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History of the United States to 1877
Section 7 (TUURI)
21:512:201:07
T TH 4:00-5:20 p.m.
Smith Hall (SMT) 245
NB: This syllabus is subject to change during the course, check Blackboard
periodically for updates to syllabus.
Instructor: Rebecca Tuuri ([email protected])
Office Location: Conklin Hall 312
Office Phone number: (973) 353-3890
Office Hours: Tuesdays 1:50-3:20 p.m. and by arrangement
Course Description:
This course will examine the history of the United States development, from pre-colonial
contact through the end of the Civil War. We will use lectures, documents, films and
discussion to enrich our understanding of events and the historical interpretations of
events in this time period—changes in Native American societies before European
contact, the European contact with the ―new‖ world, creation of an American system of
chattel slavery and the racial codes to enforce it, the American Revolution, the
development of a new country, and the near dissolution of it.
Required Texts:
James West Davidson, Brian DeLay, Christine Leigh Heyrman, Mark H Lytle, Michael
Stoff, U.S. A Narrative History (2008 edition) – NOT the May 2011 edition.
ISBN: 0073385468
Camilla Townsend, Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma (paperback) (2005)
ISBN: 0809077388
Michael Shaara, The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War [Paperback]
(1987)
ISBN: 0345348109
In addition, you will have brief primary source documents to read available on
Blackboard, unless otherwise noted.
You must complete the readings before the beginning of class.
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Grade Distribution:
Paper 1 – 15%
Midterm Exam—15%
Paper 2 – 20%
Final Exam—20%
Pop Quizzes—15%
Participation—15%
Papers 1 and 2 (15% and 20% respectively)
You will have two papers of between 4 and 5 pages on Camilla Townsend’s Pocahontas
and the Powhatan Dilemma and Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels. You will receive
the topic for the paper about a month in advance of the paper deadlines. No papers will
be accepted by email. Must be submitted in PAPER form by end of class period on
9/29 and 12/8 respectively. If you miss one of these classes, you still must submit
your paper to me by the end of class on this day or it will be late. (see late policy
below for more information)
Midterm Exam and Final Exam (15% and 20% respectively)
The Midterm and Final Exam will contain a series of short answer identification
questions and an essay question covering reading, lecture, and discussion material. The
Final will NOT be cumulative.
Pop Quizzes (15%)
To ensure that you are keeping up with the reading, I will be giving you four pop quizzes
during the semester. The quizzes will follow a fairly simple format—simple multiple
choice or short identification. I will drop your lowest quiz grade.
Participation (15%):
For our discussions to be successful, reading assignments must be completed before the
indicated class. Your participation grade will be based on how often you speak up in
class and how well you use information from readings and lectures to support your
interpretations. You must come prepared to discuss the readings for that day.
Attendance: Lectures and class discussions will play a crucial role in the course. Class
attendance is mandatory. Three unexcused absences are permitted. Each additional
unexcused absence will lower your final class grade by a grade (i.e. A to B+, B+ to B,
etc.). Excused absences are limited to those that are due to medical emergencies, family
emergencies, and university business, which require you to be out of town (such as
athletic participation). You must provide evidence of the emergency or university
business.
Late arrivals are disruptive to the class. Therefore, you will be penalized for late arrivals
as well. Three unexcused late arrivals equal one absence.
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Any student who misses eight or more sessions through any combination of excused and
unexcused absences will not earn credit in this course. Such students should withdraw to
avoid getting an F in the class.
Late or Missed Assignments:
Only emergencies that would also result in an excused absence (see above) are valid
reasons for submitting an assignment late. Without proof of emergency, any late paper
will be marked down. Makeup exams will be offered without a penalty only if you miss
the exam due to extreme circumstances, for which you can provide written proof of the
situation (doctor’s note, funeral notice, bail bond receipt, etc.)
Papers will be marked down one grade (A to B+; B+ to B; etc) for each class period late.
If you fail to submit Paper 2 before the last day of class, you will continue to be penalized
for late submission, but now in addition to the one grade penalty for the time from 12/8 to
12/13, you will also be penalized another grade for each additional business day that the
paper is late. After 12/13, you must turn any late assignments into the history department
office during regular business hours where they will be time-stamped and I will penalize
them accordingly.
Disabilities: If you have any disabilities that require special accommodation, see the
professor immediately.
Note on Plagiarism and Academic Responsibilities: You are expected to abide by the
University’s policy on academic integrity, found at
http://dga.rutgers.edu/~history/index.php?content=rn_integrity
While completing the papers for this course, be sure to cite any editorial or explanatory
information (e.g. author biographies) you find in the database you select, or in any other
source, which shapes your interpretation.
If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism, speak with me immediately.
You will receive a 0 for your plagiarized assignment, will most likely be reported to the
dean, and risk failing the course if you commit plagiarism.
Course Schedule
WEEK 1:
Thursday 9/1 - Introduction to Course, Historiography, Understanding primary and
secondary sources.
