History 1530

Introduction to American History to 1865

Prof. M.B. Norton (mbn1@cornell.edu)

Ms. Maeve Kane (mek235@cornell.edu)

Ms. Nicole Maskiell (nsm45@cornell.edu)

Fall, 2009

This course is designed to give you a "hands-on" introduction to American history, to offer you a broad overview of important themes in our nation's history in its early years (to 1865), to accustom you to asking and answering historical questions, to familiarize you with primary source materials, and to introduce you to different modes of historical writing and analysis.

The course format is one lecture (Mondays) and two sections each week. The assigned texts are Norton et al, A People and a Nation, 8th ed., vol. 1 (APAN) and Wheeler and Becker, eds., Discovering the American Past, 6th ed., vol. 1 (W&B). These can be purchased together in a special discounted package at the campus store.

Aug. 27, 28 organizational meetings

Aug. 31 Lecture: The Columbian Encounter

section A: APAN, ch. 1

section B: W&B, ch. 1

Sept. 7 Lecture: European Colonization

section A: APAN, ch. 2

section B: W&B, ch. 2

Sept. 14 Lecture: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis

section A: APAN, ch. 3

section B: W&B, ch. 3

Sept. 21 Lecture: The Origins of the Revolution

section A: APAN, ch. 4

section B: APAN, ch. 5 [REWRITE DUE]

Sept. 28 Lecture: How Revolutionary was the Revolution?

section A: APAN, ch. 6

section B: W&B, ch. 4

Oct. 5 Lecture: The Confederation and the Constitution

section A: APAN, ch. 7

section B. W&B, ch. 5

Oct. 12 No Lecture (fall break)

section A^*: APAN, ch. 8; TAKE-HOME PRELIMS DISTRIBUTED

section B: PRELIMS DUE IN PROF. NORTON’S MAILBOX ON THE 4^TH

FLOOR OF MCGRAW BY 4 PM FRIDAY OCT. 16; NO CLASS

^*Note: students enrolled in section 4 (which would normally meet on Tuesday,

during fall break) should attend any of the other sections on Wed. Oct. 14 to

participate in discussion and pick up the prelim.

Oct. 19 Lecture: The Erie Canal

section A: APAN, chs. 9 & 13

section B: W&B, ch. 6

Oct. 26 Lecture: Nineteenth-Century Society

section A: APAN, ch. 11

section B: W&B, ch. 7

Nov. 2 Lecture: Slavery

section A: APAN, ch. 10

section B: W&B, ch. 8

Nov. 9 Lecture: Antebellum Reform

section A: APAN, ch. 12

section B: W & B, ch. 9

Nov. 16 Lecture: The Dred Scott Case

section A: APAN, ch. 14

section B: W &B, ch. 10

Nov. 23 Lecture: The Civil War in Documents

no sections or reading assignments (Thanksgiving)

Nov. 30 Lecture: A Summing Up

section A: APAN, ch. 15

section B: no reading assignment; review for final exam

The final exam in this course is scheduled for Monday, December 14, 2-4:30 P.M.

The success of this introductory course in American history is heavily based on your own participation. Attendance at the two sections each week is very important. Grades will be calculated as follows: section attendance and participation, 25%; five short papers, 25%; preliminary exam, 25%; final, 25%.

Anyone who cheats on an exam or turns in a paper that is not entirely his or her own work will fail this course. The take-home prelim will be an open-book exam; that is, you can consult your books and notes as you prepare your answer. However, you may not discuss the contents of your essays with or receive assistance from classmates or any other people (roommates, friends, etc.). Evidence that you have done so will be grounds for failing the course.

Preparation for section A each week:

Each section will be organized into groups of 4 students. Each group should choose a "responsible person" (RP). (The role of RP must rotate during the semester, so that each student serves in that capacity for 3 or 4 weeks.) The current RP for each group is responsible for the following assignment. By 8 PM on Monday or Tuesday evening, the night before section A meets, the RP must send via e-mail to Ms. Maskiell, nsm45@cornell.edu, the group's selection of the four most important themes to discuss in the assigned APAN chapter(s). Each member of the group, led by the RP, should be prepared to explain its choices to the class. Deductions will be made from the section grades of all members of groups that do not complete this assignment on time. The deadline of 8 PM the night before is absolute and inflexible. Each member of the group must prepare his or her own list of four themes after having completed the reading, and the group should then meet in person (or via e-mail) to create the group's consensus list. The four themes should be separate and distinct; that is, do not complete this assignment by having each member of the group contribute one theme and then submit them together, because themes selected thus will overlap in obvious ways, and the grades of each member of the team will be reduced accordingly because of the lack of collaboration, which is an important aspect of this assignment.

Preparation for section B each week*:

Carefully read the assignments in W&B. Focus on the documents and think about the questions posed about them by the authors, whether or not you have chosen to write a paper that week. Each section--and the related papers--will concentrate on responding to those questions and others that arise from discussion.

[*except for weeks of Sept. 21, when directions for section A will apply, with the email due to Ms. Maskiell on Wednesday or Thursday evening at 8; and Oct. 12, when prelims are due on Friday Oct. 16, but there will be no other assignment]

Each student is required to write 5 short (2-3 pp double-spaced typed) papers, covering 5 different topics, during the semester, all based on chapters of W&B. Two of these papers must be rewritten (the grade on the rewrite will replace the original grade). Three papers and one rewrite must be completed before or during week 7 of the term (by Oct. 16) and two papers thereafter. The initial papers are due at the time of the section B discussion of the chapter in W&B assigned for that day; one rewrite (of any paper submitted prior to that time) must be handed in at Section B during the week of Sept. 21, for which there is no initial writing assignment. The other rewrite can be submitted at any time during the semester. However, since the intent of this assignment is to help you improve subsequent papers, you should try to complete both rewrites early in the term. In any event, we recommend that you not postpone the second rewrite until the very end of the semester, when your work assignments in other courses are likely to be heavy.

Late papers will not be accepted! You must write and submit your paper on a W&B chapter at the beginning of the class discussion of that chapter. We recommend that you plan at the beginning of the term which weeks you will submit papers, based on the assignments in your other courses, any holiday observances, and so forth. Do not delay writing these papers until the weeks just prior to the two deadlines, because you may encounter unexpected difficulties at the last minute. It is your responsibility to keep track of how many papers you have submitted and how many you still have to write to fulfill this assignment. You will receive a failing grade for any of the 5 papers that remain unwritten at the end of the semester.

All papers must have as their titles the historical question(s) you are answering in the paper. W&B suggest questions to ask of the documents assigned for reading for section B. You may choose to respond to one or more of those questions or you may compose your own question(s). You do not need to do additional research for the papers; rely on the documents in W&B to answer the question(s) you select. Footnotes are unnecessary, but give the page numbers of any quotations in parentheses after the quote.

OFFICE HOURS:

Prof. Norton, 325 McGraw: Wed. 9-10:30, and by appointment

Ms. Kane, B-41 McGraw: Wed. 1:30-3, and by appointment

Ms. Maskiell, B-46 McGraw: Thurs. 3-4:30, and by appointment