Summer 2009 – History 191D, Seminar 2

 

It Wasn't Just a Ditch: The Erie Canal and its Impact,

1815-1877

 

Between 1817 and 1825, New York State used mostly borrowed money and local and immigrant labor to create a ditch 362 miles long, 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep that connected Lake Erie to the Hudson River.  The canal, usable from the spring thaw until the winter freeze, turned a profit from the time the first stretch was opened for traffic, and its impact exceeded all expectations.  Our seminar will study the interactions and interrelations between the physical, technological, demographic, economic, political, social, cultural, and religious developments along the east-west axis between Buffalo and Albany that had lasting implications for the entire nation.

 

Required Reading

 

The required readings encompass both secondary and primary source materials.  Aside from the books noted below, other materials will be posted under the heading for the week’s class to which they relate.  Please print those that are posted and be sure to bring all assigned readings to class the week that they are assigned.

 

Required Books

 

Carol Sheriff, The Artificial River: The Erie Canal and the Paradox of Progress, 1817-1862 (Hill and Wang, New York, 1996)

 

Whitney R. Cross: The Burned Over District: The Social and Intellectual History of Enthusiastic Religion in Western New York, 1800-1850 (Cornell University Press, 1950, 1982)

 

Paul E. Johnson, A Shopkeeper’s Millennium: Society and Revivals in Rochester, New York, 1815-1837 (Hill and Wang, New York, 1978, 2004)

 

David O. Stowell, Streets, Railroads, and the Great Strike of 1877 (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1999)

 

All books may be purchased in the textbook area at Ackerman, and both new and used copies are generally available on-line (such as Amazon or Alibris).  Copies of the books will be placed on reserve at Powell Library. 

 

Students who have not studied 19^th century U.S. History are strongly urged to review the materials in the chapters in any survey text of U.S. History relating to economic and social developments from 1800 through the 1870s.  Three that come to mind are Out of Many (Prentice-Hall), The American Promise (Bedford-St. Martin), and America, a Concise History (Bedford-St. Martin). A textbook will be placed on reserve at Powell Library as well.

 

Schedule and Reading Assignments  (Reading assignments may be supplemented with additional materials as the quarter develops):

 

Week #1

June 23^rd:  Introduction to the Course

 

June 25^th: Setting the Stage

Assigned Reading: James A. Henretta, “Families and Farms: Mentalite in Pre-Industrial America,” William and Mary Quarterly 35 (Jan. 1978), 3-32; Peter L. Bernstein, Wedding of the Waters: the Erie Canal and the Making of a Great Nation (New York, 2005), pp. 29-76.  Additionally students should begin exploring the demographic data available on-line to consider what it tells us about western New York in the first decade(s) of the 19^th century.  Both New York state and individual county historical census data can be accessed at: http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus/.

 

Week #2

June 30^th: Building and Using the Erie Canal

Assigned Reading: Sheriff, The Artificial River, Chronology, Introduction and Chapters 1,2 and 3; Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Canal Boat,” “The Inland Port” and “Rochester,” New-England Magazine, No. 9, December, 1835, pp. 398-409; Frances Trollope, The Domestic Manners of Americans (1832), Chapter 32; Selected New York statutes relating to the Erie Canal from 1816, 1817, 1829 and 1835.

[Midterm writing assignment will be distributed]

 

July 2^nd: Economic and Demographic Impact

Assigned Reading: The Artificial River, Chapters 4, 5 and 6; George Rogers Taylor, The Transportation Revolution, 1815-1860 (New York, 1951), pp. 132-140, 211-214; Bernstein, Wedding of the Waters, pp. 343-377; Chart – Inland Freight Rates, 1784-1900.  Students should continue exploring the US Historical Census website and be prepared to discuss demographic changes in western New York as reflected in the 1820, 1830, 1840, and 1850 censuses.     

 

Week #3 

July 7th: Religion and Revivals – Why the “Burned-over District?”

Assigned Reading: Whitney R. Cross, The Burned- over District, Introduction and Chapters, 1,4,5, 9,12, and 13; Mary P. Ryan, “A Women’s Awakening: Evangelical Religion and the Families of Utica, New York, 1800-1840, American Quarterly, 30:5 (1978) pp. 602-623; Charles Grandison Finney, Lectures on Revivals of Religion (1835) (selections).

