ARLET 206: George Washington--“The Indispensable Man”
 Drew University
 Summer 2002
 M/W: 6:00-8:30
 Dr. William Rogers
 work: (973)408-3283

Course Description: Thomas Flexnor titles his biography of Washington, The Indispensable Man, and Robert Leckie called his volume on the Revolutionary War, George Washington’s War. Though scholars and laymen may equally cringe to hear Washington called the Father of His Country, these books and many more—as well as countless places, schools, and streets named for Washington—are compelling testimony to the fact that most Americans do indeed see Washington as the father of the nation. This course will explore Washington’s life and legacies, with special attention to the Revolutionary War, the Constitutional Convention and his presidency. The guiding principle will be to attempt to go beyond the marble statues and the Stuart paintings in order to learn about the man, his times, and what he means for Americans entering the 21st century.

Course requirements: Class participation, 20%; Book review (2-3 pages) and class presentation, 30%; Final paper, (12-15 pages), 50%.  Book(s) review will be an analysis of a work or works--fiction, biography, or historical--concerning a subject relating the course topic, which is then presented to the class. The final paper should explore in depth this topic or another, preferably covered (or at least touched upon) in class, although it may approach it through the use of readings not used in class.

Books (in order to be read):
 Major Problems in the Era of the American Revolution, Brown
 Washington, Flexnor
 George Washington’s War, Leckie
 Setting the World Ablaze:Washington, Adams, Jefferson and the American Revolution,
  Ferling
 Patriarch, Smith
 The Life of GW, Irving

Schedule of Classes:
June 17: Introduction: George Washington: The Marble Man

June 19:  Background to the Revolution; GW’s Early Life
  Brown, Chapters 1-4; Flexner, 1-8

July   1:  War is in the Air
  Brown, 4-5; Leckie, 1-13

July   3: The Shot Heard ‘Round the World
  Leckie, 14-28; Flexnor 9-12;

July   8: The Winter of Red Snow and the Summer of Glorius Victory
  Brown, 6; Leckie, 29-53

July 10:  The Long Road to Victory/ “The Average American” in War and Peace
  Flexnor, 13-22; Leckie, 54-end; Brown, 7-8. Presentations Begin.
 

July 17:  Washington, the First President
 Flexnor, 29-45; Smith and Ferling, continued

July 22:  Patriarch
  Smith and Ferling,  to conclusion

July 24:  “Our Washington” and the Death of a Hero
  Weems, Brown, 14; Flexnor, 46-end.

July 29: Conclusion, Final Paper Due.

Founding Father: Rediscovering GW, Brookhiser
GW and Slavery, Hirschfield
GW: A Biography, Freeman
Angel in the Whirlwind, Bobrick
American Scripture, Maier
A Struggle for Power, Draper
Radicalism of the American Revolution, Wood
Washington’s Partisan War, Kwasny
The Ideological Origins of the Am. Rev., Bailyn
The Life of George Washington, Weems (OR IRVING)
Cincinnatus: GW and the Enlightenment, Wills
GW: Citizen Soldier, Wall
GW: The making of an American Symbol, Schwartz
GW: A Profile, Smith
Private Yankee Doodle, Martin
Diary of a Common Solider, Bray and Bushnell, eds.
John Peeble’s American War, Gruber, ed.
Founding friendship : George Washington, James Madison, and the creation of the American
     Republic, Leibiger
George Washington--the man behind the myths, Rasmussen