Brock University
Department of History
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
HIST 3P16
WINTER 2014
Lectures: Mondays and Wednesdays, 2:00-3:00PM, WH202
Dr. Mark G. Spencer
Associate Professor
office hours: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 1:00-2:00PM (GL 256)
tel: 905-688-5550, ext.3506; e-mail: [email protected]
Course Description:
This lecture and seminar course will investigate the Era of the American Revolution,
c.1750-1800. A question central to that investigation is the following, seemingly simple
one: What was the American Revolution? Historians may agree about the broad
chronology of the American Revolution, but they often disagree in their interpretations of
its causes, basic nature, and long-term consequences. Even those eighteenth-century
Americans who lived through the Revolution found it difficult to define, and their
definitions often differed greatly one from another.
Course lectures and readings will approach the American Revolution from
varying points of view and several historiographical perspectives. In their written
assignments and seminar discussions, students in this course will be expected to evaluate
conflicting historical interpretations and they will be encouraged to develop their own
nuanced understanding of the people, ideas, and events that together constitute the
American Revolution.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION – HIST 3P16 – WINTER 2014
Required Readings:
The following books should be purchased:
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Richard D. Brown, editor, Major Problems in the Era of the American Revolution,
1760-1791, 2nd edition. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000.
Ray Raphael, A People’s History of the American Revolution: How Common
People Shaped the Fight for Independence. New York: HarperCollins, 2002.
Gordon S. Wood, The American Revolution: A History. New York: Modern
Library, 2002.
Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing in History, 7th edition (Boston
and New York: Bedford/St.Martins, 2012) [earlier editions are fine].
Other readings will be assigned (see “Seminar Schedule” below).
Grades for this course will be determined according to the following formula:
Seminar Participation (including facilitation)
Assignment #1 (Feb. 3)
Assignment #2 (Feb. 26 & Mar. 31)
Final Examination
=
=
=
=
30%
10%
35%
25%
Course Requirements:
Each component of the grade for this course is a required element. All assignments must
be completed and/or submitted for a student to pass the course.
1. Lectures: Students are required to attend twice-weekly lectures.
2. Seminars: Weekly seminars are a core part of this course, and students are required
to attend. A missed seminar results in a grade of zero for that week. Missing three or
more seminars will constitute a “failure to complete” this aspect of the course
requirements, resulting in a failing grade for the course. But attendance is not sufficient
on its own. All students must come to seminars having attended lectures and having
completed their readings. The key to a good seminar (and a good seminar grade) is
thoughtful discussion of course material. To that end, for each seminar two students will
be responsible for co-facilitating discussion of pre-assigned readings (a sign-up sheet will
be circulated in the first seminar). The role of the co-facilitators is to:
1. briefly summarize the main themes of the readings (in one, double-spaced page).
You might think of this summary as an introduction to the questions you will ask;
2. formulate five questions related to the week’s readings. Remember, the purpose of
your questions is to facilitate discussion. Therefore, you will want at least a
couple of your questions to be broad ones that relate to large course themes. In
most cases, too, answering your questions ought to necessitate discussing the
primary source readings for that week.
Co-facilitators must work together and send their theme summary and list of questions,
by e-mail, to the instructor no later than 5:00 p.m. the Friday before their seminar.
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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION – HIST 3P16 – WINTER 2014
3. Written Assignments: Students will complete two written assignments.
Instructions for these assignments will be distributed well in advance of their due dates.
Assignments should be submitted directly to the instructor in lecture. Students must keep
a back-up copy of all written work. The penalty for late submission of assignments is
10% for the first day and 2% per day thereafter (including weekends). Assignments
turned in more than seven days after the due date may not be accepted. Without
documented proof of illness or emergency, there will be no exceptions. Remember, too,
that plagiarism is the greatest of academic sins (see Brock Undergraduate Calendar
Section VII, A). If you make use of another writer’s ideas or words, acknowledge that
you have done so. Failure to credit another’s work may result in a grade of zero for the
assignment, and possibly the course. Particularly egregious cases may result in stronger
actions. If in doubt about plagiarism, ask the instructor.
This course will use Turnitin (a phrase matching software service). You must be
registered to use this service. If you do not already have a Turnitin account, go to
www.turnitin.com and click the “create a user profile” button and follow the instructions.