 

July 9^th: Radical Responses

Assigned Reading: Cross, Burned-over District, Chapters 6 and 8; William Preston Vaughn, The Antimasonic Party in the United States, 1826-1843 (Lexington, 1983), Chapters 1-3 (pp. 1-34); Gordon S. Wood, “Evangelical America and Early Mormonism,” New York History, 61:4 (Oct. 1980), pp.358-386; “Address to the People of New York” (1829), The History of U.S. Political Parties, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., ed. (New York, 1973), vol. 1, pp. 637-642. 

 

July 10^th (Friday) by 3:30 PM: Midterm Writing Assignment Due – to be turned in to the History Department Office at 6265 Bunche Hall to be placed in my mailbox 

 

Week # 4

July 14^th:  Religion and Revivals – Class Conflicts and Social Control

Assigned Reading: Johnson, A Shopkeeper’s Millennium (entire book)

[Final Research Paper Assignment will be distributed]

 

July 16^th: The Politics of Reform – Abolition and the Liberty Party

Assigned Reading: Douglas M. Strong, “Partners in Political Abolitionism: The Liberty Party and the Wesleyan Methodist Connection,” Methodist History, 23:1 (January 1985), pp 99-115; Monique Patenaude Roach, “The Rescue of William ‘Jerry’ Henry: Antislavery and Racism in the Burned-over District,” New York History, 82:2 (Spring 2001), pp. 135-154; excerpt of Trial of Henry W. Allen, U.S. Deputy Marshall, For Kidnapping (Syracuse: Daily Journal Office, 1852); Gerrit Smith, “The Liberty Party” (Peterboro, November 28, 1850) http://library.syr.edu/digital/collections/g/GerritSmith/465.htm.

 

Week # 5

July 21^st: Women’s Rights – Why Seneca Falls and not Boston, New York, or Philadelphia?

Assigned Reading:  Judith Wellman, “The Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention: A Study of Social Networks,” Journal of Women’s History, 3:1 (Spring, 1991), pp. 9-36; “Married Women’s Property Act of 1848”; Stanton, et al, “The Seneca Falls Declaration” (1848) http://facweb.furman.edu/~benson/seneca-falls.cmu.

 

July 23^rd: Industrialization and Resistance

Assigned Reading: Stowell, Streets, Railroads and the Great Strike of 1877 (entire book)

 

Week # 6

July 28^th: No Class – Work on Final Papers

 

July 30^th: Final Class

Student Presentations

Final Research Papers Due at the Beginning of Class

 

Course Requirements

The course grade will be based on three components: A midterm writing assignment (4 to 5 pages - details of the assignment will be distributed in class) due on Friday, July 10^th no later than 3:30 pm (by delivery to my mailbox) – 20 %; attendance and class participation, (which includes oral presentations) - 30%; and a 8-9 page take-home final (in the form of a research paper that draws on assigned readings) due at the beginning of the last class on Thursday, July 30th – 50%. Details regarding the research paper assignment will be given in class on July 14^th. Late midterm papers will be penalized one full letter grade per day, weekends included.  No late final research papers will be accepted.   All papers must be turned in by “hard” copy – no electronic (email) submissions will be accepted.

 

Grading is based on a 100 point scale on all graded work, with 100-98 = A+; 97-93 = A; 92-90 = A-; 89-87 = B+; 86-83 = B; 80-82 = B-; and so forth.    

 

Participants must come to class prepared to speak thoughtfully about the readings.  Regular attendance and active participation are crucial to the course.  More than one unexcused absence will result in a lower course grade.  More than two will result in a failing grade.  Attendance will only be taken at the beginning of each class.  Attendance and active participation in weekly class discussions are mandatory, and are central to the learning experience in this class.  Class participation means more than simply being there. It means indicating by participation in our discussions that students have read and engaged the material.  (Remember, sincere expressions of confusion or skepticism are often positive contributions to discussion.)  I reserve the right to call on people to keep the discussion moving and productive. 

 

Prof. Arthur Rolston

arolston@ucla.edu

Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays by appointment after class