HSY2230

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

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

Objectives This subject is intended to provide an introduction to Early American history, to impart a body of knowledge about that history and thus to give students an understanding of American culture and politics and the place of the USA in the world.

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. In their written work, students will be encouraged to specialise in the study of aspects of US history which particularly interest them, eg in the long essay.

Assessment Document exercise (1000 words): 10%
* Long essay (3000 words): 40%
* Examination (2 hours): 40%
* 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

Recommended texts

Countryman E The American revolution Penguin, 1985
Foner E A short history of reconstruction Harper, 1987
Jordan, W D The white man's burden: Historical origins of racism in the United States OUP, 1974
Kolchin P American slavery Penguin, 1993
Levine B Half slave and half free: The roots of the civil war Hill and Wang, Noonday, 1992
McPherson J M The battle cry of freedom Penguin, 1988
Washburn W E The Indian in America Harper, 1975
Watson H Liberty and power: The politics of Jacksonian America Noonday, 1990
Woloch N Women and the American Experience 2nd edn, OUP, 1991