De p ar t m en t of h is to r y

HIS 2151 United States History from 1776 to 1865

Tuesdays 2:30 4:00 Fridays 4:00 5:30 Colonel By (CBY) D207
Godefroy Desrosiers-Lauzon gdesrlau@uottawa.ca Office: Tuesdays 4:30 6:00, Desmarais 9113

Description
Blessed with many founding events, the period between the Revolutionary war and the Civil war offers us a number of useful, potent ways at understanding the United States. Why? Because of the founding events themselves, including the wars, the debate over the Constitution, the bulk of western expansion, the definition of democratic and partisan institutions, and the conflict between the states over slavery. Why? Because founding events turn into the traditions of the present, therefore this period calls our attention to the role of the past in shaping the present, especially contemporary politics and ideology. Why? Because the two wars, and the events between them, allow us to tell the story of the United States in an unusually coherent way, through a single narrative arc meshing together the threads of politics, growth, republicanism, and race. The wealth of literature on United States history requires that we pay attention to historiography, that is to the history of the United States as a scientific and professional endeavor. This is why lectures, exam questions, and a written assignment are organized around recommended readings. That is why you should read each week's assigned readings. Objectives: Understand the important phenomena of the period, and the uses of historical knowledge of, especially: political and social revolution, constitution, republicanism and party systems, western expansion, relations with American Indians, sectional conflict, slavery, and growth. Learn the skills of historical research and writing, which are: - Research and analysis of primary documents - Critical reading of historical literature (or historiography) - Writing in the manner of the humanities and social sciences.

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Assignments and evaluation policy

In general: - Hand in your assignments and exams directly to the professor, through Virtual Campus or in a folder by the office door (during final exams), never in the Department's drop box or at its front desk. Avoid handing in assignments by email whenever possible. - You may hand in your assignments and your midterm take-home exam through Virtual Campus. However you cannot hand in the final take-home exam electronically. Accepted formats are .doc, .docx, .odt, .rtf. I will not be able to mark papers and exams in the following formats: .pages, .wpd, or .pdf. You may also copy-paste your midterm exam answers on Virtual Campus, but I urge you not to copy-paste your assignments because we'll lose your page setup and footnotes. - All the assignments and exams must be written or printed double-spaced. Those that are not will be penalized. Do not attempt to squeeze in a few more lines in the required number of pages by playing with line spacing. Whit this professor, the length of your assignments and answers to exam questions are measured in terms of contents and reaching specific goals, not in number of lines or pages. - 10% of your written assignments' marks are about the quality of your writing; another 10% is dedicated to the methodological apparatus: the form, accuracy and completeness of footnotes, quotations, and bibliography. - Be careful to clearly, fully reference the online material that you use. When in doubt, do this: Author, Title of page or article, Name of Web site or online archive, date published or last updated. [url] (date consulted) Check the History Essay Guide published by the Department: www.history.uottawa.ca/pdf/history_essay_guide.pdf. - Policy for late submissions: four per cent (4%) of the paper's mark per weekday. - Plagiarism includes using someone else's words as your own, without referencing their source with quotation marks, with a note or an explicit paraphrase (as in Mary P. Ryan defines partisan politics of the mid-19th century as raucous democracy. ). Plagiarism will be severely sanctioned: www.uottawa.ca/plagiarism.pdf. - Out-of-classroom resources: I can help with the definition and writing of your papers do not hesitate to send your ideas, questions, and early drafts. I can't help all of those who may need it, however, so do also consider asking help from your peers, friends and parents. Almost any third-party reading helps. Historical writing is a thankless but very useful skill, which will help you in many of your future endeavors. Your writing will improve if you take time to improve it. You will find help with the writing of your papers at the Academic Writing Help Centre (AWHC). The Centre offers personalized advice, as well as online resources: www.sass.uottawa.ca/writing. Event analysis: February 8 , when class begins Midterm take-home exam: February 15 when class begins. Questions will be handed out on Feb. 8th Historical document analysis: March 22, when class begins Final take-home exam: April 22, 3PM. Questions will be handed out on April 9th.
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Deadlines

