MID CENTURY CHALLENGES TO BRITISH AUTHORITY

I. The Great Awakening

II. American Enlightenment

II. French and Indian War

III. Economic Shift

IV. Land Conflicts
A. Susquehannah Company
(Pennamite Wars)
B. Paxton Boys
C. South Carolina Regulators
D. North Carolina Regulators
E. The Boston Fire of 1860

V. Significance

Colonial Virginia

I. Founding Pains
A. Settlement
B. Headright
C. House of Burgesses
D. Royal Colony

II. Economy: “The Crop that Cureth”
A. The Chesapeake
B. Labor trouble
Indentured Servitude
Slavery

III. Cavalier Culture
A. Violence
B. Bacon’s Rebellion

IV. Significance

Plymouth Rock

COLONIAL EPITAPHS

In Memory of Mr JOHN GOODSPEED Who departed thisLife Aug ye 28 1786 in ye 66th yearof his Age. Mark traveller this humble stone 'Tis death's kind warning to prepare Thou too must hasten to the tomb And mingle with corruption there

In memory of Freeman Kingman Son of Simeon Kingman & Rebecca his wife who was drowned Jan 14 1793 in the 12th yearof his age. Also in memory of their infant daughter who died Oct 13 1791

In Memory ofMrs Abigail Sturgis Relict of Sam'l Sturgis Esq'r of Barnstable who died February 9 1795in the 63 Yearof her Age

Philander Shaw Son ofthe Rev Philander Shaw & Mrs Lucy his wife died Jan'y 27th 1800 aged 7 weeks

In Memory ofPrince Son to Mr John& Mrs Mary Bodfishhe died Oct'r 4 1793in ye 3 year of his age. Come now behold and shed a tear To see a first born slainWho liv'd and died in innocence And turned to dust again

Here lies Ye Body ofABIGAIL WINSLOW LEWIS Daug'r of Mr WINSLOW& Mrs MARY LEWIS died June 30th 1767 Aged 12 Years

Here lies the Body ofMrs ABIGAIL ADAMS the amiable Consort of Dr SAMUEL ADAMS who died in Childbed July 8th 1774in the 24th Yearof her Age

Here lie the Remains of Rev Mr JOHN AVERY Who Departed this Life ye23d of April 1754 in the69th Year of His Age and44th of His Ministry and the First Pastor Ordained inthis Place.
In this dark cavern, in this lonesome GraveHere lies the honest, pious, virtuous FriendHim, Kind Heav'n to us priest and doctor gaveAs such he lived, as such we mourn his end

Here are deposited the Remains ofMr BENJAMIN BANGS who departed this Lif eOctober 31st Anno Domini 1769Aged 48 Years and 4 Months. Some hearty friend shall drop his tearOn my dry Bones and say"These once were strong as mine appearAnd mine must be as they" Thus shall our moulding Members teach What now our Senses learnFor Dust and Ashes loudest preachMan's infinite Concern
In Memory ofCapt SOLOMON BANGS who died Jan'y 19th1797Aged 68 Years EDMOND FREEMANBORN IN ENGLAND 1590DIED IN SANDWICH 1682. A FOUNDEROF THETOWN OF SANDWICHIN 1637. ASSISTANT TOGOVERNOR BRADFORD1640 - 1647

HERE LYES BURIEDTHE BODY OF MrsRUTH CHIPMANAGED 71 YEARSDIED OCTOBER Ye 4th1713. Blessed are ye DeadThat die in the Lord

Here lieth Jesseye Son of Merina Negro Servant to Melatiah Bourne Esq died Septye 17 1737 Aged2 Years and 6 Mo

HERE LYETH Ye BODYOF SHEARJASHUB BOURNESQ'R WHO DEPARTED THISLIFE MARCH Ye 7th 1718/19IN THE 76 YEAR OF HIS AGE HE WAS A VIRTUOUS RIGHTEOUS & MERCIFUL MANAND A GREAT FRIEND TO Ye INDIANS. PRECIOUS IN Ye SIGHT OF YeLORDIS Ye DEATH OF THIS SAINT

THE COLONIZERS

I. Remember, colonies=tensions.
(Anglo-Indian, Anglo-French, etc.)

A. French: (mainly Jesuit priests)
Giovanni da Verazzano: 1524

French priest: "It is you women who are the cause of all our misfortunes... it is you who keep the demons among us. You are lazy about going to prayers; when you pass before the cross you never salute it; you wish to be independent. Now, know that you will obey your husbands."

