History 496: Historical Research
Whose American Revolution?
Professor Terry Bouton
Email: bouton[at]umbc.edu
Office: 722 Administration Bldg.
Office Hours: and by appointment
Course Webpage: http://userpages.umbc.edu/~bouton/History496/HIST496.08.htm
Course Meeting Place: AD 711
(Administration Building, Room 711)
Course Meeting Time:
Wednesday/Friday 1:00-2:15
Course Description:
This research and writing intensive course is the capstone of your major in
history. It’s an opportunity for you to demonstrate the skills you have
acquired as a history major by undertaking a significant research project, much
like what a professional historian might do. It will test your ability to think
critically, to use sound judgment and analysis, to be resourceful and diligent
in mustering evidence, and to write in a way that is compelling, creative, and
persuasive. You’ll conduct original research into an important historical
question; you’ll uncover primary sources (perhaps ones no historian has ever
used before), and you’ll figure out how to weave what you’ve found in the
records into existing historical knowledge and debates. The end result will be
a 25-30 page paper—one so well conceived, researched, and written that we’ll
both be proud of it.
The focus of the paper will be how ordinary people experienced the American
Revolution. So much of our understanding of the Revolution—its origins, its
events, its outcome—centers on the founding elite that most people have little
understanding of the role played by average Americans. Our goal is to clarify
how ordinary folk figured in a revolution that was supposedly “by the people,
for the people.” We’ll try to understand what different groups of non-elites
wanted from the Revolution, how they participated in the revolutionary process,
what they got out of the revolutionary settlement, and how the outcome
fulfilled their ideals or how it came up short. Through your research, each of
you will uncover a story from the “unknown Revolution” of the common folk. Many
of these stories will be about the promise of the Revolution, with ordinary
people speaking up and acting out for increased rights, freedoms, and
opportunities. Other stories will chronicle promise-denied, as those hoping to
be included in the advances of the Revolution found themselves excluded. Most
stories will probably reflect the Revolution’s messy realities, which often
mixed hope and frustration.
You are free to choose the topic you want to investigate
and the story you want to tell. But, no matter what topic you select, you must
address this question: how is this story an example of the Revolution’s promise
or limits? As far as subjects go, the field is open to studying any person or
group that qualifies as ordinary. Your subject(s) can be male or female. They can
be white, Black, Native American, or mixed race. They can be farmers,
craftspeople, goodwives, servants, laborers, slaves, petty merchants,
small-scale planters, or shopkeepers. They might have sided with the colonies
against
You also have considerable leeway as to how you approach the question: “how
revolutionary was the Revolution for the person or people I am studying?” You
can look at political life, work life, home life, or culture and society. You
can focus on a big event (like a protest, celebration, or political gathering)
or personal day to day episodes. You can analyze your person or group in terms
of political freedoms, civil rights, religious autonomy, or economic wherewithal.
You can focus on people actively involved in the struggle against
And keep in mind that you need not uncover earth-shattering improvements to
write a good paper. Subtle gains are important. So too is the lack of change—or
experiences that seem more negative than positive. I fully expect a full range
of papers, some showing great improvements, others telling tales of tragic
loss, and some where the Revolution seemed to make little or no difference in
how someone lived their lives.
Regardless of the story you tell, you will need to be self-disciplined and diligent in this course. The key to success is to work continuously throughout the semester. You will be tempted to put this course on the backburner in favor other courses with more immediate deadlines and test dates. Don’t do it. Don’t even think about it. Every semester, some students taking HIST 496 assume they can put off everything until the end of the semester. And every semester, these students panic because they discover—despite the constant warnings of whoever is teaching the course—that there’s simply too much research, thinking, and writing to do in the semester’s final two weeks. Many of these students fail the course—not because they are incapable of writing a passing paper. About 99.9 percent of our history majors are capable of passing HIST 496. Those who have failed HIST 496 in the past have invariably done so because they didn’t devote enough time to the course. The others fail because they plagiarized some or all of their papers. Virtually all of these cases involved students who plagiarized when they discovered too late in the process that they were too far behind to pass honestly. Don’t put yourself in a similar panic: do the work during the semester. And, rest assured, that if I catch you plagiarizing any part of your paper or for any assignment, I will see that you are prosecuted to the full extent of the university’s disciplinary system. I will show no mercy. Absolutely none.
