U.S. History and American Literature
Second Semester Syllabus
This semester, we will write our academic paragraphs in response to our class discussions and assigned literature. I will assign these each week in class, due the following meeting, and I will also post these prompts on the weekly review for those of you following along on the blog. Other readings may be added.
January 9th: Literary Circle on Jack London’s Call of the Wild. This book was the assigned reading over the Christmas break. Please come to class with your position’s work complete. I will take up your written work for this position after your group meeting.
History: The Era of Reconstruction, Lincoln’s Assassination, Andrew Johnson’s presidency and impeachment, Carpetbaggers and Scalawags
Literature: Bring OBSS to class. William Faulkner “The Evening Sun” pp. 335, Charlotte Perkins Gilman “The Yellow Wallpaper” pp. 191, Shirley Jackson “The Lottery” pp. 464
January 16th: (1860-1900)
History: Business and Labor in the Industrial Era /The New South and the New West
Literature: In Class, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” “A Late Encounter with the Enemy” pp. 514, OBSS, Southern Gothic Genre, and one of my favorite writers, Flannery O’Connor
January 23rd: Political Stalemate and the Rural Revolt
History: Seizing an American Empire (Modern America)
Literature: Modernism: The Great Gatsby Chapters 1-3
January 30th: The Progressive Era
History: Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, The Women’s Suffrage Movement, Settlement Houses
Literature: The Great Gatsby Chapters 4-6
February 6th: America and the Great War
Literature: The Great Gatsby Chapters 7-9
February 13th: A Clash of Cultures, 1920-1929: A “New Era” of Consumption, The Jazz Age, The Modernist Revolt, Rise of Mass Consumption (Kellogg’s, GE toasters, etc)
Charlie Chaplin and the movies
Literature: Langston Hughes, “The Weary Blues” OBAP pp.468, “Juke Box Love Song” pp. 469, “Harlem” 472
February 20th: The Reactionary Twenties: Reactionary Conservatism and Immigration Restriction, A Republican Resurgence, The Rise of Herbert Hoover, The Great Depression
Literature: To Kill a Mockingbird
February 27th: The Second World War, 1933-1945, The Rise of Fascism in Europe, Isolationism and Intervention, The Pacific War
Literature: To Kill a Mockingbird
March 6th: The American Age: The Cold War and the Fair Deal, 1945-1952, Truman, Containment, the New Deal, and the Red Scare
Literature: To Kill a Mockingbird
March 13th: Spring Break: NO CLASS/NO HOMEWORK
March 20th: A New Frontier and a Great Society, 1960-1968, Civil Rights, The Great Society, Vietnam, the Sixties
Literature: “The Things They Carried” Tim O’Brien, OBSS 688,
Beat Generation/Bob Dylan
March 27th: Rebellion and Reaction, 1960s and 1970s, “The Youth Revolt,” Social Activism Spreads, Nixon and the Revival of Conservatism, Thawing Cold War, Watergate
Literature: The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian
April 3rd: Conservative Revival, 1977-1990, Carter Presidency, Rise of Ronald Reagan, Anti-Soviet Foreign Policy, George H.W. Bush
Literature: The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian
April 10th: Twenty-first Century America, 1993-Present, Clinton Presidency, A Chaotic Start to a New Century, Second-Term Blues, and Obama Presidency
Final essay due
April 17th: Final exam (Jeopardy Style + In Class Essay)
April 24th: Last Day of Class (End of Year Party)/Parent conferences
U.S. History and American Literature Reading List
· History texts will be mostly primary source documents that I will either link to the class blog or
bring in for class examinations.
· Literature texts we will study:
· The Oxford Book of American Poetry April 3, 2006, by David Lehman (Editor), John Brehm (Editor) $26.00 Amazon, although some used copies are available for less than $10
· The Oxford Book of American Short Stories --August 28, 2012
· The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts --March 25, 2003
· The Great Gatsby Paperback– September 30, 2004
· To Kill a Mockingbird Mass Market Paperback– October 11, 1988
· The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian --April 1, 2009
· The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain. Any edition is fine, but I highly recommend the Audible version ready by Elijah Wood. Dialect can be tricky to read, but this Audible version is one of the best I have ever listened to! The text version is free on Kindle.
