The final exam will be Sunday from 1-4 in our classroom, Monday during normal class time and at the normal class place, or Wednesday in our classroom from 5-7:30pm.
Also, THE FOLLOWING TERMS WILL NOT BE ON THE FINAL:
St. Patrick's Brigade
Lowell Factory
Quaker Gun
Battle of Manassas
STUDY HARD AND BE SURE TO EMAIL WITH QUESTIONS
Friday, June 5, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
FINAL EXAM TIMES
1. Sunday, 1-4 (you have 1.5 hours for the test but may start anytime)
IN OUR NORMAL CLASS.
2. Monday during our regular class time in our regular class.
3. Wednesday, 6/10 from 5-7:30 (you have 1.5 hours for the test but may start anytime)
This will also be in our regular class.
If none of these times work we will find a time that does work for you.
IN OUR NORMAL CLASS.
2. Monday during our regular class time in our regular class.
3. Wednesday, 6/10 from 5-7:30 (you have 1.5 hours for the test but may start anytime)
This will also be in our regular class.
If none of these times work we will find a time that does work for you.
Civil War Outline
Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address: March 4, 1861
In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend it."
I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
Outline of the Civil War
I. Events & Battles of 1861-1862
A. Events
1. Secession of the Confederate States
2. Fort Sumter
3. Mobilization of the North and South
B. Battles
1. First Manassas (Bull Run, Virginia 7/21/61)
2. Shiloh (Pittsburg’s Landing, Tennessee, 4/6/62)
3. Second Manassas (Bull Run, Virginia, 8/28/62)
4. Antietam (Sharpsburg, Maryland, 9/17/62)
II. The Crucial Year: 1863
Emancipation Proclamation (1/1/63)
Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863)
The Gettysburg Address (11/19/63)
Vicksburg (May-July, 1863)
VII. 1864-1865
Presidential Election of 1864
Lincoln Elected to a Second Term (National Union Party)
1864 Election:
212 Electoral Votes to 21 for McClellan
Fellow-Countrymen:
AT this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. 1
On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, urgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war—seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came. 2
One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." 3
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
The Last Year-1865: The End of the Confederacy
Appomattox Campaign
Assassination of Lincoln (April 14, 1865)
The Emancipation Proclamation January 1, 1863
By the President of the United States of America:
A Proclamation.
"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.
"That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States."
Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days, from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:
Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth[)], and which excepted parts, are for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.
And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.
And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.
And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.
And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.
By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend it."
I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
Outline of the Civil War
I. Events & Battles of 1861-1862
A. Events
1. Secession of the Confederate States
2. Fort Sumter
3. Mobilization of the North and South
B. Battles
1. First Manassas (Bull Run, Virginia 7/21/61)
2. Shiloh (Pittsburg’s Landing, Tennessee, 4/6/62)
3. Second Manassas (Bull Run, Virginia, 8/28/62)
4. Antietam (Sharpsburg, Maryland, 9/17/62)
II. The Crucial Year: 1863
Emancipation Proclamation (1/1/63)
Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863)
The Gettysburg Address (11/19/63)
Vicksburg (May-July, 1863)
VII. 1864-1865
Presidential Election of 1864
Lincoln Elected to a Second Term (National Union Party)
1864 Election:
212 Electoral Votes to 21 for McClellan
Fellow-Countrymen:
AT this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. 1
On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, urgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war—seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came. 2
One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." 3
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
The Last Year-1865: The End of the Confederacy
Appomattox Campaign
Assassination of Lincoln (April 14, 1865)
The Emancipation Proclamation January 1, 1863
By the President of the United States of America:
A Proclamation.
"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.
"That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States."
Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days, from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:
Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth[)], and which excepted parts, are for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.
And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.
And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.
And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.
And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.
By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
UPDATED SCHEDULE
By popular demand and the good graces of your teacher,
the Frederick Douglass Reading is NOW DUE FRIDAY.
The Essay is NOW DUE WEDNESDAY.
TURNITIN.COM HAS BEEN UPDATED, SO THE ESSAY WILL NOW BE DUE TO TURNITIN BY MIDNIGHT ON WEDNESDAY.
the Frederick Douglass Reading is NOW DUE FRIDAY.
The Essay is NOW DUE WEDNESDAY.
TURNITIN.COM HAS BEEN UPDATED, SO THE ESSAY WILL NOW BE DUE TO TURNITIN BY MIDNIGHT ON WEDNESDAY.
Friday, May 22, 2009
War with Mexico
War with Mexico
Causes of War
Economic Expansion:
Playing Politics:
British Interests in Texas
Slave State Power Grab
Ideas:
Manifest Destiny
John L. O’Sullivan
Two Wars:
California
Mexico
Outcome:
A. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)
1. Mexican cession of 525,000 square miles
2. U.S. pays $15 million
3. U.S. assumes $3.25 million in debt to Mexico
B. Gadsen Purchase: $10 million
C. Trouble: (imbalance)
Two Articles from Treaty of G-H
ARTICLE VIII
Mexicans now established in territories previously belonging to Mexico, and which remain for the future within the limits of the United States, as defined by the present treaty, shall be free to continue where they now reside, or to remove at any time to the Mexican Republic, retaining the property which they possess in the said territories, or disposing thereof, and removing the proceeds wherever they please, without their being subjected, on this account, to any contribution, tax, or charge whatever.
Those who shall prefer to remain in the said territories may either retain the title and rights of Mexican citizens, or acquire those of citizens of the United States. But they shall be under the obligation to make their election within one year from the date of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty; and those who shall remain in the said territories after the expiration of that year, without having declared their intention to retain the character of Mexicans, shall be considered to have elected to become citizens of the United States.
In the said territories, property of every kind, now belonging to Mexicans not established there, shall be inviolably respected. The present owners, the heirs of these, and all Mexicans who may hereafter acquire said property by contract, shall enjoy with respect to it guarantees equally ample as if the same belonged to citizens of the United States.
ARTICLE IX
The Mexicans who, in the territories aforesaid, shall not preserve the character of citizens of the Mexican Republic, conformably with what is stipulated in the preceding article, shall be incorporated into the Union of the United States. and be admitted at the proper time (to be judged of by the Congress of the United States) to the enjoyment of all the rights of citizens of the United States, according to the principles of the Constitution; and in the mean time, shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty and property, and secured in the free exercise of their religion without; restriction.
Causes of War
Economic Expansion:
Playing Politics:
British Interests in Texas
Slave State Power Grab
Ideas:
Manifest Destiny
John L. O’Sullivan
Two Wars:
California
Mexico
Outcome:
A. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)
1. Mexican cession of 525,000 square miles
2. U.S. pays $15 million
3. U.S. assumes $3.25 million in debt to Mexico
B. Gadsen Purchase: $10 million
C. Trouble: (imbalance)
Two Articles from Treaty of G-H
ARTICLE VIII
Mexicans now established in territories previously belonging to Mexico, and which remain for the future within the limits of the United States, as defined by the present treaty, shall be free to continue where they now reside, or to remove at any time to the Mexican Republic, retaining the property which they possess in the said territories, or disposing thereof, and removing the proceeds wherever they please, without their being subjected, on this account, to any contribution, tax, or charge whatever.
Those who shall prefer to remain in the said territories may either retain the title and rights of Mexican citizens, or acquire those of citizens of the United States. But they shall be under the obligation to make their election within one year from the date of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty; and those who shall remain in the said territories after the expiration of that year, without having declared their intention to retain the character of Mexicans, shall be considered to have elected to become citizens of the United States.
In the said territories, property of every kind, now belonging to Mexicans not established there, shall be inviolably respected. The present owners, the heirs of these, and all Mexicans who may hereafter acquire said property by contract, shall enjoy with respect to it guarantees equally ample as if the same belonged to citizens of the United States.
ARTICLE IX
The Mexicans who, in the territories aforesaid, shall not preserve the character of citizens of the Mexican Republic, conformably with what is stipulated in the preceding article, shall be incorporated into the Union of the United States. and be admitted at the proper time (to be judged of by the Congress of the United States) to the enjoyment of all the rights of citizens of the United States, according to the principles of the Constitution; and in the mean time, shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty and property, and secured in the free exercise of their religion without; restriction.
Monday, May 18, 2009
FINAL EXAM TIMES
1. Sunday, 1-4 (you have 1.5 hours for the test but may start anytime)
2. Monday during our regular class time
3. Wednesday, 6/10 from 2-4:30 (you have 1.5 hours for the test but may start anytime)
If none of these times work we will find a time that does work for you.
2. Monday during our regular class time
3. Wednesday, 6/10 from 2-4:30 (you have 1.5 hours for the test but may start anytime)
If none of these times work we will find a time that does work for you.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Frederick Douglass Reading Guide
In addition to these questions, draw as many comparisons as possible between the life of F.D. and that of Celia.
1. What are Douglass' best arguments against slavery?
2. According to Douglass, how does slavery affect slaves' human development (personality, behavior, sense of self)?
3. After his confrontation with Mr. Covey, why does Douglass write, "however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact"?
