American Moments: Readings in U.S. History

History 160.2, Fall 2004

MW noon-1:15 pm

Professor: Rebecca Edwards office: Swift Hall 35

e-mail: reedwards@vassar.edu office hours: Mon. 2-4 pm, Thurs.

office phone: x5675 3-4, and by appointment

The whole of everything is never told; you can only take what groups together. --Henry James

Course Objectives

This course introduces you to certain central events, issues, and individuals in the American past. A glance at the syllabus will reveal that this is not an attempt to survey five centuries in one semester. Rather, the course invites you to consider recurring themes and illuminating texts, while introducing you to historical methods and techniques of reading, reflection, discussion, research, and writing.

Course Requirements

These books are available at the bookstore and on reserve at the library:

Wendy Martin, ed., Colonial American Travel Narratives

Mason Locke Weems, The Life of George Washington

Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Abraham Lincoln, Great Speeches of Abraham Lincoln

William L. Riordan, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall

Leon Stein, The Triangle Fire

Philip McGuire, ed., Taps for a Jim Crow Army

Ellen Schrecker, ed., The Age of McCarthyism

Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried

Additional readings are available on the web or will be handed out in class. You must complete all assignments on time and attend class ready to discuss them. Unexcused absences will adversely affect your standing in the course. Attendance and participation are crucial factors in your final grade (25%). We will view several films. You are not required to attend the scheduled viewings but you must view each film before the class discussion. All films are on reserve in the library.

Class participation includes writing e-mail responses to the readings on five of the days marked with an asterisk (*) on the syllabus, and reading others’ e-mail responses on all the days markedwith an asterisk. E-mails are due by midnight before the class meeting. In e-mails you may identify a theme, raise a question, or draw links to earlier discussions. E-mails should be short and pithy, no more than two paragraphs long and preferably shorter. Resist the temptation to hit “send” until you have carefully edited your text.

Writing Assignments and Examinations

Group paper on the Declaration of Independence: 5% of final grade

Short essay on abolitionism: 10%

Short essay on industrializing America: 10%

Research essay, approximately 10 pages, and prospectus: 25%

Regularly scheduled final examination, 25%

Policy on Late Papers: In case of emergency, requests for extensions must be submitted in advance. If for any reason an extension is not granted the policy is as follows: for the first three days the grade is reduced by one-third letter grade per day. (An A paper becomes an A- in the first 24 hours after it was due, a B+ in the next 24 hours, and a B in the next.) After three days the grade falls by one full letter per day (the A paper now becomes a C, D, and F.) Weekends count as days: if you complete an overdue paper on a weekend, you must arrange in advance to deliver it.

Policy on Missed Examinations: You must consult the Dean of Studies if the need arises for a make-up examination.

Note on Disabilities: Academic accommodations are available for students with disabilities who are registered with the Office of Disability and Support Services. Please schedule an appointment with me early in the semester to discuss any accommodations for this course which have been approved by the Director of Disability and Support Services as indicated in your accommodation letter.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Mon. Aug. 30 Introduction to the Course

FIRST MOMENT: BECOMING THE UNITED STATES

*Wed. Sept. 2 Physical Journeys in Late Colonial America

"The Itinerarium of Dr. Alexander Hamilton," in Martin, Colonial American Travel Narratives, pp. 175-234 (up through "Anthony's Nose")

*Mon. Sept. 6 Spiritual Journeys in Late Colonial America

“The Spiritual Travels of Nathan Cole,” ed. Michael Crawford, William and Mary Quarterly, 3^rd ser., 33. 1 (January 1976): 89-126; “‘Justice Must Take Plase’: Three African Americans Speak of Religion in 18th-Century New England,” ed. Erik R. Seeman, William and Mary Quarterly 3^rd ser., 56.2 (April 1999): 393-414. WMQ is available on the web: from the Vassar Library Home Page access via online catalog or via Electronic Indexes and Databases, J-STOR

