United States History to Professor: Graham A. Peck History Office: N216 Wed 6:30 P.M.-9:20 P.M.

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1 United States History to 1877 Professor: Graham A. Peck History Office: N216 Wed 6:30 P.M.-9:20 P.M. Office Phone: (773) Room WAC L309 (not Saint Xavier University Dept Phone: (773) Fall 2015 Office Hours: Tues 11:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M., and by appointment My Teaching Philosophy My foremost object as a teacher is to help you succeed in learning. Indeed, my success in teaching depends on your success in learning. Therefore I will do my best to help you to overcome any challenges you might face this semester. If you need help at any time, ask for it. I will do all that I reasonably can do to help you. But you have a critical part to play also. I cannot learn for you. Your learning is primarily your responsibility, and therefore it must be your foremost object in the class. While I seek to create a learning environment conducive to your learning, you must work hard to take advantage of the opportunity to learn. Learning is often quite challenging, but our combined efforts should result in success for us both. Course Description This course is not traditional. Instead of spending most of your time listening to lectures that seek to explain the social, economic, cultural, and political development of early America, you will spend most of your time working through problems that confront historians of early America. To be sure, you will hear lectures, read portions of a textbook, and learn facts about American history. However, the role of the lectures and textbook is primarily to provide a foundation upon which you can analyze historical problems. Consequently, thinking about the past will play a larger role in this course than memorizing facts from it. This approach is what historian John Hollitz calls "a critical thinking approach to U.S. history," but it could equally well be described as an approach that teaches you to think like an historian. Consequently, while you almost certainly will leave the class with a better grasp of some aspects of American history, my intention is that your heightened understanding will mostly reflect your efforts to think for yourself. Assignments and Grading Policies Three essays, a debate preparation sheet, two midterms, a final exam, and class participation will account for your grade. Printed copies of the essays are due at the beginning of class on the date listed on the syllabus. However, students who know that they will not be able to attend class may me their essay prior to class without penalty. Late essays will accrue a one lettergrade penalty per class period until the assignment is submitted (e.g., a B+ to a C+), but will not be accepted more than two full weeks after the due date, except in cases that the instructor judges exceptional. You will receive an exam guide one week prior to the date of the exams. It is very important that you attend class when exams are scheduled. Makeup exams will require justification; and, if given, will follow a more difficult exam format. 1

2 Your essays must be typed, and should be written to your highest standard. Each essay will count for 100 points. The assignments will be graded according to the following rubric: 20 points for grammar, spelling, and clarity; 20 points for organization; 20 points for use of evidence; 20 points for historical comprehension; and 20 points for effectiveness in answering the question. I will return them, graded, the following week. Students are permitted to rewrite one of their three essays for a new grade after meeting with me to review the first draft. Your participation grade will be calculated as follows. After each day of class I will give each student either 4 points (A++), 3 points (A), 2 points (B), 1 point (C), 0 points (D), or -1 point (F). The D and F grades will be given to students who have not completed their readings or who text in class. At the end of the semester I add up these marks and use a formula to calculate the total number of points you receive for your participation grade. In this system, steady attendance and preparation are rewarded. Final grades will be determined in accordance with a point and percent system: Essays (300), Debate Preparation Sheet (100), Midterms (100 each), Final Exam (200), and Class Participation (200) will account for 1000 points. The grade students receive will reflect the percentage of points they have earned from the total possible: A = 90%-100%, B = 80%-89%, C = 70%-79%, D = 60%-69%, F = 0%-59%. Required Reading List Course Textbook (purchasable from me for $10 cash) John Hollitz, Thinking Through the Past: A Critical Thinking Approach to U.S. History, vol. 1, 4th edition (2010). Do not purchase an earlier edition of the book. It will be significantly different. The book can be purchased, rented, or downloaded digitally from the university bookstore. You may bring your Hollitz readings to class in electronic format, provided that you access them with a laptop or notebook. Cell phones are not acceptable substitutes because the screens are too small. The electronic version is usually the cheapest, but some students like to write on the documents while taking notes. What you choose is up to you. HOWEVER you are required to bring your readings to every class meeting. You need to have the Hollitz textbook in hand or on screen by the second week of class, even if that requires you to photocopy relevant chapters from the copy of the book in the university's library. If you do not bring your required readings to class on the second week or thereafter you will be instructed to leave the class and will be counted as absent. Other Class Information or Class Policies Classroom Conduct Be considerate of your instructor and fellow students while in the classroom. Do not talk, sleep, eat, or study for another class. Please turn off your cell phone before class and do not leave class once it has started unless you have good reason. Please inform the instructor before class if you have a doctor's appointment that requires you to leave early or if you do not feel well and may have to leave during class. Texting will result in an F (-1 points) for participation for that day. 2

3 Disabilities Qualified students with disabilities requiring academic accommodations should contact me as soon as possible to ensure that their needs are met in a timely manner. In order to establish the accommodations that you are eligible for, you will need to contact the Director of the Learning Assistance Center, who can be reached at (773) I will work with the Director and you to implement the accommodations. Participation Discussion will play a very important role in the class. We will intensively discuss the assigned readings, and you will be expected to participate on all class days. Participation grades will be assigned every day. Attendance You should attend all classes. The exams will be based on material covered in class, and students who do not attend regularly should not expect to pass the course. However, students are permitted two absences without penalty. Each subsequent absence will reduce your final grade by 30 points, or 3%. Similarly, students are permitted two tardies without penalty, but each subsequent tardy will reduce your final grade by 5 points, or.5%. For instance, if your final grade was 82.3%, but you had three absences and three tardies, your grade would be reduced to a 79.3%, and you would receive a C instead of a B. I reserve the right to excuse additional absences or tardies, but will only do so in exceptional circumstances. If you miss class you do not receive participation points for that day. Academic Dishonesty Academic dishonesty, such as cheating or plagiarism, will not be tolerated and will result in disciplinary action according to university policy. That policy is stated in the Undergraduate Academic Catalog, which is available online. Technology Statement This course's content, pedagogical approaches, and assessment methods incorporate Keynote presentations, lecture recordings, Canvas's Grades and Pages features, and web-based instructional materials. University Policies Due to federal government financially policies, a student who receives financial aid must inform the instructor or the Office of Advising and Records (wogan@sxu.edu) if s/he leaves the course or the University for any reason. 3

