National Humanities Center
____ALL SUGGESTED TEXTS____
PREDICAMENTS OF EARLY REPUBLICAN LIFE
pages*
____
1
Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography, 1771-1788, first two thirds
54
____
2
Venture Smith, A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture, 1798
15
____
3
Washington Irving, “Rip Van Winkle” from The Sketch Book, 1819-1820
12
____
4
Royall Tyler, The Contrast, 1787
67
____
5
Benjamin Rush, “Of the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic,” 1786
____
6
Noah Webster, “An Oration on the Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence,” 1802
____
7
18
_____________________________________________________________________________
PREDICAMENTS: Total Pages
173
RELIGION
____
1
Online Exhibition: Religion and the Founding of the American Republic, Sections VI and VII
____
2
Jefferson, Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in Virginia, 1779
Madison, Memorial and Remonstrance to the General Assembly of . . . Virginia, 1785
7
____
3
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, Correspondence, 1812-1823, excerpts of ten letters
6
____
4
Constitution of the American Bible Society, 1816, excerpts
2
____
5
Forks of Elkhorn Baptist Church, Kentucky; Minutes, 1801-1817, excerpts
4
____
6
Peter Cartwright, Autobiography: The Backwoods Preacher, 1856, excerpts
13
____
7
Richard Allen, The Life, Experience . . . of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen, 1833, excerpts
13
____
8
Background. TeacherServe: three online essays in Divining America:
“Evangelicalism, Revivalism, and the Second Great Awakening”
“Evangelicalism as a Social Movement”
“African American Religion in the 19th Century”
____
online
--
_____________________________________________________________________________
RELIGION: Total Pages
45
POLITICS
____
1
The Anti-Federalist Papers, #1, 1787
The Federalist Papers, #51, 1788
____
2
Jefferson, “Manufactures,” in Notes on the State of Virginia, 1787
Hamilton, Report to Congress on the Subject of Manufactures, 1791, excerpts
6
____
3
Washington, Farewell Address, 1796
8
____
4
Virginia Resolutions of 1798
Counter-Resolution of Massachusetts, 1799
5
____
5
Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, 1801
Jefferson, Letter to John Holmes, 1820
4
____
6
Forging a National Identity: Six Patriotic Pieces
7
____
7
Foreign Affairs: Five Cartoons
8
____
10
_____________________________________________________________________________
POLITICS: Total Pages
48
EXPANSION
____
1
Northwest Ordinance, 1787
____
2
Harriet Noble, on emigrating from New York to Michigan in 1824, 1856, excerpt
Gideon Lincecum, on settling throughout the South, Autobiography, 1904, excerpts
____
3
Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query VI, 1787, excerpt
6
____
4
Hugh Henry Brackenridge, “The Trial of Mamachtaga,” in Incidents of the Insurrection, 1785
8
____
5
Seneca Chief Cornplanter, Speech before President Washington, 1790
George Washington, Response to Seneca Indians, 1790
4
____
6
Messages between the Western Indian Confederacy and U.S. Commissioners on the issue of the
Ohio River as the boundary of Indian lands, August 1793
4
____
7
Elias Boudinot, “An Address to the Whites,” 26 May 1826
7
____
8
Lewis Cass, “Removal of the Indians,” North American Review, January 1830, excerpts
8
____
9
Background. TeacherServe: two online essays:
“The Effects of Removal on American Indian Tribes” in Nature Transformed
“Native American Religion in Early America” in Divining America
--
____
6
14
_____________________________________________________________________________
EXPANSION: Total Pages
57
EQUALITY
____
1
The Founding Fathers on Equality
George Washington to/from the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island, 1790
James Wilson, Of Man, as a Member of Society, 1791
Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, 28 Oct. 1813
James Madison, Note to His Speech on the Right of Suffrage, 1821
12
____
2
The Founding Fathers on Slavery
Benjamin Franklin, An Address to the Public, 1789
George Washington, Last Will & Testament, Item #2, 1799
John Adams to George Churchman and Jacob Lindley, 1801
Thomas Jefferson to Henri Grégoire, 1809
6
____
3
African Americans on Equality
Benjamin Banneker and Thomas Jefferson, correspondence of August 1791
Memorial of [Free-Men of Colour] to the South Carolina Senate, 1791
6
____
4
Women’s Role in the Republic
Abigail Adams, corresp. to/from John Adams & John Quincy Adams, 1776, 1780, 1783
Samuel K. Jennings, The Married Lady’s Companion, 1808, excerpt
____
5
Women on Equality
Poem, “Let Democrats . . . ,” Newark Centinel of Freedom, 1797
“A Lady,” The Female Advocate, 1801, excerpts
Abigail Adams to Judge F. A. Venderkemp, 3 Feb. 1814
9
____
6
Summing Up: Frances Wright, Views of Society and Manners in America, 1821, excerpts
7
10
EQUALITY: Total Pages
50
_______________________SEMINAR TOTAL
373
*Note: − Page totals given here are the total printout pages of the texts (minus lengthy intro material, in some cases,
and excluding the online exhibition in Religion).
− Factors such as margin width, line spacing, and point size vary widely among the websites.