HST 355

Fall 11

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

Nicolaides, My Blue Heaven: Life and Politics in the Working-Class Suburbs of Los Angeles, 1920-1965

 

Additional readings (Jackson) available through Isidore.

 

Total Pages:  1119 (74-75 pp 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.  First three 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    24 Aug                        Introduction

 

LO:  Be able to discuss how regional differences the levels of urbanization and the economic base during the colonial period established important long-term regional variations in urbanization in the United States.

 

Mon     29 Aug                        James Town and Virginia

New England:  City on the Hill

 

Wed    31 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    5 Sep               Labor Day Holiday

 

Wed    7 Sep               Discussion:  Nash, Urban Crucible, pp. 1-146

Short Paper One (a) due

 

Mon     12 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    14 Sep             New York Takes Charge

The South: Wallflower at the Ball

 

LO:  Discuss how the roles of middle class men and women changed within the family and within the community as a result of social and economic changes in the 1820s and 1830s; particularly note the role of the Second Great Awakening

 

Mon     19 Sep             Discussion:  Johnson, Shopkeeper’s Millennium, pp. 3-78

Short Paper Two (a) due

 

Wed    21 Sep             Discussion:  Johnson, Shopkeeper’s Millennium, pp. 79-141

Short Paper Two (b) due

 

LO:  Evaluate how the deterioration of the waterfront and the growing complexity of the urban economy led wholesalers, retailers and others to move their stores and offices to different locations within an emerging area known as the downtown

 

LO:  Explain the consequences for urban society of the upper and middle-classes separating work and residence moving away somewhat from the center of the city while the poor and working classes found residential space near the center city

 

LO:  Evaluate how early advances in transportation technology, in combination with an increasingly non-residential downtown, led to the initial development of separate, class-based residential neighborhoods (contrast with the walking city)

 

LO:  Detail how urban land uses and urban activities (social, economic, recreational) became differentiated by social class and the impact of that development on the city

 

Mon     26 Sep             Jackson, The Crabgrass Frontier, pp. 20-44.

A New Place Called Downtown

The Residential City

 

Wed    28 Sep             Space and Class

The Drawing Apart of Class and Culture

 

LO:  Discuss the ideas, values, and concepts behind the move to the suburbs; how these were reflected in designs for early, Romantic suburbs (based on Jackson reading)

 

Mon     3 Oct               Discussion:  Jackson, The Crabgrass Frontier, pp. 45-86

 

LO:  Understand why efforts to improve public health conditions were limited in extent and effectiveness through the first half of the 19th century

 

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    5 Oct               Public Health

Poverty as a Moral Issue

Mid-Term Exam Study Guide Provided

 

Mon     10 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 industry choices (i.e. urban locations vs. company towns) and regions (i.e. Midwest/Northeast vs. South)

Wed    12 Oct             The Industrial City

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     17 Oct             The Foreigners Arrive

Ethnic Space

 

Wed    19 Oct             Racial Space

 

LO:  Compare and contrast how men and women found ways to make sense of and find places to belong within the modern big city community

 

Mon     24 Oct             Discussion:  Barth, City People, pp. 3-109

Short Paper Three (a) due

 

Wed    26 Oct             Discussion:  Barth, City People, pp. 110-234

Short Paper Three (b) due

 

LO:  Understand the impact of the horse in the city economically and environmentally

 

Mon     31 Oct             The Horse and the City

 

LO:  Discuss how the trolley both tied the city together and began to spread economic activity and homes across the landscape

 

LO:  Explain how construction techniques, affordable land, higher wages, the provision of urban services all contributed to making streetcar suburbs areas of “affordable housing” for many

 

LO:  Describe the technological and economic factors that fueled suburbanization during the 1920s and 1930s and their impact on the city

 

Wed    2 Nov              Radial Suburbs

Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier, pp. 103-137

 

LO:  Explain how and why the automobile led to the decline of urban mass transit systems

 

LO:  Discuss how automobile suburbs were different from earlier suburbs, especially those based on urban mass transit systems

 

LO:  Discuss how the automobile began to break down differences between the regions within the United States

 

Mon     7 Nov              Automobility and the New Metropolis

Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier, pp. 157-189

 

LO:  Trace how federal policies in the 1930s created a new relationship between cities and the federal government; discuss specific policies and their impact on cities

 

Wed    9 Nov              The Federal Government and the City

Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier, pp. 190-230

 

LO:  Explain how the urban economy decentralized within metropolitan areas; understand which functions remained centralized and why

 

Mon     14 Nov                        The Urban Economy Decentralizes

 

LO:  Understand and explain the building process involved in blue collar suburbs in the 1920s and 1930s.  In what ways did these suburbs reflect (or try to reflect) the same values shaping middle and upper class suburbs?  How did they differ?

 

Wed    16 Nov                        Nicolaides, My Blue Heaven I, pp. 1-182.

Short Paper Four Due

 

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, especially after World War II

 

Mon     21 Nov                        Shift to the Sunbelt

 

Wed    23 Nov                        Thanksgiving Break

 

LO:  Examine how urban/suburban politics became racialized after World War II, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s

 

Mon     28 Nov                        Nicolaides, My Blue Heaven II, pp. 185-332.

Short Paper Five Due

Final Exam Study Guide Provided

 

LO:  Explain the origins of the urban renewal/redevelopment program as a response to the decline of central cities; how and why did those programs become linked to public housing.

 

LO:  Understand how changes in the design (physical, social and political) of the public housing program resulted in the creation of massive high-rise public housing projects

 

Wed    30 Nov                        Urban Renewal/Urban Redevelopment/Public Housing

 

LO:  Explain the origins of the urban crisis that enveloped many American cities by the 1970s; how have cities turned to their waterfronts for revival

 

Mon     5 Dec               The Urban Crisis: Deindustrialization and White Flight

 

Wed    7 Dec               Urban Renaissance – Downtown Renewal

 

Final Exam:               Wednesday, December 14, 2:30-4:20 p.m.

 

NOTE:  Due to extenuating circumstances the above class schedule may be subject to change.

 

HONOR PLEDGE:

 

I understand that as a student of the University of Dayton, I am a member of our academic and social community.  I recognize the importance of my education and the value of experiencing life in such an integrated community.  I believe that the value of my education and degree is critically dependent upon the academic integrity of the university community, and so in order to maintain our academic integrity, I pledge to:

 

Complete all assignments and examinations by the guidelines given to me by my instructors;

 

Avoid plagiarism and any other form of misrepresenting someone else's work as my own;

 

Adhere to the Standards of Conduct as outlined in the Academic Honor Code.

 

In doing this, I hold myself and my community to a higher standard of excellence, and set an example for my peers to follow.