HIST A421/H511/American Women’s History to 1890/Spring 2006/Dr. Ashendel

Office:  CA 506

Office Hours:  MW 10:45-11:45 a.m.

Telephone:  278-9020

Email:  aashende@iupui.edu

 

Required Books:

Through Women’s Eyes

Anne Orthwood’s Bastard

The Way of Duty

The Murder of Helen Jewett

Other Readings on Reserve

The instructor may modify this syllabus at any time.

 

“Reality often astonishes theory.”  Car Talk

 

Course Description:  This course will examine the lives of women in the United States from settlement by Europeans to 1890 by looking at the social, economic, and political worlds they lived in as well as by exploring the creation of socially-defined gender roles.  Much like an introductory U.S. history course, this course should give students a framework for understanding how both the present and future unfold within structures largely defined by the past.   History is not just a mountain of facts, but is instead a sequence of interconnected events.  Understanding those connections and explaining them through the use of the facts is one way to sharpen your analytical skills, improve your ability to communicate with others, and, hopefully, to learn something to apply to your own life.  These objectives are stated also in the IUPUI Principles of Undergraduate Learning:  www.iupui.edu/~history/principlesundergradlearning.htm.

 

Specific objectives for this course include:  understanding the key role women played in colonization; learning how women participated in politics without an official role; analyzing why and how antebellum women felt that reform movements of all types were their particular domain of activity; and an examination of women’s participation in wars especially the American Revolution and the Civil War.  Additionally, students will develop their skills at using primary and secondary sources by producing a research paper on a topic of their choice.

 

Attendance:  Attendance is required and will be taken at each class meeting.  Consistent attendance will be used to determine borderline grades.  Material covered in lecture is not necessarily covered in the required readings.  Therefore, attendance at every class meeting will result in a better grade for the course.

 

Classroom procedures:  Please arrive on time.  If you must arrive late, please enter the room quietly.  Place all cell phones on vibrate or turn them off for the duration of the class.  Please do not leave class early for other appointments.  Listening and note taking are important life skills, therefore, no tape recorders are allowed without special permission from the instructor.  We will spend much time discussing the readings; our goal is civil academic debate.

 

Plagiarism and Cheating:  Don’t do it.  You will earn a zero on the work in question.  We will discuss plagiarism on the first day of class.  The IUPUI student code of conduct pertaining to this matter is found in the IUPUI Bulletin 2004—2006, pp. 36-8 and http://life.iupui.edu/help/code.asp.

 

Other Services:  If you have difficulties that might require accommodation for completion of the class, please contact me and Adaptive Educational Services, CA 001E.  The staff can arrange assistance.  The Student Advocate Office can guide you to departments and people, familiarize you with university policy and procedures, and give you guidance on a wide variety of problems.  It is located in UC 002 or at stuadvoc@iupui.edu.

 

Grading:  Students will complete three examinations in this course.  A study guide will be distributed one week prior to the exam.  This guide will consist of both possible identifications and possible essays.  The actual exam will be taken directly from the study guide.  Students will also take a quiz over each of the three monographs.  The study guides for those quizzes are included with this syllabus.  Undergraduates will complete a research paper on a topic of their choice. Graduate students will complete an historiographical essay or a short research project.  The instructions for the essay as well as graduate student grading procedures are part of this syllabus.  Please see me if you are interested in completing a research project instead of an essay.

 

2 exams @ 100 each                200

3 quizzes @ 50 each                 150

Research Paper                        150

Total Points                              500

 

Grading scale:  500-485=A+; 484-467=A; 466-450=A-; 449-434=B+; 433-416=B; 415-400=B-; 399-384=C+; 383-366=C; 365-350=C-; 349-334=D+; 333-316=D; 315-300=D-; 299 and under = F.

 

Course Schedule:

January 9:  Introduction to the Course

January 11:  What is Women’s History?

                        Read:  TWE:  Introduction for Students

Read: Linda K. Kerber, “Separate Spheres, Female Worlds, Woman’s Place:  The Rhetoric of Women’s History,” Journal of American History (June 1988):  9-39.

