INTRODUCTION

This course will examine the development of Urban America from colonial times to the middle of the 19th century. It will emphasize the origins and growth of the pre-industrial and early industrial city, the interaction between urban residents and their environment, and the impact made by the cities on the life of the nation. Classes will be conducted through a combination of lecture and discussion.

There will be a cumulative final examination and an optional take-home midterm (the latter would be 20% of a student s final grade), which will draw together material covered in the lectures, readings and discussions. In addition, undergraduates will do one of the following:

1. a 3-5 page review of one of the assigned readings (20% of final grade);

2. a 4-6 page review of an unassigned book found on the supplementary reading list (30%);
3. a 10-15 page term paper (40%).
4. Graduate Students have the option of doing either reviews of two unassigned books (30%) or a term paper (40%).

Students wishing to do a term paper must receive prior approval of the topic from me. (All papers are due December 4.)

Reading will be assigned from the books listed below. All have been placed on reserve in the library and except for Tunnard and Reed can also be purchased in relatively inexpensive editions at the Ugly bookstore. Those marked with an * will be read in their entirety.

1. Christopher Tunnard and Henry Reed, AMERICAN SKYLINE



2. Robert Gross, THE MINUTEMEN AND THEIR WORLDS*



3. Richard C. Wade, THE URBAN FRONTIER*



4. Charles Rosenberg, THE CHOLERA YEARS*



5. Oscar Handlin, BOSTON'S IMMIGRANTS*



6. Roger W. Lotchin, SAN FRANCISCO 1846-1856: FROM HAMLET TO CITY



7. Allan Dawley, CLASS AND COMMUNITY: THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN LYNN*



8. Suzanne Lebsock, THE FREE WOMEN OF PETERSBURG*

CLASS SCHEDULE

WEEK I -- Looking at Urban History

• Tunnard and Reed, AMERICAN SKYLINE, pp. 15-31.

Tuesday, August 25:
Course Aims, Assignments and the State of Urban History

Thursday, August 27:
The Reasons for Cities

WEEK II -- City Planning in the Old World and the New

• Tunnard and Reed, pp. 32-48;
• Begin Gross, MINUTEMEN AND THEIR WORLD.

Tuesday, September 1:
Slide Lecture on the European Background of American City Planning

Thursday, September 3:
Slide Lecture on City Planning in Early America

WEEK III -- Settling In

• Continue Gross.

Tuesday, September 8:
Urban Growth in Colonial America During the Formative Years

Thursday, September 10:
Problems of Urban Living to the mid-18th Century

WEEK IV -- The City and the Coming of the American Revolution

• Finish Gross;
• Begin Wade THE URBAN FRONTIER;
• Tunnard and Reed, pp. 49-65.

Tuesday, September 15:
Urban Society on the Eve of Revolution

Thursday, September 17:
Vanguard of the Revolution

WEEK V -- The City in the New Nation

• Continue Wade.

Tuesday, September 22:
Unifying Force

Thursday, September 24:
The Two Wests

WEEK VI -- The Transportation Revolution:  ,North and South

• Finish Wade;
• Tunnard and Reed, pp. 66-89;
• Begin Dawley, CLASS AND COMMUNITY.

Tuesday, September 29:
Urban Rivalry and Urban Imperialism

Thursday, October 1:
The two Souths

WEEK VII -- From Dependence on Commerce to Industrial Revolution

• Continue Dawley.

Tuesday, October 6:
The Roots of Texan Urbanization

Thursday, October 8:
Urbanization and Industrialization

WEEK VIII -- Confronting the Problems of Urban Growth

• Finish Dawley.
• Optional Take-Home midterm to be handed out in class on Thursday, October 13; due in class Tuesday, October 20.

Tuesday, October 13:
Urbanization, Industrialization and Mobility

Thursday, October 15:
N0 CLASS

WEEK IX -- More Problems

• Begin Rosenberg, THE CHOLERA YEARS.

Tuesday, October 20:
The City in American Thought

Thursday, October 22:
The First Discovery of Poverty

WEEK X -- More Problems

• Finish Rosenberg.

Tuesday, October 27:
Water and Health

Thursday, October 29:
Law and order

WEEK XI -- Still More Problems

• Begin Handlin, BOSTON'S IMMIGRANTS.

Tuesday, November 3:
Preserving Open Spaces

Thursday, November 5:
Public Education and Social Control

WEEK XII -- The Fruits of Mobility

• Continue Handlin.

Tuesday, November 10:
Transportation and the Emergence of the Modern American City

Thursday, November 12:
NO CLASS

WEEK XIII -- Indelible Immigrants

• Finish Handlin;
• Begin Lotchin, SAN FRANCISCO.

Tuesday, November 17:
Immigrants and Cities

Thursday, November 19:
Northern Urban Blacks

WEEK XIV -- Peculiar Institution

• Finish Lotchin.
• Begin, Lebsock, FREE WOMEN OF PETERSBURG

Tuesday, November 24:
Southern Urban Blacks

Thursday November 26:
NO CLASS

WEEK XV -- The Urban Impact on National Life 1820-1860

• Continue Lebsock.
• Tunnard and Reed, pp. 90-117;
• papers due Friday, December 4.

Tuesday, December 1:
The Urban Dimension of Early 19th Century Reform

Thursday, December 3:
The Southern City and the Coming of the Civil War

WEEK XVI -- Civil War and a Visual Overview

• Finish Lebsock.

Tuesday, December 8:
The Northern City and the Coming of the Civil War