History of the United States I Syllabus for 2011-2012
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Course
HIST-1301-024 History of the United States I
Prerequisites
RDNG 0331-minimum grade of C or a score on a state-approved test indicating college-level reading skills
Course Description
A general survey of United States history from the European background to the present. The study includes political, economic, social and cultural aspects of life in this country and follows the development of the United States as a world power.
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Department Expectations
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Hours
(3 sem hrs; 3 lec)
Class Type
Dual Credit Course
Syllabus Information
Textbooks
Supplies
Pens, pencils, paper. Other supply needs will be discussed in class.
Student Performance
- Trace the development of a stable, democratic political system flexible enough to address the wholesale changes that occurred since the founding of the nation.
- Explain how this nation has been peopled from the first inhabitants to the many groups that arrived in slavery or servitude during the colonial period down to the voluntary immigrants of the Civil War era.
- Evaluate economic and technological changes as they have affected daily life, work, family organization, leisure, the division of wealth, and community relations.
- Delineate the role of religion in our nation prior 1877.
- Recount how the recurring reform movements in U.S. history dealt with economic, political, and social problems in attempting to make their ideals congruent with reality.
- Define the changes in our beliefs and values over time and describe how they have varied among different groups:women and men; non-whites and whites; and people of different regions, religions, and classes.
- Describe the role of geographical factors in the history of the U.S.
- Practice critical thinking and information retrieval skills.
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Expected Student Behavior
\ Students are expected to follow all high school and Amarillo College policies and procedures.
Grading Criteria
All unit exams, essays and research papers will constitue 60% of a six weeks grade. Quizzes, group presentations and homework will constitute 40% of a sxi weeks grade.
Attendance
\ Oral participation and regular daily attendance are required as an essential part of this course.
Calendar
The Instructor Reserves the Right to Change the Syllabus and/or Calendar if Necessary.
Week One through Four:
Unit 1 - Pre Columbia/ Exploration/Colonial Beginnings
Required Readings: Bailey Chapter 1 & 2
"Mayflower Compact"
Key Discussions Topics:
1. Earliest American
2. Oceanic explorations of fifteenth-sixteenth centuries - Motives Gold, God and Glory
3. Iberian conquest of the new world
4. French in Canada
5. English settlement in America
Assignments:
1. Take home essay: "From 1600-1763, several European nations vied for control of the North America continent. Why did England win the struggle?"
2. Assigned Identification terms.
UNIT 2 - Colonizing America
Required Reading: Bailey Chapters 3, 4, 5
"Anne Hutchinson" ron Thom
"Witch Dungeon Museum" Trials of the Century (Salem Witch Trials)
Handout - Triangle Trade and the Middle Passage
"Puritan Dilemma" Edmund S. Morgan
Key Discussion Topics
1. Beginnings on the Chesapeake
2. Founding of New England
3. Development of Proprietary Colonies
4. Religious Diversity in American colonies
5. Resistance to colonial authority/Bacon's Rebellion, the Glorious Revolution and the Pueblo Revolt
Assignments
1. Identification terms
2. Out of class essay - "Throughout the colonial period, economic concerns had more to do with the settling of British North America than did religious concerns." Assess the validity of this statement with specific reference to economic and religious concerns.
Exam - Chapters 1-5
Week Five through Eight:
Unit 3 - Duel for North and the Road to Revolution
Required Readings: Bailey Chapter 6, 7, 8
"Common Sense" Thomas Paine
"Declaration of Independence"
Key Discussion Topics
1. French and Indian Wars
2. Resistance to British Authority
3. Declaration of Independence and Its Significance
4. Revolutionary War
Assignments
1. Identification Terms
2. First DBQ writing assignment. "In what was did the French and Indian War (1754-63) alter the political, economic, and ideological relations between Britain and its American colonies?" Use the documents and your knowledge of the period 1740-1760 in constructing your response. (2004 DBQ)
Unit 4 - Shaping the Union
Required Readings: Bailey Chapters 9, 10
"Shay's rebellion" Alden T Vaughn in Historical Viewpoints
Excerpts for the Federalist Papers
Chart on political parties
Key Discussion Topics
1. The structure of government under the articles of confederation
2. Weaknesses and accomplishments of the Articles
3. Foreign affairs in the Confederation period
4. Shay's rebellion and its significance
5. Writing the Constitution
6. Role of Madison and Hamilton
7. Rise of political parties
Assignments
1. Identification Terms
2. Out of class DBQ: "From 1781-1789 the Articles of confederation provided the United States with an effective government." Using the documents and your knowledge of the period, evaluate this statement. (1985 DBQ)
Exam Chapters 6 - 10
Week Nine through Thirteen
Unit 5 - The Age of Jefferson
Required Readings: Bailey Chapter 11 & 12
Washington's Farewell Address
"Jefferson Stretches the constitution to Buy Louisiana." The American Spirit
Video "The Duel" (Burr and Hamilton)
Key Discussion Topics
1. The "Revolution of 1800"
2. Jefferson and the judiciary - Marbury v Madison
3. Conflicts with Federalist policies
4. Louisiana Purchase
5. The Burr conspiracy
6. Women of the Age
7. Beginnings of the Second Great Awakening
8. Westward Movement
9. Jefferson and European Affairs
10. War of 1812
Assignments
1. Identification Terms
2. Take home essay: :At various times between 1789 and 1861, American changed their positions on the constitutional question of loose construction or strict construction as best suited their economical or political interest." Discuss this statement with reference to any TWO individuals or groups who took positions on this constitutional question.