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1. Event analysis: 25% of final mark, deadline February 8th. You will have to choose an event of the 1776-1865 period and analyze it in eight (8) pages or less. Your analysis should discuss: - the causes of the event and their relative importance (counting towards 30% of the paper); - the viewpoints of the people and institutions involved and the choices and options available to them (25%); - the consequences of the event (25%, including, when possible, the consequences on Americans' historical memory their popular/ folk/ nonscientific understanding of their past and consequences on the historical profession mainly in historiographical terms). - 20 percent of the mark is set aside for the quality of writing and the papers scientific apparatus (notes, footnotes, bibliography, quotations). You will have to properly identify your sources, and refer them with notes, explicit paraphrases and a bibliography. 2. Midterm take-home examination: 20% of final mark, deadline on February 15th, when class begins. Questions will be handed out in class on February 8th. You will have a week to answer between three to five questions (each of them requiring answers somewhere between half a page to a page and half, double-spaced. Questions will be about the material covered in class and in assigned readings, through February 8th inclusively. You may submit your answers electronically through Virtual Campus. 3. Historical document analysis: 25% of final mark, deadline on March 22, when class starts. You will have to choose a historical document (a primary source, one that was written or produced at the time of the events/ context that the document is depicting), and analyze that document in ten (10) pages or less. Your analysis should include: - the context of production of the document (20%, mainly relevant information about its author(s), the events that provoked the documents production, the cultural or institutional context of production); - an external criticism, which is criticism of the documents authenticity (10%); - an analysis of the documents content (30%, especially its argumentative structure); - an evaluation of the documents usefulness (20%, usefulness to the comprehension of an event, an institution, a person, a context). - 20 percent of the mark is set aside for the quality of writing, and for the papers scientific apparatus (notes, footnotes, bibliography, quotations). You will find primary sources on the history of the United States mainly on the Web and in resources listed in this syllabus. Books from the collection Major Problems in American History include a wealth of primary documents. Caution: many documents are published in abbreviated form. Your external criticism (the part about authenticity) will have to take into account the version of the document. Whenever possible, use the most complete version that you can find. 4. Final Take-home Examination: 30% of final mark. Deadline April 22. Questions will be handed out in class on April 5th. You will have two weeks to answer between five and eight questions requiring short answers on the material and assigned readings since February 12 inclusively; you will also have to answer two questions requiring long answers (5 pages and up) on the material seen over the entire term. This time, your answers will have to be submitted in hard copy.

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Calendar
Assigned reading vs. suggested reading Chapters from Brown Tindall and Shi, the suggested readings, will present the major facts. If you are not familiar with the history of period, they will help in situating the material discussed in class, in preparing for exams, and in contextualizing the assigned readings, which are more analytical. Most of the assigned readings will be the subject of exam questions. You may also complement your assigned reading with the ebook by Boyer and Dubofsky, Oxford Companion to United States History. At the course reserve, you will find a copy of Brown Tindall and Shi, and the Major Problems books by Brown (1776-1791), Wilentz (1787-1848) and Perman (Civil War). January 8: Presentation Week one, January 11-15: The Revolutionary War, events and interpretations
George Brown Tindall and David E. Shi, (the last few pages of) "4. From Colonies to States," and 5. The American Revolution, America: A Narrative History vol. 1 (9th edition, W.W. Norton, 2013), pp. 193-207, 213-252. Assigned Reading: Alfred F. Young, The Revolution was Radical in Some Ways, Not in Others in Richard D. Brown (ed.) Major Problems in the Era of the American Revolution, 1760-1791 (Houghton Mifflin, 2000), pp. 494-512

Week two, January 18-22: Building a nation

Brown Tindall and Shi, "6. Shaping a Federal Union," America: A Narrative History, vol. 1, pp. 254283. Assigned Reading: (read any one of the following two) Lance G. Banning, "What Happened at the Constitutional Convention," or Jack N. Rakove. Ideas and Interests Drove Constitution-Making, in Major Problems in the Era of the American Revolution, 1760-1791 (Houghton Mifflin, 2000), pp. 419-438

Week three, January 25-29: Politics of the Early Republic

Brown Tindall and Shi, "7. The Federalist Era," and 8. The Early Republic, America: A Narrative History, vol. 1, pp. 284-363. Assigned Reading: (read any one of the following two) Linda K. Kerber, The Fears of the Federalists or Drew R. McCoy, The Fears of the Jeffersonian Republicans, in Cobbs Hoffman and Gjerde (eds.) Major Problems in American History, vol, I, pp. 178-195.

