HIST 399: Democracy in America
CRN 35828
Tuesday/Thursday, 2:00 – 3:20 pm, 301 Condon Hall
Professor Ellen Herman
Department of History
University of Oregon
e-mail: eherman@uoregon.edu
office hours: Tuesdays, 11:45 am – 1:45 pm in 280G Knight Law Center
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSE AND ITS OBJECTIVES
This course will be a place to think, talk, and write about democracy in America since Alexis de Tocqueville, a visitor from France, published his famous book by that title in 1835 (volume 1) and 1840 (volume 2). At the beginning of the term, we will spend several weeks exploring Tocqueville’s observations and insights. After that, we will follow a number of democratic traditions in U.S. history since the mid-19th century, and challenges to those traditions. Some of the thinkers and actors whose writing and speeches we will consider include: Frederick Douglass, Victoria Woodhull, Jane Addams, W.E.B. DuBois, Randolph Bourne, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Huey P. Long, Charles Lingbergh, Langston Hughes, Ayn Rand, Shirley Jackson, Joseph McCarthy, Wright Mills, Barry Goldwater, Martin Luther King, Jr., Phyllis Schlafly, Barack Obama, Nikole Hannah-Jones, and Amanda Gorman. In addition to published texts, we will consider documents such as constitutional amendments, U.S Supreme Court opinions, party platforms, organizational manifestos, legislative texts, artwork, and literature.
WRITING REQUIREMENTS
Reading journal. You are expected to keep a reading journal throughout the term and submit it four times.
There will also be two essays, each 5-6 pages in length. The first will be about Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. The second essay will compare perspectives on democracy that we will explore during weeks 4-10 of the term.
Deadlines for these writing assignments are listed below.
COURSE MODALITY AND CLASSROOM COMMUNITY EXPECTATIONS
This course is a seminar that meets in person and concentrates on close reading, engaged discussion, and cooperative learning. The quality of each class will depend on how well you prepare and how thoughtfully you interact with your classmates. Our goal will be to create an atmosphere that is friendly and inclusive but also provocative, lively, and critical. All members of the class (students and instructor) can expect to be treated with respect and are also expected to share ideas and contribute to the learning community we create together. This entails preparing for class in advance, following instructions, and engaging thoughtfully with others so that every member of the class is seen and heard. There is no expectation that students will agree about the subjects we will discuss. The honest expression of conflicting, sometimes controversial ideas has been central to the history of democracy in America. We will engage those controversies in this course whether we encounter them in written or verbal form.
Because of the course modality and classroom community expectations, attendance is absolutely critical to your success. See attendance policy below.
READING REQUIREMENTS
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, edited by J.P. Mayer, translated by George Lawrence (HarperCollins, 2006). ISBN 9780061127922. New and used copies of this text are available through the Duck St0re and have been placed on reserve in Knight Library. Please note that there have been many editions and translations of this text. It is important for all students to use this one so that we will be reading the same text. Assigned reading from Democracy in America amounts to approximately 100-125 pages each week during the first three weeks of the class.
The readings for weeks 4-10 are all linked to the syllabus or available on the Canvas site for this course. The amount of reading adds up to fewer pages than during the first three weeks of the term, but we will be considering multiple texts and authors each week so there will be more perspectives to consider. Starting in week 4, students will rotate responsibility for facilitating our class discussion of specific readings. These will be assigned in advance.
THINKING REQUIREMENTS AND WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
History is a discipline that requires discipline, no less than music, neuroscience, or architecture. That means you should expect this course to require real time and effort. But history repays those who devote time and effort to it many times over. You can also expect the following tangible benefits, all applicable in a wide range of occupations and careers:
- developing your curiosity and asking critical questions
- improving your reading, writing, imaginative, and analytical skills
- recognizing and evaluating primary and secondary sources, with special attention to interpreting multiple and conflicting sources of information
- thinking about how economic, political, cultural, and social forces interact over time
My hope is that you will also experience the pleasure of learning and the satisfaction of becoming an educated human being. History really can make us more interesting people and better, more insightful citizens of our communities and the world.
