History 342, Fall 1999

Ben-Atar, D. and B. Oberg, eds., Federalists Reconsidered
Hickey, Donald, The War of 1812: A Short History
McCoy, Drew R., The Elusive Republic: Political Economy in Jeffersonian America
Peterson, Merrill, Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation
Richard, Carl J., The Founders and the Classics
Ronda, James P., Lewis and Clark Among the Indians
Rorabaugh, W.J., The Alcoholic Republic
*Waldstreicher, David, In the Midst of Perpetual Fetes: The Making of American Nationalism
Wright, Donald, African Americans in the Early Republic
* = required for graduate students only

This course examines the early years of the United States under the Constitution, an important historical period with which present-day Americans are increasingly unfamiliar. In 1789, Americans faced a difficult, confusing, and often painful set of tasks: they needed to build working political institutions out of the Constitution’s vague instructions and at the same time create a stable, unified nation out of a divided and scattered collection of societies and peoples. American leaders also had to deal with a series of wars and international crises in which the U.S. was not a great world power but an "underdeveloped" or "Third World" country, weak and thus vulnerable to the designs of the European empires. The events of this period determined, even more than those of the Revolution itself, what type of nation the U.S. would become.

Perhaps more than Americans typically realize, the United States was truly a "young" republic in this period, with its character and even physical shape as yet unformed. Would the country be governed strongly and minutely from a capital of power and culture like London, or would the 13 separate capitals and innumerable smaller centers be allowed to retain their independence? Was union under the Constitution optional or mandatory? Would the country be predominantly rural and agricultural like the South and West, or increasingly urban and commercial like New England and the Middle States? Would there be one great nation on the North American continent, or a series of regional nations as in Europe? Would the tone of American society be set by the lifestyles and values of wigged, Latin-spouting gentlemen like the Founders, or by the lifestyles and values of ordinary Americans, who embarked in this period on a record-setting national drinking binge and joining raucous evangelical churches by the thousands? The major objective of this course is to help students abandon their preconceptions about the nation’s early history, and think deeply about the choices that were posed and made in the years after 1789.

Another very important objective of this course is to help students develop thinking and communication skills, the only truly "marketable" skills that humanities courses such as this one can provide. Discussions will take up a significant portion of our time in class, and writing will weigh heavily in the grading and assignments. Future employers who could not care less about whether you can recite the terms of the Jay Treaty undoubtedly will expect you to express your ideas clearly in writing and to contribute intelligently in meetings!

 Course Requirements and Policies

EXAMINATIONS: There will be two tests in this course: a two-part mid-term consisting of a take-home essay question, and a set of identifications and short-answer questions to be answered in class; and a final examination (given in the scheduled exam period) consisting of identifications, short answers, and a choice of essay questions. The tests will cover only their respective halves of the course; in other words, the final is not cumulative. All course materials are fair game to be included on the tests. Lecture outlines and lists of key terms will be distributed (via the course web site) in order to direct your studying. Missed tests can be made up only if the instructor is notified of your absence in advance and provided with documentary evidence of DIRE medical or family emergency.

TERM PAPER: Undergraduate students will write an 8-12 page essay in this course, with pages defined as double-spaced, one-inch margins, in 12 pt. Times New Roman or similar type. The topics will be posted on the course web site later in the semester. Papers will be due Monday, Dec. 6, in class. Late papers will be graded down 10% for every weekday they are late.

Students should cite the sources of any quotations or facts used, as well as the sources of any ideas that they may have borrowed, in endnotes, according to the rules set forth in one of the following guides: Diana Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual; Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 5th edition or later; or The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th edition. All word processing programs published in the 1990s have a feature that allows footnotes or endnotes to be created, numbered, and placed automatically. Bibliographies are unnecessary for these essays if sources have been properly cited.

