Final Grades

Your final grades have been posted to CUNYFirst, and comments on your research essays will be available after 12/19 on turnitin.com. 

If you have any questions about your grade you can see me during my Spring 2015 office hours, which will be posted sometime in January. 

Thank you all for your hard work this semester!

Happy Winter Break!

-Mariel

Civil War Through Photographs

Non-commissioned officer's mess of Co. D, 93d New York Infantry. Photo by Timothy H. O'Sullivan

The Civil War occupies a central place in American History (note how the Hunter College History Department uses it to divide the US History survey course). We've thoroughly discussed the factors that led to the war, and some of the strategies in fighting the war. Take a look through the Library of Congress' exhibition of Civil War Photography and discuss what the photographs contribute to your understanding of the war.

There are over 1,100 photographs- you don't have to look at all of them, but browse through different categories and read some of the related articles to learn more about the context of field photography in the 1860s.

This post will be open for comments until Friday December 12.

Research Essay guidelines

Hi Everyone,

Take a look at the guidelines for the Research Essay, now listed in the sidebar to the right.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

Hi Everyone,

I'd like you to read as much as you can of this transcript of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates from 1858. It will be a very useful background for our in-class activity on Tuesday!

ETA: Bonus! Western Expansion

Today's document from Section 002 is here.

Today's document from Section 007/L32 is here. 

Post a revised version of one of the thesis statements in the comments, and I'll count it as a "bonus" blog participation. No harm if you don't do it, but it will make up for one missed post.

Bonus will be available until November 18.

Response Essay Grades

Grades and comments for your response essays are now available on turnitin.com. 

If you have questions about your essay, please print a hard copy through turnitin.com and see me during office hours. If your cannot make it to my office hours, then you can email me to arrange an alternate time. My office hours are Tuesdays and Fridays, 9:30-10:30 AM in 1545W. 

Abolitionists

What challenges did 19th century abolitionists face in promoting their message?

This post will be available for new comments until Friday, November 14. 

The Anti-Slavery Movement

An engraving of poet Phillis Wheatley from her book, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral
CREDIT: Wheatley, Phillis, poet. Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, 1773. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress.

Next week we’ll discuss the growth of the anti-slavery movement in the 19th-century, but based on this week’s discussion of slavery spanning the 17th through 19th centuries, what do we already know about anti-slavery arguments? Where have we previously encountered anti-slavery discussions? Can you find any examples of anti-slavery figures that we did not discuss in class? (Provide links and citations where appropriate). 

This post will be available for new comments until Friday, November 7.

Turnitin.com outage

Hi Everyone,

I heard from lots of  you about turnitin.com not being available yesterday when you were trying to upload your response essays.

It looks like everything is back to normal today, so please submit your essay to turnitin.com directly if you have not done so already. Even if you already emailed it to me, please submit it to turnitin.com. You will not be penalized for lateness.

Thanks for your patience with this inconvenience!

--Mariel

Response essay

Using documents and images from Chapter 6 on StudySpace and Chapter 6: The Revolution Within from your Give Me Liberty textbook, answer the following question with an essay: 

In what ways did the American Revolution fundamentally change American society? 

Upload your essay to www.turnitin.com under the “Response Essay” assignment before 11:59 PM on Friday, October 24. 

• Class ID: 8495390
• Password: History

Your essay must meet the following requirements: 

• contains a clear, strong thesis statement that answers the question and outlines the body of the essay in the introductory paragraph

• uses examples ONLY from the StudySpace documents and images, or the textbook. 

• uses examples that support each section of the essay

• provides analysis for examples that demonstrates how each example proves the main point of the essay

• organized logically and includes an introduction, three body sections and a conclusion

• written in clear, formal language

• all references to sources (documents, images and textbook) must be cited, and quotations must have appropriate punctuation. References without appropriate citations may constitute plagiarism and will be considered individually. The use of non-approved sources will result in automatic failure of the assignment.

• submit your essay before the deadline; late essays will be reduced by one letter grade for every day they are late. No late submissions will be accepted after Friday, October 31.  

