Montgomery College

Rockville Campus

Social Sciences and Humanities Area

Department of History and Political Science

 

 

History 105                                                                                    Dr. Alonzo N. Smith

History of Maryland                                                                     Fall,  2008

 

 

SYLLABUS

 

 

Course Description

 

This course is a survey of Maryland political, economic, social and cultural history from the earliest Native Americans to the twenty-first century.  Special attention is focused on the people who came to Maryland and contributed their heritages to the rich social and cultural institutions taking shape in this state.  Maryland is viewed both as a microcosm of American history and as a unique institution with its own special identity.  There will be a particular focus on racial, religious and ethnic diversity as major factors in the state’s strong heritage of progressivism, as well as on significant aspects of the history of Montgomery County.  Students taking this course will be introduced to the various opportunities to utilize their education in community service, as interns and/or volunteers.

 

 

Required Reading

 

Robert J. Brugger, Maryland: A Middle Temperament, 1634-1980, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press and the Maryland Historical Society, 1988.  Available in the Rockville Campus bookstore, and also in the Montgomery County Historical Society bookstore.

 

Selected readings, totaling 15-20 pages, see below.

 

 

Recommended Reading

 

Earl Arnett, Robert J. Brugger, and Edward C. Papenfuse, Maryland: A New Guide to the Old Line State, The Johns Hopkins University Press and the Maryland State Archive, 1999.  On reserve at the Library.

 

 

Reading and Study Schedule

 

Week One, September 3-6                                          Natural Environment and Native Americans

Week Two, September 7-13                                        Early Colonial, 1634-1689

   Brugger, pp. 3-40; “The Act of Toleration”(1649)

Week Three, September 14-20                                    Colonial Development, 1690-1760

  Brugger, 41-83

Week Four, September 21-27                                      From Colony to State, 1730-1781

  Brugger, 84-131;  “The Hungerford Resolves”(1774)

Week Five, September 28-October 4                           The New Nation, 1781-1815

  Brugger, 132-185

Week Six, October 6-11                                              Growth and Development, 1815-1850

  Brugger, 186-247; excerpts from the autobiography of Frederick Douglass (6pp.)

Week Seven,  October 12-18                                      Sectionalism and Civil War, 1850-1865

  Brugger, 248-305; excerpts from the Maryland “Declaration of Rights” (3pp.)

Week Eight, October 19-25                                         Political and Social Transformation, 1865-1895

  Brugger, 248-305

Week Nine, October 26-November 1                          Culture, Politics and Reform, 1876-1912

  Brugger, 363-426

Week Ten, November 2-8                                           Prosperity, Depression and War, 1912-1945

  Brugger, 427-551; H.L. Mencken on the Scopes Trial (4pp.)

Week Eleven, November 9-15                                     Postwar and Late Twentieth Century, 1946-1980

  Brugger, 552-673

Week Twelve, November 16-22                                  From the 20th to the 21st Century, 1980-2008

Week Thirteen, November 23-29                                 Thanksgiving Recess

Week Fourteen, November 30-December 6                 The Contemporary Social and Economic Landscape

  Governor Martin O’Malley’s State of the State Address, January 23, 2008 (3pp.)

Week Fifteen, December 7-13                                     Montgomery County Issues

  Address of County Executive Isiah Leggett (3pp.); Wrap up and review for final

Week Sixteen, December 14-20

FINAL EXAMINATION, Tuesday, December 16, 2:45-4:45pm

 

 

Exams and Grades

 

Attendance and participation                             10%

Three quizzes @ 15%                                       45%

Special project                                                 25%

Final examination                                              20%    

 

 

Special Project

 

Each special project must be approved by the professor.  It may take the form of a research paper, an oral history interview, a video, a site visit report or other research.  All special projects are due on the day of the final exam.

 

 

Course Outcomes

  • Identify the original Native American tribes and analyze their interactions with the first European and African settlers
  • Describe the early growth of the colony
  • Understand the Reformation in European and American colonial history, the role of religion in Maryland colony, and the significance of the Toleration Act of 1649
  • Analyze Maryland’s role as part of the Chesapeake region, and its role in the Revolutionary War
  • Assess the impact of the Industrial Revolution, and the emergence of Baltimore as a major urban area
  • Understand Maryland’s unique role as a “middle ground” in the emergence of sectionalism and the Civil War
  • Trace the continuing industrialization and urbanization of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
  • Compare and contrast the impact of two world wars on the social, cultural, and economic life of the state
  • Identify major forces of change in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries
  • Identify contemporary regional differences within the state, and assess the factors that continue to shape Maryland’s distinctive identity
  • Identify major museums, libraries, archives, and other centers of historical and cultural information
  • Identify major career and volunteer opportunities