131-200 Creating America: Immigration, Class, and Conflict in New England and New York

Note

Available as 131-300 at 3rd-year level.

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Subject Description

The subject has two broadly related themes. These are immigration, and the evolution of a class based society. The subject studies how immigrants coped with the environment they found in the New World, and in so doing how they created "America." The subject will begin with an examination of the Puritans and the world they created in New England, with students visiting historical sites such as Plymouth Plantation and Harvard University, and examining some of the papers and documents held at these sites. This combination of physical sites and documentary evidence continues throughout the subject, as students follow each new wave of migration to Boston and New York. For instance, students will trace the Irish working class experience through visits to Ellis Island, the Tenement Museum, and the New York Fire Department Museum, then examine written material held at the U.S. Dept of Labour Library. Similar material relating to the African-American experience is available in Harlem at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and by examining these materials students can form an understanding not only of the lives Irish-American and African-American workers lived, but how they fought with employers and the authorities to improve their lives. This working class experience will be contrasted with ways in which elites used their wealth to promote a capitalist vision for America.

Assessment

Written work consisting of exercises totalling 2000 words in Boston and New York, and an essay of 3000 words written after the field work is completed.