week 14: The Civil War

Our final week explores the Civil War and its legacy. We will discuss the events of the war, its immediate aftermath, and recent commemoration.

Reading: Clark, Chap. 6

Points of Entry:

The Civil War:

http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/

Civil War Battlefields:

http://www.civilwar.org/

Reconstruction Era:

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/reconstruction/index.html

List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading.  What are some of the arguments? How are they related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?

Additional Questions:

Could the Civil War have been avoided? What would the U.S. look like if compromise was reached?

What would the U.S. look like if Reconstruction was fulfilled and not ended in 1877?

What does recent commemoration of the Civil War say about its legacy?

What are your final thoughts for the class?  

Week 13: The Great Divergence and the Civil War

This week we will explore the local, regional, and global undercurrents shaping the "Great Divergence" on the eve of the Civil War. Topics include social reform movements, the revolutions of 1848, and abolitionism.

Readings: David Walker's Appeal

Points of Entry:

The Appeal online -

http://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/walker/menu.html

Revolutions of 1848 -

http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/history/1848/revolution_of_1848.html

Abolitionist Movement -

http://www.cerritos.edu/soliver/American%20Identities/Black%20abolitionists/black_abolitionists.htm

The Civil War:

http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/

Civil War Battlefields:

http://www.civilwar.org/

Reconstruction Era:

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/reconstruction/index.html

List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading.  What are some of the arguments? How are they related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?

Week 13: Global Migrations and U.S. Identity (1840-1860)

This week we'll explore the great immigrant and emigrant migrations that shaped Antebellum America and the West. We will also look at the impacts of the Gold Rush and Mexican-American War.

Points of Entry:

Gold Rush -

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldrush/

Mexican-American War -

http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/index_flash.html

Overland Migration Trails -

http://overlandtrails.lib.byu.edu/trailmap.html

Irish Immigration -

http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/irish-immigrants.htm

List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading.  What are some of the arguments? How are they related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?

Week 12: Manifest Destiny (1830-1860)

This week we will explore the relationship between westward expansion, slavery and American identity. We will also discuss the wars against Mexico.

Clark (chap.5)

Points of Entry:

Panic of 1837

http://www.thehistorybox.com/ny_city/panics/panics_article5a.htm

Manifest Destiny -

http://www.civics-online.org/library/formatted/texts/manifest_destiny.html

U.S.-Mexican War -

http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/prelude/md_introduction.html

The Alamo -

http://www.thealamo.org/main/index.php

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/alamo/

Antebellum Period -

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart2.html

Thoughts/Questions for blog discussion:

List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading.  

What are some of the arguments?

How are they related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?

week 11: Defining Citizenship

This week we will explore how the early U.S. defined and understood citizenship. This period experienced both an expansion and retraction of how citizenship came to be understood. We will also explore the Second Great Awakening and its impact on U.S. identity.

Readings - The Cherokee Removal A Brief History with Documents (intro.; chaps. 1-2) 100 pp.

Points of Entry:

Thomas Jefferson and Early U.S. Scientific Inquiry:

http://www.ansp.org/museum/jefferson/

Lewis and Clark Expedition and Early Expansion:

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/lewisandclark/lewisandclark.html

http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/

http://publications.newberry.org/frontiertoheartland/

Early U.S. Immigration:

http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/immigration/

19th Century Children:

http://www.merrycoz.org/CHILDREN.HTM

Sunday School Books:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/sundayschool/

Trail of Tears National Historic Trail:

http://www.nps.gov/trte/

Questions:  

List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading.  

What are some of the arguments?

How are they related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?

Week 9: Early U.S. Domestic and Foreign Policy (1786-1828)

This week we explore the early battles over the identity of the United States. During this period local and national elites--as well as individual families and households--negotiated the course of political-economic and cultural development.  We will also spend much of the week connecting constitutional debates with these early battles.

Readings:

Clark, chaps. 2-4
Slavery's Constitution

Points of Entry:

Monroe Doctrine

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/monroe.asp

Early U.S. material culture:

http://content.wisconsinhistory.org

Early U.S. Maps:

http://legacy.www.nypl.org/research/midatlantic/intro3united.html

Louisiana Purchase:

http://www.nps.gov/archive/jeff/lewisclark2/circa1804/heritage/louisianapurchase/louisianapurchase.htm

Thoughts/Questions for blog discussion:

List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading.  

What are some of the arguments?

How are they related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?

Week 8: Defining the Nation

Week 8: Defining the Nation

This week explores the American Revolution and "birth" of the U.S. in the context of the "age of revolutions." Our readings will cover the "founding fathers" and early national debates over the size and structure of the government.

Readings:

Clark, preface and chap. 1.

Points of Entry:

The Federalist Papers -

http://www.foundingfathers.info/federalistpapers/

Anti-Federalist Papers -

http://www.constitution.org/afp/afp.htm

Haitian Revolution -

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p2990.html

Thoughts/Questions for blog discussion:

List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading.  

What are some of the arguments?

How are they related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?

Week 7: The American Wars and the Formation of the U.S. (1750-1783)

Week 7: The American Wars and the Formation of the U.S. (1750-1783)

This week explores the foundational conflicts that would ultimately lead to the formation of the United States of America.  We will also curate exhibits exploring these and other colonial themes.