To help you keep on pace, I have broken down the research paper into manageable parts and assignments that will be due throughout the term. Each part is worth a portion of your total grade. You cannot pass this course (and you need a C- to have it count for the major) by only turning in a final paper. You will need to complete all of the assignments along the way to collect the points you need to pass. I have no sympathy—none, zero, zip, nada—for anyone who blows off assignments during the semester and then turns in a final paper expecting to pass. To these people I say: “Enjoy your F. And, if you were thinking of graduating at the end of the semester, you should try to cancel your regalia order right now, so you may still be able to get your deposit back.”
Required
The following book is available at the campus bookstore. If
you're shopping for used copies, you may want to check out half.com or bookfinder.com.
1) Gary
B. Nash, The Unknown American Revolution: The Unruly Birth of Democracy and
the Struggle to Create
2) Kate
L. Turabian, ed., A Manual for Writers of Research
Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Seventh Edition:
Primary Sources:
There are a variety of sources that can help us uncover the lives of ordinary
people amid the Revolution. Thanks to extensive digitization over the last
decade by libraries and archives, the internet is teeming with excellent,
reliable primary source material. To help you get started as you wade through
the possibilities, I’ve compiled a list of some of the best resources currently
out there.
Here’s the link: http://userpages.umbc.edu/~bouton/History407/DocumentsRevolution.htm
The UMBC library also has a wealth of material. There are numerous useful
databases, which we’ll talk about in class. The library stacks also hold many
published document collections from the Revolutionary era. Most of these
collections focus on political aspects of the Revolution. And, as you might
expect, most of them concentrate on the elite. Still, many of these sources
provide windows into the lives and activities of ordinary folk. For example,
the document collections on the ratification of the Constitution offer a sense
of the political views of the common folk and how they chose to express their
ideals. Likewise, the papers of one of the elite founding fathers can offer a
glimpse into the lives and aspirations of their non-elite neighbors, slaves,
and servants (for example, founders often complained about unruly servants, and
runaway slaves, and neighbors who would not now to their deference). Likewise,
since the elite founders were usually government officials, their letters often
provide glimpses into the views and actions of ordinary people, especially when
the common folk opposed elite policies or when popular ideals about
governments, laws, and courts conflicted with the gentry’s ideals and
interests.
In choosing topics and sources, I advise taking some time to explore what’s out there and to find what interests you. Remember that you’ll be spending a great deal of time working with these sources and your topic. It’s best to find something that holds your interest, rather than settling for the first thing you come across that looks like it will make an “easy” project. In the past, students who have settled quickly on topics that didn’t really interest them have tended to find the class wearying, and, as a result, they have usually produced disappointing papers.
Course Format:
Most class meetings will be conducted as workshops. We’ll start with the
Nash book, The Unknown Revolution, which provides some of the larger
context for how ordinary people experienced the Revolution and offers many
examples of the kind of stories you might uncover. Next, we’ll turn to the art
of research. We’ll discuss how to pick a topic, how to design a research
strategy, how to frame your historical question (and what a “historical
question” is), how to find additional primary source material, and how to incorporate
secondary sources. Once you’ve got some research under your belt, we’ll
turn to writing. We’ll work on developing theses and outlines, finding the most
effective way to tell your story, working with evidence, finding a way to
interest readers, and proving your case. Most weeks we will meet as a
group; other weeks will involve research, writing, or individual
conferences. The group meetings will work through each stage of the
process, with later classes dedicated to workshops on core elements of the
paper: paragraphs, introductions, rough drafts, and titles. The idea of
the workshops is for you to help each other work through the process of
research and writing—work together through rough spots, commiserate over
frustrations, find ways around tricky research and writing issues, and
celebrate the triumphs. To be successful, the workshops will depend on
everyone's willingness to participate and to be responsible, conscientious, and
civil about presenting and critiquing each other’s work. Students in this course will have access to one another’s writing (no
one outside of the course will be able to see what you post to the discussion
boards). And for many of the weeks you will be reading and commenting on your
classmates’ work and they will be examining yours. Critiquing someone’s work is
never easy. It’s even harder having your own work critiqued. We’ll discuss how
to give and receive criticism in an effort to make the workshops as productive
and painless as possible.
