Schedule

Orientation

M. 1/6: Introductions

W. 1/8: Defining America

• Watch Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “The Danger of a Single Story” TED Talk (2009)

Topic 1: The “First” Americans

Th. 1/9: Pilgrims and Indians

• Watch first 38:15 minutes of: Neil Diamond, Catherine Bainbridge and Jeremiah Hayes, Reel Injun: On the Trail of the Hollywood Indian (2009). Available through Kanopy using your Northeastern log-in credentials.

M. 1/13: Facing East

• Andrés Reséndez, The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America, Introduction and Chapter 7
• Research and take notes on your assigned federally-recognized tribe

W. 1/15: 1619 vs. 1776

• Nikole Hannah-Jones, Episode 1: The Fight for a True Democracy, 1619 Podcast (23 August 2019). (Transcript of episode if needed)

Th. 1/16: Becoming British, Becoming American

• Listen to one of the following two episodes from Liz Covart, Ben Franklin’s World podcast:
  • Zara Anishanslin, How Historians Read Historical Sources
  • Sam White, The Little Ice Age
• Note: if you are unable to listen to the podcast, please substitute: T.H. Breen, “‘Baubles of Britain’: The American and Consumer Revolutions of the Eighteenth Century”

Topic 2: Building a New Nation

M. 1/20 No Class, Official Holiday

W. 1/22: The Revolution

• American Yawp, Chapter 5: The American Revolution (Part III, Part IV).
• Full transcript of The Declaration of Independence
• Abigail Adams and John Adams on Women and the American Revolution (1776)

Citizenship Portfolio Part I (Voter Worksheet) due on Wednesday, 1/22 by 11:59PM

Th. 1/23: The Constitution

• American Yawp, Chapter 6: A New Nation (Parts I, II, III, IV)

M. 1/27: A New Nation (I)

• Listen to the following four songs from Hamilton: The Musical (you can find lyrics to follow along as you listen). Each of you will then be assigned one of these songs to study in more depth. Research and take notes the historical topics, events, or context of your song and bring those notes to class; you will be responsible for “teaching” that song to your peers.
  • Cabinet Battle #1
  • The Room Where it Happens
  • Cabinet Battle #2
  • The Election of 1800
• Kate Keller, “The Issue on the Table: Is “Hamilton” Good For History?” Smithsonian Magazine (2018).
• Tecumseh’s Speech to Governor William Henry Harrison, 20 August 1810

W. 1/29: A New Nation (II)

• American Yawp, Chapter 8: The Market Revolution (Part I, II)
• Harriet H. Robinson describes a Mill Workers Strike

Topic 3: Slavery and Freedom

Th. 1/30: King Cotton

• American Yawp, Chapter 11: The Cotton Revolution (Part I, II)
• Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (excerpts)

Citizenship Portfolio Part II (Presidential Nominations) due Sunday 2/2 by 11:59PM

M. 2/3: Slave Society

• Watch EITHER film: 12 Years a Slave (2013) or Twelve Years a Slave: Solomon Northup’s Odyssey (1984) (see class email for more details on the two films)

W. 2/5: Abolitionism and Reform

• Frederick Douglass, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” (1852) (selections)
• David Brooks, “The Uses of Patriotism” (2016) PDF version
• George Fitzhugh, Sociology for the South, or the Failure of Free Society (1854) (excerpts)
• Primary/Caucus update: Iowa

Topic 4: The Civil War

Th. 2/6: Crisis

• Alexis Coe and Elliott Kalan, “Franklin Pierce” Presidents Are People Too podcast (May 16, 2017). Audible, iTunes. (You can skip section 20:30 to 27:00).
  • Note: if you cannot listen to the podcast, read the transcript of a second podcast on Franklin Pierce: Lillian Cunningham, “Franklin Pierce: Rolling Off the Tracks” Presidential podcast.
• The Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858) (selections)

M. 2/10: War (I)

• American Yawp, Chapter 14: The Civil War (Part III)
• James McPherson, “Who Freed the Slaves?” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society Vol. 139, No. 1 (Mar., 1995), pp. 1-10.
• Ira Berlin, “Who Freed the Slaves? Emancipation and its Meaning in American Life” in Blight and Simpson, eds., Union & Emancipation (1997), pp. 105-121.

W. 2/12: War (II)

• Listen to Jack Hitt and Chenjerai Kumanyika, “Episode 5: The Spin” (November 8, 2017) from Uncivil podcast.
• Mid-Semester Project Workshop: Browse through the available sources in your group’s chosen topic of primary sources. Select one of the individual sources that interests you and then fill out the cover page of your mid-semester project template as if you were using this source for your project. Print out two hard copies of the completed cover page and bring it to class with you.
• Primary/Caucus update: New Hampshire

Topic 5: Reconstruction

Th. 2/13: Reconstruction I

• American Yawp, Chapter 15: Reconstruction (Parts I, II, V)
• Letter from Jourdan Anderson to P. H. Anderson, 1865

M. 2/17: No Class - Official Holiday

W. 2/19: Reconstruction II

• Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The Case for Reparations” The Atlantic (2014).