RULES
Accommodations
The University of Oregon seeks to create inclusive learning environments. Please let me know me if anything about the instruction or design of this course creates disability-related barriers to your participation. You are also encouraged to contact the Accessible Education Center in 164 Oregon Hall at 541-346-1155 or uoaec@uoregon.edu. If you have a documented disability and anticipate needing accommodations in this course, please request that the Accessible Education Center verify your disability.
Academic Honesty
If this course is to be a worthwhile educational experience, your work must be original. Plagiarism and other forms of cheating are very serious infractions and will not be permitted. That includes the use of generative AI. Students who are uncertain about what plagiarism is, or who have questions about how to cite published, electronic, or other sources should feel free to consult with the instructor. You may also find my brief guide a helpful place to begin.
Attendance
This course involves learning through close reading and active discussion. Discussion involves both speaking and listening carefully. That means that attendance is critical and will count toward your final grade. Please be aware that many of the attendance policies that were adjusted university-wide during the pandemic are no longer in effect. If you are absent, I will not ask for a reason since I cannot equitably distinguish between reasonable (excused) and unreasonable (unexcused) absences. Be aware that more than 3 absences will result in getting no credit for attendance and participation when those are weighed as part of your final grade. Students with COVID are encouraged to seek guidance at UO’s COVID-19 Safety Resources webpage.
Lateness Policy
No late assignments will be accepted except in rare cases where special arrangements have been made in advance for unusual but legitimate reasons. Students who miss deadlines will get no credit for that assignment.
GRADES AND DEADLINES
Please submit all of your written assignments through the Canvas assignments page.
class attendance, participation, and discussion facilitation: 25% (More than 3 absences will result in no credit for this part of your grade.)
Reading journal to be kept throughout the term: 25% (due on April 9, April 23, May 7, May 21 before class). This assignment will be marked as either complete or incomplete rather than with a letter grade.
Essay on Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, 5-6 pages: 25% (due April 30, 2024 before class).
Essay comparing perspectives on democracy, 5-6 pages: 25% (due June 10, 2024 at 11:59 pm)
COURSE CALENDAR
Week 1: Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
April 2, 2024
Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die (Crown, 2018), Introduction
April 4, 2024
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Vol. 1
Author’s Introduction
Part 1, Chapters 2-4
Part 2, Chapters 1, 4-6
Week 2: Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
April 9, 2024
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Vol. 1
Part 2, Chapters 7-9
April 11, 2024
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Vol. 1
Chapter 10 (pp. 316-363 only), Conclusion
Week 3: Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
April 16, 2024
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Vol. 2
Author’s Preface
Part 2, Chapters 1-8, 20
Part 3, Chapter 1, 5
April 18, 2024
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Vol. 2
Part 3, Chapters 8-12, 21
Part 4, Chapters 1-8
Week 4: Perspectives from the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Gilded Age
April 23, 2024
John Clem, memories of serving as a child soldier in the Civil War, 1860-1865
Jefferson Davis, “On Retiring from the Senate,” January 21, 1861
Abraham Lincoln, “First Inaugural Address,” March 4, 1861, excerpt
Frederick Douglass, “The Present and Future of the Colored Race in America,” An Address Delivered in Brooklyn, New York, on May 15, 1863
Sarah Watie letter to Stand Watie, June 12, 1864
Abraham Lincoln, “Second Inaugural Address,” March 4, 1865
Black Residents of Washington, D.C., to the U.S. Congress, December 1865
April 25, 2024
13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, known collectively as the Reconstruction Amendments, 1865-1870
More Perfect podcast:“The Reconstruction Amendments with Kash Doll”
Victoria Woodhull, “Constitutional Equality,” 1870
Chinese Exclusion Act, May 6, 1882
Emma Lazarus, “The New Colussus” This poem was written in 1883 as part of the fundraising effort to construct a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty. It was largely forgotten until 1903, when it was inscribed on a plague mounted on the inner wall of that pedestal.
Platform of the National People’s Party, 1892
Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896, excerpts
Week 5: Perspectives from the Progressive Era
April 30, 2024
Jane Addams, Democracy and Social Ethics (Macmillan, 1902), Introduction (Chapter 1) and “Charitable Effort” (Chapter 2).