We will discuss strategies for this assignment in class on Tuesday, October 21. We will not meet on Friday, October 24. I will be available to answer questions via email.

ETA- Please double space your essay.

Name your topic!

Checking in to see what kind of progress you are making on your research essay. By this point in the semester-long assignment you should have:

• A clear, precise topic
• Several primary and secondary sources
• An idea of what your argument will be

Your paper is due in class on Tuesday, December 2.You should have most of your sources by the beginning of November and you should aim to begin writing your rough draft NO LATER THAN mid-November.

If you are still fine-tuning your topic or have not found your minimum required sources, please arrange to meet with me during office hours as soon as possible.

In the comments below, provide a concise summary of your research so far. What is the most interesting/intriguing/challenging thing you have discovered about your topic?

This post will be available for comments until Friday October 31.

Endangered republic; Market Revolution

The group thesis statements from Section 002 are here. Market Revolution outline is here.

The group thesis statements from Section 007/L32 are here. Market Revolution outline is here.

Anyone who completes the quiz for Chapter 8 by 11:59 pm today will get extra credit!

Turnitin.com and Gradebook

Hi Everyone,

You will need the following information to set up your turnitin.com account, or to find our class if you already have an account:

class ID: 8495390

password: History

Quizzes: 

Please make sure that you are taking the quiz for the 4th Seagull edition of the textbook. The schedule notes every day that a quiz is due. Please follow the schedule carefully to make sure that you complete the quiz that corresponds to the daily reading assignment. The quiz must be completed before class. Quizzes are only assigned once we complete a chapter of the textbook. 

Also, you can keep track of your quiz scores through the Gradebook site. Here's how: 

1. Go to the Norton Gradebook site.
2. Register your email address (use the same address you provided to receive your quiz results). 
3. You will receive an email with your password. 
4. Login, and you can keep track of your quizzes.  

Make Your Own Constitution

We've spent two class sessions discussing the challenges involved in creating a governing document that satisfied everyone. If you could talk to the framers of the Constitution in 1787, what advice would you give them?

This post will be available for comments until Friday, October 17.

Schedule changes

Hi Everyone,

I have updated the reading/quiz schedule to reflect that we do not meet on Friday, October 3. My apologies for the confusion.

Please complete the following readings for our next meeting on Tuesday, October 7:

Give Me Liberty! Chapter 7 pg 263-281
Chapter 7 quiz due
Address to the People of New York by the Hon. John Jay and Elbridge Gerry's Reasons for Not Signing the Federal Constitution

--Mariel 

Finding Sources

Finding good, relevant sources is an important early step in the research process. By this point in the semester, you should have some idea of a topic that you are interested in for your research essay and you should be starting to collect sources. 

Post the author’s name, book or article title, journal title (if applicable) and publisher for 3 sources that you have already found in the comments below. 

ETA: A previous post asked you to think of a topic you are interested in regardless of whether or not it was related to the course. This post is asking you to find sources related to your research topic which must fall within the scope of this course: roughly 1500-1865, North America. Please make sure your sources (and research topic) are related to the course.

This post will be available for new comments until Tuesday September 30. 

Primary Texts

We have looked at several different types of primary documents—images, letters, governing agreements—in the last two class meetings. What unique information do the primary sources provide? What additional information do we need to make sense of the primary materials? 

This post will be available for new comments until Friday September 19.

Searching and Researching

In today’s class, we discussed the difference between “searching”— looking for information that already exists and “researching”—compiling a variety of sources to examine and use as the basis of your own analysis. 

What is one thing—it does not have to be related to this course—that you would like to know more about? Will it require searching or researching? If your topic of choice is not directly related to the course, is there a possible connection that you could consider? How would you investigate this? 

This post will be available for new comments until Friday September 12. 

Goals

Welcome to History 151! 

In the comments below, write one thing that you would like to accomplish in this course. Try to be as specific as possible, so instead of “I’d like to get an A,” consider “I’d like to gain more confidence speaking in class” or “I’d like to feel more prepared for final exams.” We’ll work together throughout the semester to encourage each other to meet our goals. 

This post will be available for new comments until Friday, September 5. 

Welcome!