Week four, February 1-5: Early sectional conflict and the Jacksonian revolution, part one
Brown Tindall and Shi, (part of) "10. Nationalism and Sectionalism," and "11. The Jacksonian Era," 410-424, 428-439, 440-477. Assigned Reading: (read both) Richard H Brown, "The Missouri Crisi, Slavery, and the Rise of the Jacksonians", in Wilentz, Major Problems in the Early Republic, 1787-1848.

Deadline on February 8th. Your first paper, the event analysis, is expected at the beginning of class. Questions for the midterm take-home exam will be handed out in class on February 8th. Week five, February 8-12: Early sectional conflict and the Jacksonian revolution, part two
Brown Tindall and Shi, (part of) "10. Nationalism and Sectionalism," and "11. The Jacksonian Impulse," 363-371, 374-384, 385-415

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Assigned Reading: Mary P. Ryan, Antebellum Politics as Raucous Democracy", in Major Problem in American History, vol. I, pp. 244-252

Week six, February 15-26: The South and Slavery

Brown Tindall and Shi, 12. The Old South, 478-509 Assigned Reading: Eugene D. Genovese, The Paternalist World of the Slave South, in Major Problem in American History, vol. I, pp. 374-381

Deadline: Your answers to the midterm take-home exam are expected at the beginning of class, on February 15 Midterm break : February 18-22 Week seven, March 1-5: Reform and Abolitionism
Brown Tindall and Shi, (parts of) 13. Religion, Romanticism, and Reform, pp. 510-522, 535-553 Assigned Reading : Julie Roy Jeffrey, "Northern Women and Abolition," in Wilentz, Major Problems in the Early Republic, 1787-1848.

Week eight, March 8-12: Growth and Expansion

Brown Tindall and Shi, (part of) 9. The Dynamics of Growth, and 14. An Empire in the West, 369392, 395-401, 559-599 Assigned Reading: Christopher Clark, "Northern Capitalism: Creation and Costs", in Wilentz, Major Problems in the Early Republic, 1787-1848.

Week nine, March 15-19: A House Divided

Brown Tindall and Shi, "15. The Gathering Storm, 600-647. Assigned Reading: (read both) David M. Potter, "The Sectional Divisions that Led to Civil War," and Michael F. Holt, "The Political Divisions that Contributed to Civil War," in Major Problem in American History, vol. I, pp. 405-417.

Deadline: Your Primary source analysis is expected on March 22, when class begins. Week ten, March 22-26: The Early Civil War
Brown Tindall and Shi, 16. The War of the Union, 648-703. Assigned Reading: McPherson, "Tried By War: Lincoln as Self-Taught Strategist", in Perman, Major Problems in the Civil War and Reconstruction, pp. 176-185.

Easter Break: March 29th April 1st Week eleven, April 2-9: The War and Emancipation
Brown Tindall and Shi, 16. The War of the Union, 648-703. Assigned Reading: (read any of the following two) Ira Berlin, "Who Freed the Slaves? Emancipation and Its Meaning," or Joseph T. Glatthaar, "Black Glory: The African American Role in Union Victory", in Perman, Major Problems in the Civil War and Reconstruction, pp. 288-310.

Caution: on Tuesday, April 9th, class schedules are Friday schedules. Class will begin at 4PM. Questions for your final take-home exam will be handed out in class on April 9th. April 11-24: Final examinations Deadline: Your answers to the final take-home exam are expected on April 22, at 3PM. Exceptionally your answers will have to be in hard copy (printed or handwritten).
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Therell be a small binder hanging by the door of the office at 9113 Desmarais. The prof. will likely be in the office between 1-3 PM, but this remains to be confirmed.

Bibliography
Historical documents (primary sources) on the Web. (do also check the books listed below). (eBook) Trinkle et Merriman, The American History Highway (M.E. Sharpe, 2007). The American Library Association keeps a list of online libraries: www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/sections/history/resources/index.cfm National Archives of the United States: www.archives.gov/research/topics/ National History Day has a list of online libraries: www.nhd.org/USHistoryPrimarySources.htm The University of Ottawa Library has a list of online libraries: http://uottawa.ca.libguides.com/History-fr The U of O Library subscribes to the database "Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000." It is an impressive resource, that you can browse from the Library catalogue. Many relevant books and pamphlets are published on Project Gutenberg: www.gutenberg.org eBooks from the Oxford Companion series all feature a listing of virtual libraries. The following ones are available through the Library catalogue. Fred Anderson, John Whiteclay Chambers, Ronald H. Spector, The Oxford Companion to American Military History (2005). William L. Andrews, Frances Smith Foster, and Trudier Harris, The Concise Oxford Companion to African American Literature (Oxford University Press, 2001). William L. Barney, The Civil War and Reconstruction: A Student Companion (Oxford University Press, 2001). Gerald M. Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre (Oxford University Press, 2004). Paul S. Boyer and Melvyn Dubofsky, The Oxford Companion to United States History (2005). Roger Daniels, American Immigration: A Student Companion (Oxford University Press, 2001). Kermit Hall, The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States (2005). James David Hart and Phillip Leininger, The Concise Oxford Companion to American Literature (Oxford University Press, 1986). Glenna Matthews, American Women's History: A Student Companion (Oxford University Press, 2000). John J. Patrick, The Supreme Court of the United States: A Student Companion (2001). Jenny Stringer, The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Literature in English (Oxford University Press, 1996).

