HIST 4377-001: Revolutionary America

Course Information:
Spring 2021
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:00-2:15
PM on Microsoft Teams

Professor Contact Information:

Prof. Eric R. Schlereth
schlereth@utdallas.edu
Office: By appointment on
Microsoft Teams

Course Overview
This course explores the American Revolutionary era, a period stretching from the 1760s through
the early 1800s. Great Britain’s North American empire nearly collapsed during this period. In
the aftermath, many of Britain’s former North American colonists attempted to create a new
society as citizens of the United States. This process was highly complex, frequently contested,
and, for its participants, almost entirely unpredictable. In nearly every way, from politics and
poetry to slavery and even the country’s borders, Americans in the Revolutionary era attempted
to reconcile their colonial past with a new constellation of political ideals, social realities, and
cultural tensions unleashed in the American Revolution. We will approach the history of the
American Revolution by canvassing the interplay of ideas, politics, social developments, culture,
and warfare from roughly 1760 to 1820. Specific themes will include the Constitution and its
origins, Native Americans as participants in the Revolution, slavery and enslaved, religion, and
economic development. Course readings include books by historians and primary sources – texts
produced in the past – which historians use as evidence in their writing. This course is thus an
introduction to main themes in the history of the American Revolution, but it is also an
introduction to history as an interpretive discipline.

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Course Objectives:

1. To understand key changes and themes in the history of the American Revolution
(1760-1810).
2. To identify the connections between the American Revolution and the era’s broader
economic, social, and cultural developments.
3. To develop your own interpretation of the American Revolution through writing
assignments.

Course Modality:
This course will meet using the Remote modality, which means that classes will take place
synchronously over Microsoft Teams during the scheduled class time. Students that select the
asynchronous option for the class will view recorded class meetings and complete all
assignments. However, asynchronous students will earn participation grades by submitting two
discussion questions per class to the eLearning discussion board.

Required Readings:

The following books can be purchased online, at various bookstores, or at the UTD bookstore.
All additional weekly readings are available on eLearning.

1. Jack P. Greene, Colonies to Nation, 1763-1789: A Documentary History of the American

Revolution (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1975) ISBN-13: 9780393092295
(Paperback)

2. Joseph Plumb Martin, A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier (New York: Signet

Classics, 2001) ISBN-13: 9780451528117 (Paperback)

3. Alan Taylor, American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804 (New York: W.

W. Norton & Company, 2017) ISBN-13: 978-0393354768 (Paperback)

Assignments:

1. Participation: Students are expected to attend each class prepared to discuss issues and
topics from the assigned readings. Students should complete readings before the first
class meeting of each week. Regular class participation is absolutely crucial to the final
course grade. Participation can take two forms. The first is by contributions to classroom
discussions. The second is by submitting one original discussion question per class to the
eLearning discussion board. This question must demonstrate your knowledge of a
specific reading for a given week and it must address a larger analytical point. For
example, “Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?” is an unacceptable discussion
question. “How did references to slavery enhance the Declaration of Independence’s
rhetorical and political power?” is an acceptable discussion question.

2. Midterm Exam: There will be a take-home midterm examination that will cover all
course lectures and readings through the day of the exam. Midterm examination

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 questions will be posted on eLearning on Thursday, March 4 and your answers will be
due to eLearning by 2:15 PM on Tuesday, March 9.

3. Writing:
Critical Essay: a 500-word essay summarizing and critiquing a chapter from Taylor,
American Revolutions. The critical essay is due at the beginning of class on Tuesday,
February 16.
Primary Source Analysis: a 500-word analysis of a primary source from one of two
online databases available through McDermott Library: America’s Historical Newspapers
or America’s Historical Imprints. The primary source analysis is due at the beginning of
class on Thursday April 6.
Research Paper: an 8-10 page research paper on a topic of the student’s choice related
to the history of the American Revolution. The research paper is due on Thursday, May
6. Students must submit a bibliography and a précis by Thursday, April 15 to receive full
credit for this assignment. History Majors using this course to complete the Capstone
requirement will be required to write a longer research paper.
Further details about the writing assignments will be discussed in class well before the
respective due dates.

Academic Lecture Topics Readings

Calendar **All readings must be completed by the
first meeting of the week they are assigned**
Week 1. Beginnings
Tue. Jan. 19 Introduction -Taylor, Introduction, 1-10

Thurs. Jan. 21 British North America circa

1750
Week 2. Life in British North America
Tue. Jan. 26 An Empire of Goods -Taylor, Chapter 1, 11-54

Thurs. Jan. 28 Religious Revivals and

Political Change
Week 3. A World in Conflict: The Seven Years War
Tue. Feb. 2 Empire -Taylor, Chapter 2, 55-90
-Greene, 16-18 and 94-111
-Albany Plan of Union, 1754
Thurs. Feb. 4 The Limits of Empire
Week 4. Reforming the Empire
Tue. Feb. 9 Taxes -Taylor, Chapter 3, 91-130
-Greene, 45-65, 72-78, 84-85, 121-133
Thurs. Feb. 11 Acts

Week 5. Resisting Imperial Reforms

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Tue. Feb. 16 Opposing Taxes -Taylor, Chapter 4, 131-174
Critical Essay -Greene, 155-157, 197-201, 227-238
One Due -Boston Committee of Correspondence,
Circular Letter, May 13, 1774
-Proceedings of Farmington, Connecticut, on
the Boston Port act, May 1774
-New York Committee of Fifty-One to the
Boston Committee of Correspondence, May 23,
1774
Thurs. Feb. 18 Opposing Acts

