DE Individualized Learning

Distance Education Programs INDIVIDUALIZED LEARNING COURSE SYLLABUS HIST156: History of the United States to 1865 (3) Course length: 15 weeks Last revised: 6 October 2003

Course Materials:

Paul S. Boyer (Editor), et. al., The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People,

            Vol. 1, 5th edition, with cd rom.  

Course Description:

HIST 156 History of the United States to 1865 (3)

A survey of the United States from colonial times to the end of the Civil War.

The establishment and development of national institutions are traced.  Students may receive credit for only one of the following courses: HIST 156 or HUMN 119.

Course Goals/Objectives:

There are two sets of goals, specific and general, for this course. The specific goals concern the intentions of the designers and instructors to convey an introductory, yet comprehensive, view of United States history and to illustrate the practical and intellectual usefulness of obtaining such knowledge. After completing this course, you should recognize the value of studying history for personal (micro), social (macro), and intellectual uses. You should have a sound working knowledge of early United States history and its relevance to other historical topics and to other disciplines.  After completing this course, you will be able to:

• recognize the need for multiple perspectives in culture and heritage in the study of United States history and the various cultures and groups that have contributed to the current United States
• identify the special role of diversity in the United States experience in the past, present, and future
• make use of the availability of new insights and the applicability of those insights to solve current and future problems both on personal and societal levels
• analyze and think critically about what you read and clearly express your views about what you have learned with regard to problems the United States has confronted and the likelihood of the recurrences of those or similar problems
• describe the evolution of United States' political theories and political institutions, and the effects of diverse cultures and societies on those theories and institutions
• explain the play-out of various conflicts and contradictions, both intellectually and practically, in the United States' experience, such as the theory of equality in the face of unequal outcomes, notions of liberty voiced in a slave system, the capability to improve the human condition and a sometimes deep-seated cynicism and introversion
• recognize the roles of foreign policy and of foreign powers on the development of the United States and the effects of the United States on other nations and cultures
• demonstrate a working knowledge of the inherent conflict between competing political and socio-psychological traditions, one espousing small-town collectivism and the other yeoman individuality

Course Introduction:

Unites States history is a tale rich in color and detail. It is a story of both intended and unintended events, often haphazard and accidental. As is the case with many older societies, this nation developed, through happy and unhappy events, contradictory impulses and occurrences, and occasionally, incredibly fortuitous circumstances. Ours is a chronicle of vast proportions. The United States of America, therefore, was not inevitable.

Furthermore, the history of the United States is not a narrative of just one group. It is a chronicle of many groups and individuals, including Africans, Asians, Europeans, and Native Americans of both genders. It is a tapestry composed of all vestiges of humanity and human cultures. Until the relatively recent past (i.e., the previous three or four decades), this story has often been told from one perspective, a primarily European and Anglo view. But as recent scholarship has progressed, this subject has expanded to include multicultural perspectives of those previously marginalized groups who have had a profound impact on the development of the United States.

In a time when the United States continues to grow ever more culturally diverse, a full understanding of its history must include exposure to the heritages and contributions of all participant groups, both indigenous and immigrant. Viewed from that vantage, United States history can provide insights and wisdom that can aid not only our own citizens but also those of other societies and cultures who have confronted, are confronting, or will confront similar issues in the early years of this new century and millennium.

Grading Information and Criteria:

Reflection essays                      60% (10% each essay)

Final Examination                      40%

Grades will be determined as follows. The reflection essay grades will constitute 60% (or 10% each) of your final grade.  These should be submitted in accordance with the written directions you received with your class materials.  Each essay should be approximately 800-1000 words in length.  The comprehensive final exam will each constitute 40% of your final grade for this course. 