Course Requirements:
Grade Scale:
Participation: 50 Points
Assignments:
100 Points (10 assignments, 10 points each)
Final Presentation: 25 Points
Rough Draft: 25 Points
Final
Paper
200 Points
Total
Points
400 Points
At the end of the end of the semester:
360-400 Points will be an A
320-359 Points will be a B
280-319 Points will be a C
240-279 Points will be a D
Below 240 Points will be an F
Participation: (25 points, 6.25% of your final
grade)
Your grade will also depend on participation. There are three elements to
your participation grade: 1) attendance, 2) the writing you submit to the
workshops, 3) your role in commenting on the work of others.
1) Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. If you miss class your participation grade will suffer in direct proportion to the number of classes you miss.
2) Submission of Writing for Workshops: Presenting your work-in-progress for class discussion is a difficult thing to do. The benefits, however, are great. The more feedback you get on assignments (both positive and negative), the better your paper will be. Speaking from experience, I can tell you that constructive criticism (painful though it may be) is more valuable than praise in producing a good final result.
3) Your Role as Critic: The workshops depend on trust. The idea of the workshops is not to tear apart each other's work. Nor is it to say that everything's great, when it isn't. The goal is for each of you to help make one another's papers stronger. This means letting the author know what works about her or his paper and offering suggestions for improving what doesn't. Good historical writing is a collaborative process. The better audience you become for each other's work, the better everyone's final papers (and grades) will be. In part, your participation grade will reflect your overall contributions to the group in providing constructive criticism and helpful suggestions.
2) Assignments:
(100 points, 25% of your final grade)
To help everyone stay on track and to give the workshops a better chance of
success, I have created a series of assignments and deadlines. Each
assignment will be worth ten points. I will grade these assignments based
on the level of effort your work displays. Thus, even if you are having
trouble with a particular assignment (as each of you inevitably will) you can
still get a good grade on that assignment as long as it is clear that you have
genuinely tried to complete it. This applies especially to last several
assignments where everyone will feel insecure about submitting their rough
drafts and their first shot at an introduction. For most assignments, you
will need to upload or paste your assignments to the Discussion Board so that
others can read them and offer comments.
Look below for the list of assignments and deadlines.
3) Final Presentation: (25
points, 6.25% of your final grade)
Every student will present their findings in an in-class presentation that will
be no longer than ten minutes (and I’m going to be strict about that time
limit). You will be graded on how clearly you present your historical question,
your thesis, your research, and your conclusions. I’ll give special
consideration to creative presentations. You can use whatever props and aids
you need. In the past, students have created posters or done Powerpoint presentations, a few put on skits; one
enterprising student even made a video. I encourage you to be as creative as
you’d like as long as you convey the main point of your research, thesis, and
findings. I reward those who don’t play it safe and who take chances: you get
big points in my book for trying something creative, even if it doesn’t work
out exactly as you plan. This is not to say that you can’t get a good grade by
doing a traditional presentation (you can and if that’s what you want to do, I
certainly won’t penalize you). I’m merely saying that, if you want to try
something different, you won’t be putting your grade at risk—quite the
opposite.
4) Rough Draft: (50
points, 12.5% of your final grade)
The success of your final paper is directly related to the quantity and the
quality of the writings you submit for your rough draft. This is you last
chance to get feedback from me and from your peers before you submit your final
paper. No doubt, the due date for the rough draft is earlier than most of you
would like. I understand this, it is intentional and necessary. Your final
paper is not supposed to be your first stab at the paper. To get your paper
where it needs to be, you’ll have to do several rounds of revisions. The early
deadline is to spur you to write so that you have time to revise.
I expect that the rough drafts will be “rough.” You should submit whatever
you’ve got, even if there are incomplete paragraphs or sections of the paper.
This is one of the hardest things to do because everyone will feel self
conscious about the incomplete state of their paper. It is ok if some of the
sections are in outline form or are lousy paragraphs working toward an idea. In
terms of grading, what I am looking for here is effort and progress: How much
effort has the student put into writing the paper thus far? Is the rough draft little more than a
collection the writing submitted for assignments? Or has she or he made real
strides in tackling the other parts of the paper?
Although it will be a true rough draft, you must include footnotes in the
proper form. Do not submit a rough draft with quotations and discussions of the
secondary literature without providing footnoted citations. Part of my
evaluation of your rough draft consists of seeing where you got your quotes and
assessing how well your assertions match your primary sources and how
effectively you integrated secondary sources (not to mention checking to be
sure your footnotes are in the proper format). If you do not include footnotes,
I cannot do my job and you will receive a low grade.
