The Market Revolution

Boott Mill Weave Room, Lowell, MA

Compare and contrast two maps of Lowell, MA, one from 1821 and one from 1850. What differences do you notice. What do the changes tell us about the impact of the Market Revolution on American society?

This post will be open for comments until Tuesday, April 8.

Bill of Rights

James Madison, President of the United States, from the Library of Congress

Watch "The Story of the Bill of Rights" created by the Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics. Toward the end of the 16 minute documentary, the Bill of Rights is described as "absolutely essential to our national character." What does the speaker mean by this? Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

This post will be open for comments until Tuesday, March 25.

Revolution in New York

A View of Federal Hall of the City of New York, 1797, Library of Congress

Over the next couple of weeks we'll be discussing the lead up to and consequences of the American Revolution. New York was a hotbed of political debate and a battleground during the Revolutionary War, but little physical evidence of New York's revolutionary past remains visible today, especially when compared with Boston of Philadelphia. If you had unlimited resources, what would you do to commemorate or identify New York's Revolutionary Era history? (Here is the building that replaced Federal Hall, pictured above: Federal Hall National Memorial).

This post will be open to comments until Tuesday, March 25.

Luce Center at New York Historical Society

ETA: I'd like everyone to take a look at the first comment thread and respond to my questions. Thank you to Bianka M. for introducing us to the source and starting an important conversation about authorship in research as we start to think about formal research for the upcoming essays. If you haven't commented on this post yet, please join the conversation!

-Mariel

"No Stamp Act Teapot" from the National Museum of American History. Breen discusses this item in his book The Marketplace of Revolution

In the essay by T. H. Breen we read in class, Breen argues that the consumption of European items by American colonists strengthened their British identities and solidified their bonds to the "mother country."

The "material culture" that colonists consumed can tell us a lot about the lives of colonists that we wouldn't otherwise know. Richard Bushman writes about ways we can understand the development of a distinctly American identity through objects  in his book, The Refinement of America.

The New-York Historical Society (on 77th street and Central Park West, just across the park from Hunter!) has a material culture collection that can tell us a great deal about what life was like in the 18th and 19th centuries. Explore the contents of the Luce Center's collection (it would be great if you can visit the museum and do this in person, but it is not required for this assignment. Looking at the website will suffice), concentrating on objects from within the scope of this course. Choose one object that interests you, and write about it and what it tells you about the period it is from that you could not learn from the textbook. Keep an eye on the comments and avoid repeating an object someone else has posted. 

This post will be open to comments until March 4.

Pick a colony, any colony

Sketch of New York Harbor by Captain Thomas Howdell

So far this semester, we've looked at the colonies of Portugal (briefly), Spain, France, the Netherlands and England. Imagine that you can choose any colony in which to settle and try to make your fortune. Which would you choose? What factors influenced your decision over the other colonies?

This post will be open to comments until Tuesday, February 18.