Alternatively, students may write a 10- to 20-page original research paper. The topics for the research papers should be developed in consultation with the instructor and approved by him in advance. (A 15- to 20- page research paper or historiographic essay is mandatory for graduate students.) Students are encouraged to do the research paper if they desire, keeping a couple of points in mind. An original research paper means a paper based mostly on primary sources, especially documents produced by people who had direct, contemporaneous access to the events or people being analyzed. If one is studying the attitudes or ideas of a particular figure, the most important primary sources would be that person's own writings and speeches. Primary sources do NOT include the work of later historians or journalists, though such secondary sources may be used for background information. Students wishing to do the research paper option need to get their topic and research plans (especially what primary sources they intend to use) approved by Monday, Nov. 1, at the very latest.

PARTICIPATION in class meetings is strongly encouraged whether in the form of comments, questions, or responses to questions from the instructor. Opportunities for discussion will be embedded within many lectures, making it imperative to stay abreast of the reading, and some designated class periods may be devoted almost entirely to discussion. In order to spur our discussions, I will periodically be posting discussion questions and documents on the course web site. There will be additional discussion and participation opportunities through the course bulletin board I will be setting up at http://pasleybrothers.com/board . To use the bulletin board, you will need to register yourself, which requires that you have a valid e_mail address.http://bel458.history.fsu.edu/enter.html Please use your real name (not a screen persona) or I will not be able to give you credit for participating.

The best way to participate in discussions is to listen and respond not only to the instructor but also to your fellow students. You should also try to be substantive, using concrete examples from the reading or lectures or films to make your points. Do not simply give a flat opinion such as "I hated it" or "I agree"; justify your opinion with actual ideas and arguments.

Discussion participation will be graded roughly as follows: A = Always contributes, in a spontaneous and substantive fashion. Responds to other students' remarks and follows up when necessary. B = Almost always contributes, but not always as spontaneously or substantively. C = Usually contributes, but not as often or as fully, or participates well but very infrequently. D = Rarely participates, never fully or responsively. F = Never participates. To ensure accuracy and fairness, participation will be recorded (subject to the instructor's review) by a student volunteer each day.

ATTENDANCE will be taken each class period (via a sign-up sheet) and factored into the participation grade. Each student will be given three free absences, with no other individual excuses allowed, except in the case of severe, long-term problems.

E_MAIL AND WEB SITE (http://pasleybrother.com/jefferson): You should consider using e-mail and the course web site as requirements of this course. Unless marked as optional, readings posted on the web site are required and should be given as much weight as text readings. Important course announcements and assignments will be made over the web and if I need to contact you, I will do so by e-mail. (Reaching students by phone, or even finding a student phone number, is often extremely difficult and sometimes impossible.) It will be your responsibility to check the web site and your e_mail at least every few days. A form will be available on the web site for you send me your e-mail address and other contact information. NOTE: "Pasleybrothers.com" is just the name I have given to my collection of web sites, housed at a web hosting service in Kansas City called CommuniTech.net. "Pasley.com" was taken, so I chose the domain name in honor of our two little boys, Isaac (age 6), and Owen (age 4 months at the beginning of this semester).

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY will not be tolerated in this course. Any student who cheats on a test, or submits written work that is not his or her own ("plagiarism"), will fail the course and be reported to the appropriate university authorities. All students are, and should consider themselves, bound by the university regulations on Academic Discipline and Student Conduct that can be found at http://www.missouri.edu/~mbookwww/AcademicDisc.html and http://www.missouri.edu/~mbookwww/StudentHonorCodes.html . Students should also be aware that plagiarism and cheating can take more subtle forms than simply copying another student’s paper or a published work verbatim. Paraphrasing, rewriting, or borrowing ideas without giving credit are also considered academic dishonesty. If you need more guidance, see the following documents, which explain the different forms of plagiarism and also give examples and advice on how to avoid them: http://web.missouri.edu/~writmdp/plag.html and http://bel459.history.fsu.edu/pasley/plagiarism.htm http://web.missouri.edu/~writmdp/plag.htmlhttp://bel459.history.fsu.edu/pasley/plagiarism.htm.

GRADING

GRADING SCALE will be on a standard percentage scale, not formally "curved": A=93_100%, A_ =90_92%, B+=87_89%, B=83_86%, B_ = 80_82%, C+=77_79%, C=73_76%, C_ =70_72%, D+=67_69%, D=63_66%, D_ =60_62%, F=59% or below.

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