- As you will see below, we will cover a number readings each week in this course.
- However, as you can also see, they are quite short (usually no more than 2-3 pages each and sometimes only 1 page each).
- Moreover, students will have options on which readings they can choose to focus on in preparing the written assignments that are required for this course.
Weeks 1 & 2 (WHITTINGTON Chapters 1-3)
Chapter 1: Introduction to American Political Thought (Week 1)
(pp 1-12)
Chapter 2: The Colonial Era, Before 1776 (Week 2)
Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776) (pp. 33-38)
Mayflower Compact (1620) (p. 40)
William Henry Drayton, Letters of Freeman (1769) (pp. 50-51)
Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence (1776) (pp. 77-80)
Chapter 3: The Founding Era, 1776–1791 (Week 2 cont'd)
John Adams, Thoughts on Government (1776) (pp. 87-89)
Thomas Jefferson, An Act for Establishing Religious Freedom (1777) (pp. 92-93)
Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Papers (1787) (pp. 94-99)
James Madison, Federalist Papers (1787) (pp. 100-110)
Weeks 3 & 4 (WHITTINGTON Chapters 4, 5 & 6)
Chapter 4: The Early National Era, 1791–1828 (Week 3)
Thomas Jefferson, Letter to a Committee of the Danbury Baptists (1802) (pp. 170-170)
John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison (1803) (pp. 171-173)
Alexander Hamilton, First Report on Public Credit (1790) (pp. 206-209)
Alexander Hamilton, Report on Manufactures (1791) (pp. 2010-2016)
John Quincy Adams, Speech on Independence Day (1821) (pp. 225- 226)
James Monroe, Seventh Annual Message (1823) (pp. 227-230)
Chapter 5 The Jacksonian Era, 1829–1860 (Week 4)
Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience (1849) (pp. 238-242)
John C. Calhoun, A Disquisition on Government (1850) (pp. 243-249)
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Politics (1844) (pp. 257-261)
Frederick Douglass, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? (1852) (pp. 272-275)
Abraham Lincoln, Speech at New Haven (1860) (pp. 282-283)
Andrew Jackson, Veto of the Bank Bill (1832) (pp. 285-287)
Henry Clay, Speech on the American System (1832) (pp, 288-290)
Andrew Jackson, Speech on Indian Removal (1830) (pp. 298-300)
Chapter 6 Secession, Civil War, and Reconstruction, 1861–1876 (Week 4 cont'd)
Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address (1861) (pp. 314-317)
Thaddeus Stevens, Speech on the Reconstruction Acts (1867) (pp. 318-320)
Jefferson Davis, Farewell to the Senate (1860) (pp. 322-324)
Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address (1865) (pp. 325-326)
Frederick Douglass, Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln (1876) (pp. 340-342)
Susan B. Anthony, Is It a Crime for a Citizen of the United States to Vote? (1873) (pp. 343-346)
Weeks 5 & 6 (WHITTINGTON Chapters 7, 8, 9)
Chapter 7 The Gilded Age, 1877–1900 (Week 5)
Francis Parkman, The Failure of Universal Suffrage (1878) (pp. 368-369)
Henry Cabot Lodge, Speech to the Senate on Literacy Tests (1896) (pp. 382-383)
Grover Cleveland, Literacy Test Veto (1897) (pp. 384-385)
Booker T. Washington, Atlanta Exposition Address (1895) (pp. 390-392)
Andrew Carnegie, The Gospel of Wealth (1889) (pp. 405-407)
Chapter 8 The Progressive Era, 1901–1932 (Week 5 cont'd)
Theodore Roosevelt, The New Nationalism (1910) (pp. 432-435)
Woodrow Wilson, The New Freedom (1913) (pp.436-439)
John Dewey, The Public and its Problems (1927) (pp. 440-445)
W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (1903) (pp. 456-461)
Jane Addams, If Men Were Seeking the Franchise (1913) (pp. 462-464)
Chapter 9 The New Deal Era, 1933–1950 (Week 6)
Herbert Hoover, Rugged Individualism Speech (1928) (pp. 505-507)
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Commonwealth Club Address (1932) (pp. 508-512)
John Dewey, Liberalism and Social Action (1935) (pp. 520-522)
Ralph J. Bunche, A Critical Analysis of the Tactics and Programs of Minority Groups (1935) (pp. 531-532)
Huey P. Long, Every Man a King (1934) (pp. 541-543)
George F. Kennan, The Sources of Soviet Conduct (1947) (pp. 547-550)
Harry S. Truman, Address before a Joint Session of Congress (1947) (pp.551-553)
Week 7 (WHITTINGTON Chapters 10 & 11)
Civil Rights and the Great Society, 1951–1980 (Week 7)
Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom (1962) (pp. 569-570)
John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (1971) (pp. 579-582)
Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham City Jail (1963) (pp. 597-601)
Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream Speech (1963) (pp. 602-604)
Malcolm X, The Ballot or the Bullet (1964) (pp. 605-609)
John Kenneth Galbraith, American Capitalism (1952) (pp. 618-619)
Hans J. Morgenthau, In Defense of the National Interest (1952) (pp. 624-626)
J. William Fulbright, The Arrogance of Power (1966) (pp. 630-634)
Recent Politics, 1981–Present (Week 7 cont'd)
Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address (1981) (pp. 640-642)
Irving Kristol, The Neoconservative Persuasion (2003) (pp. 660-661)
Thomas Sowell, Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality? (1984) (pp. 666-667
Thurgood Marshall, Bicentennial Speech (1987) (pp. 668-670)
Richard A. Posner, The Economics of Justice (1981) (pp. 678-679)
Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations? (1993) (pp. 690-692)
Noam Chomsky, Understanding Power (2002) (pp. 693-699)