History
591 – Readings in Revolutionary and Civil War Era America (1 Credit)
History
591 – Exploring Revolutionary and Antebellum America (5 Credits)
Spring
and Summer 2008
Professors Rees
This is
a tentative syllabus for these two courses.
We reserve the right to make changes based on evolving circumstances.
You can find the current syllabus any time by going tot:
Obviously, we will do all we can to inform you of possible syllabus changes
The
first course in this sequence is a readings course created to make sure that you have the
necessary background in order to understand what you’ll learn in Philadelphia.
The second course is centered around the trip itself in June 2008.
You will receive more information regarding the logistics of the trip
during our colloquium on April 4th and
5th, the sole meetings of the readings course.
Failure to complete all prerequisites will possibly preclude you from
even taking the trip to Philadelphia, let alone finishing these courses.
Berkin,
Carol.
Inventing the Constitution.
Bodle,
Wayne.
The Valley Forge Winter.
Boritt,
Gabor.
The Gettysburg Gospel.
Raphael, Ray.
Founding Myths.
Grades and Assignments
Your grade in the one credit readings course will be based upon the following
assignments:
-
In five well-crafted pages, answer this question:
“What evidence does Carol Berkin provide in
Inventing the Constitution to
support her assertion that the Founders were ‘living, breathing calculating
politicians.’” (20%).
- Write a 500-word summary of Ray Raphael’s Founding Myths, focusing on the major themes of the book (20%).
-
Write a 500-word summary of Wayne Bodle’s
The Valley Forge Winter, focusing
on the major themes of the book (20%).
-
In five well-crafted pages, answer this question:
“Using Gabor Boritt’s The
Gettyburg Gospel as your guide, explain why the Gettysburg Address is an
important document in American history?
How did it become ‘Gospel’”
-
Attendance and participation at required colloquium sessions on April 4th
and 5th (20%).
-
Write at least twelve posts in your blog over the course of trip (30%)
-
Offer at least five responses to other people’s blog posts over course of
trip (20%)
-
Complete and post on Blackboard one lesson plan (50%)
There will also be instruction in blogging at our April meetings.
We ask that you write at least one post for every day that will be seeing sites
on the trip (if you skip a day, give us two the next day).
The purpose of these posts should be to, highlight what you think the
most historically significant information of that day was and why, share your
thoughts on how you might use this information in the classroom and share
pictures. You will also be able
(and are, in fact, compelled to) react to your fellow teachers’ reactions on
their blog. We ask for at least
five of those kinds of posts over the course of your trip.
The largest and most important assignment for this trip is the successful
completion of one lesson plan.
While your choice of topic is open, as we want to share lesson plans among
ourselves, everybody will have to do a different topic.
An ideal topic will combine primary sources available on the web with
information you gained on the trip.
We do not expect you to begin this assignment until the trip starts.
Therefore, don’t even think of securing a topic until we arrive in
Philadelphia. In order to secure
your topic, e-mail to Professors Rees and Harris at the same time.
While we recognize that all of you teach different grade levels, we ask that you
include information in your plan that will help teachers in different grades
than you adapt your plan for their classroom.
This may require the substitution of a particularly hard document for an
easier one or vice versa. If the
web site you’re getting your information hasn’t copied them out into a readable
type font, we expect you to copy out the parts of the documents you will be
using and insert them into your lesson plan.
Also, if you don’t have experience with colonial and revolutionary
documents already, you’ll quickly see that irregular spelling and other factors
can make them very hard to read.
Editing them for improved comprehension may also be required.
FRIDAY APRIL 4 - 3-7PM: Trip Colloquium w/ special guest Mel Yazawa of the University of New Mexico
SATURDAY APRIL 5 - 9AM - 3PM : Trip Colloquium w/ special guest Mel Yazawa of the University of New Mexico
June 1: Arrival
June 2: Independence Hall/Reading Terminal Market
8:00AM: Leave Dorm for Independence Hall via subway.
9:15AM: Independence Hall Tour.
11AM - 4PM: Walking Tour of sites in Independence Hall area including Betsy Ross House, Ben Franklin's House and Carpenter's Hall. One hour lunch break will be incorporated in at a convenient time.
4PM: Subway back to dorms.
June 3: Valley Forge
8:30 AM Assemble for bus trip to Valley Forge.
9:30 AM Arrival at Valley Forge National Historical Park, Greeting from Park Superintendent Mike Caldwell.
