History
231: Section 1
CRN 10190
Mon Wed 7:45-9:50
Classroom
Building 102
Office:
Faculty Towers 201A
Instructor:
Dr. Schmoll
Office
Hours: MW 7-7:30am and 10-11am, Tue Thu 7-7:30
…OR MAKE
AN APPOINTMENT!!!
Email:
bschmoll@csub.edu
Office
Phone: 654-6549
Course Description:
The colonial foundations; political, economic, social and
cultural developments in the emerging United States; the early agrarian
republic; the Civil War.
Required Reading:
For each of these books, you may buy the book new or used. Any
edition is also fine.
1. Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
2. Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave
3. Thomas Paine, “Common Sense”
4. Tony Horwitz, Midnight Rising
5. Paul Johnson, A History of the American People
6. Weekly blog readings: Each week you will have both primary
and secondary sources to read on the blog.
The Blog: If you have questions or comments about this class, or
if you want to see the course reader or the syllabus online, just go to our
course blog: history231winter2014.blogspot.com
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:
Educational theorists insist that the stating of goals and
objectives before entering into an instruction-rich environment is crucial.
Hence, I am including here the goals and objectives created by the History
Department. If you’d like to read more about the way we learn history, Sam
Wineburg, at Stanford, has some wonderful theory on how we adopt historical
learning practices. (For example, look up the following articles, Wineburg, S.
(1991). On the reading of historical texts: Notes on the breach between school
and academy. American Educational Research Journal, 28(3), 495-519.
Wineburg, S. & Schneider, J. (2009). Was Bloom’s taxonomy pointed in the
wrong direction? Phi Delta Kappan, 91 (4), 56-61.)
HISTORY
DEPARTMENT COURSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES FOR HISTORY 231 U.S. HISTORY TO 1865:
Goal 1:
Students will learn the chronology and topical organization of
U.S. history from the origins of European colonization to the conclusion of the
Civil War.
Objective
#1:
Students will be able to identify the major chronological
divisions of U.S. history and discuss in writing how and why scholars have
divided the past into various periods.
Objective
#2:
Students will be able to identify the major topical divisions of
U.S. history and recognize on objective tests and discuss in writing the
significance of such topics as epidemic disease in the founding period, the
role of political ideology in the coming of the Revolution, the rise of slavery
and abolitionism, the political consequences of westward expansion, and the
origins of the Civil War.
Goal 2:
Student will learn about the origins of European colonization
and the consequences of contact among the peoples of America, Europe, and
Africa in the colonial period.
Objective
#1:
Students will be able to explain the motivations behind European
colonization of the New World, the origins of the transAtlantic slave trade,
the rise of the plantation economies, and the roles of mercantilism and
religious persecution in the founding of the American colonies.
Objective
#2:
Students will be able to define and discuss such terms as
Columbian Exchange, virgin-soil epidemics, and Eurocentrism.
Goal 3:
Students will acquire an understanding of the principal
political documents of U.S. history, including but not limited to the
Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution,
Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers, and the Emancipation Proclamation.
Objective
#1:
Students will be able to write about the core political ideology
of the American Revolution as embodied in the Declaration of Independence,
Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution.
Objective
#2:
Students will be able to explain the historical context and
significance of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Goal 4:
Students will acquire an appreciation and understanding of
diversity through the study of the history of the contributions of ethnic and
racial minorities and women.
Objective
#1:
Students will be able to write about and discuss orally the
contributions of African Americans to early American history in terms of labor,
society and culture.
Objective
#2:
Students will be able to write about and discuss orally the
contributions of and the prescribed role of women in colonial America and how
that role changed as a result of the American Revolution and the subsequent
urbanization of the United States.
Goal 5:
Students will learn about the lives of significant individuals
in American history.
Objective
#1:
Students will be able to identify on objective tests and/or
essays the significant individuals in the history of the United States from
colonial times to 1865.
Objective
#2:
Students will be able to write about the contributions of a
number of important people in the history of the United States from colonial
times to 1865.
Goal 6:
Students will learn about the importance of republican
principles and civic education in the sustaining of the American political
system.
Objective
#1:
Students will be able to identify the core principles of
republicanism and the role of an educated electorate through an examination of
a number of historical crises in the era preceding 1865, e.g. the colonial
debate over taxation and representation, the struggle for the ratification of
the Constitution, the Missouri Compromise, the Mexican War, the Nullification
Crisis, the Compromise of 1850, and the Secessionist Crisis.
Goal 7:
Students will learn the geographical setting for historical
events and the role expansion played in American history.