4 Topics and Reading Assignments (subject to change) Wednesday, August Course Introduction Discuss syllabus and books Distribute Course Textbook (students must pay $10 today or next Wednesday) 2. Discussion: What is a Fact? Where do historians get facts? Why are some facts more useful than others? Wednesday, September 2 1. Lecture--Native Americans and the Ecology of Contact Read Textbook Chapter 1 and 2--Native Americans and History Matters Documents 2. Writing Workshop: Constructing a Formal Essay Writing Assignment Handout Wednesday, September 9: LAST DAY TO RECEIVE A REFUND IF YOU DROP THIS CLASS Wednesday, September 9 1. Discussion: History Textbooks and the Perspective of Native Americans Read Hollitz, Chapter 1 and review Textbook Chapter 2--History Matters Documents 2. Lecture--The New England Colonies Read Textbook Chapter 3--English Colonization Wednesday, September Discussion of Puritan Childhood Read Hollitz, Chapter 2 Discussion questions: What do the portraits of Puritan children suggest about children's roles in Puritan New England? How did the experience of growing up in Puritan New England differ from your own experience? What values did the Puritans attempt to instill in their children, and why? 2. Lecture--Eighteenth-Century Immigration to British America Read Textbook Chapters 4 and 5--Pennsylvania and Life in Mid-Eighteenth Century Pennsylvania Group A Essay Assignment Due: Using at least two of the five History Matters documents, explain what Native Americans considered important. 4

5 Wednesday, September Discussion of Pennsylvania's Peopling Read Hollitz, Chapter 3 Discussion question: Interpret tables 10 and 11 (pages 52-53) in order to explain the pattern of wealth distribution in Pennsylvania from 1686 until Lecture--The American Revolution Read Textbook Chapter 6--The Origins of the Revolution Group B Essay Assignment Due: Using at least two of the documents in Hollitz, explain why Puritans considered it so important to shape the behavior of their children. Midterm Exam Guide Distributed Wednesday, September Midterm Exam (there will be questions from chapter 4 of Hollitz to make sure you read it for the second half of class tonight) 2. Discussion: Understanding the Revolution through Documents Read Hollitz, Chapter 4, 55-72, with a careful focus on Nash s argument Wednesday, October 7 1. Discussion: Was the American Revolution Radical? Read Hollitz, Chapter 4, and Textbook Chapter 7--The War and Its Aftermath 2. Lecture--Thomas Jefferson and Race Discussion question: Was Thomas Jefferson was justified in continuing to hold slaves despite the ideals he promoted in the Declaration of Independence? You can find and read a copy of the Declaration of Independence easily online. Group A Essay Assignment Due: Summarize the argument of historian Gary B. Nash. What is his thesis and what evidence does he use to develop it? Wednesday, October Discussion: Jeffersonian Ideals 2. Discussion: Jeffersonian Practice Read Hollitz, Chapter 6, with a careful focus on Takaki s argument Wednesday, October Lecture--Jacksonian America 2. Discussion: Andrew Jackson's Psychology Read Hollitz, Chapter 9 and Textbook Chapter 8--Jacksonian Democracy Discussion question: Selecting documents on the subject of either Jackson s role in the conquest of Florida, Indian removal, or opposing nullification, explain whether you think his psychology influenced American history. Group B Essay Assignment Due: Summarize the argument of historian Ronald Takaki, and explain Takaki's thinking about how republicanism influenced Jefferson's racial ideas. Midterm Exam Guide Distributed 5

6 Wednesday, October Midterm Exam 2. Lecture--Antebellum Slavery and the New Deal WPA Read Textbook Chapter 9--Slavery in the South Group A and B Essay Assigned and Instructions for Debate Sheet Distributed (both the paper and the debate sheets will require you to do Internet research) Wednesday, November 4 1. Discussion: Life as a Slave Read Hollitz, Chapter 10 Read Textbook Chapter 10--WPA Narratives 3. Discussion of Roots, Episode 4 This influential 1977 television miniseries is available in the library on three-hour reserve, which means you can watch it only in the library. There are six 90-minute episodes on DVD. We will watch episode 4 (disc 2, side B), which focuses on the character Kizzy. Discussion question: The miniseries was an explicit attempt to shape contemporary understandings of slavery using the storytelling power of movies. What is your reaction to this movie, and why? What do you think the directors and contributors to the movie wanted you to think? How valid is this approach to portraying and understanding the past? Saturday, November 7: LAST DAY TO DROP THIS CLASS Wednesday, November Class Debate: American Slavery 2. Lecture--Antebellum Women's Lives Read Textbook Chapter 11--Antebellum Reform Debate Sheet Due Wednesday, November Discussion: Separate Spheres 2. Discussion: The Bounds of Womanhood Read Hollitz, Chapter 11 Wednesday, November 25: Thanksgiving Holiday--No Class! Wednesday, December 2 1. Love Your Teacher Day--SXU Course Evaluations 2. Preparation for the Final Exam and Reflections on What You Have Learned Group A and B Essay Assignment Due Final Exam Guide Distributed WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9: FINAL EXAM AT 6:30 P.M.-9:20 PM 6