History 407
The Founding of the American Nation
Spring 2010

Professor Terry Bouton
Phone: 410-455-2056
Email: bouton[at]umbc.edu
Office: 722 Administration Bldg.
Office Hours: Tuesday, 4:00pm-5:00pm, 6:00pm-7:00pm; Thursday, 1:00pm-2:30pm and by appointment

NOTE: It is always best to email before you plan to come to office hours so that I can block out time for you. (I typically schedule meetings with students and advisees during office hours, so it's best to contact me before you plan to arrive to make certain I'm available).


Course Webpage: http://research.umbc.edu/~bouton/History407/407Syllabus2009.htm
Course Meeting Place: ACIV 006 (Academic 4)
Campus Map: http://www.umbc.edu/aboutumbc/campusmap/map_flash.html
Course Meeting Time: Tu/Th 2:30pm-3:45pm

Course Description:
History 407 will explore the era of the American Revolution. We will examine what many historians call the “long Revolution,” which covers roughly the period from the 1760s until about 1815. (Starting at the earlier date illuminates more of the Revolution’s achievements, limits, and contradictions than time period (1774-1815) listed in the official course catalog). The course will emphasize the internal revolution within American society which was sparked by the conflict with Britain. This internal revolution saw different groups of peoples trying to enact various and often conflicting visions of freedom and democracy. We’ll view the Revolution through the lens of class, race, gender, religion, and region as well as from multiple historical perspectives, including social, economic, political, intellectual, military, cultural, and diplomatic. As part of this project, we’ll try to understand what the Revolution meant to prominent “founding fathers” such as Thomas Jefferson and John Adams as well as what it meant to ordinary people: farmers, artisans, women, slaves, and Indians. Students will examine such topics as the causes of the American Revolution, the wrenching experiences of the War for Independence, the tensions surrounding the creation of a new government, and the struggles to define citizenship and rights during the first twenty-five years under the federal Constitution. By the end of class, students will have a better understanding of the Revolution’s causes, accomplishments, limitations, and the ironies of democracy as it emerged in the early American republic.

Learning Objectives:

  • Develop skills in critical analysis of historical ideas, arguments, and evidence
  • Write cogent, coherent, well organized, and persuasive essays—and gain insights into how you can apply good writing techniques to other courses and projects
  • Make strong, clear arguments and support those arguments with effective use of quotations and specific examples from primary and secondary historical sources
  • Understand the causes of the Americans Revolution, the difficulties waging the War for Independence, and the Revolutionary settlement of the postwar decades
  • Appreciate the distinct goals and beliefs that different groups of Americans brought to the Revolution and comprehend who won and lost when those goals came into conflict.
  • Critically evaluate the possibilities, gains, and limitations of the social and political change brought about by the American Revolution
  • Gain an informed and nuanced understanding of the meaning and practice of democracy in Revolutionary and Early National America

Books:
1) Marjoleine Kars, Breaking Loose Together The Regulator Rebellion in Pre-Revolutionary North Carolina (Paperback), ISBN-13: 978-0807849996
2
) Woody Holton, Black Americans in the Revolutionary Era: A Brief History with Documents (The Bedford Series in History and Culture) (Paperback), ISBN-13: 978-0312413590 (publication date, January 23, 2009)

3
) Mary Beth Norton, Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 1750-1800 (Paperback) ISBN-13: 978-0801483479
4) Alfred F. Young, The Shoemaker and the Tea Party: Memory and the American Revolution (Paperback), ISBN-13: 978-0807054055

All of these books are (or will be) available at the campus bookstore.
I have also put a copy of each book on 3-day reserve at the library.

IMPORTANT: The campus bookstore usually only keeps books in stock for the first half of the semester. Consequently, you need to purchase your books early in the semester and, preferably, at the start of the course.  I will not accept “the bookstore ran out” as an excuse for missed reading assignments.

Requirements:
(I reserve the right to make changes to the requirements or to the schedule.)