Quebec: 1608

B. The Dutch:1609-1644:
Hudson River Valley
Peter Stuyvesant
New Amsterdam: 1624
Dutch West India Company
Manhattan in 1700

C. The English:

Why colonize?
Ø Religious Reasons
Ø Social Reasons
Ø Economic Reasons

1. Pilgrims: Plymouth, 1620

Mayflower Compact: Why is this considered the first
document that establishes American democracy?

IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc.
Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and of one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony: unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the 11 of November, the year of the reign of our sovereign Lord James; of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Ano Dom. 1620.

2. The Puritans

a. Religious Life:
Puritan Theology

Heresy:
Roger Williams
--complete separation of church and state
--1635=banished

Anne Hutchinson
--“you have rather been a husband than a wife.”
--1638: banished
--1642=killed

3. Danger in N.E.--Witchcraft
Magic in Puritan society

The Witch Hunt Itself
--175 arrested, 28 convicted, 22 executed

II. Virginia:
Colonial Virginia

I. Founding Pains
A. Settlement
B. Headright
C. House of Burgesses
D. Royal Colony

II. Economy: “The Crop that Cureth”
A. The Chesapeake
B. Labor trouble
Indentured Servitude
Slavery

III. Cavalier Culture
A. Violence
B. Bacon’s Rebellion

IV. Significance

BF your BFF

Reading Guide for The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Historian Walter Isaacson tells us, Franklin "had faith in the wisdom of the common man and felt that a new nation would draw its strength from what he called 'the middling people'...The essence of Franklin is that he was a civic-minded man. He cared more about public behavior than inner piety, and he was more interested in building the City of Man than the City of God."

You will not turn these questions in, but will should guide your reading and aid your understanding of this book. The more specific page numbers you use, the better our discussion will be.

1. Describe the tone of this autobiography. Point to examples of Franklin’s tone sounding arrogant. Point to examples of Franklin’s humility.

2. How would you describe young Ben's attitude toward education, work, and financial success? Give an example or two to illustrate your answer.

3. In Part 3 of the Autobiography Franklin reflects on the problems encountered when governments are in the hands of people who pursue their own private interests at the expense of the public good. What solution does he advocate? How realistic do you think it is?

4. Give some examples of how Franklin spends his time making society better. Why do you think he does this? What is the purpose of the Junto club?

5. Give some examples of how Franklin spends time trying to improve himself.

6. What was Franklin’s daily life like?

7. Describe Franklin’s religious beliefs. What does the passage about George Whitefield say about Franklin’s view of religion?

8. And finally, do you think he was right in recognizing the tendency of politicians to seek after their own interest at the expense of the public good? Can you cite examples of such behavior in our current state, local, and national government?

9. Can values be taught in schools? Should they be? Is it possible to agree on a single list of “virtues”? Former Secretary of Education and sometime Republican presidential candidate, William Bennett, in his best selling Book of Virtues, suggests that every American school boy and girl should be made to read and study the values contained in this eighteenth-century book. What are those values? Are they still applicable today?

CREATION STORIES

Yaudanchi Creation Account
(The Yaudanchi live in the south-central San Joaquin Valley of California).

Everything was water except a very small piece of ground. On this were the eagle and the coyote. Then the turtle swam to them. They sent it to dive for the earth at the bottom of the water. The turtle barely succeeded in reaching the bottom and touching it with its foot.
When it came up again, all the earth seemed washed out. Coyote looked closely at its nails. At last he found a grain of earth. Then he and the eagle took this and laid it down. From it they made the earth as large as it is. From the earth they also made six men and six women.
They sent these out in pairs in different directions and the people separated. After a time the eagle sent the coyote to see what the
people were doing. Coyote came back and said: "They are doing something bad. They are eating the earth. One side is already gone." The eagle said: " That is bad. Let us make something for them to eat. Let us send the dove to find something." The dove went out. It found a single grain of meal. The eagle and coyote put this down on the ground. Then the earth became covered with seeds and fruit. Now they told the people to eat these. When the seeds were dry and ripe the people gathered them. Then the people increased and spread all over. But the water is still under the world.



