American Culture and Society (Seminar)

USA: Expansion, Incorporation, Integration

Course Code: BBNAN13400 (1-es kurzuskód)

Lecturer: Balogh Beatrix

Time and place: Mondays 14.10-15.40, Ambrosianum 213/A

Availability: by appointment or via email:

Purpose: Critical reading of US expansion and integrating new territories; getting acquainted with US ideology underlying acquisitions, and the problems of political and cultural integration of diverse populations. Besides briefly exploring the decisive historical and diplomatic crossroads of nation building and “imperial stretching” we will tap into such essential questions of culture studies as identity making or cultural (trans)nationalism.

Brief summary: It is a seminar course that discusses the evolution of the United States spanning a continent, and stretching way beyond its shores. We are going to explore the path from the original 13 colonies to the quasi colonies, termed US Overseas Territories, and examine the political and cultural mechanisms of incorporating and integrating diverse territories and populations.

Requirements: Students are expected to prepare for each class and participate in discussions. Bring ideas about the assigned readings. Complementary - primarily internet-based research - is encouraged. Evaluation and grading is based on active and meaningful class participation (30%), in-class presentation (20%), completion of home assignment(s) (article summary (20%)), and an end-term test (30%). In-class presentation is a 5-8 minute talk on a chosen topic that initiates the class into an intriguing question of policy or culture (e.g. Creole Cuisine; Spanish loan words, the idea of an Indian State; OR, on a more formal side, a recap on doctrines or their impact).

The seminar course will be divided into two larger blocks:

I. Chapters from westward and overseas expansion - Reading and Discussion

Cultural Geography of the United States: One Nation or More Nations?The Westward expansion, Pioneers, Settlers and opening new lands –Organizing space; Northwest Ordinance 1787; Wars over territories, purchases and the close of Frontier; Manifest Destiny and the Monroe Doctrine; The Louisiana Purchase and Constitutionality; Integrating different cultures: Louisiana (Creole), Mexican Territories, Native Americans; race relations in the 1890s (student presentations: cultures and identities); Non-contiguous territories: Alaska and Hawaii and failed attempts at overseas expansion; The Spanish American War, Ideology and Foreign Policy; From Republic to Empire; Organizing overseas territories (Insular Cases 1901) and securing permanent control. A Pacific island hopping from Hawaii to “Fort Guam”. Strategic locations and political statuses (Territory, Commonwealth, Associated Free State); The Insular Cases today; A case study: Puerto Rico from colony to statehood (ppt); expansion, statehood and citizenship

II. The impact of expansion on Culture (political, popular) and Identity (values, characteristics, myth of a nation, language) – Student Presentations

In this section we will examine various aspects of US national and regional cultures that may be direct or indirect consequences of US expansion. Broad categories of investigation and possible topics within are suggested below (page 2). Students must chose two subtopics for research and present their findings in a manner discussed in class (one outline, one talk). A topic can be chosen by more students but they then have to coordinate among themselves as to the specific focus of their research. The two topics you select should be from two broader areas (i.e. Do not chose two topics from popular culture).

Planned dates: Feb 13, 20, 27 Mar 6, 13, 20, 27, Apr 3, 24, May 8, 15.

Attendance:

  1. You may miss a maximum of 3 classes during the semester. That means a total of 30% of the workload. Please use this considerable freedom judiciously and responsibly. Since you may be bound to miss classes due to an illness (counted into the 3 possible absences), do not miss a class for an alluring alternative activity. If you miss more than 3 classes, your course will be marked “incomplete”.
  2. To help prevent such an occurrence 2 classes can be missed at the students’ own convenience and without any consequence. However, they have to make up for the third absence by providing a summary of the assigned text and writing reflections (1-2 pages) on the discussion topic of the missed class within 2 weeks of the date of absence.
  3. PLEASE DO NOTMISS THE END-TERM TESTS. The seminar group is to complete the same test at the same time. A make-up exam by appointment should be saved for an extraordinary situation. Having a cold does not qualify as extraordinary.

Areas and topics (Expansion and US Culture)

Identity:

  • Whose America? Original Settlers
  • Identity and Ideology:
  • Myth of origin, National Credo
  • Manifest Destiny,
  • Exceptionalism and expansion
  • Monroe Doctrine and expansion
  • “White man’s burden”, Social Darwinism
  • Incorporating values of regional populations into mainstream
  • Regional differences in values and identity
  • How expansion changed national identity
  • Debates on expansion (arguments for and against Louisiana Purchase, annexing new territories, overseas expansion)
  • A, reflecting American identity
  • B, republic v empire, self-determination, equal rights)

Popular Culture:

  • Cultural encounters on the Frontier (or borderland)
  • Representation of Native Americans in popular culture (films, novels)
  • Representation of borderland Mexicans in Western Movies (features, attire, values, social standing)
  • Representations of island populations in cartoons
  • Disney Princesses from Snow White to Moana(Vaiana)
  • Women of the borderland
  • Regional cuisines (Tex-Mex, Creole, Caribbean, etc)
  • Regional Festivals (Día de Muerto, Mardi Gras, Pacific Islanders Festivals)
  • Celebrationg Native American culture
  • Customs, regional traditions

