Darren Walhof, Instructor
1337 Social Sciences; 625-9397
dwalhof@polisci.umn.edu
Office hours: M 1-3 & by appt.

Todd Sexton, TA
1227 SS; 624-6821
tsexton@polisci.umn.edu
Office hours: T 3-5; W 4-6

This course is a survey of American political thought from the late eighteenth through the 20th century. Our focus will be on a few works that reflect the major theoretical trends accompanying the attempt to construct a republic and then sustain it through profound economic, social, and political changes over the next 200 years. The works that we will read are not simply theoretical treatises; rather, most were written in the midst of and in response to pressing social and political issues, from Thomas Paine’s defense of the colonies’ revolt in Common Sense, to the debate between the Federalists and the Antifederalists over the new Constitution, to the "Negro question" taken up by Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois during and following Reconstruction, to the social criticism of the civil rights and student movements in the middle part of the twentieth century.

We will, then, place these works in their historical contexts in order better to understand the arguments and theories they contain. At the same time, in order to organize our thoughts to facilitate comparisons between works and time periods, we will read with an eye toward four major themes: (1) the relationship between the individual and the community, (2) the political meaning of "nature," (3) the meaning of freedom and equality, and (4) the role of government in society. These questions have continued relevance for American politics; thus, our historical study of them will aid us in thinking about contemporary politics as well.
 
 

Course Readings:

The following required books are available for purchase at H.D. Smith Bookstore:

Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, Common Sense, and Other Writings (Oxford).

Michael Kammen (editor), The Origins of the American Constitution (Penguin).

Alexis DeTocqueville, Democracy in America (Mentor/Penguin).

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance and Other Essays (Dover).

Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience and Other Essays (Dover).

John Hope Franklin (editor), Three Negro Classics (Avon).

John Dewey, Political Writings (Hackett).

Additional readings are on two-hour reserve at Wilson Library; as noted, some of them are also available via the internet.
 
 

Course Requirements:

Students are expected to come to each class session, having carefully read the assigned texts and prepared to discuss them. Since the emphasis in this course will be a discussion of the texts, students are asked to spend significant time studying the texts and also to bring copies of the readings to class with them for reference.

Students are required to complete three assignments, all of which will be based on assigned readings. The first is a short, critical abstract of a reading during the first four weeks of class. The abstract is due on the day that the reading is discussed. This is designed to help students read carefully and to prepare for class discussion; some students may be asked to read their abstracts in class. (More details will be given in a hand-out.) The second assignment is a take-home midterm exam, which will be distributed on February 10 and due on Friday, February 19. The midterm will ask students to address one or two essay questions in a short, typed paper. The final assignment is a take-home final exam, which will be distributed on the last day of class and due on Wednesday, March 17. Like the midterm, it will require students to address a few questions in essay form.

The three assignments carry the following point values:

Course Outline and Weekly Readings:

January 6: Introduction

January 13: Revolution and Independence

Thomas Paine, Common Sense (pp. 1-60), American Crisis (pp. 61-78), and Rights of Man II (pp. 199-262)

Declaration of Independence (reserve)

 

February 24: Pragmatism

John Dewey, Political Writings (pp. 32-80, 97-120)