NOTE: To receive a grade for your rough draft, you MUST submit it to the “Rough
Draft” folder in the class page at Turnitin.com.
5) Final Paper: (200 points, 50%
of your final grade)
Most of your grade will be composed of the research paper: 25-30 pages in
length, double spaced, regular margins, with footnotes and bibliographical
material in the proper formats. For proper formatting, see Turabian,
ed., A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.
Final Paper Due Date: Friday,
December 12 by 3:00pm. You must submit three copies: 1) a hard copy to my
mailbox, 2) an electronic copy to Blackboard, 3) an electronic copy to
Turnitin.com
NOTE: To receive a grade for your final paper, you MUST submit it to the “Final Paper” folder in the class page at Turnitin.com.
Blackboard:
Students enrolled in this course must have an active email account and
access to the Internet. HIST 496 uses Blackboard On-line software. This means
that you will have access to course materials 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
through the Internet. Most assignments will be submitted on-line 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 496 will make you eligible to enroll in Blackboard. To gain entrance to discussion boards and course material, you MUST enroll in the on-line version of HIST 496 on the course Blackboard site in order to have full access. BEFORE you do anything else, enroll in the course on-line by going to: http://blackboard.umbc.edu
Academic
Integrity:
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. To read
the policy online, see: http://www.umbc.edu/integrity/.
If you are unclear about what plagiarism is, take a look at the
I show no mercy toward cheaters.
If you are caught cheating on any assignment, the rough draft, or the
final paper, 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. Potential cheaters: you have been warned.
Turnitin.com:
To ensure authenticity of assignments, students will submit
their paper 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 "New Users" in the top right 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#: 2370693
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/index.html
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, click the "Personal"
tab, then the link "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.
Class Meeting Schedule, Assignments,
and Due Dates:
Week 1:
Aug. 27: Introduction
Aug. 29: Workshop: Primary Sources Online
Reading: Unknown Revolution, xv-149
Week 2:
Sept. 3: Meeting in the Library: A
Search Through the Stacks
Sept. 5: Discussion of Unknown Revolution, xv-263
Reading:
Unknown Revolution, 150-263
Assignment #1: Unknown Revolution,
xv-263: How do the stories in the Unknown Revolution reveal the
ideals and aspirations of different groups of ordinary people and their
participation in the Revolution and Independence movement?
(You must post your response to the Blackboard Discussion Board by 11:00am,
Friday, Sept. 5)
Week 3:
Sept. 10: Workshop: Finding a Paper Topic and a Historical Question
Sept. 12: Discussion of Unknown Revolution
Assignment #2: Unknown Revolution, 264-455: How did different groups of
ordinary people respond to
(You must post your response to the Blackboard Discussion Board by 11:00am,
Friday, Sept. 12)
Week 4:
Sept. 17: Individual Conferences: Topics and Sources
Sept. 19: Individual Conferences: Topics and Sources
Assignment #3: Initial Ideas for Topics: Explain in detail the possible topics you are considering along with the specific primary sources you think your would use to investigate each topic
(You must post your response to the Blackboard Discussion Board by 11:00am, Saturday, Sept. 20)
Week 5:
Sept. 24: Individual Conferences: Topics
and Sources
Sept. 26: Individual Conferences: Topics and Sources
Assignment
#4: Topic, Subject of Your Study, Historical Question, and Primary Sources: Explain
your topic, the specific person or group through which you intend to explore
that topic, the historical question you will address, and the primary sources
you will use to investigate your question.
(You must post your response to the Blackboard Discussion Board by 11:00am, Saturday,
Sept. 27)
Week 6:
Oct. 1: Individual Conferences: Secondary Sources
Oct. 3: Individual Conferences: Secondary Sources
Assignment
#5: Annotated Bibliography of Secondary Sources: You must have at least ten
scholarly secondary sources that relate specifically to the historical context
of your topic (general histories of the American Revolution won’t cut it).
After listing each item in the bibliography, you must include a short paragraph
that explains what that source contributes to your study. You need not have
read all of the sources at this point, but I expect you to have read the
introductions and conclusions of the articles and books and skimmed them over
to get a sense of how they might help you understand the scholarly debates and
the wider issues at play during the Revolution for whatever person or group you
are studying.
