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 18^th 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 21^st 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.