White River Lakota Origin Story

Rabbit Boy:
In the old days, there lived a rabbit - a very lively, playful, good-hearted rabbit. One day this rabbit was walking, enjoying himself, when he came across a clot of blood. How it got there, nobody knows. It looked like a blister, a little bladder full of red liquid. Well, the playful rabbit began toying with that clot of blood, kicking it around as if it were a tiny ball. Now, we Indians believe in Takuskanskan, the mysterious power of motion. Its spirit is in anything that moves. It animates things and makes them come alive.
Well, the rabbit got into this strange moving power without even knowing it, and the motion of being kicked around, or rather the spirit of the motion - and I hope you can grasp what I mean by that - began to work on the little blob of blood so that it took shape, forming a little gut.
The rabbit kicked it some more, and the blob began to grow tiny hands and arms. The rabbit kept nudging it, and suddenly it had eyes and a beating heart. In this way the rabbit, with the help of the mysterious moving power, formed a human being, a little boy. The rabbit called him "We-Ota-Wichasha", Much-Blood Boy, but he is better known as Rabbit Boy. The rabbit took him to his wife, and both of them loved this strange little boy as if he were their only son. They dressed him up in a beautiful buckskin shirt, which they painted with the sacred red color and decorated with designs made of porcupine quills.
The boy grew up happily among the rabbits. When he was almost a man, the old rabbit took him aside and said: "Son, I must tell you that you are not what you think you are - a rabbit like me. You are a human. We love you and we hate to let you go, but you must leave and find your own people." Rabbit Boy started walking until he came to a village of human beings, where he saw boys who looked like himself. He went into the village. The people could not help staring at this strange boy in his beautiful buckskin clothes.
"Where are you from?" they asked him. "I am from another village," said Rabbit Boy, though this was not true. There was no other village in the whole world, for as I told you, the earth was still in its beginning. In the village was a beautiful girl who fell in love with Rabbit Boy, not only for his fine clothes, but also for his good looks and kind heart. Her people, too, wanted him to marry into the village, wanted a man with his great mystery power to live among them. And Rabbit Boy had a vision. In it he was wrestling with the sun, racing the sun, playing hand games with the sun - and always winning. But Iktome, the wicked Spider Man, the mean trickster, prankster, and witch doctor, wanted that beautiful girl for himself. He began to say bad things about Rabbit Boy.
"Look at him," Iktome said, "showing off his buckskin outfit to us who are too poor to have such fine things." And to the men he also said:
"How come you're letting him marry a girl from your village?" He also told them:
"In case you want me to, I have a magic hoop to throw over that Rabbit Boy. It will make him helpless." Several boys said, "Iktome is right." They were jealous of Rabbit Boy on account of his strange power, his wisdom and generosity. They began to fight him, and Spider Man threw his magic hoop over him. Though it had no effect on Rabbit Boy, he pretended to be helpless to amuse himself. The village boys and young men tied Rabbit Boy to a tree with rawhide thongs. The evil Spider Man was encouraging them: "Let's take our butchering knives and cut him up!" "Friends, *kola-pila,*.." said Rabbit Boy, "if you are going to kill me, let me sing my death song first." And he sang: Friends, friends,I have fought the sun. He tried to burn me up,But he could not do it. Even battling the sun, I held my own. After the death song, the villagers killed Rabbit Boy and cut him up into chunks of meat, which they put in a soup pot. But Rabbit Boy was not hurt easily. A storm arose, and a great cloud hid the face of the sun, turning everything into black night.
When the cloud was gone, the chunks of meat had disappeared without a trace. But those who had watched closely had seen the chunks forming up again into a body, had seen him going up to heaven on a beam of sunlight. A wise old medicine man said, "This Rabbit Boy really has powerful medicine: he has gone up to see the sun. Soon he will come back stronger than before, because up there he will be given the sun's power. Let's marry him to that girl of ours." But the jealous spider, Iktome, said, "Why bother about him? Look at me: I am much more powerful than Rabbit Boy! Here, tie me up too; cut me up! Be quick!" Iktome thought he remembered Rabbit Boy's song. He thought there was power in it - magic strength. But Iktome did not remember the words right. He sang, Friends, friends,I have fought the moon, She tried to fight, But I won. Even battling the moon,I came out on top.
They cut Iktome up, as he had told them, but he never came to life again.
The spider had finally outsmarted himself. Evil tricksters always do.

