MONASH UNIVERSITY FACULTY HANDBOOKS

Arts Undergraduate Handbook 1996

Published by Monash University

Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia

Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996

HSY2230

Early America: the American people and the United States 1492-1877

Proposed to be offered next in 1997

Tony Wood and others

8 points + Two lectures and one tutorial per week + First semester + Clayton + With the permission of the head of the department, intending majors in English, politics or American studies with a special interest in American literature, US politics, or other areas of American studies may take HSY2230 without having completed a first-year history sequence

Synopsis This subject provides an introduction to the history of the American people and the United States from their colonial origins to the Civil War and Reconstruction, concentrating on the social, economic and political history of the period 1760-1877. Attention will be paid to the study of race, gender and the history of working-class and ethnic minority cultures. Together with HSY2240 and HSY2360, it is designed to contribute to an understanding of the contemporary USA and its place in the world. In their written work, students will be encouraged to specialise in the study of aspects of US history which particularly interest them.

Assessment Document exercise (1000 words): 20% + Long essay (3000 words): 40% + Examination (2 hours): 30% + Class participation and attendance: 10%

Prescribed texts

Bailyn B and others The great republic: A history of the American people 4th edn, Heath, 1992 or
Nash G B and others The American people: Creating a nation and a society 2nd edn, Harper and Row, 1990
or
Nash G B and others The American people: Creating a nation and a society Brief edn, Harper Collins, 1992