! Instructor: Michael Hattem email: michael.hattem@yale.edu Class Meetings: Monday & Wednesday, 1:00-2:15p.m.

Office Hours: Monday & Wednesday 3-5pm or by appt.

The Cultures of 18th-Century British America

Syllabus What do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American War? The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people. By what means this great and important alteration in the religious, moral, political, and social character of the people of [the] thirteen colonies . . . was begun, pursued, and accomplished, it is surely interesting to humanity to investigate and perpetuate to posterity. John Adams to Hezekiah Niles, 1818.
DESCRIPTION: This course is designed to do two things. First, it will introduce upper-level undergraduates to the cultural life of eighteenthcentury British North America. Second, it will investigate the great and important alteration[s] of which Adams wrote. Students will be exposed to a number of aspects of early American culture. We will explore such features of colonial life as religion, print, politics, urbanity, the family, and others. We will examine the numerous tensions and George Whitfield Preaching, by John Collet conflicts within these cultures. And we will explore the relationships between these cultures and the ways in which they affected one another. For example, what role did religion play in politics in early America, and vice versa? What were the relationships between print and religion, print and politics, urbanity and material culture, religious and intellectual culture, and so on? We will pay attention to the ways in which many of these cultures contributed to the creation of communities, both real and imagined. We will see that for the first half of the eighteenth century, many facets of the colonies Anglicized culture consciously mirrored those of the mother country. But, by mid-century, this began to change. We will explore both the ways in which these cultures began to diverge as the colonies cultural ties with the mother country loosened and how these many factors came together to create a situation in which it was possible for the American Revolution, not just the American War, to occur. COURSE AIMS: To introduce students to eighteenth-century British North America through its varied cultural contexts. To give students an opportunity to engage with primary sources from the eighteenth century and recent scholarly literature. To encourage students to think and read critically and improve their writing skills.

Setting the Stage for Revolution:

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COURSE OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of the course, students will be able to: demonstrate an understanding of British North Americas multiple cultural milieux. demonstrate a basic understanding of the ways in which those milieux affected one another. demonstrate an understanding of the cultural development of the colonies from the beginning of the eighteenth century and the ways in which that development made the Revolution possible. COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Students are expected to complete all readings and come to class prepared to engage in our discussions. The required books are listed below; the rest of the readings will be provided through either electronic or library reserve. Each class will begin with a quiz in which students will be asked to write 1-2 sentences describing the argument of each assigned reading for the week. They will not be graded, but they form, in part, the not insignificant Attendance/Preparedness portion of your grade. Finally, there is a timeline included in the course packet and each student will be expected to bring that timeline to each class. GRADING: Students will be graded on the quality of their work. 1) Attendance, Quizzes, Participation 15% 2) Primary Source presentation 15% 3) Book review (2-3 pgs.) 20% 4) Mid-term exam 20% 5) Final Paper (10-12 pgs.) 30% ASSIGNMENTS: Students are expected to complete ALL assignments and submit them on time. Since paper due dates and exams have a way of killing all kinds of relatives, especially grandmothers, NO EXCEPTIONS will be given except in the most grave and documented situations. Primary source presentation Students will choose a primary source from the course readings and prepare a 5-minute presentation. This presentation should introduce the source to the class and place it in its historical context. When was it written? Who wrote it? What topic or event does it address? What does it say? Why is it significant? Book review Students will choose a book from the course readings and write a 2 to 3page review. This is NOT a book report! Foremost, the review should describe the books thesis and argument and provide a critical appraisal (see handout for specific instructions and guidelines for this assignment). Mid-term exam The mid-term exam will be brief. It will ask students to identify key terms from the first half of the course and to answer one brief essay question in the form of a paragraph. Final Paper The final paper takes the place of a final exam. Students will write a final paper detailing the courses overall argument and its assessment of that argument. If you

