Jacksonian
History 4454
Dr. Keith Bohannon
Spring 2006- This
course meets Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from
Office Hours: 10-11,
Office:
Email: Kbohanno@westga.edu
History 4454 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 and issues are often matters of controversy among scholars.
Course Requirements
Midterm- 25%
Final Exam- 25%
Response Papers (in class)- 25%
Book Reviews- 25%
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 several unannounced analytical papers written in class throughout the semester in response to assigned readings.
Book Reviews- Students will turn in typed, critical essays that are 3-5 pages in length on three of the five assigned books (DeToqueville, Watson, and Faragher).
Late policy and Makeup Assignments- All 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.
Makeup assignments will be given only under emergency circumstances. Students taking a makeup assignment must have a written excuse explaining their absence from class.
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 taken from 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 accessing the online readings will be handed out during the first week of
class. Please contact me if you have 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 America Handouts: Mary P. Ryan, “Antebellum Politics as Raucous Democracy” and Glenn Altschuler and Stuart Blumin, “Antebellum Politics as Political Manipulation” in Major Problems in American History Vol. I
Week 5 February 6-10 Growth
of the Old South & Slavery 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.
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
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 Antebellum 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 Wednesday, 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.
Week 16 May 1-5
Note: May 1 is the last day of class
Final Exam is on
Wednesday, May 3, 8-10 am in Pafford, 206