WAYLAND BAPTIST UNIVERSITY

DIVISION OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

Fall 2009

 

San Antonio Center

Instructor: L. Ben Moseley

Hours:   one hour before class, or by appointment

Phone:  (Wayland Baptist University) 210-826-7595 Ext. 215

Email:  bandjmoseley@yahoo.com

              

COURSE NUMBER AND TITLE:  HIST 2301 (U.S. History to 1877)

 

CATALOG DESCRIPTION:  European background, exploration and discovery, colonization, the War for Independence, the Constitution, early National Period, Jefferson and Jackson, expansion, sectionalism, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.

 

PREREQUISITE:  None

 

TEXTBOOK:  Robert A. Divine, America Past and Present (Longman, 2007, 8th Edition).

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

·         Examinations:  Three exams, including a final exam, will be given on a regular basis.  See class schedule for dates.  (90% of the final grade)

Students are expected to take the exams on the dates scheduled.  If an exam must be missed, you must schedule a make-up exam with me.

·         Research Project:  A short paper (6-10 pages) on a specific topic.  A suggestion of topics will be given on the first night of class.  Due date: Oct 15 (10% of the final grade)

·         Cooperation:  You are expected to stay until class is dismissed.  That includes the showing of films that are relevant to the class.  If you do leave early, realize it will effect your attendance record.

·         Attendance:  Attendance will normally be taken toward the end of class.  To get credit for being in class, you must be present when attendance is taken.

 

COURSE EVALUATION:  The assignment of grades will be based on the following scale:           A = 90 –100                            

                        B = 80 - 89                              I = Incomplete

                        C = 70 - 79                              W= Withdrew

                        D = 60 - 69

                        F = Below 60

                       

ATTENDANCE POLICY:  Regular attendance is mandatory.  According to university policy, a student absent three times (out of a possible eleven class periods) will receive a grade of “F” for the course.  I will keep a record of attendance, and I urge you to be in class.

 

COURSE OUTLINE/OUTCOME COMPETENCIES:  The goals of this course are as follows:  to develop an understanding of history as a discipline and its relevance to modern issues; and to gain an understanding of the various forces and trends that influenced the founding and early development of the United States.  The topics to be covered in the course will be in the sequence and time frame indicated on the attached course schedule.

 

Note:  It is university policy that no otherwise qualified disabled person be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any educational program or activity in the University.

TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE

 

Date                               Lecture Topics                                          Readings from Text

 

Aug 20             New World Encounters                                                    Chapter 1

                        Video Presentation 1

 

Aug 27             England’s Colonial Experiments                                       Chapter 2

                        Putting Down Roots                                                          Chapter 3

                        Video Presentation 2                                                        Chapter 4

 

Sept 3              The American Revolution                                                 Chapter 5

                        Video Presentation 3

 

Sept 10            FIRST EXAM

                        Video Presentation 4

                        The Republican Experiment                                             Chapter 6 

 

Sept 17            Democracy in Distress                                                     Chapter 7

 

Sept 24            Jefferson Ascendancy                                                      Chapter 8

                        Video Presentation 5

 

Oct 1               Nation Building & Nationalism                                           Chapter 9

                        Video Presentation 6

 

Oct 8               SECOND EXAM

                        The Triumph of White Men’s Democracy                        Chapter 10

                        An Age of Expansion                                                         Chapter 12

                        The Pursuit of Perfection                                                Chapter 11

                       

Oct 15             Masters and Slaves                                                          Chapter 13

                        The Sectional Crisis                                                         Chapter 14

                        Secession & Civil War                                                      Chapter 15

 

Oct 22             Reconstruction                                                                 Chapter 16

                        Video Presentation 7

 

Oct 29             FINAL EXAM

SUGGESTED RESEARCH TOPICS

 

 

Cortes’s Conquest of the Aztecs

Carlisle Indian School

The “Lost Colony” of Roanoke

The Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock

Roger Williams - Church and State

William Penn - The Quakers

Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692

Bartolome de Las Casas

Lexington and Concord

Boston Tea Party

War of 1812

Thomas Paine - Common Sense

Abigail Adams - Advocate for Women’s Rights

Battle of Yorktown

Shay’s Rebellion

Whiskey Rebellion

Lewis and Clark Expedition

Battle of New Orleans

Second “Great Awakening”

“Trail of Tears”

Eli Whitney

Seneca Falls Convention, 1848

William L. Garrison - The Liberator

Pickett’s Charge

Battle of Gettysburg

Lincoln-Douglas Debates, 1858

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Frederick Douglass

Battle of Antietam

Harriet Tubman