Courses
Inventing America: How Art and Literature Shaped American Identity, ZOOM online class
This survey course will explore the idea of ‘nation’ and the emergence of our unique American identity through the eyes of its artists and writers. The active imagination of American artists and writers both shaped—and were shaped—by political, social and economic factors throughout our history. Art on this side of the Atlantic turned to our vast landscapes, diverse regional cultures and expanding cities with their melting pot communities, to define and differentiate itself. In turn, literature sought to capture the unique traits of the American persona, as we came to terms with the vast horizons and opportunities of the North American continent. The Laws of Nature, God, Man and urban life will frame the debate. The course includes a reading list for class discussion, and a range of images and music from the period will be considered.
Instructor: Richard Friswell
Date: Wednesdays, November 24, December 1, 8, 15, 22
Time: 6:30-8:30 pm
Location: ZOOM online course
Cost: $125
History
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Syllabus Course Syllabus : suggested sources of information to enhance class experience
“Inventing America: How Art and Literature Helped Shape American Identity”
Instructor- Richard J. Friswell
Class 1
Native America—Civilizations Found and Lost (“The Laws of Nature”)
Readings: Creation narrative Pima (1694)
https://viva.pressbooks.pub/amlit1/chapter/pima-story-of-creation/
Columbus' letter to the King and Queen of Spain, 1494
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/columbus2.asp
Ferdinand (Hernán) Cortés, The Splendid Narrative…of New Spain (1520), Letter #2
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1520cortes.asp
King Ferdinand's letter to the Taino-Arawak Indians http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/before-1600/king-ferdinands-letter-to-the-taino-arawak-indians.php
Thomas Harriot, Report on New Found Land of Virginia (1588). Last section only, “Of the nature and manners of the people”: https://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/hariot/hariot.html
European Settlements—East Coast Theocracies & Economic Growth (“The Laws of God”)
Readings: William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation (1637)
https://www.litcharts.com/lit/of-plymouth-plantation/summary
Cotton Mather, A People of God in the Devil’s Territory (1692)
http://www.romans45.org/mather/devil.htm
Samuel Sewell, Diary of the Salem Witch Trials (excerpt, 1692)
https://www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?item_id=2312&pid=15
Class 2
Enlightenment Values & Birth of the American Idea (“The Laws of Man”)
Readings: Thomas Paine, Common Sense (Excerpts), 1776
https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1127
Benjamin Franklin, Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America (1784)
https://pdcrodas.webs.ull.es/fundamentos/FranklinRemarksConcerningTheSavagesOfNorthAmerica.pdf
George Washington, Farewell Address (1796)
- Hector deCrevecour, “Letters from an American Farmer,” What is an
American? Letter III (1782). Will discuss highlights in class
Red Jacket, Speech to the U.S. Senate (1809)
https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.04702500/?st=text
Nationalist Fervor: The Hudson River Rises (early-to-mid 19th century)
Readings: James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers (1832)
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance (1841). Try just a sampling for class:
https://lhsela.weebly.com/uploads/7/9/0/8/7908073/_emerson_self_reliance_excepts.pdf
Class 3
The Mississippi River: “Body of the Nation” and the Civil War Era (mid-19th c.)
Readings: Harriet Jacobs, Slave Girl (1861)
https://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/jacobs/summary.html
Westward Expansion & Manifest Destiny (mid-to-late 19th century)
Readings: Alvin M. Josephy (ed.), Lewis & Clark through Indian Eyes. Roberta Conner, “Our
People Have Always Been Here” (2002), pages 87-105.
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, “Pioneers, O Pioneers” (1865)
https://whitmanarchive.org/published/LG/1891/poems/99
The West & Pacific- The Antebellum Years (1865-1900)
Readings: Frederick Turner, “The Frontier in American History” (1893)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontier_thesis
Theodore Roosevelt, “True Americanism” (1897). Sample the flavor of his appeal to readers in thiss essay, published just a week before his death:
https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/true-americanism-the-forum-magazine/
Class 4
Rise of the Cities- Old World Meets New (“Law of the Urban Realm”)
Readings: Richard Wright, Native Son (1940)
Class 5
New York- Gateway to the American Dream
Readings: Film: Paul Strand, Charles Sheeler, Manhatta (1921).
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” (1856).
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45470/crossing-brooklyn-ferry
E.B. White, Here is New York (1949). Excerpts read in class.
Marshall Berman, “Robert Moses: The Expressway World,” in, All That Is Solid Melts
Into Air: The Experience of Modernity (1982). Excerpts read in class.
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NOTE: The two assigned texts remain optional, but having first-hand knowledge of some or all of these classic texts may enhance your class experience (Ck your library or Amazon ‘used’ for pennies on the dollar:
James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers (1832) [WEEK 2]
Richard Wright, Native Son (1940) [WEEK 4]