4. Why is Douglass able to "understand the deep meaning of those rude and apparently incoherent songs" sung by slaves only when he no longer is a slave himself?
5. When Douglass writes, "You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man," what does he understand a man to be?
What does Douglass mean when he talks of "... the right of each man to own his own body and soul..."?
6. How is Douglass able to maintain his religious faith when that of his owners is used to justify their treatment of him?
Why does Douglass consider holiday celebrations as part of the "inhumanity of slavery"? (p. 115)
7. Douglass says that "Slavery proved as injurious to his master's wife as it did to him." What impact does slavery have on gender roles in the South?
8. Douglass describes knowledge as "valuable bread" and the Liberator as his "meat and drink.” Discuss.
1. What are Douglass' best arguments against slavery?
2. According to Douglass, how does slavery affect slaves' human development (personality, behavior, sense of self)?
3. After his confrontation with Mr. Covey, why does Douglass write, "however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact"?
4. Why is Douglass able to "understand the deep meaning of those rude and apparently incoherent songs" sung by slaves only when he no longer is a slave himself?
5. When Douglass writes, "You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man," what does he understand a man to be?
What does Douglass mean when he talks of "... the right of each man to own his own body and soul..."?
6. How is Douglass able to maintain his religious faith when that of his owners is used to justify their treatment of him?
Why does Douglass consider holiday celebrations as part of the "inhumanity of slavery"? (p. 115)
7. Douglass says that "Slavery proved as injurious to his master's wife as it did to him." What impact does slavery have on gender roles in the South?
8. Douglass describes knowledge as "valuable bread" and the Liberator as his "meat and drink.” Discuss.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE
You people must be very special. Noone has ever asked for the study guide so early. I am certain it is because of your innate love of history and desire to know more, right? Good!
We'll cover these terms and ideas in class.
I. Identifications(4 OF 6) 5% each=40%
You will answer 4 identifications out of the 6 that I give you:
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
Worcester v. Georgia
Battle of Manassas (Bull Run)
John Brown
Battle of New Orleans
Lewis and Clark
Lowell Factory System
Caning of Sumner
St. Patrick's Battalion
Manifest Destiny
John C. Calhoun
Embargo Act
John Marshall
“Quaker Gun”
Marbury v. Madison
Erie Canal
Louisiana Purchase
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Bleeding Kansas
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
Compromise of 1850
“Beecher’s Bibles”
Know-Nothings
Dred Scott Case
Election of 1860
Jefferson Davis
Battle of Gettysburg
Gettysburg Address
II. Essay Questions: (60%)
One of the following questions will be on the test.
1. The sectionalism that developed between the North and South, ultimately causing the Civil War, was the product of numerous factors. What were the most important political issues that drove the two sections of the nation apart? What role did slavery play in causing the war?
2. What were the most important arguments against slavery in the books Celia, A Slave and The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass.
3. Compare and contrast the War of 1812, the War with Mexico, and the Civil War.
4. Thomas Jefferson urged Congress to withdraw the United States “from all further participation in those violations of human rights which have long continued upon the unoffending inhabitants of Africa.” His ideas contradicted his life. How did this contradiction, the presence of the ideal of freedom and the reality of slavery, change the United States in the period from the Revolution to the Civil War?
We'll cover these terms and ideas in class.
I. Identifications(4 OF 6) 5% each=40%
You will answer 4 identifications out of the 6 that I give you:
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
Worcester v. Georgia
Battle of Manassas (Bull Run)
John Brown
Battle of New Orleans
Lewis and Clark
Lowell Factory System
Caning of Sumner
St. Patrick's Battalion
Manifest Destiny
John C. Calhoun
Embargo Act
John Marshall
“Quaker Gun”
Marbury v. Madison
Erie Canal
Louisiana Purchase
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Bleeding Kansas
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
Compromise of 1850
“Beecher’s Bibles”
Know-Nothings
Dred Scott Case
Election of 1860
Jefferson Davis
Battle of Gettysburg
Gettysburg Address
II. Essay Questions: (60%)
One of the following questions will be on the test.
1. The sectionalism that developed between the North and South, ultimately causing the Civil War, was the product of numerous factors. What were the most important political issues that drove the two sections of the nation apart? What role did slavery play in causing the war?
2. What were the most important arguments against slavery in the books Celia, A Slave and The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass.
3. Compare and contrast the War of 1812, the War with Mexico, and the Civil War.
4. Thomas Jefferson urged Congress to withdraw the United States “from all further participation in those violations of human rights which have long continued upon the unoffending inhabitants of Africa.” His ideas contradicted his life. How did this contradiction, the presence of the ideal of freedom and the reality of slavery, change the United States in the period from the Revolution to the Civil War?
Monday, May 11, 2009
ESSAY ASSIGNMENT
Format: 2-4 pages, typed, double-spaced
Due Date: Monday, June 1
Due to Turnitin.com: Midnight on the night of Monday, June 1
Although the Turnitin information is on the syllabus, here it is again:
Class ID: 2675523
Password: history
Remember, the best way to be certain that your essay is ready to be turned in as a final draft is to bring me a rough draft in the days before the final draft is due.
In addition, check the blog for citation format and revision advice.
Remember, your own original analysis of whichever question you choose is crucial. If you are thinking of this history paper as a description of a book or two, think again! Simple description is pointless; make an argument! Again, these issues will be discussed further on the blog and in class.
In a well argued and thoroughly revised essay, answer one of the following questions:
1. Compare and contrast Celia’s attack of Robert Newsom and Frederick Douglass’ fight with the overseer Covey.
2. How important was gender in the slave community? Where and how do masculinity and femininity become important elements of Celia, A Slave and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass?
3. Considering Celia, A Slave, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and at least two of the Slave Narratives from the American Memory Project what role did violence play in maintaining order on the plantation? http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html.
FORMER HISTORY 102 STUDENTS: If you have already taken my History 102 course, you may want to think about this essay question as an option:
4. Compare and contrast the experience of Celia or Frederick Douglass with Primo Levi during the Holocaust.
5. FIND YOUR OWN: There are plenty of great ideas out there, but the one requirement is this: YOU MUST APPROVE THE TOPIC WITH ME BEFORE WRITING THE ESSAY!!!
Due Date: Monday, June 1
Due to Turnitin.com: Midnight on the night of Monday, June 1
Although the Turnitin information is on the syllabus, here it is again:
Class ID: 2675523
Password: history
Remember, the best way to be certain that your essay is ready to be turned in as a final draft is to bring me a rough draft in the days before the final draft is due.
In addition, check the blog for citation format and revision advice.
Remember, your own original analysis of whichever question you choose is crucial. If you are thinking of this history paper as a description of a book or two, think again! Simple description is pointless; make an argument! Again, these issues will be discussed further on the blog and in class.
In a well argued and thoroughly revised essay, answer one of the following questions:
1. Compare and contrast Celia’s attack of Robert Newsom and Frederick Douglass’ fight with the overseer Covey.
2. How important was gender in the slave community? Where and how do masculinity and femininity become important elements of Celia, A Slave and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass?
3. Considering Celia, A Slave, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and at least two of the Slave Narratives from the American Memory Project what role did violence play in maintaining order on the plantation? http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html.
FORMER HISTORY 102 STUDENTS: If you have already taken my History 102 course, you may want to think about this essay question as an option:
4. Compare and contrast the experience of Celia or Frederick Douglass with Primo Levi during the Holocaust.
5. FIND YOUR OWN: There are plenty of great ideas out there, but the one requirement is this: YOU MUST APPROVE THE TOPIC WITH ME BEFORE WRITING THE ESSAY!!!
Friday, May 8, 2009
UNTO THE 182Os
--Industrialism in America--
I. The Transportation Revolution:
A. Canals
B. Turnpikes
C. Steamboats
D. Railroads
II. New Working Conditions:
A. Factories
1. The Putting-Out System
2. The Waltham System
(Francis Cabot Lowell)
B. New Inventions
--handout--
III. Immigration:
A. Irish
B. German
C. Chinese
IV. Significance:
I. The Transportation Revolution:
A. Canals
B. Turnpikes
C. Steamboats
D. Railroads
II. New Working Conditions:
A. Factories
1. The Putting-Out System
2. The Waltham System
(Francis Cabot Lowell)
B. New Inventions
--handout--
III. Immigration:
A. Irish
B. German
C. Chinese
IV. Significance:
Stability and Decline: Into the 1820s
Stability and Decline: Into the 1820s
I. Jeffersonians become “federalists”
A. Lousiana Purchase
B. Gallatin and the National Bank
C. High Tariff
D. Military Might
II. The Era of Good Feelings
A. Electing James Monroe
B. Economics in the Era
1. Bank of the United States
2. Panic of 1819
a. over-production
b. land speculation
3. The Panic, the Bank, and Sectional Tension
I. Jeffersonians become “federalists”
A. Lousiana Purchase
B. Gallatin and the National Bank
C. High Tariff
D. Military Might
II. The Era of Good Feelings
A. Electing James Monroe
B. Economics in the Era
1. Bank of the United States
2. Panic of 1819
a. over-production
b. land speculation
3. The Panic, the Bank, and Sectional Tension
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Jefferson and the New Nation
I. Election of 1800
SHAPE OF THE NATION:
2.5 million in 1775
5.3 million in 1800
300,000 in towns of 2500 or more (less than 7% “urban”)
"My father was A farmer and by the help of his trusty rifle kept the family in wild meat such as bear, elk, deer, and wild Turkey."
