HIST 4388-003: Alcohol in the Atlantic World

Spring 2015 MW 5:30-6:50 #H4388

Instructor: Kristen D. Burton (@KristenDBurton)

Office Number: UH 318
Email Address: kburton@uta.edu
Office Hours: MW 3:45-5:15 p.m.

John Greenwood, Sea Captains Carousing in Surinam (c. 1750s)

Then come my boon fellows,
Lets drink it around:
It keeps us from [the] grave,
Though it lays us on [the] ground.
- Anon., London Chanticleers, 1659

For all we write, do, say, or think,
Are but the Sportings of our Drink.
When a low Purse (the Lord defend us)
Does to the Alehouse humbly send us.
- Ned Ward, The Delights of the Bottle, 1721

When the drink is in, the wit is out.
- Common proverb (and general observation)


Description of Course Content:
This course will introduce the history of humans conflicted relationship with alcohol.
Beginning with a brief overview of the origins of alcohol, the class will focus on the early
modern and modern eras of alcohol production and consumption in the Atlantic World.
Throughout the semester, the students will learn about legal restrictions, shifting perceptions
of drunkenness, and uses of alcohol as a commodity. The students will analyze questions of
economic significance and moral responsibility concerning one of the worlds most popular
intoxicants. Students will engage in weekly readings and class discussions, give an oral
presentation over a primary source of their choice, and produce written papers throughout the
semester to demonstrate their critical understanding of alcohols role in history.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Following the completion of this course, students should:
- Understand the general history and major issues related to alcohol production and
consumption in the Atlantic World during the early modern and modern eras.
- Critically deconstruct changes in political and social perceptions of alcohol consumption.
- Explain the commodification of alcohol, as well as its influence on the development of
economic structures in early America.
- Analyze primary and secondary sources on the topic of alcohol in the Atlantic World.

Required Texts:
- Iain Gately, Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol (New York: Gotham Books, 2008).
- James Nicholls, The Politics of Alcohol: A history of the drink question in England (New
York: Manchester University Press, 2009).
- W.J. Rorabaugh, The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1979).
- Sharon V. Salinger, Taverns and Drinking in Early America (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins
University Press, 2004).
- Frederick H. Smith, Caribbean Rum: A Social and Economic History (Gainesville, FL:
University Press of Florida, 2008).

Descriptions of major assignments and course requirements:
Students are expected to attend each class prepared to engage with the presented material and
discuss the assigned readings. I encourage input and inquiries during lectures, and I expect the
students to take an active role during class discussions. For this reason, class participation is a
significant requirement in this course.

Overview Papers: In addition to participation, students will submit four overview
papers throughout the semester. Students should present a clear argument about a
specific topic or theme covered in the readings assigned prior to the scheduled due date.
Each paper will be 5-7 pages in length. The students should write on a topic that
effectively pulls together the material covered in class and in the readings.

Oral Presentation: The students will also give a presentation on a primary source of
their choice. During the first week of class, students will select a source from a provided
list (with assigned due date). The students will prepare and deliver a 10-15 minute
presentation that summarizes and analyzes the selected source. In the presentations, the
students should connect their source to course topics and themes and pose questions for
the class to discuss. On the day of the presentation, students will submit a written report
(2-3 pages) that summarizes the information covered in the presentation.

On Class Discussion and Attendance:
This course depends upon active reading and participation by the students. Attending class is
not enough you must come to class prepared to discuss the assigned readings for each week.
A fruitful class discussion is both rewarding and illuminating; your absence from class removes
an important voice and is detrimental to the overall quality of that days discussion. Therefore,
a large portion of your grade depends upon my assessment of the frequency and quality of your
discussion in class.

Online Participation: A portion of class discussion will occur online via The Twitter
Exercise. On Twitter, students will discuss the assigned readings with each other and
the professor. Students are welcome to live tweet the readings and engage in a
discourse that will introduce or add to topics covered in class. Further explanation of
how students should use Twitter and how I will grade the posts is on Blackboard.

Other Requirements:
While class is in session, all cell phones should be kept on silent mode. Laptops, netbooks,
tablets, etc. may only be used for taking notes and/or referencing readings in class. If used for
any other purpose, especially if it proves disruptive to the class, I will ask you not to use the
device for the remainder of the semester.

Grading:
Class participation: 200 points (40%)
Overview papers (45 points each): 180 total (36%)
Oral presentation (100 points) and written report (20 points): 120 total (24%)

Grade scale for this class:
450-500: A
400-449: B
350-399: C
300-349: D
299-0: F

Expectations for Out-of-Class Study:
A general rule of thumb is that for every credit hour earned, a student should spend 3 hours per
week working outside of class. Hence, a 3-credit course might have a minimum expectation of 9
hours of reading required materials, completing assignments, preparing for exams, etc.