Objective
#1:
Students will be able to identify on maps and/or objective exams
and essays the important geographic settings, locations, and context for
historical events.
Graded Coursework:
The work you do in this course is listed below. For each of
those areas, the best way to succeed will be to come in to receive extra help.
Both exams will have multiple choice questions based on the lectures and
readings. Hence, it may be a good idea to have me look over your notes. If it
does not seem that you are taking sufficient notes, or if you are taking too
many, I’ll give you some guidance. The earlier we can catch these issues the
better. The final exam will also include an essay. I would love to go over
in-class essay writing standards in my office. Come by and we’ll talk about
that. There’s also an out of class essay. That should be heavily revised,
something else I’d love to help you do. Simply bring a rough draft by my office
and we’ll talk. Be active!
The Midterm has two sections. Part One is multiple Choice and based on the class lectures. Part Two is an essay and is based on the lectures and the readings.
The In-Class Essay is engineered to encourage your full preparation on a serious subject: slavery. Here are the guidelines:
In a well argued essay(numerous paragraphs, a clear argument), answer one of the following questions:
The Midterm has two sections. Part One is multiple Choice and based on the class lectures. Part Two is an essay and is based on the lectures and the readings.
The In-Class Essay is engineered to encourage your full preparation on a serious subject: slavery. Here are the guidelines:
IN CLASS ESSAY RULES:
· You may bring an outline. Make sure it is an outline, not full sentences or a paragraph. You know the difference;
· You may bring FREDERICK DOUGLASS, any book, or other sources;
· You may not use electronics during the essay;
· You will have the whole period to write your essay;
· You may not ask your instructor how long the essay should be; The essay should have an introduction and conclusion and various body paragraphs. The essay should be detailed with names, dates, organizations, and anything else that helps you make your case;
· Your essay will be judged on the strength of the argument and the quality of evidence that you employ to prove your case. Your essay will be judged on the argument. What this means is that I expect standard English but not perfect form or perfect grammar and spelling.
In a well argued essay(numerous paragraphs, a clear argument), answer one of the following questions:
1. Considering the Slave Narratives from the American Memory Project and any other sources you need, determine what role violence played in maintaining order on the plantation?
2. Consider the experience of Sally Hemmings. Compare her life with other slave women.
3. What was the meaning of music on the slave community?
4. What was more important in maintaining the discipline of the plantation, physical or psychological control?
5. What was the significance of gender on the slave plantation?
“Gender becomes a way of denoting 'cultural constructions'—the entirely social creation of ideas about appropriate roles for women and men.” Joan Scott
6. What was the meaning of escape? How did slaves discuss escape and what experiences did individual slaves have?
7.How did slaves resist the system's domination?
8. Was the plantation an effective means of educating slaves? Think about various notions of education(Dewey, structuralism, common core, Freire). How was the plantation system also a system of education? What was being taught and how effective were slaves learning those lessons?
6. What was the meaning of escape? How did slaves discuss escape and what experiences did individual slaves have?
7.How did slaves resist the system's domination?
8. Was the plantation an effective means of educating slaves? Think about various notions of education(Dewey, structuralism, common core, Freire). How was the plantation system also a system of education? What was being taught and how effective were slaves learning those lessons?
9. COME UP WITH YOUR OWN TOPIC...YOU MUST CLEAR THIS WITH ME BEFORE…You only need to clear the topic with me if you are creating.
LET ME REITERATE SOMETHING IN ALL CAPS SO THAT IT SEEMS MORE LIKE I AM YELLING IT...YOU SHOULD STRIVE TO PROVE SOMETHING. IF YOU FIND YOURSELF ONLY DESCRIBING, YOU ARE ON THE WRONG TRACK.
IF, IN YOUR PREPARATIONS, YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE FINDING SOMETHING TO PROVE, THAT SIGNIFIES THAT YOU NEED TO READ MORE, FIND MORE EVIDENCE, AND THINK MORE DEEPLY ABOUT THE ISSUES.
The Final Exam has one section of multiple
choice(taken from lectures since the midterm) and one essay on a cumulative
topic. Typically, topics that have been asked in this essay include such issues
as follows: freedom versus slavery in the American development, the causes and
consequences of various wars, the development of political culture.
Although
I am stating above many of the general issues and graded assignments that we
will cover in this class, let me reiterate, you will receive full descriptions,
sample questions, sample essays, or anything else to help you navigate each
assignment in class DURING THE QUARTER!
Grading Scale:
Participation: 10%
Indian Removal Debate: 5%
The Slavery Essay: 25%
Midterm Exam 25%
Final Exam: 35%
Attendance:
Just to be clear, to succeed on tests and papers you really
should be in class. That’s just common sense, right? To pass this class, you
may not miss more than two classes. If you miss that third class meeting,
you are missing too much of the quarter. You cannot do that and pass.