The rest of them (eBooks are marked with an (e))

Adkins, Randall E., The Evolution of Political Parties, Campaigns, and Elections: Landmark Documents, 1787-2007 (CQ Press, 2008). Allitt, Patrick, Major Problems in American Religious History: Documents and Essays (Houghton Mifflin, 2000). (e) Axelrod, Alan, Political History of America's Wars (CQ Press, 2007). (e) Barney, William L., A Companion to 19th-century America (Blackwell, 2001). Banner, James M., Jr. (ed.), A Century of American Historiography (Bedford/ St. Martin's, 2010). Bayor, Ronald H., The Columbia Documentary History of Race and Ethnicity in America (Columbia University Press, 2004). (e) Bean, Jonathan J., Race and Liberty in America: The Essential Reader (University Press of Kentucky, 2009). Bellamy, Chris, et al. (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Military History (OUP, 2001).

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Binder, Frederick M., and David M. Reimers, The Way we Lived: Essays and Documents in American Social History (2 vols. fourth edition, Houghton Mifflin, 2000). Boles, John B. A Companion to the American South (Blackwell, 2004). Boyer, Paul S., and Melvyn Dubofsky (ed.), The Oxford Companion to United States History (2005). Bradford, James C. (ed.), A Companion to American Military History (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010). Brosnan Kathleen A. (ed.), Encyclopedia of American Environmental History (Facts on File, 2011). Brown Richard D. Major Problems in the Era of the American Revolution, 1760-1791 (Houghton Mifflin, 2000) Burt, Elizabeth V., The Progressive Era: Primary Documents on Events from 1890 to 1914 (Greenwood Press, 2004). Butler, Jon, and Harry S. Stout, Religion in American History: A Reader (Oxford University Press, 1998). Chambers, John Whiteclay, and Kurt G. Piehler, Major Problems In American Military History: Documents and Essays (Houghton Mifflin, 1999). Chudacoff, Howard P., Major Problems in American Urban History: Documents and Essays (DC Heath, 1994). Cobbs Hoffman, Elizabeth, and Jon Gjerde (ed.), Major Problems in American History (2 volumes, Houghton Mifflin, 2002). Couvares, Francis G., et al. (ed.) Interpretations of American History: Patterns and Perspectives (2 volumes, 7th ed., Free Press, 2000). (no primary sources here) Davis, Cynthia J., and Kathryn West, Women Writers in the United States (Oxford University Press, 1996) Dorsey, Bruce, and Woody Register. Crosscurrents in American Culture: A Reader in United States History (2 volumes, Houghton Mifflin, 2009). DuBois, Ellen Carol, and Vicki Ruiz. Unequal Sisters: An Inclusive Reader in U.S. Women's History (4th ed., Routledge, 2008). Fink, Leon. Major Problems in the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era (DC Heath, 1993). Finkelman, Paul (ed.), Milestone Documents in African American History (Schlager Group, 2010). (e) Finkelman, Paul, and Bruce A. Lesh, Milestone Documents in American History (Schlager Group, 2008). (e) Finkelman, Paul, and James A. Percoco, Milestone Documents of American Leaders: Exploring the Primary Sources of Notable Americans (Schlager Group, 2009). Foley, Michael S., Brendan P. O'Malley (ed.), Home Fronts: A Wartime America Reader (W.W. Norton & Co., 2008). Ford, Lacy K., A Companion to the Civil War and Reconstruction (Blackwell, 2005). Fox, Richard W., and James T. Kloppenberg, A Companion to American thought (Blackwell, 1995). Gaustad, Edwin S., and Mark A. Noll, A Documentary History of Religion in America (William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2003). Gjerde, Jon. Major Problems in American Immigration and Ethnic History (Houghton Mifflin, 1998). Gordon, Colin (ed.), Major Problems in American History, 1920-1945 (Houghton Mifflin, 1999). (e) Green James R., Taking History to Heart: The Power of the Past in Building Social Movements (University of Massachusetts Press, 2000). Green, Robert P., and Harold E. Cheatham, The American Civil Rights Movement (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009). (e) Greene, Jack P., and J. R. Pole, A Companion to the American Revolution (Blackwell, 2000) Griffith, Robert, and Paula Baker (ed.), Major Problems in American History Since 1945 (2nd ed., Houghton Mifflin, 2001). Hall, Kermit, Major Problems in American Constitutional History: Documents and Essays (DC Heath, 1992). (e) Halttunen, Karen (ed.), A Companion to American Cultural History (Blackwell, 2008). Harper, Keith, American Denominational History: Perspectives On The Past, Prospects For The Future (University of Alabama Press, 2008). (e) Himmelberg Robert F., The Great Depression and the New Deal (Greenwood Press, 2001). HIS2151 winter 2013 7

