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Academic Year 2003/2004

Early American Families
HIST 170 SP

In 1829 James Mills defined the family as "the group which consists of father, mother, and children." Familiar to us today, Mill's definition was a novelty in the early 19th century. This course will explore the very different ways in which early Americans - from the 17th- to the early 19th century -- understood and experienced family life. Topics will include: the family as a unit of production in the early modern Atlantic economy; conceptions of childhood, marriage, gender, and sexuality; the family lives of servants and slaves; and the early 19th-century emergence of the modern nuclear family. Course assignments will consist of oral presentations, short papers, and a final research essay.

MAJOR READINGS

Steven Mintz and Susan Kellogg, DOMESTIC REVOLUTIONS: A SOCIAL HISTORY OF AMERICAN FAMILY LIFE (1988)
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, GOOD WIVES: IMAGE AND REALITY IN THE LIVES OF WOMEN IN NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND, 1650-1750 (1982)
John Demos, A LITTLE COMMONWEALTH: FAMILY LIFE IN PLYMOUTH COLONY (1970)
Phillipe Aries, CENTURIES OF CHILDHOOD: A SOCIAL HISTORY OF FAMILY LIFE (1962)
Mary Beth Norton, FOUNDING MOTHERS AND FATHERS: GENDERED POWER AND THE FORMATION OF AMERICAN SOCIETY (1996)
Kathlee n M. Brown, GOOD WIVES, NASTY WENCHES< AND ANXIOUS PATRIARCHS: GENDER, RACE, AND POWER IN COLONIAL VIRGINIA (1996)
Hunter D. Farish, ed., THE JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF PHILIP VICKERS FITHIAN, 1773-1774: A PLANTATION TUTOR (1978)

COURSE FORMAT: Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS HIST    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2004

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