Week 6. Becoming a Revolutionary

Tue. Feb. 23 Lessons from Boston and -Taylor, Chapter 5, 175-210
Beyond -Greene, 268-303
-Abigail Adams to John Adams, March 31-
Thurs. Feb. 25 Declaring Independence April 5, 1776
-John Adams to Abigail Adams, April 14, 1776
Week 7. The Global Consequences of Independence
Tue. March 2 The Declaration in the World -Taylor, Chapter 6, 211-250

Thurs. March 4 Loyal Colonies

Week 8. Rejecting Independence
Tue. March 9 NO CLASS -Taylor, Chapter 7, 251-280
Midterm Exam due at 2:15 -Greene, 285-296
PM

Thurs. March Loyalists

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Week 9. Spring Break
Tue. March 16 NO CLASS No Reading

Thurs. March NO CLASS

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Week 10. The War for Independence
Tue. March 23 The Military Course of War
Thurs. March Economy and Government
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Week 11. War Experiences
Tue. March 30 Library Tour
Thurs. April 1 The Soldiers’ War
-Taylor, Chapter 8, 281-312
-Martin
-Greene, 414-418
-Taylor, Chapter 9, 313-352
-Martin
-Greene, 422-425
-To the Spinners in this City, the Suburbs, and
County, Philadelphia, August 9, 1775
-Mary Hay Burn to John Hay Burn, October 17,

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 1776
-Board of War to General Washington,
November 8, 1776
-“To the Ladies,” Connecticut Courant, March
1775
Week 12. Liberty For All?
Tue. April 6 Native Americans -Taylor, Chapter 10, 353-394
Primary -Felix’s Petition, 1773
Source -Petition from Boston’s Enslaved People, 1777
Analysis Due -“Memoir of Boston King.”
-The views of Indigenous People on the
Thurs. April 8 African Americans American Revolution
-Congress Appeals to the Six Nations, July 13,
1775
Week 13. Whither the Union?
Tue. April 13 The Republic’s Problems -Taylor, Chapter 11, 395-436
-James Madison, “Memorial and
Thurs. April 15 The Constitutional Solution Remonstrance” (1785)
Bibliography -Petition from the Town of Greenwich [Mass.],
and Précis due 1786
Week 14. The 1790s
Tue. April 20 The Rise of Partisanship -Taylor, Chapter 12, 437-480
-Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789)
Thurs. April 22 NO CLASS -Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason (1794),
Research Day Introduction
-The Key of Liberty: The Life and Democratic
Writings of William Manning (1799), excerpt
Week 15. A Revolution of 1800?
Tue. April 27 The Election of 1800 -Election of 1800 Campaign Literature

Thurs. April 29 Looking Ahead to

Jeffersonian America
Week 16. The Revolution’s Legacy
Tue. May 4 Remembering the Revolution -Working Men’s Declarations, 1829-1844
-The Unanimous Declaration of Independence
made by the Delegates of the People of Texas
(1836)
-Declaration of Sentiments (1848)
-Frederick Douglass, “What to the Slave is the
Thurs. May 6 No Class
Fourth of July?” (1852)
Research paper due by
5:00 PM

Grading and Important Dates:

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 Critical Essay 15% 2/16
Midterm Examination 25% 3/9
Primary Source Analysis 15% 4/6
Research Paper 35% 5/6
Class Participation 10%

Requirements and Expectations:

1. All course communication not conducted in class will be made using UTD email.
2. If you are unable to complete or submit an exam due to illness, accident, or civic
obligation, then you must provide official documentation within 48 hours after the exam
or quiz is due. Any documentation provided after 48 hours will not be accepted and you
will fail the assignment. Make-up exams or quizzes must be completed within one week
after the original due date for the assignment.

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Please see http://go.utdallas.edu/syllabus-policies.

Class Recordings

Students are expected to follow appropriate University policies and maintain the security of
passwords used to access recorded lectures. Unless the Office of Student AccessAbility has
approved the student to record the instruction, students are expressly prohibited from recording
any part of this course. Recordings may not be published, reproduced, or shared with those not in
the class, or uploaded to other online environments except to implement an approved Office of
Student AccessAbility accommodation. Failure to comply with these University requirements is
a violation of the Student Code of Conduct.

The instructor may record meetings of this course. Any recordings will be available to all
students registered for this class as they are intended to supplement the classroom experience.
Students are expected to follow appropriate University policies and maintain the security of
passwords used to access recorded lectures. Unless the Office of Student AccessAbility has
approved the student to record the instruction, students are expressly prohibited from recording
any part of this course. Recordings may not be published, reproduced, or shared with those not in
the class, or uploaded to other online environments except to implement an approved Office of
Student AccessAbility accommodation. If the instructor or a UTD school/department/office
plans any other uses for the recordings, consent of the students identifiable in the recordings is
required prior to such use unless an exception is allowed by law. Failure to comply with these
University requirements is a violation of the Student Code of Conduct.

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choose to live by and encourage others to do the same:

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 “As a Comet, I pledge honesty, integrity, and service in all that I do.”

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Please go to UT Dallas Syllabus Policies webpage for these policies.

The descriptions and timelines contained in this syllabus are subject to change at the
discretion of the Professor.