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Brock University Department of History
GLORY AND DESPAIR:
THE UNITED STATES, 1607-1865
HIST 2P15 FALL 2013
John Gast, “American Progress”
Lectures: Mondays and Fridays, 12:00-1:00PM, TH242
Dr. Mark G. Spencer Associate Professor office hours: Mondays,
Wednesdays, and Fridays; 10:00-11:00 (GL 256) tel: 905-688-5550,
ext.3506 e-mail: [email protected] Course Description: This course
will survey the history of the United States from earliest European
settlement in North America to the beginning of the Civil War.
Topics will include early contact between Europeans and Native
Americans, the developing cultures of colonial America, slavery,
the American Revolution, debate on the U.S. Constitution,
Jeffersonian America, Jacksonian Democracy, nineteenth-century
social reform, Manifest Destiny, and causes of the Civil War.
Lectures and readings will combine the perspectives of political,
social, intellectual, and cultural history. In their written
assignments and seminar discussions, students will be expected to
evaluate conflicting historical interpretations and they will be
encouraged to develop their own informed assessments of historical
events and trends.
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Required Readings: Students should purchase the following, all
of which are available at the Brock University Bookstore:
• Paul S. Boyer, et al., The Enduring Vision: A History of the
American People, Volume 1: To 1877, concise 7th ed. (Boston:
Wadsworth, 2013).
• John Hollitz, Thinking Through the Past, A Critical Thinking
Approach to U.S. History, Volume 1: To 1877, 4th ed. (Boston:
Wadsworth, 2010).
• Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing in History, 7th
ed. (Boston and New York: Bedford/St.Martins, 2012) [earlier
editions are fine] OR Joy Dixon & Jeffrey W. Alexander, Nelson
Guide to Writing in History, 2nd ed. (Toronto: Nelson Education,
2010).
• Peter Shaw, ed., The Autobiography & Other Writings by
Benjamin Franklin (New York: Bantam Books, 1982; reissued
2008).
Grades for this course will be determined according to the
following formula: Seminar Participation = 25% Seminar Facilitation
= 5% Research Essay = 45% (due, in stages, weeks of Sept. 30, Oct.
21, and Nov. 25) Final Examination = 25% _____ Total = 100% Each
component of the grade for this course is a required element. All
assignments and the examination must be submitted (or completed)
for a student to pass the course. Course Requirements: 1. Lectures:
Students are expected to attend twice-weekly lectures. PowerPoint
slides from lectures will be posted on Sakai after lecture, but
these will only be useful if you have been to lecture. If you miss
a lecture, you are strongly encouraged to borrow notes from a
classmate. 2. Seminars: Weekly seminars are a core part of this
course, and students are required to attend. A missed seminar
results in a grade of zero for that week. Missing three or more
seminars will constitute a “failure to complete” this aspect of the
course requirements, and will result in a failing grade for the
course. But attendance is not sufficient on its own. All students
must come to seminars having attended lectures and having completed
their readings. Attending without participation will result in a
failing grade for that week. Taking weekly notes on readings is
useful preparation for seminars and also for the final examination.
TAs may spot-check for notes or administer spot-quizzes as an
indication of preparation for seminar. The key to a good seminar
(and a good seminar grade) is thoughtful discussion of course
material. To that end, for each
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seminar two students will be responsible for co-facilitating
discussion of pre-assigned readings (a sign-up sheet will be
circulated in the first seminar). The role of the co-facilitators
is to:
1. briefly identify and summarize the major themes of the week’s
readings (in one, double-spaced page). Facilitators should
summarize themes, not individual readings. Think of this summary as
an introduction to the questions you will ask;
2. formulate six questions related to the week’s readings.
Remember, the purpose of your questions is to facilitate discussion
of the course material. Therefore, you will want at least a couple
of your questions to be broad ones that relate to large course
themes. Answering your questions in most cases ought to necessitate
discussing the primary source readings for that week. You may find
it useful to draw on the suggested questions found in your Hollitz
and Boyer texts, but if you do so be sure that you add your own
twist to those questions.
3. each seminar will also incorporate a brief (5 minutes, or so)
TA-led discussion related to the historical research essay.
Rampolla and Dixon & Alexander will provide a good basis for
that discussion.
Co-facilitators must work together and send their summary page
and list of questions by e-mail to their Teaching Assistant no
later than 4:00P.M. the day before their seminar. Failure to do so
will result in a 10% penalty on the seminar facilitation grade.