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disagree, reference other secondary works and primary sources to support your own conclusion. The paper will be at least seven and no more than 10 pages. PLAGIARISM POLICY: The Universitys Undergraduate Regulations defines plagiarism as the use of someone elses work, words, or ideas as if they were your own. You are expected to use other scholars work and ideas to bolster your own arguments. You are also expected to give those scholars credit for their work and ideas. This requires learning proper citation style and formatting. You will be expected to follow Chicago Style formatting (see attached handout) and cite any and all uses of work or ideas other than your own. Without exception, cases of documented plagiarism will be referred to the University. Please note, ignorance is not an excuse for plagiarism. REQUIRED READINGS: Gordon S. Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution. Patricia Bonomi, Under the Cope of Heaven: Religion, Society, and Politics in Colonial America Jon Butler, Becoming America: The Revolution before 1776 Ned Landsman, From Colonials to Provincials: American Thought and Culture, 1680-1760 Carol Berkin, First Generations: Women in Colonial America Betty Wood, Slavery in Colonial America T. H. Breen, The Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence SCHEDULE: Week!
th

Topic! Welcome to the 18 Century / Timeline Introduction, settlement, 17th century Readings: Wood, Radicalism of the American Revolution, 3-94. Religious Culture I Diversity, toleration

Week 1

Week 2

Readings: Bonomi, Under the Cope of Heaven, pt. 1 (pp. 3-127); Independent Reflector, no. VI. Religious Culture II Great Awakening

Week 3

Readings: Landsman, From Colonials to Provincials, chs. 4 & 5 (pp. 92-148); Butler, Becoming America, ch. 5 (pp. 185-224); Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.

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Political Culture I Institutions, British Constitution, elections Week 4 Readings: Sydnor, American Revolutionaries in the Making, 60-106; Bushman, King and People in Massachusetts, 3-54; Independent Reflector, no IV. Domestic Culture Colonial women, patriarchy, coverture, domesticity Week 5 Readings: Berkin, First Generations, chs. 1, 2, 4, 6 (pp. 3-51, 79-102, 129-164) Urban Culture Class distinctions, seaports, growth of cities, urban/rural distinctions, corporatism. Readings: Carp, Rebels Rising, chs. 1 & 2 (pp. 23-98) Consumer Culture Material culture, gentility, mercantilism, Atlantic commerce Week 7 Readings: Butler, Becoming America, ch. 4 (pp. 131-184); Breen, Marketplace of Revolution, 33-101; Letters from George Washington to Robert Cary and Charles Lawrence, 1763-4. Race Culture / Mid-term Exam African-Americans (enslaved and free), indigenous cultures Week 8 Readings: Wood, Slavery in Colonial America, 1-86; Richter, Facing East from Native Country, 69-109; Documents from 1741 New York conspiracy trial. Intellectual Culture The Enlightenment Week 9 Readings: Staloff, Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson: The Politics of Enlightenment, Introduction (pp. 3-43); Landsman, From Colonials to Provincials, ch. 3 Print Culture Newspapers, pamphlets, broadsides, books, printers, booksellers Week 10 Readings: Clark and Brown, A History of the Book in America, ch. 10; Landsman, From Colonials to Provincials, ch. 2; various facsimiles.

Week 6

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Political Culture II Radical Whiggism, Republicanism, Liberalism, Seven Years War Week 11 Readings: Bailyn, Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, chs. 2 & 3 (pp. 22-93); Catos Letters, nos. 15, 33-38, 60. Revolutionary Culture I Post-1760 developments, religion and popular politics, print and resistance. Week 12 Butler, Becoming America, 225-248; Breen, Marketplace of Revolution, 1-33, 195-234; Wm. Emersons sermon (March 1775); Letters by women to newspapers concerning boycott. Revolutionary Culture II Breaks with Britain in religious, political, material, and intellectual culture. Readings: Wood, Radicalism of the American Revolution, 95-228; Paine, Common Sense; Declaration of Independence Postwar Culture New developments in political, print, religious, gender, race, and intellectual cultures. Readings: Wood, Radicalism of the American Revolution, 229-370. Week 15 Review / Final Exam!

