Course outline (subject to change)

1. September 13 - Introduction to Course; First Americans, to 1550; First English Colonies, 1584-1676; Reading: Watson, Building the America Republic, vol. 1, chapter 1& 2

2. September 20 - The Diversity of the Colonies; Reading: Watson, Building the America Republic, vol. 1, chapter 3 & 4; Jonathan Edwards Revives Enfield, Connecticut (1741)

3. September 27 - Independence, 1756-1783; Reading: Watson, Building the America Republic, vol. 1, chapter 5; Thomas Paine Calls for American independence (1776); Declaration of Independence (1776); Abigail and John Adams Converse on Women’s Rights (1776).

4. October 4 - Building a Republic; Reading: Watson, Building the America Republic, vol. 1, chapter 6; Hector St. Jean de Crèvecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer (1782); Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (1785). Benjamin Banneker letter to Thomas Jefferson (1791).

5. October 11 - Under a New Constitution: Federalists and Republicans; Reading: Watson, Building the America Republic, vol. 1, chapter 7

6. October 18 – Jeffersonian America

7.  October 25 - Market Revolution, 1815-1860; Reading: Watson, Building the America Republic, vol. 1, chapter 8

8. November 1 - Northern Culture and Reform, 1815-1860; Reading: Watson, Building the America Republic, vol. 1, chapter 9; David Walker’s Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World (1829); William Lloyd Garrison, The Liberator (1831); Sarah Grimké, Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, and the Condition of Woman (1838).

9. November 8 - Midterm Examination

10. November 15 - The South; Reading: Watson, Building the America Republic, vol. 1, chapter 10

11. November 22 - Rise of Democratic Politics; Reading: Watson, Building the America Republic, vol. 1, chapter 11

12. November 29 - The West; Reading: Watson, Building the America Republic, vol. 1, chapter 12

13. December 6 - Road to the Civil War; Reading: Watson, Building the America Republic, vol. 1, chapter 13

14. December 13 - Civil War; Reading: Watson, Building the America Republic, vol. 1, chapter 14

15. December 20 - Reconstruction; Reading: Watson, Building the America Republic, vol. 1, chapter 15

16. December 27 - Final Examination

does not apply 

- Participation and attendance: 10% (‘perfect’ attendance policy – 0 or 1 absence, regardless of reason for absence)

- Mid-term (November 9): 30%

- Essay and/or class projects: 30% (details discussed in class)

- Final (December 29): 30%

See course syllabus