syllabus

History 225
The U.S. South
Fall 2003

Instructor: K. Chavigny
Office Hours, M 3-5; T 3-5 or by appt. Benedict 306
kchavigny@sbc.edu Or by appt. x6234
946-9795

Of all regions in the United States, the South is considered to have a highly distinctive character; Southern citizens and Southern institutions have also fundamentally shaped American political and social life. In this course we will consider how and when the American South became a region known for its particular ways; which practices or attitudes should be deemed formative of the region's character; what the region shares, and what it does not, with the West and North; and how regional differences within the South alter or confirm prevailing interpretations of its history. We will pay particular attention to the role of gender and race in the development of the cultures that make up the American South.

REQUIREMENTS: Class participation, 20%; oral presentation, 5%. Analysis of primary document: 10%. First of three 5-7 page take-home essay-exams on a choice of questions: 15%. Second and Third essays, 25% each. To pass this course, all written assignments must be received by 4 p.m. Wednesday of exam week (December 13). That’s right—if you fail to turn in a written assignment, you will fail the course.

SKILLS YOU WILL LEARN: How to distinguish a primary historical document from a secondary historical interpretation, how to read documents and understand them in relation to a broader historical context; how to craft an historical argument based on evidence; how and when to use footnotes.

This is a discussion course, not a lecture course. You must come to class having read, and having taken notes on, the assigned readings. Students who are reticent about speaking should visit me during office hours and should try to contribute to the proceedings. From time to time there will be assigned discussion questions. You all will be expected to prepare your thoughts on these questions and offer them in class.

Preparation for class: Once again, you must have read, and have taken notes on, the readings for the day. You must bring the readings for the week with you to class. We will refer to passages in the reading in the course of discussion.

I sometimes change the order of the readings, or replace one reading with another. Even if you miss class, you are responsible for keeping track of such changes by consulting the syllabus on my website. Please e-mail me and I will bring you up to date.

Policy on absences: It is college policy that students must attend all classes. I do take attendance, and I do penalize students for absences. Showing up for class is the easiest way to improve your overall grade. Class discussions are designed to prepare you to answer the essay questions that constitute the writing requirements for this course. You will benefit from attending class.

Policy on late papers: Only under extraordinary circumstances may you turn in a paper after the deadline. Late papers will be penalized.

Writings assignments: You will have a week to ten days to complete the writing assignments. The questions will address issues raised by our various readings; you should be able to craft an essay without recourse to other research. I will pass out a writing guide for historical essays prior to the first assignment. Students who wish to substitute a research essay on a topic of their choice for the final essay must speak to me by end of the 9th week (October 29).
Policy on late papers: Only under extraordinary circumstances may you turn in a paper after the deadline. Late papers will be penalized by grade reduction.

Kathleen Brown, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs: Gender, Race, and Power in Colonial Virginia, (University of North Carolina Press, 1996)
Stephanie McCurry, Masters of Small Worlds: Yeomen Households, Gender Relations, and the Political Culture of the Antebellum South Carolina Low Country, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995)
Eric Foner, A Short History of Reconstruction. (New York, Harper, 1990).
Grace Hall, Making Whiteness: The Culture of Segregatation in the South, 1890-1940 (New York: Pantheon, 1998)
Raymond D'Angelo, ed., The American Civil Rights Movement: Readings and Interpretations, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000)
Howell Raines, My Soul is Rested, (New York: Viking, 1977)Optional Texts, Available at Bookstore and ON RESERVE

John Boles, The South Through Time, vols 1 & 2. (New York: Prentice Hall, 1999).

Week 1 (Aug. 27, 29): European Expectations, American Realities
Background--Boles, v. 1, ch. 1.

