Kris Maulden's Questions - April 27/28

This week you'll need to finish Clotel and those of you writing on Charlotte Temple will be turning in your papers. After reviewing the papers some of you have written, we'll consider the following questions:

1. What examples do you see of slaves fighting back against their masters or showing what they think about slavery? What do these suggest to you about day-to-day life in slavery, either as an owner or as a slave?

2. Suppose you are a white slaveholder reading this novel in the 1850s. What would you think of the novel's details? How would you respond to some of the statements in it, and how would you make your views known?

Kris Maulden's Questions - April 20/21

This week we'll be discussing pp. 49-164 of William Wells Brown's Clotel. Also, you should read pp. 8-17, which explains the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings that is the basis for the novel. You'll also need to read it to understand some parts of the lectures on slavery, so be sure to get to it. With all of that said, here are the questions:

1. What similarities and differences do you see between Brown's autobiography and the first half of the novel? Where does the novel allow him to expand on his own feelings and experiences with slavery to criticize it?

2. This question is more philosophical, but it is worth discussing. The University of Missouri's policy on sexual harassment (for your own knowledge, you can find the whole policy here) forbids University students and staff from any actions that may "create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment." Harvard's policy reminds "those with authority not to abuse, nor to seem to abuse, the power with which they are entrusted." With that in mind, is there something fundamentally wrong with relationships between Jefferson and Hemings (or any slaveholder and his slave)? More specifically, is it possible for Sally Hemings to consent of her free will? If not, then what does that say about Jefferson and other slaveholders who did the same thing with their slaves?

Questions on William Wells Brown and Slavery

A few students have already said that they are enjoying Clotel, which is great to hear. Of course, there has been a grumble or two- but be cool my babies, press on! Ok, moving on to the William Wells Brown novel, here are a few questions for you to ponder, answer, and come to class ready to discuss. Note: If several students have asked questions by the time you go to post something, try addressing the student questions.

1. Thinking about the T.J. and Sally Hemings controversy, why is it that historians have chosen to both acknowledge and bury this information? What did it mean for the citizens of the early republic to think that their president and founder had fathered children with one of his slaves? What does it mean for modern students of history, or even the general History Channel audience?

2. What specifically can you learn about slavery as an institution from the autobiographical chapter and the body of the novel? What was the nature of the relationship between master and slave?

3. Why do you think the author chose to write in the style (both "factual" reporting and analogous) that he did? What do you think was the purpose of the story of Salome?

Jeffersonian popular culture mentioned in lectures

Here are links to two bits of popular culture that Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republican allies and fans used against the Federalists (and in favor of Jefferson) during the campaigns of 1792, 1800, and after.

• A satire: "Rules for changing a limited republican government into an unlimited hereditary one" (National Gazette, 1792)
• A song: "Jefferson and Liberty" (1800)
  

Road map for next week

The lectures are going to jump around slightly as we move into these last 3 weeks. After "The Jeffersonian Experiment" section we will be moving straight to "The Cotton Kingdom" (you should be past this section in the textbook if you have kept the schedule on the syllabus). Then we will pick up the key bits of everything else as much as we can in the last couple of weeks.

"Clotel" reading assignment

Besides the novel, you should read as much as you can in parts 2 & 3 of the "Cultural Contexts" section in the back. (Part 1 will be helpful to those writing papers on Clotel.) I recommend all of part 2 and part 3 at least up through p. 459.

Reading assignment for sections...(Lee)

As mentioned last week, be sure you begin reading Clotel this week. For Thurs./Fri try to be through the chapter XV "To-day a Mistress, Tomorrow a Slave" (page 152). Discussion questions coming tomorrow.

Paper questions on W.W. Brown's "Clotel" and related documents

Here are some paper questions relating to William Wells Brown's Clotel or The President's Daughter, or in some cases, the appended comments. Since we are getting to this topic so late in the semester, we are willing to entertain the idea of giving students who want to write on one of these topics a little extra time. Talk to your TA. As Rick suggests elsewhere on the blog, your reading of the novel will be greatly facilitated and enriched by reading up on the Sally Hemings-Thomas Jefferson controversy on the Monticello web site:

• What liberties did Williams Wells Brown take in fictionalizing the story of Thomas Jefferson and the Hemings family? What elements seem to come from Brown's own life and from the political purposes of the book?
• Clotel is generally considered the first known novel by an African American. Review and analyze it in that context. How did Brown's book reflect the experience and concerns of his generation of African Americans?
  
