SCHEDULE OF READINGS & DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
(All readings are to be completed on the day they are listed.) 

WEEK 1 - COURSE INTRODUCTION & SYLLABUS
THUR Jan 25

WEEK 2 - INVENTING A NATION
TUES Jan 30: Peter Stearns, “Why Study History,” www.historians.org/pubs/Free/WhyStudyHistory.htm; Faragher, Out of Many, 174-186; Read the annotation and document, "The Critical Period and Shays' Rebellion" by James  Bowdoin, 1786, and answer the questions below.

Set 1: Answer all three.

1. Why have some historians described the 1780s as the "critical period" in the nation's history?

2. Why does the historian commenting on this piece write that Shays' Rebellion "held broader significance"?  How did it convince "national leaders that only a strong central government could save the republic from chaos"?

3. Why did Governor Bowdoin repond so forcefully to the rebellion? 

THUR Feb 1: Read political scientist Bertell Ollman, “Toward a Marxist Interpretation of the U.S. Constitution,” and Forrest McDonald “A Revaluation of the Beard Thesis of the Making of the Constitution,” Course Pack (CP). 

Set 2: Choose either two questions from section A and one from section B or one from section A and two from B. 

Section A

1. Why does NYU professor and Marxist critic Bertell Ollman claim that America’s “founding fathers” made the “Constitution a closely guarded secret”? 

2. Why does Bertrell find what he calls the “mythology” of the Constitution to be problematic? 

3. Bertell notes that when “examining any political phenomena, it is always wise to ask, ‘Who benefits?’”  How does he answer that question? 

Section B

4. In 1913, American historian Charles Beard published his groundbreaking work, The Economic Interpretation of the Constitution.*  In that book Beard asserted that the framers of the Constitution were less interested in democratic principles than they were in protecting private property and maintaining rigid class distinctions.  Bertrell agrees, but goes even further than Beard.  Are such arguments legitimate?  Can they be backed up with strong evidence? (See Faragher, 210-213)

5. Conservative historian Forrest McDonald is not convinced by Beard’s economic interpretation of the Constitution.  In fact, McDonald finds it full of holes.  What criticisms of Beard’s work does he offer ?  What evidence does McDonald use to challenge the Beard thesis?

6. Which argument seems more accurate?

Set 3 Answer all three.

1. According to James Madison, what are the problems with “factions”?

2. What are Madison’s views of democracy and how might Shay’s rebellion have influenced his views?

3. What current political groups or political leaders do think would agree most with Madison’s “Federalist No. 10”?  Why?

Set 4 Answer all four.

1.  Prolific novelist, playwright and essayist Gore Vidal* offers his opinions on Thomas Jefferson in this interview.  Why does Vidal argue that Jefferson is still such an important figure for the nation and the world? 

2. According to Vidal, what influence did Jefferson's father and his mentors have on him?

3. What happened to Jefferson after his wife, Martha, passed away?

4. What was the private life of Jefferson like?

Over the course of the semester, you will need to write one longer book review (4-5 pgs) and one shorter one (1.5-2 pgs).  You may choose to complete either for this assignment.  Regardless, there will be a quiz on the book on Thurs. 

If you complete one of the writing assignments, your review should be a general summary of the major arguments of Ellis's work.  You will be graded on style, form, and content.  Read this writing guide for further details.

Set 5 Answer all three.

1. Why did the United States declare war on Great Britain in 1812?

2. Why did New England Federalists oppose the war? What revisions did they seek in the Constitution?

3. Why would the events described in this letter by Dolley Madison  help to enhance her popularity and boost her husband's flagging political career?

Set 6 Choose 3 of the 6 questions to answer.

1. Paul E. Johnson, “Charles Finney’s Rochester Revival,” pgs. 186-195. 
What were the “new measures,” or evangelism techniques Charles Finney and his followers used? 

2. How does Johnson say Finney’s revival changed society in upstate New York?  Does religion in America today have a similarly broad impact?

3. According to Charles G. Finney, what was the purpose of a revival?  Why were they necessary?  Do evangelicals still reflect Finney's views? 