Th: Beverley, History of Virginia, ch. 3, c.20 through end of chapter
John Rolfe, "So intricate a laborinth"

Week 2 (Sept 3, 5): The Pursuits of Happiness and the Problem of Labor
Background--Boles, v. 1, ch. 2

Week 3 (Sept 10, 12): Toward a Southern Slave Society
Background--Boles, v. 1, ch. 3

FIRST SHORT ESSAY #1 (4-5 pages) on choice of assigned topic will be handed out on Thursday, September 12—IT IS DUE Friday, September 20th by 5 pm.

Tu: Brown, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, ch. 5 and pp. 187-201
Th: Documents on Nathaniel Bacon's Rebellion (1675-6)

Week 4 (Sept 17, 19): Authority and Community in the 18th-Century South
Background--Boles, v. 1, ch. 4 & 5

Tu: Brown, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, pp. 212-225, ch. 8
" The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover" (excerpts)
The Letterbook of Eliza Lucas Pinckney, 1739-1762 (excerpts)
Robert Beverley, History of Virginia, preface and intro, ch. X and XI

Th: Brown, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, ch. 9

Week 5 (Sept. 24, 26): Religious and Political Awakenings
Background--Boles, v. 1, ch. 6 & 7

McCurry, Masters of Small Worlds, chs. 1
[John Marrant], A Narrative of the Lord's Wonderful Dealings with John Marrant, A Black (1788)
Thomas Jefferson, excerpts from Notes on Virginia [both in packet]

Th: Alien and Sedition Acts; Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions (1799) and responses
McCurry, Masters of Small Worlds, chs. 2

Week 6 (Oct. 1): Making A Southern "Sectional" Identity
Background--Boles, v. 1, chs. 8

Tu: McCurry, Masters of Small Worlds, chs. 3, 4
Nullification Crisis Documents

Th: Drew Faust, James Henry Hammond and the Old South: A Design for Mastery, intro & chs. 9, 11 (on reserve)

Week 7 (Oct 8, 10,): Sectional Crisis and Secession
Background--Boles, v.1, chs. 9, 11, 12, 13, 14

Tu: McCurry, Masters of Small Worlds, chs. 6, 7
George Fitzhugh, Sociology of the South, (excerpts)

Tu: Foner, Short History of Reconstruction, chs. 1-6
Th: Ira Berlin, et. al., "The Terrain of Freedom: the Struggle over the Meaning of Free labor in the U.S. South," Historical Workshop,

Documents on Civil War in South: http://docsouth.unc.edu/imls/topics.html
Choose a document. Prepare oral remarks (2-3 minutes) on subject of document and its significnce for understanding the Civil War

Week 9 (Oct 22, 24,): Reconstruction and the Origins of the "Lost Cause" Creed

Tu: Foner, Short History, 7-12.
Th: David Blight, “Lost Causes and Causes Not Lost,” from Race and Reunion: The American Civil War in Memory, (2001) [packet]
Hale, Making Whitenesss, Introduction, ch. 2

Documents on Southern Populism [packet]& begin ch. 5 [lynching narratives ]
Th: Finish Hale, Making Whiteness, ch. 5;

Ida B. Wells, Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases (1892 ) [packet] & Southern Commission Report on Lynching (1930)[packet]

Week 11 (Nov 5, 7): Society and Politics of South in National Context, 1900-1945

Tu: D'Angelo, Civil Rights Movement, pp. 113-162
Th: D'Angelo, Civil Rights Movement, pp. 175-220

Tu: D'Angelo, Civil Rights Movement, pp. 222-277
Th: D'Angelo, Civil Rights Movement, pp. 279-330

READING FOR THANKS GIVING BREAK—Read through page 291 of Raines, My Soul is Rested. This will put you in good stead for the final week, when you will be writing your last essay.

FINAL TAKEHOME ESSAY \ will be handed out on December 2 and is DUE on DECEMBER 11 by 5 p. m.

M: Oral Reports/ Discuss My Soul is Rested.
W: Oral Reports/ Discuss My Soul is Rested.
FINAL TAKEHOME ESSAY DUE Thursday, December 11, by 5 pm.