MAYMESTER
2008 - UH 321
Professor S. Cole
Office hours:
May 12-23, 2008: 12 noon -1 p.m.
Office: UH 314
scole@uta.edu
817-272-2868
Course Objectives:
In addition to attaining a firm grasp of the major events, people, and
circumstances which have shaped the history of the United States, we will
attempt to understand why the US has developed as it has.
Learning to think, read, and write analytically about American history
then, should be your primary goals. Class
discussions, readings, and essay tests will provide opportunities to hone your
skills in this essential area.
Student Learning
Outcomes:
Course Requirements
and Grading:
1)
Class participation, including in-class
assignments and use of personal response systems (clickers) which I will
provide and explain– 10%
2)
Bacon’s Rebellion Paper 20% (May 17).
This is a 2 page essay (typed, double-spaced) that requires you to
choose one explanation of Bacon’s Rebellion of the several discussed in
class. You will then prove why
that explanation is the best one by using elements of at least TWO primary
sources provided in class and/or linked below.
Further directions will follow in class, but the objective is for you
to support a clearly-stated thesis with evidence from the sources, and
summarize how your evidence supports your argument.
Your grade will be based on how well you address the following areas
(within reason): a clear thesis,
supported by evidence in a logical way; evidence explained and connected back
to thesis; thoughtful analysis; placed within the historical context; and on
clarity of writing (clear intro and conclusion, well-organized, free from
serious grammatical or spelling errors).
3)
Midterm and Final exam – 35% each.
Exams are mainly essay, with study questions given ahead of time.
The Midterm is next Monday, May 19; the Final is May 30,
2008, in this classroom at 1 p.m.
Required reading:
Faragher et al, Out of
Many, Vol. 1, TLC edition
Excerpts from Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, free online: http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Literature/Douglass/Autobiography/
The Rules:
For
class: Because your participation
in assignments and in discussions will be important in this class, it is
necessary for you to be IN CLASS, ON TIME, and, as often as humanly possible,
PREPARED. You will not have much
time to absorb what you hear or read, but it is essential that you take some
time every day to read from the text. You
are advised not to miss any classes, as this is your best source of
information for the exams, and there will be in-class work.
Do keep in mind that missing just one afternoon is equivalent to
missing over a week in the regular semester.
Please observe mannerly behavior for the benefit of your classmates and
me: Avoid walking in and out of
the classroom, inform me if you will need to leave class early, do not read
the newspaper, turn off your cell phone,
limit talking in class to discussion of the material, and otherwise conduct
yourself politely.
Student Disability:
The
As a faculty member, I am
required by law to provide “reasonable accommodation” to students with
disabilities, so as not to discriminate on the basis of that disability.
Student responsibility rests with informing faculty at the beginning of
the semester and in providing authorized documentation through designated
administrative channels.
Dishonesty Policy:
It is the philosophy of The University of Texas at
“Scholastic Dishonesty
includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the
submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole
or in part to another person, taking an examination for another person, any
act designed to give unfair advantage to a student, or the attempt to commit
such acts.” (Regents’ Rules and Regulations, Part One, Chapter VI, Section
3, Subsection 3.2, Subdivision 3.22.)
Schedule of
Assignments – (In class
assignments may be added as we go.)
May 12 – Introduction; Three worlds collide; Contact: Environmental and cultural repercussions
Read:
Faragher, chapters 1 and 2
May 13 – Spanish and English colonization; Bacon’s Rebellion; Puritanism: Salem Witch Trials
Read: Faragher, chapters 3 and 4 Start
on essay; directions below at *.
For
May 13 read the following. You do not have to read the longer documents
in their entirety before class:
Compilation
of sources for Bacon's Rebellion
National Park Services on Bacon's Rebellion http://www.nps.gov/jame/historyculture/bacons-rebellion.htm
PBS Africans in
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p274.html
Governor
Berkeley http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1651-1700/bacon_rebel/berke.htm
Bacon's Manifesto
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1651-1700/bacon_rebel/bacon.htm
Robert Beverly's
history
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1651-1700/bacon_rebel/bever.htm
http://www.law.du.edu/russell/lh/alh/docs/virginiaslaverystatutes.html
ESSAY DUE May 15, 2008* -
handout with directions given in class
May 14 – Road to the
Revolution; Why a Revolution
Read: Faragher, chapter 5 and 6
May
15 – Revolutions of many sorts; The Way of Duty
Read: Faragher, chapter 7
ESSAY DUE ON BACON’S REBELLION
May
16 – Constitutional Problems;
Read: Faragher, chapter 8 STUDY
GUIDE HANDOUT
May
17 –
Read: Faragher, chapters 10 and 12
May
18 – READ!!!!
May
19 –MIDTERM; The West
Read: Faragher, chapter 13
May
20 – Southern Society; Domestication of Slavery; Slave families
Read: Faragher, chapter 11
Douglass,
chaps. 1, 2, 5,6,7 online: http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Literature/Douglass/Autobiography/
May
21 – Frederick Douglass; Rebelling against slavery; and Free African
American Life
Read: Douglass’ Narrative, chaps 9, 10, 11
–
Discussion on assigned chapters
May 22 – Party
politics; Coming of the Civil War
Read:
Faragher, chapter 14
May 23 – The Civil War
and Its Impact
Read:
Faragher, chapter 15 and 16
May 30 – Final exam –
UH 321, 1 p.m.