3. Written Assignments: Students will complete one historical
research essay, which will be due in stages. Instructions for that
assignment will be distributed well in advance of the due dates for
each stage. All assignments should be submitted directly to
Teaching Assistants in seminar. Students must keep a back-up copy
of all written work. The penalty for late submission of assignments
is 10% for the first day and 2% per day thereafter (including
weekends). Assignments turned in more than seven days after the due
date will not be accepted without prior approval. Remember, too,
that plagiarism is the greatest of academic transgressions (see
Brock Undergraduate Calendar, Section VII). If you make use of
another writer’s ideas or words, acknowledge that you have done so.
Failure to credit another’s work may result in a grade of zero for
the assignment, and possibly the course. Particularly egregious
cases may result in stronger actions. If in doubt, ask your
Teaching Assistant or the Instructor. Notes Concerning
Assignments:
• use The Chicago Manual of Style (see Rampolla, ch. 7;
Dixon/Alexander, ch. 4) • use footnotes • double-space your essay,
number your pages, and leave a 1-inch margin • include a title page
that provides: your essay’s title, your name, course code,
seminar #, assignment due date, instructor’s name, and TA’s name
• Turnitin.com will be used; see assignment instruction sheet for
details
4. Examination: Students will write a Final Examination that
will cover the entire course. The format of the examination will be
discussed in lecture well in advance of the test date. Medical
Documentation: All requests for medically excused absences, or late
submissions, must be accompanied by a properly completed Brock
University “Student Medical Certificate” (downloadable from the
Department of History website, among other places).
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Lecture Schedule: Sept. 6 (F) INTRODUCTIONS
Sept. 9 (M) Lecture #1: Background to 1607: America
Sept. 13 (F) Lecture #2: Background to 1607: Europe
Sept. 16 (M) Lecture #3: Planting Colonies: Virginia & New
England to 1700
Sept. 20 (F) Lecture #4: Restoration Colonies and Colonial
Conflicts
Sept. 23 (M) Lecture #5: Slavery in the Atlantic World
Sept. 27 (F) Lecture #6: Cultures of Colonial North America
Sept. 30 (M) Lecture #7: Great Awakening and Enlightenment
Oct. 4 (F) Lecture #8: Benjamin Franklin: Citizen of the
World
Oct. 7 (M) Lecture #9: An Imperial Crisis
Oct. 11 (F) Lecture #10: From Resistance to Rebellion
Oct. 14-18 FALL BREAK WEEK: NO CLASSES
Oct. 21 (M) Lecture #11: The War for American Independence
Oct. 25 (F) Lecture #12: Forging a Nation
Oct. 28 (M) Lecture #13: Debating and Ratifying the
Constitution
Nov. 1 (F) Lecture #14: Federalists and Republicans
Nov. 4 (M) Lecture #15: Jeffersonian America
Nov. 8 (F) Lecture #16: Jacksonian Democracy
Nov. 11 (M) Lecture #17: Southern Slavery
Nov. 15 (F) Lecture #18: Northern Industry
Nov. 18 (M) Lecture #19: Print Culture in Nineteenth-Century
America
Nov. 22 (F) Lecture #20: Reform Movements
Nov. 25 (M) Lecture #21: Manifest Destiny
Nov. 29 (F) Lecture #22: A Crisis Looming & Civil War
Dec. 2 (M) Lecture #23: CONCLUSIONS
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Seminar Schedule: Teaching Assistants: Contact information for
all HIST 2P15 TAs will be posted on the course Sakai site. Seminar
Sections: Section 1, Monday, 10:00-11:00, MCD404 Section 2,
Thursday, 8:00-9:00, PL308 Section 3, Wednesday, 11:00-12:00,
MCC400 Section 4, Monday, 16:00-17:00, IC116 Section 5, Wednesday,
10:00-11:00, WH8J Section 6, Tuesday, 16:00-17:00, MCD303 Section
7, Tuesday, 15:00-16:00, EA106
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Week of September 9 Seminar #1: Why Study History? & Seminar
Facilitation Sign-up Readings: Rampolla, Chapter 1, “Introduction:
Why Study History?” or
Dixon/Alexander, “Introduction.”
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Week of September 16 Seminar #2: Introduction to Early American
History Readings: Hollitz, Thinking Through the Past,
“Introduction,” and Chapter 1, “The
Truth About Textbooks: Indians and the Settlement of America.”
Boyer, The Enduring Vision, Chapter 1, “Native Peoples of America,
to
1500,” and Chapter 2, “The Rise of the Atlantic World,
1400-1625.”