"My Farm gave me and my family a good living on the produce of it; and left me, one year after another, one hundred and fifty dollars, for I have never spent more than ten dollars a year, which was for salt, nails, and the like. Nothing to wear, eat, or drink was purchased, as my farm produced all."
II. Revolution of 1800?
III. The Courts
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
IV. The West: Completing the Vision
A. Louisiana Purchase
B. Lewis and Clark
V. Slavery: Jefferson and Hemmings
SHAPE OF THE NATION:
2.5 million in 1775
5.3 million in 1800
300,000 in towns of 2500 or more (less than 7% “urban”)
"My father was A farmer and by the help of his trusty rifle kept the family in wild meat such as bear, elk, deer, and wild Turkey."
"My Farm gave me and my family a good living on the produce of it; and left me, one year after another, one hundred and fifty dollars, for I have never spent more than ten dollars a year, which was for salt, nails, and the like. Nothing to wear, eat, or drink was purchased, as my farm produced all."
II. Revolution of 1800?
III. The Courts
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
IV. The West: Completing the Vision
A. Louisiana Purchase
B. Lewis and Clark
V. Slavery: Jefferson and Hemmings
Monday, May 4, 2009
Reading Guide for Celia, A Slave
This book is due in class on Friday, 5/15.
The questions are not due but will help you prepare for the essay and for class discussion.
Celia, A Slave Reading Guide
HERE’S A BIG GENERAL IDEA TO CONSIDER: Notice in this book moments when Celia expresses agency, the ability to make decisions and exert some measure of power on her own.
Describe the area of Calloway County, Missouri. What was the land like? What were the people like?
Describe Celia’s introduction to life as a slave of Robert Newsom.
George said “he would have nothing more to do with her [Celia] if she did not quit the old man.” Why does he say this? Who is George? What does he assume about Celia and Newsom?
How does Celia kill Newsom?
Describe the reaction of the press, the courts, and of the Newsom family to the killing.
Read the Chapter “The Verdict” carefully.
Interpret the quote on page 107, toward the beginning of Chapter Six: “At this point the defense’s arguments began to threaten the very foundations of the institution of slavery. Celia, the defense insisted, even though a slave, was entitled by law to use deadly force to protect her honor.”
What are the most important conclusions drawn by the author in the final chapter? If you had the opportunity to describe the meaning of the book to a friend, not what it is about but what it means, what would you say?
Friday, May 1, 2009
The New Nation
Two Great Quotes from Abigail Adams
“...remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.”
Virginians could not have the "passion for Liberty" they claimed they did, since they "deprive their fellow Creatures" of freedom.
The New Nation:
I. Ratification of the Constitution
II. First Party System:
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Amendment VII
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
III. Election of 1796: (Adams)
Alien and Sedition Acts
IV. Election of 1800
“...remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.”
Virginians could not have the "passion for Liberty" they claimed they did, since they "deprive their fellow Creatures" of freedom.
The New Nation:
I. Ratification of the Constitution
II. First Party System:
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Amendment VII
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
III. Election of 1796: (Adams)
Alien and Sedition Acts
IV. Election of 1800
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Constitution
The New Nation:
I. The Constitution:
Basic Concepts
II. Ratification of the Constitution
III. First Party System:
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
IV. Election of 1796: (Adams)
Alien and Sedition Acts
V. Election of 1800: Republican Ascendancy
VI. Revolution of 1800?
VII. The Courts: Marbury v. Madison (1803)
VIII. The West: Completing the Vision
Louisiana Purchase
Lewis and Clark
IX. Slavery
BILL OF RIGHTS
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Amendment VII
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
I. The Constitution:
Basic Concepts
II. Ratification of the Constitution
III. First Party System:
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
IV. Election of 1796: (Adams)
Alien and Sedition Acts
V. Election of 1800: Republican Ascendancy
VI. Revolution of 1800?
VII. The Courts: Marbury v. Madison (1803)
VIII. The West: Completing the Vision
Louisiana Purchase
Lewis and Clark
IX. Slavery
BILL OF RIGHTS
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Amendment VII
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Declaration of Independence--bow your head when you say that!
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
Revolution Origins
THE ROAD TO WAR
I. Changing Policies:
(ending “salutary neglect”)
A. Navigation Acts:
B. Sugar Act (1764)
George Grenville
Patrick Henry
C. Stamp Act (1765)
D. Townshend Duties (1767)
II. Escalation:
A. Discussion:
The Boston Massacre
In spite of each parasite, each cringing slave
Each cautious dastard, each oppressive knave
Each gibing ass, that reptile of an hour
The supercilious pimp of abject slaves in power
We are met to celebrate in festive mirth
The day that gave our freedom second birth
That tells us, British Grenville never more
Shall dare usurp unjust, illegal power
Or threaten America’s free sons with chains,
While the least spark of ancient fire remains
B. Burning of the Gaspee
I. Changing Policies:
(ending “salutary neglect”)
A. Navigation Acts:
B. Sugar Act (1764)
George Grenville
Patrick Henry
C. Stamp Act (1765)
D. Townshend Duties (1767)
II. Escalation:
A. Discussion:
The Boston Massacre
In spite of each parasite, each cringing slave
Each cautious dastard, each oppressive knave
Each gibing ass, that reptile of an hour
The supercilious pimp of abject slaves in power
We are met to celebrate in festive mirth
The day that gave our freedom second birth
That tells us, British Grenville never more
Shall dare usurp unjust, illegal power
Or threaten America’s free sons with chains,
While the least spark of ancient fire remains
B. Burning of the Gaspee
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Mid-Century Challenges
Mid-Century Challenges
I. French and Indian War
II. Economic Shift
III. Land Conflicts
A. Susquehannah Company
B. Paxton Boys
C. South Carolina Regulators
D. North Carolina Regulators
E. The Boston Fire of 1860
IV. Significance
I. French and Indian War
II. Economic Shift
III. Land Conflicts
A. Susquehannah Company
B. Paxton Boys
C. South Carolina Regulators
D. North Carolina Regulators
E. The Boston Fire of 1860
IV. Significance
Monday, April 13, 2009
Excerpt from Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"
"Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider's web would have to stop a falling rock.
The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and Justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood. "
The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and Justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood. "
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Colonial Virginia Outline
Transplanting, not Transforming
I. Beginnings: (and near endings)
--comparisons to New England
II. Social and Political Development
--Sir William Berkeley--
III. Religious Life: Liturgical Anglicanism
IV. Economic Development
--the crop that cureth
--labor problems=development of slavery
V. The Result? Cavalier Culture
I. Beginnings: (and near endings)
--comparisons to New England
II. Social and Political Development
--Sir William Berkeley--
III. Religious Life: Liturgical Anglicanism
IV. Economic Development
--the crop that cureth
--labor problems=development of slavery
V. The Result? Cavalier Culture
Monday, April 6, 2009
DOCUMENTS: COLONIAL EPITAPHS
What do these deathly words say about what the dearly departed valued in life?
--------------------------
In Memory ofMr JOHN GOODSPEEDWho departed thisLife Aug ye 28 1786in ye 66th yearof his Age. Mark traveller this humble stone'Tis death's kind warning to prepareThou too must hasten to the tombAnd mingle with corruption there
In memory ofFreeman Kingman Son ofSimeon Kingman& Rebecca his wifewho was drowned Jan 14 1793in the 12th yearof his age. Also in memory oftheir infant daughterwho died Oct 13 1791
In Memory ofMrs Abigail SturgisRelict ofSam'l Sturgis Esq'rof Barnstable whowho died February 9 1795in the 63 Yearof her Age
Philander ShawSon ofthe Rev Philander Shaw& Mrs Lucy his wifedied Jan'y 27th 1800aged 7 weeksfootstonePhilander Shaw
In Memory ofPrince Son to Mr John& Mrs Mary Bodfishhe died Oct'r 4 1793in ye 3 year of his age. Come now behold and shed a tearTo see a first born slainWho liv'd and died in innocenceAnd turned to dust again
Here lies Ye Body ofABIGAIL WINSLOW LEWISDaug'r of Mr WINSLOW& Mrs MARY LEWISdied June 30th 1767Aged 12 Years
Here lies the Body ofMrs ABIGAIL ADAMSthe amiable Consort ofDr SAMUEL ADAMSwho died in ChildbedJuly 8th 1774in the 24th Yearof her Age
Here lie the Remains ofRev Mr JOHN AVERYWho Departed this Life ye23d of April 1754 in the69th Year of His Age and44th of His Ministry and the First Pastor Ordained inthis Place.
