Course Structure:

1.  Attend class regularly.  Ten percent of your final grade is based on class participation.  If you miss three classes you will get a zero in five percent of your final grade; if you miss four or more classes you will receive a zero in ten percent. A late arrival to class is half an absence.

2.  There will be three quizzes and a final exam.  In general these tests will be composed of identifications and essay questions from the texts and class notes.  You cannot pass the course if you fail all the quizzes and the final exam.  Do not miss taking a scheduled quiz.  Make-ups are possible, but will be more difficult than the missed quiz.

3.  Reports/research papers should be typed and proofread carefully.  A carelessly written paper will be penalized one grade level.  A plagiarized paper* will, at minimum, receive an "F."

4.  Written work:  choose to do either four book reviews  OR  two book reviews and a research paper.
      a. Book Review
          i.   Choose your books from the “Suggested Readings” that are listed after each of the four “Parts” of your textbook, Louisiana: A History.
          ii.  To qualify for a review, a book must have at least 200 pages.
          iii. Simply put, a book review should consist of an introduction, an overview or summary, an examination of the important elements of the work, and an evaluation.  You should quote from the work throughout to support or illustrate your view or position.
          iv. For a brief description of a book review, see the excerpt from One to One by Charles Dawe and Edward Dornan.  For a more detailed description go to:
                                            http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/bookreview.html
     b. Research Paper
          i.   Your paper should be 8 to 10 pages, double spaced.
          ii.  You should use primary as well as secondary sources.
          iii. Citations [required] must be in the form of foot- or endnotes in the Chicago style.
          iv. Your paper should have a thesis that you prove by giving examples drawn from historical sources.
          v.  For information on writing a research paper, including developing a thesis and finding and citing sources, go to "GUIDELINES" on the History Dept. web page at:
                                                  www.loyno.edu/~history/research/research.htm

For more information on plagiarism and how to avoid it, go to :
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html

Texts:

Bennett H. Wall, et al., Louisiana, A History, fourth edition (2002)
Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave (1853)
James Gill, Lords of Misrule (1997)
 

Course Organization:
 

DATE	TOPIC	TEXT	REPORT
August 27	Introduction
August 29	Background	Chapter 1
September 3	French and Spanish Explorers
September 5	French colonial Louisiana	Chapter 2
September 10	John Law
September 12	Company of the Indies		(Book One)
September 17	End of French rule	Chapter 3
September 19	QUIZ
September 24	Spanish colonial Louisiana	Chapter 4
September 26	Louisiana and the American Revolution
October 1	End of Spanish Rule	Chapter 5
October 3	The Louisiana Purchase		(Book Two)
October 8	The Territory of Orleans	Chapter 6
October 10	War of 1812	Chapter 7
October 15	QUIZ
October 17	Antebellum Louisiana	Chapter 8
October 22	Slavery in Louisiana		Northup
October 24	Civil War	Chapter 9
October 29	Civil War	Chapter 10
October 31	Political reconstruction
November 5	Social, Economic Reconstruction	Chapter 11
November 7	QUIZ
November 12	Louisiana in the Gilded Age	Chapter 12
November 14	Yellow Fever; the Lottery	Chapter 13	RESEARCH PAPER
November 19	Louisiana in the early 20th Century	Chapter 14
November 221	Huey Long's Louisiana	Chapter 15, 16
November 26	Earl Long	Chapter 17	Gill
December 3	Louisiana in recent times	Chapter 18
Thursday, December 12	FINAL EXAM	9:00-11:00	BRING BLUE BOOKS