· In addition to the texts above, each student will need two notebooks. One for recording history notes and writings and one for literature. They will also need a small binder with loose-leaf paper for in-class writings, pens, and highlighters. A binder with slots for holding handouts is most helpful, otherwise, a folder will be necessary.
· August 8—Colonial Foundations (1607-1763): European colonization in North America prompted cultural contact and exchange among diverse peoples; cultural differences and misunderstandings at times led to conflict. A variety of factors contributed to the development of regional differences, including social and racial hierarchies, in colonial America. Roanoke, Jamestown
U.S. History and American Literature Syllabus
UNIT 1-- FORMING A UNION: COLONIAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL FOUNDATIONS (1607-1800)
RESEARCH QUESTION: WHAT ARE AMERICAN FOUNDATIONS FOR LIBERTY AND FREEDOM?
Literature: In class: William Bradford “Of Plymouth Plantation,” John Winthrop “A Model of Christian Charity,” Anne Hutchinson's trial,
Assigned for next week: Mary Rowlandson’s “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration,” John Smith “Pocahontas,” Roger Williams “The Bloody Tenet of Persecution for Cause of Conscience” (Preface)
Academic Paragraph: How might British colonization have proceeded differently had epidemics not devastated Native American populations?
Art: Images of the New World: John White, Spanish Missions, de Morgues
· August 15—Colonial Economic Development, Social Structures, and Labor Systems: Geographical influences, major zones/areas (climate, vegetation, agriculture, natural resources), geographic factors that shaped the identity of America, Native American Conflicts, King Phillip’s War
Assignment: Please choose one of the above topics for further research and prepare 2 academic paragraphs for class discussion.
Geography: New England, Middle, Southern, and Chesapeake Colonies (map) and their major cities (in class assignment, but unfinished work to be completed at home)
Literature: In class: Anne Bradstreet “Before the Birth of One of Her Children” p.3 OBAP and “To My Dear and Loving Husband” p.4 OBAP, discussion of assigned readings
Art: Native American Art
Assigned reading for next week: Please read Acts 1 and 2 of The Crucible for next week’s class discussion and gather the information required for your literature circle position.
· August 22—Slavery in the colonies, indentured servitude, colonial political and economic experiences, contradiction between slavery and emerging ideas of freedom/liberty, immigration to the colonies, escape from religious persecution, political freedom, freedom of speech, freedom to own land, economic reasons, Salem Witch Trials, Cotton Mather
Literature: In class: Testimonies from the Salem Witch Trials, discussion of The Crucible Acts 1 and 2
Assigned for next week: Finish The Crucible and prepare for our first Mock Trial/debate on the Salem Witch Trials. Some questions to consider: Was there enough evidence to convict these people? Could such a trial take place today? Were these trials unique to Salem, Massachusetts?
Art: Architecture in New England, portraits: The Freakes
· August 29—Salem Witch Trials class debate/Mock Trial
Political Developments (British, Political Traditions, Great Awakening, Enlightenment Ideas, and the Colonial Experience) Key events: Magna Carta, habeas corpus, English Bill of Rights, Glorious Revolution), John Peter Zenger
Literature: The Great Awakening: Jonathan Edwards “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”
Short essay assignment on one of the following prompts (2-3 paragraphs for beginners) (4-5 paragraphs for advanced writers)-Due September 5.
1. Why was the separation of church and state considered such a radical idea, even a century and a half after Roger Williams established his colony?