In this dark cavern, in this lonesome GraveHere lies the honest, pious, virtuous FriendHim, Kind Heav'n to us priest and doctor gaveAs such he lived, as such we mourn his end
Here are deposited the Remains ofMr BENJAMIN BANGSwho departed this LifeOctober 31st Anno Domini 1769Aged 48 Years and 4 Months. Some hearty friend shall drop his tearOn my dry Bones and say"These once were strong as mine appearAnd mine must be as they"
Thus shall our moulding Members teachWhat now our Senses learnFor Dust and Ashes loudest preachMan's infinite Concern
In Memory ofCapt SOLOMON BANGSwho died Jan'y 19th1797Aged 68 Years
EDMOND FREEMANBORN IN ENGLAND 1590DIED IN SANDWICH 1682. A FOUNDEROF THETOWN OF SANDWICHIN 1637. ASSISTANT TOGOVERNOR BRADFORD1640 - 1647
HERE LYES BURIEDTHE BODY OF MrsRUTH CHIPMANAGED 71 YEARSDIED OCTOBER Ye 4th1713. Blessed are ye DeadThat die in the Lord
Here lieth Jesseye Son of MerinaNegro Servantto Melatiah BourneEsq died Septye 17 1737 Aged2 Years and 6 Mo
HERE LYETH Ye BODYOF SHEARJASHUB BOURNESQ'R WHO DEPARTED THISLIFE MARCH Ye 7th 1718/19IN THE 76 YEAR OF HIS AGE HE WAS A VIRTUOUS RIGHTEOUS & MERCIFUL MANAND A GREAT FRIEND TO Ye INDIANS.PRECIOUS IN Ye SIGHT OF Ye
LORDIS Ye DEATH OF THIS SAINT
--------------------------
In Memory ofMr JOHN GOODSPEEDWho departed thisLife Aug ye 28 1786in ye 66th yearof his Age. Mark traveller this humble stone'Tis death's kind warning to prepareThou too must hasten to the tombAnd mingle with corruption there
In memory ofFreeman Kingman Son ofSimeon Kingman& Rebecca his wifewho was drowned Jan 14 1793in the 12th yearof his age. Also in memory oftheir infant daughterwho died Oct 13 1791
In Memory ofMrs Abigail SturgisRelict ofSam'l Sturgis Esq'rof Barnstable whowho died February 9 1795in the 63 Yearof her Age
Philander ShawSon ofthe Rev Philander Shaw& Mrs Lucy his wifedied Jan'y 27th 1800aged 7 weeksfootstonePhilander Shaw
In Memory ofPrince Son to Mr John& Mrs Mary Bodfishhe died Oct'r 4 1793in ye 3 year of his age. Come now behold and shed a tearTo see a first born slainWho liv'd and died in innocenceAnd turned to dust again
Here lies Ye Body ofABIGAIL WINSLOW LEWISDaug'r of Mr WINSLOW& Mrs MARY LEWISdied June 30th 1767Aged 12 Years
Here lies the Body ofMrs ABIGAIL ADAMSthe amiable Consort ofDr SAMUEL ADAMSwho died in ChildbedJuly 8th 1774in the 24th Yearof her Age
Here lie the Remains ofRev Mr JOHN AVERYWho Departed this Life ye23d of April 1754 in the69th Year of His Age and44th of His Ministry and the First Pastor Ordained inthis Place.
In this dark cavern, in this lonesome GraveHere lies the honest, pious, virtuous FriendHim, Kind Heav'n to us priest and doctor gaveAs such he lived, as such we mourn his end
Here are deposited the Remains ofMr BENJAMIN BANGSwho departed this LifeOctober 31st Anno Domini 1769Aged 48 Years and 4 Months. Some hearty friend shall drop his tearOn my dry Bones and say"These once were strong as mine appearAnd mine must be as they"
Thus shall our moulding Members teachWhat now our Senses learnFor Dust and Ashes loudest preachMan's infinite Concern
In Memory ofCapt SOLOMON BANGSwho died Jan'y 19th1797Aged 68 Years
EDMOND FREEMANBORN IN ENGLAND 1590DIED IN SANDWICH 1682. A FOUNDEROF THETOWN OF SANDWICHIN 1637. ASSISTANT TOGOVERNOR BRADFORD1640 - 1647
HERE LYES BURIEDTHE BODY OF MrsRUTH CHIPMANAGED 71 YEARSDIED OCTOBER Ye 4th1713. Blessed are ye DeadThat die in the Lord
Here lieth Jesseye Son of MerinaNegro Servantto Melatiah BourneEsq died Septye 17 1737 Aged2 Years and 6 Mo
HERE LYETH Ye BODYOF SHEARJASHUB BOURNESQ'R WHO DEPARTED THISLIFE MARCH Ye 7th 1718/19IN THE 76 YEAR OF HIS AGE HE WAS A VIRTUOUS RIGHTEOUS & MERCIFUL MANAND A GREAT FRIEND TO Ye INDIANS.PRECIOUS IN Ye SIGHT OF Ye
LORDIS Ye DEATH OF THIS SAINT
“Discovery” and Settlement
I. The Colonizers:
A. French: (mainly Jesuit priests)
Giovanni da Verazzano: 1524
French priest:, "It is you women who are the cause of all our misfortunes... it is you who keep the demons among us. You are lazy about going to prayers; when you pass before the cross you never salute it; you wish to be independent. Now, know that you will obey your husbands."
Quebec: 1608
B. The Dutch:1609-1644:
Hudson River Valley
Peter Stuyvesant
New Amsterdam: 1624
Dutch West India Company
C. The English:
Why colonize?
Religious Reasons
Social Reasons
Economic Reasons
1. Pilgrims: Plymouth, 1620
Mayflower Compact: Why is this considered the first
document that establishes American democracy?
IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc.
Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and of one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony: unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the 11 of November, the year of the reign of our sovereign Lord James; of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Ano Dom. 1620.
2. The Puritans
a. Religious Life:
Puritan Theology
Heresy:
Roger Williams
--complete separation of church and state
--1635=banished
Anne Hutchinson
--“you have rather
been a husband than a wife.”
--1638: banished
--1642=killed
3. Danger in N.E.--Witchcraft
Magic in Puritan society
The Witch Hunt Itself
--175 arrested, 28 convicted, 22 executed
A. French: (mainly Jesuit priests)
Giovanni da Verazzano: 1524
French priest:, "It is you women who are the cause of all our misfortunes... it is you who keep the demons among us. You are lazy about going to prayers; when you pass before the cross you never salute it; you wish to be independent. Now, know that you will obey your husbands."
Quebec: 1608
B. The Dutch:1609-1644:
Hudson River Valley
Peter Stuyvesant
New Amsterdam: 1624
Dutch West India Company
C. The English:
Why colonize?
Religious Reasons
Social Reasons
Economic Reasons
1. Pilgrims: Plymouth, 1620
Mayflower Compact: Why is this considered the first
document that establishes American democracy?
IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc.
Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and of one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony: unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the 11 of November, the year of the reign of our sovereign Lord James; of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Ano Dom. 1620.
2. The Puritans
a. Religious Life:
Puritan Theology
Heresy:
Roger Williams
--complete separation of church and state
--1635=banished
Anne Hutchinson
--“you have rather
been a husband than a wife.”
--1638: banished
--1642=killed
3. Danger in N.E.--Witchcraft
Magic in Puritan society
The Witch Hunt Itself
--175 arrested, 28 convicted, 22 executed
Friday, April 3, 2009
Reading Guide for The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
You will not turn these questions in, but they should guide your reading and aid your understanding of this book. The more specific page numbers you use, the better our discussion will be.
1. Describe the tone of this autobiography. Point to examples of Franklin’s tone sounding arrogant. Point to examples of Franklin’s humility.
2. How would you describe young Ben's attitude toward education, work, and financial success? Give an example or two to illustrate your answer.
3. In Part 3 of the Autobiography Franklin reflects on the problems encountered when governments are in the hands of people who pursue their own private interests at the expense of the public good. What solution does he advocate? How realistic do you think it is?
4. Give some examples of how Franklin spends his time making society better. Why do you think he does this? What is the purpose of the Junto club?
5. Give some examples of how Franklin spends time trying to improve himself.
6. What was Franklin’s daily life like?
7. Describe Franklin’s religious beliefs. What does the passage about George Whitefield say about Franklin’s view of religion?
8. Do you think he was right in recognizing the tendency of politicians to seek after their own interest at the expense of the public good? Can you cite examples of such behavior in our current state, local, and national government?
9. Former Secretary of Education and sometime Republican presidential candidate, William Bennett, in his best selling Book of Virtues, suggests that every American school boy and girl should be made to read and study the values contained in this eighteenth-century book. What are those values? Are they still applicable today? Can values be taught in schools? Should they be? Is it possible to agree on a single list of “virtues”?
1. Describe the tone of this autobiography. Point to examples of Franklin’s tone sounding arrogant. Point to examples of Franklin’s humility.
