Syllabus 09 320A: Colonial America

University of St. Francis

Fall 1998

Tuesday/Thursday 9:30-10:45 AM

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Instructor: Dr. Jeff Chamberlain

see Dr. Chamberlain's Homepage

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Course Description:

This course surveys a wide variety of colonial life, including Native Americans, southerners, slaves, New Englanders, and the French in the Midwest. It emphasizes social and cultural history.

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Course Objectives:

By the end of the course, you should be able to:

1. Identify and describe the basic movements, events, and ideas which characterized Colonial America, as well as some of the most significant historiographical issues involved.
2. Have enough knowledge and historical imagination to put yourself mentally in the place of the people who lived in the era and articulate the ideas and attitudes of those people.
3. Analyze and criticize historical issues and theses (arguments) in discussion, debate, and written essays.
4. Develop, articulate, and defend a substantial historical argument in essays and research writing.
5. Teach history more effectively.

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Text/Documents:

The required texts are:

• James A. Henretta and Gregory H. Nobles, Evolution and Revolution: American Society, 1600-1820. New York: D.C. Heath, 1987.
• Darrett B. and Anita H. Rutman, A Place in Time: Middlesex County, Virginia 1650-1750. New York: Norton, 1984.
• Richard White, The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815. New York: Cambridge, 1991.
• John Demos, The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story from Early America. New York: Knopf, 1994.

These texts are available in the USF Bookshoppe. Other readings may be required. Some of these will be handed out in class; others may be accessible through clickable items on the syllabus itself. See the Course Schedule section.

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Course Requirements:

1. Class Preparation and Participation.You are expected to attend class, be prepared for it (i.e., read the assigned texts and complete any assignments) and participate in discussion. You will also be asked to be active in class (in ways such as role playing, debate, etc.) and will be given quizzes and assignments. You will be graded on attendance, preparation (e.g. quizzes and assignments), and activity in class. 30% of the course grade.
2. Cultural Experience. You are obligated to attend at least one cultural experience. There are two scheduled a) a trip to Cahokia Mounds on Saturday, 12 September, and b) a trip to The Feast of the Hunter's Moon on Saturday, 10 October. If you fail to fulfill this requirement, your class participation grade will be reduced two letter grades.
3. Integrative/Argumentative Essays. You will be asked to write two essays in which you react to, analyze and integrate material from one of the texts as well as lecture and class discussion. You will have your choice of two of the three books (other than Henretta and Nobles) we read. Detailed instructions will be given later for how to write these essays. Each will be worth 20% of the course grade.
4. Role Play Exercise. In lieu of a final exam, you will be asked to engage in a role-play exercise in which you will assume the character of a specific person living at the time of Colonial America. 15% of course grade. At the time specified for the final exam, you will come "in character" and interact with the other "characters" on issues which will be introduced by the instructor. You do not need to come dressed for the part (unless you want to), but in all other ways you should accurately represent a person from the Colonial Era. Early on in the course I will ask you to choose your character. You should, therefore, keep your character in mind for the rest of the class and should pick up information for him/her as we proceed. You will be able to use any notes you wish (as long as they are on parchment), but, remember, getting into the character is a large part of the exercise, so you should not be reading off of a piece of paper. Your choice can be one of the following (there are other possibilities; these are just suggestions):
   • French Voyageur or Coureur des Bois(explorer and/or fur trader)
   • Jesuit priest
   • Native American or Native American woman
   • wealthy southerner/plantation owner
   • southern woman
   • Anglican clergyman
   • slave
   • poor southern man or woman
   • southern clergyman
   • wealthy New Englander/merchant or his wife
   • poor New England man or woman
   • New England clergyman or his wife
   • English man or woman
5. Character Sketch. To prepare for your role-play exercise, you will be asked to write a 6-9 page sketch of your character. This is a research exercise, so you should plan on having 4-5 sources in addition to the texts and should cite them in the paper. If you are a history major who has had the Doing History Seminar, then you are obligated to use Turabian for citing your sources. If you have not had this course, please cite according to MLA (see the Guidelines for Writing History Papers on this point). This character sketch should outline the background, social situation, and some of the attitudes of your character. It may be written in the first or third person (but, even if it is done in first person, you still need to cite your sources). You do not need to turn in a rough draft of this paper, but I would be very happy to look over it in advance and give you some feedback It is due at the time of the role play. 15% of course grade.