• Compare and contrast Clotel with another more popular early American novel: Susanna Rowson's Charlotte Temple or Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.
  
• Analyze Clotel as a contribution to the abolitionists' political campaign against slavery. What particular abolitionist themes, arguments, and tactics does the book embrace, and which ones does it reject?
  
• Drawing on the rest of the course materials and the documents included with Clotel, give your own reasoned and well-documented view of Thomas Jefferson's place in American history. Does Jefferson deserve his reputation as a hero in the cause of liberty, was he a fraud who should be removed from our national pedestal, or somewhere in between?
  
• Taking Frederick Douglass's speech "What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?" (beginning on page 253 of "Clotel") as your starting point, think about how you would explain early U.S. history (1774-1860) to an African American child. Was Douglass's approach the best and most accurate way for African Americans to think of this period? Why or why not? What alternatives would you suggest?
  

Another Rowson paper question

Here is another question you may use to write papers on Charlotte Temple:

• We have discussed the greatly elevated moral and cultural standing American women enjoyed in the wake of the Revolution, along with much greater access to basic education. Susanna Rowson was a great supporter and beneficiary of these trends. Does the novel reflect that in any way? Can it be given any sort of feminist or pro-female reading?

Clotel questions coming shortly. The other Charlotte Temple questions can be found here.

"The Revolution of 1800"

Anyone answering the questions below about Jefferson's claim that his election to the presidency represented a "Revolution of 1800" should read the letters in which he makes that claim. (I just posted these in the online reader.) The question I would like the honors section (and anyone else) to answer is, was Jefferson's claim remotely accurate? What arguments can be made for and against it? If you want to find what I think about this question, an article I wrote on it is available on my web site.

Discussion topics for 4/13-14

Make sure you've read the online reader unit 6 and the Revolution of 1800 documents that Professor Pasley will post before Thursday.

1. Following Kris's excellent question on the necessary and proper clause, let's look at another Federalist policy that has become increasingly visible in discussions surrounding the current presidential administration, the Alien and Sedition acts. Several columns and editorials have compared the Patriot Act to the Alien and Sedition Acts. On what basis can these comparisons be made? Are they accurate?

2. Once again living off the scraps from Kris's table, was there a political basis for calling the election of 1800 a "revolution" or was this spinning at its earliest and finest? Consider from Nash how politically, socially, or even diplomatically the Jeffersonian presidency can make arugments for both.

3. Finally, as we begin to move into discussions of slavery and reading the novel Clotel, take a look at this summary of the Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings controversy from Monticello.org.

Kris Maulden's Sections - April 13/14

This week, we'll be discussing chapter 8 in the textbook and unit 6 of the online reader. My questions are fairly broad, so those of you who still need to make your postings (remember, you have to post at least twice this semester) should be able to add more detailed questions or give responses. As for the questions, here they are:

1. Thomas Jefferson and his Republican allies referred to the election of 1800 as a revolution rather than a change in administrations. Why do you think they would make such a claim? (Hint: focus on what they thought about the American Revolution and the Federalists and/or on how you think they defined the word revolution).

2. In the online readings, Hamilton says his bank plan is constitutional because "necessary and proper" meant "useful, or conducive to" the government's interests, and Jefferson replies by saying that Hamilton's interpretation would allow the new federal government "a power to do whatever evil they please" by simply saying their actions were in the country's best interests. Do you see any similarities between the argument over the Bank of the United States and the constitutional discussions about current issues, especially wiretapping and the war in Iraq? Or do you think there are fundamental differences between the issues that are just as important, if not more so?

Rick's Office Hours this Week

Welcome back everyone- now get to studying! For those of who are feeling anxious about exam #2, I will be in my office on Wed. from 3:30-5:00 and the normal hours on Thurs. from 3:00-5:00.