Fall
2002 Cavanaugh Hall 219
Instructor:
Margaret
Puskar-Pasewicz
Office:
CA 243B
Office Hours: Tues. 11:00-noon and 2:30-3:30; Thurs. 11:00-noon,
and additional times by appointment.
Email: mpuskar@iupui.edu
Description: This
course is an introduction to American history from European settlement to the
Civil War. We will be studying major
social, political, economic, and cultural developments in early America. As a class, we will connect these
developments to the daily lives of ordinary
Americans, and the ways that they influenced and were influenced by broad
events and experiences such as the American Revolution, slavery, and
immigration.
My
goal for the class is 1) to provide a historical framework for understanding
society and politics in the United States to 1865 and 2) to introduce the
materials and tools employed by historians.
Our class discussions and assignments will emphasize collaborative
learning and the development of critical thinking, research, and writing
skills. These objectives reinforce
IUPUI’s undergraduate learning principles (more information can be found at:
www.iupui.edu/~history/principlesundergradlearning.htm).
Requirements: You are required to attend class
regularly, to complete the assigned readings and reading questions, and to
participate in class discussions. You are expected to complete the weekly
readings before we meet—you’ll find
yourself more confident in discussion and doing better on quizzes and
exams. In addition, students will
complete two short papers (described below) based on assigned readings, one
in-class midterm, and a final. For the
second paper, you will also be required to turn in a paper outline. Study guides for each of the exams will be
distributed at least one week before the test, and all examinations will
consist of short-answer identifications and essays.
Grading: Make-up exams are not available for either exam, and late work will result in a lower
grade unless there is a documented medical or family emergency. If you have a problem or conflict with an
assignment or test date, notify me as early as possible. I understand that emergencies happen, but it
is easier to accommodate such situations when I know prior to missing an assignment deadline. Also, significant improvement on exams and class participation
will be taken into consideration in the calculation of your overall grade.
5%
Announced & Unannounced Quizzes (Missed quizzes cannot be made up. If you
miss
a quiz due to an unexcused absence then
you will receive a zero for that quiz.)
15%
Class Participation (Consists of attendance, contributions to class
discussions, in-
class group work, and reading questions.)
10%
First Paper (One to two page reaction paper on Ulrich’s Good Wives.)
20%
Second Paper (Three to four page analytical essay on the Narrative of the
Life of
Frederick Douglass. Includes
both paper outline and final paper.)
25%
Mid-Term
25%
Final
Required Reading: You can purchase all of these books at
the campus bookstore. Please contact
the instructor as soon as possible if you have any trouble obtaining these
books.
Alan Brinkley, The Unfinished Nation:
A Concise History of the American People; Vol. I: To 1877, 3rd
edition.
Frederick Binder and David M. Reimers, The
Way We Lived; Vol. I: 1492 - 1877, 4th edition.
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Good Wives:
Images and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England 1650-1750.
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the
Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave; Written by Himself, ed.
David W. Blight.
How to approach your
reading: Readings and
lectures complement each other; they do not substitute for each other. You will be responsible for material
presented in both. The weekly reading
questions will help you to read more effectively. Think of the readings in The Unfinished Nation, not as a bunch of facts to memorize,
but as background that helps you
better to understand lectures and additional readings. While I want you to attain a general factual
knowledge of American history, it is much more important that you understand
why and how certain events occurred.
Our additional readings are intended to show how larger historical
events affected the lives of individual people.
Academic Misconduct: I expect you to follow the rules on
academic honesty and intellectual integrity in the Indiana University
Academic Handbook. Copying another
student’s work in whole or in part is plagiarism. Presenting someone else’s ideas or work as your own (this
includes information from books, articles, and web sites) is plagiarism. Other forms of academic misconduct include,
but are not limited to: using unauthorized books or notes to answer examination
questions; exchanging knowledge with another student verbally or in written
form during an examination; and writing for another member of the class. Any work that is wholly or partly the result
of academic dishonesty will receive a grade of “F.” Any student who repeats this offense will receive a grade of “F”
for the course. University procedures
require me to report all instances of academic misconduct to the Dean of
Students, whose office may impose additional penalties.
Week
2 (8/27 & 29): EUROPEAN “DISCOVERY” & EARLY SETTLEMENT
READING: Unfinished
Nation, 1-41
Binder & Reimers, Way We Lived, Docs 13-18
READING: Unfinished
Nation, 60-79
Week 4 (9/10 & 9/12):
SOCIETY AND CULTURE IN THE COLONIAL NORTH
READING: Unfinished
Nation, 41-49, 79-82
Binder & Reimers, Way We Lived, Essay &
Docs 38-55
Continue reading Ulrich, Good Wives (to page 180)
Week 5 (9/17 & 9/19):
SOCIETY AND CULTURE IN THE COLONIAL SOUTH & THE MIDDLE COLONIES
READING: Unfinished
Nation, 49-59
Binder & Reimers, Way We Lived, Essay &
Docs 19-37
Finish reading Ulrich, Good Wives
READING: Unfinished Nation, 94-104
Article to be handed out in class the
previous week
First
short paper due in class on Tuesday.
READING: Unfinished
Nation, 82-92, 104-121
Binder & Reimers, Way We Lived, Essay &
Docs 90-94
READING: Unfinished
Nation, 122-178
Binder & Reimers, Way We Lived, Essay &
Docs 112-129
Week 9 (10/15 & 10/17):
CREATING THE REPUBLIC
READING: Unfinished Nation, 180-216
Mid-Term
Examination on Thursday
READING: Unfinished
Nation, 218-240
Binder & Reimers, Way We Lived,
Essay & Docs 169-183
Week 11 (10/29 &
11/31): THE LOWELL EXPERIMENT & THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
READING: Unfinished
Nation, 272-308
READING: Unfinished
Nation, 242-270
Binder & Reimers, Way We Lived,
Essay & Docs 150-168
Begin Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
READING: Unfinished
Nation, 337-362
Binder & Reimers, Way We Lived, Docs 195-203;
240-246
Finish Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Outline
for second paper due in class on Tuesday
READING: Unfinished Nation, 310-335
Binder & Reimers, Way We Lived, Essay &
Docs 247-262
READING: Unfinished
Nation, 364-399
Second short paper due in
class on Tuesday
READING: Unfinished
Nation, 401-422
Binder & Reimers, Way We Lived, Essay &
Docs 281-286