Drop Policy:
Students may drop or swap (adding and dropping a class concurrently) classes through self-
service in MyMav from the beginning of the registration period through the late registration
period. After the late registration period, students must see their academic advisor to drop a
class or withdraw. Undeclared students must see an advisor in the University Advising Center.
Drops can continue through a point two-thirds of the way through the term or session. It is the
student's responsibility to officially withdraw if they do not plan to attend after registering.
Students will not be automatically dropped for non-attendance. Repayment of certain
types of financial aid administered through the University may be required as the result of
dropping classes or withdrawing. For more information, contact the Office of Financial Aid and
Scholarships (http://wweb.uta.edu/ses/fao).

Americans with Disabilities Act:
The University of Texas at Arlington is on record as being committed to both the spirit and
letter of all federal equal opportunity legislation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA). All instructors at UT Arlington are required by law to provide "reasonable
accommodations" to students with disabilities, so as not to discriminate on the basis of that
disability. Any student requiring an accommodation for this course must provide the instructor
with official documentation in the form of a letter certified by the staff in the Office for Students

with Disabilities, University Hall 102. Only those students who have officially documented a
need for an accommodation will have their request honored. Information regarding diagnostic
criteria and policies for obtaining disability-based academic accommodations can be found at
www.uta.edu/disability or by calling the Office for Students with Disabilities at (817) 272-
3364.

Academic Integrity:
I expect all students to engage in their own work; those caught cheating will automatically
receive a failing grade (F) for that assignment for the first offence. Those caught cheating a
second time will automatically receive an F for the course.

All students enrolled in this course are also expected to adhere to the UT Arlington Honor Code:
I pledge, on my honor, to uphold UT Arlingtons tradition of academic integrity, a tradition that
values hard work and honest effort in the pursuit of academic excellence.
I promise that I will submit only work that I personally create or contribute to group
collaborations, and I will appropriately reference any work from other sources. I will follow the
highest standards of integrity and uphold the spirit of the Honor Code.

Per UT System Regents Rule 50101, 2.2, suspected violations of universitys standards for
academic integrity (including the Honor Code) will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct.
Violators will be disciplined in accordance with University policy, which may result in the
students suspension or expulsion from the University.

Student Support Services:
UT Arlington provides a variety of resources and programs designed to help students develop
academic skills, deal with personal situations, and better understand concepts and information
related to their courses. Resources include tutoring, major-based learning centers,
developmental education, advising and mentoring, personal counseling, and federally funded
programs. For individualized referrals, students may visit the reception desk at University
College (Ransom Hall), call the Maverick Resource Hotline at 817-272-6107, send a message to
resources@uta.edu, or view the information at www.uta.edu/resources.

Electronic Communication:
UT Arlington has adopted MavMail as its official means to communicate with students about
important deadlines and events, as well as to transact university-related business regarding
financial aid, tuition, grades, graduation, etc. All students are assigned a MavMail account and
are responsible for checking the inbox regularly. There is no additional charge to students for
using this account, which remains active even after graduation. Information about activating
and using MavMail is available at http://www.uta.edu/oit/cs/email/mavmail.php.

Student Feedback Survey:
At the end of each term, students enrolled in classes categorized as lecture, seminar, or
laboratory shall be directed to complete a Student Feedback Survey (SFS). Instructions on how
to access the SFS for this course will be sent directly to each student through MavMail
approximately 10 days before the end of the term. Each students feedback enters the SFS
database anonymously and is aggregated with that of other students enrolled in the course. UT
Arlingtons effort to solicit, gather, tabulate, and publish student feedback is required by state

law; students are strongly urged to participate. For more information, visit
http://www.uta.edu/sfs.

Final Review Week:
A period of five class days prior to the first day of final examinations in the long sessions shall
be designated as Final Review Week. The purpose of this week is to allow students sufficient
time to prepare for final examinations. During this week, there shall be no scheduled activities
such as required field trips or performances; and no instructor shall assign any themes,
research problems or exercises of similar scope that have a completion date during or following
this week unless specified in the class syllabus. During Final Review Week, an instructor shall not
give any examinations constituting 10% or more of the final grade, except makeup tests and
laboratory examinations. In addition, no instructor shall give any portion of the final
examination during Final Review Week. During this week, classes are held as scheduled. In
addition, instructors are not required to limit content to topics that have been previously
covered; they may introduce new concepts as appropriate.

Emergency Exit Procedures:
Should we experience an emergency event that requires us to vacate the building, students
should exit the room and move toward the nearest exit, which is located at the front and back of
the classroom. When exiting the building during an emergency, one should never take an
elevator but should use the stairwells. Faculty members and instructional staff will assist
students in selecting the safest route for evacuation and will make arrangements to assist
handicapped individuals.