2. How would you describe young Ben's attitude toward education, work, and financial success? Give an example or two to illustrate your answer.
3. In Part 3 of the Autobiography Franklin reflects on the problems encountered when governments are in the hands of people who pursue their own private interests at the expense of the public good. What solution does he advocate? How realistic do you think it is?
4. Give some examples of how Franklin spends his time making society better. Why do you think he does this? What is the purpose of the Junto club?
5. Give some examples of how Franklin spends time trying to improve himself.
6. What was Franklin’s daily life like?
7. Describe Franklin’s religious beliefs. What does the passage about George Whitefield say about Franklin’s view of religion?
8. Do you think he was right in recognizing the tendency of politicians to seek after their own interest at the expense of the public good? Can you cite examples of such behavior in our current state, local, and national government?
9. Former Secretary of Education and sometime Republican presidential candidate, William Bennett, in his best selling Book of Virtues, suggests that every American school boy and girl should be made to read and study the values contained in this eighteenth-century book. What are those values? Are they still applicable today? Can values be taught in schools? Should they be? Is it possible to agree on a single list of “virtues”?
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
COURSE SYLLABUS
History 232—MWF 9:30-10:50 Spring 2009
Section 1 DDH 107G Office: Faculty Towers 201A
Instructor: Dr. Schmoll Office Hours: MWF 12:30-1:30
Email: bschmoll@csub.edu Office Phone: 654-6549
Course Description:
The colonial foundations; political, economic, social and cultural developments in the emerging United States; the early agrarian republic; the Civil War.
Required Reading:
1. The U.S. in Con-Text: Digital Textbook
2. Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
3. Malcolm Mclaurin, Celia, A Slave
4. Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Grading Scale:
Participation: 10%
Indian Removal Debate: 10%
The Essay: 20%
Midterm Exam: 30%
Final Exam: 30%
The Blog: If you have questions or comments about this class, or if you want to see the course reader or the syllabus online, just go to http://schmollhistory231.blogspot.com/.
You need to sign in to this blog this week.
You will also have short readings on the blog. I will announce these in class.
Attendance:
Just to be clear, to succeed on tests and papers you really should be in class. That’s just common sense, right? To pass this class, you may not miss more than two classes. If you miss that third class meeting, you are missing 10% of the quarter. You cannot do that and pass. So, here’s what we do. Do your best to not miss any class unnecessarily. Let’s say your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife calls and wants to take you to Tahiti this weekend, but you won’t be back until late Tuesday night. Here’s what you say: “Honey, I love you, but Dr. Schmoll seems to value my education more than you do, so we are breaking up.” Ok, that may be harsh, so don’t do that, but just make sure that you do not miss any class until the 8th week. What I’ve found is that it seems inevitable that those who miss two classes early for pathetic reasons like doctor’s appointments that should have been more carefully scheduled get to the 8th week and then have to miss for a legitimate reason (like a surprise meeting at work, a sick child to take care of, or a flat tire). If you get to that 8th week and then have to miss your third class, it’ll be bad. By that point, I’ll be kind, compassionate, a real shoulder to cry on, if you want, when telling you that you’ve now failed the course. Now, if you make it to the 8th or 9th week and you have not missed those two classes, then you have some wiggle room, so that if, heaven forbid, your cat Poopsie gets pneumonia and you have to sit up all night bottle-feeding her liquid antibiotics, you and I don’t have to have that ugly conversation where I tell you that Poopsie gets blamed for you failing the course. Let’s put this another way; do you like movies? No way, me too! When you go to the movies do you usually get up and walk around the theatre for 15% of the movie? Let’s say you do decide to do that, out of a love of popcorn and movie posters, perhaps. If you did that, would you expect to understand the whole story? Okay, maybe if you are watching Harold and Kumar, but for anything else, you’ll be lost. So, please, get to class.
Being Prompt:
Get to class on time. Why does that matter? First, it sends the wrong message to your principal grader(that’s me). As much as we in the humanities would like you to believe that these courses are objective (at what time of day did the Battle of the Marne begin?), that is not entirely the case. If you send your principal grader the message that you don’t mind missing the first few minutes and disturbing others in the class, don’t expect to be given the benefit of the doubt when the tests and papers roll around. Does that sound mean? It’s not meant to, but just remember, your actions send signals. Being late also means that someone who already has everything out and is ready and is involved in the discussion has to stop, move everything over, get out of the chair to let you by, pick up the pencil you drop, let you borrow paper, run to the bathroom because you spilled the coffee, and so on. It’s rude. There’s an old saying: better two hours early than two minutes late. Old sayings are good.
So, what are the consequences of persistent tardiness? What do you think they should be? Remember that 10% participation? You are eligible for that grade if you are on time. Get here on time. And no, I’m not the jackass who watches for you to be late that one time and stands at the door and points in your face. One time tardiness is not a problem precisely because it is not persistent. It’s an accident; maybe Poopsie turned off your alarm.
The Unforgivable Curse:
Speaking of one time issues, there is something that is so severe, so awful, that if it happens one time, just one time, no warning, no “oh hey I noticed this and if you could stop it that’d be super,” you will automatically lose all 10 percent of the Participation grade. Any guesses? C’mon, you must have some idea. No, it’s not your telephone ringing. If that happens, it’ll just be slightly funny and we’ll move on. It’s a mistake and not intentional, and the increased heart rate and extra sweat on your brow from you diving headfirst into an overstuffed book bag to find a buried phone that is now playing that new Cristina Aguilera ringtone is punishment enough for you. So, what is it, this unforgivable crime? Texting. If you take out your phone one time to send or receive messages you will automatically lose 10% of your course grade. That means, if you receive a final grade of 85%, it will drop to 75%. If you receive a final grade of 75%, it will become a 65%. Why is that? The phone ringing is an accident. Texting is on purpose and is rude. It, in fact, is beyond rude. It wreaks of the worst of our current society. It bespeaks the absolutely vile desire we all have to never separate from our technological tether for even a moment. It sends your fellow classmates and your teacher the signal that you have better things to do. Checking your phone during class is like listening to a friend’s story and right in the middle turning away and talking to someone else. Plus, the way our brains work, you need to fully immerse yourself, to tune your brain into an optimal, flowing machine (see Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s incredible book Flow) that can grasp and can let itself go. Students now tend to see school as a stopover on their way to a career. Brothers and sisters, that’s deadly! I wish that I could pay for you all to quit your jobs and just focus on the mind. I can’t yet do that, but if I could I would, because it’d be worth every penny. Devoting time to the mind and to thinking deeply about your world will change who you are and how you approach your future, your family, your job, and your everything. Is that overstated? I believe it to be true. So, until my stock choices really take off so that I can pay all of your bills, promise me one thing. When you are in class or preparing for class, you have to be fully here. Oh crap, now it’s going to sound like a hippy professor from the 1960s: “I mean, like, be here man, just be here.” Maybe the hippies were on to something. Devote yourself fully to your classes by unplugging from the outside world for awhile.
Class Climate:
No, I don’t mean whether it’s going to rain in here or not. Sometimes I’ll lecture at you, but even then, your participation is vital. How can you participate when someone is lecturing? Any ideas? Turn to a neighbor and tell them the story of your first day at school in kindergarten. Now, if you are the one listening to the story, right in the middle look away, look at your watch, sneer at them, roll your eyes, yawn, wave to someone across the room, nudge a person next to you and tell them a joke, all while the other person is telling about his or her first day of kindergarten. If this happens in social setting we call it rude, and we call the people who listen in that way jackasses. They are not our friends precisely because we deeply value listening and do not put up with those who do not listen well. Right? So, there will be lecturing, and if you abhor what we are doing, then fake it. I used to do that sometimes too: “oh no, professor, I love hearing you talk about President Reagan’s policies of supply side economics.” If we listen to psychologists, by faking interest you’ll be learning much more than if you show your disinterest. The next time you are sad force yourself to smile and you’ll see what I mean. So, sometimes there will be lecture. At other times there will be discussion of short readings that we do in class. During these times, it’s crucial that you do the silly little exercises: turn to a neighbor; find someone you don’t know and discuss this or that; explain to your friend what we just went over in lecture; pick something from the reading to disagree with; find two people on the other side of the room; throw cash at your professor…ok, maybe not that last one. This class is a bit unique in that it violates the normally accepted activity systems of college history classrooms. What we do in discussion will help solidify the concepts of each section of this course in your brain. If you are active in class, you will have to study less, and you’ll find yourself remembering much more.