Wed. Sept. 8 The American People and War

"Mary Silliman's War" (film on reserve; group viewing TBA)

Friday Sept. 10 GROUP ESSAY DUE ON MY OFFICE DOOR BY NOON

Pick up others’ essays after 2 pm (Swift Hall is locked about 6 pm) or after 8:30 am Monday

Mon. Sept. 13 The Declaration of Independence

available on the web at www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/declare.htm

*Wed. Sept. 15 Imagining the Founding Fathers

Weems, Life of Washington, introduction and chapters 1, 2, 3, 12, 13

SECOND MOMENT: SLAVERY, ABOLITION, AND CIVIL WAR

*Mon. Sept. 20 Antislavery (I)

Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Wed. Sept. 22 LIBRARY DAY: meet in the lobby of the Vassar Library

Mon. Sept. 27 Antislavery (II) SHORT ESSAY DUE AT THE START OF CLASS

Frederick Douglass, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"; Angelina Grimké, "Appeal to the Women of the Nominally Free States," and George Fitzhugh, excerpt from Cannibals All! (all in course packet); choose “Gallery of Images” at jefferson.village.virginia.edu/utc/abolitn/abhp.html and browse “Picture of Slavery,” “E.W. Clay’s Amalgamation Series,” and “Henry Bibb’s Life”

*Wed. Sept. 29 Nation and Citizenship

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, “Planning the Seneca Falls Convention”; “Report of the Woman’s Rights Convention, Seneca Falls, New York”; (in packet); Lincoln, "House Divided Speech," "First Inaugural Address," "Emancipation Proclamation," “Gettysburg Address,” "Second Inaugural Address," in Great Speeches

*Mon. Oct. 4 Reconstructing the Nation

13^th, 14^th, and 15^th Amendments to the Constitution at www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/amend1.htm

Mississippi Black Codes at afroamhistory.about.com/library/blmississippi_blackcodes.htm

Reconstruction Act of 1867 at itw.sewanee.edu/reconstruction/html/docs/recons_act_67.htm

Sharecrop contract, 1882, at www.toptags.com/aama/docs/sharecrop.htm

“Thaddeus Stevens Advocates Redistribution of Land, 1865”; “Congressional Inquiry into Klan Activities”; Leon Litwack, “Postscript: Four Letters,” from Been in the Storm So Long (packet)

THIRD MOMENT: INCORPORATING AMERICA

Wed. Oct. 6 Dream Cities

World's Fair images and text on the web at vassun.vassar.edu/~reedwards/World'sFair/ (for additional images, link to "Interactive Guide to the World's Columbian Exposition" in the site bibliography); "Bontoc Eulogy" (film on reserve; group viewing TBA)

Mon. Oct. 11 RESEARCH PROSPECTUS DUE AT THE START OF CLASS

Research roundtable and workshop

Wed. Oct. 13 Images of Industrializing America: Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine (TBA)

FALL BREAK

*Mon. Oct. 25 Politics and the Metropolis

Riordan, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, introduction by Terence McDonald, Riordan’s text, and Jane Addams, "Why the Ward Boss Rules"

*Wed. Oct. 27 Industrialization and Protest

Stein, The Triangle Fire

Mon. Nov. 1 Law and Reform

SHORT ESSAY DUE AT THE START OF CLASS

Excerpts from New York Supreme Court and US Supreme Court decisions in Lochner v. New York, Muller v. Oregon, and People v. Williams; Morton J. Horwitz, “The Structure of Classical Legal Thought, 1870-1905”; and “Professionalism and the Uses of New Knowledge,” excerpts from John Fiske, William Graham Sumner, and Frank Lester Ward (all in course packet)

Wed. Nov. 3 The Culmination of Reform

Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Campaign Address at Madison Square Garden,” “The President Recommends Legislation Establishing Minimum Wages and Maximum Hours,” and “Address at St. Paul, Minnesota, on Wages and Hours Legislation” (packet)

FOURTH MOMENT: STATE AND SOCIETY IN WAR AND PEACE

*Mon. Nov. 8 Double V?

