US HISTORY I
AMST 201--Fall 2003
Colin
S. Cavell, Ph.D. Course
Room No.: S17-229
Office
Hours: By appointment Office No.: S17-263
VOICE: 438775 (W) 729091 (H)
Survey of American history from the early American
experience to the end of the Era of Reconstruction, with an overview of
political institutions, constitutional development, the revolution, the
sectional crisis, the Civil War, race relations, economic development, foreign
policy, and intellectual and cultural ideas.
Grading Policy: 20%
for Attendance*; 20% for the Class Presentation; 20% for the Midterm Exam; 20%
for the Research Paper; and 20% for the Final Exam. A Guidelines sheet will be
distributed outlining the requirements for your Class Presentation and for your
Research Paper.
Attendance Policy*: Attendance in class is mandatory. As well, you are expected to follow the syllabus and accordingly
be prepared for each day's class. This
means that you must read the pre-assigned readings before class so that you
will be prepared to discuss and debate in class the subject matter scheduled
for that day and answer questions related to the issues being covered. NOTE:
TURN OFF all cell phones during class.
*Absence from class may be
made up by preparing a two-page,
typed (i.e. using maximum 12
point font size and maximum double-spaced text with one-inch margin on all
sides), summary on the missed
material scheduled to be covered the day(s) of your absence.
Required
Texts:
Nash, Gary B. & Julie Roy Jeffrey, et al. 2001.
The American People: Creating
A Nation and A Society. SVE. Sixth Edition. New York, NY: Longman
Publishers USA.
InfoUSA: Information USA [CD-ROM]. 2002.
Washington, D.C.: U.S.
Department of State, Office of International Information Programs. [Supplied by professor.]
Sept. 20: Introduction to U.S. History:
What Is History? What Is Its
Utility? Why Study U.S. History?
Sept.
22: Ancient America and Africa
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 1 “The
Peoples of America Before Columbus,” “Recovering the Past: Archaeological Artifacts”
Sept. 24: Ancient America and Africa
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 1
“Africa on the Eve of Contact,” “Europe on the Eve of Invading the
Americas,” “Conclusion: The Approach of
a New Global Age”
Sept. 27: Europeans and Africans Reach the Americas
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 2
“Breaching the Atlantic,” “The Spanish Conquest of America,” “Analyzing
History: The Columbian Exchange,”
“England Looks West”
Sept. 29: Europeans and Africans Reach the Americas
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 2
“Recovering the Past:
Illustrated Travel Accounts,” “African Bondage,” “Conclusion: Converging Worlds”
Oct. 1:
Colonizing a Continent in the Seventeenth Century
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 3 “The
Chesapeake Tobacco Coast,” “Recovering the Past: Houses,” “Analyzing History:
The Atlantic Slave Trade,” “Massachusetts and Its Offspring”
Oct. 4:
Colonizing a Continent in the Seventeenth Century
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 3 “From
the St. Lawrence to the Hudson,” “Proprietary Carolina: A Restoration Reward,” “The Quakers’
Peaceable Kingdom,” “New Spain’s Northern Frontier,” “An Era of Instability,”
“Conclusion: The Achievement of New
Societies”
Oct. 6: The
Maturing of Colonial Society
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 4 “The
North: A Land of Family Farms,” “The
Plantation South,” “Contending for a Continent,” “The Urban World of Commerce
and Ideas”
Oct. 8:
[Last day for dropping courses]
The Maturing of Colonial Society
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 4
“Recovering the Past: Household
Inventories,” “The Great Awakening,” “Political Life,” “Conclusion: America in 1750”
Oct. 11: The Strains of Empire
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 5 “The
Climatic Seven Years’ War,” “The Crisis with England”
Oct. 13: The Strains of Empire
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 5 “The
Ideology of Revolutionary Republicanism,” “The Turmoil of a Rebellious People,”
“Recovering the Past: Poetry,”
“Conclusion: On the Brink of
Revolution”
Oct. 15: A People in Revolution
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 6
“Bursting the Colonial Bonds,” “The War for American Independence,” “The
Experience of War”
Oct. 18: A People in Revolution
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 6
“Recovering the Past: Military
Muster Rolls,” “The Ferment of Revolutionary Politics,” “Conclusion: The Crucible of Revolution”
Oct. 20: Consolidating the Revolution
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 7
“Struggling with the Peacetime Agenda,” “Sources of Political Conflict,”
“Political Tumult in the States”
Oct. 22: Consolidating the Revolution
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 7
“Toward a New National Government,” “Recovering the Past: Patriotic Paintings,” “Conclusion: Completing the Revolution”
Oct. 25: Creating a Nation
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 8
“Launching the National Republic,” “The Republic in a Threatening World”
