Jacksonian
History 5454
Dr. Keith Bohannon
Spring 2006- This
course meets Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from
Office Hours: 10-11,
2-4, Monday and Wednesday, 10-11, Friday and by appointment
Office:
Email: Kbohanno@westga.edu
History 5454 will
examine the major themes and subjects in
This course is designed to achieve several learning outcomes. Students will be responsible for demonstrating an understanding of Jacksonian America through response papers, tests, regular discussions, and book reviews. We will use primary documents, secondary sources, and short films to analyze some of the most important subjects in early nineteenth-century U. S. History. Students will be encouraged to develop their own independent opinions about the central issues of this time period and recognize that historical subjects are often matters of controversy among scholars.
The research paper will require graduate students to do original research in primary sources. They will also read enough secondary sources to understand the historiography of their subject, learning in the process some of the debates that scholars have engaged in when examining the Jacksonian era.
Course Requirements
Midterm- 15%
Final Exam- 15%
Response Papers (in class)- 15%
Book Reviews- 25%
Research Paper- 25%
Discussion Section- 5%
There will be no extra credit offered in this course.
Midterm and Final Exam- The midterm and final exam will cover material from the assigned readings and lectures.
Response Papers- There will be a number of unannounced analytical papers written in class throughout the semester in response to assigned readings.
Book Reviews- Students will be required to write typed, critical essays that are 4-5 pages in length on three of the five assigned books (DeToqueville, Watson, and Faragher). They will also turn in a fourth book review (due February 24) on a book of their choice.
Research Paper- Students will write a twenty-page, typed, double-spaced analytical research paper based on an approved topic. The paper must utilize both primary and secondary sources and include either footnotes or endnotes. Students will need to schedule individual meetings with the instructor at some point during the first four weeks of class to decide on a topic and begin bibliographical research. I will hand out a style sheet for the paper at that time. At the end of the ninth week of class, students will turn in an annotated bibliography of sources they will use in the research paper. Students can turn in early drafts of the research paper before the final due date.
Discussion Section- Each graduate student will assist in leading a discussion over one week’s reading assignments. Please tell the instructor by the end of the second week of class what week you would like. The students will need to prepare questions for the discussion at least three days in advance and submit them to the instructor for review. If possible, the graduate student should meet with the instructor to go over the questions prior to the discussion.
Makeup Exams and Late Assignments- Makeup assignments will be given only under emergency circumstances. Students needing to take a makeup assignment must have a written excuse explaining their absence from class. Assignments must be turned in during class on the day they are due or they will be considered late. One letter grade will be deducted per day for all assignments turned in late.
Attendance- Regular attendance is critical to earning a passing grade in this course. Attendance will be taken on a daily basis and will be considered at the end of the semester in assigning course grades. If a student misses class, it is his/her responsibility to find out what was missed.
Students who need to leave during class must provide an excuse to the instructor before the class begins. Anyone who leaves during class without providing an excuse will be marked absent and will receive a grade of zero on any assignment given that day, even in the student completed the assignment.
Cheating- Cheating in any form (including plagiarism- presenting someone else’s words as your own without properly citing them) will not be tolerated. Students caught cheating will receive an F on the assignment and probably an F in the course. (Note: Students should be aware that software and search engines make it relatively easy for instructors to discover text plagiarized off the Internet.)
Assigned texts (Note: Students
purchasing the books from the campus bookstore are encouraged to do so early in
the semester.)
Cain, William E., ed. William Lloyd Garrison and the Fight Against Slavery
Faragher, John Mack, Sugar Creek
Green, Michael and Theda Perdue,
eds. The Cherokee Removal
Tocqueville, Alexis de, Democracy in America (Signet
edition, ISBN 0451528123)
Watson, Harry L. Liberty and Power
NOTE: All
other readings with one exception (Week 4) have been placed online. Directions
on gaining access to the online readings will be handed out during the first
week of class. Please contact me if
there are any problems with the online readings
Schedule of Class
Meetings and Assignments
Week 1 January 9-13 Background
to Jacksonian
Week 2 January 16-20
Note: No class on January 16 Politics of Jacksonian
Week 3 January 23-27 Politics
of Jacksonian America Online reserve
reading: Andrew Jackson’s “Veto of the Bank Bill” and “Farewell Address,” Henry
Clay’s “On the American System,” and “Henry Clay, Ideologue of the Center” from
Daniel W. Howe, Political Culture of the American Whigs
Week 4 January
30-February 3 Politics of Jacksonian
Week 5 February 6-10 Growth
of the Old South & Slavery Note: Book
Review of Watson,
Week 6 February 13-17
Proslavery Ideology Online reserve reading: Thomas R. Dew, “Abolition of Negro Slavery,” in
Faust, The Ideology of Slavery, 21-77.
Week 7 February 20-24
Second Great Awakening & Reform Online reserve Readings: Charles G. Finney,
Horace Mann, Catherine Beecher, Margaret Fuller, Declaration of Sentiments, and
Sojourner Truth in For the Record, 385-388; 398-411. Book review due on
February 24
Week 8 February
27-March 3 Rise of Abolitionism
Cain, William Lloyd Garrison due March 3
Week 9 March 6-10 The
Market Revolution Note: MIDTERM on March 10 Annotated
bibliography for research paper due on March 10
Week 10 March 13-17 The Market Revolution contd. Online reserve readings:
Hezekiah
March 20-24 Spring Break
Week 11 March 27-31 Immigration/Foreign
observers of Jacksonian American Book review
of Toqueville, Democracy in America, due March
31
Week 12 April 3-7 Cherokee
Removal Perdue and Green, The
Cherokee Removal due on April 7
Week 13 April 10-14 Literary
Developments Online reserve readings: Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The American Scholar”
and “Self Reliance”
Week 14 April 17-21
Note: No class on Friday, April 21 Manifest
Destiny Book Review of Faragher, Sugar Creek due April 19
Week 15 April 24-28 The Mexican War and the End of an Age Online reserve readings: “Was the Mexican War an Exercise in American Imperialism?” in Taking Sides, 254-277; Polk’s War Message to Congress and Henry Clay 1847 Speech about the Mexican War,” in For the Record, 435-438, 446-453. Research Paper due on Monday, April 24.
Week 16 May 1-5 Note: May 1 is the last day of class
Final Exam is
Wednesday, May 3,