You will also need to know the Class ID# (6572151) and the Course Password
(HIST3P16). All written assignments must be uploaded to Turnitin before the lecture in
which they are due. No essay will be graded which has not been submitted to Turnitin. If
students have a principled reason for not wanting to use this service, alternative
arrangements can be made. These arrangements must be worked out with the course
instructor within three weeks of the beginning of term.
Other Notes Concerning Assignments:
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•
•
•
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follow the The Chicago Manual of Style (see Rampolla, ch. 7)
use footnotes
double-space your essay and leave a 1 inch margin
number your pages
include a title page that provides: your essay title, your name, course code,
seminar #, assignment due date, and instructor’s name.
4. Examination: Students will write a Final Examination that will cover the entire
course. The format of the test will be discussed in lecture well in advance of the
examination date.
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Lecture Schedule:
Jan. 6 (M)
INTRODUCTIONS
Jan. 8 (W)
Lecture #1: Introducing … The American Revolution
Jan. 13 (M)
Lecture #2: Colonial America to 1763: Politics
Jan. 15 (W)
Lecture #3: Colonial America to 1763: Society
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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION – HIST 3P16 – WINTER 2014
Jan. 20 (M)
Lecture #4: An Imperial Crisis
Jan. 22 (W)
Lecture #5: From Resistance to Rebellion
Jan. 27 (M)
Lecture #6: Ideological Origins of the American Revolution
Jan. 29 (W)
Lecture #7: The Declaration of Independence
Feb. 3 (M)
Lecture #8: War for American Independence: Northern Campaigns
*Assignment #1 Due in Lecture Today*
Feb. 5 (W)
Lecture #9: War for American Independence: Southern Campaigns
Feb. 10 (M)
Lecture #10: Loyalists and African Americans
Feb. 12 (W)
Lecture #11: Women and the American Revolution
Feb. 17-21
READING WEEK - NO LECTURES
Feb. 24 (M)
Lecture #12: Religion and Republicanism
Feb. 26 (W)
Lecture #13: The Peace of Paris
*Paper Proposal and Annotated Bibliography Due in Lecture Today*
Mar. 3 (M)
Lecture #14: British Reactions to the American Revolution
Mar. 5 (W)
Lecture #15: Articles of Confederation
Mar. 10 (M)
Lecture #16: Shays’ Rebellion and the 1780s
Mar. 12 (W) Lecture #17: The Constitution of the United States of America
Mar. 17 (M)
Lecture #18: Federalists and Antifederalists
Mar. 19 (W) Lecture #19: The American Revolution in Film I
Mar. 24 (M)
Lecture #20: The American Revolution in Film II
Mar. 26 (W) Lecture #21: The 1790s: A Revolutionary Settlement?
Mar. 31 (M)
Lecture #22: Early Historians of the American Revolution
*Assignment #2 Due in Lecture Today*
Apr. 2 (W)
CONCLUSIONS
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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION – HIST 3P16 – WINTER 2014
Seminar Schedule:
Seminar Sections
Section 1: Tuesday, 9:00-10:00AM, EA108
Section 2: Tuesday, NOON-1:00PM, EA104
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Tuesday, Jan. 7
NO SEMINARS
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Tuesday, Jan. 14
Seminar #1: Introductions and Seminar Sign-up
Readings:
• Brown, “Preface,” pp. xiii-xv.
• Wood, “Preface,” pp. xxiii-xxv.
• Rampolla, chapter 1, “Introduction: Why Study History?” and chapter 2,
“Working with Sources,” pages 1-24.
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Tuesday, Jan. 21
Seminar #2: Background
Readings:
• Brown, ch. 2, “Society and Politics on the Eve of the Revolution,” 27-70.
• Brown, ch. 3, “The British Empire and the War for North America,” 71-97.
• Wood, ch. 1, “Origins,” 3-24.
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Tuesday, Jan. 28
Seminar #3: Colonial Resistance
Readings:
• Brown, ch. 4, “British Reforms and Colonial Resistance,” 98-137.
• Wood, ch. 2, “American Resistance,” 25-44.
• Jane E. Calvert, “Liberty without Tumult: Understanding the Politics of John
Dickinson,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 131 (2007),
233-262 [electronic resource, Gibson Library].