Unit 6 - The Rise of Mass Democracy
Required Readings: Bailey Chapters 13, 14, 15
"Wage Slavery in New England." The American Spirit
"The Abuse of the Female Worker" The American Spirit
Key Discussion Topics
1. Jacksonian democracy - successes and limitations
2. Federal authority and its opponents - judicial federalism, the Bank war , tariff controversy, and states' rights debates
3. Forced removal of American Indians
4. Westward movement
5. Territorial acquisitions - Mexican War
6. Transcendentalism and utopian communities
7. American Renaissance and social reforms
8. Role of Women
Assignments
1. Identification Terms
2. First in-class DBQ: "Jacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as the guardians of the United states Constitution, political democracy individual liberty and equality of economic opportunity." In light of the following documents and your knowledge of the 1820's and 1830's, to what extent do you agree with the Jacksonians view of themselves?
Exam Chapters 11 - 15
Week Fourteen through Seventeen
Unit 7 - The Rise of Sectionalism and Manifest Destiny
Required Readings: bailey Cha 16, 17
"The Cabinet Debates War." The American Spirit
Key Discussion Topics
1. Pro antislavery arguments and conflicts
2. Abolitionist movement
3. Annexation and Independence of Texas
4. Manifest Destiny and the movement westward
5. Mexican War/Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Assignments
1. Identification Terms
2. In-class essay: "Although Americans perceived Manifest Destiny as a benevolent movement, it was in fact an aggressive imperialism pursued at the expense of others." Assess the validity of this statement with specific reference to American expansionism in the 1840's. (1900 question 3)
Unit 8 - Coming of the Civil War
Required Reading: Bailey 18, 19, 20
Excerpts for Uncle Tom's Cabin
"The Impact of Uncle Tom's Cabin." The American Spirit
"The South Scorns Mrs. Stowe," The American Spirit
Key Discussion Topics
1. The "peculiar institution" and its impact on the South
2. Abolitionism and North-South relations
3. Compromise of 1850 and popular sovereignty
4. Republican, Lincoln and succession
Assignments
1. Identification Terms
2. Student groups will categorize the same set of documents from the point of views of assigned personalities - John Brown, Stephen Douglas, Frederick Douglas and President Buchanan.
Exam Chapters 16 - 20
Week Eighteen
Unit 9 - Civil War and Reconstruction
Required Readings: Bailey Chapters 21 & 22
Key Discussion Topics
1. Mobilizing for War
2. Military strategies and major battles
3. A question of leadership
4. Emancipation and African Americans in the military
5. Effect of the war on the nation
6. New roles for African Americans
7. Impact of Reconstruction
8. Election of 1876 and Compromise of 1877
Assignment
1. Identification Terms
2. Students collect primary sources to create their own DBQ.
Exam Chapters 21 & 22
Week Nineteen
Finals Week
Final Exam is comprehensive
Additional Information
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Ap/Duel Credit U.S. History is a challenging course that is meant to be the equivalent of a freshman college course and can earn students college credit. It is a two-semester survey of American history from pre Coloumbian days to the present. Students should be willing to spend considerable time reading and doing homework in order to succeed in this class.
There is much emphasis placed on analytical skills in writing essays and interpreting primary sources.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1. The textbook should be read carefully and thoroughly. Daily study with note taking to aid student retention is important.
2. Essays will be assigned topics at the direction of the teacher.
3. Oral participation and regular daily attendance are requried as an essential parat of this course.
4. Students will read and review major historical works assigned by the instructor. Supplementary reading will be required n a variety of topics, themes, and people in American History which go beyond the textbook.
5. Identification Terms will be required with each chapter. This is an exercise that requires more of the student than just defining the terms. The definition should answer all relevant questions concerning the term, such as who was involved, what was involved, when did it occur, how did it happen and why did it happen? Once the definition has been given you must tell how it is historically significant.
6. Students are required to maintain a notebook (3 ring binder with pockets) in which they will keep notes and handouts.
7. Students will be given a short quiz of fifteen multiple-choice questions from the assigned textbook chapters. Each quiz will constitute a daily grade.
8. Formal evaluations will consist of multiple choice questions, identification terms, and essays. A two-day testing period will be used, with multiple choice questions given one day and essays given the second day.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:
Identify the major eras in U.S. History through 1877 and describe their defining chararcteristics.
Identify the role religion played in our nation before 1877.
Analyze the significant political and economic issues of the revolutionary era.
Describe the challenges confronted by the government and its leaders n the early years of the Republic.
Analyze western expansion and it effects on the political, economic, and social develoopment of the nation.
Identify how political, economic, and social factors led to the growth of sectionalism and the Civil War.
Analyze the effects of Reconstruction on the political, economic, and social life of the nation.
Syllabus Created on:
11/30/-1 12:00 AM
Last Edited on:
11/30/-1 12:00 AM