History 324: Nationalism and War—The United States, 1790-1877

Goshen College

Spring 2005; MWF, 12:00 noon

Wyse Hall, Room 319

Prof. Steve Nolt

office: Wyse Hall 312

telephone: (office) 535-7460; (home) 534-6438

e-mail: stevemn@goshen.edu

course web site: http://courses.goshen.edu

Course overview:

Having rejected the one thing they had in common—British rule—white Americans on the eve of the nineteenth century created an identity and constructed the myths needed to sustain a new nationalism. Slavery was a central and contested part of this identity, contested to the point of frightful Civil War. Through it all, American nationalism continued to claim the power to “reconstruct” society. The following course of study will give special attention to these themes:

(1) Competing notions of liberty and the relationship of land and liberty.

(2) Democratization and its discontents, including its legacy for the 21^st century United States.

(3) Slavery, not only as a Southern institution, but as a central feature of national culture.

(4) The power and limitations of Christianity to shape American society.

(5) The role of memory—individual and collective—in shaping history, myth, action, and ideals.

Course goals:

(1) To gain knowledge of the events, people, and issues of this period, especially related to the themes, above.

(2) To identify various perspectives on a given event or topic and consider what historical sources tell us about the past and how we can interpret them in context.

(3) To think historically, evaluate sources, consider contexts, and construct arguments and raise and answer counter-arguments.

(4) To improve written and oral communication skills.

Grading and other requirements:

Evaluation will be based on 525 possible points:

Quizzes and response papers 50 points

Three written essays 70 points (each)

Civil War map quiz 20 points

Reconstruction book review 70 points

Midterm examination 75 points

Final examination 100 points

Final letter grades are figured at 90%=A; 80%=B; 70%=C; 60%=D.

Attendance policy: Attendance is expected. Notice of excused absences for athletic or school-related functions should be presented prior to the absence. Quizzes given on days of unexcused absences cannot be made up.

Extensions on written assignments are granted only in unusual circumstances, but do consult with me if you think you will be facing such a situation. The grade for any late written work, other than for medical reasons or otherwise cleared with the instructor in advance, will be reduced ten percent per day for each day that it is late. Assignments due on days when a student has a school-related activity (e.g., field trip, athletic event) must be handed in by the due date.

Assignments:

(1) Three written essays and a book review. The first paper will be due at the beginning of class Monday, January 31, and will be based on primary sources in The Cherokee Removal. The second, due at the beginning of class, Monday, February 14, will compare aspects of the Feller and Reiss books. A third essay, due at the beginning of class on Monday, March 14, will be based on political party primary sources. Each paper will be 5 pages in length, thesis-oriented, and evaluated on historical content and argumentation, as well as writing style and grammar. A four-page review of Foner’s A Short History of Reconstruction is due at the beginning of class on Wednesday, April 13. Details for all four papers are on the course web page under “Assignments.”

(2) As a means of building accountability for the reading assignments, there will be short quizzes on the reading scattered throughout the semester. These will be given at the beginning of class on five random days, and will consist of five questions about the day’s reading. On five other days a one-page reading response will be due. Each response will center on a question given by the instructor ahead of time.

(3) The map quiz will be given at the beginning of class, Wednesday, March 16. In advance you will receive a list of geographic features or locations and two outline maps for you to use in study/practice. For the quiz, you will be given other blank outline maps and asked to accurately mark twenty of the features or locations that I will choose from the longer list.

(4) A midterm exams and a final exam are scheduled for Friday, February 25, and Thursday, April 21. The midterm will include short-answer identification questions and two essay questions. The final will include short-answer identification questions and three essay questions.

Textbooks:

Alfred F. Young, The Shoemaker and the Tea Party: Memory and the American Revolution (Beacon, 1999).

Daniel Feller, The Jacksonian Promise: America, 1815-1840 (Johns Hopkins, 1995).

Theda Perdue and Michael Green, The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents, 2^nd ed. (Bedford, 2005).

Benjamin Reiss, The Showman and the Slave: Race, Death, and Memory in Barnum’s America (Harvard, 2001).

Bruce Levine, Half Slave and Half Free: The Roots of Civil War (Hill and Wang, 1992).

Eric Foner, A Short History of Reconstruction, 1863-1877 (Harper and Row, 1990).

Readings marked (*) are on reserve at the Good Library circulation desk and as E-Reserves.

Date Preparation for Class Class

W Jan 5

Course introduction, themes, goals, assumptions, assignments.