• Rampolla, ch. 3, “Reading and Writing in History: Some Typical Assignments,”
25-42.
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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION – HIST 3P16 – WINTER 2014
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Tuesday, Feb. 4
Seminar #4: Declaring Independence
Readings:
• Brown, ch. 5, “The Imperial Crisis: From the Tea Act to the Declaration of
Independence,” 138-188.
• Wood, ch. 3, “Revolution,” 45-62.
• Eric Slaughter, “Reading and Radicalization: Print, Politics, and the American
Revolution,” Early American Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, Vol. 8
(2010), 5-40 [electronic resources, Gibson Library].
• Rampolla, ch. 4, “Following Conventions of Writing in History,” 43-68.
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Tuesday, Feb. 11
Seminar #5: War
Readings:
• Brown, ch. 6, “Fighting for Independence,” 189-223.
• Brown, ch. 7, “Outsiders and Enemies: Native Americans and the Loyalists,” 224255.
• Wood, ch. 4, “Constitution Making and War,” 63-88.
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Tuesday, Feb. 18
No Seminars: READING WEEK
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Tuesday, Feb. 25
Seminar #6: African Americans and Women
Readings:
• Brown, ch. 8, “Are All Men Equal? The African-American Challenge,” 256-286.
• Brown, ch. 9, “Gender and Citizenship in a Revolutionary Republic,” 287-310.
• François Furstenberg, “Atlantic Slavery, Atlantic Freedom: George Washington,
Slavery, and Transatlantic Abolitionist Networks,” The William and Mary
Quarterly, 3rd Series, Vol. 68 (2011), 247-286 [electronic resource, Gibson
Library]
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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION – HIST 3P16 – WINTER 2014
Tuesday, March 4
Seminar #7: Religious Toleration?
Readings:
• Brown, ch. 10, “Toleration Versus Religious Freedom in a Protestant Republic,”
311-340.
• Jonathan Clark, “The American Revolution: A war of religion?” History Today,
Vol. 39 (1989), 10-16 [electronic resource, Gibson Library].
• Christopher Grasso, “Deist Monster: On Religious Common Sense in the Wake of
the American Revolution,” Journal of American History, Vol. 95 (2008), 43-68
[electronic resource, Gibson Library].
• Rampolla, ch. 5, “Writing a Research Paper,” 69-87.
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Tuesday, Mar. 11
Seminar #8: Republicanism
Readings:
• Benjamin Rush, A Plan for the Establishment of Public Schools and the Diffusion
of Knowledge in Pennsylvania, to which are added thoughts upon the mode of
Education proper in a Republic (Philadelphia, 1786), 1-36 [available in
America’s Historical Documents, electronic resource, Gibson Library]
• Wood, ch. 5, “Republicanism,” 89-109.
• Wood, ch. 6, “Republican Society,” 112-136.
• Rampolla, ch. 6, “Plagiarism: What It Is and How to Avoid It,” 88-95.
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Tuesday, Mar. 18
Seminar #9: The Articles of Confederation
Readings:
• Brown, ch. 11, “Peacetime Government Under the Articles of Confederation,”
341-388.
• William Pencak, “Samuel Adams and Shays’s Rebellion, New England Quarterly,
Vol. 62 (1989), 63-74.
• Robert A. Gross, “A Yankee Rebellion? The Regulators, New England, and the
New Nation,” New England Quarterly, Vol. 82 (2009), 112-135 [electronic
resource, Gibson Library].
• Rampolla, ch. 7, “Quoting and Documenting Sources,” 96-137.
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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION – HIST 3P16 – WINTER 2014
Tuesday, Mar. 25
Seminar #10: Constitutional Debates
Readings:
• Brown, ch. 12, “Making the Constitution of 1787,” 389-438.
• Brown, ch. 13, “Ratification Politics and the Bill of Rights,” 439-482.
• Wood, ch. 7, “The Federal Constitution,” 137-166.
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Tuesday, April 1
Seminar #11: The American Revolution in Historiographical Context
Readings:
• Brown, ch. 1, “Interpreting the American Revolution,” 1-26.
• Brown, ch. 14, “The Consequences of the Revolution,” 483-522.
• Wood, “Bibliographic Note,” 167-176.
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