History of American Citizenship (HSTAA 110 A)
Autumn 2023
Tuesday/Thursday, 2:30-4:20 p.m.
Loew Hall 205
Dr. Ross Coen
E-mail: rcoen@uw.edu
Office: Smith Hall 108-B
Office hours:
In-person: Tuesday 12:00-2:00 p.m., and by appointment
Virtual: Wednesday 9:00-11:00 a.m. at: https://washington.zoom.us/j/98793238485
Canvas site: https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1662842
Course Description:
This course surveys the history of American citizenship from the colonial period to the year 2000. Lectures address the theme of citizenship in American history and are meant to provide information and context, offer arguments, invite questions and comments, and develop an overall narrative.
The course interprets the history of the United States by examining how the American definition of citizenship evolved from colonial times to the present. More specifically, it considers how different groups within the American population, such as white men (with and without property), Native Americans, specific groups of immigrants, women, and enslaved and free African Americans, at different times were denied (or gained) “full membership” (or less-than-full membership) in the United States. Another related theme, developed particularly in the readings and the research paper, is the varied experience of families in American history.
Citizenship has been defined as the membership of an individual in a nation. In 1957 U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren argued,
"Citizenship is man’s basic right for it is nothing less than the right to have rights. Remove this priceless possession and there remains a stateless person, disgraced and degraded in the eyes of his countrymen. He has no lawful claim to protection from any nation, and no nation may assert rights on his behalf. His very existence is at the sufferance of the state within whose borders he happens to be. In this country the expatriate will presumably enjoy, at most, only the limited rights and privileges of aliens, and like the alien he might even be subject to deportation and thereby deprived of the right to assert any rights."
Warren’s definition of citizenship—as well as its implications—is problematic. Yet it points to a key aspect of citizenship in the United States: the possession of legal rights guaranteed by the Constitution and other authorities. And it points out that those without citizenship—and, it should be added, those without full citizenship, for throughout history many, many Americans have technically been “citizens” but never enjoyed all the rights normally associated with complete membership in the nation—have been at the mercy of others to watch and speak out for them. For most of American history, the majority of peoples, both in the U.S. and around the world, were ineligible for full American citizenship due to their place of birth, their nationality or race or sex or religion or sexual preference or age, or other factors. In many ways American citizenship has been an exclusive category. This course explores how that category has evolved, expanded, contracted, and taken on new meanings. While recognizing that full citizenship entails a wide range of rights and responsibilities, this class often uses the right to vote, and the act of voting, as shorthand for complete membership in the nation.
Course goals:
The overall goals of the course are to improve students’ abilities to read critically, think historically and conceptually, write well, and broaden their understanding of the history of the United States. In support of those aims, students in HSTAA 110 are expected to attend lectures, participate in class discussions, read and think about the assigned readings and videos, and complete all assignments. Please note that although this is a 100-level lecture course, class discussions are an important component of class meetings and students will be expected to participate.
Course readings:
There are two required books in the course. Students should obtain copies immediately, if they have not done so already. Copies, including e-books, may also be available at UW Libraries.
Neil Nakadate, Looking After Minidoka: An American Memoir (Indiana University Press, 2013; ISBN: 9780253011022)
Pauli Murray, Proud Shoes: The Story of An American Family (Beacon Press, 1999; ISBN: 9780807072097)
In addition to the required books listed above, students will be expected to read articles, sources, and other materials that will be posted on Canvas. Please see course schedule below for all readings. In order to facilitate class discussions of the readings, the professor will provide study questions in advance of all readings. These questions are intended to guide students through the readings and direct their attention to important aspects, topics, arguments, etc.
Assignments and Grading:
Students will complete four written assignments: Response paper, Family History Paper, Midterm Exam, and Final Exam. Instructions for all written assignments will be provided separately. In addition, students will be graded on a fifth assignment: attendance and participation in class discussion. The grade breakdown is as follows:
Response Paper 10%
Family History Paper 40%
Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 20%
Attendance and Participation 10%
Students must complete all assignments to receive a passing grade. Late papers will not be accepted without permission of the professor. Students should contact the professor if they know they will be absent or unable to complete the assignments on time. The attendance policy is as follows: Students are expected to attend class—but they should prioritize their physical and mental health, as well as that of their classmates. Do not attend class if you are feeling unwell. Students should contact the professor whenever they need to be absent, and no student will be penalized for missing class for valid reasons.