Readings:

Declaration of Independence and other Founding Documents 92 pp.

Taylor (chaps. 14-15; 18) 82 pp.

Points of Entry:

Seven Year's War

http://www.militaryheritage.com/7yrswar.htm

http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/frin.htm

Benjamin Franklin:

http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/

http://www.english.udel.edu/lemay/franklin/

Founding Documents:

http://www.ushistory.org/DECLARATION/

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/declare.asp

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/articles.html

Pontiac's War:

http://www.forttours.com/pages/pontiac.asp

Thoughts/Questions for blog discussion:

List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading.  
What are some of the arguments?

How are they related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?

Week 6: Rivers to Oceans: The Frontier and the "West"

This week we explore the concept of the "West"--a term we will continue to revisit later in the course. The readings investigate the formation of trading networks outside of the Atlantic World.  We will also explore the impacts of the Great Awakening and the growing divide between frontier and urban colonial communities.

Points of Entry:

Pacific Northwest

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/pacific/

From "Frontier" to "Heartland" website:

http://publications.newberry.org/frontiertoheartland/

Lakota Winter Counts:

http://wintercounts.si.edu/

Thoughts/Questions for blog discussion:

List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading.  What are some of the arguments?  How are they related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?

Week 5: The Tensions of Colonial Identities

This week we will explore colonial identities through the lens of gendered, racial, ethnic, and religious ideologies. We will also closely analyze some of these themes through the world and words of Olauadah Equiano (see week 4 for a link to the "Equiano Project").

Readings: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano

Taylor, chaps. 12-13

Points of Entry:

The Lives of Colonial Cities:

Albany: An Early American City

http://www.engr.psu.edu/MTAH/essays/colonialcities.htm

The Great Awakening

The First Great Awakening, Divining America, TeacherServe®, National Humanities Center

Gender and the Colonial World:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/07/opinion/07faludi.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/06/opinion/saving-private-lynch.html

List and analyze 2 quotes from the Equiano reading.  What is Equiano arguing in these passages?  How is this related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?

Week 4: The African Diaspora and Indian Country

This week covers the early impact of African Americans and Native Americans in North America. Despite the brutality of slavery and incessant land seizures, both groups produced enduring legacies that survived the colonial and early national periods.

Readings:

Taylor, chaps. 8-11

Equiano, intro.

Points of Entry:

slavery in colonial Williamsburg:

http://www.history.org/almanack/people/african/aaintro.cfm

Equiano Museum:

http://www.equiano.org/about_equiano.html

Deerfield Raid in New England:

http://www.1704.deerfield.history.museum/home.do

Captivity Narrative:

http://www.archive.org/details/captivity_restoration_rowlandson_0912_librivox#

Questions for blog discussion:

List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading.  What is Taylor arguing in these passages?  How is this related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?

Week 3: Foundations and Formations in the U.S. - Ideas and Goods

This week explores the concept of "conquest" and early globalization. During the 16th century, many Native societies of the Americas experienced various forms of conquest and colonialism. Conquests, though, were sometimes ambivalent and not so clear cut.

At the same time, the foundation of the U.S. is not only built on conquest, but the exchange of ideas and goods.




Points of entry:

"Devil's Miner" website:

http://www.thedevilsminer.com/index_new.html


The account of Cabeza de Vaca, an early Spanish explorer kidnapped and sold into slavery for 7 years provides a fascinating window into the more "ambiguous" conquests that occurred during this period. See the link below for this account:



http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/one/cabeza.htm

Questions for blog discussion:

List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading.  What is Taylor arguing in these passages?  How is this related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?

Week 2: The Birth of “America”: The New World Forged

Week 2: The Birth of “America”: The New World Forged

This week we explore the long, shared history of the pre-contact Americas and Afro-Eurasia. As Taylor argues, changing the "lens" allows for a deeper, richer understanding of the interactions between Indigenous and Afro-Eurasian societies over thousands of years. Below are some different points of entry for you to explore these issues:

Pre-contact Meso-American societies shaped all of the Americas with the spread of the "three sisters" (corn, beans, squash), artistic sensibilities, and diverse products. See link for examples of these influences:

The Aztec Pantheon and the Art of Empire (Getty Villa Exhibitions)

Archaeologists keep pushing the arrival date of humans to the Americas back to an earlier period. See link to map of Bering Straight, where the first human migrations originated:

http://instaar.colorado.edu/QGISL/bering_land_bridge/downloads/beringlandbridge1l.mov

The "Columbian Exchange" has been a controversial topic among historians. See link for a historian's perspective of the topic:

History Now. The Historians Perspective

Image of the "exchange" in the colonial period:

Google Image Result for http://teachers.yale.edu/curriculum/extra/images/2005/05.02.07.01.gif

On Monday we also discussed some of the larger themes of U.S. history that continue to shape our public discourse. Op-ed pieces are a great source for "taking the pulse" of American consciousness and the (mis)use of U.S. history. The anniversary of 9/11 provides ample examples:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/opinion/12friedman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

Questions for blog discussion:

List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading.  What is Taylor arguing in these passages?  How is this related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?