U.S. History to 1877

Blog Comments. 20%
Once a week, beginning in the second week, I will post a primary source or a historian’s interpretation.  A primary source is one that is a product of a particular time, not a later reflection or analysis.  I will post these items on the course blog at http://souther111.clevelandhistory.org.  After the initial posting, I will be posting each of these assignments exactly two weeks prior to their due dates.  For each post, you must post a “comment,” which must follow the guidance given in my blog post.  Your comment must be in complete sentences with proper grammar (not texting shorthand).  Your comment must be posted no later than 8:00 a.m. on its due date.  You must post 10 posts out of the 13 opportunities.  Late posts will NOT be posted and will NOT receive credit.  Problems with your computer, its connection, or the blog are NOT acceptable excuses.  I will monitor your comments and will provide feedback.  You will get full credit for each comment unless it does not satisfactorily heed the instructions and/or does not satisfactorily engage the material.  The point of these exercises is to create a space for fostering preparation for class.  It is your responsibility to keep track of how many comments you have made, and if you do not receive credit for one, you may replace it with a later one as long as opportunities remain.  Thus, if you do not attempt the first three of the semester, you will be in a position of having to do all remaining ones with no opportunity for replacing any.

Secondary Source Essay: The Fires of Jubilee. 20%
For this assignment, read all of The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner’s Fierce Rebellion. This is a “secondary source,” or one written by detached author after the fact.  In this case, Stephen B. Oates, a university-based historian, researched and wrote this account of the Turner rebellion in the 1970s, some 140 years after the event occurred.  As you read, look for evidence that the author supplies for who Nat Turner was, how and why he changed into a person capable of violence, the impact of slavery on African Americans, and how the author develops his narrative.  Think about how Oates’ choice of how to reconstruct both the event and its significance (outcomes) might be very different from how a historian might have written about the rebellion in the first couple of decades after it occurred.  Finally, think about how Oates’ account is similar to or different from a novel, a work of fiction.  Does the author give you any clues of how he “reads” the past?  In a well-developed, clearly written essay of no less than 1200 words, reflect on the book’s view (or perspective) of slavery, of Nat Turner, and of his legacy, and speculate on how these perspectives may reflect a very different set of ideas about how to remember Turner than might have been true of people who lived in the time between Turner’s rebellion and the Civil War.  Feel free to be creative in your essay, but strive for a learned, intellectual tone and avoid informal, colloquial, or slang prose.  Your essay must have a title that captures the main idea of your essay.  I strongly suggest that you begin reading no less than two weeks before the due date and begin your essay no less than one week before the due date.  Prepare your essay in a standard 12 pt. font, double-spaced, in MS Word, then upload it to Google Docs.  If you do not have a Google Account, you can easily create one at the site.  Once uploaded, click “Share” and select “Email as attachment…” from the drop-down menu to email me your essay.  Late essays will be penalized substantially (10% deduction for any work submitted between 9:45 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. on the due date, with an additional 10% deduction per day thereafter).  Following your submission of this assignment, I will provide feedback and a grade via Google Docs.

Primary Source Essay: Who Owns This Land? 20%
Visit the website http://chnm.gmu.edu/exploring/19thcentury/whoownsthisland/assignment.php.  Read the directions carefully. Examine the “Documents on Reconstruction” on the website and take notes to support your argument.  Prepare a written “speech” of 750-1000 words (in Google Docs, using the instructions from the first essay) that you might read on the Senate floor to persuade fellow Senators to follow your lead in their vote on confiscation and redistribution of Confederate lands to former slaves following the Civil War. Late essays will be penalized substantially (10% deduction for any work submitted between 9:45 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. on the due date, with an additional 10% deduction per day thereafter). Following your submission of this assignment, I will provide feedback and a grade via Google Docs.

Midterm Exam. 20%
The exam will be administered during regular class time and will cover material for Weeks 1-7.  The exam will require you to engage with 5 short identification terms, an essay, and a document analysis (either a historical text, image, or map).  You will have a choice of 7 terms, 2 essays, and 2 documents.  The short identification section will ask you to define, indicate the appropriate decade for, and explain the broader significance of each term.  The essay will be a response to a broad question that I draw from multiple class meeting topics.  The document analysis will ask you to relate one of the items about which you blogged (see the first assignment above) to some broader question, or to another document.

Final Exam. 20%
The final exam will be administered on Dec. 9 at 8:30-10:30 a.m.  It will mirror the format of the midterm exam but will cover material from Weeks 8-15.