Citizen Nation

Course update: I’ve added two new sections in Blackboard – an archive of the response paper prompts, and a list of calendar events outside of class which can be used for extra credit.

For Tues 9/27: When the Constitution was first established and ratified, slaves were counted as less than full persons for purposes of representation in our government, and enjoyed none of the legal privileges or rights of citizenship. To be precise, each was 3/5 of a person. This “compromise,” as it is often called (and is that a good word for it, really??), was created (of course) without the consent or input of enslaved people, as a way to balance power and apportionment between slave/free and large/small states at the time of the Constitutional convention.

So: when, and how, and why, did blacks first become free and then become counted as full people under the Constitution? Our discussion on Tuesday 9/27 will focus on Good Citizen, Ch. 3 and Right to Vote, Ch 4. Please take careful notes and/or bring the books to class. Also, please study for your re-take of the U.S. Citizenship Exam which we will do in class.

Due in class: A 2-3 page double-spaced, printed response paper based on the prompt distributed in Thursday’s class. If you attended the Profiled film on Thursday or the conference on Civic Engagement in Higher Ed on Friday for extra credit, your write-up paper is also due.

Discussion Questions:

What were strategies (political, religious and otherwise) used to challenge the legality and morality of slavery? How successful were those strategies? How did they compare with early strategies for women’s suffrage?

Was granting the vote to black freedmen in the South during Reconstruction part of the general trend toward widening of the franchise, or an exception to it?

What did the 14th Amendment accomplish? What did it NOT accomplish?

Why is the story of the passage of the 15th Amendment a “strange odyssey”?

How were the experiences of white women and black men connected during Reconstruction? Where did this leave black women?

Describe the “redemption” of the South. In what sense was it redeemed?

After being enfranchised, how were African-Americans then (legally and otherwise) disenfranchised?

Given this history, what is the meaning of legal “personhood” in 19th century America, and how is that different from citizenship?

This is the course website for “Citizen Nation” at Worcester State University in Fall 2016, which can be taken as either History (HI) or Political Science (PO), as well as for Honors credit. Our class meets Tues / Thurs at 8:30 am in Sullivan 326. I used this website when I taught the course in previous terms and I’ve left that course material up as an archive for those students; you can ignore any post not tagged “Fall16.”

This course is a rigorous seminar on the history and meaning of American citizenship, organized around several guiding questions: Who counts as an American? How do we decide as a society? What does it mean to be an American citizen? What rights, privilege, and responsibilities are part of that definition? In the founding generation, citizenship was limited to property-owning white men, and since that time, struggles to expand American citizenship have been at the core of the American story. How did the specifics of that struggle unfold over the course of American history?

As an upper-level seminar and a LASC “super-course”, this class presumes some prior historical knowledge and will ask you to dig deeply, read extensively, and write often; it is designed to be challenging even for experienced students. For the complete list of what you’ll be expected to know and do by the end of the course, see the “About” tab above.

For incoming students, get the list of 3 required books under the “Readings” tab above, and read the “Peer to Peer Advice” tab to get a sense of what to expect from–and what to put into–this semester’s work. Please note we will use the Bellamy Citizenship book in the FIRST WEEK of class, so get it in advance. Previous semester’s student research abstracts are posted in the “Student Showcase” if you’d like to get a sense of the quality and scope of work produced in prior semesters. If you need to contact me over the summer, you can track me down with the information posted under “Prof Info.” I look forward to meeting you in September!

Worcester State is opening late today, Tues 12/9 at 10:00 am. That means no class for us. Please drop off your response papers #6 sometime today in my office mailbox, Sullivan 327D, or email them to me. Also, if you have not yet written an abstract for your CITIZEN essay, please do that and email it also. I will post your web essays between now and Thurs, so I may contact you individually if I have specific questions about your revisions. Continue reading →

Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Here’s what we’re up to upon our return to campus. Continue reading →

I need to make a change to the syllabus’s assigned readings Continue reading →

At this point, you have taken some version of the US citizenship test twice, and studied for it using the entire set of 100 Civics, History and Geography questions. Compare your scores on the two tries. Continue reading →

This is the course website for “Citizen Nation” at Worcester State University in Fall 2014, which can be taken as History (HI) or Political Science (PO), as well as for Honors credit. Continue reading →

Response Paper #5 – due Wednesday 12/5 last day of class 2-3 pages
Review the last chapter of either Bellamy, Keyssar or Schudson. How does your chosen author characterize the state of citizenship today, or what the core problems are with respect to citizenship now? Apply the author’s argument to the 2012 election or to the current debate on immigration using the sources I provided for this unit. Are all Americans exercising and practicing effective citizenship? Do you need to be a citizen to be an American? What would your chosen author have to say about these current trends? Continue reading →

In our last unit, we’ll be presenting our research to one another, and discussing the current state of citizenship, voting rights, and immigration/naturalization policy. Now that you understand the history, you can participate in these current debates with greater insight. Continue reading →

We will not meet at all this week due to the holiday on Monday and the water main break on Tuesday.

So: keep working on your research papers, as best you can. They are still due on Monday the 19th, which will be a film day viewing portions of the documentary Eyes on the Prize. If you need an extension or cannot make that deadline due to the campus disruption please communicate with me about your options and plans. I will be on campus and available for meetings about your papers on Thursday 11/15 and Friday 11/16, so contact me if you’d like to make an appointment.

Thanks! See you next Monday 11/19.