History 345: Colonial British America
Professor Lorri Glover Spring 2011
Office: Adorjan 313 T/H 9:30-10:45
Office Hours: 11:00-1:00 Thursdays & by appt. Pius Library 402
Phone: 977-8621 email:
This course investigates the history of British America. Rather than telling a chronological story, the class centers on four of the most important subjects in colonial history: the founding of the first permanent English colony, the role of religion in New England, the consequences of Indian-white encounters, and the development of racial slavery. Particular emphasis will also be placed on the historical craft, as taught through class discussions and writing assignments.
Required Books:
Lorri Glover and Daniel Blake Smith, The Shipwreck that Saved Jamestown
Edmund S. Morgan, The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop
Alden T. Vaughan, ed., The Puritan Tradition in America, 1620-1730 (1997 revised edition)
James H. Merrell, The Indians’ New World: Catawbas and their Neighbors
Colin G. Calloway, ed., The World Turned Upside Down: Indian Voices from Early America
Ira Berlin, Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America
Additional readings will be distributed in class, on blackboard, or are available on the web.
Miscellaneous Rules:
Intellectual exchange is a vital part of this course. Engage and question the readings, lectures, films, discussions, and ideas (in a respectful, scholarly fashion).
Keep up with the readings—if you do not, you will have significant problems in the class.
Cheating will not be tolerated. The minimum penalty for cheating is an F in the class.
Attendance is essential to your success in the class, so it will be checked every day including the first day. Late enrollment in the course is not an excused absence. After 2 unexcused absences, I lower your overall grade in the class at a rate of 5 points per day.
Student must complete every assignment in order to pass the course.
I accept no late papers and give no make-up work. Exceptions will be made for illness, school-related travel, or other extreme circumstances, only if you secure a written excuse and make arrangements with me prior to missing the assignment or class. Otherwise, a zero will be recorded for any paper not turned in on time.
The world we are studying is fundamentally, thoroughly different from our own. Bring your imagination and an open mind.
Before each class begins make sure that all phones are turned off. Students may not use cell phones, laptops (except to take notes), blackberries, i-pods, i-phones, etc. during class.
ADA Statement:
“Saint Louis University opens its programs and educational services to all qualified candidates without regard to their disability. All programs and services provided for students are done in a manner that does not discriminate based on disability. Inaccessible programs will be made accessible either directly or through relocation. Individuals requiring accommodations for student programs should contact the Director of Student Life.” (College of Arts and Sciences Handbook, Saint Louis University)
Academic Honesty:
I strictly enforce the college’s policy on academic honesty. It states, “Students are expected to be honest in their academic work. The University reserves the right to penalize any student whose academic conduct is, in its judgment, detrimental to the University. Such conduct shall include cases of plagiarism, collusion, cheating, giving or receiving or offering or soliciting information on examinations, or the use of previously prepared material in examinations or quizzes. Violations should be reported to your course instructor, who will investigate and adjudicate them according the Policy on Academic Honesty of the College of Arts and Sciences. If the charges are found to be true, the student may be liable for academic or disciplinary probation, suspension, or expulsion from the University.” Promoting Academic Honesty (College of Arts and Sciences Handbook, Saint Louis University)
Tickets:
In order to participate in class discussions of the Glover & Smith, Morgan, Merrell, and Berlin books, students must present upon entering the classroom a one-page, typed, single-spaced description of the book including: (1) two-sentence summaries of each chapter; (2) a one-paragraph explanation of the thesis of the book. This should be your best work, carefully crafted and rigorously proofread. The purpose of the assignment is to sharpen your reading skills and cultivate clear, succinct writing. Students without adequate tickets will earn a zero for the assignment and not be allowed to sit in on the discussion.
Grades:
Class Participation & Informal Writing: 10%
Book Tickets: 20%
Writing Assignment #1: 20%
Writing Assignment #2: 20%
Writing Assignment #3: 10%
Writing Assignment #4: 20%
Grading Scale:
90-100: A
88-89: B+
82-87: B
80-81: B-
78-79: C+
72-77: C
70-71: C-
60-69: D
0-59: F
Course Schedule:
1/18: Introduction to Class
In-Class Writing Assignment: Colonial American History
This writing assignment will be repeated at the end of the term.
