Lehrman American Studies Center

Introduction

This course covers the history of the United States from settlement to the end of the Civil War, with special focus on the U.S. Constitution, its origin and influence.

Course Objectives

After taking this course, you will be able to:

• describe the historical and intellectual forces that influenced the American Founding, the early development of the American Republic, and the outbreak of the Civil War,
• defend your view of the character and uniqueness of the American social and political order,
• articulate the principles and mechanics of the U.S. Constitution, its historical context and contemporary relevance,
• reflect critically on contemporary public affairs in light of U.S. history, and
• develop a vision of how people of faith may participate in the political process as responsible citizens or residents of the United States.

Required Texts

• Wilfred McClay, A Student’s Guide to U.S. History
• Paul Johnson, A History of the American People (HAP)
• James McClellan, Liberty, Order, and Justice: An Introduction to the Constitutional History of American Government (LOJ)

Grading Policy

Your course grade will be determined by four elements: reading questions (20%), discussion leadership (20%), one formal presentation (20%), and two 5-8 page papers (20% each).

• Reading Questions: To help with the reading, I will distribute questions on each week’s assigned reading. You will write out answers to these questions to turn in, both to show that you have done the required reading, and to guide your reflections on the material as you read it. Your performance on reading questions will determine twenty percent of your course grade.

• Discussion Leadership: Students will take turns serving as informal discussion leader. On the day you are assigned to lead discussion, you should come to class prepared with a reflection, question or other discussion starter to share with the class. Your presentation may involve offering an initial response to a question distributed with the reading. Your performance as discussion leader will determine twenty percent of your course grade.

• Formal Presentation: Each student will make one formal presentation to the class, based on outside research. This presentation will develop ideas related to one of the “windows” described in McClay’s Student’s Guide. It should be 20-30 minutes in length, with a written component, either text or an outline, to be turned in. I will work with you to select a topic and set a research agenda. The formal presentation will determine twenty percent of your course grade.

• Papers: Each student will write two papers of 5-8 pages on assigned topics. One paper will be due shortly before midterm, the other the week before finals. Each paper will determine twenty percent of your course grade.

Course Schedule

Week 1

What does America mean?

Student’s Guide, pp. 1-35

Why and how should we study American history?

Student’s Guide, pp. 35-86

Discussion of Formal Presentation Topics

Week 2

HAP, Part 1, Colonial America, pp. 3-61

• Europe and the Transatlantic Adventure
• Ralegh, the Proto-American, and the Roanoke Disaster
• Jamestown: The First Permanent Foothold
• Mayflower and the Formative Event
• 'The Natural Inheritance of the Elect Nation’
• John Winthrop and His ‘Little Speech’ on Liberty
• Roger Williams: The First Dissentient
• The Catholics in Maryland

Week 3

HAP, Part 1, Colonial America, pp. 62-117

• The Primitive Structure of Colonial America
• Carolina: The First Slave State
• Cotton Mather and the End of the Puritan Utopia
• Oglethorpe and Early Georgia
• Why Colonial Control Did Not Work
• The Rise of Philadelphia
• Elected Assemblies versus the Governors
• The Great Awakening and Its Political Impact

Week 4

LOJ, Part 1, The Constitution’s Deep Roots, pp. 1-60

• The Meaning of Constitutional Government
• The Lamp of Experience
• The Constitutions of Antiquity
• English Origins of America’s Constitution
• The Growth of Parliament
• The Challenge of Parliamentary Supremacy
• The Common Law Tradition
• The Republican Tradition and the Struggle for Constitutional Liberty
• The Influence of Continental Thinkers
• The Education of the Founders
• The French and American Revolutions Compared

Week 5

HAP, Part 2, Revolutionary America, pp. 121-177

• George Washington and the War against France
• Poor Quality of British Leadership
• The Role of Benjamin Franklin
• Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence
• The Galvanizing Effect of Tom Paine
• Washington, the War, and the Intervention of Europe
• Patriots and Loyalists: America’s First Civil War

Week 6

LOJ, Part 2, America’s First Constitutions and Declarations of Rights, pp. 89-164

• Colonial Governments
• Relations with Great Britain
• Local Government in the Colonies
• Civil Liberties in the Colonies
• The Movement Toward Independence
• The Declaration of Independence
• The Rights Proclaimed
• The First State Constitutions, 1776-1783
• The Articles of Confederation

Week 7

First Paper Due

HAP, Part 2, Revolutionary America, pp. 177-211

• The Constitutional Convention
• The Ratification Debate
• Citizenship, the Suffrage, and ‘The Tyranny of the Majority’
• The Role of Religion in the Constitution

LOJ, Part 3, The Achievement of the Philadelphia Convention, pp. 241-273

• The Problems of the Convention
• The Delegates to the Convention
• A Wide Range of Talents
• Plans and Progress at Philadelphia
• The Meaning of ‘Federal’
• The Virginia Plan: A Supreme National Government
• Hamilton’s Concept of a Unified America
• The New Jersey Plan: Checks upon Central Power
• The Benefits of Compromise
• Compromise and Consensus

Week 8

LOJ, Part 4, Basic Constitutional Concepts, pp. 295-354

• Federalism
• Separation of Powers
• Rule of Law

Week 9

LOJ, Part 5, The Struggle over Ratification and the Bill of Rights, pp. 381-427

• The Anti-Federalist Persuasion
• The Federalist Response
• The Bill of Rights

Week 10

HAP, Part 2, Revolutionary America, pp. 211-279

• The Presidency, Hamilton, and Public Finance
• Success of Washington and His Farewell Address
• John Adams and the European War
• Central Importance of John Marshall
• Jefferson’s Ambivalent Rule and Character
• The Louisiana Purchase
• Madison’s Blunders and Their Punishment
• Andrew Jackson, the Deus Ex Machina
• Jackson and the Destruction of the Indians

Week 11

HAP, Part 3, Democratic America, pp. 283-352

• High Birth Rates and the Immigration Flood
• The Market in Cheap Land
• Spread of Religious Sects
• Emergence of the South and King Cotton
• The Missouri Compromise
• Henry Clay
• The Advent of Jacksonian Democracy

Week 12

HAP, Part 3, Democratic America, pp. 352-419

• The War against the Bank
• America’s Agricultural Revolution
• Revolution in Transportation and Communications
• Polk and the Mexican War
• De Tocqueville and the Emerging Supernation
• The Ideology of the North-South Battle
• Emerson and the Birth of an American Culture
• Longfellow, Poe, and Hawthornian Psychology

Week 13

HAP, Part 4, Civil War America, pp. 424-469

• The Era of Pierce and Buchanan
• Ultimate and Proximate Causes of the Civil War
• The Rise of Lincoln
• Centrality of Preserving the Union
• The Election of 1860
• Jefferson Davis and Why the South Fought
• Why the South Was Virtually Bound to Lose

Week 14

HAP, Part 4, Civil War America, pp. 469-507

• The Churches and the War
• The War among the Generals
• Gettysburg: ‘Too Bad! Too Bad! Oh! TOO BAD!’
• The Triumph and Tragedy of Lincoln
• Andrew Johnson and the Two Reconstructions

Week 15

Second Paper Due

Wrap-up and Concluding Discussion