Grading:
For undergraduates, the final grade breaks down as follows:

                         MIDTERM EXAM:                       100 pts. (20% of your total grade)
FINAL EXAM:                    125 pts. (25% of your total grade)
PAPER #1:                             75 pts. (15% of your total grade)
PAPER #2:                           100 pts. (20% of your total grade)
READING POSTINGS:     100 pts. (20% of your total grade)
TOTAL GRADE:                 500 pts.

At the end of the semester:
450-500 points will be an A
400-449 points will be a B
350-399 points will be a C
300-349 points will be a D
Below 300 points will be an F

1) Examinations:
Both the midterm and the final exams will be composed of an essay section and a series of identifications (define and explain the significance of various names, events, places, ideas, etc., drawn from lectures and readings). For the final examination, the identification portion will NOT be cumulative; the essay portion will be somewhat cumulative, but will emphasize material from the second half of the course. Both exams are closed books, closed notes.

The Midterm Examination will be held in class on: Tuesday, March 23rd.
The Final Examination will be held in class on: Thursday, May 20th from 1:00pm-3:00pm

2) Papers:
Students will write two papers.  They must be typed and double-spaced with normal margins and in a normal font.

    Paper #1: The Revolutionary War: Paper #1 will be a 5-7 page paper that answers a broad question about the Revolutionary War using secondary sources written by professional historians.  Each student will have a different question to investigate that they will select from a list that I provide. The assignment will require students to do some detective work, tracking down evidence in books and academic journals (not encyclopedias, .com websites, or online sources like Wikipedia). I will provide guidelines for the paper and some starting places for your investigations. You can find specific guidelines for the paper and a link to sources on Blackboard. Due in class on Tuesday, March 30.

    Paper #2 Document from the Revolutionary Era: Paper #2
will be a 7 page paper based on a little-known primary source document of your choosing that reveals some larger point about the American Revolution. The paper will involve describing the document and then explaining how it helps us understand some aspect of the Revolution. Students will be expected to consult secondary sources (academic sources: not encyclopedias or .com websites) to help them put their document in historical perspective and demonstrate its significance. You can find specific guidelines for the paper and a link to sources on Blackboard. Due in class on Thursday, May 6.

3) Blackboard Reading Discussion:
The grade for reading discussion will depend on the quality of your posts to the Blackboard Discussion Board. There will be TEN posting assignments throughout the semester. Each posting will answer a specific question based on the material being read for that particular assignment. I have listed the questions below in the schedule and I will also post them on Blackboard.  For each posting, students will make an argument that they will support using SPECIFIC EXAMPLES and QUOTATIONS from the reading.  To receive a high grade, you must use quotations and direct citations from the book AND include the page number where you got the example or quote (you can put the page numbers after the quote or citation).  I will be looking to make sure that you use quotations and examples from THROUGHOUT the reading and not just from a few pages at the beginning or end of the book.  hink of the postings as mini-papers of about a page of single-spaced text. Each posting will be worth ten points.  

Remember to ANSWER the QUESTION rather than just reporting what the reading said. These are analytical essays designed to prove an argument; they are NOT "book reports." If you simply recount what the chapters of the book said or summarize the book’s narrative, you will not get a good grade. You need to make an argument that answers the question. I do not care what argument you make. There are numerous ways to answer the questions and many different arguments that will earn you an A essay. But to earn that A (or even a B), you’ll need to MAKE AN ARGUMENT that ANSWERS THE QUESTION.

