ]
Website: Teaching Mary Rowlandson's Narrative [ html ]
Reading: James Axtell, "The White Indians of Colonial America" [ pdf ]
Website: Salem Witch Trials [ html ] [ html ]
Reading: William Cronon, "Wilderness Becomes A Mart," [ html ]
Question: What did the word declension mean to the Puritans? How did it impact their vision of the late seventeenth century?


March 4 | Pennsylvania and the Middle Colonies
Reading: Alan Taylor, American Colonies, 245-272
Website: Pennsylvania and the Literature of Justification [ html ]
Question: Who were the Quakers? Why did they want to leave England? And what did they hope to accomplish in Pennsylvania?


March 9 | British North America in the Early Eighteenth Century

Great Awakening
Reading: Alan Taylor, American Colonies, 339-362
Website: The Great Awakening [ html ]
Online Assignment: The Great Awakening [ html ]
Reading: Jon Butler, “Enthusiasm Described and Decried: The Great Awakening as Interpretive Fiction,” Journal of American History, 69 (1982–83), 305–25. [ pdf ]
Question: Was there a "Great Awakening"? If so, when was it, what was it all about, and what were its long term effects?

Convergence or Divergence
Reading: David Hackett Fischer, "Divergence in Four Colonial Cultures" [ pdf ]
Reading: Jack Greene, “The Preconditions of the American Revolution” [ pdf ]
Question: Were the British colonies in North America growing closer together or further apart during the first decades of the eighteenth century? Defend your answer.

Native Americans and African Americans
Reading: Eric Hinderaker, “The Amerindian Population in 1763” in Jack P. Greene and J.R. Pole, eds. A Companion to the American Revolution [ pdf ]
Reading: James Merrell, "Indians' New World " [ pdf ]
Reading: Ira Berlin, “Time, Space, and the Evolution of Afro-American Society on British Mainland North America,” AHR (Feb., 1980), 44-78 [ pdf ]
Question: Select and discuss one of the three articles above.


March 11 | Midterm Exam

March 16 and 18 | Spring Break


March 23 | British Colonial Theory and Practice
Reading: Gordon Wood, The American Revolution, 3-24.
Reading: Jack Greene, “The Preconditions of the American Revolution” [ pdf ]
Reading: Thomas Purvis, "Seven Years' War and its Political Legacy” [ html ]
Question: Outline the discrepancy between British colonial theory and practice.


March 25 | Colonial Resistance to British Authority, 1763-1766
Reading: Gordon Wood, The American Revolution, 27-44.
Reading: Thomas Whatley, “The Regulations Lately Made” (1765) [ pdf ]
Reading: Daniel Dulany, "Considerations on ... Imposing Taxes" (1765) [ pdf ]
Reading: Petition of the Merchants of London ... (1766) [ pdf ]
Film: Clips from Liberty: The American Revolution [ html ]
Question: Compare the British position on the Stamp Act with that taken by the colonials. Why did the British think the act was legitimate? Why did the colonials disagree? What was the outcome?


March 30 | Colonial Resistance to British Authority, 1767-1773
Reading: John Dickinson, "Letter 2 - Farmer in Pennsylvania" (1767-1768) [ html ]
Reading: Boston Tea Party [ link ]
Reading: Thomas J. Fleming, “Verdicts of History I: The Boston Massacre” [ html ]
Question: What happened at the Boston "Massacre"? How did Paul Revere use the event? What significant decision did the British government make as a result of the "Massacre"?


April 1 | No Class: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Reading: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin [ html ]
E-Assignment Question: In a 500-word review of his Autobiography, discuss the Americanization of Benjamin Franklin. Why did this loyal British subject and darling of the Enlightenment become an American patriot?


April 6 | The Radical Revolution, 1774-1776
Reading: Gordon Wood, The American Revolution, 47-62.
Reading: Paul Revere's Ride [ html ]
Reading: Bunker Hill and the Revolutionary War [ html ]
Reading: Christine Gibson, How Thomas Paine Launched a Revolution [ html ]
Question: How did the Boston Tea Party and the resulting Coercive Acts change the dynamic relationship between Britain and her American colonies?


April 8 | The Declaration of Independence, 1776
Reading: Declaration of Independence Project [ html ]
Question: Compare the original and final drafts of the Declaration of Independence. What significant changes were made and why?


April 13 | The American Revolutionary War
Reading: Gordon Wood, The American Revolution, 74-88.
Film: Trailer "The Patriot" [ link ]
Reading: Review of "The Patriot" [ link ]
Handout: Weapons and Tactics of the Revolutionary War [ pdf ] [ html ]
Question: Why were the following battles significant? Princeton, Saratoga, Philadelphia, Savannah, Yorktown?


April 15 | No Class: Spy Letters and the American Revolutionary War
Spy Letters and the American Revolutionary War [ html ]
E-Assignment Question: Answer the questions presented as part of the linked project.


April 20 | The Confederation Period
Reading: Gordon Wood, The American Revolution, 65-74; 91-129.
The Articles of Confederation [ html ]
Reading: Merrill Jensen, "The Achievements of the Confederation" [ pdf ]
Reading: Jack Rakove, "The Confederation: A Union Without Power" [ pdf ]
Question: Describe the government created by the Articles of Confederation? Why was it designed as it was? What were its main achievements?


April 22 | The 1780s and the Crisis of the Confederation
Reading: Gordon Wood, The American Revolution, 139-151.
Reading: J.R. Pole, "Shays's Rebellion and the Problem of Opposition Politics," [ pdf ]
Reading: Gordon S. Wood, "The Crisis of the 1780s" [ pdf ]
Letter: George Washington to Richard Henry Lee, October 31, 1786 [ html ]
Letter: James Madison to Edmund Pendleton, February 24, 1787 [ html ]
Letter: James Madison to George Washington, April 16, 1787 [ html ]
Question: What was Shays's Rebellion and why did it encourage leaders to attend the Constitutional Convention?


April 27 | The Constitutional Convention
Reading: Gordon Wood, The American Revolution, 151-158.
Reading: The Constitution of the United States [ link ]
Charles Beard, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution [ notes ]
Lance Banning, "The Constitutional Convention," [ pdf ]
Question: Constitution Questions; How did Charles Beard view the Constitution?


April 29 | The Ratification Debates
Reading: Gordon Wood, The American Revolution, 158-167.
Reading: Gordon Wood, "The Worthy Against the Licentious" [ html ]
Reading: Bernard Bailyn, “Fulfillment” [ pdf ]
Murray Dry, "The Anti-Federalists & the American Constitutional Tradition" [ pdf ]
Question: How close was the ratification vote? Be specific. Why was it so close?


May 4 | Revolutionary Winners and Losers

Slavery
William Freehling, "The Founding Fathers and Slavery" [ pdf ]
Reading: Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, Query XIV on race [ pdf ]
Resources on Jefferson: Biography [ html ]; Monticello [ html ]; Exhibition [ html ]

Indians
James H. Merrell, “Declarations of Independence : Indian-White Relations in the New Nation,” in Jack P. Greene, ed., The American Revolution: Its Character and its Limits. New York: New York University Press, 1987, 197-223.

Women
Jan Lewis,“'Of Every Age Sex & Condition': The Representation of Women in the Constitution.” Journal of the Early Republic . Vol. 15 (Fall 1995): 359-87.

Legacies of the American Revolution
Joseph Ellis, "The Generation" from Founding Brothers [ pdf ]

Question: Choose one of the essays above and describe the long term significance of the American Revolution.


May 6 | Final Exam
 
 
Projects