HST6604 Approaches to the American Past 2023-24
30 credits, Semester one
Module leader 2023-24: Alex Ferguson
Listed on MA American History, MA Historical Research
Module summary
This core module explores key themes in American history from the colonial through to the modern eras, introducing students to important debates in historical scholarship and giving them an awareness not only of the principal historiographical schools but also of the critical interrelationship between historical trends and events and scholarly interpretations of the past. Classes will be organised chronologically and thematically and will be taught through the examination of key historiographical approaches. Case studies covering topics such as Native American history, consumption, gender, class, slavery, immigration and ethnicity, the New Deal, revisionism and the Cold War, and the New Left will help students apply and critique the conceptual literature they are exploring.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, you will be able to:
Recognise and be aware of the distinctive presuppositions that underlie historical writing on American history and the notion of 'American exceptionalism'
Recognise the contribution made by other academic disciplines to the recent study of American history
Identify and engage critically with historiographical debates about American history from colonial through the modern period
Elaborate and defend an intellectual position to other members of the seminar group, presenting complex scholarly arguments succinctly and accurately
Present conclusions in a fluent written form, demonstrating a mastery of bibliographical materials (including electronic resources) referencing their sources appropriately
Evaluate a range of American history primary sources, including material culture, employing appropriate analytical techniques and theoretical approaches
Speak confidently, using technical language, when discussing American history sources of different types and using them to support scholarly argument
Work collaboratively in your research and understanding of American historical context and period
Develop your ability to present your historical conclusions to a non-specialist audience
Learning and teaching methods
The module will be taught in ten, two-hour classes. You will also have individual tutorial contact with the module tutor in order to discuss your assessment for this module.
Assessment methods
Assessment type - % of final mark
Essay (4000 words) - 80%
Engagement and participation - 20%
You will complete a 4000 word essay on a topic related to one of the module's key themes. You will define your own essay topic in discussion with your tutor. You will also complete a formative assessment to provide you with feedback ahead of completing your final essay.
You will also complete an engagement and participation exercise based on the learning activities and environment for the module. This task will be set by the module leader but may include activities such as presentations, reflective seminar diaries, contributions to discussion forums or collaborative documents.
Additional learning and teaching information
Selected reading:
Greene, Jack and Philip Morgan, Atlantic History: A Critical Appraisal (2009)
Richter, Daniel, Before the Revolution: America’s Ancient Pasts (2011)
Tomlins, Christopher, Freedom Bound: Law, Labor, and Civic Identity in Colonizing English America, 1580 – 1865 (2010)
Morgan, Edmund, American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia (1975)
Breen, T.H., The Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence (2004)
Holton, Woody, Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves and the Making of the American Revolution (1999)
Hartz, Louis, The Liberal Tradition in America (1955)
Balogh, Brian, A Government Out of Sight: The Mystery of National Authority in Nineteenth-Century America (2009)
Howe, Daniel Walker, What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815 – 1848 (2007)
Clark, Christopher, Social Change in America: From the Revolution to the Civil War (2007)
Levy, Jonathan, Freaks of Fortune: The Emerging World of Capitalism and Risk in America (2012)
Genovese, Eugene, Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made (1976)
Johnson, Walter, River of Dark Dreams: Slavery and Empire in the Cotton Kingdom (2013)
Stansell, Christine, City of Women: Sex and Class in New York, 1789 – 1860 (1987)
McPherson, James, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (1988)
Foner, Eric, Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863 – 1877 (1988)
Hahn, Stephen, A Nation Under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from Slavery to the Great Migration (2005)
Ayers, Edward, The Promise of the New South: Life After Reconstruction (1992)
McGerr, Michael, The Decline of Popular Politics: The American North, 1865 – 1928 (1986)
Rodgers, Daniel, Atlantic Crossings: Social Politics in a Progressive Age (2000)
Jacoby, Karl, Crimes Against Nature: Squatters, Poachers, Thieves, and the Hidden History of American Conservation (1998)
Peiss, Kathy, Cheap Amusements: Working Women and Leisure in Turn-of-the-Century New York (1986)
Montgomery, David, The Fall of the House of Labor: The Workplace, the State, and American Labor Activism, 1865 – 1925 (1988)
Gaddis, John Lewis, The Cold War: A New History (2006)
Cohen, Lizabeth, A Consumers’ Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America (2003)
Dudziak, Mary, Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy (2000)
Sugrue, Thomas, Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North (2008)
Sugrue, Thomas J., The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit (1996)
Stein, Judith, Pivotal Decade: How the United States Traded Factories for Finance in the Seventies (2011)