HY 278
Block 2, 1997
S.A. Ashley
The course deals with the period defined by the two great revolutions
which have shaped the modern experience: the Industrial Revolution and the
French Revolution. We will examine the origins and the development of these
revolutions and explore their impact on the organization of society, on
patterns of authority, on popular values and attitudes, and on ways of thinking
about the self and about change.
Students are expected to do all the required reading, to participate
actively in class discussion and to present two essays. The first (6-8 pages)
addresses either the causes or the consequences of the French Revolution,
using contrasting interpretations as a basis for analysis. For the second
you write a research essay(10-12 pages) focused on a particular aspect of
life in the period and based as much as possible on primary accounts.
Required Reading
Tocqueville THE OLD REGIME AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
Bosher THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
Tilly & Scott WOMEN, WORK, AND FAMILY
Balzac PERE GORIOT
Mill ON LIBERTY
Goethe FAUST (Pt. 1)
Stearns 1848: THE REVOLUTIONARY TIDE IN EUROPE
Class Sessions
Mon., Sept. 29 Europe on the eve of the Revolution
Tues., Sept. 30 The Old Regime
Begin Tocqueville
Wed., Oct. 1 Why?
Tocqueville (finish)
Bosher: 3-4
Thurs., Oct. 2 How? The Bastille
Bosher: 5-6
"Danton"
Fri., Oct. 3 Terror and Virtue
Bosher: 7-9
Mon, Oct. 6 Thermidor and the Directory: the road back
Bosher: 10-12
Soboul, Cobban
Tues., Oct. 7 Napoleon's Europe
First Essays Due
Wed., Oct.8 The Industrial Revolution
Begin Tilly & Scott
Thurs., Oct.9 Gender and society
Tilly & Scott (finish)
Landes
Fri., Oct. 10 Laboring classes, dangerous classes Engels (selections)
Begin Balzac
Mon., Oct. 13 Rise of the middle class
Balzac (finish)
Tues., Oct.14 Liberal thought
Mill: all
Wed., Oct. 15 Work on essays
Thurs., Oct.16 Romanticism and Realism
Fri., Oct. 17 Thurs.: "Frankenstein;" begin Goethe
Fri.: Goethe (finish)
Mon., Oct., 20 Anatomy of revolution
Stearns: Pts. I-II
Tues., Oct. 21 1848: end or beginning?
Stearns: Pts. III-IV
Wed., Oct. 22 Second Essays due