HSTAA 110 A: History of American Citizenship

Autumn 2025
Meeting:
TTh 2:30pm - 4:20pm / MEB 248
SLN:
16463
Section Type:
Lecture
Instructor:
THIS CLASS IS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR REGISTRATION BY AUDITORS OR ACCESS STUDENTS.
Syllabus Description (from Canvas):

History of American Citizenship (HSTAA 110 A)

Fall 2025

Tuesday/Thursday, 2:30-4:20 p.m.

Mechanical Engineering Building 248

 

Dr. Ross Coen

E-mail: rcoen@uw.edu

Office: TBD

 

Office hours:

In-person: 1:00-2:00 p.m., and by appointment

Zoom office hours: Wednesdays, 9:00-11:00 a.m.

 

Course Description:

This course surveys the history of American citizenship from the colonial period to the present. 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 often 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, 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 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.

 

Part 1: American Citizenship from Colonization to Civil War

 

Week 1: September 25

Introduction to Course

 

 

 

Week 2: September 30-October 2

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. (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.

 

Assignment: Portfolio essay due (uploaded to Canvas) by the start of class on Tuesday, September 30

 

 

 

Week 3: October 7-9

Colonization and Citizens in British North America

English Colonization in the 17th and 18th Centuries

 

Readings: None. Please use time to begin working on your Family History Paper.

 

 

 

Week 4: October 14-16

Enslaved Persons, Citizens, and In Between: Revolutionary America, 1750-1850

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 #1: Portfolio essay due (uploaded to Canvas) by the start of class on Tuesday, October 14

 

Assignment #2: Family History Paper, 1-page paper on topic, due at the start of class on Tuesday, October 14

 

 

 

Week 5: October 21-23

Citizens, Immigrants, and The Market Economy: North and South, 1790-1860

Growth of the Market Economy, 1790-1860

The Expansive North and the Rise of Reformers

The Slave South

Immigrants in the Antebellum Republic

 

Readings: John F. Quinn, “Expecting the Impossible? Abolitionist Appeals to the Irish in Antebellum America,” New England Quarterly 82, no. 4 (December 2009), 667-710.

 

Assignment: Portfolio essay due (uploaded to Canvas) by the start of class on Tuesday, October 21

 

 

 

Week 6: October 28-30

Disunion, Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction, 1820-1896

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: None. Please use the time to study for the Midterm Exam.

 

Assignment: Midterm Exam will be given in class on Thursday, October 30

 

 

 

Part 2: Citizenship during the U.S. Rise to Global Power

 

Week 7: November 4-6

Indigenous Americans and the “Promise” of Citizenship

Indians and Indian Policy in the 19th Century

 

Readings: Chief Seattle Speech (2 versions)

 

Assignment: Portfolio essay due (uploaded to Canvas) by the start of class on Tuesday, November 4

 

 

 

Week 8: November 11-13

Westward Expansion, Racial Minorities, and American Empire, 1840-1914

The American West in the 19th Century

Mexicans and 19th-century Americans

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, Chapter 5: Empire State of Mind

 

Assignment #1: Portfolio essay due (uploaded to Canvas) by the start of class on Tuesday, November 11

 

Assignment #2: Family History Project, Bibliography due at the start of class on Tuesday, November 11

 

 

Week 9: November 18-20

Industry, Immigration, and Reform, 1877-1930

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: Fae Myenne Ng, Orphan Bachelors, Chapters 1-2, 4

 

Assignment #1: Portfolio essay due (uploaded to Canvas) by the start of class on Tuesday, November 18

 

Assignment #2: Family History Project, submit at least one page of your rough draft, due at the start of class on Tuesday, November 18

 

 

 

Week 10: November 25

American Citizenship from Depression to Cold War and Beyond, 1930-2000

Depression, New Deal, and Economic Citizenship

 

Readings: John Okada, No-No Boy, Chapter 1

 

Assignment: Portfolio essay due (uploaded to Canvas) by the start of class on Tuesday, November 25

 

No class on Thursday, November 27: Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

Week 11: December 2-4

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: None.

 

Assignment: Family History Project, FINAL PAPER due at the start of class on Tuesday, December 2

 

 

Week 12 (Finals Week)

The Final Exam will be given at 4:30-6:20 p.m., Tuesday, December 9.

 

 

 

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 is no required textbook for the course. Instead, throughout the quarter students will read a selection of articles, chapters, speeches, and other materials that are posted under the appropriate Module on Canvas. Please see the course schedule below for more information. The instructor has attempted to stagger the reading load across the quarter so as to make it manageable for students. The instructor will give reminders during lectures of upcoming reading assignments, and it is the student’s responsibility to keep apprised of the readings and complete them each week. 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: Weekly Portfolio, Family History Paper, Midterm Exam, and Final Exam. Complete instructions for the Family History Paper and Exams will be provided separately. The grade breakdown is as follows:

 

Weekly Portfolio                                 20%

Family History Paper                          40%

Midterm Exam                                    20%

Final Exam                                           20%

 

Students must complete all assignments to receive a passing grade. Late papers will not be accepted without permission of the professor, and they may be graded down at the discretion of the professor.

 

 

Weekly Portfolio

Seven times during the quarter students will submit via Canvas a typed, 300-word essay response to assigned readings. The instructor will provide study questions for each reading one week before they are due, and the student has the option of answering one or more of the questions or responding more broadly to some aspect(s) of that week’s reading they found interesting. As long as the essays demonstrate that students have done the reading and engaged them in a thoughtful manner, full credit will be awarded.

 

The essays must be submitted on Canvas no later than the start of class each Tuesday. Late papers will not be accepted without permission. Permission will be granted for valid reasons only. The essays will not be graded on an individual basis but will be assessed on a completed/not completed basis. The portfolio is worth 20 percent of your course grade.

 

 

Family History Paper

Students will write a Family History Paper of 7-8 pages in which they illustrate how personal and family stories intersect with U.S. history. Students will interview one or two family members, conduct research in secondary sources on themes raised in the interviews, and integrate their personal stories with events or forces operating at the national level. More information will be provided. The paper is worth 40 percent of the course grade, and it is due at the start of class on Tuesday, December 2.

 

 

Midterm Exam

Students will complete a mid-term exam on Thursday, October 30. More information on the exam, including a study guide, will be provided as the date draws near. The Midterm Exam is worth 20 percent of your course grade.



Final Exam

Students will complete a final exam on Tuesday, December 9. More information on the exam will be provided as the date draws near. The final exam is worth 20 percent of your course grade.

 

 

Class Attendance:

Students are expected to attend class having completed readings and other assignments. Students should contact the professor if they know they will be absent or unable to complete the assignments on time. Students should prioritize their physical and mental health, as well as that of their classmates. Do not attend class if you are feeling unwell.

 

 

Catalog Description:
Examines how, when, and why different groups of people (e.g., white men, white men without property, peoples of color including one-time slaves, women, immigrants) became eligible for citizenship throughout American history. Explores how and why for many peoples, at many times, citizenship did not confer equal rights to all.
GE Requirements Met:
Diversity (DIV)
Social Sciences (SSc)
Credits:
5.0
Status:
Active
Last updated:
July 30, 2025 - 1:43 pm