Welcome to the course blog for History 151: Colonial Era to the Civil War at Hunter College, Fall 2014.

The course textbook, Give Me Liberty! An American History: Volume 1, Seagull Fourth Edition is available at Shakespeare and Company at 939 Lexington Avenue, across the street from Hunter College. New copies are $55.85 and used copies are $42. You may rent new or used copies for $33.85 or $20. 


We'll spend our first class period reviewing course policies and getting to know each other. Feel free to review this website and come to class with any questions about the course.

Looking forward to meeting you soon!

Civil War Through Photographs

Non-commissioned officer's mess of Co. D, 93d New York Infantry. Photo by Timothy H. O'Sullivan

The Civil War occupies a central place in American History (note how the Hunter College History Department uses it to divide the US History survey course). We've thoroughly discussed the factors that led to the war, and some of the strategies in fighting the war. Take a look through the Library of Congress' exhibition of Civil War Photography and discuss what the photographs contribute to your understanding of the war.

There are over 1,100 photographs- you don't have to look at all of them, but browse through different categories and read some of the related articles to learn more about the context of field photography in the 1860s.

This post will be open for comments until Tuesday May 13. 

Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth, 1864

In the past two classes we've discussed the abolition movement, the women's movement and several communitarian movements. The experience of Sojourner Truth intersects with all three movements. Read this biography of Sojourner Truth. You can read her famous "Ain't I a Woman" speech, or watch it performed in the clip below by Alfre Woodard.

How does Sojourner Truth's speech illuminate the strengths and weaknesses of the reform movements we have discussed?

This post will be open to comments until Tuesday May 6.

Spring Break!

Going somewhere interesting over Spring Break? Staying home and working? Find something (anything- a statue, a plaque, a building, buried treasure, you name it) related to this course on your travels (even if your "travels" are to and from work) and tell us about it in the comments. If you comment, you'll get one "bonus" post added to your blog participation grade, and there won't be any penalty for not commenting.

Happy Break!

This post will be open for comments until Friday April 25.

PS- I've posted your exam grades to the "gradebook" on turnitin.com. I'll return your second exams in class on Friday, April 25. 

Virtual Field Trip

Explore the "Hermitage: Home of President Andrew Jackson" website. Start with the "interactive map" and consider the size of the property, the many buildings, and the farm. How does learning more about Jackson's home complicate, challenge or confirm your understanding of Andrew Jackson?

This post will be open for comments until Tuesday April 15.

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.

First contact continued...

Take a look at these portraits of Four Indian Kings. Do these portraits confirm or challenge the points made in the discussion of the New York Public Library's collection from the previous post?

This post will be available for comments until Tuesday, February 11. You may continue to comment on the previous post or start new conversations based on this post. Comments on both posts will be considered for your participation grade.

Also, please remember to sign up for a presentation date. There are still spaces remaining for both sections for February 25. If there are still open spaces at class time tomorrow, I will assign the date randomly.

Happy commenting!

First Contact and Beyond

Matoaka als Rebecka daughter to the mighty Prince Powhatan by Simon van de Pass, 1595?

Visit the New York Public Library's digital collection, "Four-hundred Years of Native American Portraiture." Browse through the portraits and prints, concentrating on the early period. Consider today's class discussion of the first contact between indigenous Americans and European explorers.   What do the portraits suggest about the mutual influence between natives and Europeans?

This post will be open to comments until Tuesday, February 11.

Welcome!

This is the course blog for History 151: Colonial Era to the Civil War for Spring 2014 at Hunter College, with instructor Mariel Isaacson, sections 003 (T/F 8:10 am-9:25 am) and 005 (T/F 9:45 am-11 am).

The required books for the course are :

Eric Foner's Give Me Liberty! An American History, Volume 1 and 

Eric Foner's Voices of Freedom: A Documentary History, Volume 1. 

Both new and used copies of the books will be available at Shakespeare and Company, located at 939 Lexington Avenue. You may also purchase ebooks through the publisher. Please have your books by the first day of class.

I'll look forward to meeting you on the first day of class, Tuesday, January 28. Enjoy your break!

-Mariel Isaacson