So, here’s what we do. Do not miss any class unnecessarily.
Let’s say your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife calls and wants to take
you to Tahiti this weekend, but you won’t be back until late Tuesday night.
Here’s what you say: “Honey, I love you, but Dr. Schmoll seems to value my
education more than you do, so we are breaking up.” Ok, that may be harsh, so
don’t do that, but just make sure that you do not miss any class until the 8th
week. What I’ve found is that it seems inevitable that those who miss two
classes early for pathetic reasons like doctor’s appointments that should have
been more carefully scheduled get to the 8th week and then have to miss for a
legitimate reason (like a surprise meeting at work, a sick child to take care
of, or a flat tire). If you get to that 8th week and then have to miss your
third class, it’ll be bad. By that point, I’ll be kind, compassionate, a real
shoulder to cry on, if you want, when telling you that you’ve now failed the
course. Now, if you make it to the 8th or 9th week and you have not missed
those two classes, then you have some wiggle room, so that if, heaven forbid,
your cat Poopsie gets pneumonia and you have to sit up all night bottle-feeding
her liquid antibiotics, you and I don’t have to have that ugly conversation
where I tell you that Poopsie gets blamed for you failing the course. Let’s put
this another way; do you like movies? No way, me too! When you go to the movies
do you usually get up and walk around the theatre for 10-15% of the movie?
Let’s say you do decide to do that, out of a love of popcorn and movie posters,
perhaps. If you did that, would you expect to understand the whole story? Okay,
maybe if you are watching Harold and Kumar, but for anything else, you’ll be
lost. So, please, get to class or you will be lost.
Being Prompt:
Get to class on time. Why does that matter? First, it sends the
wrong message to your principal grader (that’s me). As much as we in the
humanities would like you to believe that these courses are objective (at what
time of day did the Battle of Gettysburg begin?), that is not entirely the
case. If you send your principal grader the message that you don’t mind missing
the first few minutes and disturbing others in the class, don’t expect to be
given the benefit of the doubt when the tests and papers roll around. Does that
sound mean? It’s not meant to, but just remember, your actions send signals.
Being late also means that someone who already has everything out and is ready
and is involved in the discussion has to stop, move everything over, get out of
the chair to let you by, pick up the pencil you drop, let you borrow paper, run
to the bathroom because you spilled the coffee, and so on. It’s rude. There’s
an old saying: better two hours early than two minutes late. Old sayings are
good.
So, what are the consequences of persistent tardiness? What do
you think they should be? Remember that 10% participation? You are eligible for
that grade if you are on time. By the way, if you are more than 15 minutes
late, it is considered an absence. Get here on time. And no, I’m not the
jackass who watches for you to be late that one time and stands at the door and
points in your face. One time tardiness is not a problem precisely because it
is not persistent. It’s an accident. If you are late a three times, however,
you will lose the entire 10% participation grade.
The Unforgivable Curse:
Speaking of one time issues, there is something that is so
severe, so awful, that if it happens one time, just one time, no warning, no
“oh hey I noticed this and if you could stop it that’d be super,” you will
automatically lose all 10 percent of the Participation grade. Any guesses?
C’mon, you must have some idea. No, it’s not your telephone ringing. If that
happens, it’ll just be slightly funny and we’ll move on. It’s a mistake and not
intentional, and the increased heart rate and extra sweat on your brow from you
diving headfirst into an overstuffed book bag to find a buried phone that is
now playing that new Lady Gaga ringtone is punishment enough for you. So, what
is it, this unforgivable crime? Texting. If you take out your phone one time to
send or receive messages you will automatically lose 10% of your course grade.
That means, if you receive a final grade of 85%, it will drop to 75%. If you
receive a final grade of 75%, it will become a 65%. Just to make this more
concrete, just last quarter, three people lost their whole participation and
hence did no pass the class because of texting. Why is that? The phone ringing
is an accident. Texting is on purpose and is rude. It, in fact, is beyond rude.