1/20: Elizabethan England (lecture)
Topic #1: Jamestown
1/25: England’s Vision for America (lecture)
1/27: In-Class Reading Exercise: Jamestown Narratives
Students will receive in class copies of primary sources written in 1607-1610. Working first individually and then in groups, you will evaluate the content and the value of the sources. The purpose of this exercise is to develop your ability to evaluate primary sources.
We will also spend time in class engaging the documents on “Virtual Jamestown” (virtualjamestown.org), which will be the basis for the first writing assignment due February 10.
2/1: Book Discussion Day: Glover and Smith, The Shipwreck that Saved Jamestown
In order to participate in class discussion, students must present upon entering the classroom a typed one-page (can be single-spaced, front and back) description of the book, to include:
2-sentence summaries of each chapter
1-paragraph explanation of the thesis of the book
This should be your best work, carefully crafted and rigorously proofread. The purpose of the assignment is to sharpen your reading skills and to begin to work on your writing skills. Students without adequate tickets will earn a zero for the assignment, not be allowed to sit in the discussion, and receive an unexcused absence.
2/3: The Story of Jamestown, Then and Now
Textbook Critique: Working in groups in class, students will compare the history of Jamestown presented in a 1974 and a 2010 textbook.
We will also spend part of the class deconstructing the writing in these works as an example for your first writing assignment.
2/8: Viewing and discussion of The New World
2/10: Writing Assignment #1 Due, Start of Class
Based exclusively on the documents on “Virtual Jamestown” students will write an 800-word explanation of what went wrong in Jamestown. The purpose of this assignment is to develop your ability to critically evaluate primary courses and to form a clear argument.
Essay question: What was the single most important factor in the early failures at Jamestown?
Essay guidelines:
Essays must be rigorously organized and focused.
Consult “Why Clear Writing is Important” before beginning to write. This essay is available on blackboard.
Engage at least three documents on “Virtual Jamestown.”
Consult the blackboard guide to proper citations and follow this exactly in your footnotes.
Include a word-count for your essay.
Proofread your final draft twice, once aloud.
No late papers will be accepted.
In class—but not in your essays—you will discuss your answers and compare them to the two textbooks, the film, and the Glover & Smith book. Come prepared to debate these perspectives as well as your classmates who might have reached different conclusions. This exercise will help you to understand the nature and tenor of scholarly debate, based on primary evidence.
Finally, we will discuss how this part of the course changed (or reinforced) your perceptions of colonial America.
Topic #2: Puritanism
2/15: Early Modern Religion (lecture)
Reading: Vaughan, The Puritan Tradition in America, 25-33
Read and take notes on this document before coming to class, focusing on understanding why the Puritans migrated to New England. Don’t worry if you can’t understand everything Winthrop writes, but be sure to note questions and points of confusion.
2/17: Book Discussion Day: Morgan, The Puritan Dilemma
In order to participate in class discussion, students must present upon entering the classroom a typed one-page description of the book, to include:
2 sentence summaries of each chapter
1-paragraph explanation of the thesis of the book
Read the book with the lessons of the first book discussion in mind. Before writing, consult your reaction paper to Glover & Smith, The Shipwreck that Saved Jamestown. Build on the strengths of that paper and make sure not to repeat any of the same mistakes.
We will also spend part of this class discussing writing assignment #2, due March 1.
2/22: Life in the “City on a Hill” (lecture)
Writing assignment #1 returned
2/24: Discussion: Vaughan, The Puritan Tradition in America, pp. 129-38, 161-72, 179-92.
We will discuss how and why Puritans ordered their society, based on these documents. The session will allow students to gain confidence and a better understanding of the language in seventeenth-century sources and to practice the sort of analysis required in the second writing assignment.
3/1: Writing Assignment #2 Due, Start of Class
Essay guidelines:
Each student will read the documents in one chapter of their choosing in Vaughan, The Puritan Tradition in America (excluding chapters 4 and 8).
Reading all of the sources within the chapter you select, write a 1000-word answer to the following chapter questions:
Chapter 1: How did Puritan beliefs differ from the theology and liturgy of the Anglican Church?