Hollinger, David A., and Charles Capper (ed.) The American Intellectual Tradition (6th ed., Oxford University Press, 2011). (e) Holloway, Thomas H. (ed.), A Companion to Latin American History (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010). (e) Jaycox, Faith, The Progressive Era (Facts on File, 2005). Joseph, William A., Joel Krieger, and James A. Paul (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Politics of the World (OUP, 1993). (e) Leibiger, Stuart E., A Companion to James Madison and James Monroe (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012). Levine, Lawrence W., The Unpredictable Past: Explorations in American Cultural History (Oxford University Press, 1993). Loewen, James W., and Edward H. Sebesta (eds.), The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader (University Press of Mississippi, 2010). Madaras, Larry, and James M. Sorelle (ed.), Taking Sides: Clashing Views in United States History (2 volumes, 10th ed., McGraw-Hill/ Dushkin, 2003). Magoc, Chris J., Environmental Issues in American History: A Reference Guide with Primary Documents (Greenwood Press, 2006). Malsberger John W. and James N. Marshall, The American Economic History Reader (Routledge, 2009). Masur, Louis P. (ed.), The Challenge of American History (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998). (e) McCluskey, Audrey T., and Elaine M. Smith, Mary McLeod Bethune: Building a Better World: Essays and Selected Documents (Indiana University Press, 1999). Merchant, Carolyn, Major Problems in American Environmental History: Documents and Essays (Houghton Mifflin, 2005). Merrill, Dennis, and Thomas G. Paterson (ed.), Major Problems in American Foreign Relations (2 vols. 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin, 2000). Muncy, Robyn, and Sonya Michel, Engendering America: A Documentary History, 1865 to the Present (McGraw-Hill, 1999). Northrup, Cynthia Clark, The American Economy: A Historical Encyclopedia (ABC-CLIO, 2003). Norton, Mary Beth, and Ruth M. Alexander. Major Problems in American Women's History (2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, 2003). Paterson, Thomas G., et al., American Foreign Relations: A History (6th edition, 2005). Perman, Michael, Major Problems in the Civil War and Reconstruction (Houghton Mifflin Co, 1998). Portes, Jacques, Histoire des tats-Unis: de 1776 nos jours (Armand Colin, 2010). Powell, John, Encyclopedia of North American Immigration (Facts on File, 2005). Richter, William L., Historical Dictionary of the Civil War and Reconstruction (Scarecrow Press, 2004). Schulzinger, Robert D. (ed.), A Companion To American Foreign Relations (Blackwell, 2003). Smith, Joseph, The United States and Latin America: A History of American Diplomacy, 17762000(Routledge, 2005). (e) Stokes, Melvyn, The State of U.S. History (Berg Publishers, 2002). Turley, David, American Religion: Literary Sources & Documents (Helm Information, 1998). United States National Archives and Records Administration, Our Documents: 100 Milestone Documents from the National Archives (Oxford University Press, 2003). Waldrep, Christopher, and Michael A. Bellesiles (ed.), Documenting American Violence: A Sourcebook (Oxford University Press, 2006). Wilentz, Sean. Major Problems in the Early Republic, 1787-1848 (D.C. Heath, 1992).

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