I grade these postings based on the quality of your reading (as evidenced by the examples and quotes you use) and your writing. One of my main goals in these assignments is to improve your skill in writing analytical essays. I take the postings VERY seriously, as should you. The best answers will be clearly written and logically structured. They will begin with a brief introductory paragraph that briefly reveals your answer to the question (i.e. spells out your thesis) and lets me know what to expect from the subsequent paragraphs. I will grade your essay based on the how well it succeeds in the elements of writing: making a clear thesis statement; organizing ideas into coherent paragraphs that each make a SINGLE argument; stating each paragraph’s argument in a STRONG TOPIC SENTENCE that BEGINS the paragraph; developing the paragraph’s argument with explanation and evidence; making effective use of evidence by ensuring that specific examples and quotations work to prove the argument the paragraph is trying to make—and, when the evidence is not entirely clear, explaining how the quotes and examples make your point.

    NOTE: To receive full credit, you must make your posting by NOON on the days listed below (class begins at 1:00pm).  If you do not finish your posting by class time, do not cut class to submit a posting; simply submit it after class. I will deduct DOUBLE the number of late points for any posting submitted during the time that the class meets (all your submissions to Blackboard are date and time stamped, so I will know when you wrote and submitted them). 

    IMPORTANT: I require everyone to save a personal copy of all of their discussion postings (as well as the papers) on their home computer, thumb drive, cd, or whatever storage device they choose. 

    IMPORTANT: Blackboard is occasionally buggy. I HIGHLY suggest that you type out your response with a word processing program and then cut and paste it into Blackboard rather than the other way around. If you have a problem with Blackboard, it is your responsibility to ensure that I receive a copy of your posting by the deadline. DO NOT automatically email me a copy of every posting. ONLY email postings in the event of a Blackboard emergency.

    Students enrolled in this course must have an active email account and access to the internet. HIST 407/607 uses Blackboard online software. This means that you will have online access to course materials 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Most assignments will be submitted online at the Blackboard course website. As a UMBC student, you have a personal email account and access to the internet and through the many on-campus computer labs (locations, hours, etc.).  You can also access Blackboard off campus through a personal account or from the UMBC dial-up.

Getting started on Blackboard: Your registration with the UMBC Registrar for HIST 407/607 will make you eligible to enroll in Blackboard. To gain entrance to discussion boards and course material, you MUST enroll in the online version of HIST 407/607 on the course Blackboard site in order to have full access.  BEFORE you do anything else, enroll in the course online at: http://blackboard.umbc.edu.

Academic Integrity:
I expect students enrolled in this course to abide by the UMBC Code of Student Conduct for Academic Integrity (http://www.umbc.edu/sjp/articles/articleALL.html). If you are unclear about what plagiarism is, take a look at the Indiana University website: Plagiarism: What It Is and How to Recognize and Avoid It (http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml)

By enrolling in this course, each student assumes the responsibilities of an active participant in UMBC's scholarly community in which everyone's academic work and behavior are held to the highest standards of honesty. Cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, and helping others to commit these acts are all forms of academic dishonesty, and they are wrong.  Academic misconduct could result in disciplinary action that may include, but is not limited to, suspension or dismissal.  To read the full Student Academic Conduct Policy, consult the UMBC Student Handbook, the Faculty Handbook, or the UMBC Policies section of the UMBC Directory.

I show no mercy toward cheaters.  If you are caught cheating on any test or assignment, you will receive a zero for that grade and I will submit your name to the proper disciplinary authority.  Rest assured that I will do all I can to see that those disciplinary bodies take the strongest possible action against anyone who cheats.  At the very least, you will probably fail the course.  Egregious cases of plagiarism will result in dismissal from the University.  Potential cheaters: you have been warned.

Turnitin.com:
To ensure authenticity of assignments, students will submit both papers to turnitin.com, a web-based service that checks papers against everything on the internet as well as the papers in their databanks.  Unfortunately, every semester Turnitin.com catches at least one student who plagiarized some or all of a paper they submitted to one of my courses.  That said, I see turnitin.com less as a punitive device than as a measure to ensure that those who complete assignments honestly do not have their hard work debased by lowlife cheaters.   
   
If you haven’t used turnitin.com before, go to the main turnitin.com page and click on "Create a User Profile" in the top left corner. Turnitin.com will walk you through the rest of the registration process and give detailed instructions on how to submit your paper.

