HST 355
Fall 2008
Dr. Janet R. Bednarek
Office: HM 464
Office Hours: M, W, 1:00-2:45 and by appt.
e-mail: Janet.Bednarek@notes.udayton.edu
webpage: http://academic.udayton.edu/JanetBednarek
TEXTS:
Nash, The Urban Crucible: Northern Seaports and the Origins of the American Revolution (Abridged Edition)
Johnson, A Shopkeeper’s Millennium: Society and Revivals in Rochester, New York, 1815-1837
Barth, City People: The Rise of Modern City Culture in Nineteenth-Century America
Warner, Streetcar Suburbs: The Process of Growth in Boston (1870—1900)
Jackson, The Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States
Sugrue, The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Post-war Detroit
Total Pages: Approximately 1303; average 80-85 pages per week.
PURPOSE:
While many images of the early United States focus on its rural roots and its vast stretches of wilderness, from the beginning cities have played important roles in the settlement, expansion, and growth of the country. This course will focus on the city-building process from colonial times to the present, looking at both the social and the physical structures created. We will particularly examine the theme of community, focusing on such issues as race, gender, ethnicity, class and other factors that have shaped America’s urban and suburban communities.
This course is part of the Social Justice Cluster
TESTS:
There will be two exams, a mid-term and a final exam. The mid-term and final exams will both be in-class exams. The mid-term will cover material from the first half of the class; the final, from the second half of the class. Study guides will be provided in advance of the exams. Blue books (examination books) will be required.
Make-up policy:
As a general rule, no make-up tests will be allowed; see the department of history guidelines for more information and possible exceptions. Efforts will be made to accommodate athlete/band/cheerleader/other university sanctioned student events, previously scheduled. A note is required from the appropriate sponsoring program or department. Again, please refer to the History Department Guidelines for further information.
PAPERS:
You will be required to write five short (3-4 page) papers. All assignments include a choice between paper assignment (a) or paper assignment (b) – each choice with a different subject and slightly different due date. Each paper will be worth 50 points. The exact requirements for these papers are detailed on a separate handout. Late papers will be penalized (see handout).
Total Page Requirements: 15-20 pages
ATTENDANCE:
Attendance in the course is required. You will be allowed three unexcused absences. For every unexcused absence beyond those three, five points will be deducted from your final point total for the class. Frequent absences will adversely affect your final grade.
An attendance sheet will be passed out during each class. It is your responsibility to make sure that you sign in each day.
GRADE SCALE:
Tests Midterm 100
Final 100
Papers Short 250
Total 450
Grade: Tests/Papers Total Grade: Tests/Papers Total
A+ 97-100 436-450 C+ 77-79 346-371
A 93-96 418-435 C 73-76 328-345
A- 90-92 405-417 C- 70-72 315-327
B+ 87-89 391-404 D+ 67-69 301-314
B 83-86 373-390 D 63-66 283-300
B- 80-82 360-372 D- 60-62 270-282
F 00-59 000-269
Absolutely no extra credit work will be allowed. Any academic dishonesty will result in a failure for the course.
Course Schedule: Lecture Topics, Reading Assignments and Learning Objectives (LO)
WED 20 AUG Introduction
LO: Be able to discuss how the different objectives of English settlers in Jamestown, Massachusetts Bay, Philadelphia, Charles Town (Charleston), and Savannah produced different town forms (theme: regional variation in urbanization)
MON 25 AUG James Town and Virginia
New England: City on the Hill
WED 27 AUG New York and Philadelphia
Charles Town (Charleston) and Savannah
LO: Compare and contrast the social, political and economic developments in Boston, New York and Philadelphia between the 1690s and the 1770s.
LO: Discuss who made up the bulk of the urban poor in the 18th century; how the image of the poor (why they were poor and how they should be treated) changed over time.
MON 1 SEP Labor Day Holiday
WED 3 SEP Discussion: Nash, Urban Crucible, pp. 1-146
Short Paper One (a) due
MON 8 SEP Discussion: Nash, Urban Crucible, pp. 147-247
Short Paper One (b) due
LO: Trace how New York used international and domestic trade to achieve and maintain its dominant position in the nation’s economy
LO: Understand how the South’s failure to establish a system of railroads, its continued reliance on staple crops, and its limited labor force left the region a minor player in the national economy
WED 10 SEP New York Takes Charge
The South: Wallflower at the Ball
MON 15 SEP Discussion: Johnson, Shopkeeper’s Millennium, pp. 3-78
Short Paper Two (a) due
WED 17 SEP Discussion: Johnson, Shopkeeper’s Millennium, pp. 79-141
Short Paper Two (b) due
LO: Evaluate how with the deterioration of the waterfront, retailers moved their stores to the expanding downtown.
