Read, Think, and Discuss

American Yawp, Chapter 5.

Primary Sources

Documents

Petition for Freedom 1777

Rebel’s Statement from Gabriel’s Conspiracy

Excerpts from “The Gabriel Insurrection” in Calendar of Virginia State Papers and Other Manuscripts from January 1, 1799, to December 31, 1807; Preserved in the Capital, at Richmond, ed. H. W. Flournoy (Richmond, 1890)

Lucy Knox to Henry Knox 23 August 1777

Sarah Osborn Recalls Her Experiences in the Revolutionary War, 1837

Once you have read this week’s chapter in American Yawp and the primary sources listed in the links above, consider again the question from your first writing assignment on expectations and outcomes. How do this week’s readings shape your understanding of early Americans’ expectations versus their lived experiences? Do this week’s readings support your earlier argument? Do they make you rethink it?

Write a paragraph that answers the prompt on expectations and outcomes as releflected in this week’s readings. This paragraph will serve as a transition between Writing Assignments 1 and 2. The paragraph should again have a thesis statement (argument) and lay out the theme(s) you will discuss from this week’s readings. Underline/highlight your thesis statement.

Then, add to your essay, using at least 3 of the primary sources from this week as support your main argument this week. Be sure to use your textbook for context.

As you analyze this week’s sources and textbook chapter, consider the following:

How did African Americans understand and use ideas and strategies from the American Revolution to challenge their enslaved status?

Lucy Knox and Sarah Osborn were two women who lived through the American Revolution. How did their experiences compare?

Prompt 2:

Read, Think, Compare, Discuss

For this week’s discussion, we are going to work on examining secondary sources (American Yawp and another textbook, Exploring American Histories. Asking questions about what you’ve read is important when investigating primary sources–you’ve been doing that this semester in your discussions and writing assignments. Reading for history is also important in evaluating secondary sources that historians write to provides context for the primary sources we read and analyze. Think back to your reading of David Chioni Moore’s essay “How to Read,” earlier this semester (re-read it if necessary). Think about what you’ve already read from American Yawp on the New Nation/Early Republic era this week. Now, read how this same era is covered in another textbook, Hewitt/Lawson’s Exploring American Histories in their chapter “The Early Republic: 1790-1820.”

In your initial post to this week’s discussion forum, compare information as it is presented to you in the two history textbooks. Use specifics from each book in your post to support your comments. Consider the following as your prepare your post:

What do the editors/authors emphasize in the assigned chapters from each book?

What is the point of view/perspective of the editors/authors in the assigned chapters from each book? Are they judgmental? Do they offer up heroes? villains?

Does the narrative in of the books seem more familiar to you than the other? Why?

Doe the editors/authors of either book (based on this week’s assigned chapters) shape/change your thinking on this period in American history? How?

Prompt 3:

Read, Think, and Discuss:

American Yawp, chapter 8

Maps

Slave Population, 1790

Slave population, 1860

Primary Sources

Images

East View of Lowell, 1839

Documents

Statement of the Stock of Cotton in Great Britain, Hunts Merchant Magazine and Commercial Review, vol.6, no. 1, p. 292

Statistics of Lowell Manufactures, January 1, 1835, Printed Ephemera Collection, Library of Congress

Statistics of Lowell Manufactures, January 1, 1857, Printed Ephemera Collection, Library of Congress

Account of Sales and Import of Liverpool Cotton, 1841-1842, Franklin Elmore Papers, Library of Congress

Consider again our work with sources. Last week, we started a comparison of two different secondary sources. Now, read the links above. In another post in the Weeks 7 & 8 discussion forum, distinguish which of the above sources are primary sources, which are secondary sources, and explain why. Then, explain how each type of source contributes to our understanding of early American during this era. Refer to the sources listed in your explanation. As you prepare your post, consider the following:

The development of the cotton gin was no small event. But just how revolutionary was that little box with its rollers and brushes?

Analyze the 1790 and 1860 population maps. Where was the most significant shift in the population (percentage) of enslaved people? Note that Virginia’s slave population (in dark green) as a percentage of the total population remained relatively stable (it did not significantly decrease nor increase). What explains its stable population while other areas saw great increases?

Read the last three documents. How the “cotton boom” was evident.

Prompt 4:

Read, Think, and Write:

American Yawp, Chapter 9

Primary Sources

Documents

“The Tide of Emgiration ot the United States and to the British Colonies,” The Illustrated London Times, 6 July 1850

Petition of Citizens of Rutherford County to the Tennessee General Assembly, c. 1825

Excerpts from state laws governing the franchise, 1777-1844

“I was a Cabinet-Maker by Trade,” A Working Man’s Recollections of America, 1825-35

“They must work harder than ever,” A Working Man Remembers Life in New York City, 1830s

“The Natural Tie between Master and Apprentice has been Rent Asunder,” 7 Oct. 1826

“Factories are talked about as schools of vice,” Elias Nason Considers Careers

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Once you have read this week’s chapter in American Yawp and the primary sources listed in the links above, consider again the question from your first writing assignment on expectations and outcomes. How do this week’s readings shape your understanding of early Americans’ expecations versus their lived experiences? Do this week’s readings support your earlier argument? Do they make you rethink it?

For this week’s writing assignment:

First, listen to my comments from WA2 and revise your assignment as necessary.

Next, write a paragraph that answers the prompt on expectations and outcomes as releflected in this week’s readings. This paragraph will serve as a transition between Writing Assignments 2 and 3. The paragraph should again have a thesis statement (argument) and lay out the theme(s) you will discuss from this week’s readings. Underline/highlight your thesis statement.

Then, add to your essay, using at least 3 of the primary sources from this week as support your main argument this week. Be sure to use your textbook for context.

As you analyze this week’s sources and textbook chapter, consider the following:

The “Age of Jackson” is often presented as America’s golden age of democracy, when states bestowed on the common man rights and privileges that had previously been reserved for elite property owners. Is this depiction of America supported and/or challenged in the readings for this week?