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WWW Resources: Jolly Good Places to Start

Colonial America INDEX

Voice of the Shuttle: Colonial America History Page--Documents

The Early America Review

Archiving Early America

Plimouth Plantation

Williamsburg

Jamestown Rediscovery

Cotton Mather Homepage

Religion in America

Documents from the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention

DOCUMENTS FOR THE STUDY OF AMERICAN HISTORY

Treaty of Tordesillas

Tordesillas

Chronology of Columbus's Voyages

Columbus link page

1492 Exhibit

Algonquin Indian History

Digital Museum New France

Revolution Links

George Washington Papers Homepage - Washington's correspondence

George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress

Rare Map Collection

Index - The French and Indian War

Benjamin Franklin: A Documentary History -- J.A. Leo Lemay

Women In American History

University of Kansas, Resources for History

WWW Resources for Historians

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Grading Scale:

The grading scale for this course will be as follows:

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Tentative Course Schedule:

NOTE: This course schedule is tentative and is subject to change.

Tuesday, 25 August--introduction and orientation

Thursday, 27 August--Columbus & the Age of Exploration

• North America and Columbus (follow the links and read the pages until you get to "Europe Claims America),
• Arguments about Columbus and his legacy:
  • "Columbus, Stay Home" (debate about Columbus),
  • "Where Columbus Was Coming From"
  • "Who Was Columbus?"
  • "Columbus on Trial: 1492 v. 1992"
  • "Columbus As A Dead White European Male: The Ideological Underpinnings of the Controversy Over 1492"
  • "The myths of Columbus"
• Treaty of Tordesillas; Tordesillas

Tuesday, 1 September--Henretta and Nobles, 1-28; Rutman and Rutman, 19-35; Mashantucket Pequot Indians

• Assignment: write a 2-3 page essay on the following question (which we will debate in class; bring two copies of the essay): Should we celebrate Columbus?

Thursday, 3 September: Opening Mass; no class

Tuesday, 8 September--Henretta and Nobles, 29-51; Rutman and Rutman, 36-60

Thursday, 10 September--Henretta and Nobles, 53-78; Rutman and Rutman, 61-93

Saturday, 12 September: Trip to Cahokia Mounds

Tuesday, 15 September--Rutman and Rutman, 94-127

Thursday, 17 September--Henretta and Nobles, 79-99; Rutman and Rutman, 128-163

Tuesday, 22 September--Rutman and Rutman, 164-203

Thursday, 24 September--Rutman and Rutman, 204-249

Tuesday, 29 September--Essay on Rutman and Rutman due

Thursday, 1 October--White, 1-33

Tuesday, 6 October--White, 33-75

Thursday, 8 October--White, 76-93

Saturday, 10 October--The Feast of the Hunter's Moon

Tuesday, 13 October--Fall Break; NO CLASS

Thursday, 15 October--Fall Break; NO CLASS

Tuesday, 20 October--White, 94-141

Thursday, 22 October--White, 142-175

Tuesday, 27 October--White, 175-196

Thursday, 29 October--White, 196-227

Tuesday, 3 November--White, 227-268

Thursday, 5 November--Essay on White due

Tuesday, 10 November--Henretta and Nobles, 103-124; Demos, 3-39

Thursday, 12 November--Henretta and Nobles, 125-134; Demos, 40-76

Tuesday, 17 November--Henretta and Nobles, 134-147; Demos, 77-119

Thursday, 19 November--Henretta and Nobles, 151-169; Demos, 120-166

Tuesday, 24 November--Henretta and Nobles, 170-196; Demos, 167-187

Thursday, 26 November--Thanksgiving Break; NO CLASS

Tuesday, 1 December--Demos, 188-213

Thursday, 3 December--Demos, 189-252

Tuesday, 8 December--Essay on Demos due