9:45 AM PowerPoint presentation: "Valley Forge encampment in context
of Philadelphia Campaign."
10:45 AM Park Tour: Lead ranger - Peter Maugle. Three designated stops on
the two-hour park tour:
a) Muhlenberg Huts: "Building the Camp and the Continental Soldier."
b) Washington's Headquarters: "Washington's Leadership and HQ Operations."
c) Von Steuben Statue at 'Grand Parade': "French Alliance and the Road to Monmouth."
12:45 PM Arrival at P.C. Know Estate; catered lunch, discussion of Park education programs.
2:15 PM Visit Encampment Store and Museum area. (Park
interpretive staff will be available to answer any questions at Museum)
3:00 PM Return to Phildelphia, dinner on your own in West Philly.
June 4: Princeton
8:30AM: Depart Philadelphia for Princeton
10-11AM Tour Princeton Battlefield State Park with specialist John Mills: begin outside and move into Clarke House.
11-11:30AM: Get back on buses to travel to Conte’s for lunch
11:30AM-1PM: Lunch at Conte’s (the best pizza ever).
1-3:15PM: Tour with Historical Society of Princeton Walking Tour guide of downtown Princeton, including Bainbridge House, Princeton University campus, Einstein home, Morven and Palmer Square.
3:30-4:30PM: Walking tour of Princeton Cemetery.
4:30PM: Return to Philadelphia.
6:00PM: Dinner on your own in West Philly.
June 5: National Constitution Center
8:15AM Gather for subway ride.
9:00AM Arrival at the
June 6: Franklin Institute
Morning: Three sessions with Franklin Institute staff on Benjamin Franklin, science and the enlightenment.
Afternoon: Free time at the Franklin Institute or a trip to the Wagner Free Institute of Science for those interested in the late-Nineteenth Century.
June 7: Washington's Crossing/Monmouth Battlefield
8AM: Leave Philadelphia for Washington's Crossing.
9AM: Arrive Washington's Crossing State Park. Introduction and time in the small museum there.
10AM: Tour Washington's Crossing State Park.
11AM: Washington's Crossing to Monmouth.
12-1PM: Box lunch at Monmouth Battlefield.
1-4PM Tour Monmouth Battlefield (mostly on foot). Be prepared for a lot of walking.
4PM: Return to Philadelphia.
June 8: The Philadelphia Museum of Art
Sunday Morning: Free Time.
12:30PM: Meet at bus for trip to Art Museum.
1-3PM: Guided tour of the American Collection.
4PM: The bus will return to the Penn dorms or you can walk into downtown (which isn't too far) and return to the dorm via subway whenever you like.
June 9: Amish Country
10AM: Gather for bus trip to Intercourse, PA. Stop at Kitchen Kettle Village and eat lunch en route.
1PM: Arrive at Mennonite Information Center.
1-2PM: Film presentations on the Amish.
2-5PM: Coach Tour.
5-6:30PM: Amish Meal with Katie and Abner Allgyer.
7:00PM Return to Dorms.
June 10: American Philosophical Society/Atwater Kent Museum
9:00AM Welcome
at the Museum, group split into 2 smaller groups
9:15AM Group 1
in gallery in Museum, Group 2 in Library for document viewing
10:15AM
(approximately)- Group 1 in Library for document viewing, Group 2 in Museum
11:00AM Both
groups take walking tour of historic Dock Creek
11:45AM- Final
Q&A
12:00- Lunch
June 11: Lectures and Self-Guided Tours (times to be determined)
Robert Engs Lecture
David Waldstreicher Lecture
Self-guided Philly Tours include: Underground Railroad, Franklin Court and Elfird's Alley.
June 12: Winterthur
7:45AM Leave for Delaware
8:45–9:00AM
Introduction to
9:00–10:45AM Lecture, Cathy Matson (University of Delaware)
10:45–11:30AM Library tour
1:00–1:30PM Garden tram tour back to museum
1:30–2:30PM Tour of house
2:30–4:15PM
Maker & Marketplace Exercise
June 13: Gettysburg
8:00-10:00AM Drive to Gettysburg
10-11:30AM Gettysburg Battlefield Visitors Center
11:30AM-1PM: Lunch at the Dobbin House Tavern (Built 1776)
1:00-3:00PM Battlefield Tour w/ Certified Battlefield Guide
3:00-5PM Return
5PM Dinner on your own in West Philly
June 14: Return