Grading Scale:

A=	90-100
B=	80-89
C=	70-79
D=	60-69
F=	0-59

Other Information

Any other information the instructor wishes to add. This might include:

¨        General expectations of students, such as hours per week students should expect to devote to the class

¨        Turnaround time for faculty to respond to email and return papers

¨        Unique class procedures or activities (such as cooperative learning exercises, panel presentations, case study methods, class journals or learning logs)

¨        Supplemental objectives (such as development of skills like teamwork, writing, oral presentation; integration of knowledge on focus topics)

¨        Optional activities such as study groups

 Project Descriptions

These are the reflection essay topics.  These assignments are intended to highlight the main points of discussion in the reading and to give you a chance to obtain feedback from your instructor about important course material on a regular basis.  Each essay should be submitted in accordance to the directions you received with your course materials.

Essay 1:  Discuss the similarities and differences between the English colonies in New England and the Chesapeake.  How did the societies and economies differ in these colonies?  What factors led to the introduction of slavery in the colonies?  What impact did the colonists have on the Native American populations that they encountered?

Essay 2:  Discuss the events and crises between 1763-1776 that led to the U.S. Declaration of Independence.  How did the British and Loyalist perspectives of these events differ from those of the revolutionaries?  Do you think the British government would have been justified in branding revolutionary leaders like George Washington as “terrorists?”  Why or why not?

Essay 3:  The American Revolution and the struggle to create an American republic meant different things to different people.  Discuss what the promise of the Revolution meant for African Americans and Native Americans.  What did it mean to defenders of the Articles of Confederation and to the Anti-Federalists?  What did it mean to the delegates of the Philadelphia Convention in 1787?

Essay 4:  The 1820s and 1830s was a time of increasing democracy and a deepening involvement of common people in the politics, economy, and social reform movements of the nation.  Discuss some examples and contradictions of these developments in American democracy.

Essay 5:  What economic, social, and cultural characteristics made the Old South unique?  How did African Americans develop their own culture and resist the degradations forced upon them by slavery?

Essay 6:  Why did trust and reconciliation between the North and the South completely break down during the 1850s?  What role did western expansion play in exacerbating sectional conflict?  How did each section come to consider the other guilty of a grand conspiracy?  Why did the Confederate States finally decide to secede from the Union?

Academic Policies

Course Schedule:

Week	Topics and Readings	Due Date/ Assignments
Week 1	“The Indians’ Continent and the Arrival of the Europeans” READINGS: Boyer, “The Enduring Vision,” Chapters 1 & 2.  Module One
Week 2	“The Chesapeake and New England Colonies” READINGS: Boyer, Chapter 3. Module One	Essay #1 due
Week 3	“The Maturation of Colonial Society” READINGS: Boyer, Chapter 4. Modules One and Two
Week 4	“The Road to Revolution” READINGS: Boyer, Chapter 5. Module Two	Essay #2 due
Week 5	“Securing Independence, Defining the Republic” READINGS: Boyer, Chapter 6. Module Three
Week 6	“Launching the New Republic” READINGS: Boyer, Chapter 7. Modules Three and Four	Essay #3 due
Week 7	“The Age of Jefferson and the Second War for Independence” READINGS: Boyer, Chapter 8. Module Four
Week 8	“The Age of Jackson” READINGS: Boyer, Chapters 9 and 10. Module Five
Week 9	“Daily Life, Leisure, and Culture, 1840-1860” READINGS: Boyer, Chapter 11.  Module Five	Essay #4 due
Week 10	“The Old South and Slavery” READINGS: Boyer, Chapter 12.  Module Five
Week 11	“Western Expansion and Sectional Conflict” READINGS: Boyer, Chapter 13. Module Five	Essay #5 due
Week 12	“The Impending Crisis” READINGS: Boyer, Chapter 14. Module Six
Week 13	“The Civil War” READINGS: Boyer, Chapter 15. Module Six	Essay #6 due
Week 14	“The Union Secured and the Crises of Reconstruction” READINGS: Boyer, Chapter 16. Module Six
Week 15	Final examination