This course is designed for second year postgraduate students in English. It will introduce major themes in American history as the discipline is taught in the United States and will illustrate the history of American ideas as these are reflected in a variety of materials contemporary with the period being studied. This course will cover the period from colonial beginnings to the American civil war. A similar course will be offered in the spring term covering the period from the civil war to the present. The primary textbook from which assigned readings will be taken is The American Intellectual Tradition, volume I (third edition), edited by David A. Hollinger and Charles Capper. This text will be distributed in class and must be returned at the end of the term. Additional reading materials will be distributed in class from time to time, and some assignments will be made from books available in the departmental library.
The class meets from 2 to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays in the Yifu Building, room 2-402. Expectations of students seeking credit for the course include regular class attendance, reading assigned materials, writing contextual reviews of three assigned readings, and successful completion of a mid-term and a final examination. Students will be given specific review assignments and directions for their preparation. Study guides will also be distributed before each examination to assist students in their preparation. Students should complete each week's assigned reading before meeting class.
Grades will be calculated in the following manner: Three reviews (10% each), two examinations (25% each), and class participation (20%).
Professor Pearson lives in the Foreign Guesthouse, apartment 105. His telephone number is 359-3111, extension 3105. His e-mail address is pearsons@public1.ptt.js.cn. His campus office is in room 203 of the English Department building. He will be happy to meet with students either at his apartment or in the campus office at a time that is mutually convenient. Students encountering difficulties or needing assistance should contact Professor Pearson for help or clarification.
Additional information useful to students in this course will be posted on Professor Pearson's web page. The URL for that site is http://www.siue.edu/~spearso.
Schedule of Weekly Assignments
September 19, 2000
Introductory lecture; no reading assignment
September 26
Lecture on Puritanism
Assigned reading: John Winthrop, "A Modell of Christian Charity"
October 3
National Day; no class meeting
Assigned reading: "East Is East and West Is West" by Frank Li, JAH, 1999
October 10
Lecture on Puritanism
Assigned reading: J. Edwards, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections
October 17
Lecture on the American Enlightenment
Assigned reading: Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography
First Paper Due
October 24
Lecture on background of American Revolution
Assigned reading: John Adams: A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law
and Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence
October 31
Mid-term Examination
November 7
Lecture on American Federalism
Assigned reading: Alexander Hamilton, "Constitutional Convention Speech" and
James Madison, The Federalist, number 10 and 51
November 14
Lecture on the shaping of a new government
Assigned reading: Mercy Otis Warren, History of the Rise, Progress, and
Termination of the American Revolution
November 21
Lecture on early national America
Assigned reading: Charles G. Finney, "What a Revival of Religion Is" and John
Humphrey Noyes, The Berean
Second Paper Due
November 28
Lecture on early reform and the rise of nationalism
Assigned reading: Sarah M. Grimke, Letters on the Equality of the Sexes. . ." and
George Bancroft, "The Office of the People in Art, Government and Religion"
December 5
Lecture on Transcendentalism
Assigned reading: Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Divinity School Address" and
"Self-Reliance"
December 12
Lecture on the age of reform in America
Assigned reading: Margaret Fuller, "The Great Lawsuit. . ." and Henry David
Thoreau, "Resistance to Civil Government"
December 19
Lecture on sectionalism and the quest for unity
Assigned reading: John C. Calhoun, A Disquisition on Government and Louisa S.
McCord, "Enfranchisement of Woman"
December 26
Lecture on slavery and secession
Assigned reading: George Fitzhugh, Sociology for the South and Frederick
Douglass, "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?"
Third Paper Due
January 2, 2001
Lecture on the ideology of the Republican party and the impact of the civil war on
American life
Assigned reading: "Speech at Peoria," "Address before the Wisconsin State
Agricultural Society," "Gettysburg Address," and "Second Inaugural Address"
January 9
Final Examination
Return your copy of the textbook.