#1 America and the Birth of the Modern World
1788-1800 Twelve Years that Changed the World

Monday - 10:00 a.m.                                                          Fall Term 2008 (14 weeks)
Coordinator:  Mel Leventhal                                           Co-Coordinator:  Allen Moss

Course Description
1788-1800:  Twelve Years that Changed the World
“It is the age that gave birth to the modern world.  It is arguably one of the most significant eras in all of human history.  It is, too, comprised of a galaxy of humankind’s greatest thinkers and doers, not to mention the most idealistic generation ever witnessed, people bound and determined to alter the very course of civilization-for good or evil.

Over a mere ten years a great dynasty would be toppled:  a savage world war stretching from Europe to the Middle East and the Caribbean, would be fought and the most civilized country in the world would be plunged into chaos.  Revolution, liberalism, democracy, republicanism, nationalism-all would irretrievably rise in this period and all would formally take root.  But, just as profoundly, so too would authoritarianism, becoming firmly implanted in the world’s largest empire and sealing the end of “the great experiment” that sought to provide enlightened monarchial rule.  Meanwhile, in another troubled pocket of the globe, Muslims and Christians would bitterly collide in a Holy War.  And the world’s newest republic, itself tested by three rebellions and bitter discord, would almost miraculously survive a tumultuous infancy.
As the 1790s began, America entered the most critical period in its lifespan, Russia towered as one of the great imperial powers of Europe, and France fell into a monumental revolution.  But contrary to the way conventional historians tell it, none of these remarkable events fell in isolation.”

The above quotation is from the core book that we will be using , Jay Winik‘s, The Great Upheaval, America and the Birth of the Modern World .Some of the topics that we will discuss are:  the enlightenment, anatomy of a revolution, ideas of revolution, stages of revolution, the revolution in America, the founding fathers, lessons learned from England, the French revolution, Russia and Catherine the great, liberal and conservative reactions to revolution, and comparisons of consequences and differences in America and France.

Topics
Week 1, 9/8:  Prelude, the background leading to change.
Part 1, the promise of America
Week 2, 9/15:  chapter 1, Evacuation day and the problems of starting a new nation.
Week 3, 9/22:  chapter 2, Russia, Catherine the great, Crimea, and the Ottomans.
Week 4, 9/29:  chapter 3, France prologue to revolution, and Louis XVI.
Part 2, Turmoil
Week 5, 10/6:  chapter 4, America, the beginning of the young republic and the problem of slavery.
Week 6, 10/13:  chapter 5, Russia, Potemkin, the Turks, and European intrigue.
Week 7, 10/20:  chapter 6, France, Louis XVI, rebellion and revolution, the fall of the             monarchy.
Part 3, Terror
Week 8, 10/27:  chapter 7, France, the terror and the trial.
Week 9, 11/3:  chapter 8, Russia, Ismael, Pugachev rebellion, Kosciuszco.
Week 10, 11/10:  chapter 9, France, Execution of Louis XVI, Roberspierre, Death of Marie             Antoinette
Week 11, 11/17:  chapter 10, Death of Catherine the Great, The Polish Revolution
Part 4, A World Transformed
Week 12, 11/24:  chapter 11, Hamilton, Jefferson, Genet, the whiskey rebellion, the Jay treaty         and the exit of Washington.
Week 13, 12/1:  chapter 12, John Adams and the importance of the transfer of the presidency.
Week 14, 12/8:  Epilogue, The founding.

Bibliography

Core Book:
Winik, Jay.  Great Upheaval, America and the Birth of the Modern World 1788-1800.  Harper-Collins, 2007.

Pre-Meeting:  Monday August 18, 2008; 10:00 a.m.