4. What did the English traveler Frances Trollope think about the backwoods revival she witnessed?

5. How did the Lowell Mill worker perceive the Shakers?  What aspects of their communal life attracted her to them? 

6. Salem native Nathaniel Hawthorne enthusiastically embraced the communitarian ideals of Brook Farm.  Why do you suppose so many leading intellectuals and artists were attracted to this kind of life?

Set 7 Asnwer all three.

1. Why is the so-called “Trail of Tears” considered one of the darkest moments in U.S. History? 

2. According to Dee Brown, author of “The Trail of Tears,” why did the Georgia state government, President Andrew Jackson, and other Democrats demand the Cherokees’ removal? 

3. What arguments were made for and against removal?

Section A

1. Thomas Dublin, “Women, Work, and Protest in the Early Lowell Mills.”  What does Thomas Dublin identify as the key elements that gave workers a strong sense of community?  How did the workers resist management?

2. What does Dublin mean when he states that “Lowell mills both exploited and liberated women in ways unknown in the preindustrial economy”?

Section B

3. Harriet Hanson Robinson, “Recollections of a Strike.”  Looking back more than sixty years, Harriet Robinson took pride in her participation labor strikes.  Why did Robinson have such fond memories of her resistance?  What rights did she hope to secure?

4. “‘Regulations to Be Observed,’ Hamilton Manufacturing Company, 1848.”  The Labor Law Dictionary defines “social control” as attempts to “regulate individual and group behaviour, in terms of greater sanctions and rewards. . . Sociologists consider informal means of social control vital in maintaining public order, but recognize the necessity of formal means as societies become more complex and for responding to emergencies.”  How does this apply to the 1848 document concerning Lowell company regulations?  What do the regulations tell us about the views of these mill owners?

Set 9 Answer one question from sections A, B, and C respectively.

Section A

Drew Gilpin Faust, “Culture, Conflict, and Community on an Antebellum Plantation” 

1. According to Harvard historian Drew Gilpin Faust, slaves found a number of ways to create their own distinctive culture under the harsh conditions of servitude.  How did they manage to do this?  What factors contributed to a sense of community among the slaves?

2. How did James Henry Hammond attempt to control his slave population?  How did slaves respond?

3. Why would slaves remain on their plantation even after the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation?

Section B

Edmund Ruffin, The Political Economy of Slavery (1853)

4. Virginia-born planter Edmund Ruffin distinguished himself as the South’s leading agricultural scientist, an intense defender of slavery, and an early champion of secession.  What did Ruffin argue were the benefits of a slave-holding society?  How did he make his case historically?

5. Ruffin elaborates here on the evils and deprivations of “free labor” societies.  What was he referring to?  How did he contrast the South with other regions, nations?

Thornton Stringfellow, “A Scriptural View of Slavery” (1856)

6. In this selection Thornton Stringfellow offers a classic scriptural defense of slavery.  How would he draw on the bible to make his case?  In his view, what factors make slavery a just, even virtuous system?

Set 11 Answer two from section A and the one from section B.

Section A

1. Margaret Hope Bacon, "Lucretia Mott: Pioneer for Peace."  According to Margaret Hope Bacon, what forces influenced Lucretia Mott in her peace and non-violent campaigns?  In what ways were various reform movements intertwined? 

2. Bacon contends that Mott held a "faith in human goodness" and the "inevitablity of progress" that few would accept today (239).  What examples does Bacon provide of Mott's optimism? 

3. Frederick Douglass, “An Abolitionist’s Fourth of July, 1852,” 240-243.  In 1838 Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery in Maryland at the age of 20.  Douglass would become a leader of the movement to abolish slavery and an internationally known author.  What does Douglass say the Fourth of July means to African Americans?  Why does he think this?

4. Horace Mann, "The 'Reformatory and Elevating Influences' of Public Schools, 1848."  Horace Mann, politician and secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, argued that education would serve as the hub of social reform.  Why did man make that case?  How do Mann's views about education compare with those of Frederick Douglass in his autobiography? 

Section B

Answer one of the two questions below for your short 1.5 page, or longer 4-5 page paper. Read this writing guide for further details.

1. In The Kingdom of Matthias, Paul Johnson and Sean Wilentz describe how “the Mathias cult spoke with strange eloquence to the social and emotional upheavals” of the era (Johnson and Wilentz 11).  Write a review essay describing the tensions that existed between the Mathias cult and the new middle class evangelicalism.  Be sure to analyze specific instances of conflict in your paper.