If you have already registered for turnitin.com, simply login using your email and password.

In either case you will need the course ID# and Password. They are as follows:

COURSE ID#: 3103247
COURSE PASSWORD: [The Password is available on Blackboard; I will also give it out in class]

(NOTE: The password is case sensitive. Also, this password is different from the password you will select to register for Turnitin.com. Use a password of your own choosing when you initially register as a new user)

Here's a link to Turnitin.com: http://www.turnitin.com/static/home.html

Administrative Issues:
Email:

I will send all email messages to your UMBC email account
(yourusername@umbc.edu). If you do not usually check this account, have messages forwarded to your preferred email address (such as aol, hotmail, etc.).  There are several ways to have your email forwarded.  The best way is to use the forwarding function in myUMBC, this will ensure that users receive ALL UMBC related email—not just email sent from within Blackboard. Here's how to do it: After logging into myUMBC, move the cursor over your name and, when the drop down menu appears, click on “Profile.” When you do, one of the options will be “Create a Mail Forwarding Address.” For help with this procedure, or if you have other questions about email, contact UMBC's Office of Information Technology services or visit the OIT helpsite at http://www.umbc.edu/oit/. Helpdesk personnel in the on-campus computer labs can usually answer most questions. The helpdesk phone number is 410-455-3838.

Random Rules:
1)
TURN OFF CELL PHONES, BEEPERS, WATCH ALARMS, or any other device that might disturb the class.  I will make examples of those who violate this rule (for example, if your phone rings, I will take the call).  2) On test days, students will not wear hats of any kind.  If you come to class wearing a hat, you will be asked to remove it.  3) On test days, if you leave the room for any reason, I will consider your test to be completed.  In other words, make your trip to the restroom before the test begins or wear Depends™. If you need a drink, bring one; if you have a cold, bring Kleenex.


Schedule of Lectures, Exams, and Assignments
(You will be informed of changes to lecture topics, assignments, and due dates)

Part I: Making the Revolution

Week 2:

Thurs., Jan. 28:      Introduction: What was the American Revolution? What is a “revolution”? How do you study a revolution?

SELECT QUESTION FOR PAPER #1 AT BLACK BOARD!

 

Week 2:

Tues., Feb. 2:         Democracy and Power in the Thirteen Colonies: Who held power in America before 1776? How democratic was life under British rule? How did ordinary people express their grievances?

 

Thurs., Feb. 4:        Gender in Colonial America: What social roles were men and women supposed to play during the colonial period? How much power did women have?

                      
Post Discussion by 2:00pm for Documents on Power in Colonial America: 1) The Power of the Gentry; 2) Rough Music; 3) William Byrd’s Diary
. Question: What do these documents reveal about the power relations underlying class and gender relations in colonial America?

                                     

Week 3:

Tues., Feb. 9:          Race in Colonial America: What was life like for African Americans and Indians in British North America? How were race relations governed?  SNOWED OUT

 

Thurs., Feb. 11:      The Great Awakening: How did religious revivals help to spark the American Revolution? How did religious beliefs help shape revolutionary ideology?  SNOWED OUT

                     

Week 4:

Tues., Feb. 16:        Race in Colonial America: What was life like for African Americans and Indians in British North America? How were race relations governed?

 

                     Post Discussion by 2:00pm for Breaking Loose Together, 1-110. Question: What was the main factor driving the uprising of farmers in North Carolina?

 

Thurs., Feb. 18:      Great Awakening and the French and Indian War: How did religious revivals help to spark the American Revolution? a serve as a catalyst for the American Revolution?

                                  

Week 5:

Tues., Feb. 23:        Class and the Internal Revolution: How did the crisis with Britain trigger conflict between Americans along class lines? 

 

                     Post Discussion by 2:00pm for for Breaking Loose Together, 111-218. Question: Why did the Regulation fall short? Did the Regulators make mistakes? Could their plans have succeeded?   