LO: Evaluate how early advances in transportation technology, in combination with an increasingly non-residential downtown, led to the initial development of residential neighborhoods (contrast with the walking city).
LO: Detail how space became differentiated by social class and the impact of that development on the city.
MON 22 SEP A New Place Called Downtown
The Residential City
WED 24 SEP Space and Class
The Drawing Apart of Class and Culture
LO: Discuss the ideas and concepts behind the move to the suburbs; how these were reflected in designs for early, Romantic suburbs.
MON 29 SEP Discussion: Jackson, The Crabgrass Frontier, pp. 3-86
LO: Detail the factors that led local governments to provide an array of public services by the mid-nineteenth century
LO: Explain how urban reform was a reaction to the growing disparity between rich and poor, a religious reawakening, nostalgia, and fear
LO: Understand the widespread perception that poverty was somehow the fault of the victim and how that established a system of relief that attempted to infuse the poor with middle-class morals
WED 1 OCT The Ideals of Reform
City Government and Reform
Mid-Term Exam Study Guide Provided
MON 6 OCT Public Health
Poverty as a Moral Issue
WED 8 OCT Mid-Term Exam
LO: Describe the complex relationship between industrialization and urbanization at the end of the nineteenth century, bearing in mind the differences among industries and regions
LO: Explain the economic, social and spatial implications of the influx of white immigrants and African-American migrants into American cities
LO: Discuss how immigrant institutions – especially religious – helped distinguish ethnic communities; compare and contrast with the African-American community
MON 13 OCT The Industrial City
WED 15 OCT The Foreigners Arrive
Ethnic Space
MON 20 OCT Racial Space
LO: Compare and contrast how men and women sought ways to belong to the modern city community.
WED 22 OCT Discussion: Barth, City People, pp. 3-109
Short Paper Three (a) due
MON 27 OCT Discussion: Barth, City People, pp. 110-234
Short Paper Three (b) due
LO: Explain how the electric trolley, the expanded commercial use of the downtown, the influx of African-Americans and immigrants, and a new and larger middle class all contributed to the growth of the radial suburbs
LO: Compare and contrast the suburbs created by the railroad and the suburbs created by the electric trolley or streetcar.
LO: Explain how, in the absence of zoning, streetcar suburbs maintained a certain level of uniformity.
WED 29 OCT Radial Suburbs
Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier, pp. 87-156
MON 3 NOV Discussion: Warner, Streetcar Suburbs, pp. 1-66
Short Paper Four (a) due
WED 5 NOV Discussion: Warner, Streetcar Suburbs, pp. 67-166
Short Paper Four (b) due
LO: Describe the technological and economic factors that fueled suburbanization during the 1920s and their impact on the city.
MON 10 NOV Automobility and the New Metropolis
Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier, pp. 157-171
LO: Trace how federal policies helped reshape cities from the 1930s through the post-war period and the assumptions behind those policies
LO: Discuss how the shift (economic, demographic, political, etc.) to the Sunbelt resulted in the increased urbanization of the South and the decline of regional differences.
LO: Explain how the urban economy decentralized within metropolitan regions, especially after World War II.
WED 12 NOV The Federal Government and the City
Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier, pp. 172-230
MON 17 NOV The Urban Economy Decentralizes
WED 19 NOV Shift to the Sunbelt
LO: Examine the roles played by white men, women and children in enforcing racial segregation; explain how Catholic parishes respond to racial change
MON 24 NOV Discussion: Sugrue: The Origins of the Urban Crisis, pp. 1-152
Short Paper Five (a) due
WED 22 NOV Thanksgiving Break
MON 1 DEC Discussion: Sugrue: The Origins of the Urban Crisis, pp. 153- 271
Short Paper Five (b) due
Final Exam Study Guide Provided
WED 3 DEC Urban Renaissance
MON 8 DEC Feast of the Immaculate Conception – no classes
WED 10 DEC Cities in the 21st Century/Final Exam Review
Final Exam: MON 15 DEC, 12:20-2:10 p.m., HM 126
NOTE: Due to extenuating circumstances the above class schedule may be subject to change.