Chapter 2: What obstacles and competing interests confronted the Puritans in their initial settlement of Massachusetts Bay?
Chapter 3: What were the hallmarks of the “New England Way” of worship?
Chapter 5: How did Puritans respond to nonconformists?
Chapter 6: How did Puritans perpetuate their values and mission among later generations?
Chapter 7: How did Puritans’ religious beliefs shape their understanding of “wonders” of the world?
Notice that the questions for this assignment, as in the first, require you to explain the documents. But taking a step beyond the first writing assignment, you must move from presenting one argument to explaining several. Therefore you must see the connections (and disconnections) between the varied events/ideas presented in the documents. This assignment will require a more nuanced reading of the documents, and it will take you longer to craft an effective answer. Follow all the relevant guidelines given for assignment #1 and consult your graded paper to ensure that you build on your strengths and do not repeat your mistakes.
In class students will divide into groups based on the chapters they selected and compare and discuss their answers to the questions.
3/3: Puritan Perceptions Revisited
We will critique a 2010 textbook entry on Puritanism, distributed in class.
You will also be asked to review your notes from the document on February 24 and write a paragraph about how your understanding of Puritanism has changed since you read the first document.
3/8: Viewing and discussion of The Crucible
3/10: Writing assignment #2 returned
We will also discuss how this part of the course changed (or reinforced) your perceptions of colonial America. Finally, we will self-assess the first half of the course.
Topic #3: Indian-White Encounters
3/22: Native Americans before Contact (lecture)
Distribution of readings of 3/23
In-class discussion of images of Indians
3/24: Creation Stories and Cultural Differences
Reading #1: Calloway, The World Turned Upside Down, 23-32; Genesis, chapters 1-3, 6-8; Matthew, chapters 26-28 (distributed in class on 3/21).
Read and take notes on the Calloway documents before coming to class, particularly considering how Indian creation stories compare with those in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Bring Calloway to class.
Reading #2: James Axtell, “Colonial America Without the Indians: Counterfactual Reflections,” Journal of American History 73 (March 1987): 981-996. The article is available on JSTOR via a blackboard link. Download, read, and bring your copy and notes on the essay to class.
3/29: Book Discussion Day: Merrell, The Indians’ New World
In order to participate in class discussion, students must present upon entering the classroom a typed one-page description of the book (per above guidelines). Make this your finest work yet, building on all you have learned this term.
3/31: North Carolina Conference; Independent Viewing of Black Robe
4/5: Discussion of Black Robe
Plan Cahokia trip
Preparation for writing assignment #3, due April 7
4/7: Writing Assignment #3 Due, 9:30 a.m., either by confirmed email or to Prof. Glover’s office
Pick one topic: religion, family, trade, diplomacy, landownership, warfare, or another topic you discuss with me by April 5. Read all the relevant documents in Calloway, World Turned Upside Down on that subject and then prepare an introduction and annotated outline for a research paper. The assignment must include:
A 200-word (forceful, specific, brilliant) introduction to your research paper. The introduction and research design requires first and foremost a good question—this is the hardest and most important part of the whole assignment.
An outline of the essay, using full sentences to introduce sections
Specific reference to primary sources to be included within sections (8-10 sources minimum)
A 100-word conclusion
In short, you won’t write the paper, but I should be able to see and evaluate it from your design. Building on the first two writing assignments, this project requires you to move beyond describing sources to interrogating them. You will also frame your own understanding of the sources rather than follow my lead and decide for yourself what question matters most and how to effectively answer it.
Research designs that do not meet expectations will be revised until they do, with increasingly diminished grades.
4/7: John Francis Bannon Lecture, 6:00 p.m. Boileau Hall
Our class will not meet today—you will simply turn in your assignments. Instead, students will attend the evening lecture of Professor Steve Aron. Attendance is mandatory.
4/12: Visit to Cahokia
Our class time will be spent at the Cahokia Museum in Illinois.
Topic #4: Racial Slavery
4/14: The Creation of Black Cultures in the Eighteenth Century (lecture)
Writing assignment #3 returned
4/19: Discussion of Berlin, Many Thousands Gone