Th. 2/20: Redemption & Reunion

• Watch documentary “Birth of a Movement” (2017) by Susan Gray and Bestor Cram (55 min.) - available through Kanopy using your Northeastern login credentials, or on Amazon & iTunes.

Topic 6: Making an Industrial Nation

M. 2/24: Capital

• American Yawp, Chapter 16: Capital and Labor (Part II, III)
• Source packet on Capital and Labor
• Primary/Caucus update: Nevada

W. 2/26: Labor

• Newspaper Packet on 1892 Homestead Strike

MFA Projects due by Wednesday, 2/26 at 11:59PM

Th. 2/27: Mid-Semester Review

• Be ready to give a short “elevator speech” (90 seconds) about your MFA project

M. 3/2: No Class, Spring Break

W. 3/4: No Class, Spring Break

Th. 3/5: No Class, Spring Break

Topic 7: The Melting Pot

M. 3/9: Jim Crow

• Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns (selections)
• Use PollEverywhere to submit a “reading” (song, video, article, Reddit thread, etc.) that you would assign a future student taking a future version of HIST 1130: Introduction to U.S. History that you think would help them understand college students in 2020. Include a short explanation of what you hope they would learn from it.
• Primary/Caucus update: South Carolina & March 3rd Super Tuesday states

W. 3/11: Suffrage

• American Yawp, Chapter 20: The Progressive Era, (Part III)
• Listen to segments “Suffering for Suffrage” and “Meme Busters” (26:40-42:00) from episode “You’ve Come a Long Way? A History of Women in Politics” Backstory Radio (29 July 2016). [Full transcript of episode]
• Margaret Sanger on “Free Motherhood” (1920)
• Primary/Caucus update: March 10th states

Th. 3/12 Class cancelled due to COVID-19 and move to online learning

The rest of the semester has been moved online due to COVID-19. The remaining schedule has been changed to two sub-topics per week, Monday and Thursday.

Week 10: M. 3/16: Immigration Class cancelled and rescheduled for Thursday due to students having to move out of residence halls by Tuesday, 3/17

Week 10: Th. 3/19: Immigration

• Kathryn Schulz, “Citizen Khan: The Old West’s Muslim Tamale King”, The New Yorker, June 2016. PDF version

Topic 8: War and Empire

Week 11: M. 3/23: Colonialism & World War I

• American Yawp, Chapter 19: American Empire (Part I, III) and Chapter 21: World War I (Part I, II, III)
• Watch John Green, “America in World War I” Crash Course US History #30, September 19, 2013. Length: 13:39.
• Watch lecture videos and follow instructions for World War I posters activity posted to the #week-11 Slack channel

Citizenship Portfolio Part III due Tuesday, 3/24 by 11:59PM

Week 11: Th. 3/26: World War II

• American Yawp, Chapter 24: World War II (Part I, IV, V)
• Watch first 7:25 of Neil Halloran, The Fallen of World War II (2015).
• Watch first 11:25 of Frank Capra, “War Comes to America” (1945), part of Why We Fight film series.

Week 12: M. 3/30: The Cold War

• Watch: John Green, “USA vs USSR Fight! The Cold War” Crash Course World History #39, October 18, 2012. Length: 12:15.
• Come up with one idea of a specific topic for your final project and locate a potential primary source you might use. Post a 2-3 sentence description of your topic along with the source (image or link to source) to your discussion group Slack channel prior to the start of class.

Topic 9: Politics and Protest

Week 12: Th. 4/2: The Civil Rights Era I

• American Yawp, Chapter 27: The Sixties (Part I, III)
• Martin Luther King Jr speaks at the Holt Street Church in Montgomery, Alabama (December 5 1955). Just read the transcript of King speaking from pp. 71-74.
• Malcolm X speech, “The Ballot or the Bullet” (1964) Just read p. 1-7. You can also listen to the audio of his speech on YouTube.

Week 13: M. 4/6: The Civil Rights Era II

• Watch first 34:30 of Sandra Dickson and Churchill Roberts, Negroes with Guns, available through Kanopy using your Northeastern log-in credentials.

Week 13: Th. 4/9: The New Right

• Listen to “Episode 1: The Battle” from Leah Sottile, Bundyville podcast, Season One.

Wrapping Up

Week 14: M. 4/13: Wrapping Up

Final Projects due Wednesday, 4/15 by 11:59PM

Take-Home Final Exam due Tuesday, 4/21 by 11:59PM