2. How has the principle of religious toleration contributed to the uniqueness of American society?
3. How has the freedom of the press influenced American Society?
4. Are freedoms of press and religion essential to the preservation of liberty?
Art: Stylish Portraits, Lord Buckhurst and Lady Sackville, The Reverend Cotton Mather, Mrs. Nathaniel Cunningham
· September 5—Constitutional Foundations (1763-1824): Growing political and economic tensions led the American colonists to declare their independence from Great Britain. Once independent, the new nation confronted the challenge of creating a stable federal republic. Britain and the Colonies following the French and Indian War. Key Events: Proclamation of 1763, Stamp Act, Townsend Acts, Boston Massacre, Tea Act, Boston Tea Party, Coercive Acts/Intolerable Acts
Assignment: Please choose one of the above topics for further research and class discussion. Write an academic paragraph for next week on the following prompt:
Just how much “British tyranny” did the colonies experience before the Boston Tea Party? In class writing assignment.
Literature: The Enlightenment: Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (excerpt), “Letter to Ezra Stiles” Phyllis Wheatley “On Being Brought from Africa” OBAP p. 13
Art: Architecture in the North and South, John Singleton Copley; American Propaganda “Join or Die”
· September 12—The Declaration of Independence: Purpose, Grievances against the King, Absence of African Americans, women, and Native Americans; long-term impact; slavery; African American’s role and growth of free black population; impact on foreign nations
Assignment: Please choose one of the above topics for further research and prepare 2 academic paragraphs for class discussion.
Literature: Declaration of Independence
Music: “Ballad of the Green Mountain Boys”
Assignment: Write a response to the following prompt:
Why did the Americans bother with writing a declaration? Why did they deem it so essential?
· September 19—Revolution in America (1775-1783) Revolutionary beliefs (republican principles and natural rights), Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Abigail Adams, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Betsy Ross, Molly Pitcher, Martha Washington; General Benedict Arnold, Loyalists and Tories, Revolutionary Battles (Lexington and Concord, Battle of Bunker Hill, Battle of Brooklyn, Battle of Saratoga, Battle of Trenton, Battle of Yorktown); Women’s struggles to maintain soldier’s home and family, Native Americans form alliances with both sides, Treaty of Paris (1783)
Assignment: Please choose one of the above topics for further research and prepare 2 academic paragraphs for class discussion.
Literature: Letters from John and Abigail Adams, Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” Francis Scott Key “Defence of Fort McHenry” OBAP, p. 18
· September 26—The Constitutional Convention: Strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, Framers of the Constitution, Plans of Government (Virginia Plan, New Jersey Plan, Connecticut Plan); Great Compromise; Election of President; Protection from abuses of power (popular sovereignty, limited government; power separated and balanced; Slavery and the Constitution (3/5th Compromise, Commerce Compromise (abolition of slave importation in 1808), Fugitive Slave Law, Reasons for omitting slavery in the Constitution; Federalists, Anti-Federalists; Bill of Rights; Development of Political Parties; philosophies of Hamilton and Jefferson; Suppressing dissent (Whiskey Rebellion, Alien and Sedition Acts)
Assignment: Please choose one of the above topics for further research and prepare 2 academic paragraphs for class discussion.
Literature/Music: Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda- Lyrics and analysis, prepare for your literature circle position.
· October 3—The United States Constitution: Branches of Government (Congress, President, Judicial); Separation of powers; creation of a system of checks and balances; limits of Federalism; Civil liberties; criminal procedures; Washington’s administration, domestic politics; Executive Cabinet; Washington’s advice to avoid political parties; John Adams, Thomas Jefferson; Marshall Court (1801-1835)
Assignment: Please choose one of the above topics for further research and prepare 2 academic paragraphs for class discussion.
Literature: The Romantic Era (1800-1850) Washington Irving “Rip Van Winkle” pp. 16-30 in American Short Stories; Prepare for your literary circle position.
Art: Romantic Idealism, Sully, Neagle, Vanderlyn, Landscapes
Unit 2: EXPANSION, NATIONALISM, AND SECTIONALISM (1800-1865)
RESEARCH QUESTION: WAS THE CIVIL WAR INEVITABLE?
