5
Rio Hondo College
Fall 2017
History 143: US History: Colonization to Reconstruction
Course Registration Number 75241, Tuesday, 6:00-9:10pm, El Monte Education Center
Final Exam: Tuesday, December 5, 6:00-9:10pm, El Monte Education Center
Class Website: www.profgunderson.com
Text: The American Journey, Volume I (Sixth Edition)
by David Goldfield, et al, 2011. ISBN: 978-0-205-24593-2
Available at Rio Hondo College Bookstore.
An older (2004) edition is available in the Library!
This Syllabus is amendable by written change or verbal notice of change accessible through the Class Website.
Instructor
Luke Gunderson
“Office” Hours immediately before or after class or by appointment.
Course Description
This is a “flipped” class! That means that all class lectures will be viewed in video format, while virtually all “homework” assignments will be performed during class sessions in work groups. This will include group discussions and group presentations. Students are encouraged to bring their laptops, tablets, and other devices they find useful for reading documents and performing database research to class, as many sessions will focus on research and writing.
European discovery and colonization of the American continents has proven to be a major turning point in human history. These discoveries led directly to European imperialism, mercantilism, and the enslavement of non-white races which would deeply impact the formation of the United States of America. The close ties between colonists and Europeans forced many Americans to question the roles of imperialism, absolutism, and slavery, which would in turn lead many Americans to demand political independence from Europe. This class will discuss these problems along with the needs that arose from independence: new theories of popular sovereignty, creation of financial power, and the territorial demands of an exploding population.
Course content will include major political events of the period, the main intellectual arguments that provoked them, the arts that represented and popularized them, and the military conflicts that decided their outcomes. Course materials will include PowerPoint presentations, comparative timelines, and exposure to various excerpts of music, literature, and paintings of each era under study. Three major exams and a short research paper will be given to assess student learning.
All of these requirements are designed to facilitate student learning of the major political developments in the United States from colonization to Reconstruction. Students completing this course will be informed of the major political, intellectual, and artistic questions that heavily impact their everyday life. Students will learn to recognize the differences between political rhetoric, observed action, and utopian political theory. Open questioning of political motivations and critical thinking will be emphasized.
This is an introductory course designed as a first step in comprehending the major political, intellectual, and social movements of the first era of U.S. history and culture. It is taught mainly in the professor-based lecture style.
Advice on Studying History
Most introductory students in history find the subject extremely frustrating because they see much of it as being the memorization of “names, dates, and places.” These students are quickly overwhelmed by the amount of information being given on a daily basis. Names, dates, and places are merely the examples and evidences of larger historical trends and ideas. Make sure you understand these larger ideas BEFORE trying to memorize things at the level of names, dates, and places. In essence, do not lose sight of the forest in the obsession with its trees. This policy will save you much blood, sweat, and tears!
Even at the highest levels, history is taught as the interaction and interrelation of concepts. Experts are always analyzing books and the historical movements they describe in terms of “threads” that are present throughout. Understanding these larger, overarching concepts will GREATLY assist you in learning the importance of smaller names, dates, and places that are the nuts and bolts. If you learn the concepts first, memorization of names, dates, and places will come much easier!
Graded Assignments
All students will be required to take three in-class examinations on the three major portions of the course. The Final Exam will be non-cumulative. These exams will be the primary means of assessing student learning. Learning how to adequately study for and take such hours-long exams will be a fundamental need for the vast majority of students pursuing higher education; the professor will therefore be stringent in examination rules in order to prepare students for their “upper division” future. Students are HIGHLY advised to be present for all three exams; ANY make-ups or other alternative testing dates will ONLY be granted by the professor’s judgment and the concurrence of the Dean of Behavioral and Social Sciences. As a result, there IS NO GUARANTEE that such make-ups will be permitted. Please plan accordingly.
As a major factor in lower division collegiate education is the learned ability to write effectively, all students are required to submit a mini-research paper approximately 5 pages in length. Students will work on this project throughout the summer, with separate due dates for deciding on a topic, submitting sources, creating an outline, and submitting a Rough Draft. Students will work on their rough drafts by completing Essay Formatting Assignments through the course website and participating in a Rough Draft Peer Review.
Students are also required to submit their response to TWO reading assignments. These Reading Responses should address the following questions:
1. What questions/criticisms does the writer raise?
2. What do YOU think is most important or effective about the reading?
3. Do similar problems persist today? How or why?
Response length can range from two to three pages. See the Course Schedule for due dates of each response. The grade is based on a total of ten points for each of the questions above and the ability to use quotes to PROVE ideas.
