Course Description
Women's experiences in the United States from the arrival of
Europeans on the North American continent to the Civil War.
Women's life experiences within the context of larger historical
changes in the United States. Women's history as an integral
part of American social history and as a unique subject of
historical investigation.
Athena Title
U.S. Women to 1865
Prerequisite
Any HIST course or ENGL 1101 or ENGL 1101E or ENGL 1101S or ENGL 1102 or ENGL 1102E or ENGL 1102S or POLS 1101 or POLS 1101E or POLS 1101H or POLS 1101S
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
- By the end of this course, students will be able to arrive at conclusions about U.S. women's history by gathering and weighing evidence, logical argument, and listening to counter argument.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to write stylistically appropriate papers and essays. Students will be able to analyze ideas and evidence, organize their thoughts, and revise and edit their finished essays.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to identify how the history of women in America has shaped social and cultural identities around gender and sexuality, encouraging them to understand diverse worldviews and experiences.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to apply appropriate methodological approaches to their analysis of primary sources and to organize their evidence to show historical continuities and discontinuities.
Topical Outline
- Utilizing lecture, class discussions, and assigned readings, students will explore the public and private lives of American women of different class, racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. The course will be organized chronologically and seeks to understand women's role in American life and the ways they have shaped U.S. society, culture, and politics.
- I. Traditional America, 1600-1820: Pre-industrial Patterns
Week 1: Why Women's History?
Week 2: New World Natives and Old-World Legacies Servants, Goodwives, and Disorderly Women
Week 3: Witches
Liberty's Daughters and Republican Mothers
- II. Industrializing America, 1820-1880: The Female Sphere in the Era of Domesticity
Week 4: Victorians in the Making: A Look Ahead
Week 5: Ladies and Millgirls
Slaves, Mistresses, and Masters
- Week 6: Ladies Militant: Reform, Abolition, and Women's Rights
Victorian Women and the Female Body
- III. Industrializing America, 1880-1920: Redefining Womanhood
Week 7: Women in Transition: Crossing Frontiers
Educated Daughters, Public Housekeepers, and Cross-Class Alliances
- Week 8: Suffragists
Feminists
- IV. Women in Modern America, 1920-1990s: Constructing and Reconstructing "the Modern Woman"
Week 9: Suffragists, Reformers, and Feminists in Conflict
The New Woman, the New Morality, and the "Sexual Sell"
- Week 10: The New Woman and Hollywood
The New Woman in Depression and War: Breadlines, Picket Lines, and Assembly Lines
- Week 11: The New Woman Domesticated: The Many Varieties of Cold War Containment--and those who Resisted
- Week 12: Feminists in the Making: The Personal Becomes
Political Feminists on the Move: The Strengths and Limitations of Sisterhood
- Week 13: Anti-feminists Politicized: Equality and the Politics of Gender
Abortion Activists: Reproductive Freedom and the Politics of Motherhood
- Week 14: Feminists and the Future
Linking Past and Future
Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
Communication
The ability to effectively develop, express, and exchange ideas in written, oral, interpersonal, or visual form.
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