Week 13

Week 14

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WEEK-BY-WEEK SYNOPSES
Week 1: Welcome to the 18th Century/Timeline The first week will be given over to introducing students to the eighteenth century. Over the course of these first two classes, I will give a brief overview of the major themes and events of the seventeenth century as they related to British North America. We will cover settlement and the development of the colonies. We will spend some time on relevant events in England, particularly the Revolution of 1688 which finally removed the unrelenting religious and political anxiety that had engulfed and consumed Britons for almost a century, allowing for a less impeded cultural development. I will also distribute a timeline covering the major events in British North America from 1700 to 1776. We will use this as a review for students. I will make it clear to the students that it is important to spend time looking at the timeline, because in the course of each week the things we talk about will span that chronological spectrum. We will also discuss in broad terms the social structure and relations of early eighteenth-century British North America. Week 2: Religious Culture I The first week on religious culture will introduce students to religion in British North America. It is important for students to understand that, while not all colonists were fervently religious, religion nevertheless shaped their daily lives through their communities and institutions. We will discuss the most prominent sects in the coloniesAnglicans, Presbyterians, Congregationalistsespecially their origins, theological differences, and intolerance toward each other. We will also touch on other sects and faith found in the colonies such as the Dutch Reformed Church, various German pietist groups, Catholicism, and Judaism. I will make the case that the Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom did not represent a new idea, but was instead the culmination of a process that made its most significant progress before the Revolution. I will also stress the difference between tolerance and legal toleration. Our primary source will be William Livingstons The Independent Reflector, no. VI, one of the first definitive intellectual and political arguments for toleration written by a colonist and based on the colonial situation. Week 3: Religious Culture II The second week on religion will be dedicated primarily to discussing the Great Awakening. I want students to be aware of how New Light revivalism differed from previous Protestant forms both spiritually and politically. The first class of the week will be dedicated to exploring the tenets of revivalism and reading and discussing Jonathan Edwards sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, with special attention paid to the ideas of predestination and the unconverted. The second class will explore the political ramifications of revivalist thought. Week 4: Political Culture I The first week on political culture will introduce students to the British events that shaped colonial political culture. We will explore the development of political institutions and mechanisms such as assemblies, elections, and patronage. We will also examine the ways in which these institutions developed differently from those of the mother country. This week will

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also give us our first chance to discuss class in colonial America and how it differed from that of Britain. Week 5: Domestic Culture The fifth week of the course will examine gender roles and relations and the meaning of patriarchy in colonial domestic life. We will explore both the differences and similarities between regions and the differences and similarities between European colonists, indigenous women, and African-American women. One of the major themes of this week will be the domesticity of female gender roles and the subservience of female gender relations, both in cultural and legal terms. Week 6: Urban Culture Week six will introduce students to colonial urban culture. My task for this week is to explain why urban culture mattered in British North America despite the fact that only 2% of colonists lived in urban areas as of 1750. In many ways, this week serves as the launching point for the rest of the course where more and more relationships between cultures will be explored. We will discuss the rise of urban areas and the subsequent rise of urbanity and gentility as a status marker. We will explore some social and cultural developments unique to urban life such as cultural institutions and voluntary associations. We will also explore the relationship between the city and the countryside and the early ways in which the city was already bringing the countryside into its orbit. Week 7: Consumer Culture Week seven will pick up where week six left off. We will discuss the rise of commercialism, urban colonists Anglophilia and striving for gentility, the importation of British manufactures, and how the marketplace became a negotiated public space for women and their increased responsibilities as merchants and shopkeepers in extraordinary circumstances. Both this week and the previous week will provide ample opportunities to discuss the transatlantic relationship between Britain and the colonies, including mercantilism. For our primary source of the week, we will read a letter from George Washington to his London merchants complaining of his tobacco being oversold on consignment and being overcharged on the profits for shoddy goods and clothes that were not of the latest fashion in London, as he had requested. Week 8: Race Culture This week will be given over to an exploration of African-American and indigenous cultures, placing particular emphasis on the cultural interaction between the two as well with European cultures. While we will address the transatlantic slave trade and the resultant southern plantation slavery, I will spend a significant amount of time examining the life of free AfricanAmericans in urban areas, especially New York City and Philadelphia. Hence, our primary source reading for the week will be documents from the 1741 New York Conspiracy trial. Our time on indigenous cultures will conclude with a look at cultural assimilation both by and of Native Americans. Week 9: Intellectual Culture The ninth week will be given over to exploring the intellectual milieu of British North America and the conflict by mid-century between religious and secular thought. I will reach back to our two weeks on religious culture to explain how religion affected the colonies intellectual !