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WEEK 2:
Tuesday 9/6 – Life before “Contact” and the meaning of “American History”
Reading: Chapter 1. The First Civilizations of North America (USANH)
Documents: ―The Iroquois Describe the Beginning of the World‖
Thursday 9/8 – NO CLASS (CHANGE OF DESIGNATION DAY – MONDAY
classes instead )
Reading: Camilla Townsend Pocahontas pps. 3-84
WEEK 3:
Tuesday 9/13 – Conquistadors and Priests among the Native Americans
Reading: Chapter 2. Old Worlds, New Worlds [1400-1600] (USANH),
Camilla Townsend Pocahontas pps. 84-106
Documents: ―An Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico‖ (1521); images of Native
Americans as portrayed by Europeans
Thursday 9/15 – The English (Barely) Settle in Virginia
Reading: Chapter 3. Colonization and Conflict in the South [1600-1750] (USANH)
Documents: excerpt Richard Hakluyt, ―A Discourse Concerning Western Planting
(1584)
WEEK 4:
Tuesday 9/20 – The New England Experiment
Reading: Chapter 4. Colonization and Conflict in the North [1600-1700] (USANH)
Camilla Townsend Pocahontas pps. 107-134
Documents: ―A Puritan Prescription for Marital Concord‖ (1712)
Thursday 9/22 – Discussion: discuss Pocahontas in preparation for paper
Reading: finish Camilla Townsend Pocahontas pps. 135-177
Documents: ―Miantomi Calls for Algonquian Unity Against the English‖ (1643)
WEEK 5:
Tuesday 9/27 – Life in the Middle Colonies
Reading: Chapter 5. The Mosaic of Eighteenth-Century America [1689-1771] (USANH)
Documents: William Penn, ―Charter of Privileges‖ (1701)
Thursday 9/29 – The Atlantic Slave Trade
PAPER 1 due on Pocahontas
In class assignment: We will read and analyze documents related to slavery and servitude
(Alexander Falconbridge, ―The African Slave Trade‖ (1788); Runaway Advertisements
from Colonial Newspapers)
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WEEK 6:
Tuesday 10/4 – The Growth of Slavery
Reading: Chapter 6. Toward the War for American Independence [1754-1776 (USANH)
Documents: ―Slave Conspiracy in Virginia‖ (1709)
Thursday 10/6 – The Coming of the American Revolution
Documents: Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776); Paul Revere’s Engraving from
Boston Massacre (1770); Pontiac, Two Speeches (1762-1763)
WEEK 7:
Tuesday 10/11 – American Revolution
Reading: Chapter 7. The American People and the American Revolution [1775-1783]
(USANH)
Documents: songs and toasts from the Patriot Movement (1765-1788)
Thursday 10/13 – Who’s Revolution? Debating the direction of a new country
Reading: letters between John and Abigail Adams (1776); Petition of Slaves to the
Massachusetts Legislature (1777); Thomas Jefferson, An Act for Establishing Religious
Freedom (1785)
WEEK 8:
Tuesday 10/18 – Confederation to Constitution
Reading: Chapter 8. Crisis and Constitution [1776-1789] (USANH)
Documents: James Madison, The Federalist, No. 51 (1787)
Thursday 10/20 – MID TERM REVIEW – come to class with any questions that you
have about the course
WEEK 9:
Tuesday 10/25 – MID TERM EXAMINATION
Thursday 10/27 – A young nation defines itself
Reading: Chapter 9: The Early Republic [1789-1824] (USANH)
Documents: The Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)
WEEK 10:
Tuesday 11/1 – The Louisiana Purchase
Reading: Chapter 10. The Opening of America [1815-1850] (USANH)
Documents: Tecumseh on Indians and Land (1810)
Thursday 11/3 – The Market Revolution
Reading: Shaara pps. 1-73
Documents: Josephine L. Baker, ―A Second Peep at Factory Life‖ (1840),
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WEEK 11:
Tuesday 11/8 – The Age of Jackson
Reading: Chapter 11. The Rise of Democracy [1824-1840] (USANH)
Shaara pps. 74-102
Documents: Petition of Cherokee Women (1817),
Thursday 11/10 – Revivalism and Reform
Reading: Chapter 12. The Fires of Perfection [1820-1850] (USANH)
Shaara pps. 103-132
Documents: Charles G. Finney, ―Sinners Bound to Change Their Own Hearts‖ (1836)
WEEK 12:
Tuesday 11/15 – The Peculiar Institution
Reading: Chapter 13. The Old South [1820-1860] (USANH)
Shaara pps. 133-159
Documents: excerpts from Autobiography of Linda Brent (Harriet Jacobs) (1861)
Thursday 11/17 – Manifest Destiny
Reading: Chapter 14. Western Expansion and the Rise of the Slavery Issue [1820-1850]
(USANH)
Shaara pps. 160-190
Documents: Wilmot Proviso (1846)
WEEK 13:
Tuesday 11/22 – Life in the West
CHANGE OF DESIGNATION DAY—THURSDAY classes
Reading: Shaara pps. 190-250
Documents: Cross Cultural Encounters in California (1848-1850)
Thursday 11/24 – Thanksgiving Holiday, NO CLASSES
Reading: Shaara pps. 251-318
WEEK 14:
Tuesday 11/29 – The Coming of the Civil War
Reading: Chapter 15. The Union Broken (USANH)
Shaara pps. 319-350
Documents: Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858)
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Thursday 12/1 – The Civil War I
Reading: Chapter 16. Total War and the Republic (1861-1865) (USANH)
Shaara pps. 351-374
Documents: No additional documents; be prepared to discuss Shaara on this day
WEEK 15:
Tuesday 12/6 – Reconstruction from the Top Down
Reading: Chapter 17. Reconstructing the Union, 1865-1877 (USANH)
Documents: 14th and 15th Amendments
Thursday 12/8 –Black Power and Backlash –
PAPER 2 on Shaara’s The Killer Angels due
No Reading Assignment today.
In class assignment: We will read and analyze documents related to the efforts of newly
freed blacks to gain economic, social, and political power, and the backlash that ensued
against them.
WEEK 16:
Tuesday 12/13 – Final Class
Discussion of major themes in course in preparation for Final Examination
WEEK 17: FINAL EXAM
Tuesday December 20, 3:00-6:00 p.m.
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