Course Map

Week 1 (August 24 – 28): In the beginning there was Pangea

Give Me Liberty!, Chapter 1
Discussion sections will meet for introductions and ground rules.

Week 2 (August 31 – September 4): Colonial Landscapes

Give Me Liberty!, Chapter 2.

Primary Source:
Gerrard Winstanley, “A Declaration from the Poor Oppressed People of England”

Secondary Source:
P. Linebaugh and M. Redicker, “Hewers of Wood,” The Many Headed Hydra, pp. 36-70.

Week 3 (September 7 - 11): Colonial Labor and Society

Give Me Liberty!, Chapters 3 & 4

Primary Sources:
Richard Frethorne, letter to his father and mother, March 20, April 2 & 3, 1623
Gottlieb Mittelberger, Journey to Pennsylvania in the Year 1750
Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, pp. 70–88.

Secondary Source:
Kathleen Brown, “Vile Rogues and Honorable Men,” Good Wives, Nasty Wenches and Anxious Patriarchs, pp. 137-186.

Week 4 (September 14 – 18): Revolution and Reaction

Give Me Liberty!, Chapters 5-7

Primary Source:
Brutus, To the free and loyal inhabitants of the city and colony of New-York...

Secondary Source:
Barbara Clark Smith, “Food Rioters and the American Revolution,” The William and Mary Quarterly, pp. 3-38.

Week 5 (September 21 - 25): Expansion of Slavery

Give Me Liberty!, Chapters 9-11

Primary Sources:
“Our Hearts are Sickened,” Letter from Chief John Ross of the Cherokee, Georgia, 1836
“Time Did Not Reconcile Me To My Chains”: Charles Ball, 1837

Secondary Source:
Ronald Takaki, “The Metaphysics of Civilization” Iron Cages, pp. 80-107.

Week 6 (September 28 – October 2): Rise of Industrial Capitalism

Give Me Liberty!, Chapters 8, 12 & 13

Primary Source:
“We Call On You to Deliver Us From the Tyrant’s Chain”: Lowell Women Workers Campaign for a Ten Hour Workday

Secondary Source:
David Roediger, “Neither a Servant Nor a Master Am I,” The Wages of Whiteness, pp. 43-64.

Week 7 (October 5 - 9): Civil War and Reconstruction

October 5th: Your first two reviews must be turned in by this date.
Give Me Liberty!, Chapters 14 & 15

Primary Source:
“There Was Never Any Pay-day For the Negroes”: Jourdon Anderson Demands Wages

Secondary Source:
Leon Litwack, “Back to Work: The New Dependency,” Been in the Storm So Long, pp. 387-449.

Week 8 (October 12 - 16): Commodification of Nature

Thursday, October 15th: Midterm Exam

Give Me Liberty!, Chapter 16.

Secondary Source:
Wobblies!, Selections posted on Blackboard. (Note: You cannot do an analytical review for this week)

Week 9 (October 19 - 23): Fordism and the New Consumer Culture

Give Me Liberty!, Chapters 20-21

Primary Source:
Christine Frederick, “The ‘One Best Way’ to Wash”

Secondary Source:
Susan Strasser, “Having and Disposing in the New Consumer Culture,” Waste and Want, pp. 161-201.

Week 10 (October 26 – 30): Imperial Expansion

Give Me Liberty!, Chapters 17-19

Primary Sources:
American Soldiers in the Philippines Write Home about the War
Albert Beveridge, “The March of the Flag”
Documentary: Hijacking Catastrophe, movie shown during class period

Secondary Source
Kristen Hoganson, “The Manly Ideal of Politics,” Fighting for American Manhood, pp. 15-42.

Week 11 (November 2 – 6): Postwar Consumer Culture: Automobiles, Cities and Suburbs

Give Me Liberty!, Chapters 22-23

Primary Sources:
Home Owners Loan Corporation Appraises Los Angeles, 1939
Destination Earth (Shown in Class)

Secondary Source:
Thomas Sugrue, “The Deindustrialization of Detroit,” The Origins of the Urban Crisis, pp. 125-152.

Week 12 (November 9 – 13): Civil Rights and Grassroots Resistance

Give Me Liberty!, Chapters 24-25

Documentary:
Freedom on My Mind (Note: The movie is 1 hr and 50 min long. The viewing will take place in the classroom on Thursday evening. You will not get out until 8:30 pm. Please plan accordingly as attendance is mandatory)

Secondary Source:
Robin D.G. Kelley, “Congested Terrain,” Race Rebels, pp. 55-75.

Week 13 (November 16 - 20): Burgers and Fries

Give Me Liberty!, Chapters 27

Primary Sources: (Compare Both Essays for Your Analytical Review)
Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, Chapters 9 - 11, p. 99-129.
Eric Schlosser, “The Most Dangerous Job,” Fast Food Nation, pp. 169-190.

Week 14 (November 23 – 27): Thanksgiving Break

Week 15 (November 30 – December 4): Gated Communities

Give Me Liberty!, Chapters 28

Primary Sources: (Focus on the Davis Essay for Your Analytical Review)
Anthony Gentile and John Appling Interviews (Shown in Class)
Mike Davis, “Fortress LA,” City of Quartz, pp. 221-264.

Final Exam (Saturday, December 5, 2009):

8:00 - 10:00 am in Burruss 31 and 32

Please note date and plan accordingly. Makeup exams will not be offered.