HI 215 History of American Thought

During this unit, we explore some foundational texts and ideas of our nation. We began with a session on the Gettysburg Address – which Wills says “reinvented the Constitution and repaired its flaws” and which, according to Widmer literally “repurposed the United States.”

Starting from the vantage of 1863 then invites us to travel backwards to reconsider the founding era, concepts, and people –

Tues 28th – Some Antecedents. Consider how each of these three antecedents will inform the American national project in the late 18th century. How do they provide contrasting/diverse roots for American idealism?

1) Iroquois Confederacy Constitution

2) John Winthrop, Modell of Christian Charity (1630)

• Manuscript original http://cdm128401.cdmhost.com/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16124coll1/id/1952
• Transcript but in Winthrop’s original English http://history.hanover.edu/texts/winthmod.html
• A more modern translation in plainer English http://www.winthropsociety.com/doc_charity.php

3) Paine, excerpts from Common Sense

Thurs 30th – Founding Fathers. 4 Readings: Federalist 10 + Federalist 51 (skim/reading for main ideas is OK), “John Locke: Father of the Revolution,” and one important scholar’s perspective = Gordon Wood, “The Intellectual Origins of the American Revolution”.

Journal Prompt #2 – Write the second journal entry on your choice of texts from this week’s readings (any or all). What foundational ideas have you identified in these documents? What intellectual currents informed the nation’s founding? Are some of these currents and ideas in conflict, and if so, how?