Language:

  • Should English be the official language?
  • State regulation in the South West and Louisiana
  • Linguistic Heritage of Native Americans, Louisiana French and Creole, Chicano (here refers to descendants of Mexicans in the old Mexican territories)
  • Regional dialects and linguistic heritage (Creole/Louisina French, Chicano English)
  • Code switching, loan words

Political Culture:

  • Expansion and the Constitution
  • Organizing Space – The path to statehood (The Northwest Ordinance)
  • Expansion and Slavery
  • Insular Cases (1901)
  • Political statuses of Overseas Territories
  • Expansion and citizenship (may include discussion of new mainland territories, Alaska, Native Americans, Mexicans of the Southwest, Island Territories)
  • Does the US have a colonial problem?
  • What changes would a Puerto Rican statehood bring to Congress?
  • Regional Secession initiatives
  • Native American rights to land/sacred land/federal territories/reserves/environmental issues (oil pipelines)
  • National v Ethnic minority rights
  • Questions of self-government? (Native American, Overseas Territories)
  • Factors to prevent statehood for OTs

Wars, Treaties, Purchases:

  • Indian Wars and Treaties
  • Spanish-American Treaties
  • Mexican-American War (causes, implications)
  • Spanish-American War (causes, implications)
  • Real Estate deals and strategic purchases (e.g. Louisiana, La Mesilla/Gadsden, Alaska, Philippines, Panama Canal Zone, US Virgin Islands)
  • World Wars and the US Pacific Islands
  • Geostrategic significance of (ever)new territories

Set Texts/readings (url to shorter online texts will be provided via Neptun. Scanned or Xeroxed copies of excerpts from books will be distributed in class or via coursemail):

Class sessions will feature discussion of these readings and student presentations on related topics.

February 13

Causes of Westward Expansion (Map and Summary distributed in Class). Settlers and Cultural Geography (Colin Woodward’s ’11 Nations Theory” (Discussed in class).

February 20-27

Lubragge, Michael T. “Manifest Destiny - The Philosophy That Created A Nation” WEB Read Sections 1-3 for February 20, and Sections 4-6 for February 27.

Caso, Frank. “Manifest Destiny” History Magazine. June/July 2007. 47-50 Read for February 27

Sexton, Jay. The Monroe Doctrine: Empire and Nation in Nineteenth Century America. New York: Hill and Wang, 2011. Reviews of (furnished by instructor) Read for February 27

March 6

Mannino, Ed. “How the Louisiana Purchase Transformed America” February 1, 2013. WEB

Pinheiro, John C. “The Mexican-American War and the Making of American Identity” OUPBlog. April 2014WEB

“Milestones: 1830–1860”: “The Annexation of Texas, the Mexican-American War, and the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, 1845–1848”From Office of the Historian, US Department of State. WEB

March 13

Oklahoma and Indian Territory: “New Government Needed. Serious Conditions of Affairs in the Indian Territory. Lawlessness in All Quarters” November 16, 1895. The New York Times (Archives)

Anderson, Sulome. “What Oil Pipelines Can do To Native American Land and Life” November 28, 2016.

March 20

Pino, Frank Jr. “Chicano Perspective on American Cultural History” 1st page. Popular Culture. Vol13, Issue 3. March 1980. Pp 488-500.

Szabó Éva Eszter. “The Clash of American Civilizations: The U.S. and the Latino Peril”. Americana. Spring 2007. WEB

March 27 – Deadline for article summary (details will be discussed in class)

Hunt, Michael. Ideology and US Foreign Policy. New Haven: Yale UP, 1987. Chapter 6 (copy distributed in class), and “afterword” in the new (2009) edition available online Read for March 13

“Milestones: 1866-1898”: “Annexation of Hawaii, 1898” and “The Spanish-American War” From Office of the Historian, US Department of State. WEB Read for March 13

April 3

Debate on whether to annex the Philippines and/or to turn Puerto Rico into the 51st state of the union

April 24 – May 8

Remaining Student Presentations; Conclusions

May 15

End-term test: key concepts + short essay questions (short essay questions will be announced beforehand).

Further educational material (short passages on exceptionalism and its foreign policy applications, as well as maps and worksheets) will be distributed in class.

Further (Recommended) reading:

Harris, Joseph. “How The Louisiana Purchase Changed The World”. Smithsonian Magazine. April 2003.

Fitzsimmons, David M. “Onward Christian Soldiers”. Review of Anders Stephenson. Manifest Destiny: American Expansion and the Empire of Right. H-Diplo. H-Net Reviews. March 1997. 1-3

Tatum,Charles M. “Introduction: The Study of Popular Culture”. Chicano Popular Culture. Que Hable el Pueblo.

Further educational material (short passages on exceptionalism and its foreign policy applications, as well as maps and worksheets) will be distributed in class.