Randolph Bourne, “Trans-national America,” The Atlantic, July 1916, excerpts
John Dewey, Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education (Macmillan, 1916), chapter 7, excerpts
May 2, 2024
Woodrow Wilson, Joint Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against Germany, April 2, 1917
Carrie Chapman Catt, Open Address to the U.S. Congress on Woman Suffrage, November 1, 2017
Randolph Bourne, “The State,” 1918, excerpts
W.E.B. Du Bois, Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1920), chapter 6, “Of the Ruling of Men”
Buck v. Bell, 1927
Week 6: Perspectives from the Great Depression and World War II
May 7, 2024
FDR, “First Inaugural Address,” March 4, 1933 (A transcript is also available in Canvas)
Huey P. Long, “Every Man a King” and “Share our Wealth,” 1934 and 1935
Dorothea Lange, “Migrant Mother,” 1936 (Please also watch the 2-minute video posted on this page.)
Portland, Oregon Section, Communist Party, “Into Servitude or Starve,” 1937
Eleanor Roosevelt, “Fear Is the Enemy,” The Nation, February 10, 1940
May 9, 2024
Charles A. Lindbergh, address delivered at Madison Square Garden, New York City before the America First Committee, May 23, 1941
Norman Rockwell, “The Four Freedoms,” 1943
Korematsu v. U.S., 1944, excerpts
Friedrich Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, 1945, excerpts
Week 7: Perspectives from Midcentury
May 14, 2024
Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery,” The New Yorker, June 26, 1948
Langston Hughes, “Democracy,” 1949
George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, 1949, excerpt
Joseph McCarthy, speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, February 9, 1950
Brown v. Board of Education, 1954, excerpts
May 16, 2024
C. Wright Mills, The Power Elite (Oxford University Press, 1956), chapter 1
Bayard Rustin, “Even in the Face of Death,” Liberation, February 1957
Mike Wallace interview with Ayn Rand, February 25, 1959
Week 8: Perspectives from the 1960s and 1970s
May 21, 2024
Barry Goldwater, The Conscience of a Conservative (Victor Publishing Company, 1960), chapter 1
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961
SDS, Port Huron Statement, August 1962, excerpt
Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” April 16, 1963 (This letter was first published in pamphlet form by the American Friends Service Committee in May 1963 and subsequently reprinted and excerpted in numerous magazines and books.)
May 23, 2024
Lyndon Johnson, “The Great Society,” May 22, 1964, excerpt
Black Panther Party, 10-Point Program, 1966
Equal Rights Amendment, 1972
Phyllis Schlafly, “What’s Wrong with ‘Equal Rights’ for Women?,” 1972
Roe v. Wade, 1973, excerpts
Week 9: Perspectives from the End of the 20th and the Beginning of the 21st Century
May 28, 2024
United in Anger: A History of ACT UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) Please watch the first 30 minutes or so of this documentary film.
Silence = Death, 1987
Avram Finkelstein, Brian Howard, Oliver Johnston, Charles Kreloff, Chris Lione, and Jorge Socarrás created this iconic poster during the early years of the AIDS epidemic. It featured a pink triangle, a historical reference to Nazi persecution of gay people. When the direct action advocacy group ACT UP adopted the poster, it became the most recognizable visual symbol of AIDS activism.
May 30, 2024
The Americans With Disabilities Act, 1990, read this introduction to the ADA on the U.S. Department of Justice website
Rodney King beating, March 3, 1991, video. The acquittal of the police officers charged with this beating sparked both riots in Los Angeles and a new national conversation about race and policing.
Pat Buchanan, speech announcing his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, 1992
The Republican Contract with America, September 27, 1994
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Remarks at the United Nations Fourth Women’s Conference in Beijing, China, September 5, 1995
Week 10: Perspectives from the Recent Past
June 4, 2024
Barack Obama, “A More Perfect Union,” speech on March 18, 2008, National Constitution Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Tea Party, Contract From America, 2009
99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film, 2013 (Please watch at least the first 30 minutes of this documentary film. It is available on the UO Library website.)
June 6, 2024
Nikole Hannah-Jones 1619 podcast episode 1, “The Fight for a True Democracy,” August 23, 2019
Amanda Gorman, “The Hill We Climb,” poem read at the inauguration of President Joseph Biden, January 20, 2021
Stacey Abrams on the fight for voting rights, May 4, 2021
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, 2022, excerpt