It wreaks of the worst of our current society. It bespeaks the absolutely vile
desire we all have to never separate from our technological tether for even a
moment. It sends your fellow classmates and your teacher the signal that you
have better things to do. Checking your phone during class is like listening to
a friend’s story and right in the middle turning away and talking to someone
else. Plus, the way our brains work, you need to fully immerse yourself, to
tune your brain into an optimal, flowing machine (see Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s
incredible book Flow) that can grasp and can let itself go. Students now tend
to see school as a stopover on their way to a career. Brothers and sisters,
that’s deadly! I wish that I could pay for you all to quit your jobs and just
focus on the mind. I can’t yet do that, but if I could I would, because it’d be
worth every penny. Devoting time to the mind and to thinking deeply about your
world will change who you are and how you approach your future, your family,
your job, and your everything. Is that overstated? I believe it to be true. So,
until my stock choices really take off so that I can pay all of your bills,
promise me one thing. When you are in class or preparing for class, you have to
be fully here. Oh crap, now it’s going to sound like a hippy professor from the
1960s: “I mean, like, be here man, just be here.” Maybe the hippies were on to
something. Devote yourself fully to your classes by unplugging from the outside
world for awhile.
If you want some scary reading, look into how your brain is
being rewired to resemble the brain of a drug addict. Overuse of technologies
seems to be an addiction…yikes.
Laptops:
Laptops and/or tablets may not be used in this course. If you would like an
explanation, by all means come see me. If there is a verifiable issue that
requires that you use a laptop…not just a note from the doctor but paperwork
from Student Services here on campus, let me know and you will be given special
dispensation. SPECIAL CASE: READINGS. You may bring a laptop or kindle
or some other such device to use on the days when we have books to be read. You
MAY use electronic versions and may bring the device to class on that day.
Class Climate:
No, I don’t mean whether it’s going to rain in here or not.
Sometimes I’ll lecture at you, but even then, your participation is vital. How
can you participate when someone is lecturing? Any ideas? Turn to a neighbor
and tell them the story of your first day at school in kindergarten. Now, if
you are the one listening to the story, right in the middle look away, look at
your watch, sneer at them, roll your eyes, yawn, wave to someone across the
room, nudge a person next to you and tell them a joke, all while the other
person is telling about his or her first day of kindergarten. If this happens
in social setting we call it rude, and we call the people who listen in that
way jackasses. They are not our friends precisely because we deeply value
listening and do not put up with those who do not listen well. Right? So, there
will be lecturing, and if you abhor what we are doing, then fake it. I used to
do that sometimes too: “oh no, professor, I love hearing you talk about
President Reagan’s policies of supply side economics.” If we listen to
psychologists, by faking interest you’ll be learning much more than if you show
your disinterest. The next time you are sad force yourself to smile and you’ll
see what I mean. So, sometimes there will be lecture. At other times there will
be discussion of short readings that we do in class. During these times, it’s
crucial that you do the silly little exercises: turn to a neighbor; find
someone you don’t know and discuss this or that; explain to your friend what we
just went over in lecture; pick something from the reading to disagree with;
find two people on the other side of the room; throw cash at your professor…ok,
maybe not that last one. This class is a bit unique in that it violates the
normally accepted activity systems of college history classrooms. What we do in
discussion will help solidify the concepts of each section of this course in
your brain. If you are active in class, you will have to study less, and you’ll
find yourself remembering much more.
Reading:
How many of you love reading? I did not read a book until I was
18, so if you have not yet started your journey on this ever widening path,
it’s never too late. In any course, there’s no substitute for reading. Theorist
Jim Moffett says that “all real writing happens from plentitude,” meaning that
you can only really write well about someone once you know about it. Reading is
one way to know—not the only, by any means! I want you to have experiences with
great texts. I can show you voluminous research proving why you nee to read
more, but then if I assign a stupid, long, expensive textbook you probably will
end up not reading, or only reading to have the reading done, something we have
all done, right? The economy now requires much higher literacy rates (see The
World is Flat), and even though reading levels have not gone down in the last
40 years, it is crucial that you start to push your own reading so that your
own literacy level goes up. For these ten weeks, diving wholeheartedly into the
course reading is vital. Remember to read in a particular way. As reading
expert and UCSB professor Sheridan Blau has argued, “reading is as much a process
of text production as writing is.” Reading involves revision? Does that sound
silly? As you read, think about the different ways that you understand what you
read. Most importantly, when you read, think about the words of E.D. Hirsch,
who says that we look at what a text says (reading), what it means
(interpretation), and why it matters (criticism). Hey, but if you are in a
history course, aren’t you supposed to be reading for exactly the number of
miles of trenches that were dug in World War One, how many railroad workers
died from 1890 to 1917, or what the causes of the Great Depression were?