· October 10—American Nationalism, expansion, and economic growth: The Louisiana Purchase, Exploring and settling West, Expanding the American Frontier, Lewis and Clark Expedition, The Mormon Church, Missouri Compromise
Assignment: Please choose one of the above topics for further research and prepare 2 academic paragraphs for class discussion.
Debate topic: Do you believe the Mormon Church was adequately protected under the First Amendment Right?
Art: Thomas Cole, Bierstadt, Luminism, Thomas Moran
Literature: Edgar Allan Poe “The Raven,” OBAP p. 67 “Annabelle Lee,” OBAP p. 72-73, and “The Tell-Tale Heart” pp. 67-72 in American Short Stories
Art: John James Audubon
· October 17—The Virginia Presidential Dynasty: Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, The Embargo Act of 1807, Factors leading to War of 1812 (British Impressment of Americans, British Alliance with Native Americans, British refusal to give up forts, competition over North American fur trade); Monroe Doctrine, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson’s political rivalry
Assignment: Please choose one of the above topics for further research and prepare 2 academic paragraphs for class discussion.
Debate topic: Did the Founding Fathers have a point when they argued that political parties are harmful to the health of a republic?
Literature: Nathaniel Hawthorne “The Wives of the Dead” pp. 60- 66 in American Short Stories
· October 24—The Growing Economy: Cotton gin, patterns of southern development, rise of Northern industry, Samuel Colt-gun manufacturing; middle-class and working-class life in the pre-Civil War North; Immigration and Nativist reactions (Jews, Irish mass starvation, German refugees, Know Nothings); Oliver Evans-steam engine; working conditions in the North and South; developing sectional differences and philosophies of government-states’ rights
Assignment: Please choose one of the above topics for further research and prepare 2 academic paragraphs for class discussion.
Literature: Transcendentalism—Emerson “Blight” OBAP p.30
· October 31—The birth of the American reform and the Second Great Awakening: religious and secular roots, religious revival; public schools and Horace Mann, Walt Whitman, Charles Reason; poverty and crime; temperance movement, religious leaders, women; Abolition and resistance (Nat Turner’s Rebellion, Sojourner Truth, William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe) Underground Railroad; emergence of women’s rights movement and connections to abolitionist movement (Susan B. Anthony, Grimke sisters, Elizabeth Cady Stanton)
Assignment: Please choose one of the above topics for further research and prepare 2 academic paragraphs for class discussion.
Consider:
1. What was it about the message of the Second Great Awakening that inspired so many social reform movements?
2. How does religion continue to shape American society in the 21st century?
3. How did abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass manage to convince a growing number of Northerners that slavery was incompatible with American ideals of liberty and equality? What was their most effective tactic?
Literature: Realism Emily Dickinson “Success is counted sweetest” OBAP p. 163: “’Faith’ is a fine invention” p. 163-164, “I’m Nobody! Who Are you?” p. 167, Walt Whitman “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” OBAP p. 145, “Reconciliation” p. 145, “A Noiseless Patient Spider” p. 151; Frederick Douglass “I am your fellow man, but not your slave”
· November 7—Jackson and Native Americans, Manifest Destiny, and Sectionalism: The Indian Removal Act, Mexican War, Expansions into Oregon, Dissent (Abraham Lincoln, Spot Resolutions, Thoreau, Ulysses S. Grant); A society divided; The Great Constitutional Debates—states’ rights vs. federal supremacy; “Do-Nothing Presidents” (Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan); Dred Scott vs. Sanford; Lincoln-Douglas Debates; Abraham Lincoln Election of 1860, secession, compromise plans.
Assignment: Please choose one of the above topics for further research and prepare 2 academic paragraphs for class discussion.
Literature: Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn; Prepare for your literary circle position.
Art: Washington Crosses the Delaware
Essay: FREE CHOICE. You may choose to analyze any historical, literary, artistic movement, contributor, event, poem, story, or author up to this point in history.
Please prepare a 2-3-page essay. Due November 28th. More details will be given in class.