Oct. 27: [First day of Ramadhan
1424] Creating a Nation [Ramadhan—9:30-10:10]
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 8
“Recovering the Past: Foreign
Travel Journals,” “The Political Crisis Deepens,” “Restoring American Liberty”
Oct. 29: Creating a Nation [Ramadhan—9:30-10:10]
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 8
“Building an Agrarian Nation,” “A Foreign Policy for the New Nation,”
“Conclusion: A Period of Trial and
Transition”
Nov. 1:
Society and Politics in the Early Republic [Ramadhan—9:30-10:10]
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 9 “A
Nation of Regions,” “Analyzing History:
The Movement of White and Black Population into Trans-Appalachia,
1790-1830,” “Recovering the Past:
Census Returns”
Nov. 3:
Society and Politics in the Early Republic [Ramadhan—9:50-10:30]
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 9
“Indian-White Relations in the Early Republic,” “Perfecting a Democratic
Society,” “The End of Neo-Colonialism”
Nov. 5:
Society and Politics in the Early Republic [Ramadhan—9:50-10:30]
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 9
“Knitting the Nation Together,” “Politics in Transition,”
“Conclusion: The Passing of an Era”
Nov. 8:
Economic Transformations in the Northeast and the Old Northwest [Ramadhan—9:50-10:30]
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 10 “Economic
Growth,” “Early Manufacturing”
Nov. 10: Midterm Exam [Ramadhan—9:50-10:30]
Nov. 12: Economic Transformations in the Northeast and the Old Northwest [Ramadhan—9:50-10:30]
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 10 “A
New England Textile Town,” “Urban Life”
Nov. 15-19: Mid-semester break [No classes]
Nov. 22: Economic Transformations in the Northeast and the Old Northwest [Ramadhan—9:50-10:30]
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 10
“Recovering the Past: Family
Paintings,” “Rural Communities,” “Conclusion:
The Character of Progress”
Nov. 24: Slavery and the Old South [Ramadhan—9:50-10:30]
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 11
“Building a Diverse Cotton Kingdom,” “Analyzing History: Slavery Expands with the Cotton Boom”
Nov.
25-27: Eid Al-Fitr 1424—Holiday [No classes]
Nov. 29: Slavery and the Old South
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 11
“Morning: Master and Mistress in
the Big House,” “Noon: Slaves in House and
Fields,” “Night: Slaves in Their
Quarters”
Dec. 1:
Slavery and the Old South
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 11
“Recovering the Past:
Folktales,” “Resistance and Freedom,” “Conclusion: Douglass’s Dream of Freedom”
Dec. 3:
Shaping America in the Antebellum Age
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 12
“Religious Revival and Reform Philosophy,” “The Political Response to
Change,” “Perfectionist Reform and Utopianism”
Dec. 6:
Shaping America in the Antebellum Age
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 12
“Reforming Society,” “Abolitionism and the Women’s Rights Movement,”
“Recovering the Past: Slave Narratives,”
“Conclusion: Perfecting America”
Dec. 8:
Moving West
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 13
“Probing the Trans-Mississippi West,” “Winning the Trans-Mississippi
West,” “Going West and East,” “Recovering the Past: Personal Diaries”
Dec. 10: Moving West
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 13
“Living in the West,” “Cultures in Conflict,” “Conclusion: Fruits of Manifest Destiny”
Dec. 15: The Union in Peril
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 14
“Slavery in the Territories,” “Recovering the Past: Senate Speeches,” “Political Disintegration”
Dec. 16-17: National Day of Bahrain—Holidays; no classes
Dec. 20: The Union in Peril
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 14
“Kansas and the Two Cultures,” “Polarization and the Road to War”
Dec. 22: The Union in Peril
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 14 “The
Divided House Falls,” “Conclusion: The
‘Irrepressible Conflict’”
Dec. 24: The Union Severed
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 15
“Organizing for War,” “Clashing on the Battlefield, 1861-1862”
Dec. 27: The Union Severed
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 15 “The
Tide Turns, 1863-1865,” “Changes Wrought by War”
Dec. 29: The Union Severed
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 15
“Recovering the Past:
Photography,” “Conclusion: An
Uncertain Future”
Dec. 31: The Union Reconstructed
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 16 “The
Bittersweet Aftermath of War,” “National Reconstruction Politics”
Jan.
1: New Year’s Day [Western]—Holiday; no classes
Jan. 3: The Union Reconstructed
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 16 “The
Lives of Freedpeople,” “Reconstruction in the Southern States”
Jan. 5: The Union Reconstructed
Readings: Nash, et al., Ch. 16
“Recovering the Past: Novels,”
“Conclusion: A Mixed Legacy”
Jan.
7: Last
day of class; Review
Jan. 12, 2004: Final Exam 11:30-13:30
Jan. 22, 2004: Last day for
submitting first semester’s grades
Jan. 20-Feb. 11, 2004:
Inter-semester Break [Holidays]