Rampolla, Chapter 2, “Working with Sources,” or Dixon/Alexander,
Chapter 1, “Historical Sources.”
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Week of September 23 Seminar #3: Introducing Primary Sources
Readings: Hollitz, Chapter 2, “The Primary Materials of History:
Childhood in Puritan New England.”
Franklin, “The Autobiography,” Part One and Part Two. Rampolla,
Chapter 3, “Approaching Typical Assignments in History,” or
Dixon/Alexander, Chapter 2, “Common Writing Assignments in
History.”
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Week of September 30 Seminar #4: Evaluating Primary Sources:
Colonial Pennsylvania Readings: Hollitz, Chapter 3, “Evaluating
Primary Sources: Was Pennsylvania ‘The Best Poor Man’s Country’?”
Franklin, “The Autobiography,” Part Three. Boyer, Chapter 3, “The
Emergence of Colonial Societies, 1625-1700.” Rampolla, Chapter 4,
“Following Conventions of Writing in History,” and
Chapter 5, “Writing a Research Paper,” or Dixon/Alexander,
Chapter 3, “Research Essays: The Writings Process from Start to
Finish.”
• Paper Proposal due in seminar today
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Week of October 7 Seminar #5: Benjamin Franklin and The American
Enlightenment Readings: Franklin, “The Autobiography,” Part Four,
and Selected Writings sections
on “Newspaper Writing,” “Poor Richard’s Almanac,” “Projects,”
“Observations and Experiments,” “Essays,” “Letters,” “Wise,
Practical, and Humorous Writings of the Aged Sage,” and “Poems and
Epitaph.”
Boyer, Chapter 4, “The Bonds of Empire, 1660-1750.”
Rampolla, Chapter 6, “Plagiarism: What It Is and How to Avoid
It,” and
Chapter 7, “Quoting and Documenting Sources,” or
Dixon/Alexander, Chapter 4, “Citations: Documenting Your
Claims.”
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Week of October 14: FALL BREAK WEEK: NO CLASSES
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Week of October 21 Seminar #6: The American Revolution Readings:
Hollitz, Chapter 4, “Evaluating One Historian’s Argument: The
‘Other Side’ of the American Revolution.”
Boyer, Chapter 5, “Roads to Revolution, 1750-1776.”
• Annotated Bibliography due in seminar today
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Week of October 28 Seminar #7: The War for Independence and Its
Consequences Readings: Franklin, Selected Writings section on
“Revolutionary Writings.”
Boyer, Chapter 6, “Securing Independence, Defining Nationhood,
1776-1788.”
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Week of November 4 Seminar #8: Constitutional Debates Readings:
Hollitz, Chapter 5, “Motivation in History: The Founding Fathers
and the Constitution.”
Boyer, Chapter 7, “Launching the New Republic, 1788-1800.”
Franklin, re-read his “Speech In the Convention, at the Conclusion
of Its Deliberations (1787).”
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Week of November 11 Seminar #9: Jeffersonian America and Jacksonian
Democracy Readings: Hollitz, Chapter 6, “Ideas in History: Race in
Jefferson’s Republic,”
Chapter 9, “History as Biography: Historians and Old Hickory.”
Boyer, Chapter 8, “America at War and Peace, 1801-1824,” Chapter
9,
“The Transformation of American Society, 1815-1840.”
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Week of November 18 Seminar #10: Slavery and Industry Readings:
Hollitz, Chapter 10, “History ‘From the Bottom Up’: Historians and
Slavery,” and Chapter 11, “Ideology and Society: The Bounds of
Womanhood in the North and South.”
Boyer, Chapter 11, “Technology, Culture, and Everyday Life,
1840-1860,” and Chapter 12, “The Old South and Slavery,
1830-1860.”
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Week of November 25 Seminar #11: Reforming America and The Frontier
Readings: Hollitz, Chapter 7, “The Problem of Historical Causation:
The Second Great Awakening,” Chapter 8, “Grand Theory and History:
Democracy and the Frontier.”
Boyer, Chapter 10, “Democratic Politics, Religious Revival, and
Reform, 1824-1840” and Chapter 13, “Immigration, Expansion, and
Sectional Conflict, 1840-1848.”
• Historical Research Essay due in seminar today
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Note: Boyer, Chapter 14, “From Compromise to Secession, 1850-1861,”
and Chapter 15, “Crucible of Freedom: Civil War, 1861-1865,” will
not be discussed in seminars, but students are responsible for
those readings as background for lectures and for the exam.
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Winslow Homer, “Skirmish in the Wilderness”