History 393

Fall 1999                                                                                Tulane University
Instructor: Dr. Edwin Lyon                                                    Tuesday 5:45-8:25 pm
e-mail: edwinlyon@earthlink.net                                         Office hours: by appointment
Phone: 862-2038
Course web site:http://home.earthlink.net/~edwinlyon/syllabus.htm

Course Description

This course is a multidisciplinary approach to the history of the Lower Mississippi River Valley.  We will investigate the Valley's environmental, cultural, social and material histories.  The course will approach the Mississippi River Valley from the perspectives of history, space, environment, architecture, technology, and archaeology.

There are no prerequisites for this course other than a curiosity about one of the world's most important and fascinating rivers.

My major goal in this course is for you to develop an understanding of the Mississippi River Valley from prehistory to the present.  Emphasis will be on the Lower Mississippi River Valley below Cairo but the Upper Valley will also be discussed.

In addition to your reading for this course, I will provide a visual approach to the River through videos, slides, and Powerpoint presentations.  I hope that you will learn to see the River in a new way.

Please pay close attention to the location of important sites.  In my view, the spatial dimension is an important part of the history of the Mississippi River Valley.  Events and processes do not occur in abstract space, but at specific locations.  In other words, history takes place.

Textbooks

• John Barry.  Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America.  Touchstone Books, 1997.
• Mark Twain.  Life on the Mississippi.  Bantam Books, 1997.
• Daniel Usner.  Indians, Settlers, and Slaves in a Frontier Exchange Economy: The Lower Mississippi Valley before 1783.  University of North Carolina Press, 1982.
• John F. McDermott, ed.  Before Mark Twain: A Sampler of Old, Old Times on the Mississippi.  Southern Illinois University Press, 1968.

Paper

A paper of approximately 10 double-spaced typed pages is required. Illustrations (photos, etc.) will enhance the paper but are in addition to the 10 page written requirement.  The paper should be based on your visit to a historic site related to the history of the Mississippi River Valley.  It should integrate your site visit, reading about the site, class notes, and your research into primary/secondary sources into a well-written paper.  The paper is due on December 7.  You will make an oral presentation of your paper to the class on November 30.  The format of the presentation will depend on the number of students in the class and will be announced later.

The site might be a recognized historic site such as a plantation or it could be a place important in the history of the Mississippi River Valley.  Locations in or around New Orleans are acceptable but do not hesitate to visit sites in the Atchafalaya Basin or up the River Road if you prefer.  Please discuss your visit and projected paper topic with me before you make your selection.

Your paper should have two major components: a review of the site and placement of it into a broad historic context.  A paper lacking one of these elements is not acceptable.

The site review component should describe the site and evaluate it.  Your personal reaction could be a part of the evaluation but only a small part of your investigation of the site.  Include your appraisal of the site's procedures to communicate with the public, including interpreters, guides, and written material.

Second, you should place the site in a broad context.  You should explicitly relate the site to the Mississippi River Valley.  Your paper should focus on some theme or problem in the history of the Mississippi River Valley.  For example, if you visit a plantation you might investigate the broad topic of the plantation economy or some more specific topic.  A visit to Bonnet Carré could be tied into research on floods and flood control.  Locks such as the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal Lock or Harvey Lock are important in the themes of navigation and economic development.

Examples of sites to visit can be found in several books:

• Mary Ann Sternberg, Along the River Road: Past and Present on Louisiana's Historic Byway (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1996).
• Lori Erickson, The Mighty Mississippi: A Traveler's Guide (Old Saybrook: Globe Pequot Press, 1995)
• Roulhac Toledano, The National Trust Guide to New Orleans (New York: Wiley, 1996)
• Shirley N. C. Holl. Louisiana Dayride: 52 Short Trips from New Orleans. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1995.

Examinations

A midterm exam and a final exam are required for this course. The midterm will include both short, essay questions, and identification of slides.  Examinations will include material from the lectures and the readings. The midterm is scheduled for October 12.

Grades

Course grades will be based on:

Midterm exam            35%
Paper                          30%
Final exam                  35%

Course Policies and Procedures

This course will be conducted by lectures with discussion of the readings at appropriate points in the semester. Several videos will be shown to provide different views of the river. Slides and Powerpoint presentations will be used to illustrate selected elements of the course.

Attendance.  I will take attendance occasionally. Material from lectures (both oral and visual) will be tested in the examinations.

Late assignments.  My desire to give good grades will be reduced if papers are turned in late without good reason.

Academic honesty.  I expect that students will follow the requirements of academic honesty stated in the Tulane University catalog.

Schedule of Classes and Reading Assignments

You should complete the reading assignments by the dates specified. The topics listed in the Schedule will be covered in the course but not necessarily on the date shown if we move faster or slower than I anticipate.

September 7.  Introduction to course

September 14.  The Natural Mississippi River Valley

· Twain, Life on the Mississippi, chapters 1-21.

September 21.  The Colonial River

· Usner, Indians, Settlers, and Slaves in a Frontier Exchange Economy.

September 28. Antebellum River Improvement I

· McDermott, Before Mark Twain, ix-xxvii, 3-111.

October 5. Antebellum River Improvement II

· · Barry, Rising Tide, 13-168; McDermott, Before Mark Twain, 170-199.

October 12.  Midterm Exam

October 19.   Mississippi Valley Culture

October 26.  Modern River Improvement I

· Twain, Life on the Mississippi, chapter 22-60.

November 2.  Modern River Improvement II

· Barry, Rising Tide, 169-426.

November 9.  The Environment, Industralization, the Environmental Movement, and Environmental Justice

November 16.  Preserving the History of the Mississippi Valley

November 23.  Beyond the Mississippi: The Mississippi River in American Culture and in Comparative Perspective

· McDermott, Before Mark Twain, 112-147, 200-292,  illustrations between p. 158 and p. 159.

November 30. Site Visit Presentations

Paper due

December 7. Conclusion

December 14.  Final Exam.  6:00-9:00 pm.