Emerging societies, politics, and economies, 1790-1840

F Jan 7	Read *Murrin, “A Roof Without Walls” in Beeman, Beyond Confederation, 333-48; Young, vii-51.	Topic: A fragile republic, 1790-1815.
M Jan 10	Read Young, 52-84.	Topic: The revolutionary legacy, social, political, intellectual.
W Jan 12	Read Young, 87-142; *Taylor, “From Fathers to Friends of the People: Political Persona in the Early Republic,” Journal of the Early Republic 11 (Winter 1991), 465-91.	Topic: Jeffersonian ideals and realities. Discussion: Taylor and Young.
F Jan 14	Read, Feller, xi-32, 53-75.	Topic: War, nationalism, and national identity.
M Jan 17	Martin Luther King, Jr. Study Day
W Jan 19	Read Feller, 33-52, 118-37; *Taylor, “The Early Republic’s Supernatural Economy: Treasure Seeking in the American Northeast, 1780-1830,” Am. Quart., 38 (Spring 1986), 6-34.			Topic: Market revolution and gentrification
F Jan 21	Begin reading Perdue and Green.			Topic: Native Americans, white migration, and the Old Northwest
M Jan 24	Continue Perdue and Green (finish as you complete your paper).			Topic: Jacksonian democracy—meanings and limits.
W Jan 26	Read *Gorn, “Gouge and Bite, Pull Hair and Scratch,” AHR 90 (Feb. 1985), 18-43; *Welter, “The Cult of True Womanhood,” Amer Quart. 18 (Summer 1966), 151-74.		Discussion: Gender construction in the Early Republic.
F Jan 28	Read Feller, 76-117.			Topic: Democratization of American Christianity.
M Jan 31	Finish reading Perdue and Green. Finish Cherokee essay.			Topic: Mormonism Cherokee essay due.
W Feb 2	Read Feller, 138-59.			Topic: Reformism and the Post Office as a window on society.
F Feb 4	Read Feller, 160-204; Young, 143-207.			Discussion: Feller and Young—evolving politics and memories.

Slavery and American popular and political cultures, 1820-1850

M Feb 7	Read Reiss, 1-70.	Topic: Slavery and its American form.
W Feb 9	Read Reiss, 71-142.	Topic: Slavery and its American form, cont. Discussion: Reiss.
F Feb 11	Read Reiss, 143-82; skim 183-207; read 211-24.	Discussion: Reiss book.
M Feb 14	Finish Feller-Reiss essay.	Topic: Slave resistance—Gabriel, Denmark Vesey, Nat Tuner, and others. Due: Feller-Reiss essay.
W Feb 16	Read Levine, 3-70.	Topic: Slave resistance, cont.
F Feb 18	Read Levine, 71-120.	Topic: The variety of antislavery thought and action.
M Feb 21	Read Levine, 121-44.	Topic: Manifest destiny, Texas, and War with Mexico.
W Feb 23	Read Levine, 145-59	Discussion: Levine, 177-224.
F Feb 25	Study for Midterm exam.	Midterm examination.

Spring Break

A nation at war with itself, 1850-1865
M Mar 7	Read *National political party platforms, 1848, 1852, 1856, and 1860.	Discussion: National political party platforms.
W Mar 9	Read Levine, 160-98.	Topic: Churches, slavery, and sectional politics.
F Mar 11	Read Levine, 199-242.	Topic: The Dred Scott case.
M Mar 14	Finish Party Platforms essay.	Topic: Secession and the Confederacy. Due: Party Platforms essay.
W Mar 16	Read *Mitchell, “Christian Soldiers? Perfecting the Confederacy,” in Religion and the American Civil War, Miller, et al., eds., 297-309.	Topic: The Confederacy, cont. Civil War map quiz.
F Mar 18	Read *McPherson, “Secession and Civil War, 1860-1862” and “A New Birth of Freedom, 1862-1865,” in Liberty, Equality, Power, 4^th ed. (complete), 464-532.	Discussion: McPherson.
M Mar 21	Read, *Wall, “Grace Under Pressure: The Nursing Sisters of the Holy Cross, 1861-1865,” Nursing History Review 1 (1993), 71-87.	Topic: Northern Indiana and the Civil War: military conscription, party politics, & women religious
W Mar 23	Read one of three essays: *Robisch, “General William T. Sherman”; *Rietveld, “The American Civil War”; *Juhnke and Hunter, “The Crossroads of Our Being.”	Discussion: Sharing readings, in groups of three, on moral interpretation and the Civil War.
F Mar 25	Good Friday

America reconstructed? 1862-1877

M Mar 28	Read *Calloway, ed., Our Hearts Fell to the Ground, 1-30.		Topic: The continuing war on Native Indian people, 1862 ff.
W Mar 30	Read *Calloway, ed., Our Hearts Fell to the Ground, 102-117, 133-67.		Discussion: Calloway sources.
F Apr 1	Read Foner, xi-34.	Topic: Reconstruction—an overview and its interpretations.
M Apr 4	Read Foner, 35-103	Discuss Foner readings thus far.
W Apr 6	Read Foner, 104-79	Topic: Reconstruction’s legal legacy—constitutional precedent.
F Apr 8	Read Foner, 180-237	Discussion: Foner and your reviews in process.
M Apr 11	Read Foner, 238-60	Topic: Civil War and American memory.
W Apr 13	Finish Foner book review.	Topic: Civil War and American memory, cont. Reconstruction book review due
F Apr 15	Read *“Black Memory and Progress of the Race,” in David W. Blight, Race and Reunion, 300-37.	Topic: An American legacy— healing without justice.

Monday, April 18: Reading Day

Final Exam: Thursday, 21 April, 8:00 a.m.

Academic Integrity: Plagiarism (the undocumented use of words or ideas from the works of others or from your own work prepared for another class) is not acceptable. Plagiarized assignments receive no credit. All cases of plagiarism or exam/quiz cheating are reported to the Office of the Associate Academic Dean for processing.

Academic Support: Goshen College wants to help all students be as academically successful as possible.  If you have a disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor early in the semester so that your learning needs may be appropriately met.  In order to receive accommodations, documentation concerning your disability must be on file with the Academic Support Center, Kulp Hall 004, phone 7576, margotmz@goshen.edu.  All information is held in strict confidence.