Extra Readings
We will read most of these pieces during the course of the semester.
Early settlements and first colonies
The World the Indians made in the Americas
Religious Divisiveness Comes to England
The First Representative Assembly in the British North American Colonies
the makings of the institution of slavery; slave codes, 1642-1705
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa-- Chapters One and Two
Witchcraft allegations in . . . the 21st Century
The Enlightenment and colonial opposition to British rule
The philosophical ideas underpinning America's first governments; Locke and the Enlightenment
No Taxation without Representation; Daniel Dulany and the makings of opposition to colonial rule
observations of former royal governor Thomas Pownall in 1768
A rallying cry for independence; Thomas Paine and Common Sense
The Spirit of '76 and governments of inherent authority
Governments of Inherent Authority by Erwing
the Constitution of North Carolina, 1776
An excerpt from Notes on the State of Virginia by Thomas Jefferson
Turbulent Times, a Contested Election, and America’s Most Revered Supreme Court Opinion by Erwing
direct democracy today and the persistent problem of balancing liberty and stability
The Articles of Confederation
The Constitution of 1787
The Drafting of the Constitution of 1787 by Douglas A. Erwing
James Wilson's State House Yard Speech
An Anti-federalist view: Centinel No. 1
Another Anti-federalist view: Brutus No. VI
Brutus, excerpts from XII, XIII, and XVI
The Bill of Rights as Structural Provisions
Falconbridge: An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa, Chapters X and XI
The Civil War
Joseph E. Brown in Dec. 1860
Stephen's Cornerstone Speech
Lincoln's First Inaugural Address
Davis's First Inaugural Address
The South Carolina Declaration of Causes
Abraham Lincoln on the meaning of the Declaration of Independence
Mao’s Mausoleum and Lincoln’s Memorial—a comment from a diary entry
The meaning of freedom: Jourdan Anderson writes a letter to his former master