January 16:  Holiday--No Class

January 18:  Native American Women

                        Meet at the Eiteljorg Museum

January 23:  Native American Women

Read:  Tanis C. Thorne, “For the Good of Her People:  Continuity and Change for Native Women of the Midwest, 1650-1850” in Midwestern Women

Read: TWE:  Chapter 1 pp. 2-13 and Visual Sources

January 25:  Goodwives and Witches

                        Read: TWE Chapter 1 pp. 24-32

January 30:  Women in the Colonial South

                        Read: TWE:  Chapter 1 pp. 14-23

Read:  “The Empire of My Heart”:  The Marriage of William Byrd II and Lucy Parke Byrd” in Portrait of America

Read:  Carol Berkin, “The Rhythms of Labor:  African-American Women in Colonial Society,” in First Generations

February 1:  Women in the Colonial South

                        Read:  Anne Orthwood’s Bastard and QUIZ

February 6:  Women and the American Revolution

                        Read:  TWE Chapter 2 and Sources

February 8:  Women and the American Revolution                   

February 13:  Women and the American Revolution

                        Read:  The Way of Duty and QUIZ

February 15:  The Cult of Domesticity

                        Read:  TWE Chapter 3 pp. 136-45 and Sources:  Godey’s Ladies Book

February 20:  The Cult of Domesticity

RESEARCH PAPER TOPIC AND BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE

February 22: Women and Work

                        Read:  TWE Chapter 3 pp. 146-53 and Sources:  Early Photographs

February 27:  Women and Work

March 1:  EXAM I

March 6: Reforming Women

                        Read:  TWE  Chapter 4 pp. 213-227

Read:  Nell Irvin Painter, “Representing Truth:  Sojourner Truth’s Knowing and Becoming Known,” Journal of American History (September 1994):  461-92.

March 8:  Individual Meetings about Research Papers

March 13 and 15:  Spring Break

March 20: Women and Politics

Read:  Elizabeth R. Varon, “Tippecanoe and the Ladies, Too:  White Women and Party Politics in Antebellum Virginia,” Journal of American History (September 1995):  494-521.

March 22:  Women and Politics

Read:  TWE Chapter 4 Documents:  Paulina Wright Davis and Declaration of Sentiments (back of textbook) and class handouts

March 27: Women and Sexuality in the Nineteenth Century

                        Read:  TWE Chapter 3 pp. 169-74

                        Read:  The Murder of Helen Jewett and QUIZ

Read:  “’Notorious Home of Harlotry’:  Regulating Prostitution in the Ohio Valley, 1850—1860,” in Ohio Valley History

March 29: Civil War

                        Read:  TWE Chapter 4 pp. 228-35

Read: Rebekah Weber Bowen, “The Changing Role of Protection on the Border:  Gender and the Civil War in Saline County” in Women in Missouri History:  In Search of Power and Influence

April 3: Civil War

April 5: Post War Changes

                        Read:  TWE Chapter 5

April 10:  Post War Changes

April 12:  EXAM II

April 17:  Individual Consultations        

April 19:  Individual Consultations

April 24:  Individual Consultations

April 26:  Individual Consultations

May 1:  RESEARCH PAPERS DUE

 

Study Guide for Anne Orthwood’s Bastard/Omit Chapters 3-5, 7, Conclusion

Introduction:  Describe the relationship between Anne and John Kendall.  What were 4 possible consequences for Anne?

Chapter 1:  How did illegitimacy affect Anne, her mother, and her sister? (Be specific) Describe why and how indentured servants went to the colonies.  What were similarities and differences between being a servant in England and an indentured servant in Virginia?

Chapter 2:  Describe William Kendall’s rise to power.  Why did he “remove Anne Orthwood from his household?”

Chapter 6:  What role did a midwife play in an unmarried woman’s pregnancy?  Why were people so worried about identifying a child’s parents?  Why did servants face special punishment?  Did the midwife believe Kendall was the father of Anne’s twins?  Why or why not?

Chapter 8:  What were the two issues surrounding John Kendall?  Why was John named responsible for Jasper’s support?  Why was he not “morally” responsible? Why did Virginia (Eastern Shore) courts streamline the process for maintaining these children?  What were the requirements for support?  When did support end?  Why did colonial masters accept them as servants?  How did indenturing help the fathers?  How did race change this system?

Chapter 9:  Why did Virginia more vigorously prosecute fornication and sex crimes in general in the 1660s?  Why did they prosecute John Kendall?  Was he found guilty?  Why or why not?  How did this prosecution change in the 1670s? 

Chapter 10:  What happened in John Kendall’s later life?  What happened in Jasper Orthwood’s life?

Overall:  How did the treatment of women in colonial Virginia reflect Virginia society in general and affect future generations of Virginians?

 

 

Study Guide for The Way of Duty

Chapters 1 and 2:  Describe Mary’s life up to her marriage to John Noyes.  What impact did religion have on her life?  How did women deal with basic issues such as childbirth, illness, death, and raising children?