COURSE SYLLABUS

HISTORY 231-1 80141, MoWeFr 7:55AM - 9:15AM, Music Bldg 112
HISTORY 231-2 80142, TuTh 9:30AM - 11:35AM, DDH 103H

Office: Faculty Towers 201A
Instructor: Dr. Schmoll
Office Hours: MWF 11-12, TTh 8:30-9:30
…OR MAKE AN APPOINTMENT!!!
Email: bschmoll@csub.edu
Office Phone: 654-6549

Course Description:
The colonial foundations; political, economic, social and cultural developments in the emerging United States; the early agrarian republic; the Civil War.

Required Reading:

1. Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Author: Franklin, Publisher: Trileteral, Edition: 2, Year Published: 2003, ISBN 9780300098587
2. Five Civilized Tribes:Cherokee,Chickasaw,Choctaw,, Author: Grant Foreman, Publisher: Univ of OK, Year Published: 1982, ISBN 0806109238
3. Celia, A Slave, Author: Malcolm McLaurin, Publisher: Harper, Year Published: 1991 ISBN 0380803364
4. A History of the American People, Author: Paul Johnson, Publisher: Harper, Year Published: 1997
5. Weekly blog readings: Each week you will have both primary and secondary sources to read on the blog.

The Blog: If you have questions or comments about this class, or if you want to see the course reader or the syllabus online, just go to our course blog: http://history231fall2010.blogspot.com/
You need to sign in to this blog this week.
You will also have short weekly readings on the blog. The picture outlines, study guides, and just some valuable historical loot can be found at our course blog. Check it often!








GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:
Educational theorists insist that the stating of goals and objectives before entering into an instruction-rich environment is crucial. Hence, I am including here the goals and objectives created by the History Department. If you’d like to read more about the way we learn history, Sam Wineburg, at Stanford, has some wonderful theory on how we adopt historical learning practices. (For example, look up the following articles, Wineburg, S. (1991). On the reading of historical texts: Notes on the breach between school and academy. American Educational Research Journal, 28(3), 495-519. Wineburg, S. & Schneider, J. (2009). Was Bloom’s taxonomy pointed in the wrong direction? Phi Delta Kappan, 91 (4), 56-61.) None of these ideas seem to have been incorporated in what is the official statement of the History Department. Instead, the department seems to define “goals” and “objectives” as events rather than skills. In this course, however, we will grapple with what it means to learn and with the way that the brain engages in historical thinking at certain moments. Hence, this will not only be a course about history, about a bunch of stuff that happened(which is what the goals below seem to suggest), but will also be a course about memory, about the processing of information, about writing effectively from various authorial positions, about why our brains work the way they do and how constructing an historical argument can engage the brain, and about thinking about history itself. We will get meta-cognitive! (and yes, we’ll define that term in class) Obviously, we’ll cover the official goals that follow, and we will respect the departmental guidelines, but we will sacrifice those goals in the interest of quality instruction. For example, if we are having a brilliant discussion on Andrew Jackson, and we begin cutting into the time that I had planned to spend on, let’s say, the Anti-Mason movement, we will sacrifice the Anti-Masons in the interest of real learning. Quantity of history is not, as opposed to what is printed below, the key to sound history learning!
History Department Course Goals and Objectives for History 231 U.S. History to 1865:
Goal 1:
Students will learn the chronology and topical organization of U.S. history from the origins of European colonization to the conclusion of the Civil War.
Objective #1:
Students will be able to identify the major chronological divisions of U.S. history and discuss in writing how and why scholars have divided the past into various periods.
Objective #2:
Students will be able to identify the major topical divisions of U.S. history and recognize on objective tests and discuss in writing the significance of such topics as epidemic disease in the founding period, the role of political ideology in the coming of the Revolution, the rise of slavery and abolitionism, the political consequences of westward expansion, and the origins of the Civil War.
Goal 2:
Student will learn about the origins of European colonization and the consequences of contact among the peoples of America, Europe, and Africa in the colonial period.
Objective #1:
Students will be able to explain the motivations behind European colonization of the New World, the origins of the transAtlantic slave trade, the rise of the plantation economies, and the roles of mercantilism and religious persecution in the founding of the American colonies.
Objective #2:
Students will be able to define and discuss such terms as Columbian Exchange, virgin-soil epidemics, and Eurocentrism.
Goal 3:
Students will acquire an understanding of the principal political documents of U.S. history, including but not limited to the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution, Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers, and the Emancipation Proclamation.
Objective #1:
Students will be able to write about the core political ideology of the American Revolution as embodied in the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution.
Objective #2:
Students will be able to explain the historical context and significance of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Goal 4:
Students will acquire an appreciation and understanding of diversity through the study of the history of the contributions of ethnic and racial minorities and women.
Objective #1:
Students will be able to write about and discuss orally the contributions of African Americans to early American history in terms of labor, society and culture.
Objective #2:
Students will be able to write about and discuss orally the contributions of and the prescribed role of women in colonial America and how that role changed as a result of the American Revolution and the subsequent urbanization of the United States.
Goal 5:
Students will learn about the lives of significant individuals in American history.
Objective #1:
Students will be able to identify on objective tests and/or essays the significant individuals in the history of the United States from colonial times to 1865.
Objective #2:
Students will be able to write about the contributions of a number of important people in the history of the United States from colonial times to 1865.
Goal 6:
Students will learn about the importance of republican principles and civic education in the sustaining of the American political system.
Objective #1:
Students will be able to identify the core principles of republicanism and the role of an educated electorate through an examination of a number of historical crises in the era preceding 1865, e.g. the colonial debate over taxation and representation, the struggle for the ratification of the Constitution, the Missouri Compromise, the Mexican War, the Nullification Crisis, the Compromise of 1850, and the Secessionist Crisis.
Goal 7:
Students will learn the geographical setting for historical events and the role expansion played in American history.
Objective #1:
Students will be able to identify on maps and/or objective exams and essays the important geographic settings, locations, and context for historical events.

