American History to 1877:
Major Problems of Interpretation

This course provides an introduction to the study of American history from the eve of European colonization through the close of Reconstruction. It is not a conventional survey, however. Rather than try to address all the significant historical developments that took place across four centuries, we focus on a few key topics which hold special interest for scholars and which figure centrally in debates over the meaning of the American experience today. By sacrificing"coverage" for in-depth analysis, we are able to pay particular attention to how historians do history and construct interpretations from various kinds of evidence. We also consider how historians try to compensate for the lack of surviving sources by non-literate peoples and about certain subjects, and why historians sometimes disagree about how to read and evaluate the sources that do exist. Historical interpretation is "contested terrain." Yet it is not simply a matter of opinion where all points of view are equally valid. Historical interpretation involves creative investigation, careful documentation, critical thinking, and logical analysis. Over the course of the semester, students will be expected to develop and to explain their own interpretations regarding a host of major issues in the study of American history to 1877.

Format: Most weeks there will be lectures on Mondays and Fridays and discussions on Wednesdays. The discussions will focus on the assigned readings, which should be done on time. In preparation for class discussions, students will be required to post responses to one or more study questions on Blackboard. Note also that attendance at discussion sessions is required and that student participation is expected.

Evaluation: Students will be evaluated on the basis of two position papers (25% each); class participation, including contributions to Blackboard (15%); and a final paper (35%). The instructor reserves the right to exercise some discretion in assigning final grades. All student work is governed by the Oberlin College Honor Code. If you have a question about how the Code applies to a particular assignment, you should raise that question with the professor in advance of the due date.

Purchases: The following materials are available at the Oberlin Bookstore and should be purchased. Most are also on reserve in Mudd.

John M. Murrin et al., Liberty, Equality, Power, concise 2nd ed. (hereafter LEP)
Alfred W. Crosby, Ecological Imperialism
Karen Ordahl Kupperman, Indians and English
Joyce Appleby, Inheriting the Revolution
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Michael Perman, ed., The Coming of the American Civil War, 3rd ed.

Online resources: This course will make use of a variety of electronic resources online, including Blackboard, ERes, and JSTOR. The instructor will explain how to use these resources as the need arises.

Schedule of classes and assignments:

Wed., Sept. 4

Native America at 1490

• LEP, chap. 1

Mon., Sept. 9

Discussion: Ecological Dimensions of Conquest

• Crosby, Ecological Imperialism, 1-131, 145-216
• David E. Stannard, "Genocide in the Americas," The Nation (Oct.19, 1992), 430-434 (on WWW)

Fri., Sept. 13

Spanish Colonization of North America

• LEP, chap. 2

Mon., Sept. 16

Discussion: Motives for English Colonization

• Richard Hakluyt, "Discourse of Western Planting" (1584) (on WWW)
• "Reasons for the Plantation in New England" (1629) (on WWW)
• Nicholas P. Canny, "The Ideology of English Colonization: From Ireland to America," William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd ser., 30 (Oct. 1973): 575-598 (in JSTOR)

Early Virginia

 
The Landing of the Pilgrims, 1620, relief by Enrico Causici U.S.Capitol Rotunda (1825)

Mon., Sept. 23

Early New England

Wed., Sept. 25

Discussion: Early English-Native Encounters

• Kupperman, Indians and English, 1-76, 110-240

Fri., Sept. 27

• LEP, chap. 3

Rise of the Atlantic Slave Trade

Discussion: Slavery, Racism, and the Problem of Causation

• Carl N. Degler, "Slavery and the Genesis of American Race Prejudice," Comparative Studies in Society and History 2 (Oct. 1959): 49-66 (in JSTOR)
• Edmund S. Morgan , "Slavery and Freedom: The American Paradox," Journal of American History 59, (June 1972): 5-29 (on JSTOR)
• Barbara Jeanne Fields, "Slavery, Race and Ideology in the United States of America," New Left Review, no. 181 (May/June 1990): 95-118 (on ERes)

Constructing the British Empire

• LEP, chap. 4

Imperial Crisis and Dynamics of Resistance

First paper due

 Discussion: Reasons for Rebellion

• Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress (1774) (on WWW)
• Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776), section 2 and section 3 (on WWW)
• Declaration of Independence (1776) (on WWW and in LEP, pp. A6-A7)
• LEP, chap.5

How Radical Was the American Revolution?

• LEP, chap. 6

Designing a Federal Republic

• LEP, chap. 8

Discussion: The Debate over the Federal Constitution

• Federalist No. 10 (1787) Annotated version
• "All Men Are Born Free and Equal" (1788)

Partisan Conflict in the 1790s

Dynamics of Economic Growth, 1790-1850

• LEP, chaps. 7, 9

Discussion: The Relationship between Republican Values and Capitalist Development

• Appleby, Inheriting the Revolution, 1-193, 239-266

Indian Removal and the Expansion of Slavery

Class, Race, and Gender in the Antebellum North

• LEP, chap. 10
  

Discussion: What Did Antebellum Northern Women Want?

• Sarah Grimke, Letters on the Equality of the Sexes (1837), Letter II, Letter III
• Catherine Beecher, A Treatise on Domestic Economy (1850), excerpts (on ERes)
• Harriet Hanson Robinson, Loom and Spindle (1898), chaps. 1-5 (on WWW)

Class, Race, and Gender in the "Old South"

• LEP, chap. 11
  

Slave Culture and Resistance

Discussion: Interpreting the Slave Experience

• Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, entire

The Jacksonian Party System

• LEP, chap. 12

The Abolitionist Movement

Second paper due

Discussion: The Perfectionist Vision of Early Oberlin

• Robert S. Fletcher, A History of Oberlin College, chaps. 7-15 (on ERes)
• Documents from Early Oberlin
  • Covenant of the Oberlin Colony (on WWW)
  • Prospectus for the Oberlin Collegiate Institute (on WWW)

Manifest Destiny and War with Mexico

• LEP, chap. 13

Discussion: Sources and Dynamics of Sectional Conflict

• Perman, The Coming of the Civil War, 131-42 (Fox-Genovese and Genovese), 143-53 (Moore), 188-203 (McPherson)

From Sectional Crisis to Secession

• LEP, chaps. 14-15

Discussion: Was the Civil War Inevitable?

• Perman, The Coming of the Civil War, 47-53 (Randall), 90-113 (Holt), 169-88 (Foner)

Civil War and Emancipation

• LEP, chap. 16

Reconstruction

• LEP, chap. 17

Discussion: Consequences of the Civil War

• Harry McMillan, "Testimony of a South Carolina Freedman..." (1863) (on WWW)
• Abraham Lincoln, "Second Inaugural Address" (1865) (on WWW)
• Thirteenth (1865) , Fourteenth (1868), and Fifteenth (1870) Amendments to the Federal Constitution (in LEP, pp. A18-A19; also online at http://www.constitution.org/cons/constitu.htm)

Retreat from Reconstruction