#200 “What, then, Is the American?”

North Carolina Emigrants: Poor White Folk, by James Henry Beard, 1845. Cincinnati Art Museum.

Constitution essay due.

Introduction to unit 2

• Focus is on how political machinery of the Constitution wrestled with the demands of the growing nation, especially in relation to westward expansion and the Native American population.
• Shorter unit than #1, and will end with a simulation rather than an essay.

Opening question

• Who, under this new Constitution, counts as an “American”?

Primary source-based reading

(1) Crèvecoeur, “What, then, Is the American?”

• Read a brief selection from Crèvecoeur, “What, then, Is the American?” (Google Doc)
• Consider the following discussion questions:
  • What characteristics of American life does Crèvecoeur emphasize as being different from European society?
  • What aspects of society, and which parts of the people living in the United States, are left out of his description?

(2) Citizenship in the new republic

• In-class reading: Naturalization Act of 1790 (link here to Google Doc; also in Course Reader)
• Consider the following discussion questions:
  • Who was eligible and not eligible for citizenship under the Naturalization Act?
  • Why would the United States, known as the “asylum for mankind,” restrict opportunity for naturalization?

Homework: #201