Office
Telephone: 274-8017
Office
Hours: Monday and Tuesday 10:15-11:15
Email: aashendel@aol.com (preferred) or aashende@iupui.edu
Required
Readings:
Jefferson vs. Hamilton by Cunningham
America’s Jubilee by Burstein
Andrew Jackson vs. Henry
Clay by
Watson
Additional
readings as assigned by the instructor
Course
Description and Objectives: This course
examines American history from the end of the revolutionary war to 1850. Political, economic, and social issues
including the creation of the Constitution, the development of the first and
second party systems, the market revolution, antebellum reform, the Old South,
and westward expansion will be examined.
Our objective will be to examine the interplay of power and liberty as
Americans debated the issues of the day. This class will stress the critical
analysis of people and events rather than a simple recitation of those events.
Attendance
and Classroom Etiquette: Attendance is
required. Attendance will be used to
determine borderline grades. Please take
part in classroom discussions and state your point of view from a historical
and not a personal basis. Civil academic
debate is the goal. Anyone not following
this guideline may be asked to leave the classroom. Since note taking and listening are important
skills for students to develop, tape recorders are not allowed in the classroom.
Cheating
and plagiarism: Don’t do it. Cheating and plagiarism will result in a zero
on the work in question and a possible zero in the course.
Assignments
and Grading: Students will take two
essay examinations. Study guides for the examinations will be distributed one
week before the exam. The actual examination will be taken from that study
guide. Students will also prepare a
written and oral review of an existing web site which is based on a topic that
involves the early American republic. The specifics for this assignment are
located at the back of this syllabus.
2
exams at 100 points 200
Web
review 100
Total
points 300
Grades
are based on a straight scale: 300-270 =
A; 269-240 = B; 239 –210 = C; 209-180 = D; 179 and under = F. Grades will NOT be curved. Be sure to complete all of the
assignments. A zero has a greater
negative impact on your final grade than at least some attempt to complete the
assignment. Make-up exams are strongly
discouraged. No make-up will be given
without documentation of an extreme emergency.
Documentation includes doctors’ forms, funeral notices, accident
reports, or other verifiable papers. The
instructor reserves the right to refuse to grant a make-up exam. If one is approved it must be completed within
one week of the original exam.
Incompletes are strongly discouraged and rarely given. It is not fair to
the rest of the class to request extra time to complete the work in question.
Schedules
of lectures, readings, and assignments.
Complete the readings before class.
May
15: Introduction to the
Course/Revolution for a Republic
May
19: The Constitution
May
20: First Party System
Read: Jefferson
vs. Hamilton
May
22: First Party System
May
26: HOLIDAY—NO CLASS
May
27: American Culture
May
29: Native Americans
June
2: The Old South
June
3: EXAM
I
June
5: Industrialization
June
9: Discuss America’s Jubilee Chapters 1, 4, 5-7, 10, 11, and Introduction
June
10: Second Party System
June
12: Second Party System
Read: Andrew
Jackson vs. Henry Clay
June
16: Reform
June
17: Gender
June
19: Presentations of Web Reviews
June
23: Review
Study
Guide for Jefferson vs. Hamilton
(omit Chapter 7 and the Epilogue)
Introduction
and Chapter 1: Describe their early
lives. What role did each play in the
American Revolution? What were
Hamilton’s views of the common people?
Chapter
2: What were Hamilton’s proposals for
the public debt? According to Jefferson,
how and what agreement was reached at dinner between Jefferson, Hamilton, and
Madison?
Chapter
3: What were Hamilton’s arguments in
favor of a national bank? What were
Jefferson’s arguments against such a bank?
Why does Hamilton say the country needs to promote manufacturing?
Chapter
4: What were Jefferson’s and Hamilton’s views
of the future of the federal government?
Chapter
5: What were Jefferson’s and Hamilton’s
views on France?
Chapter
6: How did Hamilton help determine the
election between Jefferson and Burr?
What were Jefferson’s political views as expressed in his inaugural
address?
Study
Guide for America’s Jubilee (read
only the chapters listed below)
Introduction: What is the author’s stated purpose in
writing this book?
Chapter
1: How did U.S. citizens celebrate
Lafayette’s tour of the United States?
What sorts of people were involved in the celebrations? How had the country developed/changed since
the Revolution?