UW has many resources to help students with writing assignments:
UW Libraries: Theresa Mudrock serves as the liaison to the Department of History. She has created a web guide to help students find library resources for their family history research papers: https://guides.lib.uw.edu/research/hstaa110. Ms. Mudrock herself is available to field questions and offer guidance for research: mudrock@uw.edu
History Writing Center: https://history.washington.edu/history-writing-center
Odegaard Library Writing and Research Center: http://depts.washington.edu/owrc/
Minority Affairs and Diversity Educational Opportunity Program Instructional Center: https://depts.washington.edu/ic/content/writing.php?style=graphics
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: UW offers several programs for Multilingual Students and Teachers, including Global Classrooms (http://www.washington.edu/teaching/teaching-resources/inclusive-teaching-at-uw/teaching-im-students/academic-support-for-im-students/). If English is not your first language, the Odegaard Writing and Research Center organizes Targeted Learning Communities to support students enrolled in courses (like this one) requiring considerable reading and writing. Visit https://depts.washington.edu/owrc/tlc
Course Schedule:
The course consists of units that will be covered on the dates below. Please pay close attention to readings and assignments. All readings should be completed by the first class in the given unit, and due dates for all assignments are listed below. The course schedule is subject to change. All changes will be announced in class and posted to Canvas.
First Half of Course: American Citizenship from Colonization to Civil War
Unit I: Beginnings
Sept. 28: Introduction to Course
Oct. 3-5: European Colonizers of North America, 1492-1763
Native Americans’ Encounters with European Colonizers, 1492-1874
Readings: J. William T. Youngs, “The British American: William Byrd in Two Worlds,” in American Realities, Historical Episodes, vol. I, From the First Settlements to the Civil War, 5th ed. (1981; New York: Longman, 2001), 55-73; Paige Raibmon, “Naturalizing Power: Land and Sexual Violence along William Byrd’s Dividing Line,” in Virginia J. Scharff, ed., Seeing Nature through Gender (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2003), 20-39.
Unit II: Colonization and Citizens in British North America
Oct. 10-12: English Colonization in the 17th and 18th Centuries
Readings: None. Please use time to begin working on your Family History Paper.
Unit III: Enslaved persons, Citizens, and in Between: Revolutionary America, 1750-1850
Oct. 17-19: American Slavery in the 17th and 18th Centuries
Slaves, Citizens, and Republican Government, 1775-1789
Party Politics in the New Republic, 1790s-1850s
Readings: Andrew C. Lannen, “Liberty and Slavery in Colonial America: The Case of Georgia, 1732-1770,” The Historian 79, no. 1 (2017), 32-55.
Assignment: Family History Paper, 1-page paper on topic, due at the start of class on Tuesday, Oct. 17
Unit IV: Citizens, Immigrants, and The Market Economy: North and South, 1790-1860
Oct. 24-26: Growth of the Market Economy, 1790-1860
The Expansive North and the Rise of Reformers
The Slave South
Immigrants in the Antebellum Republic
Readings: Pauli Murray, Proud Shoes, pages 1-111
Assignment: Response Paper due at the start of class Tuesday, Oct. 24
Unit V: Disunion, Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction, 1820-1896
Oct. 31-Nov. 2: America Grows Apart over Issues of Slavery and Citizenship (1820-1857)
Civil War and the Emancipation of Slaves
Reconstruction and African American Citizenship
The Rise of Jim Crow and the Demise of African Americans’ Rights
Readings: Pauli Murray, Proud Shoes, pages 112-276
Assignment: Midterm Exam will be posted on Canvas site on Thursday, Nov. 2. The exam is due at the start of class on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
Second Half of Course: Citizenship during the U.S. Rise to Global Power
Unit VI: Indigenous Americans and the “Promise” of Citizenship
Nov. 7-9: Indians and Indian Policy in the 19th Century
Readings: Chief Seattle Speech (2 versions)
Assignment: Midterm Exam due at the start of class on Tuesday, Nov. 7
Unit VII: Westward Expansion, Racial Minorities, and American Empire, 1840-1914
Nov. 14-16: The American West in the 19th Century
Mexicans and the 19th-century U.S.
The Industrializing West and Chinese Immigrants
Foreign Policy and Empire: U.S. Acquisition of Overseas Territory, 1890-1941
Readings: Daniel Immerwahr, How to Hide an Empire, pp. 46-58, 73-87
Assignment: Family History Project, Bibliography due at the start of class on Tuesday, Nov. 14
Unit VIII: Industry, Immigration, and Reform, 1877-1930
Nov. 21-28: Industrialization and Immigration
Radicals, Progressives, and Modernizing America
Redefining Who Can Vote and Who Can Immigrate, 1882-1934
Race, Migration, and Cultural Change, 1920-1960
Readings: Neal Nakadate, Looking After Minidoka, pages 1-155
Assignment: Family History Project, submit at least one page of your rough draft, due at the start of class on Tuesday, Nov. 21
Unit IX: American Citizenship from Depression to Cold War and Beyond, 1930-2000
Nov. 30-Dec. 7: Depression, New Deal, and Economic Citizenship
World War Two and Immigrants in the U.S.
Cold War and Containment Policy
African Americans and the Civil Rights Movement
The Courts and “Rights-Based” Citizenship in Postwar America
Citizenship Amid Economic and Political Change, 1970-2000
Readings: Neal Nakadate, Looking After Minidoka, pages 156-206
Assignment: Family History Project, FINAL PAPER due at the start of class on Tuesday, Dec. 5
Assignment: FINAL EXAM (take-home). Questions posted on Canvas site on Friday, Dec. 8. Exam must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 14