Revolution Syllabus

The syllabus for this course is available in various formats:

MSWord | HTML (see below) | pdf

These files will contain the syllabus as written on the first day of class. You should be aware that the syllabus may be modified during the semester. These modifications will be posted on the announcements page and will also be announced clearly in class.

Some class materials are not included in the syllabus, including important assignment instructions and handouts. They are located on the course info page and can be downloaded there.

The American Revolution
Spring Semester 2005
AMH 4130
Professor: Sally Hadden
Class Hours and Location: MWF 11:15-12:05, Bellamy 001
Office and Office Phone: Bellamy 409, 644-9519
Office Hours: 12:15-1:15 MW and by appointment
Email: shadden@mailer.fsu.edu
Class website: http://mailer.fsu.edu/~shadden/courses/revolution/

Course Description: This course examines thematically the major issues confronting Americans in the late 17th and 18th centuries prior to the American Revolution, as well as the main events and major figures of the Revolution itself. By exploring social, cultural, political, and economic developments in America's revolutionary period and the ultimate break that occurred between Americans and their British cousins, we gain a greater understanding of the formative event in our nation's history. This course spends relatively little time on military events, and privileges exploring the British perspective on the war.

Course Format: The course will be conducted primarily through lectures, with time set aside each day for questions about lectures and readings. Students are expected to attend all class meetings and to complete all course readings on time.

Course Requirements: Students must complete ALL course requirements to receive a passing grade. Students caught cheating or plagiarizing will receive a failing grade in the class and may be prosecuted through the university disciplinary system. Students are expected to understand the concept of plagiarism.

Grade Components: The course grade has four components: a midterm examination (30%); a final examination (30%); two short written response essays that will draw upon the assigned reading, approximately 3 pages each (10% each); and one longer written paper that will require you to use assigned texts from this class as well as research in original materials (20%). No late essays will be accepted without a documented medical excuse. Essays will be due at the beginning of class on the dates indicated in the syllabus. Topics for essays and directions for completing them will be distributed in class. The research paper will have a target length of 15 pages, and will require you to use primary sources to complete (e.g., newspapers, speeches, letters, journals, maps). Directions for completing the research paper will be distributed in class and posted on the course website.

Exams: Both the midterm and the final examination will be primarily essay exams, based upon material from the lectures and the reading assignments. There will also be timeline, matching, film-based, and geography questions. Because the exams test for both reading and lectures, it is important for you to keep up on the assigned reading and to attend all classes. The midterm examination is scheduled for week eight of term and will be held during regular class hours. The final examination will be given on April 28 th at the time designated by the registrar during exam week, 12:30-2:30pm. Please note that under university policy, the final’s time and date cannot be altered by the instructor. Sample questions from previous exams will be distributed as study aids.

Special Note: Students with disabilities covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act should follow these directions: 1) provide documentation of your disability to the Student Disability Resource Center (108 Student Services Building, 644-9566); 2) bring a statement from the SDR to the instructor during the first week of class, indicating the accommodations you will require to complete the course.

Course Texts: The following books are available for purchase at the FSU Book Store, Bill’s Bookstore, and through Amazon.com:

Required texts:
Robert Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause
Bernard Bailyn, The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution
Richard D. Brown, Major Problems in the Era of the American Revolution, 1760-1791 (2nd ed.)
Robert Gross, Minutemen and Their World
Linda Kerber, Women of the Republic
Joseph Plumb Martin, Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier
Thomas Jefferson (David Waldstriecher, ed.) Notes on the State of Virginia
Alfred Young, The Shoemaker and the Tea Party

Recommended text:
Richard Marius, A Short Guide to Writing About History, 5 th edition (optional, but useful for individuals who have not written essays or response papers in a history class before)

In addition, some articles will be read from on-line databases like JSTOR (noted in the reading schedule below).

Lecture and Reading Schedule

WEEK ONE and TWO: January 5, January 10 and 12 (no class on Friday January 7 or 14)
Introduction
England and America/Social Sources of Revolution?

READING: Middlekauff, chap.1, 2; Bailyn, chap.2, 3
RESERVE: G.B. Nash "Urban Wealth and Poverty in Pre-Revolutionary America"and G.B. Warden, "Inequality and Instability in Eighteenth Century Boston: A Reappraisal" Journal of Interdisciplinary History 6 (1976):545-620 [these articles are available through the database JSTOR, accessible through the FSU Strozier Library website]

WEEK THREE and FOUR: January 19, 21, 24, 26, 28 (no class on Monday January 17)
Stamp Act and Townshend Duties
Dissolution of Power, 1760-1776: the Problem Defined

READING: Middlekauff , chaps. 3-9; Brown, chap. 3, docs 1-3 and essays by Fred Anderson and P.J.Marshall; chap. 4, docs 1-3, 5-8 and essay by Maier

First Short Response Paper due January 28

WEEK FIVE and SIX: January 31, February 2 and 4, February 7, 9 and 11
In Place of Policy--the Logic of Rebellion
An Inevitable and Unstoppable Rebellion?

READING: Middlekauff , chaps. 10-12, 14; Bailyn, chap.4 (including "A Note on Conspiracy"); Gross, Prologue and chaps. 1-2; Brown, chap. 5, docs 1-3, 6 and essay by Doerflinger

Second Short Response Paper due February 11

WEEK SEVEN and EIGHT: February 14, 16, and 18, February 21, 23, and 25
Transformation

READING: Bailyn , chaps. 5; Brown, chap. 5, essay by Maier
ONLINE READING: Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, sections I- III.Available at <www.bartleby.com/133/> or <libertyonline.hypermall.com/Paine/CD-Frame.html>

MIDTERM EXAMINATION: Friday February 25

WEEK NINE, TEN and ELEVEN: February 28, March 2 and 4, March 14, 16, and 18
Week Ten is Spring Break Week (March 7-11)
The War for Independence
How Could Britain Have Lost the War?

READING: Middlekauff , chaps. 13, 15-18, 20, 22; Gross, chaps. 3-7; Brown, chap. 6, docs 3-7, essay by Shy

WEEK TWELVE and THIRTEEN: March 21, 23 and 25, March 28, 30 and April 1
The Deeper Revolution: How Radical?

READING: Kerber, entire; Bailyn, chap. 6; Brown, chap. 7, docs 4-6 and 9; chap. 8, docs 1-4 and essay by Frey; chap. 9, docs 2-3. Begin reading Young, Shoemaker (to be completed by week 14)

WEEK FOURTEEN, FIFTEEN and SIXTEEN: April 4, 6, and 8, April 11, 13, and 15, April 18, 20 and 22
The New Nation: Fulfillment or Frustration?
The Problems that Await
The Revolution Remembered

READING: Finish Young; Brown, chap. 11, docs 1, 3, 5-6 and essays by Rakove, Brooke; chap. 14 and chap. 1 (esp. the essays by Zagarri, Young, Smith, Wood, Breen); Jefferson, entire

Research Paper due April 15

FINAL EXAMINATION: Thursday April 28, 12:30-2:30pm. Students who will be observing Passover are urged to speak with the Registrar and instructor early in the semester to make alternate arrangements for their tests.

Sally Hadden
401 Bellamy Bldg.
Dept. of History
Florida State University
Tallahassee FL 32306-2200