Students are also required to submit thoughts on lectures. These Lecture Critiques can focus on student questions regarding lectures or what worked (or did not work) in the lecture videos to help their understanding of the topic. They can be submitted to the professor on paper at the start of. Critiques will be graded on a Credit or No Credit basis; students must receive credit for 20 Critiques throughout the semester to receive the full 2% for the course grade.
Any assignment turned in or taken after the due date or testing date will be punished by a 10% point reduction for every class session it is received late. Any assignment turned in via e-mail after class begins on the due date will be regarded as late and therefore face the 10% point reduction. If you need to miss a test date, inform the professor AHEAD OF TIME to avoid this reduction.
Extra Credit will be offered at the end of the semester ONLY to students that have turned in ALL other assignments.
Grading Scale
Exam One: Europe’s American Colonies: 150 Points = 15%
Exam Two: The United States Wins Independence: 150 Points = 15%
Final Exam: Creation of a Continental Empire: 150 Points = 15%
Term Paper on Topic of Student’s Choice: 200 Points = 20%
Term Paper Process (topic, website evaluation, sources, and outline due dates)
40 Points (10 points each) = 4%
Rough Draft Peer Review: 50 Points = 5%
Essay Formatting Assignment: 50 Points = 5%
Reading the Primary Source 1: 10 Points = 1%
Reading the Primary Source 2: 10 Points = 1%
Reading Response 1: 40 Points = 4%
Reading Response 2: 40 Points = 4%
Lecture Critiques: 20 Points = 2%
Reading the History Book: 20 Points = 2%
Asking Questions Like an Historian: 20 Points = 2%
Study Calendars: 10 Points = 1%
Map Quiz 1: 10 Points = 1%
Map Quiz 2: 10 Points = 1%
Map Quiz 3: 10 Points = 1%
Syllabus Quiz : 10 Points = 1%
Total 1,000 Points = 100%
Term Grading Scale:
A+ = 97-100% (970-1000 points)
A = 93-96.9% (930-969 points)
A- = 90-92.9% (900-929 points)
B+ = 87-89.9% (870-899 points)
B = 83-86.9% (830-869 points)
B- = 80-82.9% (800-829 points)
C+ = 77-79.9% (770-799 points)
C = 70-76.9% (700-769 points)
D+ = 67-69.9% (670-699 points)
D = 63-66.9% (630-669 points)
D- = 60-62.9% (600-629 points)
F = 59.9% and below (599 and less points)
Schedule (subject to written or verbal change by the professor)
Video Lecture (to be viewed before class session)
Classroom Activity (to be performed in work groups)
Tests, Quizzes, and Essays (begin when class starts)
8-22: Course Introduction, Views of History, The Western World at 1500
Syllabus Quiz
8-29: Reasons for Leaving Europe: Feudalism, Mercantilism, Absolutism, Religion
English Politics and Colonization 1585-1640
Reading the History book
Choosing a Term Paper Topic
Building a Study Calendar
9-5: English Politics and Colonization 1640-1763
The Great Awakening
Map Quiz 1
Reading the Primary Source: The Principia and What is Enlightenment?
9-12: The Enlightenment
Enlightenment Political Philosophy
Exam One Review
9-19: Exam One: Europe’s American Colonies
Reading Response 1 Due
9-26: The Growth of Colonial Revolt 1763-75
Revolutionary Theory and War 1776-83
Library Visit on Finding Academic Sources (meet in our normal classroom!)
Evaluating Online Resources
10-3: Economic and Political Crises under the Articles of Confederation 1783-7
The Constitutional Convention and Ratification 1787-8
Map Quiz 2
Building the Annotated Bibliography
10-10: Warring Ideologies: Hamilton vs. Jefferson/Madison 1789-93
U.S. Relations with the French Revolution 1789-1800
Reading the Primary Source: Federalist #10 and Washington’s Farewell Address
10-17: Ideology, Land, and Jefferson’s Presidency 1801-7
The “War of 1812”: An American Defeat?
Exam Two Review
10-24: Exam Two: The United States Wins Independence
Reading Response 2 Due
10-31: The End of Jeffersonian Policy 1815-28
The Era of Jacksonian Politics 1828-41
Crash Course in Essay Writing – with Essay Formatting Worksheet!
Building the Term Paper Outline and Rough Draft
TH 11-9: LAST DAY TO DROP FULL-TERM CLASSES!!!
11-7: James Polk, Texas, and the War with Mexico 1844-9
Slavery in the Territories
Class Writing Workshop
11-14: Political Crises and the Election of 1860
Map Quiz 3
Rough Draft Peer Review
11-21: The Civil War, Part One: Confederate Victories and Union Debates 1861-3
The Civil War, Part Two: “Total War” and Unconditional Victory 1863-5
Term Paper Final Draft Due (also turn in Rough Draft!)
