Dr. Paul Douglas Newman O. 269-2987
Krebs 123 H. 535-3176
http:/www.pitt.edu/~pnewman pnewman+@pitt.edu
In this three credit, upper division class, we will broadly explore the founding of the American Republic and many of the societal changes attending this monumental event. We will attempt to discover the meaning of the Republic, of democracy, of parties. We will canvass the ideas of the founding elite: Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison, Washington, Adams, etc., but at the same time assess both the impact of the founding on average men, women, slaves and free blacks, and immigrants as well as the impact of those people on the founding.
The class will be structured as an upper level reading seminar. A number
of historical essays will be assigned for every meeting which will serve
as the basis for class discussion. CAVEAT: If you have not
taken History 0610, or an equivalent course that surveys Early American
history, then you should seriously reconsider your presence in this classroom.
Perhaps you should run, not walk, to the Registrar's Office.
Books
Richard Beeman, et. al. eds., Beyond Confederation: Origins of the Constitution and American National Identity (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987)
Drew R. McCoy, The Elusive Republic: Political Economy in Jeffersonian America (NY: W. W. Norton & Co., 1980)
Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing in History (Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 1998)
James Roger Sharp, American Politics in the Early Republic: The New Nation in Crisis (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993)
"Supplement Reader" a collection of essays compile by yours truly
All of the above are or will shortly be on sale in the bookstore.
Attendance
After today we will meet 28 times. If you are absent from class 6 times
(more than 20%) I cannot in good conscience assign you any grade other
than an F. Incompletes-G or I grades-will only be proffered to those with
serious extenuating circumstances of which I am made
known in advance or immediately as they occur. Do not come to me in December
seeking pennance for missing the month of October because your Aunt Tilly
was having her feet scraped.
Reading
When reading, always take notes. I suggest writing a brief summary of
every reading assignment as soon as you have finished reading. Discern
and record the author's thesis (or theses) and briefly recount how (what
evidence, what sorts of arguments, and organization) he/she uses to prove
his/her case. Do so on a 5x8" ruled notecard.
Grading
This class will operate on a points system composed of 500 points. At
term's end, 450=A, 400-449=B, 350-399=C, 300-349=D, and 299 and below=F.
The points will be accorded as follows:
Participation
Since this class will live or die with your level of participation,
I am requiring you to contribute to our conversations by according 10%
of your grade (50 points) to participation. I will make a seating chart
and I will record each relevant contribution you make to our class discussion.
At term's end, the highest 10% will receive an A, the second 20% will receive
a B, the middle 40% a C, the next 20% a D, and the lowest 10% an F for
the participation grade. If the class as a whole does well, then the scale
will slide from A to D, or A to C, but that depends on all of you. I know
what you're all thinking now: "1. But it's not fair! 2. I'll feel stupid!
3. I don't like to speak in front of people! 4. You're mean old S.O.B.!"
Well, in answer to those statements: 1. Life isn't fair, get over it. 2.
If you were stupid you would not be in college, and I care about your intellectual
development, not your "feelings." 3. You may not like speaking in front
of people but honing your oral communication abilities is one of the most
important skills that you can take out of college and into the real world.
Things that are good for you are not always pleasant. 4. I am a mean old
S.O.B., refer back to response number 1.
Quizzes
There will be periodic quizzes on your reading material that will account for 20%
of your grade (100 points). Only persons with excused absences will
be permitted to take "make-up" quizzes-no exceptions. Excused absences
will only be granted prior to the class you intend to miss.
Analytical Essays
You will be responsible for one analytical essay of 3-5 pages in which
you will analyze the various historical arguments made in one weeks' readings
(I have attached a sheet on the particulars of the analytical essays to
the end of the syllabus). Two-three people will be assigned to a week.
Their essays will be due on the Tuesday following "their week." They will
be expected to be particularly knowledgeable in discussion during "their
week." Those essays will account for 20% of your grade (100 points). All
students receiving a C or lower will receive their grade out of 50 points,
and will be required to revise and resubmit their essays (original with
my comments included) for a revision grade from the remaining 50 points.
Students receiving a B will have the option of settling for their B, or
they may accept an equivalent grade out of 50 points and submit a revision
for a grade from the remaining 50 points.
