Before 1776 - Thinking Backward

Institution:

Bates College

Subject:

Description:

Historians look backward in their efforts to understand any given event, even the most celebrated "beginnings." In this seminar, students look backward from July 4, 1776, and Thomas Jefferson's Declaration to understand how his "truths" could have seemed "self-evident," his "facts," demonstrative. The search begins in the previous month with Jefferson's own draft constitution and George Mason's draft Declaration of Rights for Virginia. The year 1776 had begun with Thomas Paine's Common Sense, and that pamphlet, in turn, had a past, in the polemics that went back to the Stamp Act crisis and before, all of which challenges us to look backward and think backward. Enrollment limited to 15. [W1] J. R. Cole.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.bates.edu/

Phone Number:

(207) 786-6000

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Four-one-four plan

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