Asking Questions Like An Historian
11-28: Political and Socio-Economic Attempts at Reconstruction, 1865-77
Final Exam Review
12-5: Final Exam: Creation of a Continental Empire
6:00-9:10pm in the same room
Textbook Readings Schedule 2011 (Sixth) edition:
8-29: Western Europe of the Eve of Exploration (Pages 13-15) and Contact (Pages 15
-24)
The French in North America (Pages 34-37), The Dutch Overseas Empire (Pages
37-38), English Settlement in the Chesapeake (Pages 38-44), and The Founding
of New England (Pages 44-50)
9-5: Competition in the Caribbean (Pages 50-53), The Restoration Colonies (Pages
53-58), and Conclusion (Page 58)
The Transformation of Culture (Pages 99-104)
9-12: The Colonial Political World (Pages 104-108)
9-26: Chapter 5: Imperial Breakdown, 1763-1774 (Pages 122-142)
Chapter 6: The War for Independence (Pages 148-172)
10-3: The New Order of Republicanism (Pages 178-185), Problems at Home (Pages
185-191), and Diplomatic Weaknesses (Pages 191-193)
Toward a New Union (Pages 193-200)
10-10: Forging a New Government (Pages 212-216) and The Emergence of Parties
(Pages 216-223)
The Last Federalist Administration (Pages 223-227)
10-17: Jefferson’s Presidency (Pages 233-241)
Madison and the Coming of War (Pages 241-243) and The War of 1812 (Pages
243-247)
10-31: The Era of Good Feelings (Pages 247-250), The Breakdown of Unity (Pages
250-252), and Industrial Change and Urbanization (Pages 313-325)
The Egalitarian Impulse (Pages 2258-265), Jackson’s Presidency (Pages 265-
270), Van Buren and Hard Times (Pages 270-275), and The Rise of the Whig
Party (Pages 275-278)
11-7: The Whigs in Power (Pages 278-280), The Mexican Borderlands (Pages 358-
364), and Politics, Expansion, and War (364-368)
Slavery in the Territories (Pages 376-383)
11-14: Political Realignment (Pages 383-393) and The Road to Disunion (Pages 393
-404)
11-21: Mobilization, North and South (Pages 411-416), The Early War, 1861-1862
(Pages 416-423), and the first half of Turning Points (Pages 423-427)
Second half of Turning Points (Pages 427-432), The Confederacy Disintegrates
(Pages 432-438), and The Union Prevails, 1864-1865 (Pages 438-446)
11-28: Chapter 16: Reconstruction: 1865-1877 (Pages 450-478)
Textbook Readings Schedule 2004 (Third) edition:
8-29: Western Europe of the Eve of Exploration (Pages 16-18) and Contact (Pages 18
-24)
The French in North America (Pages 33-34), The Dutch Overseas Empire
(Pages 51-52), English Settlement in the Chesapeake (Pages 34-40), and The
Founding of New England (Pages 40-45)
9-5: Competition in the Caribbean (Pages 45-46), The Proprietary Colonies (Pages
46-51), and Conclusion (Pages 53-54)
The Import Trade and the Ties of Credit (Pages 86-87), Becoming More Like
England (Pages 87-88), The Transformation of Culture (Pages 88-90), and
Colonial Religion and the Great Awakening (Pages 90-93)
9-12: The Colonial Political World (Pages 93-97)
9-26: Chapter 5: Imperial Breakdown, 1763-1774 (Pages 111-129)
The Outbreak of War and The Declaration of Independence, 1774-1776 (Pages
135-142), The War in the North, 1776-1777 (Pages147-149), The War Widens,
1778-1781 (Pages 149-155), and The American Victory,1782-1783 (Pages 155
-158)
10-3: The New Order of Republicanism (Pages 169-175), Problems at Home (Pages
175-181), and Diplomatic Weaknesses (Pages 181-183)
Toward a New Union (Pages 183-190) and Conclusion (Pages 190-191)
10-10: Forming a New Government (Pages 201-205) and The Emergence of Parties
(Pages 205-210)
The Last Federalist Administration (Pages 210-213) and Conclusion (Pages
213-214)
10-17: Jefferson’s Presidency (Pages 219-224)
Madison and the Coming of War (Pages 224-226) and The War of 1812 (Pages
226-231)
10-31: The Era of Good Feelings (Pages 231-233), The Breakdown of Unity (Pages
233-237), and Industrial Change and Urbanization (Pages 291-301)
The Egalitarian Impulse (Pages 243-247), Jackson’s Presidency (Pages 247-
254), Van Buren and Hard Times (Pages 254-256), and The Rise of the Whig