Graded Coursework:
The work you do in this course is listed below. For each of those areas, the best way to succeed will be to come in to receive extra help. Both exams will have multiple choice questions based on the lectures and readings. Hence, it may be a good idea to have me look over your notes. If it does not seem that you are taking sufficient notes, or if you are taking too many, I’ll give you some guidance. The earlier we can catch these issues the better. The final exam will also include an essay. I would love to go over in-class essay writing standards in my office. Come by and we’ll talk about that. There’s also an out of class essay. That should be heavily revised, something else I’d love to help you do. Simply bring a rough draft by my office and we’ll talk. Be active!

Grading Scale:
Participation: 10%
Indian Removal Debate: 5%
The Essay: 25%
Midterm Exam 30%
Final Exam: 30%

Attendance:
Just to be clear, to succeed on tests and papers you really should be in class. That’s just common sense, right? To pass this class, you may not miss more than two classes. If you miss that third class meeting, you are missing too much of the quarter. You cannot do that and pass.
So, here’s what we do. Do your best to not miss any class unnecessarily. Let’s say your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife calls and wants to take you to Tahiti this weekend, but you won’t be back until late Tuesday night. Here’s what you say: “Honey, I love you, but Dr. Schmoll seems to value my education more than you do, so we are breaking up.” Ok, that may be harsh, so don’t do that, but just make sure that you do not miss any class until the 8th week. What I’ve found is that it seems inevitable that those who miss two classes early for pathetic reasons like doctor’s appointments that should have been more carefully scheduled get to the 8th week and then have to miss for a legitimate reason (like a surprise meeting at work, a sick child to take care of, or a flat tire). If you get to that 8th week and then have to miss your third class, it’ll be bad. By that point, I’ll be kind, compassionate, a real shoulder to cry on, if you want, when telling you that you’ve now failed the course. Now, if you make it to the 8th or 9th week and you have not missed those two classes, then you have some wiggle room, so that if, heaven forbid, your cat Poopsie gets pneumonia and you have to sit up all night bottle-feeding her liquid antibiotics, you and I don’t have to have that ugly conversation where I tell you that Poopsie gets blamed for you failing the course. Let’s put this another way; do you like movies? No way, me too! When you go to the movies do you usually get up and walk around the theatre for 10-15% of the movie? Let’s say you do decide to do that, out of a love of popcorn and movie posters, perhaps. If you did that, would you expect to understand the whole story? Okay, maybe if you are watching Harold and Kumar, but for anything else, you’ll be lost. So, please, get to class.