Book Review
You will be responsible for writing one book review of 3-5 pages on James Roger Sharp's American Politics in the Early Republic See Rampolla for how to write a book review. Reviews will be due Tuesday, November 24 in honor of my Mother's sixty-sixth birthday. The book review will account for 20% of your grade (100 points). All students receiving a C or lower will receive their grade out of 50 points, and will be required to revise and resubmit their essays (original with my comments included) for a revision grade from the remaining 50 points. Students receiving a B will have the option of settling for their B, or they may accept an equivalent grade out of 50 points and submit a revision for a grade from the remaining 50 points.
Term Research Report
You will write a 10-12 page research report on an approved topic for a total of 150 points (30%).
These reports will contain no less than 10 approved sources-academic books (at least 4) and articles only-NO INTERNET, NO WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY, NO ENCYCLOPEDIAS, NO TEXTBOOKS. As stated above, the paper will be 10-12 pages in TEXT. The title page, endnotes, and bibliography page will not count toward the 10-12.
September 22-Submit a type-written research proposal (a topic and your ideas for a paper) I will remove 10 points from your final grade for every day that you are late .
October 12-Submit a two page formal research proposal and an attached bibliography. This should thoroughly describe the project, provide a brief historiography, and state the questions you hope to answer. 10 point deduction for each day late.
November 2-Submit a detailed outline of your project, with thesis statements that will serve as topic sentences. 10 point deduction for each day late.
November 17-First draft due for 100 points.
Monday Dec 14-Final Draft due for 50 points.
Cheating
Any attempt to offer anyone else's work as your own will merit a zero
for that assignment, a G grade for the course, and will automatically begin
the proceedings for an F in the course and for your expulsion from this
university in accordance with the Academic Integrity Guidelines found in
your student handbook. I am currently prosecuting one such case as we speak--don't
even think about cheating.
Disabilities
Anyone in need of special accommodations due to a disability of any
kind must seek guidance from the Disability Resources and Services Director
Dianna Van Blerkom, Biddle 151D, 269-7015 immediately in order to comply
with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Policy on "Incompletes," or "G" or "I" Grades
When I assign final grades for this course on Monday, December 21, I
will use only 5 letters of the alphabet: A, B, C, D, and F. The only "G"
grade will go to those students accused of cheating and who await academic
prosecution.
KEY: Elusive Republic = McCoy::::Beyond
Confederation = BC::::American Politics... = Sharp
September 1- What is the Early Republic?
Packet: Wood, "Significance of the Early Republic"
Week One: "Ideas and the Republican Revolution"
September 3-McCoy, Introduction, 1 and 2
September 8-McCoy, 3 and 4
Week Two: "Confederation and Rebellion"
September 10-Packet: Jensen, "The Achievements of Confederation," and Rakove, "The Confederation: A Union Without Power
September 15-Packet: Pole, "Shays Rebellion
and the Problem of Opposition Politics," and Wood, "Crisis in the 1780s,"
and BC: Brown, "Shay's Rebellion and the Ratification of the Federal Constitution
in Massachusetts"
Week Three: "The Idea of Federalism, and Antifederalism,"
September 22- BC: Murrin, "A Roof Without Walls," and McCoy, "James Madison and Visions of American Nationality,"
September 24- BC: Wood, "Interests and
Disinterestedness," and Packet: Kenyon, "Men of Little Faith"
Week Four: "James Madison and the Constitutional Convention"
September 29-McCoy, 5
October 1- BC: Banning, "The Practicable
Sphere of a Republic," and Packet: Kramnick, "The Main Themes of the Constitutional
Convention"
Week Five: "Slavery, Federalism, and Other Compromises"
October 6- Packet: Nieman, "Slavery and the Constitution," and BC: Finkelman, "Slavery and the Constitutional Convention"
October 8- Packet: Banning, "What Happened
at the Constitutional Convention?," and Roche, "The Founding Fathers: A
Reform Caucus in Action"
Week Six: "Ratification"
October 13- Packet: Levy, "The Politics of the Bill of Rights," and BC: Ellis, "the Persistence of Antifederalism"
October 15- Packet: Cornell, "Aristocracy
Assailed"
Week Seven: "Launching the Republic in Murky Seas"
October 20-McCoy 6 and 7
Week Eight: "Rough Sailing: The 1790s"
October 27- Sharp: Introduction, 1 and 2
October 29- Sharp: 3 and 4
Week Nine: "The Gathering Storm"
November 3- Sharp: 5 and 6
November 5- Sharp: 7 and 8
Week Ten: "Surviving the Swells"
November 10- Sharp: 9 and 10
November 12- Sharp: 11, 12, and Epilogue
Week Eleven: "Women of the Republic"
November 17- Packet: Lewis, "The Republican
Wife," Film, "A Midwife's Tale"
Week Twelve: "Race and the Early Republic"
November 24- Packet: Ashworth, "Republicanism, Capitalism, and Slavery in the 1790s," and Bennett, "Benjamin Banneker"
November 26- Packet: Sheehan, "Jeffersonian
Philanthropy and the American Indian," and Merrell, "Indian White Relations
in the New Nation"
Week Thirteen: "Jeffersonians in Power: Ideals and Reality"
December 1- Packet: Appleby, "Commercial Farming and the 'Agrarian Myth'," and Banning, "Jeffersonian Ideology Revisited"
December 3- McCoy, 8
Week Fourteen: "Embargo and War"
December 8- Packet: Watts, "The Liberal Impulse to War," Brown, "The War of 1812..."