Anyway, the answer is yes and no. There are two types of reading that you’ll do
in college. As the literary goddess theorist Louise Rosenblatt explains, there
is aesthetic reading, where you are reading to have an experience with the
text, and there is efferent reading, where you are reading to take away
information from the text. You do both types all the time. Think about a phone
book. You have probably never heard someone say of a phone book, “don’t tell me
about it, I want to read it for myself.” Reading a phone book is purely
efferent. In this course you will practice both types of reading. I have chosen
texts that you can enjoy (aesthetic) and that you can learn from(efferent). I
want to see and appreciate the detail in our reading, but in this course I’ll
give you that detail in class lectures. In the reading, it’s much more
important that you read texts that will live with you forever and to inspire
you to think more thoroughly about your world. As you read, you should be
working hard to create meaning for yourself. As Rosenblatt asserts, “taking
someone else’s interpretation as your own is like having someone else eat your
dinner for you.” Please, don’t let the numbskulls at wikipedia or sparknotes
eat your dinner for you. Furthermore, there are some studies that say that
Bakersfield is the least literate city in the country. Reading the fabulous,
vibrant, fascinating, and difficult books that I have assigned you will fight
against that trend!
Participation:
You do not need to be the person who speaks out the most, asks
the most questions, or comes up with the most brilliant historical arguments to
receive full credit in participation. If you are in class and on time, discuss
the issues that we raise, avoid the temptation to nod off, to leave early, or
to text people during class (the three easiest ways to lose credit), and in
general act like you care, then you will receive a good participation grade!
Just being here does not guarantee a 100% participation grade, since you must
be regularly actively involved for that to be possible.
In fact, to get a 90% participation grade or higher, you must
attend all classes, contribute thoughtful comments to the larger class discussion
every day, participate actively with those around you, and avoid the obvious:
no sleeping, no texting, no using this course to study for other courses, no
being late.
To get an 85%, you can miss one class and must contribute at
least one comment per week to the large class discussion, participate actively
with those around you, and avoid the obvious: no sleeping, no texting, no using
this course to study for other courses, no being late.
To get an 80%, you can
miss one class and must participate actively with those around you, and avoid
the obvious: no sleeping, no texting, no using this course to study for other
courses, no being late.
To get a 75%, you can miss two classes and must
participate actively with those around you, and avoid the obvious: no sleeping,
no texting, no using this course to study for other courses, no being
late.
Show up tardy more than once or fail to participate in the dialogue and
the participation grade will begin to diminish quickly.
Academic Honesty:
You are responsible for knowing all college policies about
academic honesty. Any student who plagiarizes any part of his or her papers may
receive an “F” in the course and a letter to the Dean. Here’s the opening
paragraph of CSUB’s Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities:
Academic Integrity:
The principles of truth and integrity are recognized as
fundamental to a community of teachers and scholars. The University expects
that both faculty and students will honor these principles and in so doing will
protect the integrity of all academic work and student grades. Students are
expected to do all work assigned to them without unauthorized assistance and
without giving unauthorized assistance. Faculty have the responsibility of
exercising care in the planning and supervision of academic work so that honest
effort will be encouraged and positively reinforced.
http://www.csub.edu/studentconduct/documents/academicintegrity.pdf
COURSE SCHEDULE
Week One:
Jan 6 Intro/Pre-Columbian Americas
Jan 8 Syllabus sign-in sheet due/“Discovery” and Exploration
Week Two:
Jan 13 Early English and Other Colonies: Labor Troubles
Jan 15 The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Due /Mid-Century
Challenges
Week Three:
Jan 20 MLK DAY—HOLIDAY—CSUB CLOSED
Jan 22 Road to War/Common Sense Reading Due/ MIDTERM REVIEW
Week Four:
Jan 27 Revolutionary War/Declaration of Independence Reading Due
Jan 29 The Constitution and its Discontents
Week Five:
Feb 3 Early National Period
Feb 5 MIDTERM EXAMINATION/Essay Assignment Handout
Week Six:
Feb 10 Early
Industrialism
Feb 12 The 1820s, The World of Andrew Jackson/Cherokee Rem.
Debate Prep
Week Seven:
Feb 17 Cherokee Removal Debate/Prep for Slavery Essay
Feb 19 “Secret Life” Reading/Twelve Years a Slave Reading
Due
Week Eight:
Feb 24 Slavery Essay Preparation/Sectionalism
Feb 26 Slavery Essay Written In Class
Week Nine:
March 3 “Cycles of Distrust”—Sectionalism
March 5 “Cycles of Distrust”—Sectionalism
Week Ten:
March 10 “Cycles of Distrust”—Sectionalism/Tony Horwitz Book
Due
March 12 Civil War: From Bull Run to the Gettysburg Address/Last
Day of Class
March 7…Last Day of Class
FINAL EXAM…WEDNESDAY
MARCH 9, 8-10:30
