Syllabus Archive
The following syllabi come from a variety of different terms. They illustrate the evolution of this course over time, and are intended to provide alternate views into the instruction of this course.
Spring 2009, Pauline Maier (PDF)
Course Requirements
Attendance and Participation
Class attendance and participation in discussions, which will focus upon the readings assigned for the week is required.
Assignments
You will be expected to complete a research paper of about 15 pages in length. Papers should answer a carefully posed historical question and be based to a considerable extent upon primary sources, that is, documents that for most topics will be from the eighteenth century. The papers can focus upon any aspect of the Revolution, but must go beyond work done in class. All topics must be approved on or before Week 9. The final papers must include footnotes or endnotes and a bibliography composed in a correct and comprehensible form. They are due during Week 13.
Exams
A midterm in-class examination during Week 7 and a scheduled final examination.
Calendar
Course calendar.| Week # | Topics | KEY DATES |
|---|
| 1 | Introduction and Historiography
Background: Society, Economy, Politics and Government, America and Britain | |
| 2 | Background (cont.) and Ideology | |
| 3 | Overview of the Independence Movement | |
| 4 | Arguments and Actions, 1764-1770 | |
| 5 | From Resistance to Revolution, 1770-1776 | |
| 6 | Declarations of Independence; Loyalism | |
| 7 | The British View; Review | Midterm Exam |
| 8 | The Revolutionary War and the Peace of Paris | |
| 9 | The First State Constitutions | Paper topic due |
| 10 | "Liberty!": A Sample of PBS's Series on the American Revolution | |
| 11 | The Confederation and the 1780s | |
| 12 | The Philadelphia Convention of 1787 and the Constitution | |
| 13 | Ratification | Final paper due |
| 14 | Conclusion: The Revolutionary Transformation | |
| Final Exam | |