 

Thurs., Feb. 25:      Race and the Internal Revolution: How did slaves and Indians pushing for their own notions of freedom deepen the conflict between Britain and the colonies? 

                                

Week 6:

Tues., Mar. 2:         The Imperial Crisis: What events led the colonies declare independence from Great Britain?

 

                      Post Discussion by 2:00pm for Documents on Democracy in 1776 (click here). Question: How "revolutionary"  were the changes many people were calling for by 1776?

 

 

Thurs., Mar. 4:       The Many Meanings of Freedom: What were the keywords of the Revolution? How did different Americans define terms like “liberty,” “equality,” and “independence”?  How were those ideals reflected in the Revolutionary governments of 1776?

 

Week 7:

Tues., Mar. 9:         The Revolutionary War: Student-created IDs

 

                     Post Discussion by 10:00am. NOTE THE EARLIER TIME!! Develop an ID (a term, a person’s name, a battle, etc) based on your answer to your question about the Revolutionary War. Post that ID to Blackboard along with a brief explanation of your main point. Be sure to explain the significance of your ID to the larger story of the War for Independence. This should be in the form of an essay that uses full sentences. DO NOT provide an outline.

I’ll use these IDs as the basis for our discussion of the Revolutionary War, which will be organized around answering each of the questions for Paper #1. For each question, I’ll choose what I think is the best ID for that question (occasionally I’ll combine a few good IDs into a single one) and I’ll turn to the people who answered that question to help me inform the class about the topic.

The best IDs (or at least the ones that I’m likely to select) are those that best capture the topic’s “big picture” significance.  For example, on the question involving the militia, I’m likely to pick an ID that gives a clear sense of who served in the militia and/or the militia’s weaknesses and strengths. You’re free (and encouraged) to think up your own terms rather than use the name of a place, person, or battle; however, be sure to keep the term short (no more than three of four words). Keep in mind that there’s an incentive in taking the time to think up a good ID: if I use it, it gets added to the list of IDs for the Midterm exam. I promise that, if I do not select the essay question on the Revolutionary War, at least one student ID will appear on the exam. If you do a good job and your ID appears, it should be an easy “A” on that section of the test.

When it comes time to discuss your question and ID in class, you do NOT need to prepare a formal presentation—I’ll take care of that on power point based on information from your postings. I will ask you to provide anecdotes and examples to dramatize the subject for your classmates.         

 

Thurs., Mar. 11:     The Revolutionary War: Student created IDs

 

Week 8:

Tues., Mar. 16:       SPRING BREAK

                              

Thurs., Mar. 18:     SPRING BREAK

 

Week 9:

Tues., Mar. 23:       The Revolutionary War: Student created IDs

 

Thurs., Mar. 25:     MIDTERM EXAM [Click here for Midterm Exam Study Guide]

Part II: Tying Up the Revolution

 

Week 10:

Tues., Mar. 30:       Origins of the Counter-Revolution: Why did many of the founding elite think the Revolution had gone too far and how did they think it should be scaled back? What were the results of those efforts?

 

                     PAPER #1 DUE IN CLASS
SUBMIT A COPY OF YOUR PAPER TO TURNITIN.COM
(Course ID is 3103247)

 

Thurs., Apr. 1:        Defending Democracy: How did ordinary Americans respond to the economic crisis and the narrowing of democracy?  Why did they have such a hard time getting the political reforms they wanted?

                                                

                    Post Discussion by 2:00pm for Documents on the Federal Constitution and the Bill of RightsQuestion: Placing these documents in context, how revolutionary were the federal Constitution and the Bill of Rights?

 

Week 11:

Tues., Apr. 6:         Rings of Protection: How did ordinary Americans respond when political reforms fell short? How did these efforts threaten the founding elite?

