History 80600

Seminar in U.S. History: Readings in Texas History

Spring 2008

Office: 116 Reed Hall

Phone: 257-7035 (office)

E-mail: g.cantrell@tcu.edu

Office Hours: Tues.-Thurs. 9:30-11:30, and by appointment. I will be here many other hours and will be happy to meet with you any time. However, if it’s not during my official office hours, it’s a good idea to call first and make sure I’m there.

Course Objectives: To read broadly in the field of Texas History and become familiar with the historical events and personalities, scholarly literature, and major historiographical issues in the field; to develop critical thinking and writing skills.

Course Format and Grading: This is primarily a reading class, supplemented by some lecture from the professor. Each week you will have one or more assigned readings. All readings will be discussed in class. For each assigned book (except Texas Through Time), you will be required to write a 3-to-4-page book review (instructions will be provided). The reviews constitute 80% of your semester grade, and you get to drop the lowest one. I will not accept late reviews unless you have secured prior permission from me. Class participation (which includes attendance and participation in class discussion) counts 20% of your semester grade, and it will be used as the decisive factor in borderline cases.

Special Accommodation Request Procedure: If you require accommodations for a disability, please contact the Coordinator for Students with Disabilities, Center for Academic Services, Sadler Hall 11, TCU Box 297710, 817-257-7486. Once you have met with me to deliver and discuss an official accommodations letter from TCU's Academic Services, I will be able to arrange for your modifications related to this course. If you have emergency medical information or need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please discuss this with me as soon as possible.

Required Readings:

Walter L. Buenger and Robert A. Calvert, Texas Through Time: Evolving Interpretations (Texas A&M University Press, 1991.

Jesus F. de la Teja, San Antonio de Béxar: A Community on New Spain’s Northern Frontier (University of New Mexico Press, 1995).

Gregg Cantrell, Stephen F. Austin, Empresario of Texas (Yale University Press, 1999).

James E. Crisp, Sleuthing the Alamo: Davy Crockett’s Last Stand and Other Mysteries of the Texas Revolution (Oxford University Press, 2005).

William Ransom Hogan, The Texas Republic: A Social and Economic History. (1946; reprint ed. Texas State Historical Association, 2006).

Randolph B. Campbell, An Empire for Slavery: The Peculiar Institution in Texas (LSU Press, 1989).

Carl H. Moneyhon, Texas After the Civil War: The Struggle of Reconstruction (Texas A&M University Press, 2004).

Gary Clayton Anderson, The Conquest of Texas: Ethnic Cleansing in the Promised Land, 1820-1875 (University of Oklahoma Press, 2005).

Elizabeth Hayes Turner, Women, Culture, and Community: Religion and Reform in Galveston, 1880-1920 (Oxford University Press, 1997).

Benjamin Heber Johnson, Revolution in Texas: How a Forgotten Rebellion and Its Bloody Suppression Turned Mexicans Into Americans (Yale University Press, 2003).

Rebecca Sharpless, Fertile Ground, Narrow Choices: Women on Texas Cotton Farms, 1900-1945 (University of North Carolina Press, 1999).

Foley, Neil. The White Scourge: Mexicans, Blacks, and Poor Whites in Texas Cotton Culture (University of California Press, 1998).

George Norris Green, The Establishment in Texas Politics: The Primitive Years, 1938-1957 (University of Oklahoma Press, 1979).

Michael Phillips, White Metropolis: Race, Ethnicity, and Religion in Dallas, 1841-2001 (University of Texas Press, 2006).

Optional Reading:

Calvert, De León, and Cantrell, The History of Texas (4th ed.)

Tentative Schedule of Topics and Assignments:

Week 1 (Jan. 15): Indians and Spaniards. Course introduction. Discuss “The Shelf Life of Truth in Texas,” in Texas Through Time (TTT), and Frederick Jackson Turner’s “The Significance of the Frontier in American History.”

Week 2 (Jan. 22): Spanish Texas. Discuss de La Teja, San Antonio de Béxar and Chipman, “Spanish Texas” in TTT. Turn in book review of de la Teja book.

Week 3 (Jan. 29): Mexican Texas. Discuss Cantrell, Stephen F. Austin and Lack, “In the Long Shadow of Eugene C. Barker” in TTT. Turn in book review of Cantrell book.

Week 4 (Feb. 5): The Texas Revolution. Discuss Crisp, Sleuthing the Alamo Austin. Turn in book review of Crisp book.

Week 5 (Feb. 12): The Republic of Texas. Discuss Hogan, The Texas Republic. Turn in book review of Hogan book.

Week 6 (Feb. 19): Annexation to Disunion. Discuss Campbell, An Empire for Slavery and Barr, “African Americans in Texas” in TTT. Turn in book review of Campbell book. Discuss Campbell, An Empire for Slavery. Turn in book review of Campbell book. Review for midterm exam and get book assignments for Week 8.

Week 7 (Feb. 26): Civil War and Reconstruction. Discuss Moneyhon, Texas After the Civil War and Campbell, “Statehood, Civil War, and Reconstruction” in TTT. Turn in book review of Moneyhon book.

Week 8 (March 4): The Post-Civil War Frontier. Discuss Anderson, The Conquest of Texas. Turn in book review of Anderson book.

Spring break

Week 9 (March 18): Gilded-Age Politics and Society. Discuss Postel, The Populist Vision and Calvert, “Agrarian Texas” in TTT. Turn in book review of Postel book.

Week 10 (March 25): Progressivism. Discuss Turner, Women, Culture, and Community and Hill, “Texas Progressivism,” in TTT. Turn in book review of Turner book. .

Week 11 (April 1): The Age of Ferguson. Discuss Johnson, Revolution in Texas and De León, “Texas Mexicans” in TTT. Turn in book review of Johnson book.

Week 12 (April 8): Women and Texas History. Discuss Sharpless, Fertile Ground, Narrow Choices and Downs, “Texas Women” in TTT. Turn in book review of Sharpless book.

Week 13 (April 15): The Texas Economy in the 20th Century. Discuss Foley, The White Scourge and Buenger, “Flight from Modernity” in TTT. Turn in book review of Foley book.

Week 14 (April 22): Modern Texas Politics. Discuss Green, The Establishment in Texas Politics and Hendrickson, “Texas Politics Since the New Deal,” in TTT. Turn in book review of Green book.

Week 15 (April 29): Texas Today and Tomorrow. Discuss Phillips, White Metropolis and Chapter 14 of Calvert/De León/Cantrell, The History of Texas (this will be provided for you if you don’t have a copy of the textbook).