Unit 1: Colonial Society Issue: Is America Exceptional? YES: Seymour Martin Lipset , from "Still the Exceptional Nation?" The Wilson Quarterly (2000) NO: Godfrey Hodgson , from "The Corruption of the Best," Yale University Press (2010) Seymour Martin Lipset (1922-2006) argues that the United States remains uniquely exceptional for a number of reasons. First the United States relies upon less taxation and social welfare, second it is uniquely influenced by Protestantism, third its people benefit from a higher rate of social mobility than in other first world nations. Godfrey Hodgson suggests the "myth of American exceptionalism" is just that- a myth. He believes that people focus too much on American uniqueness and ignore the international influence, historical processes, and ideologies that have developed American values. Issue: Did the Core Values in Colonial Ideology Lead to Conflict with Native Americans and U.S. Imperialism? YES: Maureen Konkle , from "Indigenous Ownership and the Emergence of U.S.

Liberal Imperialism," American Indian Quarterly (2008) NO: Jessica R. Stern , from, "A Key into The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution: Roger Williams, the Pequot War, and the Origins of Toleration in America," Early American Studies (2011) Maureen Konkle argues that the ideology of colonialism has allowed discourses to develop that have been fundamental to the project of U.S. imperialism. She suggests that marginalizing narratives, particularly of Indigenous Peoples, have contributed to the justification U.S. aggression, conflict, and genocide. Konkle lastly implies that these colonizing narratives continue to exist and affect our ideology today, though less overt than they once were.

Jessica Stern believes that careful examination of Roger Williams arguments suggests that religion never justified violence and that Native Americans and Christians shared a moral code. She suggests first that, rather than critique colonial ideology we should consider that individuals are prone to misunderstand foreign people and ideas and should therefore not be trusted to judge outsiders. Second, she suggests that civil peace relies on locating similarities between people and tolerating differences. Issue: Was the Pequot War Largely a Product of Native American Aggression? YES: Steven T. Katz , from "The Pequot War Reconsidered," The New England Quarterly (1991) NO: Alfred A. Cave , from "The Pequot War and the Mythology of the Frontier," University of Massachusetts Press (1996) Steven Katz believes the Pequots conducted a series of aggressive raids, ambushes, and murders in the 1630. He suggests the Pequot Indians attempted to destroy the European Colonies after the two sides failed in their negotiations. Katz further believes that the colonists conducted a defensive war in support of their New England settlements, which was justified in protecting themselves from Pequot aggression.

Alfred A. Cave believes the Pequot War started because Puritanical leaders were able to convince settlers that the Indigenous Americans were Satanic. This European colonial perception led them to clash with the Pequots believing they needed to eliminate Indigenous autonomy, intimidate their population and controlling the land and recourses. Issue: Was the Colonial Period a "Golden Age" for Women in America? YES: Gloria L. Main , from "Gender, Work, and Wages in Colonial New England," William and Mary Quarterly (1994) NO: Cornelia Hughes Dayton , from "Women Before the Bar," University of North Carolina Press (1995) Gloria Main highlights that more New England women entered the paid work force, received higher wages, and saw increased recognition for their labors following the Seven Years War. She believes because women were more highly valued for their labor and that labor was relatively scarce in the early colonial period, that they received higher wages and economic autonomy. Cornelia Hughes Dayton challenges the "golden age" thesis, arguing that women were being used for their labor and that improvements in their condition benefited the patriarchy. She argues that increased access to county courts for women in seventeenth-century was negated as new rules and practices were implemented in the eighteenth century.

The changes strengthen patriarchal authority and reversed many of the gains that had been made. Issue: Was Encephalitis Responsible for the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria? YES: Laurie Winn Carlson , from "A Fever in Salem: A New Interpretation of the New England Witch Trials," Ivan R. Dee (1999) NO: Lyle Koehler , from "The Salem Village Cataclysm: Origins and Impact of a Witch Hunt, 1689-92," University of Illinois Press (1980) Laurie Winn Carlson suggests that witchcraft hysteria occurred because of the Colonist''s physical and neurological responses to an unrecognized outbreak of encephalitis. She suggests the outbreak affected people''s physical and neurological behaviors causing them to act hysterically. Lyle Koehler points out that most of the Witchcraft accusers were women and likely seeking to overcome their own feelings of personal powerlessness by speaking out in a patriarchal and oppressive world. These women relished the sense of power they received from the community''s attention to their allegations- allegations that were designed to conquer the supernatural forces around them. Issue: Should the Great Awakening Be Understood Primarily through Religious Evangelicalism? YES: Thomas S. Kidd , from "The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America," Yale University Press (2007) NO: David A.

Varel , from "The Historiography of the Second Great Awakening and the Problem of Historical Causation, 1945-2005," Madison Historical Review (2011) Thomas S. Kidd believes that a Great Awakening occurred because influential preachers engineered divinely inspired revivals in the mid-eighteenth century causing an evangelical movement that spread across the colonies, changing the nature of Christianity. David A. Varel tracks the historiography of the Second Great Awakening and suggests that historian need to consider more that evangelicalism. He believes that factors such as: social control, democratization, and denominational concentration present a problem in determining historical causation. He therefore suggests that the Second Great Awakening should be understood through the many intersectional aspects that helped create this evangelical movement. He additionally notes, though it was a national phenomena, the Second Great Awakening greatly varied in its local and regional manifestations and should not be understood solely through its most famous preachers. Issue: Was the American Revolution "Common Sense"? YES: Thomas Paine , from Common Sense, Jan.

1776, Introduction, Pt. III-IV, Primary Source Collection, www.americainclass.org (1776) NO: Rev. Charles Inglis , from A Loyalist Rebuttal to Common Sense, 1776, Primary Source Collection, www.americainclass.org (1776) Thomas Paine''s 1775 pamphlet titled Common Sense presents the author''s case for independence from Britain. Written in common vernacular and widely read, Common Sense is considered to be the most influential text of the Revolutionary period.

It remains the all-time best selling American title to this day. In this piece, Paine makes a fiery case for American independence by concentrating on moral and political arguments related to advocating for independence. His argument begins with general and theoretical reflections about government and religion. Paine then applies these intellectual traditions to the colonial situation. Charles Inglis''s 1776 The Deceiver Unmasked; Or, Loyalty and Interest United: In Answer to a Pamphlet Entitled Common Sense is the author''s rebuttal to Thomas Paine''s Common Sense. Written to consolidate the support of American Loyalists, Inglis makes a case for American reconciliation with Britain. His response to Common Sense is a repudiation of Paine''s revolutionary ideas and a call for an English cultural revival in her colonies. Inglis''s argument suggests Paine is naive to think that a new government would be less tyrannical than England.

Unit 2: Revolution and the New Nation Issue: Did the Founding Fathers Create a Democratic System That Would Adequately Attend to the Problems of a Democracy? YES: James Madison , from "Federalist No. 10," The Federalist Papers No. 10 (1787) NO: Aristotle , from "Politics Book VI: A Treatise on Government," J.M. Dent & Sons (1912) In Terms of The Senate 26 June, Madison suggests the major problem with a new democratic system would be that it would require an egalitarian society. He believed those citizens without means would vote for policies that would lead to the redistribution of land and capital. Madison saw this as a proble.