· November 14—The American Civil War: Military Strategy (Union and Confederacy); Major Battles (Bull Run, Antietam, Shiloh, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Fall of Atlanta, Sherman’s March), Human toll, death toll, and casualties due to combat and disease; Homefront: Expansion of executive and federal power, Women of the Civil War (Clara Barton, Lucretia Mott, Rose O’Neal Greenhow, Mary Chestnut); Emancipation Proclamation; Gettysburg Address; African American participation in the war; Reasons the North prevailed
Assignment: Please choose one of the above topics for further research and prepare 2 academic paragraphs for class discussion.
Debate topic: Was the Civil War fought because of slavery or states’ rights?
Literature: Huckleberry Finn; Prepare for your literary circle
Art: Civil War Photography: Brady
Unit 3: POST-CIVIL WAR AMERICA: INDUSTRIALIZATION, URBANIZATION AND THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT (1865-1900)
HOW WAS AMERICA’S RESPONSE TO THE CHALLENGES OF GROWTH AND PROGRESS ALIGNED TO ITS IDEALS OF DEMOCRACY?
· November 21—The Civil War Amendments and the Southern Response (Lincoln’s Plan, Johnson’s Plan, Congressional Reconstruction, Civil Rights Act (1866), Freedmen’s Bureau) Reconstruction and Resistance (13th Amendment, 14th Amendment, 15th Amendment, Black Codes, Restrictions on voting rights, Rise of the Klu Klux Klan, Radical Republicans vs. Johnson; The North develops as an industrial power; The New South (carpetbaggers, Piedmont communities, agriculture, Status of freedmen; End of Reconstruction; Women and Equality (Seneca Falls Convention 1848, Exclusion of women from 14th and 15th amendments, struggle for voting and increased property rights, the suffrage movement, fight for birth control (Sanger), Women’s Peace Movement; California Gold Rush; Westward expansion; Indian Wars (Sand Creek Massacre, Black Hawk War, Great Sioux War 1876-1877, Battle of Little Bighorn, Wounded Knee Massacre) Indian life (reservations, Dawes Act, Carlisle Indian School, legal status); Treatment of Mexicans, Role of Chinese immigrants, Impact on African Americans, and Nativist reactions, stereotyping and prejudice (urban poverty, low wages, harassment over religious beliefs)
Assignment: Please choose one of the above topics for further research and prepare 2 academic paragraphs for class discussion.
Literature: Huckleberry Finn; Prepare for your literary circle position
Art: Mary Cassatt
Music: “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing”
· November 28—New Technologies Transform the United States: The rise of monopolies, Incorporation, Transportation (railroads and automobiles, urban transportation) Building materials (steel), Energy sources (coal, oil, electricity), Communications (telegraph, telephone), Merchandising changes (department stores, mail order catalogues, Sears & Roebuck, Macy’s, Gimbels), Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison (motion picture), Louis Pasteur (vaccines), Nikola Tesla (AC Motor), George Goodyear (vulcanized rubber, tires), Living conditions, public education system, culture, slums, inadequate water and sanitation services; innovation (skyscrapers, escalators, elevators, tenements) Factories and people (immigrant patterns of settlement); Working conditions and wages; The Great Migration; Women, families, and work; Social Darwinism and increased class division; Traditional Roles (Victorian ideal and reality); Child Labor; John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Vanderbilt; The Gilded Age
Assignment: Please choose one of the above topics for further research and prepare 2 academic paragraphs for class discussion.
Debate topic: On balance, have the benefits of the Industrial Revolution outweighed the problems that came with it?
Essay due today.
Literature: Sarah Orne Jewett “A White Heron” pp. 136-146, Kate Chopin “The Storm” pp. 147-153 in American Short Stories
Prepare for literary circle positions.
Art: How the Other Half Lives (Riis)
In class reading: Robert Frost “The Road Not Taken” OBAP p. 222, “Birches” p. 223, “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” p. 228
December- Winter Break. While class does not meet this month, please read Jack London’s Call of the Wild and be prepared to discuss the novel the first class in January.
This is our tentative syllabus for the first semester. Some modifications made be made throughout the units, as needed.
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