HIST 179H

Childhood in America

John Kasson

By studying key texts and topics in the history of childhood in the United States over more than a century, this course seeks to engage students with a rich variety of historical issues, methods, and sources—including letters, novels, photographs, paintings, and films.  We will examine the changing construction of childhood and experiences of children (emphasizing preadolescence) from the early nineteenth century to the present.  We will focus on how childhood and children are valued—economically, emotionally, and symbolically—in changing economies and cultures from plantation slavery through industrial production to the emergence of a consumer society.  A principal question we will pursue is, what is the relationship between what the sociologist Viviana Zelizer calls the emotionally priceless, economically useless, middle-class child and the economically valued, emotionally vulnerable child worker?  Has this split been resolved in our consumer culture, and, if so, on what terms?  How are children valued today?  By the end of the course, students should have an enhanced understanding of how childhood is profoundly shaped by historical circumstances and also a sense of the fascination of the larger field of cultural history.

Readings will include:  Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (selections); Horatio Alger, Ragged Dick; Louisa Mae Alcott, Little Women (part I); Steven Mintz, Huck’s Raft (selections).  Students will write several short papers responding to the readings.  We will also view prints and photographs relating to childhood at the Ackland Art Museum.