Being Prompt:
Get to class on time. Why does that matter? First, it sends the wrong message to your principal grader (that’s me). As much as we in the humanities would like you to believe that these courses are objective (at what time of day did the Battle of Gettysburg begin?), that is not entirely the case. If you send your principal grader the message that you don’t mind missing the first few minutes and disturbing others in the class, don’t expect to be given the benefit of the doubt when the tests and papers roll around. Does that sound mean? It’s not meant to, but just remember, your actions send signals. Being late also means that someone who already has everything out and is ready and is involved in the discussion has to stop, move everything over, get out of the chair to let you by, pick up the pencil you drop, let you borrow paper, run to the bathroom because you spilled the coffee, and so on. It’s rude. There’s an old saying: better two hours early than two minutes late. Old sayings are good.
So, what are the consequences of persistent tardiness? What do you think they should be? Remember that 10% participation? You are eligible for that grade if you are on time. By the way, if you are more than 15 minutes late, it is considered an absence. Get here on time. And no, I’m not the jackass who watches for you to be late that one time and stands at the door and points in your face. One time tardiness is not a problem precisely because it is not persistent. It’s an accident. If you are late a three times, however, you will lose the entire 10% participation grade.

The Unforgivable Curse:
Speaking of one time issues, there is something that is so severe, so awful, that if it happens one time, just one time, no warning, no “oh hey I noticed this and if you could stop it that’d be super,” you will automatically lose all 10 percent of the Participation grade. Any guesses? C’mon, you must have some idea. No, it’s not your telephone ringing. If that happens, it’ll just be slightly funny and we’ll move on. It’s a mistake and not intentional, and the increased heart rate and extra sweat on your brow from you diving headfirst into an overstuffed book bag to find a buried phone that is now playing that new Lady Gaga ringtone is punishment enough for you. So, what is it, this unforgivable crime? Texting. If you take out your phone one time to send or receive messages you will automatically lose 10% of your course grade. That means, if you receive a final grade of 85%, it will drop to 75%. If you receive a final grade of 75%, it will become a 65%. Just to make this more concrete, just last quarter, three people lost their whole participation and hence did no pass the class because of texting. Why is that? The phone ringing is an accident. Texting is on purpose and is rude. It, in fact, is beyond rude. It wreaks of the worst of our current society. It bespeaks the absolutely vile desire we all have to never separate from our technological tether for even a moment. It sends your fellow classmates and your teacher the signal that you have better things to do. Checking your phone during class is like listening to a friend’s story and right in the middle turning away and talking to someone else. Plus, the way our brains work, you need to fully immerse yourself, to tune your brain into an optimal, flowing machine (see Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s incredible book Flow) that can grasp and can let itself go. Students now tend to see school as a stopover on their way to a career. Brothers and sisters, that’s deadly! I wish that I could pay for you all to quit your jobs and just focus on the mind. I can’t yet do that, but if I could I would, because it’d be worth every penny. Devoting time to the mind and to thinking deeply about your world will change who you are and how you approach your future, your family, your job, and your everything. Is that overstated? I believe it to be true. So, until my stock choices really take off so that I can pay all of your bills, promise me one thing. When you are in class or preparing for class, you have to be fully here. Oh crap, now it’s going to sound like a hippy professor from the 1960s: “I mean, like, be here man, just be here.” Maybe the hippies were on to something. Devote yourself fully to your classes by unplugging from the outside world for awhile.

Laptops:
The same principal goes for laptops, too. Remember, if you are taking notes on a laptop, something I think is great, you may not be on the internet at the same time. Yes, you may go to the course blog for the outline or to a document we are using in class, but you may not check email or facebook, or access anything else online. The reason why merits repeating; devote yourself fully to your classes by unplugging from the outside world for awhile.