Reading:
How many of you love reading? I did not read a book until I was 18, so if you have not yet started your journey on this ever widening path, it’s never too late. In any course, there’s no substitute for reading. Theorist Jim Moffett says that “all real writing happens from plentitude,” meaning that you can only really write well about someone once you know about it. Reading is one way to know—not the only, by any means! I want you to have experiences with great texts. I can show you voluminous research proving why you nee to read more, but then if I assign a stupid, long, expensive textbook you probably will end up not reading, or only reading to have the reading done, something we have all done, right? The economy now requires much higher literacy rates (see The World is Flat), and even though reading levels have not gone down in the last 40 years, it is crucial that you start to push your own reading so that your own literacy level goes up. For these ten weeks, diving wholeheartedly into the course reading is vital. Remember to read in a particular way. As reading expert and UCSB professor Sheridan Blau has argued, “reading is as much a process of text production as writing is.” Reading involves revision? Does that sound silly? As you read, think about the different ways that you understand what you read. Most importantly, when you read, think about the words of E.D. Hirsch, who says that we look at what a text says (reading), what it means (interpretation), and why it matters (criticism). Hey, but if you are in a history course, aren’t you supposed to be reading for exactly the number of miles of trenches that were dug in World War One, how many railroad workers died from 1890 to 1917, or what the causes of the Great Depression were? Anyway, the answer is yes and no. There are two types of reading that you’ll do in college. As the literary goddess theorist Louise Rosenblatt explains, there is aesthetic reading, where you are reading to have an experience with the text, and there is efferent reading, where you are reading to take away information from the text. You do both types all the time. Think about a phone book. You have probably never heard someone say of a phone book, “don’t tell me about it, I want to read it for myself.” Reading a phone book is purely efferent. In this course you will practice both types of reading. I have chosen texts that you can enjoy (aesthetic) and that you can learn from(efferent). I want to see and appreciate the detail in our reading, but in this course I’ll give you that detail in class lectures. In the reading, it’s much more important that you read texts that will live with you forever and to inspire you to think more thoroughly about your world. As you read, you should be working hard to create meaning for yourself. As Rosenblatt asserts, “taking someone else’s interpretation as your own is like having someone else eat your dinner for you.” Please, don’t let the numbskulls as wikipedia or sparknotes eat your dinner for you.
Participation: You do not need to be the person who speaks out the most, asks the most questions, or comes up with the most brilliant historical arguments to receive full credit in participation. If you are in class and on time, discuss the issues that we raise, avoid the temptation to nod off, to leave early, or to text people during class (the three easiest ways to lose credit), and in general act like you care, then you will receive a good participation grade!
Academic Honesty
You are responsible for knowing all college policies about academic honesty. Any student who plagiarizes any part of his or her papers may receive an “F” in the course and a letter to the Dean.
Course Schedule:
4/1 Wed Introduction
4/3 Fri Pre-Columbian Americas
4/6 Mon Early Colonies: Massachusetts
4/8 Wed Early Colonies: Virginia/Middle Colonies
4/10 Fri First Great Awakening/America at 1730
4/13 Mon Mid-Century Challenges
4/15 Wed Mid-Century Challenges
4/17 Fri Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
4/20 Mon Review for Midterm/Road to War
4/22 Wed Road to War
4/24 Fri Revolutionary War
4/27 Mon MIDTERM EXAM
4/29 Wed
5/1 Fri Early National Period
5/4 Mon Early National Period to 1812
5/6 Wed War of 1812
5/8 Fri War of 1812 to 1820
5/11 Mon Early Industrialism/Assign Douglass Essay
5/13 Wed Antebellum Slavery
5/15 Fri Reading Due, Celia, A Slave
5/18 Mon Cherokee Removal/Debate Prep
5/20 Wed Cherokee Removal Debate
5/22 Fri Early Secession Movements
5/25 Mon Early Secession Movements/
5/27 Wed “Secret Life of a Developing Country”
5/29 Fri Reading Due, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass/Sectionalism
6/1 Mon “Cycles of Distrust”—Sectionalism
6/3 Wed War with Mexico and other Western Issues
6/5 Fri Sectionalism and War
6/8 Mon Civil War/Gettysburg Address/LAST DAY OF CLASS
FINAL EXAM: Friday, June 12, 8-10:30
REMEMBER, although this syllabus is the “law” of the class, I reserve the right to change it at any time to suit the particular needs of our class. If I must do so, it will always be in your best interest, and I’ll always advise you as soon as possible.
Section 1 DDH 107G Office: Faculty Towers 201A
Instructor: Dr. Schmoll Office Hours: MWF 12:30-1:30
Email: bschmoll@csub.edu Office Phone: 654-6549
Course Description:
The colonial foundations; political, economic, social and cultural developments in the emerging United States; the early agrarian republic; the Civil War.
Required Reading:
1. The U.S. in Con-Text: Digital Textbook
2. Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
3. Malcolm Mclaurin, Celia, A Slave
4. Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Grading Scale:
Participation: 10%
Indian Removal Debate: 10%
The Essay: 20%
Midterm Exam: 30%
Final Exam: 30%
The Blog: If you have questions or comments about this class, or if you want to see the course reader or the syllabus online, just go to http://schmollhistory231.blogspot.com/.
You need to sign in to this blog this week.
You will also have short readings on the blog. I will announce these in class.
Attendance:
Just to be clear, to succeed on tests and papers you really should be in class. That’s just common sense, right? To pass this class, you may not miss more than two classes. If you miss that third class meeting, you are missing 10% of the quarter. You cannot do that and pass. So, here’s what we do. Do your best to not miss any class unnecessarily. Let’s say your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife calls and wants to take you to Tahiti this weekend, but you won’t be back until late Tuesday night. Here’s what you say: “Honey, I love you, but Dr. Schmoll seems to value my education more than you do, so we are breaking up.” Ok, that may be harsh, so don’t do that, but just make sure that you do not miss any class until the 8th week. What I’ve found is that it seems inevitable that those who miss two classes early for pathetic reasons like doctor’s appointments that should have been more carefully scheduled get to the 8th week and then have to miss for a legitimate reason (like a surprise meeting at work, a sick child to take care of, or a flat tire). If you get to that 8th week and then have to miss your third class, it’ll be bad. By that point, I’ll be kind, compassionate, a real shoulder to cry on, if you want, when telling you that you’ve now failed the course. Now, if you make it to the 8th or 9th week and you have not missed those two classes, then you have some wiggle room, so that if, heaven forbid, your cat Poopsie gets pneumonia and you have to sit up all night bottle-feeding her liquid antibiotics, you and I don’t have to have that ugly conversation where I tell you that Poopsie gets blamed for you failing the course. Let’s put this another way; do you like movies? No way, me too! When you go to the movies do you usually get up and walk around the theatre for 15% of the movie? Let’s say you do decide to do that, out of a love of popcorn and movie posters, perhaps. If you did that, would you expect to understand the whole story? Okay, maybe if you are watching Harold and Kumar, but for anything else, you’ll be lost. So, please, get to class.
Being Prompt:
Get to class on time. Why does that matter? First, it sends the wrong message to your principal grader(that’s me). As much as we in the humanities would like you to believe that these courses are objective (at what time of day did the Battle of the Marne begin?), that is not entirely the case. If you send your principal grader the message that you don’t mind missing the first few minutes and disturbing others in the class, don’t expect to be given the benefit of the doubt when the tests and papers roll around. Does that sound mean? It’s not meant to, but just remember, your actions send signals. Being late also means that someone who already has everything out and is ready and is involved in the discussion has to stop, move everything over, get out of the chair to let you by, pick up the pencil you drop, let you borrow paper, run to the bathroom because you spilled the coffee, and so on. It’s rude. There’s an old saying: better two hours early than two minutes late. Old sayings are good.
So, what are the consequences of persistent tardiness? What do you think they should be? Remember that 10% participation? You are eligible for that grade if you are on time. Get here on time. And no, I’m not the jackass who watches for you to be late that one time and stands at the door and points in your face. One time tardiness is not a problem precisely because it is not persistent. It’s an accident; maybe Poopsie turned off your alarm.
The Unforgivable Curse:
Speaking of one time issues, there is something that is so severe, so awful, that if it happens one time, just one time, no warning, no “oh hey I noticed this and if you could stop it that’d be super,” you will automatically lose all 10 percent of the Participation grade. Any guesses? C’mon, you must have some idea. No, it’s not your telephone ringing. If that happens, it’ll just be slightly funny and we’ll move on. It’s a mistake and not intentional, and the increased heart rate and extra sweat on your brow from you diving headfirst into an overstuffed book bag to find a buried phone that is now playing that new Cristina Aguilera ringtone is punishment enough for you. So, what is it, this unforgivable crime? Texting. If you take out your phone one time to send or receive messages you will automatically lose 10% of your course grade. That means, if you receive a final grade of 85%, it will drop to 75%. If you receive a final grade of 75%, it will become a 65%. Why is that? The phone ringing is an accident. Texting is on purpose and is rude. It, in fact, is beyond rude. It wreaks of the worst of our current society. It bespeaks the absolutely vile desire we all have to never separate from our technological tether for even a moment. It sends your fellow classmates and your teacher the signal that you have better things to do. Checking your phone during class is like listening to a friend’s story and right in the middle turning away and talking to someone else. Plus, the way our brains work, you need to fully immerse yourself, to tune your brain into an optimal, flowing machine (see Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s incredible book Flow) that can grasp and can let itself go. Students now tend to see school as a stopover on their way to a career. Brothers and sisters, that’s deadly! I wish that I could pay for you all to quit your jobs and just focus on the mind. I can’t yet do that, but if I could I would, because it’d be worth every penny. Devoting time to the mind and to thinking deeply about your world will change who you are and how you approach your future, your family, your job, and your everything. Is that overstated? I believe it to be true. So, until my stock choices really take off so that I can pay all of your bills, promise me one thing. When you are in class or preparing for class, you have to be fully here. Oh crap, now it’s going to sound like a hippy professor from the 1960s: “I mean, like, be here man, just be here.” Maybe the hippies were on to something. Devote yourself fully to your classes by unplugging from the outside world for awhile.