December 10-McCoy 9 and 10
I. Structure
A. Thesis--this is the idea or set of ideas that you are trying to sell to your reader, it should always be clear and it should appear at the forefront of your essay
B. Topic Sentences--are the thesis statements of each individual paragraph, and like the thesis statement, they should be clear and they must appear at the head of the paragraph
C. Organization--essays are usually divided into three basic sections: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion
1. Introduction--tell me what you what you are going to tell me--thesis
2. Body--tell me, in a series of paragraphs or sentences--the facts
3. Conclusion--briefly remind me of your thesis and what you just told me
D. Mechanics
1. Margins--left and right margins should be 1" top, bottom, and sides
2. Pagination--all pages except the first should be numbered at bottom center
3. Pitch and Fonts--essays will be printed in readable fonts with a pitch no greater than 12 and no less than 10
4. Spacing--all essays will be double spaced
5. Cover Sheets--all essays will have a cover page with a title and name
6. Citations--all quoted material or specific information derived from a secondary source must be cited by including the author's name and the page number in (parentheses) at the end of the sentence (Newman, 1). And those cited materials should be listed on a separate "Works Cited" page at the end of the essay, including a full bibliographic citation.
II.Matters of Style, Grammar, and Punctuation
A. Style--making the essay easy to read
1.Voice--when possible, use active rather than passive voice
2. Expression
a. use positive over negative forms--avoid "not"
b. avoid doubtful expressions--perhaps, may, might, could
c. avoid obvious expressions--doubtless, obviously, of course
d. avoid unnecessary and simplistic modifiers--nice, pretty, very, much
3. Vernacular--refrain from using slang, trite colloquialisms, or overused cliches
4. Long and Run-on sentences--lookout for sentences that run over two lines
5. Be Concise
6. Beware of overstating your case--be cautious with superlatives
7. Perspective--always write in the third person, as an objective witness, never use first or second person in a scholarly or academic essay
B. Grammar
1. Verb tense agreement--do not flip between past and present tense--use past tense to write about history, past events
2. Subject-Verb agreement--verb tense mus match subject number
3. Keep subject confined--avoid dividing subject with other phrases
4. Avoid split infinitives--I was really flying.
5. Don't use contractions like I just did
6. Prepositions
a. Cut down on the number of prepositional phrases by using apostrophes
b. Refrain from ending a sentence with a preposition
C. Punctuation
1. Apostrophes--used to create the possessive form, and they are always followed by an s--the possessive of it needs no apostrophe--its; it's means it is
2. Quotation marks--used to encapsulate quoted material, "and all end of sentence or phrase punctuation should fall within them."
3. Never use Exclamation points for scholarly or academic essays! They are to be use exclusively for narrative storytelling.
III. Revision
A. Read essay out loud--your ear will catch many errors and awkward expressions that your eyes will glance over
B. Read each word individually for spelling--even after the spell checker
C. Check for passive voice by scanning for "to be" verbs
D. Have a friend, roommate, or hated enemy read and critique the essay