This is the second installment of a two-part lecture series that traces the evolution of childhood in North American societies since the seventeenth century. Childhood encompasses both a regulative ideal and the lived experiences of actual children. Until recently, scholars have generally treated children as little more than victims or passive observers of historical development. But as this lecture will demonstrate, nothing could be further from the truth. Young people have made their presence felt in revolutions, wars, reform movements, and processes of nation-making and state formation. How children and adults have defined what it means to be a child – as well as who gets to have a childhood – has changed dramatically across time and space, with different implications for people divided by gender, race, class, and age. Our investigation will focus primarily on key periods in US history, although there will be occasional side glances to Canada and Europe. The goal of this lecture is to 1) familiarize students with major trends in the history and historiography of children and 2) to provide an overview of US history through the lens of childhood.

 

Basic credit (“Studienleistung”) for this lecture will be awarded to those who attend on a regular basis and submit a final essay assignment.