Class Climate:
No, I don’t mean whether it’s going to rain in here or not. Sometimes I’ll lecture at you, but even then, your participation is vital. How can you participate when someone is lecturing? Any ideas? Turn to a neighbor and tell them the story of your first day at school in kindergarten. Now, if you are the one listening to the story, right in the middle look away, look at your watch, sneer at them, roll your eyes, yawn, wave to someone across the room, nudge a person next to you and tell them a joke, all while the other person is telling about his or her first day of kindergarten. If this happens in social setting we call it rude, and we call the people who listen in that way jackasses. They are not our friends precisely because we deeply value listening and do not put up with those who do not listen well. Right? So, there will be lecturing, and if you abhor what we are doing, then fake it. I used to do that sometimes too: “oh no, professor, I love hearing you talk about President Reagan’s policies of supply side economics.” If we listen to psychologists, by faking interest you’ll be learning much more than if you show your disinterest. The next time you are sad force yourself to smile and you’ll see what I mean. So, sometimes there will be lecture. At other times there will be discussion of short readings that we do in class. During these times, it’s crucial that you do the silly little exercises: turn to a neighbor; find someone you don’t know and discuss this or that; explain to your friend what we just went over in lecture; pick something from the reading to disagree with; find two people on the other side of the room; throw cash at your professor…ok, maybe not that last one. This class is a bit unique in that it violates the normally accepted activity systems of college history classrooms. What we do in discussion will help solidify the concepts of each section of this course in your brain. If you are active in class, you will have to study less, and you’ll find yourself remembering much more.
Reading:
How many of you love reading? I did not read a book until I was 18, so if you have not yet started your journey on this ever widening path, it’s never too late. In any course, there’s no substitute for reading. Theorist Jim Moffett says that “all real writing happens from plentitude,” meaning that you can only really write well about someone once you know about it. Reading is one way to know—not the only, by any means! I want you to have experiences with great texts. I can show you voluminous research proving why you nee to read more, but then if I assign a stupid, long, expensive textbook you probably will end up not reading, or only reading to have the reading done, something we have all done, right? The economy now requires much higher literacy rates (see The World is Flat), and even though reading levels have not gone down in the last 40 years, it is crucial that you start to push your own reading so that your own literacy level goes up. For these ten weeks, diving wholeheartedly into the course reading is vital. Remember to read in a particular way. As reading expert and UCSB professor Sheridan Blau has argued, “reading is as much a process of text production as writing is.” Reading involves revision? Does that sound silly? As you read, think about the different ways that you understand what you read. Most importantly, when you read, think about the words of E.D. Hirsch, who says that we look at what a text says (reading), what it means (interpretation), and why it matters (criticism). Hey, but if you are in a history course, aren’t you supposed to be reading for exactly the number of miles of trenches that were dug in World War One, how many railroad workers died from 1890 to 1917, or what the causes of the Great Depression were? Anyway, the answer is yes and no. There are two types of reading that you’ll do in college. As the literary goddess theorist Louise Rosenblatt explains, there is aesthetic reading, where you are reading to have an experience with the text, and there is efferent reading, where you are reading to take away information from the text. You do both types all the time. Think about a phone book. You have probably never heard someone say of a phone book, “don’t tell me about it, I want to read it for myself.” Reading a phone book is purely efferent. In this course you will practice both types of reading. I have chosen texts that you can enjoy (aesthetic) and that you can learn from(efferent). I want to see and appreciate the detail in our reading, but in this course I’ll give you that detail in class lectures. In the reading, it’s much more important that you read texts that will live with you forever and to inspire you to think more thoroughly about your world. As you read, you should be working hard to create meaning for yourself. As Rosenblatt asserts, “taking someone else’s interpretation as your own is like having someone else eat your dinner for you.” Please, don’t let the numbskulls as wikipedia or sparknotes eat your dinner for you.
Participation: You do not need to be the person who speaks out the most, asks the most questions, or comes up with the most brilliant historical arguments to receive full credit in participation. If you are in class and on time, discuss the issues that we raise, avoid the temptation to nod off, to leave early, or to text people during class (the three easiest ways to lose credit), and in general act like you care, then you will receive a good participation grade!
Academic Honesty
You are responsible for knowing all college policies about academic honesty. Any student who plagiarizes any part of his or her papers may receive an “F” in the course and a letter to the Dean.
Course Schedule:
4/1 Wed Introduction
4/3 Fri Pre-Columbian Americas
4/6 Mon Early Colonies: Massachusetts
4/8 Wed Early Colonies: Virginia/Middle Colonies
4/10 Fri First Great Awakening/America at 1730
4/13 Mon Mid-Century Challenges
4/15 Wed Mid-Century Challenges
4/17 Fri Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
4/20 Mon Review for Midterm/Road to War
4/22 Wed Road to War
4/24 Fri Revolutionary War
4/27 Mon MIDTERM EXAM
4/29 Wed
5/1 Fri Early National Period
5/4 Mon Early National Period to 1812
5/6 Wed War of 1812
5/8 Fri War of 1812 to 1820
5/11 Mon Early Industrialism/Assign Douglass Essay
5/13 Wed Antebellum Slavery
5/15 Fri Reading Due, Celia, A Slave
5/18 Mon Cherokee Removal/Debate Prep
5/20 Wed Cherokee Removal Debate
5/22 Fri Early Secession Movements
5/25 Mon Early Secession Movements/
5/27 Wed “Secret Life of a Developing Country”
5/29 Fri Reading Due, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass/Sectionalism
6/1 Mon “Cycles of Distrust”—Sectionalism
6/3 Wed War with Mexico and other Western Issues
6/5 Fri Sectionalism and War
6/8 Mon Civil War/Gettysburg Address/LAST DAY OF CLASS
FINAL EXAM: Friday, June 12, 8-10:30
REMEMBER, although this syllabus is the “law” of the class, I reserve the right to change it at any time to suit the particular needs of our class. If I must do so, it will always be in your best interest, and I’ll always advise you as soon as possible.