Chapters 3 and 4:  How did Mary survive both emotionally and financially? How did Mary approach remarriage?  What were her requirements for a good husband? What role did family play in her new life?

Chapters 5 and 6:  How did Mary’s life change with the commencement of war?  Describe Mary’s ordeals as she tried to free her husband.

Chapters 7-9:  Describe Mary’s life after the Revolutionary War.  Did the war have a positive, negative, or no impact on her life.  Why?

Overall:  Did politics, cultural expectations, or religion play the biggest role in Mary’s life.  Why?

 

Study Guide for The Murder of Helen Jewett

Chapters 1, 2, and 3:  Describe what happened to Helen Jewett.  How did the newspapers treat the murder story and what did they report about Helen?  What is the true story, as far as we can tell, of Helen Jewett’s life?

Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7:  How was the business of prostitution conducted and regulated in New York City?  Were prostitutes independent business women?  According to the pamphlets about Jewett and the police reports, how did Jewett interact with men?  How was the brothel business conducted?

Chapter 8:  OMIT

Chapter 9:  How did men and women find out about “proper” and “improper” male-female relationships in the antebellum era?

Chapters 10 and 11:  OMIT

Chapters 12 and 13:  Describe Jewett’s and Robinson’s relationship and how it ended.

Chapter 14:  How did the public treat/remember Jewett and the prostitutes during the trial?  Why?  How did they treat/remember Robinson? Why?

Chapters 15 and 16:  Was Robinson found guilty?  Why or why not?

Chapter 17 and Epilogue:  OMIT. 

Overall:  What does Jewett’s life and death tell us about the ideals of the cult of domesticity?

 

Research Paper Assignment for Undergraduates

Each student will complete a research paper of at least 10 pages (may be more) on a topic about U.S. women’s history to 1890.  The topic and bibliography will be due early in the semester to insure that every student has ample time to produce a quality paper.  Each paper should be typed, double-spaced, in 12 point font, with one inch margins on each side of the page. You may submit a rough draft for early comments.  These papers may be based on primary sources or focus on secondary sources. 

Topic and Bibliography—30 points.   Your topic and bibliography are due early in the semester.  Your topic should have a working title and a brief thesis statement.  Your thesis will probably change during the course of your research, but you need have a thesis to start your research.  There are no set requirements for the number of resources listed in your bibliography as the number will vary with your topic.  Copies of any journal articles should be included with your bibliography. 

Paper---120 points.  There are a wide variety of topics from which to choose for your paper topic.  We will create a list of possible topics in class. Your paper needs to be at least 10 pages in length, but may be as long as you wish it to be.

 

Assignments for Graduate Students (H511)

Quizzes:  In place of classroom quizzes, graduate students will complete 2-4 page review essays of each of the three monographs required for the class.  We will discuss the requirements for those reviews in class.  The reviews will be due on the day the undergraduates take their quiz.

 

Examinations:  In place of classroom examinations, graduate students will choose one of the essays from the examination study guide and prepare a take home examination from that essay.  The examination will be due on the day the undergraduates take their examination.

 

Historiography:  Instead of a research paper, graduate students are required to write an historiographical essay on a women’s history topic of their choice.  They must use at least four books and as many articles as you like for your essay and approve the topic and readings with me.

            A good historiographical essay examines the changes in the methods, interpretations, and conclusions of historians about a particular topic over time. In other words, a good essay studies the work of other historians for change over time.  There are a wide variety of reasons for these changes:  new sources may have been discovered that shed new interpretative light on a topic, perhaps new statistical methods have been applied to the topic at hand, perhaps new trends in society at large have led to a new way of approaching a subject, or as historians distance themselves across time from a particular event new perspectives may arise from that difference in time.  More information will be given in class and in individual meetings with graduate students.

            An example of an outstanding historiographical essay is Linda Kerber, “Separate Spheres, Female Worlds, Women’s Place:  The Rhetoric of Women’s History,” Journal of American History 75 (June 1988):  9-39 (On Reserve).

            These essays must be typed, double-spaced, using 12-point font, and have one-inch margins on all sides of the paper.  They should be at least 20 pages in length and may be as long as you like.

 

Grading:

3 reviews @ 50 points              150

2 examinations @ 100 points    200

Historiography              250

Total points                              600

 

Grading scale:  600-580=A+; 579-560=A; 559-540=A-;539-520=B+; 519-500=B; 499-480=B-; 479 and under =C.