Jefferson and Madison: Conversations
from the Founding.
Finish reading Lance Banning, Jefferson and Madison in
preparation for class discussion. There may be a short quiz in which you will
be asked to summarize in one sentence the thesis of each chapter in the book,
the dates the letters were written, and perhaps other really important facts
described in the book. You may optionally examine Lance Banning's
biography on the Library of Congress website.
Before class, members of the RED discussion group will need to post to the course discussion board.
Law and Suffrage in the Early
Republic.
Read Guarneri, America, pp. 115-136. Browse through the Session Laws of Maryland, 1825 (Index), pp. 263-270. You
may find it helpful to mentally categorize these laws into groups such as
"economic regulation," "family and domestic relations," "transportation," and
so on. Judging from this sample, what were the primary purposes of state
government in the early republic? What kinds of important cultural, social or
economic activities did not fall under state supervision? To what
extent do these laws show evidence of innovation or social transformation? To
what extent do some of these laws show signs of social tensions and conflicts?
You may find it helpful while browsing these laws to have open this useful Glossary of Legal
Terms from the era.
Before class, members of the GREEN discussion group will need to post to the course discussion board.
Westward Movement, Indian Removal and
Urbanization:
The Origins of Jacksonian Democracy.
Read Guarneri, America, pp. 136-145. Analyze the patterns of Whig-Democratic Congressional
Geography, 1840-1852. You may find it helpful to work through the
sequence of maps several times, looking one state at a time for patterns and
changes. How do river and transportation systems, religious activity,
manufacturing, and state borders appear to have shaped voting patterns? In
which states were the Whigs strongest? In which were they weakest? Which
states seem to have been the most fragmented in their politics? Which were
consistently "one party" across the state's geography? Did these patterns of
fragmentation and integration change over time?
Awakening and Reform.
Read the biographies of Ralph
Waldo Emerson and Margaret
Fuller on the American Transcendentalism Web at Virginia Commonwealth
University. Analyze the Map of Church Seats to Population in 1850. Which areas of
the country had the most organized religious activity? To what extent do the
geographic patterns of this increased activism match up with either (1)
increased industrial activity, or (2) to purchase of consumer goods produced
by others rather than made within the home? (See the maps assigned for
Monday, above.) Read the Encyclopedia Britannica biographies of
Lyman
Beecher and Charles
Grandison Finney. Read the Wikipedia biography of Francis Wayland. Read
the biography of James Petigru Boyce on the Tlogicical website.
Read the history section of the Wikipedia entry for the
African Methodist Episcopal Church
Before class, members of the BLUE discussion group will need to post to the course discussion board.
Bancroft, Irving and Weems: Creating an
Heroic Nation.
Using Furman Library's Biography
Resource Center, locate and read biographies of George Bancroft,
Washington Irving, and Parson Weems. (You only need to read and take notes on
one account for each person.)
Your term paper topic selection and statement of historiographical issues involved is due by 5:00 p.m. today. Please send this to me via e-mail. Please review the term paper guidelines and suggestions page for details.
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Note: The instructor reserves the right to change any provisions, due dates, grading percentages, or any other items without prior notice. All assignments on this schedule are covered under the university's policy on plagiarism and academic integrity. See the syllabus statement for further details. This page was last updated on 9/21/2007.