Course Schedule:
As the instructor for this course, I reserve the right to adjust this schedule in any way that
serves the educational needs of the enrolled students.

Date:
Topic:
Assigned Reading:
Jan. 21
Intro to course and syllabus
The Syllabus



Unit 1:
On the Origins of Brews, Pubs, and Drinking



Jan. 26 28
Ancient Wines and Medieval Mon.: Gately, The Grain and the Grape, In
Hops
Vino Veritas (1-10; 28-40)
Wed.: Gately, Brews for Breakfast (76-90);
Unger, The Spread of Hopped Beer
Brewing: The Northern Low
Countries (89-106) (Blackboard)



Feb. 2 4
Early Modern Alcohol
Mon.: Nicholls, A monstrous plant (5-18);
Fumerton, Not Home: Alehouses,
Ballads, and the Vagrant Husband in
Early Modern England (493-518)
(Blackboard);
Wed.: Gately, Watkins Ale (105-115);
Bennett, These Things Must Be if We


Unit 2:

Feb. 9 11




Paper #1 Due
Feb. 13

Feb. 16 18



Unit 3:

Feb. 23 25

March 2 4


Paper #2 Due
March 6

March 9 13

Unit 4:

March 16 18

March 23 25

Sell Ale (122-144) (Blackboard)

and Early Settlement

Mon.: Gately, Pilgrims (116-131);
Meacham, It was Being Too
Abstemious That Brought This
Sickness upon Me (6-23)
(Blackboard)
Wed.: Salinger, Dutch and English Origins
(8-47)


The Rise of Pernicious
Mon.: Smith, At the Margins of the Atlantic
Liquors
World (6-40)

Wed.: Salinger, Preventing Drunkenness and

Keeping Good Order in the

Seventeenth Century (83-120)


Colonial Production and Consumption


A Flood of Rum
Mon.: Smith, Rums Threat to Competing
Alcohol Industries in the Eighteenth
Century (41-94)
Wed.: Salinger, Inside the Tavern (48-82)


Alcohol and Slavery
Mon.: Smith, Ancestors and Alcohol in Africa

and the Caribbean (95-117)

Wed.: Smith, Alcoholic Marronage: Identity,

Danger, and Escape in Caribbean Slave

Societies (118-167)



Atlantic Exploration

Colonizing the New World

SPRING BREAK

Enlightened Thinkers

The Gin Craze

Tempering the Spirits

NO CLASS!

and Besotted Drinkers

Mon.: Gately, Gin Fever (159-174); Nicholls,
A new kind of drunkenness: the gin
craze, A fascinating poison (34-50;
59-72)
Wed.: Warner, A Curious Machine Makes a
Brief Appearance, The Ladies
Succumb (43-82) (Blackboard)

Mon.: Salinger, Eighteenth-Century
Legislation and Prosecution (121-
150)
Wed.: Rorabaugh, A Good Creature (25-57)

6

Unit 5:

Mar. 30 Apr. 1

Apr. 3: last day to
drop

April 6 8

Paper #3 Due
April 10

Unit 6:

April 13 15

April 20 22



Unit 7:

April 27 29

May 4 6



Paper #4 Due
May 8

Finals Week

Transatlantic Spirit

Mon.: Rorabaugh, The Spirits of
Independence (60-92)
Wed.: Gately, Revolution (187-199);
Meacham, Every Man His Own
Distiller (95-119) (Blackboard)


A Nation of Drunkards
Mon.: Salinger, The Tavern Degenerate

(210-240)

Wed.: Gately, Whiskey with an E (215-236);

Rorabaugh, Whiskey Feed (93-122)


A Sobering Movement


Temperance Movers and
Mon.: Nicholls, The last tyrant: the rise of
Shakers
temperance (96-108); Rorabaugh,
The Anxieties of their Condition
(123-146)
Wed.: Gately, Apostles of Cold Water (253-
267); Rorabaugh, Demon Rum (185-
222)


Striving for a Dry Nation Mon.: Smith, Taming Rum in the Nineteenth

and Twentieth Centuries (168-193)

Wed.: Nicholls, A monstrous theory: the

politics of prohibition (109-129)


Prohibition and the Modern Industry


The Noble Experiment
Mon.: Nicholls, The State and the trade: the
drink question at the turn of the
century (130-140); Gately,
Amphibians, Lost (369-399)
Wed.: Smith, Rum and Economic Survival in
the Nineteenth and Twentieth
Centuries (194-233)


Mon.: Gately, The Bottle, Flashbacks
For the Love of Craft:
(412-422; 433-442)
Brewing, Distilling, and
Wed.: Nicholls, The pub and the people:
Drinking Today
drinking places and popular culture
(180-198); Gately, Fiat Lux (482-
498)


May 9 15
No Exam --- Happy Summer Break

Whiskey: the

Rum, Whiskey, and
Revolution