Between the Bloodless Revolution of 1688 in England and the bloody revolutions in America and in France a century later the world turned, some would say, upside down. We live with the results of the real and imagined transformations of the world in that period. In this course we will examine the fantasies and realities that helped to define our brave new world, along with the optimism and pessimism expressed in major documents that include Gulliver’s Travels, Candide, the American Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, down the uncertain future envisioned by President Lincoln, Thomas Carlyle and Walt Whitman in the wake of the American Civil War. Lecture and discussion and a series of short essays written in and out of class.

Selections from Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France; Thomas Paine, Rights of Man; Thomas Carlyle, “Shooting Niagara—and After” and Walt Whitman, Democratic Vistas—all on Electronic Reserve.

Texts:

• John Locke. The Second Treatise of Government. Dover Thrift Editions. [486-42464-2]
• Jonathan Swift. Gulliver’s Travels (ed. De Maria). Penguin Classics. [9780141439495]
• Voltaire. Candide. Dover Thrift Edition. [0-486-26689-3]
• T. Jefferson et al. The Declaration of Independence and other Great Documents of American History (ed. J. Grafton). Dover Thrift Editions. [0-486-41124-9]