Chapter
4: What role did Masonry play in the
nation? How did people deal with death
in 1826?
Chapter
5: Why and how were the people of Ohio
devoted to commercial development?
Chapter
6: What sort of person and president was
John Quincy Adams? What is the meaning
of the story about the bridge toll at the end of the chapter?
Chapter
7: How did McDuffie want to change the
electoral system? Why?
Chapter
10: How was July 4, 1826, celebrated
across the country?
Chapter
11: How did John Adams and Thomas
Jefferson die? When? What did their deaths mean to Americans?
Study
Guide for Andrew Jackson vs. Henry Clay
(do not read the documents section)
Introduction: How are the personal backgrounds of Jackson
and Clay alike? Different?
Social
Change and the Market Revolution: How
did the market revolution change everyday life?
Politics
in the Early Republic: How does the
author define republicanism? Democracy?
Jackson,
Clay, and the Part System: What were the
beliefs of the two parties?
The
Making of a Tennessee Gentleman: Briefly
describe Jackson’s early life. What positions did Jackson take on the issues in
Congress? Did Jackson participate in
land speculation? How?
Gentleman
Becomes a Hero: Why did Jefferson
institute the embargo? How did the United States enter the War of 1812? What activities did Jackson participate in
during the Creek War? Why were the
militia captains killed?
War
Hawk from Kentucky: Where did Clay get
his ideas about cooperating economic segments of American society? What was Clay’s view of slavery? Why did Clay approve of the Kentucky
Insurance Company? Who were the War
Hawks? What economic policies did the
War of 1812 inspire? What did Clay do to
win Jackson’s hatred?
Postwar
Problems: What caused the Panic of
1819? What was the Missouri Compromise?
Round
1: 1824:
Who won the election? Why?
Round
2: 1828:
Who won the election? Why?
Hero
Becomes President: Was slavery a major
political issue? Why or why not? What
was Jackson’s Indian policy? What were
the effects of “rotation in office?”
What was the Maysville Road veto?
What were the advantages of BUS II?
Why did Jackson kill it? What was
Clay’s American System? What was
nullification and how did Jackson and Clay react to it?
Four
More Years: Why did the opposition say
Jackson should not withdraw the Bank deposits?
What party formed in response to this event? Why did Jackson stress party discipline? What about class differences? What were the
major ideas of the Democratic Party?
What caused the Panic of 1837?
Aftermath: What was the Compromise of 1850?
Web
Assignment
One
major task of all historians is to analyze sources for reliability, accuracy,
and possible bias. For this assignment you must explore the Internet and find a
site that accurately describes, or has primary sources relevant to, any
historical event or group from the early American republic. There are many sites and some are better than
others. Therefore, you will have to do
some outside research to determine whether the site you found contains serious
information or is composed of erroneous information that has been inadvertently
placed on the site by well-intended (hopefully) persons. Personal web pages, sites created by
organizations with specific propaganda purposes, and sites created by students
in elementary schools, high schools, or colleges should be very closely
scrutinized for inaccuracies or outright misleading statements. We will fully discuss these issues and this
assignment in class. If you have never
used a computer to search for information, see me.
After
you have found a site and have verified its reliability, or lack of
reliability, compete your assignment by providing me with the following
information:
1.
The address of the site.
This begins www.____.
2.
The name of the person or
organization who created the site and an explanation of who this person is (an
expert, a third grader?) or what the group’s goals are.
3.
Provide photocopies of
printouts of three sources which prove or refute information on the site. Also provide a printout of the first page of
the site itself. (Label all of these.)
4.
Summarize the information
found on the site. This must be at least
five paragraphs in length.
5.
Criticize the physical
appearance of the site. Do illustrations
contribute to your understanding of the information? Are there any useful links to other sites? Are there any other outstanding or useful
features?
6.
You will present this
information to the class in a 5-10 minute presentation on the date listed on
the syllabus. This presentation will be
worth 50% of the grade on this assignment.
ONLINE
REFERENCES SUCH AS ENCYCLOPEDIAS DO NO COUNT AS A SITE FOR THIS
ASSIGNMENT. THEY MAY BE USED TO VERIFY
ANOTHER SITE. THEY ARE, AFTER ALL,
ALREADY PROVEN TO BE A RELIABLE SOURCE.