2. Write a review essay describing the goals of the “prophet” Matthias.  How did Mathias envision his kingdom?  Did he succeed in accomplishing his goals?  Why or why not?

Set 12 Answer all three.

1. Malcolm J. Rorbough, “To California by Sea and Land,” pgs. 170-180. Describe the different challenges and obstacles faced by those who traveled west by sea and those who did so by land.  What were some of the new experiences of the “Argonauts”?  How do their experiences contrast with the images of the West later depicted by Hollywood and popular culture?

2. Editor of the Missouri Expositor (Independence, MO), “Oregon Fever,” Binder and Reimers, pgs. 180-81.  Frederick Law Olmsted, “A Journey Through Texas,” Binder and Reimers, pgs. 181-82.  How are these two descriptions of western pioneers different?  What might account for these differences?

3. The Monterey Californian, “The Promise of California, 1846,” Binder and Reimers, pg. 182.  Richard R. Howard, “A Letter from Oregon Territory, April 6, 1847,” Binder and Reimers, pgs. 182-83.  Judging from these two sources, what attracted Americans to the West?  Considering how harsh the journey could be–high mortality rates, starvation, disease, fear of Indian attacks–why  would settlers risk so much?

Set 13 Answer one question from section A, two from section B, and the one from section C.

Section A

1. The historian Reginald Horsman asserts that two movements inspired Europeans and Americans to form Anglo-Saxon notions of superiority (26).  What were those and how did they come about?

2. What did 18th and 19th century thinkers find praiseworthy about Germanic peoples? 

3. Horsman suggests that the “shift from merely praising Germans or Saxons to attacking other peoples was vital in transforming” Anglo Saxonism.  What does he mean by this statement?

4. To what does the title “Aryans Follow the Sun” refer?

5. How did the work of Sir Walter Scott inspire a generation of Anglo-Saxonists? 

Section B

6. According to Horsman, how would classic Christian creation doctrine challenge early 19th century thinkers?  How would scientists, philologists, and historians respond to this challenge?

7. One of Horsman’s chief contentions is that racial ideology changed dramatically from the 18th to the 19th centuries.  How would Enlightenment philosophers and scientists differ in their notions of race from 19th century thinkers?  What accounts for this shift in race theory?

8. What was polygenesis?  Why did it dominate the attention of 19th century intellectuals? 

9. What was phrenology?  How would it be used by westerners in the early 19th century?  What purpose did it serve?

Section C

10. How do Mark A. Beliles and Stephen K. McDowell use “providence” to describe the history of America and the West?  Compare and contrast this contemporary version of “triumphalist” history with the 19th century work Reginald Horsman analyzes.

For a fascinating investigation of the meaning and significance of race in contemporary society and throughout human history, see the PBS webpage for the documentary Race: The Power of an Illusion

1. According to Princeton historian James McPherson, what made Kansas so incredibly volatile in the 1850s?  What issues were at stake for both sides of the conflict?

2. What did the caning of Charles Sumner mean to southerners?  What did it mean to northerners?

*When Thomas McMahon’s historical novel, McKay’s Bees, was first published in 1979 critics widely praised it for expertly fusing historical imagination and witty, spare prose.  How did McMahon use the rich details of the 1850s to build his narrative?  What did he incorporate into the story?  How well did McMahon weave a fictional account out of the facts of history?  Those papers which use the full range of course material will receive higher marks. 

1. According to William W. Freehling, why was it so critical for President Lincoln to gain the allegiance of the Middle South?

2. What factors made neutrality an “illusion” for the Mid-South? 

3. Freehling writes: “Some call the Civil War the ‘War between the States.’  But civil war also occurred within states. . .” (57)  Elaborate on this statement.

4. Who were anti-Confederate whites?  What role would they play in the conflict?

Set 17 Answer three of the four questions below.

1. Who were the soldiers who fought at Shiloh in April, 1862?  Why did they fight?

2. Are there significant differences between how Union and Confederate soldiers experienced and described the War?

3. “A Black Soldier Writes to President Lincoln, 1863.”  What were the grievances this soldier presented to the President?  How did the writer make his case?