Readings
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This section provides information on the required readings for the course, which are also presented by session.
Every effort was made to locate as complete information as possible for historical documents, and links to online sources were included where available.
Required Readings
Maier, Pauline, Merritt Roe Smith, Alexander Keyssar, and Daniel Kevles. Inventing America: A History of the United States. Vol. 1. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 2002. ISBN: 9780393974355.
Richter, Daniel K. Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003. ISBN: 9780674011175.
Paine, Thomas. Common Sense (orig. January 1776). New York, NY: Dover, 1997. ISBN: 9780486296029.
Handlin, Oscar. Boston's Immigrants (orig. 1941). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991. ISBN: 9780674079861.
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (orig. 1845). New York, NY: Dover, 1995. ISBN: 9780486284996.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin (orig. (in book form) 1852). New York, NY: Penguin, 1981. ISBN: 9780140390032.
Readings by Session
WEEK # | TOPICS | READINGS |
---|---|---|
1 | Introduction | |
2 | The Indians' America; The First European Settlements; The Chesapeake and New England | Maier, et al. Chapters 1 and 2, pp. 3-79. |
3 | The Extension of European Settlement; Empires; British Colonies in the Eighteenth Century | Maier, et al. Chapters 3 and 4, pp. 81-154. Richter. pp. 110-254. |
4 | Independence | Maier. Chapter 5, pp. 157-92. Paine. Common Sense. Mason, George. Draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights. Pennsylvania Gazette, June 12, 1776. The committee or "Jefferson" draft of the Declaration of Independence, with Congress's editings (June-July 1776). In ![]() |
5 | Creation of the American Republic: the States | Maier, et al. Chapter 6 and the first parts of chapter 7, pp. 195-243. |
6 | Creation of the American Republic: the Nation | Maier, et al. Chapter 7, pp. 195-247. Gov. Edmund Randolph's speech presenting the Virginia Plan from the Constitutional Convention, May 29, 1787. Available at: The Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 reported by James Madison: May 29. The Constitution in Maier (appendices). Excerpt from the Virginia Ratifying Convention; the Virginia and New York instruments of ratification (1788). |
7 | Creation of the American Republic: the Nation (cont.); Race and Revolution; Review Midterm Exam | Jefferson, Thomas. "Query XIV: The Administration of Justice and Description of the Laws?" In Notes on the State of Virginia (written 1781, published 1785). |
8 | The Politics of the Early Republic | Maier. Chapters 8 and 9, pp. 249-314. Madison's speech in the First Federal Congress, June 8, 1789 , proposing amendments to the Constitution and the amendments as they emerged from Congress. (You need to go down a bit to get the relevant part of his speech.) The first ten amendments to the Constitution (the bill of rights), in Maier (appendices). Start Handlin. |
9 | Politics and Economic Development | Maier. Chapters 9 and 12, pp. 283-314 and 373-405. Finish Handlin. |
10 | The "Age of Jackson"; An Age of Reform | Maier. Chapters 11 and 13, pp. 343-371 and 407-432. Documents on Abolitionism: William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Philips. Garrison, William Lloyd. Editorial from The Liberator, January 1, 1831. ---. “Declaration of the National Anti-Slavery Convention," 1833. ---. Speech at the Fourth National Women’s Rights Convention, 1853. ---. "No Compromise with Slavery” speech, 1854. ![]() Douglass. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. pp. 96. |
11 | Expansion and Its Consequences | Maier. Chapter 14 and 15, pp. 435-462 and 474-76. George Fitzhugh's Defense of Slavery. In Fitzhugh, George. “Slavery Justified,” a newspaper editorial from the Fredericksburg [Virginia] Democratic Recorder, circa 1849-51, republished as an Appendix to Sociology for the South: Or, The Failure of Free Society. Richmond, VA: A. Morris, 1854, pp. 226-78 (esp. 445ff). Start Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin. |
12 | "The Little Lady Who Caused This Big War" | Maier. Chapter 15, pp. 474-76. Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin. |
13 | The Crisis of the 1850's; Secession | Maier. The rest of chapter 15, pp. 465-474 and 476-494, and chapter 16, pp. 497-502. |
14 | The Civil War | Maier. The rest of chapter 16, pp. 502-33.![]() |
15 | Results of the Civil War; Review | Maier. Chapter 17, first two sections, pp. 535-553. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution in Maier appendices (and while you're at it take a look at the 11th and 12th amendments, too). |
Final Exam |