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life in the early eighteenth century. From there, we will move on to the transatlantic influences of the English Enlightenment including the works of John Locke. I will stress the most basic features of this strand of thought including moderation, balance and order, and toleration, and explore their earliest manifestations around mid-century from the pens of native-born colonists. We will also touch on classical influences in eighteenth-century intellectual culture. Finally, we will juxtapose these two modes of thought to see both how fundamentally similar and dissimilar they were. This week will necessarily make connections with our discussions of religious, political, and urban culture. Week 10: Print Culture In our week on print culture will explore the life of a printer and how they fit into urban life. We will discuss the book trade and its role in developing the colonies intellectual culture and book ownership and its role in gentility and urbanity. We will discuss the different forms of printed matter including newspapers, pamphlets, and broadsides, with printed examples of each, paying careful attention to which each was used in combination with previously examined cultures. For example, we will discuss how broadsides were used for political announcements, how newspapers were used to advertise genteel goods (and gentility itself) and to post notices regarding runaway slaves. In one exercise, the class will be split into four groups with each given a full-size four-page facsimile of a newspaper from 1750 from either Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston. The groups will be given time to scan the newspaper with the intent of answering the questions: What kinds of information were deemed important to readers? Which were more or less important? Why might they have been important? Week 11: Political Culture II In the second week on political culture, students will be introduced to the ideologies of republicanism and liberalism. We will first explore radical Whig thought and its influence on the colonies. We will do the same for the influence of classical antiquity. Then, we will draw on our experience with intellectual culture to consider the role of liberal thought in the colonies. Finally, we will discuss how these ideologies shaped the way they perceived the world around them by talking about the Seven Years War and the colonies increasing geopolitical importance. Weeks 12 & 13: Revolutionary Culture I & II These two weeks on revolutionary culture will begin to put into perspective the broad changes occurring throughout the many different cultures we have explored so far after 1750. We will discuss the possible long-term political effects of the Great Awakening, taking into account arguments both for and against. We will explore the relationship between religious toleration and the broadening popular political participation of the colonies. We will also examine these cultures responses to the imperial policies of the 1760s. For example, we will see how the Stamp Act and Townshend Acts were portrayed in print culture, how elites and laymen alike drew on the colonies intellectual culture to understand these events, how the boycotts of English goods both affected and were affected by colonists Anglophilia and consumerist impulses, and how women entered the public, political, and print spheres as important participants in the boycotts. We will discuss the issues raised by the fact that many of the most radical acts of resistance occurred in urban areas, and the difficult choices faced by the nonhegemonic cultures as the conflict grew. Finally, we will discuss how the colonies political, intellectual, religious, and print cultures interacted with one another in creating the possibility of independence. For primary sources, we will read William Emersons sermon to the militia at !

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Concord in March of 1775, various letters by women to newspapers concerning the boycott, Common Sense, and the Declaration of Independence. Week 14: Postwar Culture The final week will briefly touch on the subsequent developments of each of these cultures during the early national period. We will discuss the rise of republican motherhood and its eventual decline at the hand of Victorian conceptions of gender. We will discuss the rise of print in this period and its increasingly influential role in national politics. We will discuss the emergence of the Second Great Awakening. We will briefly talk about the treatment of Native Americans in the early nineteenth century as well as the reification of slavery as a profitable mode of production. We will also briefly discuss the legacy of the Revolution for those who lived in the first half of the nineteenth century.