 

                     Reading: Liberty’s Daughter, 1-109

 

Thurs., Apr. 8:        “A Stronger Barrier Against Democracy” (The Federal Constitution): How did the framers intend for the Constitution to create barriers against democracy? Why did the states ratify a document that promised to scale back democracy?


Reading:
Liberty’s Daughter, 110-194

                     Post Discussion by 2:00pm: Question on Liberty’s Daughter, 1-151 (note difference between the pages for the posting and the pages for reading): The first part of Liberty’s Daughter addresses the “Constant Patterns of Women’s Lives” or, put differently, the things that the Revolution really didn’t change that much. What were these “constant patterns” and how was life for women more or less the same before and after the Revolution?

                                   

Week 12:

Tues., Apr. 13:        The Bill of Rights: How was the Bill of Rights created?  How did James Madison who had opposed a bill of rights during the writing of the Constitution emerge as its so-called "father"?  How did Americans differ over their understanding of their "rights"?

 

Thurs., Apr. 15:      The Federalist Era: How did the Federalists try to reshape the social, political, and economic landscape of the new republic?  How successful were their efforts?

 

                    Reading: Liberty’s Daughter, 195-299
Post Discussion by 2:00pm: Question on
Liberty’s Daughter, 154-299: The second part of Liberty’s Daughter
addresses the “Changing Patterns of Women’s Lives” or, put differently, the things that the Revolution altered for women. What changes did the Revolution bring for women? How revolutionary were those changes?

 

Week 13:

Tues., Apr. 20:       Revolution of 1800: Who were the Jeffersonians and how revolutionary was their “Revolution of 1800”?

 

 

Thurs., Apr. 22:      Was There a Revolution for Women?: In what ways was life the same for women before and after the Revolution? What changes did the Revolution bring for women?

                                     
Post Discussion by 2:00pm
for Black Americans in the Revolutionary Era, introduction-Chapter 2. Question: In what ways did African Americans participate in the events of the 1760s and 70s and the War for Independence? (You must support your answer with evidence from the primary documents themselves, not from the book introduction or paragraphs introducing the documents!!)

                                                                                   

Week 14:

Tues., Apr. 27:       Plan of Civilization: What place did Native Americans have in the new nation? How did native peoples respond to a new and increasingly powerful United States?

   

Thurs., Apr. 29:     Accommodating and Resisting the New Order: How and why did the Seneca accommodate the new order the US was trying to impose on them? What were the results? How and why did other Indian peoples resist? What were the results?       

 

                     Post Discussion by 2:00pm for Black Americans in the Revolutionary Era, Chapters 3-4. Question: How did the Revolution challenge the institution of slavery and what was the legacy of that challenge in the decades that followed? (You must support your answer with evidence from the primary documents themselves, not from the book introduction or paragraphs introducing the documents!!)

Week 15:

Tues., May 4:         Was there a Revolution for African Americans in the North?: What difference did the Revolution make for slaves and free Blacks in the North? How free was northern freedom?

 

Thurs., May 6:       Was there a Revolution for Southern Slaves?: How did the Revolution change the system of slavery in the South?

               

                     Reading: Shoemaker and the Tea Party, 1-84

 

                     PAPER #2 DUE

                     SUBMIT A COPY OF YOUR PAPER TO TURNITIN.COM (Course ID is 3103247)                  

 

Week 16:

Tues., May 11:       The Revolution of Work: How did the Revolution help to transform how things were made in America? What did these changes mean for different groups of Americans? How did workers respond to the new workplace?

 

Thurs., May 13:     Making an American Culture: How did the new middle class try to fashion an American culture? What messages did this new culture promote? 

                                    
Reading: Shoemaker and the Tea Party, 85-207

 

                     Post Discussion by 2:00pm for Shoemaker and the Tea Party, 1-207.  Question: What did the Revolution mean for Robert Twelve Hughes?  How and why did public memory of the Boston Tea Party change over time?

Click here for Final Exam Study Guide