Monday, March 30, 2009
History 231 Electronic Textbook
Pre-Columbian Native America
http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/1492.exhibit/Intro.html
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/northamerica/
http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/history/tm/native.html
“Discovery” Issues
http://www.mariner.org/educationalad/ageofex/cook.php
http://www.mariner.org/educationalad/ageofex/map_cook.html
http://wilstar.com/holidays/columbus.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/columbus_christopher.shtml
http://library.thinkquest.org/C001692/english/index.php3?subject=explorers/database&type=name
Colonial New England
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/textbook_search.cfm?HHID=677
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1978/4/78.04.03.x.html
http://www.essortment.com/all/kingphilipswar_rnqa.htm
http://colonial-america.suite101.com/article.cfm/what_was_a_freeman_in_colonial_new_england
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/salem/
Colonial Virginia
http://www.history.org/history/index.cfm
http://www.usahistory.info/southern/Virginia.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p274.html
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/rev-early.htm
Middle Colonies
http://www.east-buc.k12.ia.us/00_01/CA/13c8.htm
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=682
http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/eighteen/ekeyinfo/midcol.htm
http://www.common-place.org/vol-03/no-04/new-york/
Revolutionary America
http://www.history.org/Almanack/life/politics/polhdr.cfm
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/revolut
http://www.americanrevolution.com/
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/rev-prel.htm
http://www.ushistory.org/March/
The New Nation: 1790s
http://rotunda.upress.virginia.edu:8080/pgwde/dflt.xqy?keys=chron-decade-1790
http://www.ustreas.gov/education/history/secretaries/ahamilton.shtml
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/ham/hamilton.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/11572/creation/framing/feds.html
http://law.jrank.org/pages/5603/Constitution-United-States-FEDERALISTS-VERSUS-ANTI-FEDERALISTS.html
http://www.constitution.org/afp/afp.htm
Jefferson’s America
http://www.academicamerican.com/jeffersonjackson/topics/JeffersonianDem.htm#foreign
http://www.sagehistory.net/jeffersonjackson/topics/jeffpolitics.htm
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/jeffersonian_era/index.cfm
http://www.ushistory.org/us/20.asp
http://www.upress.virginia.edu/books/walker2.html
1820s Reform
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam005.html
Early Industrialism
http://invention.smithsonian.org/centerpieces/whole_cloth/u2ei/u2materials/eitessay.html
Indian Removal
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2959.html
http://www.studyworld.com/indian_removal_act_of_1830.htm
Slavery
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/index.html
Sectionalism/Civil War
http://countrystudies.us/united-states/history-58.htm
http://www.civilwarhome.com/sectionalism.htm
http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/1492.exhibit/Intro.html
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/northamerica/
http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/history/tm/native.html
“Discovery” Issues
http://www.mariner.org/educationalad/ageofex/cook.php
http://www.mariner.org/educationalad/ageofex/map_cook.html
http://wilstar.com/holidays/columbus.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/columbus_christopher.shtml
http://library.thinkquest.org/C001692/english/index.php3?subject=explorers/database&type=name
Colonial New England
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/textbook_search.cfm?HHID=677
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1978/4/78.04.03.x.html
http://www.essortment.com/all/kingphilipswar_rnqa.htm
http://colonial-america.suite101.com/article.cfm/what_was_a_freeman_in_colonial_new_england
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/salem/
Colonial Virginia
http://www.history.org/history/index.cfm
http://www.usahistory.info/southern/Virginia.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p274.html
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/rev-early.htm
Middle Colonies
http://www.east-buc.k12.ia.us/00_01/CA/13c8.htm
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=682
http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/eighteen/ekeyinfo/midcol.htm
http://www.common-place.org/vol-03/no-04/new-york/
Revolutionary America
http://www.history.org/Almanack/life/politics/polhdr.cfm
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/revolut
http://www.americanrevolution.com/
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/rev-prel.htm
http://www.ushistory.org/March/
The New Nation: 1790s
http://rotunda.upress.virginia.edu:8080/pgwde/dflt.xqy?keys=chron-decade-1790
http://www.ustreas.gov/education/history/secretaries/ahamilton.shtml
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/ham/hamilton.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/11572/creation/framing/feds.html
http://law.jrank.org/pages/5603/Constitution-United-States-FEDERALISTS-VERSUS-ANTI-FEDERALISTS.html
http://www.constitution.org/afp/afp.htm
Jefferson’s America
http://www.academicamerican.com/jeffersonjackson/topics/JeffersonianDem.htm#foreign
http://www.sagehistory.net/jeffersonjackson/topics/jeffpolitics.htm
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/jeffersonian_era/index.cfm
http://www.ushistory.org/us/20.asp
http://www.upress.virginia.edu/books/walker2.html
1820s Reform
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam005.html
Early Industrialism
http://invention.smithsonian.org/centerpieces/whole_cloth/u2ei/u2materials/eitessay.html
Indian Removal
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2959.html
http://www.studyworld.com/indian_removal_act_of_1830.htm
Slavery
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/index.html
Sectionalism/Civil War
http://countrystudies.us/united-states/history-58.htm
http://www.civilwarhome.com/sectionalism.htm
INTRODUCTION TO THE ELECTRONIC TEXTBOOK
Welcome to the Electronic Textbook for History 231. In an attempt to provide you with the most up-to-date information in a cost-effective package (free is cost-effective, right?), this quarter's textbook will be entirely digital. If we come to a portion of the course that is confusing for you, such as the American Revolution of the Cold War, you can peruse the sites in this electronic text or print out and highlight the portions that are particularly perplexing and bring them to class or to my office hours. The sites here have all been tested for clarity, but you should read them critically. Remember, a website, unlike a book in print, is malleable. The site may be taken offline (notify me), may change significantly in appearance or form (notify me), may suddenly become a nightmare of pop-ups (notify me), or may simply have been misjudged by the Electronic Textbook Editorial Board and may not be useful for this course in which case you should notify me. In any of these cases, notify me, and I’ll reassess the site.
Like a book in print, you should read these sites critically. The sites, also like a textbook, have a particular point of view; they argue something. It’s up to you as a reader to determine what is being argued and what your own stance is regarding that argument.
Don’t be fooled into believing that the $75 textbook used in other courses is somehow more academic or offers a story that is closer to the truth. Here’s an example. The following is a paragraph that treats the subject of Cherokee Indian Removal:
“The Cherokee, on the other hand, were tricked with an illegitimate treaty. In 1833, a small faction agreed to sign a removal agreement: the Treaty of New Echota. The leaders of this group were not the recognized leaders of the Cherokee nation, and over 15,000 Cherokees -- led by Chief John Ross -- signed a petition in protest. The Supreme Court ignored their demands and ratified the treaty in 1836. The Cherokee were given two years to migrate voluntarily, at the end of which time they would be forcibly removed. By 1838 only 2,000 had migrated; 16,000 remained on their land. The U.S. government sent in 7,000 troops, who forced the Cherokees into stockades at bayonet point. They were not allowed time to gather their belongings, and as they left, whites looted their homes. Then began the march known as the Trail of Tears, in which 4,000 Cherokee people died of cold, hunger, and disease on their way to the western lands. By 1837, the Jackson administration had removed 46,000 Native American people from their land east of the Mississippi, and had secured treaties which led to the removal of a slightly larger number. Most members of the five southeastern nations had been relocated west, opening 25 million acres of land to white settlement and to slavery.”*
Now, here is a paragraph on the same subject from another source.
“The Cherokee remained in Georgia for two more years without significant violence. Then in 1835, a small, unauthorized part of the tribe signed a treaty selling all the tribal lands to the state, and Georgia rapidly resold the land to whites. But most Cherokees refused to move, so in May 1838, the deadline for voluntary evacuation, federal troops sent by Jackson’s successor, Martin Van Buren, arrived to deport them. Under armed guard, the Cherokees embarked on a 1200 mile journey west that came to be known as the Trail of Tears. Nearly a quarter of the Cherokees died en route from the hardship. Survivors joined the fifteen thousand Creek, twelve thousand Choctaw, five thousand Chickasaw, and several thousand Seminole Indians also forcibly removed to “Indian Territory” (which became, in 1907, the state of Oklahoma).”*
Can you tell which one of these is better? Which one is more accurate? Which one is free and which one cost $75? If you were able to decipher which was which, congratulations. Here’s the point. There’s nothing inherently better with a textbook in print. Many history teachers rely too heavily on the textbook. This electronic textbook is here for you when you need it. If it’s not enough and you need more help, come see me. In fact, that’s a good rule for the whole course. Be active! Ask for help! Enjoy the quarter!
* The first selection is from the following PBS site: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1567b.html. The second selection is from James Roark et al,.The American Promise: A Compact History (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007), 277.
Like a book in print, you should read these sites critically. The sites, also like a textbook, have a particular point of view; they argue something. It’s up to you as a reader to determine what is being argued and what your own stance is regarding that argument.
Don’t be fooled into believing that the $75 textbook used in other courses is somehow more academic or offers a story that is closer to the truth. Here’s an example. The following is a paragraph that treats the subject of Cherokee Indian Removal:
“The Cherokee, on the other hand, were tricked with an illegitimate treaty. In 1833, a small faction agreed to sign a removal agreement: the Treaty of New Echota. The leaders of this group were not the recognized leaders of the Cherokee nation, and over 15,000 Cherokees -- led by Chief John Ross -- signed a petition in protest. The Supreme Court ignored their demands and ratified the treaty in 1836. The Cherokee were given two years to migrate voluntarily, at the end of which time they would be forcibly removed. By 1838 only 2,000 had migrated; 16,000 remained on their land. The U.S. government sent in 7,000 troops, who forced the Cherokees into stockades at bayonet point. They were not allowed time to gather their belongings, and as they left, whites looted their homes. Then began the march known as the Trail of Tears, in which 4,000 Cherokee people died of cold, hunger, and disease on their way to the western lands. By 1837, the Jackson administration had removed 46,000 Native American people from their land east of the Mississippi, and had secured treaties which led to the removal of a slightly larger number. Most members of the five southeastern nations had been relocated west, opening 25 million acres of land to white settlement and to slavery.”*
Now, here is a paragraph on the same subject from another source.
“The Cherokee remained in Georgia for two more years without significant violence. Then in 1835, a small, unauthorized part of the tribe signed a treaty selling all the tribal lands to the state, and Georgia rapidly resold the land to whites. But most Cherokees refused to move, so in May 1838, the deadline for voluntary evacuation, federal troops sent by Jackson’s successor, Martin Van Buren, arrived to deport them. Under armed guard, the Cherokees embarked on a 1200 mile journey west that came to be known as the Trail of Tears. Nearly a quarter of the Cherokees died en route from the hardship. Survivors joined the fifteen thousand Creek, twelve thousand Choctaw, five thousand Chickasaw, and several thousand Seminole Indians also forcibly removed to “Indian Territory” (which became, in 1907, the state of Oklahoma).”*
Can you tell which one of these is better? Which one is more accurate? Which one is free and which one cost $75? If you were able to decipher which was which, congratulations. Here’s the point. There’s nothing inherently better with a textbook in print. Many history teachers rely too heavily on the textbook. This electronic textbook is here for you when you need it. If it’s not enough and you need more help, come see me. In fact, that’s a good rule for the whole course. Be active! Ask for help! Enjoy the quarter!
* The first selection is from the following PBS site: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1567b.html. The second selection is from James Roark et al,.The American Promise: A Compact History (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007), 277.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