(You must post your response to the Blackboard Discussion Board by 11:00am,
Friday, Sept. 12)
Week 7:
Oct. 8: Workshop: How to
Develop a Thesis
Oct. 10: Individual Conferences
Assignment #6: Paper Thesis (A first stab at your introduction): Write several paragraphs that dramatize the historical problem that you are investigating, with specific reference to the secondary historiography. You last paragraph should present the thesis your paper will argue.
(You must post your response to the Blackboard Discussion Board by 11:00am, Friday, Oct. 10)
Week 8:
Oct. 15: Workshop: Improving Your Thesis
Oct. 17: Individual Conferences
Assignment #7: Detailed Outline: Develop a detailed outline that maps out the structure of your paper. You should include the major sections of your paper as well as the specific arguments you intend to make within each section. As you lay out those arguments, you should also indicate the primary source evidence you intend to use to prove those points and where you need to research to find additional evidence. You should outline in full sentences that spell out what each section is supposed to do and what each part of that paragraph is going to argue. Think about your outline as a series of topic sentences—the first sentence of every paragraph in it—that provides readers with a clear sense of your overall objective and how, paragraph by paragraph, you intend to reach that objective. Although I fully expect some sections of your outline to be less well developed than others, I will grade your outline on both the coherences of your thesis and arguments and the level of detail you provide in terms of evidence. I see the outline as an excellent gauge of who has been keeping up and who has not.
(You must post your response to the Blackboard Discussion Board by 11:00am, Friday, Oct. 17)
Week 10:
Oct. 22: Workshop: Peer Review of Outlines
Oct. 24: Individual Conferences
Assignment #8: An analytical paragraph from your paper that uses specific examples and quotes from your primary sources as evidence to make an argument: This paragraph must be an analytical one, designed to make a specific argument (as opposed to a narrative paragraph that tells part of a story). This paragraph must be at least ten sentences, start out with a strong topic sentence that presents the paragraph’s argument, and work to develop that argument with specific quotes and examples from your primary source research. It is fine to include evidence from secondary sources as well. But the heart of the paragraph must composed of evidence from primary source material. All source material in the paragraph must be footnoted in the proper form.
(You must post your response to the Blackboard Discussion Board by 11:00am, Friday, Oct. 24)
Week 11:
Oct. 29: Workshop: Peer Review of Analytical Paragraph
Oct. 31: Individual Conferences
Assignment #9: A second analytical paragraph from your paper that uses specific examples and quotes from your primary sources as evidence to make an argument: This paragraph must be an analytical one, designed to make a specific argument (as opposed to a narrative paragraph that tells part of a story). This paragraph must be at least ten sentences, start out with a strong topic sentence that presents the paragraph’s argument, and work to develop that argument with specific quotes and examples from your primary source research. It is fine to include evidence from secondary sources as well. But the heart of the paragraph must composed of evidence from primary source material. All source material in the paragraph must be footnoted in the proper form.
(You must post your response to the Blackboard Discussion Board by 11:00am, Friday, Oct. 31)
Week 12:
Nov. 5: Workshop: Peer Review of Analytical Paragraph
Nov. 7: Individual Conferences
Assignment #10: Paper Introduction and Title: You should submit a revised version of the introductory paragraphs to your paper that: 1) introduces your topic in an interesting way, 2) presents your thesis, 3) and explains how your thesis fits into the existing historiography. I encourage you to find a creative way to introduce your topic. You may want to use an evocative example from your research that focuses on a dramatic incident or a critical moment in the life of your subject. You should also develop three alternative titles for your papers. The titles should be creative and provide a strong suggestion of the main thesis of your paper.
(You must post your response to the Blackboard Discussion Board by 11:00am, Friday, Nov. 7)
Week 13:
Nov. 12: Workshop: Peer Review of Introductions and Titles
Nov. 14: Individual Conferences
Rough Drafts
Due: 1) Hard copy in my mailbox, 2) electronic upload to Blackboard, and 3)
electronic upload to Turnitin.com—all by 11:00am on Friday, Nov. 14
Week 14:
Nov. 19: Workshop: Peer Review of Rough Drafts
Nov. 21: In-Class Presentations
Week 15:
Nov. 26: In-Class Presentations
Nov. 28: THANKSGIVING
Week 16:
Dec. 3: In-Class Presentations
Dec. 5: In-Class Presentations
I reserve the right to make changes to the requirements or to the schedule.