McGuire, Taps for a Jim Crow Army, Intro., 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, and Conclusion

*Wed. Nov. 10 The Cold War and Nuclear America

George Kennan, “The Sources of Soviet Conduct”; Betty Friedan, “The Problem That Has No Name,” from The Feminine Mystique (packet); "The Atomic Café" (film on reserve and group viewing TBA)

*Mon. Nov. 15 McCarthyism

Schrecker, The Age of McCarthyism, 1-94 and 200-246

Wed. Nov. 17 Civil Rights (I)

"Eyes on the Prize" part 5 (film viewing in class)

*Mon. Nov. 22 Civil Rights (II)

Martin Luther King, Jr., “Pilgrimage to Nonviolence,” SNCC, “Founding Statement,” Malcolm X, “The Ballot or the Bullet,” Black Panther Party, “Platform and Program” (all in packet)

Wed. Nov. 24 Research consultations as needed

THANKSGIVING

*Mon. Nov. 29 Vietnam and its Legacy for American Soldiers

O'Brien, The Things They Carried

“Dear America” (film viewing TBA)

Wed. Dec. 1 Conclusions ?

RESEARCH PAPER DUE AT SWIFT 35 BY 5 P.M. ON DECEMBER 7

REGULARLY SCHEDULED FINAL EXAMINATION: PLACE AND TIME TBA

CITATIONS FOR COURSE PACKET

Frederick Douglass, "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?," excerpt from a speech at Rochester, 5 July 1852, David L. Blight, ed., Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1993), 141-5.

Angelina Grimké, excerpt from "An Appeal to the Women of the Nominally Free States," 2nd ed., pamphlet issued by American Antislavery Convention of Women (Boston: Isaac Knapp, 1838), and reprinted in Nancy F. Cott et al, eds., Root of Bitterness: Documents of the Social History of American Women, 2nd ed. (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1996), 246-51.

George Fitzhugh, Cannibals All! Or, Slaves Without Masters, ed. C. Vann Woodward (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1960 [1857]), chapters 21, 22, 28, 35.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, “Planning the Seneca Falls Convention,” and “Report of the Woman’s Rights Convention, Seneca Falls, New York, July 19-20, 1848,” Women’s Rights Emerges within the Antislavery Movement, ed. Kathryn Kish Sklar (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000), 170-9.

“Thaddeus Stevens Advocates Redistribution of Land, 1865,” Paul D. Escott and David Goldfield, eds., Major Problems in the History of the American South (New York: Heath, 1990), 35-8.

“Congressional Inquiry into Klan Activities,” Terry Bilhartz, Elliott Gorn and Randy Roberts, eds., Constructing the American Past, 2^nd ed. (New York: HarperCollins, 1995), 8-13.

Leon F. Litwack, “Postscript: Four Letters,” Been in the Storm So Long: The Aftermath of Slavery (New York: Vintage, 1979), 292-335.

United States Supreme Court, excerpts from decisions in Lochner v. New York, People v. Williams, and Muller v. Oregon, in Henry Steele Commanger, ed., Documents in American History, 7th ed., vol. 2 (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1963), 39-45.

Morton J. Horwitz, “The Structure of Classical Legal Thought, 1870-1905,” from The Transformation of American Law, 1870-1960: The Crisis of Legal Orthodoxy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 9-30.

Excerpt from “Professionalism and the Uses of New Knowledge,” Major Problems in the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era , ed. Leon Fink, 2^nd ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001), 225-234.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Campaign Address at Madison Square Garden, Oct. 31, 1936,” “The President Recommends Legislation Establishing Minimum Wages and Maximum Hours, May 24, 1937,” and “Address at St. Paul, Minnesota, on Wages and Hours Legislation, Oct. 4, 1937,” Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt (New York: Random House, 1936-1950), vol. 5, 566-573, vol. 6, 209-218, 403-406.

