Week 13: The Great Divergence

This week we will explore the local, regional, and global undercurrents shaping the "Great Divergence" on the eve of the Civil War. Topics include social reform movements, the revolutions of 1848, and abolitionism.

Readings: David Walker's Appeal

Points of Entry:

The Appeal online -

http://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/walker/menu.html

Revolutions of 1848 -

http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/history/1848/revolution_of_1848.html

Abolitionist Movement -

http://www.cerritos.edu/soliver/American%20Identities/Black%20abolitionists/black_abolitionists.htm

Questions for Discussion:

What is the relationship between global events and the coming of the Civil War?

How did social reform movements shape the "great divergence?"

week 12: Global Migrations and the U.S.(1840-1860)

Week 12: Global Migrations and the U.S.(1840-1860)

This week we'll explore the great immigrant and emigrant migrations that shaped Antebellum America and the West. We will also look at the impacts of the Gold Rush and Mexican-American War.

Points of Entry:

Gold Rush -

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldrush/

Mexican-American War -

http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/index_flash.html

Overland Migration Trails -

http://overlandtrails.lib.byu.edu/trailmap.html

Irish Immigration -

http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/irish-immigrants.htm

Questions for discussion:

How did the Mexican-American War shape sectional divisions in the U.S.?

What is the relationship between the Gold Rush and the Civil War?

Taylor (chap. 19)

Clark (chap. 6)

Week 11: Manifest Destiny (1840-1860)

This week we will explore the relationship between westward expansion, slavery and American identity. We will also discuss the wars against Mexico.

Readings: Cherokee Removal (chaps. 3-5)

Clark, (chap.5)

Points of Entry:

Panic of 1837

http://www.thehistorybox.com/ny_city/panics/panics_article5a.htm

Manifest Destiny -

http://www.civics-online.org/library/formatted/texts/manifest_destiny.html

U.S.-Mexican War -

http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/prelude/md_introduction.html

The Alamo -

http://www.thealamo.org/main/index.php

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/alamo/

Antebellum Period -

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart2.html

Questions for discussion:

How did westward expansion shape the increasing divide between North and South?

How were the southern and northern economies linked?

Was there a national culture that brought together North and South?

Week 10: Defining Citizenship (1828-1840)

This week we will explore how the early U.S. defined and understood citizenship. This period experienced both an expansion and retraction of how citizenship came to be understood. We will also explore the Second Great Awakening and its impact on U.S. identity.

Readings - The Cherokee Removal A Brief History with Documents (intro.; chaps. 1-2) 100 pp.

Clark (chap. 5) 42 pp

Points of Entry:

Thomas Jefferson and Early U.S. Scientific Inquiry:

http://www.ansp.org/museum/jefferson/

Lewis and Clark Expedition and Early Expansion:

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/lewisandclark/lewisandclark.html

http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/

http://publications.newberry.org/frontiertoheartland/

Early U.S. Immigration:

http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/immigration/

19th Century Children:

http://www.merrycoz.org/CHILDREN.HTM

Sunday School Books:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/sundayschool/

Trail of Tears National Historic Trail:

http://www.nps.gov/trte/

Questions for Discussion:

How do you think citizenship was defined in the early American Republic? Was it becoming more democratic or exclusive?

How did U.S. identity change during this period?

What are the legacies of the Trail of Tears?

How does looking at children's literature and Sunday School books (see links above) give us a window into U.S. identity?