Class Climate:
No, I don’t mean whether it’s going to rain in here or not. Sometimes I’ll lecture at you, but even then, your participation is vital. How can you participate when someone is lecturing? Any ideas? Turn to a neighbor and tell them the story of your first day at school in kindergarten. Now, if you are the one listening to the story, right in the middle look away, look at your watch, sneer at them, roll your eyes, yawn, wave to someone across the room, nudge a person next to you and tell them a joke, all while the other person is telling about his or her first day of kindergarten. If this happens in social setting we call it rude, and we call the people who listen in that way jackasses. They are not our friends precisely because we deeply value listening and do not put up with those who do not listen well. Right? So, there will be lecturing, and if you abhor what we are doing, then fake it. I used to do that sometimes too: “oh no, professor, I love hearing you talk about President Reagan’s policies of supply side economics.” If we listen to psychologists, by faking interest you’ll be learning much more than if you show your disinterest. The next time you are sad force yourself to smile and you’ll see what I mean. So, sometimes there will be lecture. At other times there will be discussion of short readings that we do in class. During these times, it’s crucial that you do the silly little exercises: turn to a neighbor; find someone you don’t know and discuss this or that; explain to your friend what we just went over in lecture; pick something from the reading to disagree with; find two people on the other side of the room; throw cash at your professor…ok, maybe not that last one. This class is a bit unique in that it violates the normally accepted activity systems of college history classrooms. What we do in discussion will help solidify the concepts of each section of this course in your brain. If you are active in class, you will have to study less, and you’ll find yourself remembering much more.

Reading:
How many of you love reading? I did not read a book until I was 18, so if you have not yet started your journey on this ever widening path, it’s never too late. In any course, there’s no substitute for reading. Theorist Jim Moffett says that “all real writing happens from plentitude,” meaning that you can only really write well about someone once you know about it. Reading is one way to know—not the only, by any means! I want you to have experiences with great texts. I can show you voluminous research proving why you nee to read more, but then if I assign a stupid, long, expensive textbook you probably will end up not reading, or only reading to have the reading done, something we have all done, right? The economy now requires much higher literacy rates (see The World is Flat), and even though reading levels have not gone down in the last 40 years, it is crucial that you start to push your own reading so that your own literacy level goes up. For these ten weeks, diving wholeheartedly into the course reading is vital. Remember to read in a particular way. As reading expert and UCSB professor Sheridan Blau has argued, “reading is as much a process of text production as writing is.” Reading involves revision? Does that sound silly? As you read, think about the different ways that you understand what you read. Most importantly, when you read, think about the words of E.D. Hirsch, who says that we look at what a text says (reading), what it means (interpretation), and why it matters (criticism). Hey, but if you are in a history course, aren’t you supposed to be reading for exactly the number of miles of trenches that were dug in World War One, how many railroad workers died from 1890 to 1917, or what the causes of the Great Depression were? Anyway, the answer is yes and no. There are two types of reading that you’ll do in college. As the literary goddess theorist Louise Rosenblatt explains, there is aesthetic reading, where you are reading to have an experience with the text, and there is efferent reading, where you are reading to take away information from the text. You do both types all the time. Think about a phone book. You have probably never heard someone say of a phone book, “don’t tell me about it, I want to read it for myself.” Reading a phone book is purely efferent. In this course you will practice both types of reading. I have chosen texts that you can enjoy (aesthetic) and that you can learn from(efferent). I want to see and appreciate the detail in our reading, but in this course I’ll give you that detail in class lectures. In the reading, it’s much more important that you read texts that will live with you forever and to inspire you to think more thoroughly about your world. As you read, you should be working hard to create meaning for yourself. As Rosenblatt asserts, “taking someone else’s interpretation as your own is like having someone else eat your dinner for you.” Please, don’t let the numbskulls at wikipedia or sparknotes eat your dinner for you.

Participation: You do not need to be the person who speaks out the most, asks the most questions, or comes up with the most brilliant historical arguments to receive full credit in participation. If you are in class and on time, discuss the issues that we raise, avoid the temptation to nod off, to leave early, or to text people during class (the three easiest ways to lose credit), and in general act like you care, then you will receive a good participation grade! Just being here does not guarantee a 100% participation grade, since you must be regularly actively involved for that to be possible.