“X” (George Kennan), "The Sources of Soviet Conduct," Foreign Affairs, 25 (July 1947): 566-582.

Martin Luther King, Jr., “Pilgrimage to Nonviolence”; “SNCC Founding Statement”; Malcolm X, “The Ballot or the Bullet”; “Black Panther Party: Platform and Program,” Judith Clavir Albert and Steward E. Albert, The Sixties Papers (New York: Praeger, 1984), 108-112, 113, 126-132, 159-164.

History 160 Assignment

“Just the Facts” of the Declaration of Independence

It is commonly believed that history is a search for the truth about the past. Therefore the historian’s job, it is thought, is to present an objective account of past people, events, or documents, an account that is unbiased and unadorned; an account, in other words, that simply presents the facts. Only in this way can we obtain an accurate picture of the past.

Your assignment: in a paper of no more than two double-spaced pages, write a factual account of the Declaration of Independence. No additional research is required and you need not provide citations to the text (for this essay only!) which is on the Web at www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/declare.htm . You must simply summarize the dcocument’s contents accurately in the space allowed. You may quote the Declaration if you wish but that is not essential. You must participate fully in your group’s endeavor Do not discuss your team’s account with members of other groups until all assignments have been handed in.

1. Wednesday Sept. 2 in class: assignment handed out; teams announced and confer.

2. Wednesday Sept. 2 through Fri. Sept. 10: Team meetings to agree on division of labor, draft, and polish the essay.

3. Friday Sept. 10, no later than noon: a copy of each team’s essay is due in the envelope on my office door (Swift 35). Include names of all team members on page one.

4. Friday Sept. 10, after 2 pm: pick up copies of other team essays from cubbyholes to the right of the mian stairway on the first floor of Swift Hall.

5. Monday Sept. 13: Meet briefly with your team at the start of class to compare essays, followed by discussion.

6. By Friday Sept. 17: Each individual student sends me a brief e-mail (to reedwards@vassar.edu) explaining his or her contribution to the group effort.

History 160 Short Essay #1

Abolitionist Arguments

Read Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Angelina Grimke¢s “Appeal to the Women of the Nominally Free States,” and Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”

To what audience(s) did these authors appeal, and what strategies did they use to persuade their readers or listeners that slavery was wrong?

In a paper of three double-spaced pages, identify one or more methods by which they made their appeals. You may identify a single strategy employed in various ways by the three authors, or you may identify different strategies and contrast their appeals.

Include proper citations to your sources and a bibliography page.

Due at the start of class, Monday, September 27.

History 160 Short Essay #2

US Supreme Court Decisions in the Progressive Era

It is 1908 and the Supreme Court has just handed down its decision in Muller v. Oregon. You are an interested party who has followed the Court’s recent decisions on regulation of working hours. Perhaps you are a lawyer for a labor union, a leader of the National Consumers’ League, a Congressman, the owner of a bakery, a woman who works in a factory, or a reporter who covers the legal beat. Imagining that you are this person, explain the significance of Muller v. Oregon in three double-spaced pages.

In choosing a persona you must also choose a genre of writing. For example, you might choose to write an analysis for the New York Times (as the reporter), a brief speech (the legislator), a strategy paper (the lawyer), or a letter to your grandmother back home in Russia (the worker). You must, in any case, think out the implications of Muller as this particular person would have understood them and write about the decision in that person’s voice. Avoid anachronism. Obviously you cannot present yourself as a computer programmer or a reporter for The Village Voice, which did not yet exist.

To complete this assignment you must read the assigned excerpts from the US Supreme Court decisions in Lochner v. New York (1905), People v. Williams (1907), and Muller v. Oregon (1908). Due to the nature of this project citations (footnotes or endnotes) are not necessary.

Due at the start of class, Monday, November 1.