Academic Honesty
You are responsible for knowing all college policies about academic honesty. Any student who plagiarizes any part of his or her papers may receive an “F” in the course and a letter to the Dean.
Essay Assignment
Just so that you can get started in your thinking on this assignment, here it is:
FORMAT: 3-4 PAGES, DOUBLE-SPACED, TYPED

Section 1: Essay Due FRIDAY, 11/15
Section 2: Essay Due TUESDAY, 11/16
THE ESSAY IS DUE TO TURNITIN.COM BY MIDNIGHT OF THE DUE DATE. WE’LL DISCUSS TURNITIN.COM AT LENGTH IN CLASS.
Remember, the best way to be certain that your essay is ready to be turned in as a final draft is to bring me a rough draft in the days before the final draft is due so that we can revise it together. I CAN ONLY REVISE ONE DRAFT WITH YOU, SO REVISE AND EDIT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE BEFORE BRINGING ME A ROUGH DRAFT.

Remember, your own original analysis of whichever question you choose is crucial. If you are thinking of this history paper as a description of a book or two, think again! Simple description is pointless; make an argument! Again, these issues will be discussed further on the blog and in class.

In a well argued and thoroughly revised essay, answer one of the following questions:

1. Considering Celia, A Slave, and at least two of the Slave Narratives from the American Memory Project what role did violence play in maintaining order on the plantation?
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html

2. Compare and contrast Sally Hemmings and Celia.
Here are some good sources on Hemmings:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/

3. What was the meaning of music on in the antebellum slave community?
http://www.pbs.org/jazz/time/time_slavery.htm
http://americanabolitionist.liberalarts.iupui.edu/plantation_life.htm

4. If you have read The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass, this one may be for you: Compare and contrast Celia’s attack of Robert Newsom and Frederick Douglass’ fight with the overseer Covey.

5. What was more important in maintaining the discipline of the plantation, physical or psychological control?

6. MAKE UP YOUR OWN TOPIC...you must clear the topic with me or your assignment will not be accepted.

Finally, after all of that, phew, here’s the schedule for our course. We will surely change this schedule based on the needs of the individual section and our own class timing, but if any of the due dates change, I will alert as soon as humanly possible!

COURSE SCHEDULE
Week One: 9/13 to 9/17
Intro/Pre-Columbian Americas
“Discovery” and Exploration/Focus on Magellan
Hand out Reading Guide to Franklin

Week Two: 9/20 to 9/24
Early English and Other Colonies:
Labor Troubles/ Great Awakening/American Enlightenment

Week Three: 9/27 to 10/1
Mid-Century Challenges/
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Due Section 1: 9/29
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Due Section 2: 9/30
Week Four: 10/4 to 10/8
Revolutionary War/Making a New Nation/The U.S. Constitution

Week Five: 10/11 to 10/15
Early National Period/Jefferson’s America
MIDTERM EXAM Section 1: Wednesday, 10/13
MIDTERM EXAM Section 2: Thursday, 10/14

Week Six: 10/18 to 10/22
International Conflicts: War of 1812/Early Industrialism/
The 1820s and The World of Andrew Jackson
Section 1: Five Civilized Tribes Due on Friday, 10/22
Section 2: Five Civilized Tribes Due on Thursday, 10/21

Week Seven: 10/25 to 10/29
Cherokee Removal Debate Prep/Cherokee Removal Debate
“Secret Life of a Developing Country”

Week Eight: 11/1 to 11/5
Section 1: Celia, A Slave Due Monday, 11/1
Section 2: Celia, A Slave Due Tuesday, 11/2“Cycles of Distrust”
War with Mexico and other Western Issues

Week Nine: 11/8 to 11/12
Section 1: Essay Due Wednesday, 11/10
Section 2: Essay Due Tuesday, 11/911/11 VETERAN’S DAY…CAMPUS CLOSED

Week Ten: 11/15 to 11/19 LAST DAY OF CLASSES
“Cycles of Distrust”—Sectionalism
Civil War: From Bull Run to the Gettysburg Address

FINAL EXAM History 231 Section 1 Monday November 22, 8-10:30
FINAL EXAM History 231 Section 2 Tuesday November 23, 11-1:30